Free Swatch! OMG!

Hurry on over to spoonflower.com where today is FREE SWATCH day! It's normally 5.00 and today they are also paying for the shipping! I searched cupcake and ordered a super cute cupcake print. You can also design your own fabric and print that too! This is the swatch I ordered above, yay!

http://blog.spoonflower.com/2010/08/free-swatches-for-all.html

Busy Monday

I decided to embroider today since I've been doing so much quilting lately. I bought this grocery shopping tote for fifty cents and embroidered my intials on it. I think it turned out super cute!



Last night I found a tutorial on how to make organza flowers by Reese Dixon here:

http://www.reesedixon.com/2009/03/organza-flowers.html

They were so simple to make and her instructions are really easy to follow. After I made these, I attached them to a baby headband and this is what it looked like when I was done.



Also today I worked on a baby quilt top I had made using squares I bought off ebay. I don't normally buy prints like this so just buying two sets of precut squares was okay since I knew I could make a baby quilt with it and not have any left over. I liked the white on white print I used in the middle to create a window frame effect but it felt plain. So now that my embroidery machine was free I embroidered "shortcake" on the edges. I might embroider something symetrical in the center or else applique something there. I'm still unsure.




Close up of the embroidery

And this brings me to my next step, picking border fabrics. I always get stuck at this point, for some reason all my ideas and creativity leap out the door. My mom has the best eye for borders and pairing fabrics. I usually get too emotionally attached to fabric and prints that it makes it hard for me to "audition" other prints once I've decided on one, even if it may not be the best match. I think I need a design wall. Quickly, my husband says, "No." :)

Projects Completed this summer :)

I made these using an online tutorial from one of the regular blogs I read. They are super cute Thread Catchers. I made a couple since I have young children and I use one to catch threads and the other to store my tools I'm using near the machine in. If I leave the machine unattended I simply pick up the basket and I don't have to worry about them hurting themselves with a pair of scissors or seam ripper.



Olivia strip quilt made with left overs from a panel quilt top. I should be quilting that one soon! This was my third attempt at stippling.



This is the most favorite of all the quilts I've ever made. I love the bold colors, contrast and print on print quality. I sewed and quilted this one as I went. A super easy quilt.




This was originally a wall hanging I started at the Houston Quilt Show class about three years ago. I decided I would never use a wall hanging so carefully cut it in half and made a table runner. This was my first attempt at free motion stippling.



I loved making this wallhanging. It is such a beautiful pattern and hopefully you can't see too many of my stippling mistakes :)



I made this from a kit and ended up giving it to my younger sister for her 17th birthday. My mom and I make so many things, I just realized I have hardly made anything for her! I lost the finished quilt picture but will post once I find it.



A little crash mat I made for my kids, using Joey Dewberry's home dec print. I can't get enough of the print!

Star Quilt number one!

Here's a photo of my completed quilt! My mom was nice enough to come and spend an evening with me teaching me all her tricks for making these quilts.



Close up of loopsy machine quilting. I was nervous about doing this since I was doing this under a time deadline.



The back of the quilt.

Bundles of Joy Quilt loosely translated

My finished Baby Quilt. I followed a tutorial from ryanwalshquilts.com called Bundles of Joy. I decided to split the charm pack and make two baby quilts instead of one. I just added borders to make it larger.

You can find the tutorial here:
http://www.ryanwalshquilts.com/2010/06/bundles-of-joy-quilt-tutorial.html



I embroidered "Shi Yazhi" on the bottom corner because this quilt is made for a baby. In Navajo this means "Little One."



A close up of my label :)



Quilting easier to see on the back. This is probably my 4th quilt to machine quilt. I'm having so much fun using my new machine which makes it so easy to do. I think I have about 7 more quilt tops ready to quilt so I should be posting more photos soon.

Still stitching....

I'm going to be finished quilting this very soon. For some reason this quilt isn't going as fast as I'd like. If it's not one thing slowing me down it's another. But I'm really happy with the result so far and can't believe how much I'm complicating things with the designs I'm stitching. Hopefully this will make it to the fair in Window Rock in time!