A Peek

 Wanna take a peek at my latest project?  Here it is.

Last night I finished all the squares I need for my project.  These are just two of the squares.  I'm excited with the way it looks.  It is pretty bold, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Have I mentioned that Abby sometimes helps me with my photo shoots?

Well, she does.

So I decided to lock her up.

It was just for a minute.  I promise I'm not a horrible mother.

#1. Make a Quilt

I've mentioned this project before, but now that Christmas has passed, I can finally tell you that I completed it. Hallelujah! It was not an easy task, but still a lot of fun. I learned a lot and do not think it will be my last quilt.

All along, the quilt was intended for my newest niece, Lucy. She is my sister's fourth child and she arrived in November. My sister did a lot of sewing for my baby's nursery since I lacked the time and skills. So this project was the least I could do to say, "thanks."

I forgot to take photos of the finished product (doh!), but luckily my sister took a few for me. Here is Lucy showing it off.

Here it is!   

I got my inspiration from Cluck Cluck Sew.  I did three sizes of rectangles/squares and arranged them randomly.  For the quilting I just picked some rectangles that were equally spaced throughout the quilt  and stitched in the ditch around the perimeter of each rectangle.  The binding was probably the most frustrating part.  I just used the backing fabric and wanted to machine sew it down.  I thought it would be a breeze.  I was wrong.  The machine (or rather I) kept pulling it funny so it was just a mess.  I only got about half way down one side when I decided it wasn't worth it.  I ended up hand stitching it, which didn't take as long as I thought it might.  I'm glad I did it that way.  It looked just the way I wanted it to.  I'm not even sure if I would attempt to machine sew a binding in the future, but we'll see.  Hooray for finishing my first quilt that I did every cut and stitch on!

Progress

I've been sewing!  Remember that quilt I told you about?  The one I am determined to do all by myself?  I know, I mentioned it quite a while ago, but I'm finally getting some things done on it.  I actually have the quilt top all sewn together and pressed!  It is definitely not perfect, so don't look too close when I post the finished product.  But I think I did well for my first time.  I have already learned many things I can do better in the future, including using a different foot that is ideal for patching (and that actually came with my machine, I don't have to buy it!).

My next step is basting and quilting.  I have only tied quilts before but for this one I want to machine quilt it.  I've been doing some research because I honestly know just about nothing.  I'm thinking of doing "stitch in the ditch."  I've read that it is good for beginners and since this quilt is bright and has bold patterns, I don't think elaborate quilting is necessary.  I am open to suggestions, though, so feel free to give me any advice you might have!

attempting to quilt

I love the idea of quilting.  Picking out fabrics and arranging them into a beautiful design is such a satisfying activity to do.  Those are generally the parts of quilting I'm best at.  I love to look for fabric, cut them up, and arrange them on the floor... and then watch my mom sew it all together. 

Yep, that is how I quilt. 

Recently, I had the urge to start a quilt.  I have my favorite parts done and now it is on to the sewing and my mom is miles and miles away.  I am determined that this quilt will be the first that I sew together all by myself.  Wish me luck!
  

I'll sing my praise to Borah High!

I really enjoyed my high school experience. I participated in cross country, choir, honor society, and was a faithful Borah sports fan (aka: Rowdie). Because of these, I collected quite a few Borah shirts that would have been difficult to part with. Instead of throwing them away, I made a quilt out of them because you can always use more quilts.

Out of all the t-shirt squares, this one wins first prize.


This is the back of my cross country shirt from 2002 (my junior year). It was drawn by Steven Waggoner. It is the classic scene from Lion King, only the lion is wearing running shoes and all of our rival mascots are bowing in submission.
This was a very fun project that allows me to be sentimental without being a pack rat.