LUNDEN

A Change of Scene

2011-08-30T16:52:00.003-04:00

I have been very busy over here at Lunden Designs HQ with lots of quilting, summer fun and designing a new website! So as of today, I will be blogging and posting from my very own URL www.lundendesigns.com. You can subscribe to the new blog, which has all of my old posts as well, at www.lundendesigns.com/blog.

Thank you so much for reading this blog and I hope you will update your reader with my new info. And feel free to let me know what you think of my new site and if there are any changes you think I should make.

My first picnic

2011-06-29T17:36:00.008-04:00

We have been enjoying outdoor concerts this summer, especially in the evenings. It is a great time to spend with friends and family and a little extra playground time is always a plus. It is also a great excuse to use my new picnic quilt.

I cut the striped print on the bias for the binding and then sewed it with my machine instead of by hand. It makes me a little crazy to do it now that I am hooked on hand sewn bindings but I needed the binding to go on fast and to be nice and secure.

And here are some close ups of the quilting, which I did on my new-to-me long arm machine! This is my first quilt that I quilted on the long arm so there is some extra special excitement about it.

The big secret I have been keeping is that I bought a long arm quilting machine. It is not that I was intentionally keeping a secret as much as I have been too busy practicing to talk about the machine. I scored the machine on Craigslist - it is 20 years old and the bare bones Kenquilt model and it makes me so happy. I have a lot to learn and a lot of practicing to do but it is just so awesome.

A Picnic Quilt

2011-06-18T00:39:00.003-04:00

I have been collecting vintage sheets for a while now, with the idea that I could use them to make simple picnic quilts. I wanted to keep the piecing of the quilt tops simple enough that it wouldn't make me too anxious to actually use them.

This quilt is big - 75" x 75", made up of 25 15" blocks. This quilt is perfect for lying on the beach and has plenty of room for a lot of friends, but it is really big. Next time, I will definitely make the blocks smaller so the finished quilt is closer to 60" square. That seems a more manageable size.

After I bind it, I am going to play around with making a carrier for it that involves velcro and a shoulder strap.

The yellows in the prints came out a little muted. Once this baby is finished, I will do a proper photo shoot outside.

A Market Bag Tutorial

2011-05-30T16:00:00.004-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is enjoying themselves as summer kicks off. I have a tutorial over at Fabricworm on how to make this bag of you are interested. Here is the link.

Happy Sewing!

Two For the Road

2011-05-29T16:28:00.006-04:00

Some good friends had twins two months ago so it was my pleasure to make them two little quilts. I had one finished before they were born but I got busy sewing up samples for Birch's booth at Quilt Market, so the other one had to wait a bit. I finally finished the second one up and then it only took me ten days to get in the mail. Yikes!

This one is made with my favorite scraps and a lovely pale pink solid.
The back is a vintage sheet I found the day before I was going to quilt this with a solid cream. I have nothing against a solid background but the stripes and the pink worked perfectly.
This quilt is made up of a candy bar of City Weekend prints. My local fabric shop sold it to me individually after many harassing visits : ) The blue floral print was from my stash and picked up in Mexico.
I kept the back simple on this one with a solid Kona Ivory.
Even though I made the quilts with different designs, I did want to have one thing unifying between them so I bound each one with the same pink floral.

The best part of the whole process is that I already received some action shots of the girls modeling with their new quilts. You are supposed to give a gift without strings, but I am going to admit that I really give them to get action shots of the babies.

And the winner is...

2011-05-09T18:00:00.002-04:00

Skooks! Thank you all for the super sweet comments! I wish I had enough copies for everyone.

Exciting News and A Give Away!

2011-04-26T11:47:00.005-04:00

I am so excited that three of my patterns are included in new 101 Patchwork and Quilts Projects magazine. The magazine is awesome and full of so many great projects. Just flipping through it is so inspiring.
Here are two of my three pillow projects. I made these pillows for Birch Fabrics for their booth at Quilt Market in the Fall.
And here is my third pillow. It was also made from Birch Fabrics to show off their line Marine fabrics.
Since this is such a cool magazine and such a fun opportunity, I want to give away a copy. Please leave a comment and I will pick a winner randomly on May 8.
Good luck!

Some New Purses

2011-04-07T15:48:00.008-04:00

I have been so obsessed with quilting lately that I have really neglected my first love, purses. Every once in a while, I will force myself to stop quilt to whip a purse or two. A friend's birthday is always a good excuse, especially when this friend delivered food to my doorstep in the pouring rain right after my baby was born. Yeah, that kind of friend deserves a new purse.

I made this little cutie the day of the birthday celebration. The exterior fabric was picked up in Mexico a couple of years ago and the lining is from a fat quarter stack from Purl Soho. The strap is made from brown ultra-suede for durability.

Since I have sewn so many purses, it makes for a really nice, productive afternoon because I can just go into auto-pilot. I even managed to make myself a new purse while I was at it. My last one was so great but it had a lot of love and really needed to be retired. Carrying around a stained, old purse doesn't really speak well for my sewing abilities.

And I even allowed myself to use some of my favorite fabric. This Echino print is so fun and whimsical with the little purple beetle. It is a perfect everyday print.
I kept the style nice and small with a zipper closure. I need to be able to just tuck the essentials under my arm and be ready to chase after a toddler at a moment's notice.
Speaking of a certain toddler, my little one now makes me stop in front of the grocery store to dance to the music playing over the loud speakers. We do this on our way to the gym in the mornings. It is seriously the very best part of my day.

40 yards

2011-04-03T10:51:00.003-04:00

I am now the proud owner of 40 yards of 90" batting! I bought it from Joann's with a 40% off coupon. I buy so much batting that it finally made sense. It is really a commitment to quilting.

Magnolia Garden Quilt and Tutorial

2011-04-03T10:45:00.004-04:00

Here is my most recent quilt and tutorial. You can find the tutorial over at fabricworm.
And here is the back.
I have some other baby quilts in the works but I have to get them mailed off before I can do the big blog reveal, not that the new parents of twins are checking my blog, now that I think of it.

Five Points Quilt Tutorial

2011-02-04T11:08:00.004-05:00

So my exciting news is that I made a second quilt and drafted a tutorial for it over at fabricworm. Click on over if you want to check it out.

The big reveal!

2011-01-30T11:13:00.005-05:00

This quilt is happily in the arms of its new owner, and it seems like just in time since new York City is getting record snow fall this winter. From what I have heard, the quilt is already getting lots of cuddling time.

I had just enough fabric left to piece a strip on the back.
And here a closeup. I was going for a cute baby/quilt portrait but it turns out that is physically impossible to get a 15 month old to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. I think I will try bribery next time.

Also, there is some exciting news related to this quilt but I need to wait a few more days before spilling the beans.

The beginnings of another quilt

2011-01-09T11:13:00.005-05:00

This quilt is a surprise birthday gift for a very dear friend. I only have a couple of weeks to get it done but the design isn't too complicated. I don't want to get too detailed about the design just in case the birthday happens to check this blog but hopefully the grand reveal won't be too far off.
These grays, oranges and yellows have been singing to me for a while so I really can't wait to get this baby put together. They all came from Fabricworm. It was soooooo much fun getting to pick them out (with Arlene's help).
I'll keep you posted!

2010 Projects

2011-01-08T16:56:00.013-05:00

Since there is no way I would be able to find the time to get individual posts for all the projects I did during the last couple of months of 2010, here is one big, mega post of projects galore.

Here is a sample apron I made for a sewing class that I offered at Birch Fabrics.
Here is a sample skirt for another sewing class I taught at Birch.
Here is a quilt I made as a thank you present for our friend who let my husband stay with him for both of his trips back to NYC. Being nice enough to have a friend crash in your studio twice warrants a quilt. And maybe some matching throw pillows...
In honor of all the teething going on around Halloween, it only seemed fitting that Lila dress up as a vampire. I made her a little cape, a stuffed bat and appliqued some "blood" drops on her tunic.
I made this lovely dress and jacket and blogged about it over here.
I made this tote with a matching mini-purse for a friend's birthday.

I made us all new stockings based on the pattern and tutorial I created here.
I made this little cutie and blogged about it here.
And finally, one of the many sets of pot holders I made for holiday presents.

Sadly, I didn't photograph most of my holiday presents because I was too busy sewing and mailing. They were all super cute, but you will just have to take my word on it.

So goodbye 2010 and hello 2011, a year of crafting and blogging!

Hello 2011!

2011-01-08T16:40:00.008-05:00

I can't believe it has been so long since my last blog post here. So so sorry - excuses, excuses, blah blah blah. My goal for 2011 is to get back into posting about my projects. Things are so busy around here with a toddler that just getting time to sew has been tough enough. Actually blogging about the projects too would have been a miracle.

Here is my first quilt for 2011. I have FIVE babies coming in the next few months so I figured the lull after the holidays would be a perfect time to get a jump start on making some presents. The new line of Dr. Seuss prints are so freakin' cute that I had to add them to my stash. Luckily, so many of my friends decided to have babies so I was never at a loss for what to do with the fabric.

Since the prints are pretty busy, I decided to keep my piecing simple. I also kept the back simple too. Everyone's eyes are going to need a break from those wild prints.

I had fun with the quilting and used Guetterman's painted yellow thread. The change in colors adds a little fun to the quilting, especially on the back side.

I can't wait to get this one in the mail and off to the soon-to-be-new parents.

Finally!

2010-10-29T14:24:00.008-04:00

I am proud to show of my latest quilt. It has been months in the making and I am so happy that it is finally finished. It is made from vintage sheets from my stash and from an awesome vintage sheet swap I participated in on Flickr. Thank you ladies!

Instead of going for a quick and easy design, I decided to push myself by doing a quilt top with more intricate blocks. The blocks took for-ev-er! I finally got around to sashing the blocks and then made the decision to have it sent to a long arm quilter rather than trying to quilt it myself.

The quilting is gorgeous but my only regret is that my favorite part of the quilting design is in the blocks and it gets a little lost with the intricacy of the block pattern and prints. It isn't until the quilt is turned over that the quilting really shines through.

Man, photographing quilts is tough but this picture seems to capture the quilting best.

The quilt is in the dryer now and will be on my bed by tonight. Whoop whoop!

Thank you gifts

2010-09-19T10:58:00.005-04:00

I bought some insulated batting on sale at Joann's over Thanksgiving in 2008 and finally opened it up. Needless to say, it was a loooooong overdue project. I spent a weekend at a friend's family's house a couple of weeks ago and needed a thank you present that could fit in my carry-on luggage. I whipped up these oven mitts and pot holders (also finally breaking into the Lizzy Dish fat quarter stash) and they were a huge hit.

I used some pre-made binding I had left over from other projects for the borders and to make little loops. I will definitely be making more of these for holiday presents.

It has been a while...

2010-09-19T10:48:00.007-04:00

So sorry to be gone for so long - my only excuse is that I have a 10 1/2 month old who is a girl on the go so my free time is very limited. Luckily, I have been able to get some sewing done and have even done a little guest blogging over at Fabricworm.

Here is a sample I made for the Tunic sewing class I am teaching in a couple of weeks.
And here is a little halter tunic I made from a free pattern on www.sewingpatterns.com. I blogged about it here.

I also wrote a post on how to make a messenger bag without a pattern here.

Sweet Little Bear

2010-08-08T21:24:00.003-04:00

I am doing some guest posts over at Fabricworm.com. This guy is my first project so if you have a chance, check it out.

Sewing Lessons!

2010-07-06T23:08:00.006-04:00

I have been a big fan of Fabricworm and Birch Fabrics since Cynthia first started selling fabric two years ago. It made my move back to Cali even more exciting because Birch's brick and mortar store was only a couple of towns away from where I live. Getting to see all of the fabrics in person is pretty amazing.

I was up at Birch a couple of weeks ago and one thing led to another and I am now going to teach some sewing classes in Birch's gorgeous loft space! It is so exciting I can barely think of anything else.

The first two classes I am going to teach are how to sew a zippered, lined cosmetics bag and how to sew a basic patchwork quilt. I wanted to make some samples to have in the store as a way of advertising the classes. I suggested this to Cynthia and the next thing I know, we are cruising around the store putting together the cutest fabric combination for the sample quilt. Okay, it was mostly Cynthia and I just followed her around and tried not to geek out in excitement.

The quilt is 36" square made up of 6 fat quarters with an extra 1/4 yard of fabric for the binding and just over a yard of fabric for the back. I wanted to keep the pattern simple and something that would be easy enough for beginners but would also be a way to teach basic patchwork skills. I also kept the quilting simple by outlining both sides of the seams with a white thread. I love how the quilting adds just a little extra to the brown squares.

The fabrics are Monaluna Woodland Chain Pool, Michael Miller Dumb Dot Chocolate, Riley Blake Colorful Cheery Circles Green, Alexander Henry 2D Zoo Pool, SEI Playday Playful Geos Teal, and Robert Kaufman Pure Organic Chocolate.

And here is the back, Monaluna Woodland Chain Pool. The binding is Riley Blake Colorful Christmas Cheery Circles White.
Here is the sample of the zippered cosmetics bag. I used Alexander Henry's Bird Seed and lined it with some Amy Butler Full Moon Polka Dots. It is lined and has an interior pocket.

The classes start in August so if you live in the Central Coast of California and interested, shoot me an email.

The Never Ending WIP

2010-07-06T22:20:00.008-04:00

I really don't like having unfinished projects. There is something about it just sitting there, unfinished and taunting me, that makes me feel anxious. Because of this, I usually try to finish things before starting new projects, but sometimes, I bite off more than I can chew.

So with that introduction, allow me to show you all 25 finished blocks I made after participating in a vintage sheet swap on Flikr. I started this right after I received the fat quarters from the swap in May and finally finally finally finished the blocks this afternoon. I am actively avoiding the fact that I now need to add white sashing to the top to finish it and am just enjoying the fact that the blocks are finished.

Here is a close up of one of the blocks. So much piecing but it was really an excellent exercise in precision sewing and patience. I was really careful and used my seam ripper a lot to make the seams line up.

I had two sheets, a blue floral and a pink floral, and used one in each block to create cohesion throughout the blocks.

And I am also considering sending it out to be quilted on a long arm machine. I know, scandalous!

A Quilt for a Baby Nephew

2010-06-27T20:03:00.009-04:00

A friend of mine recently became an aunt for the first time and I was more than happy to celebrate his arrival my making him a quilt.

This friend has commissioned many a quilt from me and we would normally go fabric shopping together to pick out the perfect combination. Now that we are on opposite sides of the country, we had to get a little bit more creative. We cruised fabric options online and then I sent her to check out fabrics in person at Purl Soho. She picked up four prints and mailed them to me. I then went to Birch Fabric and picked out two more prints. I rounded out the rest of the design with some prints from my stash.

Here is the back. The print is a subtle gray with yellow polka dots. It was hard to capture the colors though. You will just have to take my word on it.

And here is the quilt, lounging over the side of my deck.

Quick Gifts; or How To Win Over Five Year Old Girls

2010-05-01T12:56:00.008-04:00

I made these little presents for my friend to give as gifts to five year old girls. I don't know the girls personally so I had to guess on what they would like. The dolls came from The Black Apple pattern on Martha Stewart's website. They are so fun, easy and quick to make. I need to get some cute stocking fabric rather than using just plain muslin. I am also thinking about how to make little shoes for the next time around.

The faces are painted with fabric paint. They look okay from a distance but I could use some more practice.

I also made two little pencil cases as well. My friend lives in San Francisco so I am sending him to Japantown to buy fun pens, pencils, and stickers as the real treat. When I was little, I used to love little bags, pens and stickers so much. I am hoping the little girls will be excited to open up the bag and find all kinds of cool things to play with.

Please excuse the washed out picture above. I was hustling to get the pictures done before the post office closed.

A Flock of Triangles, AKA Wearing Out My Seam Ripper Quilt

2010-04-16T11:56:00.009-04:00

Let me back up. I had the unfortunate experience of losing most of my creative energy as soon as I got pregnant. Maybe all that creativity went into making a super cute baby? Combining crazy morning sickness and a cross country move meant that I didn't end up doing a lot of sewing before my girl arrived. My husband and I did manage to pick out some fabric for her quilt, but it just sat in a pretty little stack for months and months. Of course, it didn't hurt that my girl had received some really gorgeous quilts from friends so she wasn't really lacking in the "handmade with love" department.

I was finally hit with the creative stick for her quilt and decided on trying Denyse Schmidt's Flock of Triangles pattern. Now don't get me wrong, what I am about to say about Ms. Schmidt has nothing to with her creative genius, but, boy did I have some serious trouble with this quilt. The instructions on how to line up the triangles to get them to create perfect points AND have a quarter inch seam allowance just weren't sufficient for me. I sent desperate emails to a quilting guru and ripped out miles of thread trying to make my triangles look decent. In the end, they were a hot mess. The lack of precision is pretty horrifying. I would have given up a long time ago but I had already cut the fabric so I didn't have much of choice if I didn't want to lose 5 fat quarters of cuteness.

Of course, I made some mistakes too. I used white muslin rather than a thicker fabric, like a Kona solid, and I suspect that added to the precision problems I was having. My rows would not line up no matter what I did. The best tip in the instructions was to line up the center triangles so if the rows were off, the pattern wouldn't be quite as skewed.

Here is the back - the lighting of the picture doesn't really show the pale blue color I used, but trust me, it is there and very cute.

I had wanted to try going some straight line quilting as well but with the rows being so messy, I ended up going with free motion quilting (I know! Shocking!). Free motion quilting hides so many sins.

There are a bunch of tutorials online for flying geese that I fully intend on trying again sometime in the future, once I have recovered from this experience and sufficiently blocked it out. The good news is that the quilt looks pretty good and the stippling really helped. Luckily my girl hasn't complained about it and in fact chose to roll over from her back to her front on it just last night. And nothing says acceptance and love like a major gross motor skill milestone!

A Quilt for Gus

2010-04-09T22:50:00.007-04:00

One of my favorite crafty friends just gave birth to a sweet little boy named Gus. I was so excited to make him a quilt and decided to push myself out of my normal, go-to simple log cabin pattern. I recently started looking through some of my quilting books for inspiration and fell back in love with the Modern Quilt Workshop all over again.

This quilt was inspired by the book but I actually didn't follow the pattern because the pieces of fabric I wanted to use were not big enough for their techniques. Instead, I cut my pieces to be 2" wide and of varying widths. I sewed them together and then framed the smaller blue squares Kona Sky), which I think they were 4 1/2". The larger blue squares where 7 1/2". I used the string piecing technique for the small pieces of fabric and then again once again to join the finished squares. All in all, I am so happy with the way it turned out and am so proud of myself for pushing out of my quilting rut.

I also decided to get a little fancy with the back rather than my standard all white and pieced some blue and white together. I varied the widths of the blue pieces to make things interesting and my husband assured me that I did not inadvertently replicate the Greek flag.

And here is a close up of the blocks and the free motion quilting. I actually started quilting diagonal straight lines but I couldn't make the lines straight enough to not drive me insane. I tried using painter's tape as a guide but things went horribly wrong and I ended up ripping out 5 lines of quilting and going back to my happy place.

California Central Coast Modern Quilt Guild

2010-04-05T19:26:00.003-04:00

As I am sure you have heard, there are modern quilt guilds popping up all over the place. Since the closest guild is an hour and a half from me, it seemed like a good idea to start one up in the Central Coast. If you live in the Central Coast and have an interest in modern quilting, check out the guild's new website. http://calicentralcoastmqg.ning.com/

Cape Cod Wedding Quilt

2010-03-25T00:21:00.004-04:00

A good friend of mine is getting married this summer on Cape Cod. When I got the news of her engagement, I immediately started thinking about making the happy couple a quilt for their gift. The colors are inspired by the sun, sand, sky and water - all the great colors of summer. The design is loosely inspired by two of Denyse Schmidt's quilts. I am so happy with the way it turned out - it really looks like summertime to me.

I used all Kona solids for the quilt, with a gray, sky blue, maze yellow and light green for the primary colors. I alternated darker shade of blue, gray and green for a little contrast. Man do I wish I kept it for myself.

I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 4

2010-02-17T00:06:00.005-05:00

There is a baby boom going on and I am slowly working through my list of presents. This is a quilt for my friend who is due on March 1st with a little girl. I didn't mean to go so neutral with the color palette but I feel in love with owls and just had to make them the focus of the quilt. As the mother of a baby girl, I also know she is going to get a ton of pink stuff so I figured going with greens and yellows might be nice to add to the mix.

I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 3

2010-02-16T23:54:00.006-05:00

I am lucky to have some really amazing and talented people in my life who made some really gorgeous things for my daughter. It allowed me to focus on making presents for other people since she has so many great blankets and quilts to use every day. It did make me feel a little guilty that I hadn't made anything for her, so when I saw that Denyse Schmidt posted a free Scottie Dog pattern, I immediately got to work on making the little girl a stuffed dog. Actually, I emailed the link to some crafty ladies first, then hustled upstairs during nap time and got to work.

The pattern is great and super easy to follow. My one piece of advice is to pay attention to her tips on how to handle sewing the side piece around the corners. It turns out that they are there for a reason and if you choose to ignore them like I did, the front and back won't match up and you will have to start all over.

I skipped the eyes and scarf since this is going to a baby, but I would definitely add them if the recipient was a bigger kid.

I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 2

2010-02-16T23:48:00.005-05:00

I have seen some really great recovered footstools online lately and was busting to try it out. I didn't necessarily need a foot stool in my house so I contacted my very dear friend who have a deep love for designer fabric and worked out a deal. She sent me some extra fabric she had and I recovered a stool I won on ebay for her.

The stool was actually new, but it was the best option I could find at the time and was so easy to recover. I swapped out the fabric, added nail head trim and painted the frame in a high gloss white. For the most part, it was pretty easy, but that nail head trim is brutal on the hands.

It is getting sent off tomorrow to its new home and again, I am hoping for some good action shots (hint, hint)

I Have Been Busy, Just Not Blogging, Part 1

2010-02-16T23:38:00.005-05:00

Thanks to my lovely daughter's great morning nap schedule, I have actually been able to get a lot of projects done over the past few weeks. The one thing I haven't had a chance to do is blog about them, until now.

The first of my projects is a long overdue housewarming present for a very dear friend who moved into her new home a year and a half ago. Rather than surprising her with something that wasn't something she really loved, I decided to spill the beans on the quilt plan and work with her on creating something that she would use and really enjoy.

And this is what we came up with:

It is another quilt based on the Purl Bee tutorial that I fell in love with a few weeks ago.

And here is the back, with some surpise improv blocks.
I can't wait for some action shots (hint, hint).

The Dining Room

2010-02-16T23:35:00.003-05:00

Here is my dining room, with all six chair seats redone. I still want to paint the chairs but that can wait until I get a few more things checked off my To Do List.

One Down, Five To Go

2010-01-09T13:46:00.006-05:00

Moving from a tiny apartment to a real house meant that I would need a lot more furniture. I gave my wonderful in-laws a list of things we would need since they are masters of finding awesome deals. Before we even moved out, they scored us a dining room table and 6 chairs for our new house for a grand total of $45.

The table, which was a $5 score, needed a ton of TLC but thanks to my father-in-law, it looks fantastic. The chairs were snatched up for $40. The design is great and they were in pretty good shape but the vinyl seats were screaming to be redone. It took me 6 months of looking at the chairs and the decor in my dining room before I settled on brown and white striped fabric for the seats. I have found that the right choice for me will always present itself, I just need to be patient.

Here is the first chair that I re-did:

The seat cushions had to be completely redone with foam and dacron but the effort is totally worth it. You can see below that the brown vinyl left something to be desired both in aesthetics and in comfort.

The next step, after I finish the other five chairs, is to paint them white. My husband wasn't totally on board but he seems to be opening up to the idea. Once all the chairs are finished, I will post some room shots to show off the gorgeous table with the chairs that are now worthy enough to be paired with it.

Afternoon Delight

2010-01-09T13:34:00.006-05:00

Ha ha - not that kind of afternoon delight. I mean that this is such a perfect afternoon project. The design is inspired by the Purl Bee tutorial. It is so easy to put together. The color scheme makes me think of summertime in New England and makes me want to cuddle underneath it on a cool evening on the Cape.

I had a tough time capturing the true colors of the quilt, which includes pale blue, pale yellow, unbleached muslin (used for the backing as well), medium blue, a yellow batik and a dark blue batik.

This quilt is already in the mail to keep some very good friends warm this winter.

Nightstands!

2009-12-13T20:05:00.007-05:00

I have been on the lookout for matching nightstands for our bedroom since we moved to our new place. They were pretty low on the priority list for a while but they finally worked their way up to the top of my list.

I found these at my local Salvation Army. I probably paid too much for them, but they were in great shape, had a versatile style and could be dolled up with a new coat of paint and new hardware with pretty minimal effort.

The gray paint was purchased a while ago for another nightstand project and the new knobs were ordered from Anthropologie. I primed the nightstands with a spray primer first but made the mistake of using white primer, rather than a dark one. It took three coats of paint to cover up the primer, but that might have also had to do with the fact that I was painting without a lot of light. All's well that ends well though, since they are finished and looking good. Now I just need my hubby to carry them upstairs for me.

I won a pair of cut glass lamps on Ebay and am waiting for them to arrive and things should really come together.

Of course, I am already plotting on making a fabric covered headboard but that might have to wait a while...

Little Boy Blue

2009-12-13T19:58:00.006-05:00

Here is the finished quilt for our friends' little boy due any minute now. I love the way it turned out, so simple but really bright and colorful. This is such an easy quilt to make with stash fabric and really doesn't take long at all.

I kept the quilting simple with two parallel lines on either side of each horizontal seam. I also cheated by buying pre-made bias tape, which is similar to the pre-made quilt binding I have used before but the bias tape is more narrow. It looks fantastic and is so quick and easy, and for someone whose craft time is based solely around the nap time of a 6 week-old baby, a gal's got to do what a gal's got to do to get the job done.

Back In The Saddle

2009-12-04T19:24:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that it has been almost two months since my last post, which means that it has been almost two months since my last sewing project. A lot has happened since, most importantly, the arrival of a very cute little baby girl on November 1. We have spent the past month getting to know each other and not getting a lot of sleep. The little lady is starting to take some nice daytime naps and I jumped on the chance to get back on my sewing machine.

We have some wonderful friends in Amsterdam who are expecting a little baby boy any day now. I wanted to make the little guy something special and settled on a new variation of the last quilt I made. It is such an easy pattern and great for using up smaller pieces from my stash. The possibilities are endless on this style.

I cut all of the prints 5" wide and then varied the lengths. I sewed all of the pieces together to make on long strip and then cut it down into seven 40" pieces. I then cut the strips of white into two strips that were 5" wide, two that were 4" inches wide, two that were 3" wide and two that were 2" wide. The widest white strips are in the middle and the get progressively smaller.

I love this way this turned out and can't wait to quilt it. I am thinking that I will go with horizontal quilting lines that follow the seams, but don't hold me to that design. My machine is acting up and is going to get checked out on Monday. Good thing I have some other projects waiting around the house for to work on during these glorious nap times.

Little Dresses for Little Girls

2009-10-17T15:39:00.005-04:00

It seems to be the year when all the babies being born in my life are little girls. And I have no problem with that, at all. Of course I would love any boy baby as well, but little girls are so much easier to make things for. I whipped a couple of dresses for our friends' new daughter and for a friend expecting her first daughter in the Spring, just to get her excited.

The pattern is Simplicity Newlook 6576. I love this pattern so much. It is super easy to make because there are only four pattern pieces to cut, maybe five, depending on how you want to finish the hem.
I have tried a bunch of different patterns and have found that using a lining for the bust of the dress is so much easier and looks so much better than trying to wrestle with bias tape around those little tiny arm holes. The bias tape never lies flat and just seems to look a little sloppy. I vear off from the pattern directions and finish the bottom lining with my overlock machine which takes all of two minutes and looks so great. Fast and easy, just like me.

I hemmed each dress a little differently. For the orange floral, I used my overlock machine to finish the dress and then sewed ribbon over the edge. It was super fast and looks great. It also gets me around the trouble I seem to have when hemming an A-line skirt that comes with the wider fabric needing to be tucked into the more narrow part of the skirt. I am sure there is a trick to it but I sure haven't been able to figure it out. If anyone has any tips, I am all ears.

I didn't take a close up of the hem on the dress above but if you look closely, you can see the hem I made with the same material I used for the lining. I roughly traced the curve and angle of the bottom of the dress, finished the top of the hem with my overlock machine and then sewed the hem to the dress, right sides together. I flipped the hem over, pressed it and then sewed the top of the hem to the dress, as you can see the seam in the picture above. I also top stictched the lower seam to give it a more finished look.

Now that I am getting so good with this pattern, I should probably start making my girl a couple of these. I love that it is so versitile and can be used with winter cordoroy or light weight summer cottons.

Working My Way Down The List

2009-10-09T22:15:00.006-04:00

I actually have three running lists of things to do before having this baby. I could consolidate them but it makes me feel more sane if they are divided up by category, and naturally, one category is sewing projects. As I have lamented before, the early pregnancy and move really cramped my sewing style. Now that I am up and running, I only have a few more weeks to get caught up on my projects, including making some baby quilts for some newborn friends.

This quilt was inspired by a post from Pink Chalk Studio of a picture of a quilt she saw at the Spring Quilt Market. The post and image were tagged immediately and squirreled away as inspiration. Since I don't have a lot of time for a quilt top with intricate piecing, this seemed like the perfect design for something simple but different.

I also really wanted to use fabrics from my stash for so many reasons, but mostly because I have a lot of great fabrics that should be used and not just folded up for me to look at and move around the country. Seriously, I buy them and then refuse to cut. Lame.

The way I picked the fabric was actually happenstance. I was poking through my stash and realized that the 6 or 7 fabrics I would need for this quilt were already picked for me just by the way I had sorted the fabrics. If you look closely, you can see that I just grabbed fabrics from the right hand side, easy breezy.

And here is the quilt in all its finished glory. It does need a wash so it can get all crinkly and lovely but I am just too tired to wash it tonight and am too excited to wait until tomorrow to do the photo shoot and blog post.

I wanted a color pallet and prints that would be feminine but not too baby. If I had more time and less of a belly, I would totally make a larger version of this quilt for my house. It was actually so easy to do, I just might, but I might wait until after the baby is born before I wrestle another queen size quilt.

I don't know why it has taken me so long to do a quilt binding with a striped fabric cut on the bias - I absolutely love the way it looks and can't for the life of me figure out why I am not doing it all the time. It is just so cute.

This will go off in the mail on Monday to my new little friend in Brooklyn. Hopefully it will keep her warm this winter or at least provide a fun and colorful place for tummy time.

Fun With Furniture, Part 2

2009-10-09T12:46:00.006-04:00

My in-laws are superstars. They have a great eye for furniture, great bargaining skills and love to share whatever they find with me! They picked up this chair for me recently and it just blew me away. It is such a cool piece and needed a little work, which is exactly the sort of thing I want to get my hands on.

My father-in-law fixed the crack in the side so well you can't even tell there was ever a problem but the upholstery needed to be redone. It was tired and the burlap texture was just too much for my cat to resist scratching.

I have been reading upholstery books and watching online tutorials about how to do more advanced upholstery over the past couple of weeks. I was ready to up my game from slip seats and benches to more complicated stuff. I did learn some great basic techniques from these videos if anyone is interested. And of course, now I want a long nose staple gun that can attach to an air compressor sooooooo much. Maybe Santa will read this post and think of me in December.

Here is the chair before:

And here is the chair after:

The seat for this chair was easy breezy but the back was a little tricky. It required that I take the entire chair apart, which wasn't really that hard. Because of my delicate condition, I needed my husband's help on this one and we decided not to rebuild the cushions since the back of the chair was a little tricky. I have a feeling that I will redo this chair again down the road and take it all apart, but decided to play it safe the other night by just adding fabric over the existing fabric and foam. Cheating, maybe, but it still looks good.

Here is the chair modeling with another recent in-law acquisition, the most lovely mid-century modern secretary in my guest room. I imagine my guests sitting in the chair, writing me love notes to leave behind after their stay.

This is definitely a project that went well enough but my skills will definitely be improved with more practice, but overall, I am really happy with the way things turned out. I used Amy Butler's August Fields decorator weight fabric for the redo. The material was easy to work with and felt strong enough to be stretched nice and snug without warping.

Fun With Furniture, Part 1

2009-10-09T02:21:00.009-04:00

Redoing furniture has been an interest of mine for a long while. I was able to redo some chairs and a bench back in NYC, but that was about the extent of what I could in my tiny apartment. But now that I am out of the city, with access to all this great, really crazy inexpensive furniture that is just crying out to be redone and the space to finally work, I am finally getting to almost fully embrace my dream of redoing furniture to my heart's content. (I say almost because I am almost 9 months pregnant so I am slightly hindered by a giant belly).

Here is my first project - the bench. My in-laws picked this up at a garage sale and I quickly snatched it up from them. I wasn't in the market for a bench but I wanted an easy project that I could do as a warm up.

There is an upholstery supply store near me so I picked up some foam and dacron to rebuilt the bench and some new paint. I have plenty of upholstery weight fabric in my stash and ended up using some lovely silk that was given to me by someone special who also really loves fabric. She bought this fabric at ABC in New York and then gave it to me when she was moving.

And here it is looking all cute and fancy:

And here it is in it's temporary home in my bedroom. Since this wasn't a planned project, I don't really have a place for it yet. I imagine it eventually in my girl's room, once she has a room of her own, but that won't be for a while. I know I am playing fast and loose using silk with a small child, but then again, I am a risk taker.

Another Commissioned Quilt

2009-10-03T23:41:00.008-04:00

My good friend asked me to make her niece a quilt back when I was still a New Yorker. We went to Purl together and picked out these fabulous fabrics, which were them promptly packed away in boxes and moved across the country. This design is becoming my go-to pattern - I love picking the fabrics and finding the balance in the block combinations, which are highlighted with the white frames.

The Echino fabric that my friend chose for the back is my favorite part of the quilt. It ties in the colors from the quilt top and more importantly, looks like I put a lot more work into the back than I actually did.

I apologize for the terrible quality of the pictures. I was rushing to take a couple of shots before the post office closed for the day. Maybe I will get some action shots to supplement my meager collection. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Thank You Presents

2009-10-03T23:23:00.006-04:00

We have been blessed with amazingly generous friends who have shared and given us so much baby stuff. It has been such a huge relief because 1) baby stuff is expensive, and 2) I have no idea what a baby needs so having experienced parents share their knowledge is pretty awesome.

As a way to thank you, I put together a little care package for one family. I tried making some dolls again for the twin girls and a tote for the mom. I am sure the dad could use the tote too, but my money is on the mom claiming dibs on it.

The dolls are tricky and I am still on the fence about how I feel about making them and the final product. They are funky, that's for sure. I didn't bother to make a pattern (as you can tell from the differences between the two dolls) and wanted to make them close enough that it would feed twin rivalry but wanted them different enough that they could be clearly distinguished.

I hope they will hold up to some intense 1 1/2 year old love and kept them free of any buttons or other things that could get loose. I added a little apron to each doll because the little ones might enjoy untying the bows and I know the mom is going to just love me for giving her another job to do when she has to tie them back on.

The tote is super simple - I didn't line it and just sewed and trimmed off the corners of the to create a flat bottom. I love the fabric, which I picked up in Mexico.

Hopefully the family will like their homemade treats and will send me some action shots (hint hint).

Coming Up For Air

2009-09-20T01:45:00.007-04:00

Hello again! I know, it has been a long time and I have missed blogging and sewing so much. I am happy to report that I am finally settled into my new house and spent the past couple of days sewing again for the first time in months. I started slowly by hemming some curtains but couldn't wait to get involved in a more serious project.

I sewed this quilt top back in NYC but was sidetracked by some crazy morning sickness. By the time I felt good enough to sew again, I was packing my apartment and getting ready to move across the country. Then I had to wait and wait and wait for my stuff to arrive and to get the house unpacked so I could have time to sew. It was tough but being reunited with my sewing machines feels so good.

The quilt top is made from Denise Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope collection and a whole bunch of other prints. It measures about 95" x 95" give or take some inches and is backed in solid white muslin. I "cheated" a little and used pre-made quilt binding. I could have taken the time to make my own binding but I just needed to get this one done since I am in the home stretch of this pregnancy and am not sure how much longer I am going to be up for large basting projects.

Basting this quilt was good and bad. I finally have the floor space to spread out a large quilt for easier basting but working around a giant pregnant belly sure was tough. I bought knee pads at Home Depot and that made crawling around on the floor much more comfortable. I was tempted to take some pictures of me rocking the knee pads but decided out of modesty to refrain.

I am pretty pleased with the end result but more than that, my cute husband loves it. He insisted on putting it on our bed as soon as it came out of the dryer and taking it for a test nap. After doing all of the lifting and moving for me, I figured he deserved it.

Quilt Mini Tutorial

2009-07-19T13:33:00.004-04:00

Anne, this is for you:

I received a very timely request for a tutorial on how I made this quilt. It is timely because all of my sewing and crafting supplies are currently in boxes and waiting to be moved, which means my free time is spent packing the rest of my house and no fun projects to post here on the blog.

This quilt is made up of 100 charm squares plus an extra 44 squares cut from my stash, for a total of 144 squares. The squares measured 3 5/8". Since the charm squares were from Japan and measured in centimeters, I had to convert the measurements to inches, hence the funky 3 5/8" size. I use a 1/4 inch seam allowance and the measurements take that into account.

I created 12 rows of 12 charm squares plus 12 white rectangles. Before I started sewing, I laid out the 144 charm squares to make sure the colors and prints were balanced and looked right. Sadly, that is the extent of my artistic technique.

Between each charm square is a white rectangle measuring 3" x 3 5/8". I used the string piecing technique to sew each charm square to the white rectangles, which made sewing each row go so much faster. Each row started with a charm square and ended with a white rectangle.

Once all 12 rows were sewn, I cut 11 strips of white fabric that are 2 5/8" wide and the same length as the finished charm square rows. I sewed the white strips between the charm rows. I added a five inch border around the body of the quilt, making the finished quilt approximately* 80" square.

I went with free motion quilting and an easy binding. There is probably an exact term for the binding technique I used but all of my quilting books are packed so I am just going to do my best to describe it. I cut three inch binding strips and folded it in half. I sewed the binding onto the front side, with the raw edges lined up with the raw edges of the quilt. I folded the binding over the raw edge of the quilt and then I committed the mortal sin of machine sewing the binding onto the back of the quilt. If I was a good quilter, I would sew the binding on the back by hand but I am a bad quilter and by the time I am doing the binding, I just want the quilt to be done already.

After that, I washed the quilt to bring out all the great texture that comes with free motion quilting and have been enjoying it ever since. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask for clarifications if something isn't clear.

* I say approximately because I am of the school of Flying By The Seat Of Pants Quilting and don't do a whole lot of planning before I start quilting and usually end up with things working out a little more or less than what I expected and certainly never exact.

Quilt Action Shots - IX

2009-07-12T10:59:00.004-04:00

I just had to post this picture. It is only to show off my quilting stitches and has nothing to do with the cute little fingers and wrist wrinkles, nothing at all.

Another Project Crossed Off the To-Do List

2009-06-28T16:18:00.006-04:00

I am finally finished with a long overdue project for some very special friends. This project started out a plan for a birthday dress for a one year-old but that didn't turn out so well. So being flexible, we reworked the plan and made some pillows instead.

* Although the pillows were modeled on my bed, no naps were snuck in.

Hot Quilty in the City

2009-06-28T13:04:00.004-04:00

Here is my latest baby quilt, modeling in Bryant Park. If you look closely, you can see the Empire State Building reflected in the building behind the quilt. This quilt is being sent of to soon to be new parents that are waiting to be surprised about the sex of the baby. Hopefully they will like the neutral colors and it will get a lot of love.

Give Away Winner

2009-05-27T23:11:00.006-04:00

I took the "low tech" approach to picking the winner of the scrap giveaway by writing the numbers one through eleven on individual pieces of paper, folding them and putting them in a bowl. I then asked my very cute husband to pick a piece of paper. He picked the number 4, making The Robins Nest the winner of the scraps since she was the fourth person to leave a comment. Congratulations!

Thank you all so much for leaving comments. I am planning a cross-country move this summer and will have more scrap giveaways now that I know there are so many people interested.

Trying Something New

2009-05-27T22:58:00.007-04:00

There are some very sweet twins who are about to turn one in a couple of weeks that need birthday presents. I decided to try something new and make them each a doll. Sadly, I ran out of stuffing so I could only finish one; good thing I have a couple of more weeks to get the second one done.

I just made up the pattern for this doll this afternoon and it worked out pretty well. The only thing I would do differently would be to make the arms and legs a little wider for easier stuffing. The face is embroidered because the babies are still so young that I didn't want to risk anything that might get pulled off and could be a choking hazard.

I am not sure how I feel about the face - I think the next face I make will get a little revision. To be honest, I was reluctant to put a lot of time into the embroidery because I did it first and wasn't sure how well the project was going to go over. Hopefully the little girls won't mind the funky eyes.

The Next Project

2009-05-21T14:06:00.003-04:00

I am so excited to work on this next baby quilt. It will be a gift for a friend of a friend. The fabrics were picked out a while ago, back when I was naive and believed that my morning sickness wouldn't be that bad. Oh well, live and learn. The good thing is that the baby hasn't arrived yet and if I hustle, it can get delivered before the baby.

Since the parents don't know the gender yet, my friend and I picked out nice neutral colors that should work for any little girl or boy. The design is going to be may favorite, preppy quilt style - I just love the clean lines and white sashing. It is such a great way to show off the beautiful prints.

Anyone interested in a scrap giveaway?

2009-05-20T16:31:00.005-04:00

I have a decent amount of scraps leftover from my last quilt top that need a home. The fabrics include a lot of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope in red and brown, some My Folklore, a little Amy Butler and some other designers and solids.

The scraps consist of lots and lots of triangles measuring 2 1/2 inches x 2 1/2 inches x 3 1/4 inches, a bunch of approximately 12 inch long strips that vary in width, and a stack of pieces already sewn together.

All of these scraps have so much potential and the only reason why I am giving them away is that I am being honest about all of my upcoming projects and time commitments. It would be so much better to send them to a good home rather than have them sit in my scrap bag, neglected and lonely.

So if anyone is interested in some free fabric (I will ship it to you anywhere in the US), leave me a comment by May 27th. If more than one person is interested, I will pick a random winner. I really hope someone is interested in this. : )

She's Alive!

2009-05-18T14:39:00.008-04:00

Hello again! I know, I know. I have been gone for such a long time, especially after such a great productive January. But I have a good excuse and it is called morning sickness. It turns out that everything, including sewing made me nauseous. Who would have thought that looking at a quilt top could make my stomach churn? Anyone else have this problem? The good news is that I am finally feeling better and am able to think about sewing again.

I do have some great action shots of my little friends modeling their new pants. I actually made these pants in early February but the thought of dragging myself off the couch and mailing them was just too much. Good thing I have a cute husband who took pity on our friends and sent the package for me.

The pants are bigger versions of the ones I did for little Julia and the reviews are a lot better. The waists on the larger sizes seem to be more proportionate and have plenty of growing room too. They look like perfect pajamas and lounge wear to me!

Quilt Action Shots - VIII

2009-03-30T10:58:00.004-04:00

I received this pictures this morning and I can't stop cracking up. Here is the very cute couple modeling the Secret Wedding Quilt. What good gift recipients! They must know me really well because giving me actions shots is pretty much a guarantee that I will be making them more presents. Think of all the birthdays and anniversaries to come!

I even heard a rumor that new sheets and a new bed skirt were purchased to coordinate with the quilt. Hearing that actually made me tear up a bit. It makes me so happy to know that the quilt is loved and will be used. I think that is all any crafter ever wants to hear when they give a gift.

Enough waxing sentimental:

Love this "caught in a nap" shot!

And this one too! So cute!

And please let me assure you, the photographer kept things very PG by having a 19 month old toddler and a dog chaperon the shoot.

Baby Pants Action Shots

2009-03-25T20:06:00.004-04:00

So Baby Julia is already hard at work, modeling all kinds of fun things. I made her these Crescent Moon Yoga Pants as part of her baby shower gift. It is so great to have a baby close by that can actually test drive some patterns for me and Baby Julia is certainly doing her part.
The pattern was a little confusing, especially since it only calls for two legs and a waist band but I managed to muddle through. I used my overlock machine to sew the legs together and to add on the waistband. I serged the bottoms of the pants and then used a double needle on my sewing machine to hem them.

As you can see, the new born size is still pretty big for this two month old. Julia's mom assured me that the high-waisted look is in with the new born crowd so the pants were fine until Julia grew into them. So sweet. But then again. Julia is so cute, she could rock a potato sack and look adorable.

I made two more pairs for some bigger kids and will see how the bigger versions work, but it looks like I could definitely make the waist band at least half the width to keep the band out of the baby's arm pits. I would also make the waist band a little longer since I found it hard to stretch the band to match up evenly with the pants. The material I used a stretch cotton jersey that I picked up from Joann's that has a lot of give, but it just wasn't quite enough to work with the legs. It might be different with a different jersey but I think the way to go is to cut the waist band a little longer next time and the see how it lines up. That way, I can always make it a little smaller.

Here is the little booty shot. (I know! I can't stand how cute she it either.) It is pretty clear that I could cut off at least an inch or two from the body of the pants and reduce the width of the waist band and these pants would fit a whole lot better.

Stay tuned for more modeling sessions with Julia...

Quilt Action Shots - VII

2009-03-25T19:59:00.005-04:00

OMG! Are you ready for this? These are so cute, I can barely stand it. Here is Baby Julia hanging out on her quilt. Again, it is pictures like these that drive me to make baby quilts. My heart melts and my ovaries explode just looking at these pictures.

She is so cute you don't even notice the quilt.

Secret Wedding Quilt - Part 4

2009-03-11T13:55:00.009-04:00

Here it is, all washed and ready to get sent out tomorrow. I love how it turned out and can't wait for the happy couple to get it in the mail.

The fabric has a faint sheen to it so it doesn't photograph as clearly as I had hoped.

Here are some close up shots of some of the blocks and the quilting.

Here is the back. I love the yellow and orange and how the blue binding looks against the bright colors. It is all sunshine and happiness and can definitely be flipped over if they want a little variety.

Here is one more close up of the blocks on the backside and the binding.

Since both my brother-in-law and his fiance are both super cute, maybe I can persuade them to take some actions for the blog. : )

Too Much Country? Not Enough Rock 'n Roll?

2009-03-09T15:20:00.016-04:00

I bought a stack of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabric months ago on a whim but without a plan in mind. The prints aren't my usual style but I was so attracted to them that I broke down and bought them regardless. I finally saw a quilt in a blog posting about a Teen Vogue photo shoot of all things and decided to use the fat quarter stack along with some fabric from my stash and scrap bag to supplement and to make sure it wasn't too matchy-matchy and to make it a little less country. I am not so sure I was successful.

Because my inspiration came from a picture, I didn't have a good idea on how to approach making the quit top. I kicked around some ideas with a very wise quilter but ended up just plowing forward with my fingers crossed. I tried to map out the pieces on paper first to figure out how to do the ends but ended up cutting the full sized trapezoids first. After roughly figuring out how many trapazoids I needed to sew to make a 90 inch row, I got busy. I ended up using my ruler and rotary cutter on both ends and cutting straight edges, rather than trying to piece the smaller strips. Lazy and wastful but so much faster ; )

I added 1 and 7/8 inch stripes of navy blue in between the chevrons to break up the prints. I love how it looks. I keep thinking that this style would look so good with solids from the same family or a collection of more modern fabrics. (But that it is really my fault for picking fabrics that aren't really my style even though they are super cute.) Pale yellow, pale gray, pale blue and white could make for a gorgeous gender neutral baby quilt.

And here is a close up.

Now I just need to pick up some batting and get this baby quilted. It will be nice to mix up the quilts that I have on my bed now that spring is here and the big down duvet comforter will be going in to storage. And if I can't get over it, at least it will be a great quilt for houseguests.

Good thing I already have another quilt for our house in the queue.

Secret Wedding Quilt - Part 3

2009-03-03T17:10:00.007-05:00

So here is the wedding quilt. I finished the quilting yesterday and now just have to make the binding. I can't believe that I am in the home stretch. It took a lot of time to make all of the blocks but once that was done, things really started moving.

Here is a close up of some of the blocks - they are wonky log cabins. I tried to keep a balance of size and color but didn't worry too much about it. All of the blocks were improvised.

Here is the back. Although I didn't need to, I added the orange stripe to break up the orange and to make it reversible.
Here is a close up of the three little blocks I added to the back. There was a brief moment when I considered making more, but then I reined in that insanity and moved on to the fun part - free motion quilting.
The next round of pictures will be of the finished quilt, which should hopefully be done this week. I can't wait to see how it looks after getting washed. Good thing I have another quilt in the queue so I am not tempted to keep this one for myself.

The Secret Wedding Quilt, Part 2

2009-03-02T18:52:00.008-05:00

I was really worried that this quilt would become my great white whale, especially after how I left things last time. The first thing I did was take a break. I was getting frustrated with how the blocks weren't lying flat and the time apart was just what I needed. I realized that I was making mistake with the first round of blocks by not using my rotary cutter to make a straight edge as I built each side of the log cabin. Once I started doing that, the blocks looked so much better.

After I finished all of the blocks, I ironed the hell out of the first round of blocks and only had to redo a couple to get them to lie as flat as possible. I also knew that I could have a little puffiness and still be okay because I was planning on stippling the quilt so some of the puckers would be hidden in the quilting.

This is the biggest quilt I have ever made. It is a queen size - 90 inches by 90 inches. I know! It is humongous but the happy couple is worth it. To pin the three layers together, I tried an idea I read about online that involves taping the layers to the floor. Sadly, I have to move my sofa to clear a space in my apartment. Who knew that 7 1/2 square feet was so hard to find?

Here is the back taped to the floor. I pieced the back with a couple of mini blocks to make it a little more interesting.

And here is the finished quilt top taped down over the batting and the back. The lighting isn't great in my living room and the material has a slight sheen to it so this isn't the clearest picture but... I just couldn't resist posting pics now.

I spent the afternoon quilting it and finally finished it in time to go to the gym. Unfortunately, quilting all day can wear a gal out and I mostly did a lot of lying around on the mats. I will take more pictures tomorrow of the quilting when I have better light.

Pinwheels!

2009-02-23T19:37:00.005-05:00

I have been meaning to try out a pinwheel quilt for ages and finally had the reason to make one this week. I had this fabric in my stash and knew that it would a perfect fit for the pinwheels.

My friend wanted to have the name of the recipient embroidered on the quilt. I went a pink that matches the fabric but sadly doesn't show up that well in these pictures. You are just going to have to take my word for it that it looks super cute. Inspired by all the great embroidering I have seen from my quilting bee ladies, I traced a butterfy from one of the prints and embroidered it next to the name for a little pizazz!

A Very Productive Couple of Days, Part 2

2009-02-20T19:15:00.005-05:00

So knitting was my gateway craft. I learned it from a co-worker in 2003 and took to it really quickly. Sadly, I plateaued at an advanced beginner stage that I can't seem to shake, especially now that I am so obsessed with sewing. I don't have a huge stash of needles but have enough that they could benefit from an organizer and shouldn't be shoved in a tote bag, getting caught in my skeins of yarn.

And now that I am conquering my to do list, this project got the time it deserved. I used some fabric from my stash and some lovely twill tape I received as a Christmas present for the tie.

A Very Productive Couple of Days, Part 1

2009-02-20T18:58:00.007-05:00

I am steadily working on my to do list and I am giddy with excitement. Recently, the mailman delivered some new patterns for me to try out, a little girl dress (I know, another one!) and a baby yoga pants pattern.
This little dress pattern was a breeze to make. I love lined bodices of dresses more than ever after struggling with other patterns that don't call for it. Trying to make a neat hem on such a little armhole makes me crazy because 1) it is hard and 2) I can't do it very well. It also gives the dress that little extra bit of structure and a fun opportunity to add a splash of color.

On this dress, I tried out the rolled hem foot on my machine. Things went pretty well for the most part and I think it looks appropriate on a dress this small. This is the newborn size and I am going to do whatever it takes to get some action shots of this dress.

As much as I love making little dresses, I noticed that most of the time, my favorite little babies were in stretch jersey pants so I picked up this pattern to try out. The pattern was a little confusing because it has two design options, one for regular diapers and another for cloth diapers. I had to guess on what to do at first so I used some blue jersey I had in my stash that I was willing to sacrifice. Once I got through the confusion of how to proceed with the pattern without the insert for cloth diapers, it was a snitch to make. I have an overlock machine so I did everything except for the leg hem on it. The only thing I would have done differently was to hem the legs before sewing up the leg seem.

I am going to give them to the newest baby in my life for her to test drive them. The butt looks pretty big but hopefully it only looks big to me because I am not used to adjusting for diapers when it comes to pants.

All finished, washed and shipped

2009-02-09T21:53:00.006-05:00

Here is the quilt I made last month, with it's finished binding, washed and already in the mail. I absolutely love this quilt, and I received the nicest phone call from my friend tonight, thanking me for the quilt. She said it was her favorite baby gift, of course, she might be saying that to everyone she received a gift from, but I am going to believe her. So here is another look at the quilt in all of its crinkly glory.

It is hard to tell from the picture but the back is a navy blue with tiny white polka dots. Love it!

And here are some close ups of the cuteness.

Perhaps my all-time favorite diaper bag

2009-02-09T21:39:00.009-05:00

I am getting caught up on blogging about some projects I finished in January, including this diaper bag. The request was for a bag that could go from carrying diapers to a work tote. I love the orange and gray print - it is so sophisticated and original. I might just have to go back to Cancun and pick up some more.

I put three pockets on the exterior, including the one below and one on either end.

The interior is lined with pockets on both sides and closes with a magnetic snap.

I also made a changing pad that fits easily in the bag and can be retired once the bag becomes a work tote.

A quilt for Julia

2009-02-08T18:49:00.003-05:00

Sweet Julia was finally born last week and I got to meet her today. I brought along this quilt for her. It wasn't a real surprise since I had already assured her mother months ago that she would be getting a special quilt.

Since Julia's parents waited until she was born to find out if she was a girl or a boy, I decided to wait too. I wanted fabrics that were nice and bright. I fell hard for the prints with the robots and the planets, especially because they weren't only offered in traditional boy colors. The oranges and yellows make me so happy and I loved being able to work in some blues from my stash as an accent.

Now I jut have to patiently wait for some action shots.

I finally did it!

2009-02-08T12:52:00.006-05:00

I am so happy! My awesome sofa was in desperate need of some recovering attention. It is 6 years old and had seen better days. It was sun damaged, stained and generally abused. The sofa frame was also scratched and worn, mostly from my evil, but so cute cat.

Here is a Before picture - it doesn't look too bad but that is because you can't see it too closely.

And here it is in all of it's finished glory!

I found the fabric online, actually from a link in my gmail account. I purposefully found very inexpensive fabric; it was about $5 a yard. I have never recovered a large piece of furniture and knew that it could go very bad and I didn't want to waste a lot of money if things didn't end well.

The whole thing was way easier than I expected. I did the cushions a couple of weeks ago and they worked out pretty well. I had a little trouble with the round corners of the seat cushions but they came out ok in the end.

As for the frame, I draped the fabric over the back and the sides and pinned in to the couch. I then basted the pieces together inside out to get the snug fit. I took the cover off, sewed over the basted stitching on my machine, flipped it right side out and checked the fit. It only took a couple of hours and I didn't cry at all.

In a fit of productivity, I also recovered a cushion with the white and brown geometric print to tie in the bench I recovered a while ago. All in all, I am a very happy gal.

The Secret Wedding Quilt, Part 1

2009-01-15T14:56:00.005-05:00

So my absolutely adorable brother-in-law is getting married in May and I couldn't be happier with his choice of bride. She is so cute and just perfect for him. As much of a catch as he is, he totally scored with this lady, for sure.

And since my cute brother-in-law is also responsible for setting me up my my husband, I owe him, BIG TIME. I knew immediately that I would make them a quilt for their wedding present because I really wanted to give them something personal and from the heart. I decided on a Denyse Schmidt inspired design. It was her quilting book that sparked my brain and made me want to try out quilting. Initially, I shied away from doing something directly inspired by one of her quilts because I really wanted to push myself and see what I could come up with on my own first. Now that I have a few (cough cough) quilts under my belt, I am more comfortable cribbing her style.

Serendipity helped me pick out the colors for this quilt. I walked into my local fabric store and saw these two blue/greens leaning up again each other and that was all I needed. The combination reminds me of the ocean, which is so much a part of the happy couple's life.

Here are 2/3 of the blocks laid out on my bed. I have about 11 more to go before I can piece the top together.

The quilt is going to be a queen size (I know, I am scared about quilting something so big too) and each block will get cut down to 14 1/2 " square. If it works out that I can make them into rectangles, I might do that instead and skip adding a border on the top and bottom to fill out the quilt.
I didn't use a pattern when making the blocks. I cut the center squares first and then cut irregular strips selvage to selvage and worked with what I picked up. I love how wonderfully wonky they are, but as you can see, they don't lie perfectly flat. I am crossing my fingers that some spray starch will help me to get them flat enough that I can quilt it properly, but there will be a lot of praying to the sewing goddess on this one.

If anyone out in the internet has any suggestions, I am all ears.

Here is a nice flat block that shows of the colors. Too bad they aren't all like this.

Oh, this quilt is a surprise so if you know that happy couple, please help me keep this secret.

Too be continued...

A birthday present

2009-01-15T14:52:00.004-05:00

Here is a little make up bag I made for my too cute future sister-in-law. I am loving the combination of turquoise and red, so much so that I made another one just like it for me. I added some fun little lip balms, breath freshener and a gift certificate to Sephora to round out the present.

Pretty Storage

2009-01-08T19:53:00.006-05:00

I bought this unfinished wood storage box at Ikea a while ago in a desperate attempt to keep my growing stash of ribbons and buttons somewhat organized.

Here it is, all boring and plain.

I picked up some craft paint and Modge Podge at Michael's down in North Carolina when I was visiting friends over Thanksgiving. (Thanks again Jess!) The frame of the box is painted a lovely cream. For the drawers, I used some cute Snow & Graham wrapping paper and Modge Podge.

Sadly, I have never used Modge Podge before and I couldn't be bothered to read the directions so I just flew by the seat of my pants. I think I got it right though. I cut the drawers out of a continuous piece so the pattern is recreated when all of the drawers are closed, painted on a coat of MP, smoothed the paper over the front of the drawer and then painted on another coat of MP and then let it dry. A little of the dye came off the paper when I applied the overcoat of MP but I like to think of it as being "antiqued."

Here are all the drawers drying before getting put back into place.

And here is my finished storage box. Not bad, huh? I might need to take another trip over to Ikea to pick up a couple more of these babies. The possibilities are endless.

I finally got around to painting it and recovering the drawers with some cute Snow & Graham wrapping paper.

An Easy Breezy Skirt

2009-01-07T19:16:00.005-05:00

There are two little New York fashionistas that have very strong opinions about what they will wear. At ages 4 and 3, these sisters know what they like and know what they don't. Luckily I passed the first test when I made them these dresses, which are now referred to as the "Made Dress" as in the dresses were made for them. I know! So stinkin' cute.

Of course, I crave their approval so I spent the past couple of months collecting swatches for them but couldn't find any winners. I went out on a limb and picked up this print since it had the requisite pinks, purples and oranges without prior approval. Yup - I am a risk taker. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The pattern is a free download from the Oliver + S website. It is super simple and the ribbon trim is a great little touch. I added a small pocket on the front and embellished it with a little pink fish button. I used similar buttons on the dresses and I heard that they were a big hit.

Someone Is Turning One!

2009-01-07T19:02:00.006-05:00

My husband's first cousin once removed is absolutely adorable and is about to turn one. She has her own quilt but doesn't have any Lunden clothes yet so I figured it was the right to rectify the situation. The best part is that she is a little Los Angeles baby so I can have her in sundresses all year round. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will get some actions shots soon.

The cutest part of this whole project is that my husband picked out the fabric. I don't know how he will feel if I tell the internet about this, but my little helper picked out the coordinating fabrics when we were in California last summer. I am so proud of him.

Baby Boy Blue Quilt

2009-01-06T16:44:00.004-05:00

I was racing against the clock making this quilt but alas, some babies like to be born early. Little Nikolas Ryan was born two days ago, before I could get this finished and sent off in the mail.

Of course, I made a lazy crafter's decision of going ahead with my small stash of pre-made binding without measuring it first and came up about 12 inches short. Hopefully Joann's Fabric won't dally and send me some more pronto. (The fact that I can't just drive to a Joann's makes city living at a time like this pretty painful.)

And I am not too worried that the new mommy will will be offended that the quilt will be a little late. I am sure that she will have plenty to do to keep herself busy.

I had been planning this quilt for a while and am posting these dark pictures because I am too excited to wait for the binding, a good wash and better light. I love working with one color and pairing the different tones with all the prints I had been hording in my stash. Little Nikolas' parents met on a boat and his father is Greek so I really wanted to tie in ocean colors, a subtle nautical theme and a nod to the Greek flag.

The quilting is mostly stippling with a lot of loops. It was fun to experiment and I can't wait to see how it turns out after a wash. I am signed up for a free motion quilting class at City Quilters and am really looking forward to getting some good tips - winging the way I have been can make for some bad habits.

Another Diaper Bag

2009-01-02T17:18:00.008-05:00

This could be my new favorite bag and my pictures do not do it justice at all. I wanted to make something nice and roomy with a lot of pockets for storage and boy is it. It is perfect for carrying everything a baby needs and maybe even the baby. Just kidding, this is not a baby carrier ; ) I also put together a coordinating changing pad.

Christmas Present Action Shots

2009-01-02T17:09:00.006-05:00

I made this pillow for my mother for Christmas. It is made with vintage embroidery and eyelet lace. Here it is taking center stage on my mom's bed.

A fancy little dress

2009-01-02T16:59:00.004-05:00

This dress was a labor of love. It took two different types of fabric, two different patterns and a whole lot of time before getting it right. I went through every emotion trying to get this right and wanted to give up so many times but I am so happy that I pushed through. I can see making this dress in so many different fabrics - the possabilites are endless.

A few Christmas presents

2009-01-02T16:49:00.006-05:00

I whipped up some peach cherry and ginger jam and little bird ornaments for little Christmas presents this year. I loved the way they turned out and will be making more next year, for sure.

Finished Scrap Quilt

2009-01-02T16:27:00.008-05:00

I started this quilt several months ago and I finally finished it the week before Christmas. This is one of few times where I started a quilt and didn't finish it right away. My scrap bag was over flowing and making a scrap quilt seemed like a great idea. I started by cutting the scraps into two incch pieces of various lengths and then sewed them into long strips. Once I had nine strips, I sewed them together and cut them into twelve inch blocks. The sashing came from my stash, along with the batting and the yellow binding so the only thing I had to buy for this project was the white muslin backing.

Here it is partially quilted and waiting for the binding.

And here it is finished and waiting for a nice afternoon nap.

The Cutest Little Model

2008-12-01T21:12:00.005-05:00

My little model has clearly picked up some great modeling techniques over the past couple of months. Look at her smiling with her eyes. Perhaps she has been watching America's Next Top Model marathons. She is such a good sport and did not protest once through the photo shoot, even though she is teething.

Thanksgiving Presents

2008-12-01T21:04:00.005-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving with great friends, and great friends deserve presents. I made my hostess this tote bag for a birthday present. She supplied the linen and I did the rest. The make-up bag was a gift for her sister and I am kicking myself for not making two since the two bags look so great together. Good thing Christmas is right around the corner.

Make-Up Bags Galore!

2008-11-23T21:27:00.004-05:00

I just finished up ten make-up bags. They are all so cute lined up on my ironing board waiting to be packed up and delivered tomorrow.

The Holidays Are Coming!!

2008-11-18T12:20:00.003-05:00

Like you needed me to remind you of that. That is what Walgreens and all of the other drug stores are for. How else would you know that the holidays are coming unless you saw Christmas stuff for sale in October?

As usual, the holiday season is going to be busy so I am trying to get a head start on my gift list. My goal this year is to make as many presents as I can with at least one handmade gift for everyone on my gift list. I have created my list and this past weekend turned my sewing room into Santa's workshop and was able to cross two things off my list. The presents are finished and photographed and all ready to be tunred into blog posts, but the recipients read this blog so I have keep up the veil of mystery. This creates a very big problem because I am such a big mouth and love to show off what I have created, especially when they are as cute as what I did this past weekend.

What to do? What to do?

Why post the pictures on Flickr, of course. If you want to see what I have been working on, you can click here for the link to my recent creations. If you are my mother or my in-laws, you SHOULD NOT do that, especially you ,Mom. No snooping or you will just be disappointed on Christmas morning. Isn't that what you told me?

Another little dress

2008-11-09T23:31:00.002-05:00

This time, this dress is for a four year old and not a baby. I love the little pockets and the turquoise and while polka dot trim. I added a little fishie button on the collar to make because I have it on excellent authority that little fun buttons are the best part of the dress. I also have little kitties and mice buttons and they are a HUGE hit so I figured it couldn't hurt to add a fish to this dress.

Beetle Mania

2008-11-09T23:25:00.003-05:00

Here is another new print - Japanese Beetles! It is just so cute and if you look closely at the bottom left corner you can see one of the little beetles I keep mentioning. I also lined the bag with a navy blue cotton which really brings out the white in the exterior print.

A New Purse

2008-11-09T23:20:00.002-05:00

I put this purse together with a specific request for a bright yellow lining. The blue and white print with the splash of yellow work so well together. The blue print was purchased in Mexico and the yellow wool came from the Garment District. This one is for a friend but I will definitely be making myself one soon.

The Cutest Little Elephants

2008-11-08T14:19:00.006-05:00

Today is a perfect day for sewing, lots of rain and no other pressing errands. I started this quilt the other night and was able to finish it up today. We don't know if the recipient is a boy or a girl so the colors and patterns are all very gender neutral. The bright animals and colors just make me so happy and the back is a nice, light blue that works with the cream thread I used for the free motion quilting. I even added a little tag to the back, just for fun.

New Office Curtains

2008-11-08T14:14:00.007-05:00

I finally got around to sewing up some new office curtains. It is truly amazing what nice curtains can do to a room. Too bad they can't make you completely ignore the desperate need for a paint job, but they do come close. I chose Anna Maria Horner's Pressed Flowers print so that the curtains would work nicely with the chairs I recovered a while ago. The office is in full sewing mode right now so pictures of the entire room and the pretty pillow I made will have to wait until next time. The curtain hardware all came from Ikea. Those clippy rings are such an amazing time saver.

Sock Monkey Baby Dress

2008-10-30T19:44:00.001-04:00

Sock Monkey Baby Dress
Originally uploaded by mellymellun

Here is another little baby dress I made over the weekend.

And Coming...

2008-10-12T12:51:00.003-04:00

I bought this fabric in Italy a year and a half ago and have been patiently waiting for the right project to use some of my precious two meters. And I think this dress proves itself to be worthy, and then some.

Baby Dresses Keep Coming

2008-10-12T12:44:00.004-04:00

Here is another tunic baby dress I just finished up. I was toying between the contrasting aqua with white polka dots for the trim and some pink, orange and brown polka dots. I went with the aqua on this one but there is enough corduroy for another version. I kept this dress pretty simple with just a little detail around the neck, arms and the finish on the hem, along with a little top stitching on the seams. I am picturing some tights and a little long sleeve t-shirt to complete the outfit.

Baby Boy Zoo Quilt

2008-10-12T12:40:00.003-04:00

Here is my latest baby quilt. The quilt top is Alexander Henry's Zoo 2D print and the back is a vibrant royal blue. I was able to show off my new found free motion quilting skills on this one and let me tell you, working with a crib size quilt is so much easier than quilting a double size quilt. I love the simplicity of this quilt and the great contrast between the royal blue and the white in the quilting and the binding.

More make-up bags

2008-09-21T18:07:00.005-04:00

Here is another little make up bag this weekend. I used up the very last of my all time favorite prints making this little lovely. The flower covering almost the whole side is just gorgeous. I also used one of my new little labels, ordered just for this type of project.

Lucky Girl

2008-09-21T17:58:00.005-04:00

I picked up this Simplicity pattern last week and couldn't wait to try it out. It can be made in size 1 - 5, which means I can start dressing A LOT of little girls. This dress in a size one but shortened by 2 1/2 inches because a baby in an evening dress is not the most practical attire. The print is Lucky Girl by Robert Kaufman and is a stretch cotton, which is perfect for little bodies in motion.

Coordinating In A Studio

2008-09-15T10:22:00.005-04:00

City living is hard. You spend way too much money to live in way too small of a place. But if you find yourself living in a studio, the best thing you can do is be friends with someone who likes to sew.

The OLDM needed some pillows for her new couch that would also work with her fabulous quilt. After some online and brick and mortar shopping trips, she ended up purchasing a coordinating print from Alexander Henry. The black and cream flowers in the pillow fabric show up in the print we used for the quilt. It works but isn't too matchy matchy. They look great on the white sofa and when it gets chilly this Fall and when someone uses the quilt to cuddle on the couch, everything will be tied in perfectly.

Pretty In Pink and Yellow and Orange Flowers

2008-09-14T22:34:00.006-04:00

I spent the weekend sewing little girl dresses and I am so sorry the weekend is over. I could sew cute little dresses all day long. I made two of these little cuties for my coworker's daughters. The fabric is from the Park Slope line, the ribbon is from my favorite trim store in the Garment District and the buttons are from a store in Cancun (I know, random, but I was there recently and try to incorporate fabric shopping in all of my travels).

More Furniture

2008-09-14T22:16:00.005-04:00

So I have the furniture bug. High off of my success recovering my chairs, I picked up an old bench at my local used furniture store. Immediately, I contacted my interior design consultant and she suggested this gorgeous David Hicks fabric. Once the fabric arrived, I took apart the bench only to find that the seat was a mess and was going to require my dormant 8th grade shop class skills. One trip to Home Depot, the loan of a drill and the very patient assistance from David and we have ourselves a new seat to the bench. And I am loving the results.

The bench is going to be used as a coffee table for when we have guests over. I am picturing it topped with a clear acrylic tray. My living room is too small to have a coffee table set out all the time so this is the perfect solution. Once I make a slip cover for the couch, I will post a picture of the room in all of its new decorating glory.

Another little make-up bag

2008-09-14T17:11:00.003-04:00

Jess sent me some linen to work on a new purse for her, and what did I do? I immediately made a new make up bag. I had random purchased some adorable ribbon on Friday and the colors worked perfectly with the linen and some fabric in my stash, so I made a little cute magic this afternoon.

Just In Time For Fall

2008-09-14T16:55:00.005-04:00

Here is my latest obsession. After finishing the Bird Quilt, I was consumed with the idea of making another quilt for our house, and one that is really for David. (You know that they say, "the quilter's husband always goes cold.") I had a stash a Japanese fabric and had been eying a pack of charm squares at City Quilters for a long while, so the quilt design was pretty obvious. And if I say so myself, the charm square quilt did not disappoint.

I also got to break in my new quilting gloves that I received as a birthday present from my mom (Hi Mom!). They were terrific and I only managed to sewing my finger once.

As for the free motion quilting, I am 100% addicted. It was hard but it looks so great. I am sure my technique will improve, since I had only really practiced a few times on swatches before I dove into the full size quilt. It is all washed, puckery and on my bed, and the quilting has held up perfectly so far.

Three Ladies

2008-09-08T21:08:00.003-04:00

Here are three pretty purses modeling some of my Fall fabric. The style is a cross between the Handbag and the City Bag and was originally created for a certain person named Nadia. When describing this style to my coworker, I kept referring to it as "like the one I made for Nadia." When my coworker placed her order, she asked for three bags in the Nadia style and the Nadia Bag was born!

Labor Day of Love

2008-08-31T14:47:00.009-04:00

I left work early on Friday to go home and whip up four additional blocks for my Common Threads quilt and to put the quilt top together. I was back at the sewing machine at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday finishing up the quilt top and quilting. Besides an exercise and dinner break, I finished up around 10 pm last night. It was a long day.

There were also two special quilter elves that helped me get this job done. This is the largest quilt I have ever done and working with so much fabric was a tough, sweaty job for this hot labor day weekend. It was a lot of work but I am so excited to have it finished and on my bed. My quilter elves really made the process so much easier, so thank you!

I probably could do some additional quilting in each of the individual blocks to reinforce it better but I am going to put that off for another weekend. The quilting will blend in with some of the blocks better than others and I need to work myself up to sewing over some of these gorgeous blocks. Any suggestions on how to incorporate additional quilting without detracting from the blocks would be greatly appreciated.