Everything Has Changed

Months ago I announced that the Quiltytherapy family was growing.  Well Porter arrived earlier than expected and completely changed my world. The title of mom is now my top priority.  He needs me more than anything else does.

welcome banner

Being honest I was trying to be Super Woman.  Between pregnancy, exhaustion, and working crazy overtime hours my sewing and blogging came to a halt.  Something had to give.

Now that he’s here, healthy, and developing a routine I’m getting the itch to get everything going.  Prior to his birth I hit a wall with everything in my world.  Work was testing me, hormones may have played a role in that.  With sewing I have so many ideas and projects but the time just wasn’t there.

So much fabric.
So much fabric.

Granted having a c-section was not high on my to-do list, but I think it’s given me some extra time at home that I was really debating.  It’s going to be difficult to balance mom, entrepreneur, and full time employment.  The motivation and support is there from my family.

I am looking forward to moving ahead and creating the items I have been pondering for some time.  Quiltytherapy is going to be a striving business and I’m going to put the effort it deserves to make it viable and more than a “hobby”.  I want the flexibility and income to spend time with my son.

New Sewing & Storage Space

Getting a new sewing space has been months in the making.  There was one thing really standing in the way of it getting done…football season.  August – January at my home is consumed with football.  Sundays we host football for our 15-20 friends to come over and watch all their favorite teams.  Leaves very little room for construction projects elsewhere in the house.

After the SuperBowl we decided it was time to start on converting this three season room on the back of the house.  With the promise of pizza and beer our football friends trekked over and lent their Sunday afternoon to helping.

 

Old Storage Space

 

Outside of Old Space

While the boys worked outside, the girls worked inside to pack up my fabric stash, move my sewing tables, and start with the new set up on our enclosed front porch.  This was such a great space when I bought the house but we really had not put it to use.  I love all of the natural lighting the room has.

New Sewing Space
Just a bit disorganized right now.
New Sewing Space
Side by side sewing machines.

The last couple of weeks my hubby has worked on the back room when he has had time and light.  Note to self:  this room needs a light ASAP.  I would have loved to have done a crazy color on the walls, but if we ever go to sell the room can be marketed as a pantry or something like that.

New Storage Space

The floors coordinate pretty well with the rest of house.  Need something that works well and relatively inexpensive?  Vinyl plank.  We are all about it.  These ceilings are in both of the new spaces.  Such a nice touch.

Wooden Ceiling

 

New Storage Space
We put everything in there, just need to organize. Of course.

 

My wonderful mom is coming to stay last weekend and our main project was getting everything set back up.  Fabric sorted, organized and ready for use was the plan.  When packing up my current stash, she was amazed at the amount I had and was ready to ground me from buying anything new.

Instead we organized the nursery and got everything ready for little man.

Check back on Facebook this weekend for updated photos.

 

Scrappy Boys Quilt 2

This is quilt number two from the same batch of scraps.  After going through all of my scraps I did find a few more to add into the collection.  Can you believe I have enough to make one more?

Sampling of the scraps
Sampling of the scraps

For quilt number two I was going with the same modern mosaic layout.  The real challenge for this quilt was to minimize the repeating fabrics and organize the layout.  While I have enough to do one more quilt, the stash is getting LOW.

Things I have learned from making three of modern mosaic quilt…pressing is key.  You have to press regularly to keep the bulk down.

Quilt one and two do look really similar but I love the results.

scrappy quilt #2
extreme close up
extreme close up

The back uses the same orange back like quilt one.

back of quilt

Do you have a pattern that you enjoy making?  This may be my new favorite layout.  It’s a great way to use scraps and requires you to get creative with your layout.

Marmalade Potholders

Marmalade had to be one of my favorite lines of fabric that came out in 2012.  After making the boy and girl quilts for a set of twins, there were quite a few scraps left over.  I held a giveaway on the blog for a set of potholders to be made out of the winners favorite color way of the quilts.

marmalade fabric

Darcie, a fellow member of the Indy Modern Quilt Guild, was the winner.  Little did I expect to get so busy with work that I didn’t have time to create a simple set of potholders.  As the scrap organization started, the scraps resurfaced and conveniently it was right before our February meeting.  Time to sew.

marmalade scraps

Darcie chose this quilt as her favorite.

marmalde boy quilt

For the potholders I wanted to mimic the colors I used on the quilt.  Kona celery and ash were added in to coordinate.

marmalade potholder marmalade potholder

She was really happy with the outcome.  Look for more this stye of potholders to be added to the Etsy shop over the coming months.

 

What to do with all of this?

I wrote earlier this year that changes were coming in 2013.  Over the last couple of months I have found myself going back and forth on what I want do with my business and blog.  In ~seven weeks I will be wearing so many hats, good thing I can take challenge on head first.

Mom, health educator, and small business owner will be a lot to handle.  So I decided to let you guys in on a secret.  I cheat!  There I said it.  I cheat when sewing.  Over the last few years I have been using Moda precuts to create many of my projects.  Even making some of my own with varying lines.  These quilts are made with just 5″ squares.

nautical baby boy quilt

neutral boys quilt

Mostly the same fabrics but very different looks.

Precuts are a great way to sample an entire fabric line with minimal investment.  My favorites are charm packs, jelly rolls, and fat quarters.  I may have a few in my stash currently.

Many charm packs
Many charm packs
jelly rolls, fat quarter bundles, and a variety of other goodies.
jelly rolls, fat quarter bundles, and a variety of other goodies.

Last week I posted about my scrap management project.  Oddly, this blog post was in my inbox the same week as well.  4 Easy Steps to De-Clutter and Get Healthy.  Good timing.  Maybe this project won’t help me get healthy physically but can affect my mental health, knowing I have checked something off my list.  Plus organization feels great.

Throughout the next couple of months I want to showcase projects to really use up my scrap bins and what I have. After this weekend’s adventure of packing up all my fabric into 5 large totes, one thing is clear.  There is ALOT of fabric in my stash.

If you follow me on Pinterest you may have noticed an influx of ideas on the boards.  Can’t wait to share the projects completed from just the stash.

Scrappy Boys Quilt 1

A few months ago I worked on my first Oh Fransson Mod Mosaic quilt for a new baby girl.  It was really liberating to have no pattern and just piece things together.  After making one of them, I wanted to make more.

Baby Girl Mod Mosaic Quilt

In an effort to use what I have already in my scraps, I started the challenge of trying to make two boy quilts with my scraps in a modified mod mosaic pattern.  I have been working on these quilts most of January and finally finished one.  The pieces even traveled with me to San Francisco.

boy theme quilt pieces

Here is the finished quilt.  A lucky little guy in Pennsylvania will be snuggling with this upon his arrival.

boy theme mod mosaic quilt

I wanted to keep with random quilting all over.  To make this just a bit different there are a few spots with a satin stitch in the corner.  Of course it was to cover up an oops.

boy mod mosaic quilt

Only new fabric on this quilt is the backing.  Found this great print at one of my favorite local shops, Crimson Tate.  She had a great sale towards the end of December and when I saw this, I knew it was perfect.

quilt backing

For added security on the binding I have started machine binding the entire binding. Normally I would sew it onto the front, turn over, then stitch on the back.  However, I have found it much easier to sew the binding onto the back and turn it over and top stitch on the front.  I like the look better.  Swim, Bike, Quilt has a tutorial posted here.  She notes that there are lots of ways to bind a quilt and my style has changed even over the last year.