Close on the heels of my first wedding anniversary, I had the great idea to start a craft blog. This past year has been a little quiet around these parts, but it is so great to be able to pop in and share things in this little community. Getting emails from folks like Wendy letting me know that I inspire people is about the coolest thing ever. I started this blog six years ago so my sister in Virginia could see my projects, that's it. And it opened up such a world of new ideas! Sappy, I know, but thanks for making this blogging community such a great place to belong.

If you want a chance to win that pile of fabric - scraps from all my recent projects including big pieces of Anna Maria Horner Good Folks, Red Letter Day and Heather Bailey Nicey Jane - leave a comment. International entries welcome if you're willing to pay for shipping. Random drawing will be Sunday at 8pm CST.

Labels: giveaway

Happy anniversary to my guy - we got married on the sixth anniversary of our first date so we have been together thirteen years now. In just a few more years we will have been together longer than we haven't. This seventh year of marriage brought us our beautiful baby boy, making it the best year yet, and we know each year is just going to get better. We are so blessed!

Labels: family

I have been offering quite belated birthday gifts this year to family and friends. Can I blame it on the baby? This little gift is no exception, for my mother-in-law whose birthday was earlier this month.



She sews all the time, often away from home or in different rooms in her house, so I thought this little pincushion (pdf) from Sew, Mama, Sew would get a lot of use.



Even better, I got to use some of my favorite Nicey Jane scraps since most of the fabric pieces are small! The tutorial is very clear and this came together quickly - just pay attention to the seam allowances because they change often throughout the directions!

Labels: sewing

I had a little extra fabric from the hex quilt so in the interest of not increasing my scrap piles, I made a few burp rags to go along with the quilt. I used a method even simpler than my burprag tutorial.



I had 6" strips of the fabric left so I just cut them down to 14.5" wide. I pressed over both long edges and one short edge a generous 1/4". Then I laid the fabric right side down across one end of the burp rag and ironed over the last short edge so it was the right width for the rag. Or I ironed in a generous 1/4", whichever was the greater amount. (I hope that makes sense.)



Then I flipped the fabric over, wrong side down, and pressed and pinned it across the end of the rag. I did a simple straight stitch close to the edge with white thread in my bobbin and, in this case, blue thread in my needle. Voila! Embellished burp rags! I did all six in less than 30 minutes, I think. And I might like the result even better than doing it my old way!

Labels: how-to's, sewing

I finished the hexagon quilt! I put the final stitches in the binding this morning, just in time to wrap it up for the baby shower at 2pm today. Nothing like working with a deadline!



I had a really hard time deciding how to quilt it. I have been loving free motion quilting lately but everything I thought of seemed like it would take away from the design. So I went with parallel straight lines about 2" apart - along the edges of the big and little hexagons. I really love how it looks.



The binding is mostly stripes with a little 2D tiny zoo. (Click through to the picture of the quilt above on flickr for the rest of the fabrics.) I incorporated the label into the binding again; I really love this simple way to include a label.



I hope Baby Isaac, who will be joining the world in just a few short weeks, loves this quilt as much as I do!

Labels: 2010 Quilts, quilting, sewing

I got the nicest email from Wendy the other day. She doesn't have a blog of her own and wanted to let me know that she was inspired by my New Wave quilt to make one herself.



Can you believe this is her first quilt? I absolutely love it. The colors are perfect and her piecing is beautiful.



I love the pieced back. And even cuter is her quilt model, Wally!



Thank you so much for sending me these pictures, Wendy!

Labels: quilting, sewing

Can I just say that the 1/4" foot on my machine is a lifesaver when it comes to piecing these hexagons? My piecing is by no means perfect, but to have this many seams come together even this closely is a miracle!



I'm so glad I practiced on that pillow ages ago or I believe these would never turn out right.

Labels: quilting, sewing, wip

We have a birthday party to go to for a two-year-old little girl today and I found an adorable set of magnetic wooden paper dolls as a gift. I wanted to include something handmade, of course, so Dana's Market Skirt tutorial was perfect.



I think I need to get my serger back from my mother-in-law to make these projects easier.



Ben said he was man enough to model the skirt, and I swear he's almost as big as the 2-year-old birthday girl!

Labels: clothes, sewing

Please join me in a warm welcome to my new niece, Margaret Kate. My sister was due on August 22, but I totally guaranteed she'd deliver late by booking tickets to visit on August 27th.



Luckily for this anxious aunt, Maggie was born happy and healthy on August 25th, just in the nick of time. I am so blessed to get to meet her so early!



I am also glad I was able to finish her quilt in time to bring along. It coordinates with the nursery linens and will be a great play mat and maybe some day a toddler bed blanket.



The quilting is free-motion, the batting is thin bamboo batting, and the backing is almost as fun as the front!



I think my favorite part is the binding - both the stripes and the incorporated label. I hope Maggie grows to love it as much as I do!

Labels: 2010 Quilts, family, quilting, sewing