eeek!!!

I was so very excited to see Issue 12 of Fat Quarterly in my inbox this morning. The issue is full of wonderful projects from quilts to pillows to a table runner, and they all use pre-cuts only. Plus, I have a Kaleidoscope baby quilt featured there. Yay!!!! Insert a very happy dance here :)

Despite of all those HSTs, it's a pretty easy quilt to make, and you only need 2 charm packs for the whole quilt top. Not bad, right?

I just adore how pretty and vintage looking this quilt is. I used one charm pack of  Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade fabric and one charm pack of Kona  white.

And, since this is a small quilt, I thought it was totally doable to hand quilt it. I used 2 strands of white embroidery thread and did an all over diagonal quilting.

Finished size of this quilt is 30" x 35". I think it's a perfect size for strollers or car seats.

Wishing you all a very lovely day. Svetlana

ugly weather = lots of sewing

The weather has been absolutely horrible in the last couple of days as we alternate between extreme cold (all the way down to -20F a few days ago) and totally unseasonal warmth (60F today) with rain pouring like crazy. Oh, it would be nice to go outside without either getting completely drenched, or frozen. One can always dream, right?

So, to brighten things up, I started working on a few new projects. 

I finally decided on the fabric for my triple- zip pouch for Debbie's sew along. 

My pixelated heart pillow is finished, pictures coming as soon as the sun decides to show up.

The project that needs my attention right now, though, is this bright log cabin quilt top. I got totally stuck on how to quilt it. I'm really tempted to use this tutorial (thanks, Kelly) to quilt it in concentric circles but I worry that it will make for a very stiff quilt. Any experience with this kind of quilting?

Before I go, here's a little peak at my latest project inspired by these gorgeous flowers on my kitchen table.

Hope you all stay warm and dry. Have a lovely day, friends. Svetlana

 

denyse knows best

About a year ago, as I was browsing a pattern section of one of my favorite online fabric stores, I came across Denyse Schmidt's Cog + Wheel quilt pattern. Being a huge fan and crushing hard on "all things Denyse", I bought it without much thinking and could not wait for it to arrive so I could start making my own Cog + Wheel quilt. How totally exciting, right?

Well, as soon as the pattern arrived and I took a closer look at the actual quilt, I knew it was way above my skill level. There were templates (I hate templates), and curves, tons of curves and inset circle piecing!!!! At least I was reasonable enough to realize my limitations I set the pattern aside.

And then, the other day, I started thinking about this quilt again. I was really hoping that the last year of obsessive quilting has brought my skills to the next level and maybe, just maybe, I could try to tackle it now?

You know what? I totally did manage to make one of the blocks. Yay!!! It took a while and I had to concentrate a lot to make sure all the pieces were in the right place and the seams matched, but it was so well worth all the effort.

This block, however, was my second try for the night. My first block did not turn out that well. Not because of my sewing, though, but because of the wrong choice of fabric on my part. Want to see?

I wanted to make it using these pretty pastels and ignored Denyse's advice about more contrast in fabrics used, and the block completely lost its graphic beauty that drew me to it in the first place.

I'm definitely not letting this block bring me down, though. I was so excited about the successful Chicopee one that I decided to make the whole quilt. I'm going to make 9 blocks, taking my time with each one (because they do take a lot of time), and working on other things in between. And, I think I'll stick with Chicopee, and maybe some Hope Valley for the whole quilt because, really, Denyse knows best!

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday. Svetlana

strip quilt {finished}

A while back I made this simple strip quilt top. It was one of those "I have to make this quilt right now or the world as we know it will end" kind of moments. I cut, and pieced, and pressed, and obsessed and two days later I had this lovely quilt top.

I was all excited, and loved how it turned out, and I did not feel like finishing it at all!!!  Totally not the usual me - I like to finish my quilts and then move on to other projects. And so this quilt top was just "hanging around" and making me feel guilty every time I passed by it (which was many times a day).

So, the other day I could not take it any longer. Out came my trusty 505 basting spray and a pretty flat sheet I bought to use as a backing for this quilt and I got to work.

Once basted, I went with simple straight line quilting about 2.5" apart. I love how this kind of quilting does not compete with the quilt pattern itself, it just gives it that extra texture.

I had a hard time deciding on the binding. At first I wanted to go with something red but it I did not have the right shade of red in my stash and the ones I tried were totally taking all the attention away from the quilt itself. At the end I settled on using Kona (blue???) and I do love how it complements the whole quilt.

Here it is, all nice and crinkly soft after it came out of the washer and drier.

Finished size of this quilt is about 55" x 65". I wrote simple  instructions on how I make this kind of quilt here if you'd like to make one yourself.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. Svetlana

Linking up to AmandaJean's Finish it up Friday.

kiss the cook {log cabin quilt top}

It's been cold, windy, and so extremely unpleasant outside for the last couple of days, that the only reasonable thing to do was to stay indoors. No complaints here, though, since I had this stack of lovelies to keep me from getting a cabin fever.

 This cheater print was in my stash for quite some time. I adore all these fun little cooks, but I was totally stuck on how to use it. I thought of turning it into a tote bag, or a pillow, or even an apron, yet every time it ended up just being put back into the stash.

So, I finally decided to cut it up, and use individual pictures as centers for my log cabin blocks. Aren't they the sweetest? 

This one is my absolute favorite :)

  I then used white and gray polka dotty fabric for the sashing, and some more Pearl bracelets for the border. I also decided to add a yellow strip of fabric to both the top and the bottom of the quilt - somehow I felt that this particular quilt needed to be rectangular, not square.

Now I just need to think about how to quilt it. Any ideas? I'm thinking some overall quilting is the way to go.

Hope you all stay safe and warm. Svetlana

sewing fix

I'm so happy it's Friday. This was such a crazy week filled with sickness, really cold nasty weather, and lots of sleeping and staying in bed that almost completely replaced my sewing time. No fun, I tell you. 

Now that I feel better, though, I decided to start a new project - nothing makes one feel better than a new fun project, right?  

I cut out tons of 2" squares to make this pixelated  heart pillow (inspired by Jolene's gorgeous quilt). I just love how all these different squares add up to so much depth and interest.

I'm hoping to get some more hand quilting done this weekend.

Realistically, though, it's not going to happen because just a while ago I pulled out these pretties that beg to become a new log cabin quilt. So, so exciting! I love starting new projects, especially when they involve such pretty happy colors.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Svetlana

crochet edge pillow covers {take two}

I just could not help it. I had to give crochet edged pillow covers a try once again. I made my first one a few weeks ago and as soon as the fabric for the new pillows arrived I was cutting into it and making burrito style pillow cases. 

I used Flower Sugar giant rose dot in grey and turquoise for the top parts of the pillows and coordinating striped fabric for the backs. Eeeek, I do love this kind of fabric and colors very, very much right now.

 

I followed the same tutorial for crochet edge as I did last time. This time, however, I used blanket stitch for the crochet base which in my opinion worked so much better, and was much gentler to my poor fingers.

I made these pillow cases for our bedroom, even though I knew they would clash "slightly?" with our bedding. But now I really like them there and I think they actually bring a very welcome pop of color and make the whole room a lot brighter.

Yay!!!! insert a very happy dance in here!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Svetlana

ipad mini cover

My oldest daughter got an Ipad mini for Christmas and I thought it was high time to make a proper fabric cover for it. I pulled out quite a stack of very bright and colorful fabrics thinking some fun patchwork design was about to happen when my daughter announced that she did not want a patchwork cover. Whaaaaat?!?!?!? She wanted something simple and classy!!! 

So, this is what I came up with. What do you think?

I used jeans fabric for the base of the cover and inserted just a simple strip of green striped fabric for a little added interest. I just could not go completely plain, I'm sure you understand.

I used fusible fleece to make both panels nicely padded, and wonderfully soft polka dotty flannel for the lining.

I then added this fun little patch closure which is my absolute favorite part of the whole cover. I so love how it adds just the right amount of playfulness and interest.

I used solid colored binding to give the cover a nice polished look. I was not sure how to attach the binding in a way that both sides would look equally well. At the end I went with hand stitched binding using a running stitch.

To sum it all up, I think I did pretty good considering "the restrictions". And, my daughter loves to use it and said it looks exactly the way she wanted it. What more can I ask for, right?

Oh, and you know what? While I was at it, I made myself a new cover for my back up point and shoot camera.

 

As you can see, I did not hold back when it came to patchwork or brightness on this one.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. Hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening. Svetlana

tiny patchwork needle book

Ever since I made my crochet edge pillow cover, I've been obsessively crushing on pretty flowery, "fruity", polka dotty fabrics in pink, green, aqua, and red. These are not my usual go to fabrics and I had almost none in my stash (which needed to be remedied right away and a few online orders were placed, of course). I even went as far as getting some of these pretties in purple?!?!

I'm not a fan of buying fabric just for the sake of buying it, so I decided to cut into my new stack as soon as it arrived. After seeing this lovely needle book I went ahead and used Amy's (nanacompany) tutorial to make one of my own.

Eeeek, all those delicious tiny squares make me so happy!!!

 More adorable patchwork on the back, of course.

I just love how it turned out. So, I could not stop just there, could I? My needle book needed a little "companion".

Ta -da!!! A simple patchworky pincushion was totally a must, won't you agree? 

Thanks for reading, friends. Wishing you all a wonderful day. Svetlana

Linking up to Amandajean's Finish it up Friday.

coral, aqua, gray

The other day I realized I did not have any major projects being carried over from last year. Whaaaat?!?! I know, crazy! Of course I have a few orphan blocks, but that doesn't even count, right? So, to celebrate, and remedy this uncommon situation, I started not just one, but two new quilts. Want to see?

I have all the blocks finished for the quilt #1. It's going to be a simple strip lap quilt, similar to this one I made a few months ago. I seem to really like coral, aqua, white, and gray color combo these days (doesn't it sound so much more chic than just saying plain red, white, and blue?). I've had a stack of these fabrics waiting around for quite some time. It felt so good to finally cut into them and sew like there was no tomorrow.

And, to prove that I really am into these colors, here's the quilt #2 in its beginning stages.

This is a very improv, make it up as you go sort of quilt. I'm finding out that I really enjoy making quilts like that. Let's hope I will be able to turn these random strips of fabric into something cohesive. It looks really good in my head, it's that transforming the idea into a real quilt that gets quite tricky sometimes.

How about you, what have you been up to? Do tell.

Linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday.

scrappy celebration {a finished quilt}

My Scrappy Celebration quilt is all finished, yay!!!! And I could not have been happier with how it turned out.

It's wonderfully scrappy, and big, and soft, and cozy, simply perfect.

It measures 70" x 70" and I worried a little when basting time came. You see, I decided to use minky fabric for the backing and was not sure how it would all work together. Plus, I had to piece the backing and minky is just so incredibly messy to work with.

 I'm really happy to say that it all worked out. Since I spray baste my quilts, I was expecting to have major issues with minky not sticking to the batting. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that as long as I sprayed both the minky as well as the batting, they stayed together without any problems. Phew!!!! what a relief.

I went with minky for the backing because I really wanted my kids to like and use this quilt. It surely did not disappoint. The quilt has very quickly become the favorite with all three of them and there were already quite a few fights over who will get to use it. 

                     

All in all, this was one fun and easy quilt to put together. So, if your scrap baskets are overflowing, just like mine still are, give it a try. Here's a link to Katy's tutorial I followed.

Hope you all have a very lovely day. Svetlana