one shabby chick

Saturday

We are supposed to be going to a wedding in a half hour but I'm not sure we are going to make it. Hubs is at the doctor with Bela...

She has an ear infection so she's on antibiotics and now it blossomed into some sort of mouth thing so she's at the doctor getting stronger antibiotics.

And I'm tired - helped all morning with our local AYSO registration.

But I did do a bit of sewing yesterday - well, a lot actually!

First I got this lovely charm pack in the mail on Thursday from the lovely folks over at Windham Fabrics.

I had gotten two charm packs of Echo a while back too but wasn't sure what to make with them so I just held on to them and waited. And I'm glad I did.

They blend together seamlessly and I had a quilt top in no time.

I just made big nine patch blocks and then auditioned two different sashing fabrics.

The grey was a clear winner and I pieced the back with the remaining grey I had, a Kona solid, the leftover charm squares plus a Summersville print and AH Heath in grey.

I also worked on Ashley's blocks/quilt for the Traveling Quilt bee.

John and Ashley had already made some blocks so I decided to put them all together and add a few fabrics here and there along with a few blocks as well.

I love it so far - can't wait to see how it grows and changes on the rest of its journey.

Speaking of Traveling Quilts - did you SEE my amazing ruler that Elizabeth made?? Oh my gosh - I am SO excited about that quilt!

And I'm still sewing away for the craft fair.

Made a couple more totes:

and am now working on some cute pencil cases using this tutorial from A Spoonful of Sugar (whenever I go their website, I start singing the Mary Poppins song - lol!)

OK have a great weekend everyone...did I mention this lovely bundle arrived in the mail?

Sneak Peek

Issue 9 of Fat Quarterly comes out on Monday, April 30th....and I have a quilt pattern in it!

Here's a sneak peek of the quilt:

The title of this issue is Kids and it's full of fun projects to make for kids and to make with them. I have a subscription and love seeing familiar names and what everyone creates in every issue.

List-making

I love making lists - and crossing things off.

I have a long list for the craft fair and have a few items crossed off already.

Bookmarks:

(got the supplies on Etsy)

Key Fobs:

(again, supplies on Etsy)

Little wallets/card holders (tutorial coming in the next few days):

There's still a long list though so I'm hoping to get it all done - probably not...

I also crossed something off of my Pinterest to-do list that I have been wanting to try for a long time: pineapple flowers.

Not sure if they are worth the effort but they sure look pretty....

Instagram + Common Threads

So I'm having lots of fun playing with my new phone/camera...

And if you follow me on Flickr or Twitter or Instagram (my name is oneshabbychickhawaii) - I'm sorry! I think you've seen most of these pictures already!

This quilt was from my first ever quilting bee - Common Threads.

I had just started blogging and Rebekah asked me if I wanted to join a bee. I was beyond excited. Little did I know I was joining up with a group of AMAZING quilters.

It's been more than two years ummm, apparently it's been 4 years!!!! since they all made these blocks for me but I decided I need to get it done and finally get a quilt made for our bed.

This quilt has gone through a couple transformations.

But I finally settled on a design I liked.

The only problem was I needed to make it a bit bigger for our bed and I used Amy Butler Belle for all the sashing and borders and it's out of print now...and super expensive! So I looked in my stash for something that went along with all the blue and found something.

I added some borders and laid it on our bed today - it still needs to be a bit wider. So I have to look for one more print to add to the sides and then I'm sending it off to Krista to quilt (well, after I get the back made).

Brr!

Brr! by Laurie Wisbrun - I love this line - it's so gorgeous and Christmasy without being too Christmasy....does that make sense?

(the red/white floral print is not part of the line - I can't remember what it is - lol!)

I finished up the quilt top and back and am going to send it off to a long-arm quilter (hopefully Krista but I have to see if she's available).

I had plans to make a huge quilt - I started out using Katy's Constellation pattern from Fat Quarterly but I'm lazy and just managed the one star. So I added some borders using the squares I had already cut out and now it's a good size quilt (about 60" x 64").

The solid green matches perfectly with Laurie's fabrics (it's Kona Sour Apple) and I can't wait to snuggle under it at Christmas time.

The little polar bears are adorable! And the best part is....

Robert Kaufman sent a fat quarter bundle for me to give away too!!

Leave your name and let me know which of Laurie's fabric lines are your favorite - here's a link to her blog so you can see all her lines. She also has amazing fabric in her shop and a very cool book!

Brr! is set to hit stores in June but you can get your hands on it early if you win!! I love that!

OK giveaway will be open until next Friday, April 27th. Comments are now closed - thank you!

What we've been up to

Lots of school...not too much sewing.

Which does not bode well for the craft fair in two weeks.

(Oh and for all you locals - the craft fair is at Lanikai Beach Park on May 5th, 9am-3pm)

But I have officially finished all my custom orders so now it's craft fair sewing from here on out.

I finished up a pillowcase to go along with the twin quilt today.

She sent me a picture of two bird pillows that she wanted translated into a pillowcase.

I used some pink varigated #12 Aurifil to zigzag around the edges - it's really thick so looks like handstitching - I like the result.

And I finished up a kindle cover and an iPad cover too.

And I got a new toy to play with - I lost my phone on Easter and got this as an early Mother's Day present. I LOVE it!

And the camera is great too!

This is my boy before we cut his hair today (it's been a long time coming - and he agreed. He's been having a hard time keeping it clean while it's so long. You should have seen how much sand was in his scalp!!!):

And after:

I also made a couple wreaths for a baby shower on Friday:

And I'm sewing up a little bunting/banner tomorrow too. Just need to add the letters tomorrow.

Bela took a few pictures with my camera this afternoon - this is what they've been doing pretty much every day when Daddy gets home:

3 finished quilts

eekk! I finished all three of them - yeah!!

One is a custom order that will soon be heading to Australia - have to finish a pillowcase first.

It's narrow and long (50" x 90") but she wanted it to fit her daughter's twin bed and I made it just a bit bigger to account for shrinkage once I wash it (which I'm a little nervous to do with all that white! Picking up color catchers for the first time tomorrow just to be safe).

The back is just plain white and I used a Bella solid for the first time - really love the feel - just a bit softer than Kona.

The center square is a mix of prints - and the same prints are all along the edge as well. Really a fun design and it sews up pretty fast.

This one was just me playing with scraps and making a few little blocks. Then I thought it would be fun to use a polka dot instead of a solid as the background color.

The FMF blue print was a fun way to frame it all and add a pop of color.

I backed it with a super soft AMH flannel - love those flannels!!

And this last one is my most recent...the herringbone in Summerlove by Pat Bravo.

Love the colors in this one - really wishing I had made it bigger to snuggle under but I have a few baby showers coming up so it may end up as a gift - if I can part with it!

The back is just a few of the Summerlove fabrics pieced together.

And while I was snapping photos, these two were skateboarding.

sigh - I love this man so much - sorry I can't help myself....

and this little one is the only one who will stay still and let me take her picture anymore....

Binding

I have 3 quilts right now that need binding.

Well, actually 2 now since I finished one last night.

Binding this one right now  - my customer wanted white binding and there's a lot of white in the quilt too so I'm terrified I'm going to get it dirty somehow!!

And this one is next - I can't wait to finish it!

I also have a long list of things I want to get done for the craft fair on May 5th:

*button ponytail holders

*big button bookmarks

*more typewriter ipad covers

* little skirts

*patchwork pencil cases

* camera/typewriter zip pouches

and I want to try some metal frame clutches too.

Not to mention all those quilts I have in-progress....lol!!

I wanted to mention that I have a Designer page over on Favecrafts.com. It was pretty funny trying to come up with something to write about myself.

And I'm also featured in an e-book that they recently released on Favequilts.com!

You can get it here - and it's FREE! Favequilts and Favecrafts have a TON of quilt ideas and crafty links - really great resources!

good and bad

We had a great weekend.

I sewed all day on Saturday - got on a bit of a "I need to finish this quilt now" kinda thing.

*edited to add: The fabrics I used in this quilt are Summerlove by Pat Bravo and the Kona solids I used are white, cyan, pink, sand and papaya. *

And I finished it all except for the binding.

* I started off using this pattern but then wanted the blocks to be bigger so I used this tutorial for the rest and then just cut them to different widths.

Sunday we woke up EARLY (4:20 am) and went down to Waimea Bay for our church's Sunrise Service. We help in Children's Ministry so we had to be there at 5:45 (we got there before 5:30 - ha ha!). Then we cleaned up and had a water baptism and I had to leave in a hurry to make it to my soccer game at 11:00. Only thing is, in my hurry, I LOST my cell phone.

I lost it somewhere at a public beach - got a ride with my sister so I know it's not in my car (or hers) - I had a ton of people looking for it and we couldn't find it. No one called me from it either so I think it's truly gone...

Oh well, I switched my number over to another one I have for now and if no one returns it....I may get an iPhone - silver lining for sure!!

OK - on to the winner of the giveaway....

#20 (that's my soccer jersey number) - Emily V!

Congrats - I'll send you an email soon!

I also sewed up a few more zip pouches and added them to the shop. I'm doing a craft fair in a month and need to get in gear for that.

Hubby has a soccer game tonight in town so I'm off to get ready! Guess not, third child down with wheezing/asthma and oldest has a bad cold - I'm staying home I guess...boo!

Coming Clean

No profound revelation just some things I've been thinking about.

I do hope I come across as an honest person on my blog - not fake or painting everything in cheery shades here.

(this is how I look most mornings)

I mean, I want my blog to be a happy place and I value my family's privacy so I don't post stuff like that here. But we still have life going on just like everyone else - I just don't choose to share much of it here.

I guess I'm just trying to say I'm a normal woman/mom - just like all of you. I struggle with juggling everything (which I fail at a lot), motherhood, LAUNDRY - ha ha!, insecurity, selfishness,  jealousy and all the other things in life.

And no, nothing bad is happening - just wanted to make sure you all knew that just cause we live in Hawaii, life isn't perfect :-)

But I do have an amazing husband...who loves the Lord and his family.

And 4 great kids - who I thank God for everyday.

And a wonderful family (and extended church family) and the Lord - He gives me the strength I need each day.

I've just been thinking of our little blogland here that we sewers/quilters have.

And the opportunity to meet a bunch of online friends in October.

I also think we all need to be a little nicer to each other.

And maybe I'm talking to the wrong crowd here since none of you have ever left me an unkind comment (which I thank you all for since I might just close my blog down should I ever get one - ha ha).

But lately I've been reading things around blogland and Flickr and they are just a little harsh or demanding - can't we just be a little more polite and kind? There are people on the other side of that screen - with real feelings.

If you want to know where someone bought a certain pattern/tool/fabric - ask them politely....don't demand to know where they got it. If people ask me politely I am more than happy to tell them...if they demand it, it makes my insides cringe.

If you use someone else's quilt or idea as inspiration - credit them for it - it's not that hard to do.

Just cause you don't like a fabric or quilt - that doesn't give you the right to say nasty things about it...My philosophy is don't say anything and move along - you aren't going to like every fabric line or quilt - that's one of the things that makes us all so special - we are all unique.

Kindness gets you pretty far I think....

Sorry to go on a little rant - just been thinking about this stuff lately.

I also pulled out all my ufos today and let me tell you - it's not pretty!

Here's the list:

4 - Quilts that need to be quilted (may send one off - it's huge)

10 - Quilts in progress (various stages)

2 - Weekender bags (all cut out)

3 - Aprons (all cut out)

A ton of little dresses (fabric already cut) - not even sure if I know which pattern I used!!

A bunch of quilt blocks - trying to use some of them up in a few baby quilts right now.

Any of you have lots of ufos? I need to make myself a deal to work on an ufo (or two) before I start any new project!