Progress!

I'm two-thirds of the way done with my quilt blocks! Twenty down, ten more to go. It was fun to lay them all out together to start to get an idea of how it is going to look when it's done. I'm still really enjoying the process, and although the blocks are far from perfect, I know each square of fabric so intimately that they are all really special to me. I really hope that I can pull off the finished product. I'm already dreaming of three or four new quilt projects, but I'm really trying to make myself finish this before I start anything else! 

Summer Sewing Project

I'm so new to sewing that I don't think I can technically go on a "hiatus" from it yet, but I definitely took a break for the last couple of months. Although I have some really cool fabrics that I've been waiting to use, and some projects that I want to make, I just haven't been able to find the motivation or energy to get working by 9:30pm after the kids go to sleep. But I finally found myself inspired again this week when I saw photos of a picnic blanket quilt on the blog of a woman who sews (incredible quilts) and blogs about her projects. I've found that there are tons of amazing blogs by women--many of them moms--who do amazing crafty things and blog about them. Many of these blogs will have tutorials that teach you how to do a specific technique or how to make an entire project. I've gotten so many great ideas for crafts (to do myself or with Parker) and sewing projects by checking these blogs from time to time. I actually won a pack of vintage pillowcase and sheet fabric scraps by entering into a giveaway on one of these blogs--I was so happy! it was such a random good thing--and this is the fabric that I'm using for my latest project. I have always admired the amazing quilts that I see on these women's blogs, and (believe it or not) I would love to learn how to quilt. I'm pretty scared of trying to actually "quilt" the top of the project once all of the layers are put together, but I think that I can make a basic blanket for now without doing the actual quilting finish work at the end. I find that I'm really drawn to the super vintage, crazy, flowery-patterns-exploding-everywhere quilts as well as the totally opposite--super minimalist and modern quilts with colorful, solid, improvisational shapes set against plain white backgrounds. So, that's to say that not everything I make will necessarily be in this style, but right now I'm going for the vintage old-lady look with this one :) For now I've been loving just cutting all of the fabric scraps up into 4.5" squares, it's fun deciding how to frame the patterns for each square, and seeing the neat, orderly squares emerge from the mish-mash pile of funny shaped scraps feels surprisingly satisfying. It's also been fun dreaming about how to arrange the squares once they are all cut--I think I'm going to sew them into 12" square blocks, made up of 9 different fabric squares each, and then sew those blocks into a big old patchwork mess. I'm thinking about getting some new fabric to fill in the blocks, set in amongst the flowery vintage squares, all polka dots in a variety of colors so that I can arrange the 12" blocks in a sort of rainbow design--from pink to orange, yellow, green, blue, and lavender. Who knows how long this will take, and how it will turn out--I'm actually hoping to be able to use this blanket this summer for trips to the park and in the backyard. At least right now I'm just really enjoying the preparation process. The only problem with getting immersed in a project is that I find myself getting frustrated during the days and late in the evenings when I really want to do some work but just can't swing it. 

Is this the longest blog entry about a quilt ever?

My growing stack of squares and my shrinking pile of scraps, all vintage pillowcases and sheets (except for the green and white polka dots)

Fabric!!

Thanks to my wonderful husband for the Christmas gift of being able to treat myself to lots of impractical and indulgent shopping for sewing supplies! I have a whole list of projects that I want to make, and I've stocked up on fabric for about four or five of those projects. I'm pretty sure that no one recommends buying fabric for so many projects before you've even started them, but it was so much fun. I was so excited when the postman delivered two of my orders from fabric shops on Etsy today! It was so much fun to see the fabric in person after choosing it online, and I love each one as much as I thought I would. I'm totally hooked on the fabric-collecting (not to mention vintage button-collecting) side of sewing so far, now lets see if I can follow through on my big plans and bigger aspirations and actually accomplish these projects! I've already washed, dried, and folded my new fabrics, now it's time to start cutting patterns and getting the machine a-sewing. Wish me luck!

Sick-Day Crafting

Welcome to winter--our family is deep in cold and flu season once again. Although I love Christmas time, and have always looked forward to this time of year, now that Parker is in school I'm finding that I miss summer more and more. Why? Because we are all miraculously healthy all summer long, and then once winter rolls around, all four of us stew in colds for months on end. Parker has been under the weather for a week or so now, and had his worst day yesterday. He is much better today, although I think he might have to miss another day of school tomorrow (sadly, because it's his last day before Christmas break). We did a little half-hearted craft this afternoon, since he was getting bored hanging out in the house although at the same time he's really not healthy enough to go out and play (and Levi is on his first super sick day of this round of illness). On the bright side, Parker did get to wear his apron that I made him a while ago out of a dish towel--he picked out the ribbon himself :)

My First Apron

Made the apron, bought the boots :)