one shabby chick

Humbled

Wow - thanks so much for all the sweet words from the last post. I am truly touched!

And I've gotten a few sponsors - eek! And that means some fun giveaways for all of you so yeah for all of us!

I'm halfway through "Queenie". It's not as hard as I thought it was going to be...I think probably because I'm just doing lines. They are about 1.25" apart.

And I'm listening to Matched by Ally Condie. It's pretty interesting.

I took a break from the quilting last night to sew up a new guitar strap.

I love it. I know how to play the guitar - took lessons in junior high - but I'm so bad about taking time to practice/play. So for now, it's listed in the shop.

I need to get some more hardware and make a couple more.

And a little pencil case to go along with the birthday skirt - how gorgeous is that Heirloom laminate?!

Thanks again for all the kind words...I'm working my way through the comments to respond to everyone...even my bratty sister :-)

Back to quilting.....

4 years, 800 posts

Wow - today is my 4 year blog-versary!

I know I've come a long way from the beginnings of this blog and hopefully I will continue to improve my sewing and creativity as I move forward.

I've also been thinking about this little space of mine in blogland and what I want to accomplish here.

I do want to try and inspire you all and keep on making fun stuff!

With that said, I've decided I want to try and take on a few sponsors on my blog. Nothing big...just a few (if anyone responds - ha ha!). So if you are interested, please send me an email at [email protected]. I'm mostly just trying to think of a way I can still get fun, new fabrics and manage my budget!

I ordered the most wonderful line of fabric and it came in the mail today from Fabricworm - now I know why this line is so popular - it's so cute!!

I'm starting on the big quilt today.

And I made a little skirt this morning for one of Baby Girl's friends - she's having a pajama birthday party on Saturday night - I used this pattern.

I just realized this is the first outfit I made her four years ago for her first birthday:

I want to try and make Baby Girl a new pair of pj pants to wear to the party but I'm not sure that's going to happen - we'll see though. Maybe I can whip up a pair later today or tomorrow.

Saturday is an all-day coaching clinic for soccer - oh joy! And we have one last co-ed soccer game on Sunday. Did I mention I was playing with hubby this summer - it's pretty fun but somehow we got put in a very competitive division...

I did want to do a big giveaway but since I just had the Go!Baby one I think I'll wait a few weeks until my birthday and do one then instead....gives me time to get a good one together.

I do have a small giveaway today though - I just got a charm pack of Lotta Jansdotter's new fabric line, Echo, which comes out in November.

And Windham sent me two packs - so I want to give one away to you too!

Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win. I'll leave them open for a few days - how's Monday sound?

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Winner

The winner of the Accuquilt Go! Baby is.....

#36 - 

Beth said...

I've entered so many of these giveaways I don't even need to look at the website to know my favorite dies! I'm hopeful my luck has changed!

Apple Core
2.5" Strips
This one has changed -- Sparkle Christmas Tree! So pretty!

Well, Beth...your luck has changed! Congratulations! I'm sending you an email!

I wish I had one to give to you all but I know there's a few more giveaways right now and in the near future in blogland so hopefully you'll be able to snag one.

I basted the huge queen quilt yesterday and tomorrow plan on starting on the quilting...she just wants lines so it won't be too hard to wrangle it in my machine - just time-consuming.

Can't wait to say "I've quilted a queen" though!

800

Wow this is post 800!

I finally have a winner for the scrap giveaway a few weeks ago:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28

Timestamp: 2011-07-23 18:32:05 UTC

 #28 - Katie :-)

I don't have all the scraps yet as I'm slowly working on the quilt but I'll send them out to you when I do....

Bela is going to a birthday party today so I made her friend a little cloud mobile for her room:

{I saw this on Pinterest and went from there...}

I'm going to make her a tote bag too.

Probably with some fabrics from this bundle - new Joel Dewberry! It's so gorgeous! And I think most places have it now - I got this bundle last week on Etsy.

Along with some yardage.

I also ordered some laminates and Home Dec from Fabricworm - I'm just in love with this line - it's so pretty!

Finally finished a guitar strap for a friend of ours....Hope it's manly enough.

We have a busy weekend - Hope everyone has a great one!!

One for me, one for you

Boy, I'm really banging out these posts this week, yeah?

Well, this one is a fun one! A chance to win a Go! Baby Fabric Cutter of your very own!

The folks at Accuquilt.com have given me the opportunity to give one away to my readers - yeah!

So head on over and let me know what your favorite die/dies are (you'll be able to pick three if you are the winner) and leave a comment on this post.

I'll leave it open until next week Wed. {July 27} and then have my trusty number generator pick a number.

Good luck! And please, only one comment per person - thanks!

Comments are now closed!

making it work

I'm waiting on some backing fabric for the huge patchwork quilt that I am making for a customer so I'm just playing with different stuff and talking myself out of starting another quilt.

I took this quilt out and ripped a few seams and....

now {part of} it is covering two floor pillows in the living room.

The covers were getting really dingy and these look really nice and fresh.

I'm thinking about making the rest of the quilt into a wide table runner/tablecloth for the kitchen table.

I have a SUPER giveaway tomorrow so come back! Oh.......Baby!

Oh Baby

I thought I'd do a little tutorial using the Alpha Baby die from the Go! Baby Fabric Cutter.

Supplies:

1 yard fabric for front of quilt

1 yard fabric for back of quilt

piece of batting 40" x 45"

4 different pieces of fabric scraps approx. 5" x 5"

4 pieces of double-sided fusible web (I prefer Heat-n-bond or Steam-a-Seam 2) - approx. 5" x 5"

Binding fabric - 10" x width of fabric

Instructions:

Take your 4 pieces of fabric scraps and iron the fusible webbing to the wrong side of each piece.

Place your fabrics wrong side up (paper side up) on your Alpha Baby die. You will want to put 2 pieces over the "B" and one piece each on the "A" and "Y" so you can spell "BABY" with your pieces.

Run the fabric through your Go! Baby Fabric Cutter.

Put your pieces to the side until after you are done quilting.

Take your (2) one yard pieces of fabric and iron well. Trim off the selvedge edges from each side. You will be making a whole cloth quilt.

I spray basted my quilt using this method but you can choose to pin it instead.

Take your basted quilt and quilt according to your preference. I chose to do a swirly pattern across the entire quilt.

Trim off the extra batting from each side.

Take your letters and arrange them on the quilt. You can place them anywhere you want to. I placed mine in the lower righthand corner.

Remove the paper backing and iron each letter onto the quilt. Using a zig zag stitch, straight stitch, or blanket stitch, sew around each letter.

* I chose to use a light thread but you can always use a contrasting thread if you want the letters to stand out more.

Take your 10" piece of fabric and cut four (4) 2.5" strips. Sew them together to form one long strip for your binding. Attach your binding to your quilt.

You can chose to machine-stitch or hand-sew your binding...this tutorial is excellent.

And you are done - a cute baby quilt that is quick, easy and a great present!

Soccer and a review

Trying not to be too upset about Sunday and our big loss. I am really happy for Japan and all that it means to their country.

But seeing as how I'm a HUGE soccer fan, I can't help but be sad for Abby and the rest of the girls. They worked so hard for four years and to have it so close and see it slip away...

But that's soccer for you and I will cheer for them next year at the Olympics and in 4 years in Canada too.

Now back to some sewing...

I made these two blocks for Jo for Busy Bees.

She wanted starburst blocks using this tutorial - they are a little trickier than you think (although since I JUST now read through the whole tutorial I think my error was in the trimming - Note to self: read through entire tutorial before trying a block!!)

And I'm working on a little tutorial using my Go! Baby Fabric Cutter.

I have to say, I was pretty excited when I found out I was getting a free one to review. I had seen them popping up on other people's blogs and was having some serious envy issues.....

And now I have my very own from Accuquilt.com.

I had a hard time deciding which dies I should choose.

When I looked through the dies, I was looking for ones I could use for applique. And after I sent back my email with my 3 choices (I chose the Holiday Medley, 2" squares and Alpha Baby) , I immediately regretted choosing them.

But now that they are here, I am so glad I chose them and wish I had chosen another "shape" die instead of the 2" squares. It's just so hard to get precise shapes when using scissors (and drawing them yourself) and these come out great every time.

I had a little trouble with my squares not lining up right but I think I need to go back and read the instructions carefully (are you seeing a trend here? ha ha). I really think I'll be using the shape dies a lot more than the square die anyway.

The Go! Baby is really easy to use. My five-year-old is totally into it and wants to help crank the fabrics through (although she needs a little help). I heard her tell someone today, "My mom got a new sewing machine but it doesn't sew fabric. It cuts it."

I like how crisp the letters/shapes are cut out - I ironed fusible webbing to the back of the fabric and ran them through like that (with the paper still attached).

I keep thinking of all the cool things I can do with them - baby blankets, tree skirts, Christmas stockings, table runners.....

It's a useful tool to have - I've liked seeing all the different dies people have chosen and the different projects they've made.

I'll have a little quilt tutorial for you tomorrow....

pillows

More pillowcases today...

Finished up the final three and now they are all washed and on the beds.

Such a quick project and they add a fun touch to the beds.

I also finished up some pillow covers for a soccer buddy of mine.

Four 18x18 pillow covers. {She wanted the fronts plain and just a little accent of Nicey Jane on the back}

Poor hubby has now gotten the cold/flu. And my other little guy is in for 6-8 more weeks of "minimum" activity. Guess those collarbones take a long time to heal. He has to avoid any type of activity that could cause him to fall...with nine-year-old boys that is just about everything!

I'm so excited about the game tomorrow...can't wait!

finally

Finally feeling better.

Not sure if I mentioned it here but I've been sick for a few weeks...cold, cough, sinus infection - finally got some antibiotics last week and today actually felt semi-normal.

And what did I do? Why sew of course!

This quilt was finished up earlier this week but I needed to make a little label for it.

I used an iron-on transfer and put a little border on it. I'm delivering it tomorrow along with some burp cloths.

We have an x-ray tomorrow for the little guy's collarbone. He's doing great and seems back to normal - we'll see tomorrow how it has healed.

I sewed up a little custom taggie - spaceships!

And then I started on a fun project for the house - pillowcases.

I have been wanting to make these for a while.

I just used fabrics from my stash - whatever I had yardage of.

These are for the two oldest - Bela did not want a "matching one" for her quilt.

This is for the little guy.

These are for our bed.

And I have three more in the works - two more for our bed and one for Baby Girl.

They are so fast and look great - I used Ashley's tutorial (only I serged the edges instead of doing a french seam).

Need to wash them all first and then get them on everyone's beds.

And in case any of you haven't heard - USA is in the final - YEEHAW!!!

Oh...and look what I got in the mail today:

Fun, fun, fun!

I have a few ideas/projects to share with you once I have a chance to play around with it.