WIP Wednesday 11. 30. 2011

Can you believe it's the end of November already? Christmas is coming, and I've been BUSY!!!! The last couple of days have been crazy, busy at work, busy at home, busy sewing. So, let me show you some of my finishes. Yes, yes, it's all about finishes today. I'm really trying to reduce the amount of WIPs, they drive me nuts. Ready? Here we go!

I finished my very colorful polka dotty QAYG baby quilt (definitely my favorite finish this week).

Love how bright and happy it turned out. I will post a more detailed description with lots of pictures soon.

I also finished my 5th, and last, quilt I needed as a Christmas gift. I was a little burned out from going so fast and producing a lap or twin sized quilt almost every week, so decided to go very simple this time.

I finally made a table runner for our kitchen table - and I don't like it. Maybe it's the binding? I can't put my finger on it. Or, I just chose the wrong combination of fabrics for the blocks? I think that's probably it.

It lives on our kitchen table for now but it bugs me every time I look at it. I'm pretty sure I'll rip it apart and resew it soon. Any ideas? Oh, and that's our Gingerbread house we assembled using a Trader Joe's kit. Isn't it just so adorable?

One more finish before I go - my sewing machine cover. You can read more about it here.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.  Svetlana

 

Sewing machine cover

My obsession with quilting and sewing has definitely reached a new high.  I produced a lap size quilt, a baby quilt, some pouches, two shoulder bags,  and a table runner in just this past week alone. And, while I was enjoying it immensely, the same can't be said about my sewing machine. On Friday night it started to stop suddenly and I had to force the wheel on the side to get it moving for a few more stitches. I thought collection of dust might have been the problem, so I took almost the whole machine apart (pretty scary considering that I've never done that before), cleaned every nook and cranny, and managed to put it all together. I was really proud of myself, I had no extra parts and the machine worked. So, to show my gratitude to my wonderful sewing machine, I decided to make a cover for it. After all, they say dust and especially cat hair is machine's worst enemy. Our long haired cat Lola probably counts for at least 5 cats in the house. What do you think?

This is the cover I made.

I did not use any specific pattern, I just measured my machine and cut the fabric in the style of  stacked books block.

After it was all pieced together I made a quilt sandwich using warm and natural batting and home decorator's weight fabric for the backing. I did straight line quilting, about 1/2 inch apart, attached ribbons for keeping the cover in place, and put the binding on. That's it, easy peasy.

And, while my machine looks so nice and pretty now that it's all "dressed", I did not manage to bribe it with this new cover. By the time I finished quilting the cover, the machine kept getting stuck again. Sadly, I will have to take it to a sewing machine doctor. Insert a very, very sad face here. Fortunately I don't have to go through all the obsession withdrawal symptoms. I can keep going on, just at a slower pace. My daughters have their own sewing machine (the cheap kind I bought for them so they would not use mine), so I'll be using it for a while to work on some smaller projects.

Oh, I showed you the front of the cover, this is what the back looks like.

Have a wonderful rest of the day, Svetlana.

UPDATE***
You can find a tutorial for this sewing machine here.

Crochet pillow cover!

Do you remember my efforts to learn to crochet? I started following Crochet School over at Craftyminx, but I  only got as far as the 7th lesson (there were about 20 lessons all together). Surprisingly, even with so little knowledge, no previous experience, and the help of one more book I managed to finish this. My. very. own. crochet. pillow. cover!

I really, really like how it turned out. But, being a sewer rather then a crocheter (is that really a word?) I went with fabric backing. I think it matches the style of crocheted side really well.

And so now this little guy lives with other gazillion pillows I made in our living room. I just counted, we have 14 throw pillows in just this one room. Seriously!!!! I might soon need a 12 step plan for pillow obsession. How about you? Did you make too many pillows, or quilts, or bags, or ..... you know what I mean.

As far as crocheting goes, I quite enjoyed working on this pillow top. However, that's not what makes my heart sings. My first love is, and probably always will be,  sewing and quilting. And so, crocheting will be more of an on the go craft because it's really not possible to sew when I'm at my children's guitar or ice skating lessons.

Have a wonderful weekend, Svetlana.

Linking this post up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy mom quilts

WIP Wednesday 11.23.2011

I am so, so glad to say that I finished my very FIRST quilt this week. Well, it's actually more accurate to say I re-finished it in a proper way. You can read the whole saga right here.

Do you remember these blocks? I started working on them looooong time ago.

I thought I'd make enough of the blocks to have a nice lap size quilt. Of course I changed my mind, it's going to be a baby quilt now. And I'm almost done piecing the top.

And, one more WIP that I don't think I shared with you before.

I made three single girl blocks using Amy Butler fabric (a heavenly combination, if you ask me). I was planning on it being a table runner for our kitchen table. Well, it does not look good on that table and I have no will or desire to cut and piece another gazillion of these curved pieces. So, for now, until I decide what to do next it's probably moving into my UFO pile. Oh, I never thought I'd have a UFO pile.

 Have a happy Thanksgiving!!! Svetlana

My very first quilt.

I worked on my very first quilt this weekend. You're probably wondering at this statement, right? I've already made quite a few quilts and now I'm talking about working on my very first one? Yes, you see, when I made my first quilt about a year ago I made a quilt top the way I was supposed to, and then it all went downhill. I did not have much fabric in my stash at that time, so I decided to use a flat sheet for the backing (a sheet that I liked on our bed, it just did not match the quilt top one bit).

To make things even worse when I started basting the quilt I used pins about 20 inches apart, and thought it was still insane how many pins I had to use. Do I have to say more? Of course it was a disaster when I started quilting. The whole thing was shifting, puckering, real nightmare. That's where my "resourcefulness" came in, I decided NOT TO QUILT, just put the binding on and call it a quilt. After all, it had a top, batting, and a back.

See, no signs of quilting anywhere. What really bothered me the most was that I liked the quilt top a lot, after all that was the quilt that started my whole quilting obsession, we just were not using it. The girls did not like the back being all boyish, and my son did not like the top being girly. So, it just sat there, that is until this Saturday. I ripped it all apart, took the binding and backing off, replaced the batting, and made a new backing using Anna Maria Horner flannel and some white flannel for the border.

I used brown striped fabric to bind the quilt and I like it so much better now. Oh, and yes, I did quilt it this time. I can finally say that my very first quilt is finished and loved.

Happy Monday, everyone. Svetlana