Today is a very special day for many reasons, but it being the maiden voyage of "little crappy" made it even better. The weather was horrible getting to the island, white caps and heavy winds. But by the time we made it to the shack everything settle down, the sun came out. Maggie was so good in the boat, she had a great time. So did I. I still can't believe G built it so quickly and its so cute!
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Color help!
S just found out he is a new uncle! A perfect excuse for me to start working on a new project (adding to the queue). I figured out my design last night and started planning out the colors. My challenge is I don't really like traditional baby colors so I went with a color scheme that I think turned out too harsh.
So I snooped around online and found a site that people created their own color galleries and copied a few that I thought could work for a baby but also not be too childish. I want the quilt to be something that when she turns nine she doesn't want to throw away because its for a "baby", but her mother is a girlie girl so I thought soft colors would be a good compromise. Does that make sense or am I just fooling myself?
While I am leaning towards two galleries in particular I want to hear what you think. Please leave a comment with the letter of the gallery you think is best. If you can't choose just one then just list the galleries you like best in order of your preference.
Thanks!
tutorial: christmas stocking
I am so excited to share with you the new maggie makes tutorial for my quilted stockings.
My mother loved to make things special and Christmas was no exception. I still have all the handmade ornaments, the gingerbread men garland and the Mrs. Claus bag that each year held all my presents, but my most cherished item is my stocking. It was colorful, fun and most importantly bigger than my brother's. (It always brought me pleasure to tease him about this, isn't that what little sisters are for?) I patterned my stocking after her design and hope others gift their loved ones with something they can cherish for years, just as she did for me.
If you use this pattern I would love to see photos of your finished projects. Please join the maggie makes flickr group and share them.
Some I can't wait to make are:
Drawstring bags
Patchwork Star
Carrier bag
coming soon
I was able to work on my Christmas stocking tutorial this week. I choose a new design from a Japanese quilting book S gave me for Christmas last year and I am thrilled with how it turned out! This is just a sneak peek. I love the colors. The tutorial should be posted in the next few days, G is helping me out and its looking really good. More soon......
YAY!
I just checked my email and I am overjoyed to learn that Amazon has shipped my copy of Malka's book. I preordered this as soon as I learned about it. She is so inspiring and her talents are endless. (Can you tell I am a HUGE fan?) I feel like camping out at the mailbox until it arrives! YAY!
moving on
The weekend is the only time I have to really focus on making things. I spend most of the free time during the week planning my weekend activities, building patterns, selecting fabrics, washing fabrics, getting notions. So by the time the weekend rolls around I can spend both days totally focused on my projects without running into dead ends. Except the ones I can't control, like when my sewing machine gets tempermental and decides it doesn't want to cooperate.
Last weekend my planning was less than sucessful. I had been thinking about creating a unique advent calendar for my neice and nephew that they could hang from their mantel like a garland. I didn't measure my mantel until the last minute, which means I didn't realize that my idea wasn't going to work as planning. G tried to help by offering suggestions for alternatives but I was to0 disappointed to even consider them. So needless to say I made nothing.
Time is all I needed and now as I plan my weekend I am able to move past my disappointment and start getting excited about some of the other alternatives. Hopefully I will have something to show Monday.
I am also planning on building my next tutorial for christmas stockings. These are ones I created a few years ago and sold at a local toy store. They are great for using up scraps and I thought about submitting my tutorial for the scrap busters competition over at SewMamaSew, but I am not sure I will be able to make the 10/23 deadline. We shall see.
pillows
I finally made Malka's pillows from Stitch. I have been carrying around the magazine for months determined to make my own, but it wasn't until I found the wonderful Good Folks fabric collection from Anna Maria Horner that I was ready.
Usually I really don't like to use fabric collections, I tend to like the random matches best, but this collection is so beautful, fun, and eclectic that I couldn't resist. My first pillow, the one in the bottom right, didn't turn out as I had hoped. I didn't quite get the pattern right, as best seen in the top shot (its the pillow on the left in that shot). I was determined to get it right for the second pillow and I did! You can see the sections of warms and cools much better.
It was a great project that didn't take much time and I love the way they turned out. Piecing the top was great fun, I didn't plan anything, I just sewed what I picked up next from my piles of warm and cool. The random patterns and combinations are so much fun!
