I is for Ivan

I is for Ivan

My nephew, Ivan, is turning one in a matter of days. His party is this weekend, and I am doing my best to finish quilt before we celebrate.

"I" detail

I had been waiting for one of the local quilt shops to get "Bella", the most recent line by Lotta Jandotter, in. A quilting buddy, who works at The Quilt Company, let me know some of the line had arrived last week, which led to an impromptu fabric binder. The print used as a part of the "I" is called "Lind."

Makes me think of buildings and blocks

When designing quilts for babies and toddlers I tend to go simple and bold. I don't enjoy over-complicating my quilts, and I think simple and bold is more appealing to babies' developing eyes. Tomorrow I start quilting. I will be using the same print for the backing fabric.

PGH MQG

More proof I have been working:
1. I have been helping create the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild
2. My blocks for the QuiltCon quilt block challenge

I promise! I promise! I have been working!!!

Red/White/Black WIP

It may not look like much, but it is something. Reorganizing my stash the other weekend I was reminded I had these great red, white, and black fabrics. As soon as I got a little free time I quickly cut out some rectangles and am currently piecing this all together. All 144 pieces have been chained together. When I get a little more time I will finishing sewing together all of the rows. This soon-to-be quilt doesn't have a home, but I certainly know several families with babies on the way.

I'm also currently finishing cutting out a quilt for my cousin, Shelly, who is having her first baby at the beginning of September. I will post photos soon. Great colors- grey, yellow, and white.

Quilts Beyond Borders has also been keeping me busy. A lot of quilts and tops are being delivered at my house, and we have several kits we need to get out to longarm quilters to meet the demands for quilts going overseas. We are also about to begin remodeling our kitchen, which has required extensive prep work.

And, lastly, because I don't have enough going on in this life- I am currently co-founding the Pittsburgh chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild.

A Gift for Ezra's First Birthday

A friend of mine I quilt with on Monday nights has two children. The youngest, Ezra, was born eight days after Samuel. For Ezra's first birthday I made him a pair of pants.

Two cut out pant legs for sized 6-12 months

Pants sewn together

Sliding in the elastic for the waistband

Cuff detail

The finished product with roll-able cuffs.

Courtney, Ezra's mum, loves Japanese fabric... Well, she loves pretty much everything Japanese craft, so I made the pants out of some scrap Japanese fabric I had left over from making a skirt for our friend, Amy, in Austin. Baby pants are pretty easy to make. I have a feeling I will be making more in the future for other friends and family members having babies.

Sew, while working on the community quilt...

Monday night at our regular weekly quilting and crafty meet-up I managed to sew my left index finger.

Yes, the needle went all the way through my finger.

I hadn't completely disengaged the backstitch on my machine by letting the needle go forward. As a computerized machine it couldn't have possibly known and was just doing "its job." I was moving the quilt to the next square for quilting. When I dropped the walking foot into place the needle jumped and went right through my finger. My foot was no where near the foot controller.

Fortunately there were some very calm souls present who helped me think through how to get the needle out of my finger and keep me from freaking out. It hurt like the dickens and felt pretty gross as the needle and eventually threads were pulled out. Another fortunately blessing was the lack of blood. That actually would have done me in for the night.

Today my finger is really sore and red. Typing is a bit of a challenge, but other than that I think I will live. There is always going to be more sewing projects, and needles through the finger are part of the process. Right???

Free-motion Sam

I am currently prepping for Sam's first birthday. The above is an embroidery I made using free-motion and Paper Solvy. The image was taken from a recent photo taken on our patio on one of the first Spring-like days. The embroidery was first used for Sam's birthday invitation, and eventually I will add more to it. It will likely end up on a wall featuring various photos of Sam. Once the picture is complete I will share on the blog.

I'm also making a birthday banner for the special occasion. We aren't going overboard for the festivities, but feel like we should continue hand-making things in all aspects of Sam's wonderful life. I never need an excuse to make things, but he is certainly worth it!

A stitch in dye: Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design

Looks to be another book I need to add to my wish list.
Many thanks to the incredible Malka Dubrovsky for bringing it to my attention with her blog.

a stitch in dye: Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design: Yoohoo! Remember me? I haven't been in this space for a couple weeks, but I thought I'd pop beck here today to tell you about a fabulous new...

Circus Quilt for Baby Stella

Quilt Detail

One of the girls from the book club I attend is having a baby girl any day now. She told me the nursery theme was circus with orange as the main color. This is what I fashioned together for her.

Completed crib-sized quilt

She seemed to really like the quilt, and the color choices I made were apparently spot-on. Her quilt is one of several baby quilts I will be making in 2012. The next baby quilt will feature the colors gray, yellow, and white. I'm also currently contemplating making a wedding quilt for another friend of mine. That will be a first.

Sam to help display the size of the quilt.

Sam makes a great model. I love that little man.
Til the next adventure- pillows...

Fabric WIPs

Circles WIP

I have finally started working with dye again after the baby-related hiatus. (Dye powders and  little ones do not mix.) My inspiration partially comes from knowing I will be attending a 2 day shibori workshop the last two weekends of March. The workshop, taught by Amber Coppings is hosted by the Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh, which I recently joined as a member.

Squares WIP

The second inspiration comes from my long-term desire to fill my fabric stash with less commercial fabrics. I'm actually about to dump a load of PFD white cotton in the wash to get ready for a few more runs of color. The green and orange dyes are calling my name today for some reason.

Both of the above pictures fabrics are works in progress. Each have been dyed a shade of red, resisted with soy wax and over-dyed with another shade of red, and discharged. I'm currently contemplating adding another color or doing some embroidery work. Only time will tell...

Another Baby Quilt

"Modern Circus" Baby Quilt WIP

A wonderful woman in the monthly book club I attend, Bookish Babes of Pixburgh, is having a baby in March. Unable to attend her baby shower I still wanted to make something to help celebrate welcoming her first child into the world. Next week the book club is getting together so I am spending today and part of the weekend finishing the quilting and binding.

I contacted her when I learned of the shower to find out if she minded me making something and if she and her husband had selected colors or a theme. She told me there was a lot of orange in the nursery and in the end it ended up having a sort of circus theme. Inspired I selected a variety of bright solids and began piecing them together. The above is the quilt as a work-in-progress (WIP). Once it is completed I will post detailed pictures.

Project: Christmas Gifts

Screen Printed Flour Sack Towels

 For the last several years I have been making Christmas gifts for friends and family. This year due to some time constraints we decided to screen print most of our gifts and limit the amount of sewing time. This ended up being a good decision because my foot controlled died a week and a half before we left to visit family out of state. Making the screens still took a lot of time, but the actually printing was over in a matter of minutes.

Queen Anne's Lace

 We have been inspired by so many things since our move to Pittsburgh. This Fall I marveled at how beautiful Pittsburgh becomes as the leaves change colors. It reminded me of the time I lived in Canada. Ah... seasons. We designed the images for our screens based on some of the Fall foliage that stood out to us while we were traveling and walking all over the city. Looking out our window was also pretty inspiring due to the beautiful view of the park across the street. I took pictures of various leaves, sketched, and collected samples as they fell from trees.

Japanese Maple Leaves from the Yard

 We were able to complete three handmade screens using acrylic paint. My next challenge with these screens is layering the design with detailed accents. Ginko leaves have these fine lines that fan out to the ends of each leaf. I imagine lawn creatures using them as fans or shade when the sun is high.

Ginko Leaves from Our Yard

We heard our nephews were getting a kitchen for Christmas. They love to "make" food when they play together. Just the other day Sebastian was opening a candy store and made me soup out of blocks. I thought it would be fun to make them some play food they could use while playing in their kitchen.

Felt Bacon Strips

Se

Sushi Roll

 It seams like we rarely have a weekend breakfast without bacon; therefore, the boys needed to have bacon, too. Although the boys are young, 2 and 4, they have incredibly cultivated palettes. I think it is great they both enjoy eating sushi. The sushi was a little experimental, but I was happy with the results- especially the "mock-i". The place mats were an extra-special touch contributed by The Architect.

Different view of the sushi roll

Tuna "Mock-i"

Tuna "Mock-i"

We also made a couple of turkey legs just for fun. It was an opportunity for The Architect to practice sewing. That was a lot of fun. He did well, which makes me hopeful for our next sewing project- his new messenger bag.

Turkey Leg

Christmas Gifts in the Making

I have been home sick for the past two days with stomach flu, which has prompted me to update my poorly updated blog. I'm hoping stomach flu is not the only motivator I have in my life to a. update my blog and b. lose 5 pounds. No matter, both a and b have been achieved.

I haven't made a whole lot of things lately because I have been getting the studio organized. We have also had other things going on with the house, Sam, and family so making had to be put aside. Christmas is as good a reason as any to get back into making things. Over the weekend I spent some time preparing new screens for our Christmas gifts. I am hoping this weekend I will be able to start putting the images on the screen and get a few test prints made. Images to come.

Birthday Gift for Sister-in-law

My beautiful sister-in-law, Eliza, recently had a birthday. Not too long after we arrived in Pittsburgh she mentioned she would love to have an assortment of cloth napkins to use for dinners. She said she would love to have an assortment of fabrics that didn't necessarily match but were color coordinated.

A variety of napkins

Peter and I selected 15 different materials from Marmalade Fabrics, which is an online fabric retailer. Tammy, the owner, has incredible taste in fabric and she has quickly become one of my favorite resources. She's really good at selecting highly sought after fabrics as they come out each season.  The napkins measure out 15.5" square. They were serged, to help avoid future fraying, and then hemmed.

Napkin rings

In addition to the napkins I also altered some napkin rings we purchased. I used some of the scraps and some buttons I found to liven up the simple silver rings. The embellishment is held together by a snap so it can easily be removed if she wants to only use the simple ring.

"Fancier" set

I also made a "fancier" set for when she hosts dinner parties. I have always liked the idea of napkin rings, but hated the idea of having multiple sets for holidays and fancy dinners taking up space in a cupboard. This ways the she only has the one set of napkin rings with interchangeable embellishments, which will take up a little less room.

New Studio Space and Craft Table

Craft Table

I have a studio space after many years on living in tiny spaces and like a semi-nomad. (I mean, seriously, when I moved back from Canada the majority of my belongings fit in my tiny hatchback, Yoshi.) Texas homes aren't really known for basements, so you can only imagine my excitement when I moved into a house with a basement spacious enough to allow for a designated space for crafting. Aside from just having the space, the basement is also equipped with an industrial sink and shower for when I need to blow out screens or work with dyes. I've been feeling like a kid in a candy store every time I'm down there- even if it only going to get the laundry.

The space I selected for crafting had some pretty gnarly wood paneling, which we recently finished priming. Our plan is to paint it a clean, light color with grey trim. It will brighten up the space and not drastically effect colors in the fabric I am either making or using for projects.

Studio space before priming and table construction

Awesome built in with cool red light fixtures

The first thing I needed to do was craft a workspace large enough for the various media/projects, such as pattern cutting, screen printing, quilting, etc. We went to Construction Junction and picked up two used lab cabinets for cheap. I wanted to get something to act as the base of the table but also could be used potentially for storage. The day they went to Construction Junction they had a ton of cabinets that had been donated from some lab.

Table in progress...

We also picked up two large 4X8 sheets of plywood to act as the tabletop. Peter then screwed the boards together to help avoid each individual sheet from warping.

Peter in action

After the table was screwed down it needed to be covered. I used a sandwich of plastic, quilt batting, and muslin, which we stapled to the underside of the table top.

Quilt batting layer

In order to really support cutting out fabric and screen printing I think a good craft table needs a little bit of spring or cushion. To do this I bought queen size quilt batting, which I doubled over.

The layering technique makes it easier to pin down fabric when cutting out patterns, when printing t-shirts, or dying fabric. This table easily holds T-pins and fabric pins. When stapling just make sure you do it one layer at a time and each layer is pulled tightly to the edge. Over time the muslin may wear out or get dirty. As well, the batting may lose its fluff. Fortunately it can easily be pulled off and replaced with a fresh batch of new materials.

It's been a little while...

Sam's feet

So, it's been a little while...
Sam was born Thursday, April 21, 2011. Since then we have also relocated to Pittsburgh. We did this when Sam was a mere 4 weeks old. (I have been called crazy a few times over this.)

The last 19 weeks have been about Sam and getting settled into our new world. We still have a lot to settle, but I finally feel like enough progress has been made that I can get back to crafting regularly and blogging about the things I make and experience.

The above photo was recently taken by local photographer and incredible person, Renee Greenlee. Aside from being amazing, she is so talented. The train name was a gift from a long family friend, and it is sitting on a beautiful hand-knitted blanket from my friend, Denee. (Denee also recently completed a 12 foot long replica of the 4th season Dr. Who scarf.)

Shower Decor/Baby Goodies

Cupcake and Lollipop Washcloth Bundles
from babcakeandlollipop.etsy.com

My baby shower was in March so my only excuse for the delay in posting anything handmade from this event is I was under the impression I would be having a baby by now and I had to finish getting ready. Well, here we are past my due date with a still pregnant belly. We finished everything we really needed to do by week 38 and have since hung out waiting for the big moment. Since I am still a momma-in-waiting I decided to pass some of the time updating the blog.

My mum threw me the most incredible shower at the Brick Oven on 35th full of delicious food (including a gluten free table for me and the other attending Celiac), wonderful family and friends, and a lot of baby gifts. I love a good party for anyone else but me. In order to get through the event I decided it wasn't really a party for me but for the baby that would soon bless our life. As far as I am concerned this little guy deserves a party (and I can still say this even though he is about a week late).

Pictured above and below are some of the items that decorated the tables at the shower. I like them because they are handmade and totally useful. The adorable cupcake and lollipop (above) from Babycake and Lollipop deconstruct into a set of baby wash clothes and a feeding spoon.  The corsage (below) is also a simple pair of baby socks. 

Baby Sock Corsage from babycakeandlollipop.etsy.com

From now on I think I am only going to use multitasking decor at any event I host. It's purposeful and considerably less wasteful. As a craftster I constantly contemplate the waste I produce when sewing, designing, and dyeing. It seems unavoidable in a many creative circumstances, so when I can't do it myself I am happy to support those who do. In this case it was my mum who located this Etsy seller, and I am thankful for that!

Thelibrarygirl and The Architect at Brick Oven on 35th
(check out the huge baby belly!)

Mum also got a funny tie for The Architect to wear in case our family and friends forgot her fathered this child. I currently cannot find the name of the Etsy seller who made this, but will update the post once I do. I'm wondering how to archive this in the baby book...

Completed Quilt from Mum

Last month my mum finished the quilt she started in the introductory class at Stitch Lab. She brought it up for the baby shower.

Mum's Quilt for Baby

The quilt will be used once the baby gets here, but for the time being it is hanging above the baby's crib with the Charley Harper-inspired mobile. I love seeing them together. I cannot wait to wrap up the little one in it.

The Onesies Project (and Mum Gets Crafty)

The Architect and I were trying to figure out a way to get family and friends involved in the whole "baby experience." With family and friends located all over the place we wanted to share our love of baby and crafting in a creative way. We decided to ask a few family members and friends to decorate a variety of onesies for the baby- hence the name The Onesies Project. 

We didn't really have any rules other than a kind request to be as gender neutral as possible. We also didn't care how creative your felt you were. If you wanted to participate we were happy to hand you a onesie. Participants even got to choose from a variety of colors and sizes. 

 

It should be no surprise my mum was the first to get her onesies back to us. (All pictured onesies are from my mum) She was the first person to give us a baby present a few days after we told her we were expecting. (First time grandmotherly excitement!!!) I think originally we gave her two to decorate, but she loved it so much she went out and bought more blanks for decorating.

The great thing about this project is the openness. I think a lot of the decor used for her onesies came from craft stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. The most important thing is she personalized them using decor representing things in our lives. She and I both love owls, we have two dogs, and we have a bit of an animal theme going on with Charley Harper as our nursery inspiration. The other onesies are just darn cute.

Most of our onesies were purchased at a discounted price from Trendy Blanks. We pre-washed all of the onesies before handing them out and just let people decorate as they pleased. I think this would even be a good idea for a baby shower if you wanted to do something different than playing weird dirty diaper games, eating cake, and opening gifts.

There will be other onesies posted as they are returned to us. We just got one back from a friend, and I absolutely love it.