ruffle wreath

**The Brown Needle is now Sewlio. As of 5/1/13, all new blog posts can be found at www.sewliodesigns.com . Hope to see you there!**


It is spring break here, and a busy one at that, but I did finally find time today to finish a quick project. My poor front door has been naked since Christmas. I think this orange and gray ruffled wreath is prefect for spring, even if the weather still says it's winter!

 

 

I made this wreath with a foam wreath form that I wrapped heavily with gray yarn. For the ruffles, I chose an orange print fabric and a coordinating orange solid. I cut the print 6" wide by 42" long and the solid is 4" wide by 42" long. I put a 1/4" hem down both sides of each fabric strip, although I think cutting the strips with pinking shears, would be just as cute and much quicker. I sewed with a long stitch down the center of each strip and then gathered the strips. I gathered the print to go around the wreath 3 times, which was about 18" and the solid to go around the wreath twice, which was 12". I secured the back with safety pins just in case I because I will get tired of the orange and want to change it. I used a little of the print fabric to make a hanger for the wreath and to attach the letter.

 

About the letter... when my kids saw me get out the paint, they thought that today was craft painting day... so my "quick" project quickly turned into an afternoon of paint and cleaning. It never seems to be a "quick" project when the kids are on spring break!

Fabric Friday

**The Brown Needle is now Sewlio. As of 5/1/13, all new blog posts can be found at www.sewliodesigns.com . Hope to see you there!**

 

 

I've been sewing, and sewing, and sewing. But I've got nothing to show you... yet. I finished quilting this quilt. We've had nothing but rain and clouds recently, so I'm just waiting for a great day to take a photo of it. Hopefully this weekend will be nice!

 

I also finished up another quilt top and have to quilt it up. It will be a Christmas gift this year. I also hope to finish up Aiden's quilt from the Redbird Bee. His birthday is just over a month away and I really want to have it done by then!

 

I created a pattern for and stitched up a Christmas stocking. I've got 7 more stockings to make before the Christmas season begins. They are for my mom's mantle. She wanted matching stockings for each of her kids and grand kids. She actually asked me to make 10 total, since there's still a potential for a little more growing in our family! (Just to be clear- not mine!) I'd post pics, but I don't have a mantle to hang them on. I like to at least try to make my photos look pretty!

 

I also have another commissioned project in. It's another t-shirt quilt. While I tell my friends NOT to advertise that I do them, I don't mind doing them for friends. They are such sentimental pieces, that I really do enjoy making them for friends!

 

There are a couple of other odds and ends that I have been stitching on as well, and while I don't have many photos for you, I can show you what I added to my stash over the past couple of weeks!

 

 

fabric friday

**The Brown Needle is now Sewlio. As of 5/1/13, all new blog posts can be found at www.sewliodesigns.com . Hope to see you there!**

 

 

Here's what I picked up new this week. The orange fabric is Dear Stella Bukhara Stencil Floral in orange. I'm going to use it to back this quilt. I also picked up two Moda Bella solids- gray and charcoal. I've been sewing all week and have another new solids only quilt top- using the grays- just about finished up and there's a surprise to go with it...

I hope to quilt up the orange quilt this weekend and maybe work on the gray one if I have time.

 

Have a great weekend!

fabric friday

These are a few of the recent additions to my stash. I bought half yard cuts of the Madrona Road text prints as soon as I could find them. I knew they would go fast! I've already used some of it, but that's for another post!

 

The pic below is of a few fat eighths I picked up at a local fabric shop. I also picked up some Joel Dewberry Aviary Woodgrain yardage. You can never have enough woodgrain, in my opinion!

Mini Starburst

**The Brown Needle is now Sewlio. As of 5/1/13, all new blog posts can be found at www.sewliodesigns.com . Hope to see you there!**

 

 

 

Ever since I saw this quilt, I knew I wanted to make one. Cindy, who is a fabulous quilter and quilt pattern author, and is also a fellow member of the STLMQG and in the Redbird Bee, very kindly gave me a copy of her pattern after I had trouble locating an issue of the magazine it was published in. 

Once I got this pattern home, I could do nothing but dream of which fabrics I would use. And then it happened. I saw something in the pattern and started "playing" with it to see what else I could do with it. It really has so many possibilities! I have about 4 different options all planned out. And, of course, I'm planning on making one of them just as it is written. It is so so beautiful, after all.

This is one of the first options I came up with. I have another quilt with a much different layout that I will be making from this pattern. (Ok, ok. Two. That's all.) I'm impatiently waiting for my fabric to arrive in the mail and getting nervous all at the same time. You see, I ordered 10 different fabrics for it, 11 if you count the background fabric. It's gonna be a monster... It will also look nothing like this version of the quilt.

In the meantime, I thought I'd practice. This was my initial attempt at this pattern. I scaled it down by half. It measures 21"x21". I learned a lot making this quilt. I knew I'd need practice. Especially since I had to figure out how to get it all put together. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it.

I think it will end up hanging in the guest bathroom. There's a serious need for some decoration in there. Oh, and in case you're wondering, that's some of the Denyse Schmidt fabric from Joann's. I can't remember which line as the selvages are long gone.

Cindy calls her pattern Sunburst. I'm thinking Starburst might be a little more fitting for this layout. This really was so much fun to make. I can't wait to start the next one!

fabric in my mailbox

I opened my mailbox yesterday to find my most recent fabric purchase. This was my first time ordering fabric online. I'm not typically an online shopper. I like to have an up close look before I make a purchase. I want to be fully informed because I hate making returns. I admit, I like to look with my hands in addition to my eyes. Shhh. Don't tell my kids!

My little boy has been begging me for a quilt. I mean begging. Pestering. Pleading. I could do nothing but willingly give in to that pouty face. I mean, this is a win-win, after all! After searching for months for just the right fabrics for the perfect quilt for my little guy, I eventually resolved to buy  fabric online. I was not disappointed in my experience! Here is what I've added to my stash this week:

The first pic is a fat quarter bundle that I purchased from Fabric Worm.

The fabrics included are:

Alexander Henry 2d Zoo Navy
Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Dottie Cream Grass
Michael Miller Petite Point Denim
Robert Kaufman Quilter's Linen Chocolate
Denyse Schmidt Dot and Flower Turquoise
Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Commute, Organic, By Plane
Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Ellie Fam Teal
Robert Kaufman Pure Organic Solid Chocolate
Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Birdie Spokes Teal
Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Abacus Teal
Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, Mod Basics, Organic, Mod Solids Grass
Parson Gray, Curious Nature, French Quarter Arctic

I also purchased a 1/2 yard cut of each of the following: Michael Miller Groovy Guitars in Gray, Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in Teal, Deena Rutter Scoot Tiny Toys in Cream, and Erin Michaels Funky Monkey Sock in Cream.

Look for a project featuring some of these fabrics in the near future!

my stash...

Today I uploaded a pic of my stash to Amy Butler's Show Me Your Stash contest on Flickr. I thought you all might want to see my stash, too. This is my sewing corner of our family room. The other half of this room is used for school. As you can see, my stash is quite small. Although my hubby probably thinks it is growing too quickly, I feel like it cannot grow quickly enough! Maybe I should show him all the other stashes of Flickr. Yes, I'll do that! Do you think it will help my cause?

 

• On the top shelf, I have my knitting/crochet projects, tatting supplies, solid scraps and a bag of miscellaneous scraps that I can't seem to part with.
• On the second shelf are my solids that are not scraps and jars with thread, tools, pencils, ect. I love see-through containers. My organization may not make sense, but at least I can see what is in each container!
• On the third shelf is the majority of my stash- all those unused lovely prints that are longing for a home in a project.
• The bottom two shelves have various notions and tools. It's kind of sad that I have more notions and tools than fabric.
• The box on the ground holds all my batting scraps, various other non quilting fabric and a few clothing repair projects that I know I'll never get to!
• There are two tubs full of fabric that is nonquilting fabric in my hubby's office. I probably should go through them someday and see what kind of goodies I've forgotten that I have! The rest of my patterns and notions reside there, too. I'm in the process of moving them all to my little sewing corner.

I purchased my wonderful and used drafting table several months ago. It has a protective mat onto that is immune to my rotary cutter and protects the wood top. That's the real heartbreaker when it comes to my damaged dining room table. If only I just would have been working in the appropriate space... The reason why not? Well, little gnomes come into my house at night and make my work space a disaster. I think they love to pull fabric of the shelves and look at it for long periods of time. Those silly gnomes, such daydreamers. There simply was too much of a mess to be working on my sewing table that shamefully terrible day. {And most days for that matter!} Hmmmm.... maybe a nice note and some cookies would convince those gnomes to clean up after themselves.



This next pic is of the precious scraps that I simply cannot part with. {I am a fabric hoarder, likely because of my lack thereof.} I put them in mason jars and placed them on this shelf as "decoration" for my seriously under-decorated sewing room. Only a sewist/quilter decorates with fabric scraps, I'm sure! I saw the idea of putting scraps in jars on one of the blogs I read quite some time ago, but I simply cannot remember which blog it was... so I cannot give credit. I think I need some other things to go on this shelf, maybe some sewy/quilty things. That lens cap just isn't doing anything for me!


And last, but not least is the silly pic. You see, everytime I take pictures of the kids, I tell them that they have to smile nice and then they get to do a silly one, or two or three. It works every time. My sweet little boy thought that I needed to do a silly pic since I smiled so nicely for the first one! I was only too happy to oblige!

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm planning on a full day of sewing tomorrow! I can't wait!

Cathedral Windows Pincushion



Cathedral Windows Pincushion {tutorial from here}



Things have been pretty busy around here lately. The kids and I are trying to buckle down and finish school for the year and spring cleaning is in full swing. I haven't had a lot of time for projects the last few weeks, but I did decide to make a cathedral windows pincushion after the all the fun I had making the cathedral windows pillow!

This was a super quick project. It took me less than an hour from picking my fabrics to sewing on the button. If you are as intimidated by making the pillow as I was, I would suggest trying this. It really makes such a pretty statement with minimal effort. You gotta love that!!!

I made this particular pincusion with someone in mind.  Someone special just might find this in their mailbox next week!

Orange you glad I didn't say...{oh, nevermind}

Whatever could be the meaning of all this orangey-stripey goodness???  I finally worked out one of those quilt projects that's been floating around aimlessly in my brain and began work. There is not much that is as refreshing as cutting fabric for a new quilt. {Yeah, go ahead and call me a quilt geek, it's ok.} I'm really excited about this one and I hope you will like it too!

Quilts, Bags and more... an update.

Just because I haven't had time to blog, doesn't mean that I haven't had time to quilt! First things first, right? I mean, my kids do need some attention, not to mention their education... and food... and bathed... Oh, and then there's my hubby and my job. No, I'm not a busy girl. Not at all. If I had to choose priorities for myself, quilting might come in just ahead of eating (and possibly bathing), but the reality is- I have a family and I don't think they'd like it if I stopped feeding them! (And of course, there's that whole homeschooling thing with the kids. :) Anyway, my point is, blogging gets put right down there on the bottom of the list at least until life gets a little less hectic.

I had a little extra time today, so I thought I'd give you a quick peek at all the things I've been working on the past couple of months. 

First up are a couple of baby quilts that I made for some friends. The first is a Dr. Seuss quilt. I appliqued the circles on the front using the Bigger Perfect Circles and randomly pieced the back. This is my first attempt at free motion quilting, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the result. It took me the longest time to figure out how to get my machine set up right and get the tension right. I finally found a tutorial that suggested not lowering the feed dogs and setting the stitch length to zero. (I can't remember the tutorial, or I'd give credit.) This worked perfectly. Only a tiny bit of tweaking on the tension, and I was ready to quilt!

Dr. Seuss Quilt {no patter, appliqued circles, free motion quilted}

Dr. Seuss Quilt Back

For this next baby quilt, I used a diamond ruler and pieced it in diagonal rows. I used my quilting to resemble argyle. I love the dinosaur fabric on the back. This quilt was fairly simple and quick to make. 

Argyle Baby Quilt {my own design}

Do you remember the bag I mad for my mom for Mother's Day? Well, she wore it out and requested another one! This bag is a great size. She uses it to take to Bible study and can also carry her laptop in it. This bag only requires 1 1/2 yards of fabric and I always have extra batting hanging around, so it's really inexpensive to make. I might have to make another one for myself! This time, I added some interfacing to make it more durable. The handles are still a little floppy for my liking, I'll be reinforcing them next time.

Mom Bag #2 {tutorial from here}

This is a pic of the Dresden name tag I made for myself for the STLMQG. Nametags are required for door prizes, and who doesn't like door prizes? This turned out much larger than I expected. I had never made a Dresden before. This was fairly easy to make as well. The center circle is an iron on transfer made by my fabulous hubby.

Dresden name tag with iron-on center

These are some of the Christmas ornaments that the kids and I are making this year. These were super easy. I bent the thicker wire around a star shaped cookie cutter and the kids wrapped them with the thinner wire. We are making two other kinds of ornaments this year, they're not finished yet. I hope to get them posted next week!

Hand made wire Christmas Ornaments {inspiration from here}

Finally... This is the Tula Pink Parisville fabric I won at the STLMQG raffle at today's meeting. I'm just a little excited about it! I plan on spending the Christmas season daydreaming about what I'm going to make with it and then get to work in the new year! Yay!

Well, that's what I've been up to. All that I can show, anyway. I have one more quilt I hope to finish up this year and a couple of Christmas presents I'm working on. Oh, and I don't want to forget the pillowcases I have been making for the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge that the Quilt Guild is participating in. I forgot to take pics of the three that I have already made before I turned them in, but I've got 4 more to finish up. I'm also working on a new quilt pattern that I hope to start sometime next year! Whew. I'm ready to enjoy the holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Finally, A New Finished Quilt!

Ok. This one's been finished for quite a while, but with summer, vacation and just plain busyness, I have been neglecting my blog! I'm in love with this quilt pattern (and the fabric.) I really think this is my favorite so far and already have the fabric to start another one of these for a baby gift for a friend.

Today, I finished up quilting my current project. I hope to have the binding done this week! Then on to something new!

Just Ducky

I picked up this cool "Red Letter Day" fat quarter stack about a month ago for a steal. I didn't have plans for it at the time, but the price was right and I just LOVED the ducks and the colors! You can never have too much in your stash, right?

So...... fast forward to last week. As I'm doing my daily browsing of all my favorite quilting sites, I see that there is going to be a Mod Times Quilt Along over at Twin Fibers! I become totally excited because I love the quilt pattern and my current quilt is in it's final stages (read- 'I need a new quilting project'). So I take a peek through my stash, and find the perfect fabric! I'll be picking up my solids for the rest of the quilt this week. I must confess, new projects make me happy. This quilt will likely get donated to charity, and that makes me happy, too!

In the meantime, I'm working on a couple of things with pics coming soon. I'm in the process of machine quilting my current quilt project, working on a couple of budget-friendly, ruffly throw pillows for my living room, and there's a little summer scarf project swirling around in my head...