Back at it!

It's been awhile since I have sewed, but things are starting to settle down and I have some progress to share!  Yay!

July was a BUSY month.  We moved at the very end of June, so there was lots of packing, cleaning, unpacking and cleaning going on.  Followed by two separate vacations, two weeks of swimming lessons (Mommy and Me - so fun!), and a whole month of working here and there to get our apartment ready to rent.  Ugh.  But once we started settling in, I picked right back up where I left off.

But first, I have to say that we are LOVING our new house!  We moved from a duplex apartment to a 3,000+ square foot house practically up in the mountains and it is amazing.  I have so much SPACE!  And I have a SEWING ROOM again!!!  Yippee!  Check out the awesome view from my sewing machine.

Every now and then a little family of deer or wild turkeys will walk past.  That's kinda cool.

 And the amazing TWO closets I get all to myself!  Now I just need to fill them up. :)

Crazy picture!  My sewing room isn't THAT big - I was backed clear into the window trying to capture both closets at the same time.

Even with all that space, I can't help but keep my actual fabric stash out on the floor in my plastic drawers so I can see it all the time. :)

Now that we are living in a real house and plan to stay here forever, I decided it was time to get rid of our ghetto grocery bag dispensers.  You know the ones:

I used THIS tutorial from Gen X Quilters to make some super cute new ones.

I made the first dispenser following the tutorial exactly, with the exception of the scary grommets.  I just attached my handle on one side and sewed some velcro onto the other side so I can hang it from the rods in our laundry room and closets, rather than installing hooks.

I used the same super cute fabric I used on my favorite bibs for the boys.  It's going to look great in their room, hanging from the changing table.

I wanted to practice some FMQ designs, but this fabric DEMANDED to be quilted with straight lines.  SO I obliged.  I did, however, use some fun variegated thread.  

Complete with decorative stitches at the bottom and the top to reinforce the bag.

 

For the second dispenser, I decided to go a little smaller, since the first one is SO LONG.

It didn't take long for me to pick out this blue African fabric.  I used it in my skirt and I've been saving the leftovers for the perfect project.  It's so pretty, I'm glad I'll get to see it all the time now.

This time, I was able to do LOTS of fun quilting!  It was so fun, and I definitely need more opportunities to practice and get better at it. ;)

I used Angela Walters' Tiles pattern for the first sashing strip, swirls in the fussy cut circle strip, and a simple back and forth in the next sashing strip.  For the main panel, I couldn't bring myself to quilt over the design, so I just stitched around the flowers and echoed them.  The next sashing strip is Leah Day's Modern Art design, and the next fussy cut print strip had diamonds following the pattern.
The bottom section is left unquilted, because it is the part that holds the elastic.

Here's the inside of the panel before I made the bag.  You can see the quilting better. :)

Also,  I'm still plugging away on my Storm at Sea quilt.  I'm making Snail Trail blocks for the borders, using some of my lovely and precious Oakshotts.

I'm also stocking up on solid remnants from Joanns (50% off!) for the backing.  I've got almost 12 yards stashed now and I think I have enough to put together a quilt-as-you-go King size backing (sorry for the fuzzy pic.  I'd hate to give TOO much away now, wouldn't I?)

And lastly, I've started a brand new quilt!  A friend of mine is having a baby girl (FINALLY!  A GIRL!), so I broke into my long hoarded Me and My Sisters charms and whipped up some HSTs.  This quilt is going to be darling.

Stay tuned!  I've got a couple of birthdays coming up as well and you know the birthday people need something handmade!  :)  I'm so glad to be back.