Stitching Along

Have you heard of the Quilty Stitches Sampler-Along happening at Little Miss Shabby?  Every two weeks, Corey introduces a new quilt block inspired crosstitch pattern to us.  They are SO cute (and tiny)!  She has introduced two blocks so far, but there is plenty of time to jump in!  Crosstitching was my first love and it just so happened that the timing for this stitch-along was PERFECT for me and I have been wanting to stitch a sampler for awhile.  YAY! 

Here is my first block, Swoon:

I raided my embroidery floss stash (which, apparently isn't as neat as some of the lovely ones shared in the Flickr group), and pulled out some blues, purples, greens, and oranges.  Some of these are only small pieces because they are leftover from kits, but I think I'll probably have enough.  I'm excited to make something bright and cheery!

I'm a little bit behind because I somehow got it into my head that I needed to stitch all of my sashing FIRST, so that I could have an outline for placing my "blocks."  And it took FOREVER.  Ah well.  I'm using a scrap piece of Aida and I wanted to make sure it was big enough for all of the blocks.  Unfortunately, as I sat down to write this post, I realized that the stitch-along is only going to have 16 blocks and I somehow managed to make 24 spots in my layout!  Geez.  I think I'll go through and take out the bottom two rows so that I have 18.  Then I'll either make up two more or repeat two of my favorites.  

My Aida fabric looks white, but it's actually a cream color. 

You should check out the Flickr group!  There are some fun color combinations happening over there.  I'm really liking the ones with the dark backgrounds and the ones with the backgrounds left unstitched.  But NO, I am NOT going to unpick all of that white stitching and start over...

In other crosstitchy news, I don't think I've ever shared this with you!

 

I made this for my sister and brother-in-law for Christmas.  It's about a year and a half late, but oh well.  I tried to match the colors to their wedding colors - lime green and silver.  I love this cute pattern.

 Also, I blogged about this Christmas scene already, but I wanted to show it to you one more time.  You can read more about it and see more pictures of it HERE.

Taking a Break From the Sewing Machine

We love to go on road trips.  Partly because we love to go new places and see new things, and partly because we love spending time with family members who live far away.  For me, the chance to work on some hand stitching in the car is an added bonus. 

Almost two weeks ago, the Hubby and I took the kids and went to help celebrate a wedding with our cousins.  It was a great weekend.  I took my crosstitching with me, and by the time we made it home, I was beginning to see that the end was in sight!  This was amazing, considering I've been working on this piece intermittently for the past 4 years or so.  Mostly when we go on road trips and during General Conference.  I have no idea how much time went into it - over 100 hours easy.  I love having something to do with my hands - something long term that I can pull out whenever.

Anyway.  When I realized how close I was to being finished I put my cover on my sewing machine (gasp!  Is that what that thing's for?) and packed up the ironing board (gasp! again - empty space in the living room!).  It felt strange to spend my precious nap time sitting on the couch (only after the chores were done, of course), but it is finished!

Here it is!  It's a Christmas scene, but I am sharing it with you now anyway, even though it is April.  I will probably be displaying this proudly from Halloween to Valentines Day every year.   Just gotta find the perfect frame.  :)

Some close ups:

 (Yes, those colors are accurate - the background fabric is a gray/blue/purple - it's pretty, isn't it?)

And just for fun, the back.  It's crazy.  :)

Project Stats:

Started: May(?) 2009

Finished: April 25, 2013

Materials:  All part of a kit (NO WAY did I come up with this or choose all those colors on my own)

The kit is from Dimensions Gold Collection, Kit #8783 Holiday Village

Finished size: About 15 x 11 1/2

Recipient:  ME!

Time to uncover the sewing machine and get that ironing board back out!

Sew Thinky Thursday: My Sewing Beginnings

I caught wind this morning of a new linky party going on at Mommy's Nap Time and was intrigued.  I've been thinking about what I would say and decided to go ahead and join in!  Emily is asking a quilting/sewing related question each week and asking people to link up their answers.  It will be a great opportunity for us to talk quilty talk without boring our husbands to death!  :)

Here is this week's question:

When did you start sewing? Tell us a bit about your sewing history. When did you realize you were really hooked?

My mom sewed a bit when I was  little, but I never took much interest in it myself.  She made lots of clothes for us as babies, which we later used for our dolls.  Both of my grandmas (now passed on) were very much into traditional quilting.  There was always a quilt on the frames upstairs at Grandma J's house and one year Grandma R made quillows for every single one of her grandkids - which we all cherish because they were the last things she made for us before she died of cancer.  I also have a quilt on my bed that Grandma J made when I graduated from High school.  I wish they were still around to see me learn and become engrossed in this new quilting movement. 

My Quillow from Grandma

When I was around 8, I went with two of my cousins to spend a week with my Aunt.  She taught us how to crosstitch and transferred some simple designs onto dishtowels to keep us busy during the week.  When I got home, I begged my mom to buy me more crosstitching supplies.  Crosstitching has been a major hobby of mine ever since.  My family watches a lot of movies and I loved having something to do with my hands.

 

It wasn't until after I got married that I started getting the itch to make a quilt.  The Hubby hates watching movies with the lights on, so my crosstitching hobby was slowing down (plus I was leaning towards learning new skills that actually produced useful things).  I have always wanted to make a jean quilt, so we saved our jeans for a year or two and then I spent practically a whole summer (in between school years - since I was teaching at the time) working on a quilt.  Since I really didn't know what I was doing, I spent most of my summer at my mom's house, using her old all metal Bernina since my cheap Kenmore couldn't handle all of that denim.  That quilt is probably still my husband's favorite.  

I tied it, because at the time I had no idea you could quilt a quilt with a sewing machine.  I thought you had to use frames every time, like my grandmothers did.  But then I started doing some research and learned about denim rag quilts.  

About a year later, my husband went on a trip to Peru (with BYU) for a week or so and I needed something to keep me busy.  So I bought a fat quarter bundle of flannels from Joann and made my first rag quilt in 2010.  I think I started to become hooked when the Hubby came home and I showed him my new rag quilt.  Then I asked him if I could make another one and he agreed!  He even agreed to let me look for a new sewing machine.  

Then the real clincher came when I discovered the world of quilt blogs and from there learned how to make and quilt a quilt completely by machine.  

First machine quilted quilt made in 2010

Some of the very first blogs I found are Oh Fransson, i Have to Say, A Few Scraps, Jaybird Quilts, PS I Quilt, Tallgrass Prairie Studio, and Amy's Creative Side.  Now I have almost 100 blogs (eek!) in my reading list and I don't plan to quit being inspired OR making beautiful quilts anytime soon! 

 Now go check out the linky party!

Insert Clever Title Here

I'm a little embarrassed - everyone else finished posting their Christmas stuff months ago.  Maybe I should just consider myself 10 months early instead of 2 months late.
I have been able to get in little snippets of sewing time during those rare moments when both boys are sleeping at the same time and the dishes/laundry are all done.
Here are their finished stockings!

A couple notes for myself to remember next time:
-Quilting the pieces before cutting out the stocking shape is a good idea - just make sure to quilt far enough past the outside edges of the stocking shape.
-Make the cuffs a little wider so they have room to fold over.
-DON'T FORGET THE HOOK NEXT TIME!  Sheesh!  You'd think I'd figure that one out the third time.

December 2011

Hello blog!  Have you been feeling neglected lately?  Well, I have a pretty good excuse.  I didn't really make anything in December.  I was a little distracted by these two:

Jaxson and Bronx were born on December 5th and we are all doing very well.  As much as I hate to admit it, progress in the sewing end is going to be slow for awhile.  I am working on fitting in a little bit of "me" time every day, but I'm still figuring it all out.  Having twins is a lot of work.

I did, however, finish up a few things before they arrived.  Did you notice the little hats?  I made them myself.  Well, not the hats - those are from Target.  But I DID embroider the names on them.  We were afraid we wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them.  Turns out they are NOT identical and we have been able to tell them apart easily from the very beginning.

My original plan was to sew the names on by machine, using a satin stitch.  However, my machine is very difficult when it comes to sewing stitches that are in any way close together so I eventually gave up and did the satin stitches by hand.  It was something for me to work on while I was "resting" on the couch during those last few weeks of pregnancy.

I also made these for their stockings.

Obviously, I still need to make the stockings, but these will be the front cuffs.  I made stockings for the Hubby and me way back when - they have crosstitched cuffs as well. 

I designed them myself!

 Aren't they cute?

Wish me luck as I figure out how to incorporate two newborns in with the rest of my life!

Birthday Stuff

I have sort of been sewing up a storm recently.
I made my first big quilt top, and this is the best picture I have of it.  All the other ones are pretty bad.  It isn't finished yet because I have to quilt it and I'm a little nervous about that.

But I HAVE made a few other things.
For Shannan's birthday, Kimberly made this little crosstitch and I turned it into a pillow.  I even designed the hearts all by myself!

Then, for Angie's birthday, I decided at the very last minute that I wanted to make her a bookcase quilt.  When I first saw a picture of something like this I figured it would be PERFECT for my book loving, editing graduate sister.  SO I worked long and hard on it and had it ready... a few weeks after her birthday.  I hope Pal likes it.  There are MANY flaws in it, especially since I am still learning how to quilt.  Hopefully nobody looks too closely at the stitching on the back of the quilt.  And if you notice something odd about the design, I'll just go ahead and point it out to you.  The two slanted books on the top shelf are FLOATING.  I forgot that I needed to have both books touch the bottom of the shelf.  Ah well.  You wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't pointed it out, right?

And there you have it.  Just a few things I have been doing in my spare time.

The Story of My Sewing Beginnings... in Pictures

The 90s:
(insert picture of first cross stitching experience here)
(apologize about the lack of style in clothing when I was 10)



2002:
(insert picture of bookmarks made for a YW project)



2006:
When I got married,  I realized I wanted to sew stuff for some reason.  Maybe I wanted to feel more domestic.

2007:  I graduated from college and got a job as a third grade teacher.  Of course, I had to make this for my classroom.  (I made one for our couch too, but it was even uglier...)




2008:

2009:

*Note: I didn't actually MAKE these dresses.  I am not nearly that talented.  However, I DID add the lace to the bottom to make them longer.  An accomplishment for me.

2010:  (The summer I broke down and bought a new SEWING MACHINE :) :) :) :) )