fabric

What to do with all of this?

Posted on by Tisha

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.

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Just a little sewing

Posted on by Tisha

Over the next couple of months I have challenged myself to add one new item to my Etsy shop everyday.  It’s a feat that can be accomplished especially with the stack of potholders I have ready to go.  Any guesses as to how many potholders can be made from the stack below?

stack of new potholder

The correct answer is 78, just in that stack.  My holiday break was a bit busy with sewing.  In the sewing room there are an 20-30 sets semi ready to go.  I’m on a mission to make the best year so far.  Plus, doesn’t hurt to plan ahead.

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Madrona Road Challenge – inspiration

Posted on by Tisha

Indy Modern quilt guild is participating in the Madrona Road Challenge by Violet Craft.  Over the next month I need to create something using these gorgeous prints but lacking inspiration right now.

First stop…over to Violet Craft’s blog to find out how she created these fabrics.  They are a balance of both floral and strong line prints.   If the gypsy daughter she speaks of has these, “rooted father and a gypsy mother,” that could explain the contrasting prints.  Our guild has the blue color way.

I can only add in one more print from the line and solids to make my creation.  I’m pondering just playing with the strong line prints and the florals separately.  Not sure how that will play out.

What have I pinned on my boards recently that could work as inspiration?

I’m leaning towards lots of white space to really showcase the prints but have some structure in my piecing.  For solids I’m going to throw in dark gray, black and light blue to coordinate.

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Nursery Inspiration

Posted on by Tisha

Picking a theme for your new bundle of joy can be difficult.  Everything in the stores is either has too many animals, too girly (we don’t know what Porter is yet), or just obnoxious.

Once I had a sneak peek of Bella from Lotta Jansdotter I knew my nursery had to be in that.  BTW…I wasn’t even pregnant yet, but knew that was it.  The colors and prints could be for either a boy or girl.

Plus I have a bit of fabric left over from the Lovebird’s quilts that could be a nice accent.  I don’t want a nursery that screams BIRDS, but a small touch is okay.

While out at the Indie Vintage & Arts Marketplace in September my friends and I saw this great gray dresser.  They had repurposed one of the dressers to have small white stripes, with a bit of yellow and wonderful blue knobs.  I tried to explain to hubby, but I’m sure he imagined this.

He’s envisioning zebra stripes and it’s really just a couple of stripes from the top to the bottom on the left hand side.  Of course I didn’t take a picture that day.

We know someone moving half way around the world and needing to get rid of stuff.  Score for us, because one of their dressers is perfect to make our own attempt at repurposing again.

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Changes are coming

Posted on by Tisha

It has been quite a busy end of summer in the sewing room and overall at the house.  Look for lots of finishes to be shared in the coming weeks.    Also, we crossed a major thing off the household to do list…finishing the basement.  This has been a task since we moved in over two years ago.

Here’s a snapshot of what my new living room looks like.  LOVE my new chairs.  Still have some work to do in here and some minor details.  The new set up makes the room look huge.

We started like this and chaos all over the house with stuff just being everywhere.

 

And now it looks like this well sorta.

It’s exhausting doing all of the work.

I hate the word man cave, but it’s kind of a cave down there.  I see us spending lots of time down there.  With the basement complete, we can focus on other areas of the house as well.  I’m hoping by December we have everything where we want it.

Let’s be honest, it may be finished by March.  By March lots has to be done because we have a new addition on the way.  I’m so excited to get to do some sewing that will stay in the house.  Even more excited that the nursery will be done in Bella by Lotta Jansdotter.

Less writing, more sewing.  I have a huge to do list to work on this week.

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The Lovebirds Quilt

Posted on by Tisha

I have been playing on Spoonflower for some time and have never bought anything.  A customer wanted a quilt for their friends that are bird lover’s to say the least.

Here is the fabric they selected.

I wasn’t sure the full blown idea, but thanks to the ladies at Indy Modern Quilt Guild they helped me figure it out. Simple frames were the way to go.

Gender neutral can be difficult because you can’t do too much of blue or girly colors.  However, you need to find a balance so that it could work for either a boy or girl.  Focus on yellows, oranges, greens, browns and throw in blue and red.

For quilting I opted for close straight lines.

I’m so happy with how this quilt turned out.  I have enough left to make something else from the Spoonflower fabric.

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