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

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

PTS 10

 

I have been wanting to participate in the Pillow Talk Swap on Flickr for a while now.  I've seen so many beautiful pillows made for each round, I had to get in on the action.  My chance finally arrived when I saw that sign ups were open for round 10.  Imagine my excitement when I saw that my partner was one of my favorite bloggers.  I already knew that she was a huge Anna Maria Horner fan, and in her mosaic I saw triangles, so that's the direction I decided to go in.  There is something about sewing triangles that I just love. 

I only had a few AMH prints in my stash so I ordered a charm pack of Field Study and Lou Lou Thi to work with.  I love the fact that AMH's charms are 6 inches instead of the usual 5.  I cut 60 triangles but ended up using only 25 of them.  Then I began playing with the layout.

 

 

This was ok, but ok wasn't gonna cut it.  It needed something more.

Enter some texty lovliness.  It was so fun showing teasers to the group throughout the process and getting such positive feedback.

 

Once the piecing was done I had to figure out how to quilt it.  I love free motion quilting but I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone so I decided I would attempt hand quilting for the first time.  I used six different colors of Perle cotton 8wt.  I also did not use any kind of quilting hoop or frame.

I must admit, I did pick out my stitches more than once due to uneven stitches.  Once I got in the groove though it went nice and smooth.  I did a simple petal motif in the center.

For the low volume background it took me forever to decide what to do with that area.  Finally I settled on simple straight line quilting that echoed the hexagon.  I did the colors by hand and then machine stitched the white with the perle thread.  I never knew you could do that but thanks to Little Miss Shabby, I discovered a new technique I will definitely be using again.

I really enjoyed making this pillow especially knowing who I was making it for.  I think it was pretty obvious that it was for her.  I wanted it to be special and I hope I achieved that.  Judging from her comments on Flickr I think she's going to be a happy lady.  I also made her a linen feather pouch and a wall hoop pocket but I forgot to take a pic of the hoop. :(

I cannot wait to see which pillow I receive!  There are so many beauties in the group I know I will love any one I get.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa