starburst pattern giveaway reminder

In case you missed my post on Sunday, I announced that my Starburst pattern is going to be released on May 6! In conjunction with the release, The Brown Needle got a new name, new look and new blog!

To celebrate, I'm giving away the first copy of my Starburst  pattern to one lucky follower of my new blog.

Click on over to Sewlio, follow through GFC, your favorite blog reader or e-mail and leave me a comment over there that you did!

Hope to see you there!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Inburst (556)

**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'm very excited to finally show you my next finished quilt! I know you've all seen the top before, but I was saving the finished quilt for this fall's Blogger's Quilt Festival! I've decide to call it Inburst.

 

 

This is the first quilt that I made in collaboration with someone else. Who might have helped me out with this, you ask? Well, who else but my hubby! That's right. My hubby. He's a graphic designer with a great eye for color and I knew that I'd need another set of eyes to help with this one. I told him what I wanted to do and what kind of colors I wanted to make it and he was able to lay it all out on the computer for me. We spent a lot of time looking through the Kona Color Card trying to find the perfect colors. I think we did pretty good!

 

 

We finally narrowed it down to 11 different Kona solids for this quilt to achieve the look I was going for. I really wanted it to look like the colors were transparent and overlapping. I think the photo below shows the look the best, even if it is a little bright! (I could use some photography tips!) That's a really difficult task! I used Kona White, Canary, Corn, Azalea, Carnation, Primrose, Mango, Kumquat, Orange, Papaya, and School Bus. The Binding is Kona Azalea and the back is Dear Stella Bukhara in Orange.

 

 

I quilted it just outside of the ditch and took each row to the edge of the quilt. I echoed in to the center and really just had to improvise as I went. I had trouble taking a photo that shows the center quilting. The photo below show how the center quilting turned out. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this one. It doesn't match my house. I'm trying to talk my daughter into letting me redo her bedroom so I can hang it in there. She doesn't like change. So This one's just going to sit for now. That's kind of sad, don't you think?

Happy Blogger's Quilt Festival! I'm just loving looking at all the wonderful quilts. Inspiration has hit and so I'm off to start a new something!


Quilt Details: #556
Finished Size: 48x56
Techniques: Pieced
Quilted with straight lines on home machine with walking foot
Categories: Throw, Quilted on home machine, Wall Hanging

Redbird Bee- Linda's Block

**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!**

 

 

This is the block I did for the Redbird Bee for September. September was Linda's month. She gave each of us 9 five-inch squares and we were to make a Disappearing Nine Patch block. The addition of white fabric adds negative space to this block which makes a wonderful scrappy-looking quilt with a very modern feel.

When I first saw Kristy's Modernized D9P quilt (her tutorial is here), I immediately fell in love with it and began planning my own. When I found out that we were making these blocks for the Redbird Bee, I was super excited to give it a try.

My own Mod-D9P is finished, bound and quilted. It came together super quickly.... pics coming soon!

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 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!

WIP Wednesday {a.k.a. confession}

I got a little inspired by everyone's Work In Progress Wednesday posts, so I decided to post about my WIPs today. You see, usually, all those lovely WIP posts make me feel overwhelmed and a tad bit disappointed in myself! I have A LOT of unfinished items, but so does everyone else! I totally get it now. We're all in this together! So, without further ado, here are {some of} my in progress projects, and you might just find out a few more things about me as you read through them!


First up is a scarf that I began working on over Christmas break. Wow. I sure got far on this one. Now that spring is here, I doubt I'll get motivated to finish it any time soon. I will just have to remember to get it finished before it gets cold again! {Yes, that is the mark on my table where my rotary cutter so nicely introduced itself to the wood.}

This is a pixelated houndstooth block that I started working on for a baby quilt. I haven't worked on this one since before Christmas either. Once I got this much done, I totally lost interest. What do you think? Is it worth saving? It measures 20x20 and I'll need to make 4 more to make a small baby quilt. I'm not in love with it, but I still have to wonder if I would love it after I had quilted it. I would love your input! Should I scrap it or press on?

Pixelated Houndstooth {design- my own}

I do a little bit of shuttle tatting. These are some floral motif medallions that I have finished tatting and have yet to sew in my ends and attach them to something! They will likely end up as jewelry or greeting cards, if I ever get around to it!

Next up is a chevron patterned crocheted throw that I've been working on for a couple of weeks. This, I do love and will probably finish it up soon!

There you have it. Those are some of my works in progress. I'll have to save the rest for a later post! And to summarize my overall status:

Quilts in progress: 4
Knit/Crochet projects in progress: 2
Tatting Projects in progress: 10
Home Decor Projects in Progress: 1
Projects I have purchased supplies/fabric for but have yet to begin: 4

AND... Projects I have finished this week: 1!!! {post to follow}


My WIPs are linked here:

Bold Inspiration

If you haven't been able to tell, I've been a little obsessed letters and words lately. l got the new CB2 catalog in the mail yesterday, and there's always something in there I just have to have. {If only I weren't on a budget.} Seriously, who wouldn't love a bed that gives permission to do that which our parents always told us wasn't allowed?

I'm so in love with this....



Pic from {here}

Remember Me?

"Upstream"

Do you remember this quilt I did back in October? Well, after a couple months of mulling it over and some encouragement from my hubby, I decided {at the last minute} to submit it to The Modern Quilt Guild Showcase, an exhibit which will be a the International Quilt Market and Festival this fall. I should find out if it will be included in the exhibit by the end of the month...

Wish me luck!

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!

Spool Quilt Block

Isn't this spool block lovely? This is the Tonie's block for February for the Redbird Bee! I'm in love with the colors and the fabrics. That background fabric is linen... Linen! Super cool! I would have never picked out linen. I can't wait to see this quilt finished!

Tonie's Spool Block

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!

His/Hers Shower Curtain

**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!**

 

 

We recently did a "gut" remodel of the kid's bathroom. When it came time to decorate it, my son voted for a "blue bathroom" and my daughter wanted pink. I wanted a 'modern' graphic shower curtain to make the small space pop. This is what I came up with.

How To:

You will need: an old shower curtain or liner, fabric for the curtain, sewing machine, fabric paint, small paint brushes, freezer paper and an iron.

I used the old shower curtain as a template for the size and placement of the button holes. I bought 96" wide white muslin for the curtain. The curtain measures 72" x 72". I sewed all hems and then sewed button holes in the top to hang it with. For the his/hers decoration, I found the symbols online, re-sized them in Photoshop and printed them out. Then I traced them onto freezer paper and cut them out to make my stencil. I went through about 4 stencils, each with 2 of each symbol alternating and placed 3 inches apart.

To paint, first I ironed the freezer paper stencil (waxy side down) to the curtain. Then I painted the stencil and let it dry. Once dry, I removed the stencil and then repeated the whole process over again! 

Once the whole thing was finished and dry, I ironed it with spray starch and then sprayed it with a couple of coats of scotch guard. (My toilet is right next to my shower curtain and I have a 5 year-old little boy... no further explanation required!)

This project took a few days to complete but was well worth it! Don't forget to clean your iron when you are finished. Some of that paint will melt onto the iron and then onto your clothes!



{This tutorial is linked to here}