Hello Pickles is DONE-- Yeehaw!!

Finally, a year and a half later, Hello Pickles is COMPLETED!!  Hip hip hooray!  The pattern is from sweet FeistyEily.  I am so beyond excited!  Piecing the top took a bit longer than I planned, and then I added the border at the end, so it took a bit longer then I had hoped.  Life happens- seriously!!  Does that happen to everyone else??  I am blown away by how many amazing quilts my quilty friends can make!  Either I am re.al.ly slow or I just don't put as much priority on my quilting- I hope it's the latter :).  hehe.  With my family and life obligations, quilting has to take a back seat most of the time.  I long to finish projects and make beautiful pieces, but some times, it just has to wait.  And I have had to come to a place in my mind where that's ok.  I may never be a hugely "popular" blogger, but I make things that bring joy to people, and create sunshine in their lives, and that is what quilting is all about, to me.  

 I love how the completed top looks, but the back (even though it's just one piece of fabric) really has my heart.  This quilt was made for a special boy in my family.  He surprised me by his choice of fabrics- I had expected dark, somber prints with maybe a few bright pops of color, but he blew me away with his choice of a modern, very brightly colored bundle from Sew Fresh Fabrics.  Peg and Becca had run out, but created one for me with just one substitution- it saved the day!!  One piece of fabric was this backing print- it was just a FQ though.  The boy just could not get over how awesome that print was- it had become one of my all time favorite prints, once I saw it too!!  I knew I wanted to back it in that print, but never dreamed how tricky that would prove.  Apparently the fabric had been sold out and after much crying and tons of searching, I found an amazing etsy seller that had the 6 years I needed!!  WOW!!  So there's the back, all awesome and colorful- it's called Wild Garden.  

 The background is Kona Ash- love that color!  Love how the colors around it POP!!  It's a favorite for backgrounds!

 For quilting, I chose to FMQ spirals on all the colored centered blocks and I zig zaged over the entire ash centered blocks.  I alternated the directions of the zig zags on each row.  It turned out fun!  How I wish I had a larger throat space on my machine- someday, someday.  I'm working with under 6" here, so it gets tricky.  

 The quilt is abut 100" long and over 6' wide.  I love how it looks with all the happy colors showing!

 All rolled up and ready to go to that awesome boy I know!!

The Annual Dress and Family Picture Craziness :)

I am trying to learn how to sew clothing.  It scares me, but I want to make some things really bad! That beats my fear.  Adding the fact that I am a hopeless perfectionist makes it even more of an adventure, but one that turns out cute, not matter what the odds!  I have made an awesome poncho every winter (velvet lined with fleece) for my littlest little.  Imagine fun cute colors with pompom edging, two big buttons at the neck, and a Little Red Riding Hood style hood.  So much easier than putting on a sleeved coat each time you exit the car :).  I have made crazy awesome Halloween costumes.  And once a year, I make a dress for her for family pictures.  It takes a long time to find the perfect pattern and this year I knew it when I saw it- Mod Kids Chloe (I LOVE Patti Young's designs)!  I threw in my 7 favorite prints from Julie (http://www.intrepidthread.com) at the time and was off and running!

I must admit, I get a tad bit psycho when planning our family pictures!  I go overboard, actually, but it is oh so fun and makes for tons of smiles and memories all year long.  I don't like stiff classic pictures.  I like fun, living, breathing photos- like the photographer just walked up and caught you right in the middle of the best day ever.  When hubby married me, my one condition was that we would take family pictures every. single. year.  Just one condition (besides all the unspoken ones), but I meant it, and he meant it too, 'cause we have had them taken each year, faithfully!  This year involved painting a darling bench deep aqua, making a bunting/pennant in the below fabrics (and another), making this dress, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, my Supernova quilt, searching for months to find different colors (happy bright colors- that of course match the dress colors!)/styles of plaid shirts for all the boys in my life, and getting wild fun colored undershirts for the afore-mentioned plaid shirts.  I wanted to make me a shirt as well, but something had to give, and that was that.  So, I dug through thrift stores until I found the perfect color shirt and topped it with a darling sunshine yellow cardi!  Voila- after months of prep, we were ready!   

Well, with one detour...  We were going to take photos in an open wheat-looking field in front of our Blue Zoo, but the day before pictures, it got plowed under.  Next field, plowed under too, next- plowed under too!!  Three fields, all plowed under- backup plan!!!  I had driven by the coolest yard a few days prior, so I headed there.  We're talking barns, old pickups and ancient school buses.  The most awesome paint cracked buildings and archways and wavy-glassed windows.  Such fun!!  I knocked on the door and wound up talking with the sweetest older couple- of course, we could use their yard!  I was beyond thrilled and they made my day!  So pictures continued without a glitch, and we got some of our best shots yet, I think!  I am so excited to see them!  So there is my long version of why I defeat my fear and make a dress each year for pictures- it makes it more a part of who we are and lets our personality shine through.  FUN!

Auction Doll

I heart Bit of Whimsy Dolls~ I have loved Sarah's patterns for years- they were the first thing I tried sewing when I taught myself to sew almost 2 years ago. They make me smile and she has so many darling patterns, they are just too fun! We have a charity auction coming up that I needed to make something for, and this seemed to be the perfect solution. Who can resist a pink doll, extra clothes, and a pillow and blanket set?? I hope it helps the cause! Here's the auction doll with all her extras...

Some Sunkissed and Lizzie House fabric- so perfect!

When my little saw me making a pink doll, well, let's just say, I made two instantly :) I love the "twin" too and used a few different fabrics to add variety. It made her smile- mission accomplished! I love a good day's work- well, actually two days in this case :)

Here's a full length shot of the "twin" - this is the Mae pattern, in case you are interested, and here is Sarah's wonderful site: http://www.bitofwhimsydolls.com. Head on over to see the cuteness!

Winter Woolies :) eppppp!

I have been itching to buy the Winter Woolies pattern from Miss Kerry over at http://www.verykerryberry.blogspot.com! She is a paper piecing hero to me! I really want to focus and learn paper piecing more this coming year, and I love following her and seeing the amazing things she come up with :). Her skier is one of my favorite pieces ever!! I saw this pattern and knew I was destined to try it! I had to make a gift, well, didn't "have" to, wanted to make a gift for an incredible teacher we know and thought this would be perfect.

I increased the pattern by 200%. The pieces were still small- I can only imagine how tiny they would be in the normal size ratio :). But I loved it- so well written and explained. I have never used freezer paper- tried foundation piecing once and did not like it much. I looked at all of Kerry's tutorials on freezer paper piecing and went for it! I must say, I loved it! So much better and easier than foundation. I'm hooked!! :) Yipee!

The finished product is 12x24 inches and could be a wall hanging or a table topper. I don't have Christmas fabric, but wanted it more for general winter use anyway, so I loved the color combo I used :). I hope this teacher smiles when she gets it :). I think she will. Here it is:

The hat section - so fun and love the added button she suggests :)

The scarf section- I love all the stitching that brings the personality into the piece :)

The mitten section- such cuteness!

I backed it with a favorite vintage sheet- just the right amount of vintage yumminess added in :)

Warm/Cool Quilt Along Top all laid out...

An update on the Warm / Cool Quilt Along quilt, or as I call it, the Orange and Aqua Value quilt...

Well, I was silly and thought I could lay this quilt out in a 30 minute time period. It is now a running joke- it took well over two hours- never woulda dreamed it! HA! It was just a matter of keeping the pattern right and the prints spread out enough that took so long. I was frantically trying to pick it up, in number rows, of course, before feet ran all over it! I have never stacked anything like this so I am nervous how the rows will go. I just CANNOT mess it up- I don't want to be that friendly with my seam ripper :) hehe! So I snapped a few photos to double check myself as I go.
I loved standing back and looking at the diamond pattern the orange and aqua makes! The giftee requested that the diamond be centered, so there you have it! Now to figure out a border, binding and backing :). This person loves SOFT but I can't find any minkee that is to the liking- ugh! I tried flannel, but that wasn't "soft enough". This will be interesting! I'm praying for some orange and blue minkee to pop up somewhere ! hehe!

Quite an Honor!!

I have found some of the most amaing friends online in the quilting world! It's really fun to think of meeting some of these amazing people in 2 short months- I can hardly stand it, I get so excited thinking about it :). Well, one of those sweet, dear friends gave me quite an honor last week, without even realizing she did :). It's Miss Kaelin, she blogs over at http://theplaidscottie.blogspot.com/. If you don't follow her yet, you *need* to! She is as sweet as honey and she lives in the South (my home!!)!! She has made me almost pee my pants from laughter on more than one occasion! For real! So, the honor...

I got an email from Kaelin asking me to test her new pattern- it's the Grab 'n' Go wristlet and Coin Purse (at the time is was just the wristlet). It's available in her Etsy store now and it's a definite pattern to make- so quick, easy, and stinkin' cute!! I have never "officially" sewn a zipper into anything before so I was nervous. I ran to Joann's to get a few notions I needed (mainly a zipper ;)) and got busy! Just like she said, it takes between 1-2 hours. And just look how amazing it turned out- especially for someone who has never sewn a zipper ;). hehe!

Look at how precious this is!! And the wrist strap is detachable so you can just use it as a clutch, if you like, too!! Brilliant, I tell ya! So I have to post my sunny fun pictures of this great pattern- and when she finalized the pattern, she added a coin purse- now I can hardly wait to make that too :). So darling! I appreciate her trust in my ability and am so glad I was able to help! This girl writes an incredible pattern and she's an incredible lady to top it off :) Thanks again, Miss Kaelin! You rock!!

127 Squares

About a week ago, I set about cutting like crazy- not for a quilt this time, but for a little girl's dress. I have made a few pieces of childrens' clothing, but recently saw this pattern (http://www.etsy.com/listing/62785240/tiered-patchwork-twirler-epattern-for) and know a little girl who loves to twirl! So off to cutting I went. The pattern is wonderful! I decided to try it on 9 prints from the Sunkissed, by Sweetwater fabrics. After 127 squares, I placed, sewed, gathered with elastic - will use clear elastic next time [tried to be consevative and use what I had on hand- it was too thick and I went through 5 needles :)- then went to Joanns and the lady I asked about thickness didn't even think it was possible to gather with elastic- oh dear!- I kindly told her it was and I only wanted to know about thickness, turns out it is much thinner, so I got 2 packs ;) ], and sewed and gathered row after row. Adding the top was the funnest part, and then trimming a bunch of threads finished it off! YAY! I just love how it turned out. Even though the elastic was too thick, I like how it gave it a more full look, without any underskirting :). I'm anxious to do a rainbow layer one next! So cute, and so love the girliness of it! I adored dresses like this when I was little, and still do ;)! Have a sunny day!

Any good girlie dress patterns you love?? Do tell!..

Hoppy Day :) -Mini Bunny Tutorial

With Easter around the corner, I thought I would love to share my Mini Bunny tutorial so those of you that sew can make some bunnies for your sweet ones for the holiday. The pattern is easy, very easy- perfect for a half hour project or new beginner! The finished bunny is about 5" tall, not including his floppy ears :). Have fun and I'd love to see your finished pictures on Flickr!

Print out the pattern pieces. **Still working on getting my pdf file of the pattern pieces on my blog- feel free to email me if you need them sooner and I will email the file to you!** Cut them out and pin them onto your fabric choices. I use felt for the ears to make them quicker and more stiff than cotton. Cut out your pieces and remove the pattern pieces.

Take the ears, one by one, and fold them over themselves in the middle, to make a "Z". Pin in place.

Stitch both ears so the "Z" stays in place- this is the ear crease.

Zip zag stitch your ears onto the front of the bunny body. I sew mine on at the "11:00" and "1:00" positions :).

Put the body pieces right side together and pin all the way around.

Sew around the body, leaving an opening at the bottom about 1.5" inches.

Turn the bunny right side out. Iron it nice and pretty. Then you are ready to stuff :)

Stuff the bunny. Super complicated, but he/she's starting to look really cute about now :)

Hand stitch the bottom opening closed.

Draw the face details with a pencil and embroider the face on. I like to pull my floss through the back and catch it with the front material when I begin with a color so the end thread is not sticking out.

Almost done! Add any little embellishements to give it personality- I added a bow :) to this cute girl bunny!

Sew or hot glue a pom pom to make the bunny's cotton-ball tail.Then, ta-da!, your cute creation is ready to get some hugs!

Mini bunny is copyright 2011 by me :) Thanks!