Cherry Heart Designs

Introducing Carrots!

2012-01-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

One of the wonderful things about having Madison is seeing the world through her. So many new things! This week we introduced carrots, which I also love. I have to say that this is the only thing I have "made" over the last week.
I am using the Baby Bullet system, which is not just cute, but convenient. I ordered it when I was pregnant with Madison and so excited to finally use it!

I am also working on a new crochet stuffed animal. Not sure what it will be yet, but find it's something easy to work on while Madison plays.
My other project is to finish a quilt I started probably over a year ago, will take pictures of the progress and show it here.
I got rid of a ton of scraps. I decided I needed to get rid of fabric I will never use so that I can make room for the fabric I really want to use. Check back to see what I made room for, so cute!

Happy Crafty New Year!

2012-01-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

I want to start the New Year off right, with a blog post! One of my new year's resolution is to revitalize my blog.
Now that my baby girl Madison is six months old, I have a little more time to finally craft.

One of the things I made for Christmas was a wreath for our door. I wrapped a Styrofoam wreath in white yarn. I then accented it with red hydrangea petals.

The hydrangea was velvety, with sparkles dotted on its petals. I originally bought the hydrangea for Madison's headband that she wore for our family pictures.

The other project I started was making tutu's for Madison. A little girl can never have too many! When I visited my mom in Oregon recently she gave me a bunch of tulle she wasn't using. I just learned how to make the very simple tutu, and did a cute mix of peach, plum and cream colored tulle accented with a muted purple ribbon.

It was hard to get a picture of Madison not trying to eat the tutu, but here it is on her!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year! Yeah 2012!

Feeling jumbled.

2011-10-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

I really want to get back into my blog, but I keep finding excuses to not post something. Yesterday I was about to post and then my sweet baby began crying and I took care of her. Instead of putting her down once she was asleep, I held her for hours, which was great, but no blog post.

Well, today there is this post. I didn't totally want to post because I have to re-take pictures of the sewing I'm working on and the baby is sleeping in her carseat and I'm feeling jumbled. I finished most of Madison's Halloween costume, but now I want to remake part of it. Some days things don't come easy. Part of dealing with that is getting out of our own way.

Cherry Heart Designer becomes a Mommy!

2011-09-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce that I gave birth to this little miracle on July 1st of this year. She is now almost three months old, and I feel like I am just now coming out of the fog of pregnancy and new baby mode.

Madison Rose Marie, born 7-1-2011, 5lbs 9oz.

Madison Rose, two days old.

Madison Rose, 2 weeks old

Madison Rose, 2 months old

There is a big story behind this tiny miracle, and I am trying to figure out how to tell it. I hope in the days and weeks to come I can tell you more and by telling my story, I can help other woman who may be experiencing what I did. Cryptic enough?!

Plus, I am finally back to sewing and crafting again, so more quilting/crafting to come!

Also have you seen this awesome quilting tv series ? I live in northern California, so check you local station for this show. I have learned so much from this show, they break down quilting into doable steps, with great tips and tricks.

Belated Happy New Year...

2011-01-12T10:42:00.001-08:00

I hope it has been wonderful for all of you so far! I haven't posted in awhile, as some of you may have noticed. We are currently having problems with our computer and I am typing this note to you on our tiny little netbook. Unfortunately I am not able to post pics from my camera onto this computer, so I may end up just describing what I am making!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to the many quilts we are all going to create during this year!

Folded edge pillowcase

2010-12-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

I am not always sure what to give people for Christmas, and this year was no exception! I really wasn't sure what to get or make for my sister-in-law. After telling my sister, she suggested I make her some pillowcases, perfect!

I had made pillowcases before and loved how simple and beautiful they turned out. For this project my sister gave me two different fabrics that she wanted two sets of king size pillowcases made out of. The challenge for me was figuring out how to make both sets out of just one strip of fabric.
I ended up taking one of the pillowcases we had at home that were store bought and made them from that.

I basically folded a 23 x 86 piece of fabric, folded in half lengthwise and sewed down one side and across what became the bottom of the pillowcase. I then folded down the top to the inside of the case by 6 inches. Very simple but they ended up being really pretty.

close up of the top hem folded into the pillowcase

finished strawberry pillowcase set

both finished sets

look inside at the folded hem on the pink pillowcase

Thankfully my sister-in-law loved them!

Finished puppy quilt

2010-12-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas has passed and the handmade presents have been passed out and opened, let's look at the finished puppy quilt.

One of my favorite parts of finishing a quilt is the binding roll. I love how it looks and how it comes together, such an easy way to make any quilt look good! This fabric was perfect for the Spongebob quilt, it is called "Reef dots"! Yeah!

front of quilt

back of quilt, sorry it's blurry!

Check back tomorrow to see the other presents I made this Christmas!

Doggy quilt continued

2010-12-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have always loved applique quilts, but am also intimidated by the process. Since I tried the Cricut and it didn't work for me, I decided to just cut it out by hand. I have often thought that since I know how to draw, it shouldn't be too hard to do this on my own.

I first drew a rough sketch of what I wanted the applique to look like.

I drew the bone on the back of the fabric onto the Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite. I wrote out the name, just to see how I wanted to fit that on there.

Both applique's completely cut out.

All ironed together

Sewing the applique onto the quilt, very slowly.

Mason sitting on my lap, hoping this quilt is for him!

Now I am almost finished, just have to bind the quilt! Yeah!!

Quilting with the Cricut

2010-12-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Anyone have a Cricut? I bought my Cricut from an infomercial a few years ago. In that infomercial they show you how to cut fabric out using the machine and using it for applique's on quilts. I recently decided to give it a try, again.

I say again, because when I originally tried cutting fabric with the Cricut, I had a horrible time! I looked on youtube.com and found a wonderful explanation by TheScrapReview.

One of the great tips from this video is to use Scotch Blue Painter's Tape. I ran out to Target, since I was doing Christmas shopping there anyway, and pick up some tape.

I am making a blanket for a friend of mine, well really for her dog. I met her at the local dog park, which has been an amazing place to meet some really great people. My friend loves to buy sweaters for all the little dogs, and furnished my Mason with a great winter wardrobe. I wanted to thank her for her generosity with a cute little quilt!

These are the accent colors. Very bright, I know, but they go great with the Spongebob fabric for the quilt.

Both colors now have the Steam-a-Seam 2 lite on the back.

The fabric is loaded in the Cricut ready to cut.

Well, after all of that I couldn't get it to work! Sometimes part of using the Cricut, it's really about trial and error. I think I need a new mat because it may not be sticky enough. I will try again.

Puppy helping me quilt.

2010-12-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Mason watching me quilt.

Sewing a doll

2010-12-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have a few patterns for making dolls and wanted to try making one. I decided to use the Simplicity pattern, # 2809, I got from Joann's. What I really liked about this pattern is all the clothes you can make for the dolls and also cute little stuffed animals for the dolls to hold.

Right now I have the body, legs and head finished. I realized that I sewed the legs on crooked and need to take them out and redo them. Unfortunately the fabric I am using for the body, a cotton felt (got it from my sister, so not sure exactly what the felt mix it is) is kind of delicate and does not hold up well to being seam ripped and re-sewn! This has turned into a learning project!!

I am not sure if you have used Simplicity patterns before but I have found myself having to change some of the steps in this pattern that don't make sense or add more work to making this doll.
The pattern calls for you to sew the head closed, except for the opening for the neck, and then hand sew on the ears. I thought it would look better to sew the ears on from the inside of the head, which turned out so much better.
I think the clothes for this doll will be really cute and I am also going to make it a little quilt and pillow with pillow cases! So cute!!

Holiday Time!

2010-12-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

The weekend after Thanksgiving is exactly the perfect time to put up the Christmas Tree! I look forward to decorating for Christmas as soon as Halloween is over. It's always hard to wait, but the time always arrives!
I wasn't able to find all of our christmas decoration boxes, so the tree isn't as full of trimmings as I would like, but hopefully this upcoming weekend we will dig the rest of the boxes out of the closet we use for storage!

Blue Log Cabin quilt, small update

2010-11-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

I have been fighting a cold this week, so not a lot of sewing or quilting has been going on! I wanted to show the two modified blue log cabin quilt squares that I have finished so far. I think the quilt will be really fun, but it's totally wonky blocks at this point.
It's so true what my sister says though, I make quilting a lot harder on myself when I don't use a pattern, which is totally coming true on this one!!!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Kirby quilt squares

2010-11-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

My b.f. came home from work one day and said he had a quilt square he wanted help making. That made me very happy! I don't know that much about video games, or Kirby for that matter, but the quilt is part of a project Nintendo is having various artists and other types in the video game industry work on that coincides with Kirby's Epic Yarn release.

Here are the two squares that I worked on and helped the b.f. make.

Check back to see the completed quilt! I can't wait to see everyone's interpretation come together in a quilt!

More fabric

2010-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Isn't this gorgeous? It's Shell Montage by Phillip Jacobs for Rowan. This fabric feels so warm and summery. Now that we are fully in the middle of fall, with the rain and falling leaves, I feel like this fabric is even more yummy! Don't know how I am going to use it, but I love looking at it for now!

One more quilt and some fabric

2010-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

The other day my b.f.'s sister asked me how many quilts I am working on. Great question! With the addition of this colorful flying geese pattern quilt, I think the count comes to 8 all together. WOW! It think it's fun to start them, and I like to work on a few at once, but maybe I got a little carried away!

Part of the blame can go to my sister, she let's me work on quilts she doesn't have time to finish, which makes me a very lucky girl! I love what my sister picks out and then I get to spend time making the quilt all my own, such fun!

most recent quilt added to my collection of projects

My sister is also very generous with fabric, often giving me amazing scraps all the way to yards of fabric! Awesome.

I squeeled with joy when I saw this collection of Liberty of London prints! AHHHH!

I also love this Alexander Henry Lake Lawn Regent Peacock Jewel. Love, pure love.

Do you have fabric you just drool over and dream about? This collection is so dreamy!

My little helper

2010-11-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can't post too often without including pics of my puppy. I recently started taking pictures in my bedroom, which has better lighting and more room to spread out my stuff. Of course, Mason, my dog, must join me.

I put a blanket down to block him from walking on my stuff and give him a designated space where he can watch me. He eventually finds his way edging closer to me as I am taking pictures! Dogs are such funny friends!

An interpretation

2010-11-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am working on a quilt from the City Quilts book by Cherrie House. The quilt is called, City Shops. I am using a much more vibrant and strong color pallet for my interpretation of this quilt.

This quilt is coming together really quickly, which has been really fun! I have been thinking I want to try my hand at free motion quilting and I want to try a pebble pattern.

New fabrics and new quilts.

2010-11-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Every week it seems I start a new quilt or get some new fabric. Not a bad thing at all! I got some beautiful deep blue polk-a-dot fabric that I am going to use for the blue log cabin quilt.
I bought the Sew Scrappy magazine and there is a pattern called Boxed In.

I am going to use the blue polka-a-dot fabric for the "window pane" effect.

The boxed in pattern seems like a great way to put a twist on the classic log cabin block. I'm excited to see how it will go!

what I am thinking about

2010-11-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Along with a lot of quilting I have been thinking. I haven't posted anything for a week now because I haven't known where to start.
I have been thinking about where I belong as a quilter, what quilting means to me, the history of quilting, what is Modern quilting, how does economics play in quilting, what do I want to do with quilting, where do I want it to take me, how do I give to others through quilting.
That is a small fraction of what has been rolling around in my head while I have quilted away on the many, many quilts I have going on right now.
I haven't forgotten about my little blog, just haven't known where I wanted to go with it. I feel like I am in a transition phase, where I am taking my quilting even further. It's exciting, frustrating and a little unnerving. I take my quilting seriously, I want to go far and be successful at quilting. I feel like I am myself when I quilt, that I know myself through quilting.
Thanks for sticking with me, and let's see where this all goes!

Birthday fabric.

2010-10-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

My birthday was about ten days ago but I am a lucky girl to have birthday fabric keep coming my way! I saw my sister today and she gave me some gorgeous fabric I have wanted for awhile. It finally arrived in the mail and I am so excited!!!

I actually posted about this fabric and how much I was drooling over it back in August. Now here it is!!!! AHHH! So exciting!

In all my excitement to use this fabric, I completely forgot to share it with you! My sister gave me this fabric for my birthday. Not sure what it's called but I already used half of it in a secret project. Well, not secret, but I can't quite share the project quite yet!

For those of you in the S.F. Bay area, don't forget tonight's meeting of the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild at it's new location, New Pieces quilt shop in Berkeley. Hope to see you there!

Halloween preparations

2010-10-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Halloween is fast approaching and I need to put the finishing touches on my little families costumes. My b.f. and little puppy are going to be Luchador's (Mexican wrestler's). My b.f. already has his costume and mask. Today I am going to work on my dog's mask, since he also has his outfit.

Mason is wearing a Martha Stewart Halloween dog costume, but he still needs his mask. I found this really great pattern for a Luchador mask. I could not believe the total cuteness!!

Sewing FAIL

2010-10-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was working on an applique project and a little fuzz ended up in the needle/sewing foot area. I of course decided I needed to get the fuzz off right then, instead of waiting, say like when I have stopped SEWING.

I broke the needle with my thumb!!! I couldn't believe it! Thankfully I was very lucky and I got a very minor cut/hole in the top of my thumb. The needle though wasn't as lucky.

On top is what the needle should look like, the bottom one is totally bent and the eye is completely gone. Now you know, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I mean who would anyway?

Have a safe sewing weekend everyone!

Winner!

2010-10-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I won 8 fat quarters of the Heather Ross Far Far Away II fabric collection! I could not believe it! It was a very wonderful surprise for my birthday!!
There is this awesome website, Talk About Fabric where you can do just that, talk about fabric! You can see what other people are doing with the fabric they have, gossip about the newest fabrics coming out and see upcoming stuff! So much fun!

Also check out Adrianne's blog, Little Bluebell a wonderful blog, one of my favorites!!

Ok, pics of the winnings! They aren't that good since it is dark and cloudy here today, but they arrived and I am super excited!

the package arrives!

Talk About Fabric, a little note

Winter wardrobe for my puppy.

2010-10-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

I decided recently that I wanted to try to make some coats and outfits for my puppy. It's cheaper to make his clothes, mostly, instead of buying them.
McCall's patterns were on sale this week at Joann's Fabric Store for 99 cents, not to shabby. I bought McCall's pattern M6218. This fabric was also on sale and bought a yard for $2.68!
It has been a little chilly here in the mornings so Mason will be wearing this when he goes out in style!

Studio tour

2010-10-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Let's take a look at my sister's cute studio. It really is such a great little space to retreat to and create.

Jenn's painting fashion. So cute!

Mini quilting retreat.

2010-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

While my b.f. stayed home and played video games I went to my sister Katie's house. I brought my new sewing machine, some quilts and other projects I am working on and of course my camera. I like to have lots of options in case I get restless with what I am working on. I spent a nice, lazy Saturday afternoon sewing, laughing and chatting with my sister and her partner in their cute little art studio behind their even cuter house.

a small bit of my sister's fabric stash

My sister got this book as a birthday gift, Material Obsession 2 by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke. I have the first one, but I can't wait to get this next one too! My sister decided to make the quilt on the cover! I am excited to see the end result!

strips of fabric for the Material Obsession 2 quilt

baby quilt my sister is working on

My sewing space. I was running around taking pictures, that's why it's such a mess!

my sister, look closely in between the curtains, hi!

My sister-in-law, Jenn Shifflett, painting. She is working on paintings for her upcoming show at the S.F. MOMA artists gallery in January. This picture does not do her work justice!

little Bohdi Snow, showing me his toys

Talking about quilts. Always good to get a different perspective!

Celebrating today.

2010-10-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I am a year older today (as is my twin sister, happy b-day to you too). I thought for my b-day I would set some quilting goals for myself.

Take some quilting classes
Follow a quilting pattern for atleast two quilts. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but I really don't like using patterns, but I think it would help me learn even more about quilting.
Complete more quilts.
Join a online quilting bee.
Keep up with this blog more consistently. Would love to post every weekday.
Learn all the ins and outs of my sewing machine.

Ok, enough of the bullet points! Feels like I am in school again. I actually have been thinking of my quilting goals over the past week. I do want to accomplish even more over the next year. Let's see how far I can go with this quilt thing!

Blue Log Cabin Quilt continues

2010-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Completing a quilt is like finishing a good book. You miss the characters and all the adventures you went through with them. I am feeling a little nostalgia about the pink baby quilt. It was fun to finish but I miss all that cute pink!

Onto the baby blue quilt. I cut out more blue fabrics to work on the Blue Log Cabin Quilt.

Check back to see the latest log cabin squares in blue.

Finished Pink Baby Quilt!

2010-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, pictures!! I had some problems yesterday taking pics (technical difficulties) but today, success. Let's look at the finished baby quilt. Wow, it feels so good to complete a quilt.

I can't take all the credit for this quilt though! My sister designed and sewed the top of this quilt. She didn't have the time to complete it, so I took it over. I absolutely love the fabrics she combined for this quilt top. It was a really fun quilt to finish.

New fabric!

2010-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Let's look at all the amazing fabrics my sister just gave me! She is an avid quilter and often gives me fabrics she isn't using or scraps. I love that she is always so generous with her fabrics! Thanks KP!!

This blue fabric makes me think of the ocean, with the sun shimmering off the waves.

pretty browns

more blues

oranges and yellows, yummy

floral prints


the stack!

I can't wait to use these fabrics!!

Some quick notes

2010-10-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

I found the fabric I wanted to use for the binding on the pink baby quilt. I came home from Joann's and made the binding roll.

While I was in the middle of sewing on the binding my dog Mason jumped on my lap, stuck his head out from under the quilt and laid his head on the sewing machine. He then closed his eyes and let out a big sigh. I think he was tired of me quilting. I took a picture and then stopped for the day. Anything for my puppy.

Ready for binding.

2010-10-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Fabric Friday (on a tuesday)

2010-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show off what I bought on my weekly trip to Joann's with my sister last week. It is by Alexander Henry and is called "land of autumn".

Almost done

2010-10-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is what I am busy working on today, trying to finish this. I am so close I can taste it!! Now to figure out what fabric to bind this quilt with!

Mistakes (the saga of cat-o-lantern).

2010-10-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

I think, probably like most people, I like to show all the good stuff I make or rather the stuff that turns out like I wanted it to. Well, today I am going to go out on a limb and show you something that I made that turned out not at all like I wanted it to, but in the end my dog enjoyed it.

As you know, I like to crochet. Since the holiday season is fast approaching (why do I already feel so far behind on all my Christmas stuff?!!). I thought I would try to make some cute halloween decorations. Last year I crocheted some cute pumpkins that I put on the mantel and bookcases in our apartment.

tan bunny hanging out with pumpkin

This year I thought I would make a Cat-O-Lantern. Sounds awesome huh? Well I thought so too, but let's look at how it turned out:

I tried to fix it. I took of the ears, changed the expression on the face, changed the whiskers. Still didn't turn out like I wanted. I can tell you one person (well, dog) who could not wait to get his paws on it!!! I found him in the bedroom chewing on it like a prized treat.

shake, shake, shake

"oh, hi, I didn't see you come in"

don't you dare take this away from me

"these whiskers taste good, please leave me now"

Shortly after I took these pictures he had ripped out one of the eyes. I promptly threw it away. No more cat-o-lantern!

Pink baby quilt

2010-09-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have made some progress on the pink baby quilt. Let's take a look.

I am continuing to do the straight line quilting on the plain pink fabric. I have decided to do a honey comb style quilting on the strips of patterned fabrics.

I am so excited about this quilt, it is gonna be so cute!

My new sewing machine.

2010-09-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

I am in love. Every once in awhile I will stop sewing and just hug my new machine. It's that awesome. I've had it now for about a week, so I am still getting to know all it's features.

It is such a huge leap from my previous machine, my little Singer, which is now sitting in my craft closet.

A few things I love: you can set it to automatically backstitch; push a button and it cut's the bobbin thread when you are done sewing; automatic needle threader (which I never thought I would want, but wow, awesome), it's speedy, quiet (even though my dog Mason is not quite used to the sound of it). I could go on, but I will stop there for now.

This sewing machine is also an embroidery machine and comes with an arm attatchment so you can embroider almost anything. I haven't gotten that far yet.

Check back tomorrow to see the quilt I am working on!

A little break.

2010-09-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

I took a little break from my little blog with out letting you know. Sorry. My b.f.'s birthday was this monday and he took some days off from work. We spent the weekend going to museums, long walks with the dog and checking out local restaurants. I happened to get some sewing done with my new machine!!!

I will be paying more attention to this blog, and my lovely readers starting again this week! Thanks for sticking with me!

Quilting a straight line.

2010-09-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Something I have always done on every quilt I have made. I find it soothing to quilt a straight line over and over, until the whole quilt is covered. I also love how it looks when finished.

This week I have been working on a pink baby quilt, using the straight line, and thought I would try a zig-zag line thrown in. I liked how it turned out, but while I was doing the zig-zag I totally felt like I was breaking a quilting law!

I am going to throw a few more zig-zags in there, just to keep things interesting!

2010-09-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

It seems that whenever I hang out with my sister we go fabric shopping. Lately that has been about once a week. Let's look at what I brought home this week!

I love this fabric! I found it at Joann's and I've been meaning to get some. I want to make pillowcases out of this fabric since it is so soothing and pretty.

I also got some Christmas fabric. Every year my b.f. and have a two Christmas trees. A fake 6ft. tree and a "sad, Charlie Brown" tree. The "sad" tree is a tradition my b.f. started a few years ago and now we have both every Christmas.
I found this great Charlie Brown Christmas fabric:

I'm going to make a mini tree skirt for the "sad" tree, which is usually a very small potted tree. I cannot wait to make this, it is going to be sooo cute!!!!

The last bit of fabric I picked up was Hello Kitty Christmas fabric. I am a huge Hello Kitty fan and could not pass up this total cuteness!!!!

Thankfully every fabric I chose was on sale so I spent less than $10! Yeah!!!

Happy Birthday Mason!

2010-09-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

My "baby" turns one today. I thought I would share some pictures from the past year of my time with my funny puppy. Thanks for being the sweetest, silliest and cutest puppy anyone could ever ask for! Enjoy your birthday and many more!

3 months old, visiting my sister at work

wearing his little blue sweater

hanging out with a friend

helping me quilt

all grown up

New things

2010-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

I finally bought a new sewing machine!
I originally bought a very basic Singer sewing machine from Target about two years ago because I wanted to begin quilting.

old, reliable machine

first quilt

second quilt I made, for b.f.'s nephew

I ordered my new sewing machine online, and won't get it until the 27th of this month, which seems like forever!!! Of course I will show pics of the new, awesome machine, when it arrives!

Mason makes me happy.

2010-09-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week in my crafty projects.

2010-09-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to have some finished projects to show you today, but that didn't happen. Instead let's look at the stuff I am working on.

a Halloween project

quilt ready for quilting

blue log cabin quilt blocks

pinwheel quilt blocks

One awesome thing I got this week though was a new ironing board!!!! I cannot tell you how awesome this was!! As my b.f. said in response to my excitement, "it's party time", so true!

tiny ironing board :(

the new ironing board!!!

I cannot tell you how nice it is to not have to move my sewing machine off my craft desk everytime I wanted to iron something while sewing. Very frustrating and it would sometimes stop me from quilting. Now, my new ironing board solves this and this makes me super happy!!!

Fabric shopping

2010-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love finding a new fabric store, especially one I didn't even realize was right in front of me the whole time! If you were there with me you would have seen me jumping up and down with total joy! Ok, picture time!

such pretty blues

pretty, pretty

pink elephants!

Found treasure

2010-09-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

My sister and I found an amazing fabric store right next to my favorite bubble tea place.

Here is a look at the beautiful linen I bought (well my sister bought for me, thanks Kp!).

Check back tomorrow and see all the pics. my sister took with her fancy phone. We both were oohing and ahhing and planning! This place was huge and very inconspicuous!

Amigurumi Brobee!

2010-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

After watching many, many episodes of "Yo Gabba Gabba" over and over with the b.f.'s nephew I thought I would make a amigurumi version of Brobee, one of the newphew's favorites.

New blue quilt

2010-09-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

I started a new blue log cabin block quilt today. I have all these scraps of fabric and thought I would try to make a quick quilt. Seems the other quilts I am working on lately are taking longer and I am hoping this will go faster.

just started block

Shop Hop!

2010-09-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gone on a Shop Hop? I haven't, but I am tempted to try one coming up in November. The "Official Bay Area Holiday Shop Hop" is November 12, 13 and 14th.

I think what really made me say "yes!" to this is the final sentence in the "Free Quilt Block Kit" section of the brochure: "Collect all of the Quilter's Quest Quilt Block Kits and create a sampler quilt that will commemorate your 2010 Quilter's Quest journey.". I guess you fill out your "passport" at each of the participating shops, get a quilt block and of course buy TONS of fabric!!
I think a Shop Hop means I am officially in deep with this quilting thing. Not a bad place to be after all!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Laundry, cleaning and organizing!

2010-09-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

Something I have been meaning to do for awhile is organize all of my fabric into a huge container (rubbermaid or tupperware, whatever it's called). Finally, I achieved and it is such a nice change in my little sewing area.

iron and fabric tub

fabric contained!

Since today is laundry day I washed all the quilts we use around my house (along with all the other stuff I have been meaning to throw in the laundry of course).

clean lap quilts

Something I noticed awhile ago is that our dog, Mason, likes to chew on the binding of any quilt he can find. I laughed a little today when I saw the evidence!

Mason loves laundry day, I usually find him at some point sleeping in the pile of clean laundry. Today I found him in his favorite spot, with the b.f.'s socks.

cute stuff

2010-09-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

New Pieces and new fabric!

2010-09-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

After trying to find this amazing quilt store called New Pieces at their new location and failing a few weeks ago, today, success!!!! They are a fabulous quilt store in Berkeley, CA and I was so beyond thrilled I got to visit them!
I was very kindly greeted by the vivacious and kindhearted owner, Sharona Fischrup, who I met a few months ago at the East Bay Modern Quilt Group meetings. I cannot say enough about how rock star awesome my journey through the store was, so let's get to the purchases!!!

cute bag holding all the goodies

for my sister

the trees drew me to this fabric

landmark covered fabric

Now my favorite. I've seen this fabric online and almost cried in pure joy over seeing this fabric in real life. I wish I could buy the whole bolt, OH I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Alexander Henry Cotton Lawn Como Multi

I ended up getting 3/4's of a yard, which for me is ALOT, since I have a teeny, tiny craft budget. But here it is, in my home. I may just stare at it for awhile and when I can afford to buy more, I probably will. I wish I could make a quilt out of just this fabric. I just sighed at the though of that.

(p.s. all fabrics are Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection)

(p.p.s. I seriously would cover my whole house and have my whole wardrobe made out of the Alexander Henry Cotton Lawn Como Multi fabric, that's how much in love I am with it.)

Dressing up the pup.

2010-09-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

Since I don't have children (yet) my puppy Mason is my child. He is turning a year old on September 21st and I have been working on his birthday outfit!

I am using McCall's Crafts pattern M5998.

I used the little suit pattern

I decided to make him a less "formal" version of the fake suit. Really it turns out to be a basic bib pattern.

I still have to add his bow tie, can't decide which color I want it to be.

He was a little squirmy, so not the best pic, but I think it turned out great! I am going to make a few more and then start making his winter outfits! This was a really fun and easy project!

Pillowcases for a good cause

2010-09-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

Remember the pillowcases I made, along with my other fellow East Bay Modern Quilt Guild members for a good cause? Well now they are famous!!! (well kind of!) Check it out!

sites, posts and stuff

2010-09-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's on ongoing love affair. Let's see what's going on with this affair today.

I recently found out on of my favorite Japanese fabric companies has an office in Emeryville, CA which is like five minutes away from my best friends house! Oh Lecien, I love you!

I called their Emeryville office a few days ago to see if they were open to the public. Turns out I can set up an appointment for a tour but can't buy anything since I don't have a resale license. Of course I can buy their fabric in one of the local quilt stores, so not a big loss!

I also found this great site selling all things japanese cutesy!

Finally, check out this amazing blog, trueup.net. A great way to see amazing fabrics coming out, already out and the different ways to use them. Great inspiration!

Some awesome things.

2010-08-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

end of August rose

tree roots

new lid on bubble tea

yummmmm

Parks and blocks.

2010-08-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

The weather was so perfect this weekend, so the b.f., the puppy and I all went for a walk in this cute little park we just discovered. The park is in the middle of a shopping center. I never really knew this cute little slice of land was just right there.

matchstick gazebo

Walking around this park I couldn't help but think of quilt blocks!

inside the gazebo

East Bay Modern Quilt Guild

2010-08-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

The monthly meeting of the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild was on Tuesday the 24th. What a hot day for a quilt meeting! I hadn't been for a few months, but was happy I could finally make it this month! One thing on the agenda was making the pillowcases for charity.

pink pillowcase I made

detail of the pink pillowcase

pillowcases made by other quilters

more pillowcases

final group of pillowcases

Hot dog(s) and meetings.

2010-08-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Looks like we are finally getting some of the heat that the East Coast has been dealing with all summer! I try to take my dog Mason to the dog park at least once a day and to beat the heat we have to go pretty early this week. He ends getting pretty hot no matter how early we go!

Tonight is the monthly meeting of the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild (visit us on facebook!). I have missed the last few meetings but am so excited I am going make it tonight! Check back tomorrow for details!

Fixes and pillows.

2010-08-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

So it's looking like my camera lens is the problem. Sad. I guess if you bump the lens in anyway the gears or springs or some technical thing gets ruined. I must have hit the lens on something at some point. (big sigh).

The good news is that I can still manually focus my camera, bad news is if I want a new lens (which I will eventually have to do) the money will have to come from my new sewing machine funds. For today though my awesome sister took pics of my pillowcase with her Iphone! (thanks KP!)

finished pillowcase

I love the parasol fabric!

This pillowcase was soooo easy to make! Check it out here.

Pillowcases and pictures.

2010-08-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sadly something is wrong with my camera and I cannot take pictures!! Arrgh! I am going to take it to a camera shop this afternoon to have it looked at. Hopefully it is something minor, I love my Nikon D40 and I want to take pictures!! I guess you will all have to wait, sorry! I will try to take pictures of them before I donate them!

Pillowcases for a Cause

2010-08-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Check back later today for pictures of my handmade pillowcases. I am getting them ready for the monthly meeting this Tuesday the 24th, of the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild (find us on Facebook!). The pillowcases are for a great cause.

Oh blocks!

2010-08-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the continuation of my improvised pinwheel quilt. I think I have to come up with a new name for it since it's not really pinwheels anymore!

Remember this?

Once I have my squares or rectangles (let's be honest, this is not a precise quilt!) I then add this really pretty cream colored cotton to the sides.

I cut 2" x length of fabric strips of this cotton and sew it to each side.

This is how the blocks will look when finished.

I love how this is turning out. Not following a pattern has allowed me a lot of room for creativity. In some ways though it is a relief to see it coming together. I think I may actually get a few quilts out of these blocks!

Oooh, Quilt Challenge!

2010-08-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Exciting quilting challenge news over at the Modern Quilt Guild! Starting in September 2010 (only a few weeks away, how fast this year went!) quilting challenges will be announced and great prizes will be given away! Check it out!

Improvising

2010-08-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am not a quilt pattern using kind of girl, so sometimes this gets me into some sticky quilting situations. Most recent quilt is a prime example! As you may remember I brought out this pinwheel quilt from the ufo pile.

I finished sewing the triangles together to make about 50 pinwheels. I brought a few pinwheels to Joann's the other day, looking for some neutral fabric to bring this quilt together.

Thankfully my sister came with me and told me how crazy I was to think I could somehow put sashing in between each pinwheel. She also reminded me how much work not using a pattern can create when quilting! She helped me come up with a great solution though! Squaring off the pinwheels, total light bulb moment! Here are the basics of what I did to turn the six sided pinwheel into a rectangle.

finished pinwheel

fold in half

mark each cutting point

cut along dotted line

both sides have been cut off

I cut up each of the pinwheels in this way. Not all of the finished blocks are the same size, but that is the fun part of improvising!

Check back tomorrow to see these squares and rectangles made into quilt blocks!

Quadapus

2010-08-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

New crochet buddy is finished, the Quadapus (named by the b.f.). I tend to work on the crochet for a day or two then put it away for a few weeks. My wrist does not like working on crochet so I have to take breaks so that is why the Quadapus took so long to make. Now that he is done though I love him so much I am already half-way done with his look alike!

Browsing fabric sites

2010-08-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

When I can't sleep or want to avoid stuff I need to get done, I look at fabric sites. So last night was one of those nights where sleep was impossible! But I just found this fabric designer, Kayo Horaguchi, kayomaru.com, who does this crazy fabric. My favorite is the Kayo Haroguchi Cheetah and Giraffe Double Gauze Cotton which I found over at pinkchalkfabrics.com.
Being relatively new to blogging I am not sure how to include pictures from other websites. I know, crazy how far behind I am, but once my b.f. teaches me how, posts like this will be more dynamic!

Good things.

2010-08-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

Somehow I stumbled upon this background for my blog. The other one was too bright and didn't quite go. I love this background, think I found a winner!

I had a really fun day today! I babysat my sister and sister-in-law's 4 month old puppy, Bohdi.

Look at his giant paws! He went to the dog park with Mason and I this morning. As soon as we got home he ate his lunch super fast and passed out!

After I gave Bohdi back to my sister, I ran some errands. For about a week now I have been sewing with the wrong size needle. I was using both a 11/75 and a 16/100 because I was too stubborn to just go to Joann's and get a pack of the 14/90's that I needed. So off to Joann's I went today to get my needles. I even had a 40% off coupon!!!

Really close to the Joann's is this little cafe called Quickly's. They have all of these different bubble tea's which I have totally been craving. I love the little tapioca balls in the bottom of the cup!!! Yummmm.

I have kind of, almost, given up Starbucks and have been on the hunt for a new place for yummy cold drinks. Well, I am now in love with Quickly's, oh so yummy! I got the coffee bubble tea but they had a gazillion flavors! I also was so ecstatic to see that they had the plastic pressed on top that you have to poke with your giant straw, really it's the small things that make me the happiest! I haven't had this style of bubble tea since I lived in Washington state and would go up to Uwajimaya's in Seattle!

Pinwheel Quilt

2010-08-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Out comes the Pinwheel Quilt! I first blogged about this quilt on March 8, 2010. I was going to work on the flying geese quilt but found the Pinwheel quilt first in my craft closet. Sadly, this w.i.p. has been in the u.f.o. pile since March. I am excited to give it another go and see if I can finish it this time around. Now for some pictures!

A pile of triangles waiting to be turned into pinwheels.

Here is a better perspective, seems like a mini mountain of fabric! I totally have my moments when I am making a quilt where I feel a little overwhelmed by all the piecing that I still need to get through!

A few finished pinwheels. Well, not finished all the way. I think I am going to add corners to them so they are squared up and there is some space between each pinwheel (that is a different blog post for a different day though!).

Being completely revealing here is the back of one of the pinwheels! Aaaghhhh! Don't judge too harshly! I was just about to write a few excuses for why it's so wonky but I won't! This is what the back looks like, so now you know I really am showing you my process!

Stack of Pinwheel blocks waiting to be ironed.

U.F.O. pile.

2010-08-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

So as my readers and followers of the blog, you know I have been working on the flowering vines quilt for awhile now.

I finished squaring it up since it was all wonky. The thing is, I have been thinking over the last few days about moving it to the U.F.O. ( un-finished object) pile. Since I like to work on one quilt at a time and tend to only be able to stand a certain level of frustration when it comes to sewing, it looks like the flowering vines quilt will be moved to the UFO pile sometime today. Part of the frustration with this quilt is aimed at my sewing machine. I have a pretty cheap Singer that has only the extreme basic functions. I would like a better machine but am holding out until I can afford a good machine. Since I don't have enough saved yet, this quilt will have to wait.

I know that pile can be a sad and lonely place for a quilt to be, but if I put the f.v. quilt there I can work on the flying geese quilt again.

I think my quilting skills have improved since the f.g. quilt went in the pile many months ago so it should be easier for me to tackle.

Ripping out and squaring quilt.

2010-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

I noticed the other day when I tried to fold the Flowering Vines quilt that it isn't square. Ughhhh. This has happened to me before on a small baby quilt I made that I ended up giving to my dog, which he loves. I am not quite good at squaring up a quilt, yet. The great thing is that I can fix this mistake!

I ripped out two sides of the quilt's border, used a fabric pen to draw a new line for the border and now I am ready to sew it all back together!

ripped out side

new line drawn in

making progress

Mason!

Quilt Show! Quilt Show! Quilt Show! (from awhile ago)

2010-08-04T04:09:00.000-07:00

I am awake at 3 in the morning not able to sleep. Wanted to do a blog post but not wake anyone up by taking pictures of the progress I made yesterday on my flowering vines quilt. Let's look at some pictures from the East Bay Heritage Quilter's Voices In Cloth 2010 quilt show in Oakland, CA. The show was at the Oakland Convention Center on April 10-11th, which happened to be the weekend I was moving. I was so happy we finished moving in time for me to attend this show!

Sorry for not having the quilter's information! This is the first time I have gone to a quilt show and then wrote about it (extremely after the fact) on my blog. Promise to do better next time!!

I loved the detail of this quilt. Standing back and close up reveals two different experiences of this work.

I wish I had a more detailed picture of this quilt. It was incredible, as you can see.

I love the movement in this quilt, not only in the pattern but also in the machine quilting.

This particular quilt was one of my favorites. The star block, in all its varieties is one of my top blocks. I would have liked to see this quilt without the green in it. My eye is drawn to the green and takes away the focus from the overall design of the quilt.

Love this quilt though, that is why I am standing, smiling in front of it!

look, in my hand all the info.

10 Things you may not know about me.

2010-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am a twin. My sister and I were born a minute apart, her first. She says we are a few minutes apart, so she is that much older than me!
I grew up in a very small town in Nebraska but now live in California via Washington state. I think all those places shaped me in some way.
I learned to sew from my Grandma and 4-H. I learned to love sewing and all things creative from my Mom.
I earned a Masters degree in Psychology but don't use the degree. Some days I feel good about it and some days I wish things were different.
I was born with a serious heart condition. Finally as an adult I feel in control of my health and see all the struggle I went through was worth it, just to be where I am today.
I tend to be somewhat shy, but once I know you I cannot stop talking.
I love Starbucks Chai Cream Frappacino, venti of course!
I want to be good at something right away. Quilting is no exception. I am learning to be okay with my mistakes, actually to see them as something creative, this helps me to keep going.
I am in love with the man in my life and cannot imagine my life without him. We hope to soon be parents. I never thought I would ever be able to have a baby, but was given permission by my cardiologists earlier this year. We are excited and nervous for what lies ahead, but are so ready!
I have always loved to write, but have struggled with my "voice" as a writer. Got in the habit of being very dry and academic from all the years in college. I love blogging though, and love that I can be myself.

2 hours.

2010-08-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

I have decided to commit to two hours a day working on my quilting and sewing. It may either sound like a lot or not that much but for me I see it's what I need to do if I want to be serious about being a great quilter. I tend to get caught up in the other stuff that needs to get done around the house and end up not working on sewing. So let's look at what I got done this morning during my two hours!

flowering vines quilt border fabric

sewing on the border

border finished!

Stuff to look at.

2010-07-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

Coming up with a title for each post is not one of my strong suits! But I took some pictures of my quilt/craft space and stuff that's on there right now, so let's take a look.

fabric I am thinking of using for a border on flower quilt

I love this pincushion

pink fabrics stacked on quilt pieces

fabric scissors, ruler, mat and rotary cutter, which I cannot do without

fabric stack reflected in ruler.

That was the quick tour of what is on my craft table right now. The flowering vines quilt is rolling around in my head all the time and so all the fabrics sit on my desk. At the stage right now where I need to put a border around the main area so I can put the outer squares/rows on the quilt top. Then I can move onto the applique part.
This border part is like a mini roadblock, not sure what fabric to use for this. My ability to be very indecisive is coming out!
I could ask you my lovely readers to help me in the decision! I will show you the fabrics I am considering and you weigh in! I like this idea, so check back and let me know what you think.

Flowers, flowers everywhere!

2010-07-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

The Flowering Vines Quilt is moving along. Below is a reminder of the flower quilt, on the cover of this awesome book.

I've gone through a few packages of the Lite Steam-A-Seam already, so I will have to find a larger package of this stuff! Now let's take a look of what's new:

Leaves

Flower centers


Flowers

Flower fabric

Fabric for more flowers

Quilt Sketches

2010-07-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Make it Lite!

2010-07-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Applique, I continue to work on my skills. You see right now my applique knowledge is at a medium level from all the reading I have done on this technique. But getting comfortable with actual applique is still new to me.
Yesterday I went to Joanns, 40% off coupon in hand, and bought this lovely pack of fusible web sheets.

I was thinking I originally wanted a fusible web that wasn't double sided, but not sure now that I roll it around in my noggin if that would work. I really want something that doesn't add bulk to my applique, since right now the applique flowers I already made with a regular Steam-A-Seam2 are super stiff and will have to come off the Flowering Vines quilt.

You can't tell in this picture, but it's like cardboard and will totally not work on this quilt! I love this flower though, oh it's cute.

I went searching for more info on fusible web applique technique the other day and stumbled upon critterpat's channel on Youtube. The lovely Deborah Konshinsky had a whole video series on Machine Applique. This particular video is Machine Applique part 2 raw edge:

I like the raw edge and the "drawing" on the applique, there seems to be so much freedom in this technique. I need all the space to be creative and explore. Not that anyone is holding me back, but my own sense of needing to be perfect!

Here is my first quick attempt at using the Lite fusible web and machine applique raw edge technique (whew).

I had to mess with the tension a little to get the stitches looking and working how I wanted but I love how soft and pliable this turned out, and I can't wait to keep going!

Works in Progress

2010-07-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Flowering Vines quilt is mainly what I am working on right now. The applique is where I am stuck, but got some great advice from Melody, an amazing quilter, check out her blog, fibermania.blogspot.com

This quilt is waiting patiently for me to put this lovely flower fabric on the back, so basically finish it. Hopefully I can finish this one by the end of the week!

Photographing and posting amigurumi teddy bears.

2010-07-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have had these bears done for atleast 6 months. I went on this huge streak of constant crocheting once I learned how to make the crochet stuffed animals. Then I hurt my wrists from too much crochet so I stopped and these got put away in my craft closet. put all three of these teddy bears up on my etsy shop cherryheartdesigns.etsy.com

My makeshift photo studio in the bedroom. I am still figuring out the best way to take pictures of the things I make! This seemed to work pretty well though.

I was able to take some pretty good detail shots of the bears, here is one that I really liked.

My puppy Mason wanted his picture taken to and kept taking the teddy bears for himself when I wasn't paying attention. Caught in the act!

Flower quilt in process

2010-07-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

I cut more stacks of fabric for the flower quilt. I have so many quilts in progress, along with other projects, I thought I should go back to this one and see how much I could get done.

I included some new fabrics, like the cherry fabrics.

A snapshot of the progress on the flower quilt and the new fabric stacks waiting to be sewn together.

Crochet Octopus

2010-07-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

I am starting a new crochet animal! It's going to be a Quadapus (a four legged octopus) as designed and named by the boyfriend.

He helped me pick out the colors for a crochet bunny that I make and has really been the best selling one that I have made.

I decided to use a darker blue for the Quadapus's sweater. Check back to see his super cuteness come together!

I love my Cherry quilt!

2010-06-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

I decided one day to go to Joann's fabric store and buy a fat quarter of all the cherry fabric I could find. Who knew they had so many?! I think I bought 10 different patterns of cherries!

I wanted to do a diagonal style quilt in strips. It was very simple and went quickly. The strips were cut 3 1/2" x length of fabric. I then added a gingham fabric I had in my stash as a nice accent border. The gingham strips were 3" x length of quilt. I then used deep red Kona cotton for the back of the quilt and binding. The final size of this baby quilt is 38"x40".

Closer detail of the quilt.

Mason being so cute in front of the cherry quilt, which he loves! I think he wants every quilt I make for himself!

Messing with the look.

2010-06-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Blogger has this whole new way to make blogs on blogspot.com look new and updated. I am experimenting with new backgrounds to see how it looks. Have any feedback? Let me know!

I'm back.

2010-06-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

I have been gone from this lovely blog of mine for no apparent reason, besides enjoying the summer sun!! Check back to see what quilt projects I have made some good progress on!

Applique part two.

2010-06-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

I began the process of ironing on the applique's to my quilt. I tried to sew on the applique but it just made large holes in the fabric. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I continue to experiment and see if I can figure it out.

Applique!

2010-06-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am still working on the flowering vines quilt. I wanted to do this one because of the applique flowers. I love applique quilts! The quilt pattern has templates but I decided to free form the flowers. Also it calls for vines but I think I am just going to add leaves as the accent to the flowers instead.

Purple flower.
Green flower.

Polka dot flower.

All three flowers together. These are the only flowers I have done so far, more to come!

Open for business!

2010-06-04T05:06:00.000-07:00

After being closed and gathering dust bunnies for quite awhile my Etsy shop is now open for business again! You know I keep making things and my intention is to sell them. Of course I have doubts and I am done letting this get in the way.

The Rainbow Quilt will be listed later today. For now I have my pencil pouches listed.

The back of the Rainbow Quilt.

See the binding, I love this cute wavy yellow striped fabric!

My sister has always been my biggest fan and cheerleader. She was also the quilt holder for these pics! Thanks KP!!

Fabric and Thread

2010-06-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

Pencil Pouch, round 2

2010-05-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

I added a lining and a small pocket to the pencil pouch. Now it can hold even more things! No matter the size of the bag, I must cram it full of stuff.

Adding to the fabric stash.

2010-05-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have been slowly but surely adding to the fabric stash. Since my craft budget is limited I love that fat quarters are super affordable and I can still get super cute fabric that I love!

I love cherries, I even have a cherry tattoo, so this fabric is totally my style. Plus the yellow is so vibrant, I couldn't pass it up.

I am not a huge fan of purple but my sister is totally in love with this color right now. What I like though about using different colors I wouldn't normally use is that they remind me of certain people.
I think of my sister whenever I look at this fabric and can't wait to make something with these purple cherries!

Flowering Vines Quilt

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am at the beginning phase of working on the Flowering Vines Quilt I first posted about on April 23, 2010.
Here is the fabric stacked nicely, cut into various sizes from 1"x 3 1/2" up to 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

Fabric splayed out to see the variety of patterns and colors. Most of this fabric is from scraps that I have had in a large paper bag, not knowing what project to use them on! I finally went through the bag and was so excited to see they would work perfectly for this quilt.

I have on 3 1/2" x 58" strip done so far. Only for of these left to do!

This is the book I am using, Flowering Favorites.

Remember to check back to see the progress of the quilt!

Cute pencil pouches.

2010-05-18T11:15:00.001-07:00

I have been working on getting stuff ready for my etsy store. It has been a long time since I have posted things there but want to dust the shelves off and put out some new merchandise!

I have always loved pencil pouches and though I would give them a try. They are super easy to make and a great quick project.

I used the zipper foot to sew on this cute lime green zipper.

Here are two finished pencil pouches. I didn't realize how many colors zippers come in! I bought these zipper's at Joann's fabric store. The fabric is from Thimblecreek quilt store in Concord, CA.

The inside of the pouch.

These pouches are 3"x7" when finished.

Binding take 2.

2010-05-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have complained many times about binding a quilt. It is something that I have struggled with and had a hard time learning. Well it seems that I finally figured it out! Yeah!!! I even showed my boyfriend, saying, "See?! Isn't this awesome?! I FINALLY did it!!". He gave me a weak smile and a "yeah". He didn't realize that he should have thrown me a quilt binding parade! He did give me a nice hug though, so that was good enough!

After studying this tutorial (over and over): http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/10/binding-tutorial.html I then felt confident enough to try again. I first put binding on a few of the quilts I have made for my puppy. These turned out well so then I put binding on my Roman Squares quilt and the Rainbow Quilt.

This is the rolled up binding.

Pictures of the finished binding from many angles! I was so happy with the results. I cannot tell you how good it feels to have this turn out!!

My puppy loves quilting!

2010-05-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

I finished it!

2010-05-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the Roman Squares baby quilt! Part of why I did this one was to learn new skills. My repertoire has now expanded slightly! I think I am more of a make it up as you go girl rather than a pattern follower. I like how it looks but I will let you in on a little secret, it doesn't fold up square! It's totally uneven! I laughed about it last night when I finished it, seeing the silliness in my mistake!

I like especially how the back turned out! I think it's very pretty. Well, onto the next quilt!

Beginners mind.

2010-05-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

When thinking about today's post I kept hearing in my mind the phrase "beginners mind". It basically means setting aside all of your judgments, preconceived ideas about outcome and being eager and open to the process.

As a beginning quilter I am truly struggling with learning something new. I can't help but compare myself to others, feel frustrated with my mistakes, and have moments where I feel completely discouraged.

Some of you know my "story" and others don't. About a year and a half, to two years ago I decided to let go of my chosen career path. It was something that I was (and still am, but in a different way) deeply passionate about. I had gotten my master's degree, began working in this field and felt I was pretty good at what I was doing. As painful as it was I had to let this all go due to major health issues.

Some time has passed and after much searching I feel I have finally found something I am passionate about again. That new passion is Quilting. I want to know all there is to know about it, I want to become really good at it, and I want to help others in someway through my quilting.

But as a beginner, wow, it is a rough place to be in. I don't think I have set my goals too high, I know it's possible to do well because I love quilting. I just wanted to put this out there. That I am trying to be open to what comes with learning and trying this new path.

Roman Square quilt.

2010-05-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

I am almost done with this Roman Square quilt. Well, almost done with the top, which feels then like I am close to being done. I started it maybe two weeks ago and hope to finish it in another week.

I recently decided to work my way through the Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!!! The Complete Guide to Quiltmaking Second Edition. I am a very new quilter and up to this point have made quilts without patterns. I need some quilt skills and find this book very approachable. So onward I go in my learning adventure and here is my guide, this great quilt book!

This amazingly cute puppy fabric will be the corners. I decided to use my Sushi Roll of fabrics (check out April 20, 2010 posting). I wanted to save it for a special quilt but then decided to just dive in and use it, I didn't like waiting!