Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope your year has started of wonderfully.  Again, I have been busy sewing, just not writing.  First, a recap of some of my favorite projects from 2013.  The trend I noticed was lots of small projects.  There were no major quilts made aside from a couple of baby quilts.
2013 was definitely a year full of swaps.  I made so many items for other people and received lots of beautiful things in return.
My favorite was the X-Factor swap on Flickr.  I participated in every round because I just could not resist.  Each round I told myself I was sitting this one out and then I'd see the entries and had to participate.  My couch is so full of rainbowy goodness, it makes me happy every day to see so many lovelies from around the world.

2013, a photo by cutsewpresslove on Flickr.

1. Les Amis baby quilt 2, 2. DSC_4065, 3. sewing summit secret swap, 4. DSC_3886, 5. Giant Dresden, 6. Double Hexy Delight, 7. PTS 10 finished, 8. DSC_4035, 9. DSC_2505 (2), 10. weekender side A, 11. Circle Celebration Pillow, 12. FLiQ complete, 13. AMHPP1, 14. Swirling Medallion Quilt, 15. Pickledish mini, 16. Simply Modern and Pezzy

I made some Christmas pillows to sell in my Etsy shop.  Only one sold via Instagram thanks to the help of the wonderful Terri of Sew Fantastic.  I tried some new designs using raw edge applique and some different free motion quilting.

Paisley quilting is my new favorite FMQ design.  Inspired of course by the ever amazing Angela Walters.  I always go to her books for inspiration.  Its nice to add a new skill to my repertoire.




I also designed and made these wall art hoops.  There are still some left in the shop as well.



This journal cover was created for  my quilting notebook.  Its way cuter than that ugly black and white camo print.  Sewing with real linen is not near as fun as using Essex linen.  It was so flimsy and shifty.  Still the result was a success so I am happy.  I used a tutorial from Stitched In Color. 
A few of these ornaments were included into sold hoop orders as a thank you.

Last, but not least is my first finish of 2014.  A belated Christmas gift for my mother.  I used leftover Anna Maria Horner scraps from when I made this pillow with a few solids mixed in.  I went with paisley quilting again because why not!  Seriously, after making this pillow I am now in the I LOVE AMH fan club.  I never understood the obsession some bloggers had with her fabrics but now I am a total convert.  The way her designs and colors work together is so amazing and beautiful, I cannot get enough.  This year I am planning to make a new queen sized spectrum quilt for our bedroom from her fabrics only.  I love my Swoon quilt but its time for a change.   I do dread the thought of quilting a queen sized quilt on my machine so we'll see how that goes.

I have to note that when I make my patchwork pillows like this I do not sew each and every teeny square together one by one.  I use this cheater method from Oh Fransson.  I love it and highly recommend it.  Using the fusible makes this a quick and fun project.

Well, now I think I am all caught up.  I won't even get into plans for this year.  Day by day is how I'm taking it.  Congratulations if you made it to the end of this pic heavy post ;)  As always, thank you so much for reading and for joining me on my sewing journey.  Again, Happy New Year friends!

Melissa

Hand Drawn Giant Dresden

So happy to finally be able to share this quilt!  I loved every minute I spent making this one.  Watching the magic that happens when Anna Maria Horner's fabrics play together is just so much fun.  All prints used were from her Hand Drawn Garden Collection.  I wavered back and forth about buying the entire collection for a while.   Something about it kept calling me back to my etsy favorite page, where I'd just look at the pictures of it until I finally hit the button.  This gorgeous room redo over at Olivia Jane Handcrafted totally sealed the deal as soon as I saw all of the beautiful photos.
Once the fabric arrived I stared at it not sure how to use all of the prints.  The giant Dresden idea hit me and I knew  this collection and that pattern would be a great combination.
I used Rita's tutorial over at Red Pepper Quilts for all of the cutting measurements.  For my ruler I used this OmniAngle Wedge Ruler I scored from Joanne's for 50% off. 



Spray basted, straight line appliqued.

A Juliana Horner print from Joanne's was totally perfect as the backing.



Concentric circles for the center flower and loopy quilting for the outer white area.

 Scrappy binding, machine sewn.

I also made this lovely lady to go along with the baby quilt which was a gift. 
Recently I've been obsessed with crocheting around around embroidery hoops thanks to these two awesome tutorials by Heart Made Life and Sew Chatty.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the hoops until I saw this gorgeous pillow by Ale and then I knew I had to make some beautiful hair silhouette girl.  Unfortunately the pattern she used had been retired and so I had to get creative.  I used some clip art I found and traced the lines I wanted to stand out.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

And last but not least, here is my entry for the Low Volume round of the X-Factor Pillow swap. So fun to make this one, just really relaxing and easy so I named it Easy Breezy.

Thank you for stopping by to visit!  Happy sewing!
Melissa

Sewing Summit 2013

I figured if I wait until I find the right words I will never blog about it so instead I will just share my photos.  All in all, Sewing Summit was a wonderful and amazing experience and I hope I am able to go again one day.

I made a QAYG version of Amy Butler's Weekender Bag.  Don't look on the inside though, because I haven't finished hand sewing the lining in.  I used so many of my most favorite prints.




In keeping with the travel handmade theme I left my leather purse at home and instead  made a 241 tote using Anna of Noodlehead's pattern.  The fabric is linen with prints from the Tsuru collection.  Love this bag, love this pattern!  I've been itching to make another but not just yet.  Too many other things to be made first.

I made a little travel sewing kit which definitely came in handy for my classes.  I found a free pattern here but the measurements were off so I had some reconfiguring to do.

For the secret swap I made this box bag for my partner and a wall mini.  It was so fun to do the swap in person and see every one's reaction to what they received.


I was able to get into LR Stitched's leather accent tote class and this is the fabulous result.  I gave it to my momma as a thank you for watching my boys while I was away.

So much awesome swag thanks to Sewing Summit and the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild!

Another one of my courses was a curves class taught by Angela of Cut to Pieces.  I'm going to mount it on canvas like she did and hang it on the wall.

I had to make myself a name tag of course.

And lastly, here is a snapshot of all the pics I took that weekend.  It was so fun to meet my Instagram friends in real life.  I also met so many new people.  Words fail to describe what a wonderful time I had.

There is so much more I could tell but I'd be writing a book if I shared it all.  If there are any questions please feel free to email me.
Thanks for reading!
Melissa

Summer Sewing with Les Amis

I've been sewing like crazy and I am pretty happy with the things I've made lately.  I was able to complete 2 different baby quilts using the same collection.  The fabric is Les Amis by Patty Sloniger with Kona Medium Gray.

Pattern is Swirling Medallion from the Book Quilting Modern by Jaquie Gering and Katie Pederson. 

I quilted it with a serpentine stitch which gives it such a great effect.

The back

Here is the second quilt from the same line.  Lately I've been rounding the corners on some of my baby quilts.  I love how it softens the frame.

 

Simple crosshatch quilting.

 

I also finished another pillow for the X factor Pillow Swap round 6.  I named it Double Hexy Delight.  The theme was hexies.  I used Kerri's tutorial.  As I was making it, I wasn't sure about the direction it was going in.  The hand stitching totally made the difference for me, and I really enjoyed doing it.

 

Here is a peek at what I'm working on now.  It's my swap piece for the Sewing Summit Secret Swap.  Sewing Summit is less than a month away and I'm so excited and a bit nervous about going.  I'm also working on my Amy Butler Weekender Bag, which I hope to share with you soon.  If you're on instagram you can see some pics of it there.  I'm cutsewpresslove on instagram.

I hope you all have had a productive and fun summer.  I cannot believe its almost time to start thinking about Christmas projects.  EEEK!  Crazy talk!  Happy sewing and thanks for reading!

Melissa

The blues and some more triangles



When I first saw this gorgeous pillow and tutorial a while back I instantly fell in love!  I immediately placed my order with Peg of Sew Fresh Fabrics and requested the exact same bundle of Kona Cottons in Ice Frappe, Aqua, Azure, Bahama Blue, Peacock, and Surf.  The bundle sat for a while until I was in the mood to make the pillow. 

A few weeks ago one of my best friends got married.  I had the honor of being one of the bridesmaids in the ceremony.  For a wedding gift I knew I was going to go the handmade route of course, but I wasn't sure what exactly to make.  Then I remembered that my girlfriend has a lovely collection of cobalt glassware on display in her living room.  Boom!  Enter my lovely bundle of blues.  I do not own a Sizzix cutter so I made my own bottle template and decided to follow the tutorial to a T.  Why mess with perfection right?  I couldn't gift just one pillow and still had plenty of fabric left for another and so I made the other pillow.  I don't know why, but again I went with triangles.  I think I need a triangle intervention :)  Really though, I think the triangles compliment the waves of the other pillow so nicely. 

 For the backs I used a Denyse Schmidt print from Joanne's and Svetlana's tutorial for a hidden zipper closure.  This is definitely my favorite method for finishing pillows.  I don't like doing it any other way anymore.

As usual, all the good stuff I make is always for other people.  I really need to start making some awesome stuff to keep for myself.  One day I guess. 
I will leave you all with a few shots from the wedding.  Seriously, it was the best and most beautifully styled wedding I have ever been to.  The theme was vintage everything.  It was lots of fun to get to wear an old 50's hairdo (which I did myself).

 Vintage ladies.  Aren't the colors lovely?

 The gorgeous bride and I.

Thank you all for reading!  Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Melissa

Recent projects

Here is a look at some projects I've sewn up lately. 
To start, a baby quilt for my new nephew.  I used a few solids from a Bella Solids 'Neutrals' bundle mixed with some high and low volume prints.  The pattern is a simple disappearing nine patch.  It finished at a nice crib size so it can be used for a toddler.

 I used minky for the backing.  It was pretty easy to quilt with.  Not as difficult as I expected it to be from what I read online.   I kept with simple straight line quilting.  I don't know if I would try fancy free motion with minky.

 Next, is another custom maternity gown.  I wasn't too sure of the fabric at first, but once the pink bow went on I loved the whole thing.  I used Spotted in the Crowd in Grace from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study line.

 I made this little pillow for my friend's daughter who turned two.  It was made from scraps I had left over from making her baby quilt before she was born.  I'm told she likes her pillow very much, which makes me smile.  I used Elizabeth Hartman's dogwood quilting tutorial. 

Again I used Svetlana's method for the back.  Just a few adjustments and I got the face to match up perfectly.  I love it!  This Tula Pink Parisville print kills me with how gorgeous it is.

 And that's about it for now.  It's been nice to have time behind the machine even though it means staying up until 2 sometimes 3 in the a.m.  I love the quiet time of the night.  Its great to relax even if I do pay for it in the morning.  Anyone else a night owl sewer? 
I leave you with a sneak peek of what I'm working on now.  It's so sweet and dreamy.

Thanks for reading!
Melissa