The Pink Pillow

The hand-quilted cushion I have been working on for my mom is done. I always look forward to seeing how the fabric will pucker after a washing. I like the texture created on the cream cotton with all the lines of stitches.

My youngest son showing me his favorite part.

He said, "Let me put my head on it." and then he told me it works just right. We will give it to my mom tomorrow.

Pink and Brown

I will be making another mini-quilt, something like this one - but I wanted to try something different this time. I think this arrangement is a version of the "square deal" block. I am hoping it still has enough contrast that a baby might enjoy gazing at it...

The Little Birds are Back

These three sat on my bedside table for a night, waiting to be stitched up to hold the stuffing in...

Night and Day

Worked on this last night right before going to bed. I thought this block was called "night and day". But I like to make the lights and darks rather close in value so that the pattern disappears and reappears. A dark fabric in one block might represent a light triangle against a darker fabric in another block.

End of October Sewing

This is what I was up to the last few weeks - an eagle and a penguin - done just in time. The eagle wings were worn until bedtime and the penguin costume was worn for maybe two minutes - but I wasn't too surprised.

Geleta's Birds and Basket

I made these birds and basket for a new little friend of ours. I used the bird ornament pattern from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I enlarged the original pattern 120% to make the two larger birds. I made them out of denim (+decorative machine stitching) for the top halves and two layers of cotton stitched together for the bottom halves to make them durable enough to be used as toys instead of ornaments. I didn't have a pattern for the basket, but it worked out okay anyway. I always love making the little birds...

Ball for Baby Jack

I recently made this little soft ball with ribbon tags for my sweet little nephew Jack. I used this pattern with canvas and repurposed denim. It was a quick project. My 5 year old said, "It's like it's old - but it's new." That's exactly what I like about it...

start of something...

laying out the blocks for something I am trying to start - a base for a stitch sampler of sorts...

For Baby Jack

For our new baby nephew Jack - a reversible mini-quilt for snuggling and slurping. Actual size is about 10 inches square. I am still having trouble deciding wether I am really finished with this one. I could go on adding little stitches forever -

Squares

Detail of a little quilt still in progress...

Free-Motion Stitching

While I was working on this the thread in my sewing machine got all out of whack and it took me forever to get it stitching right again. Then once it was working smoothly I just couldn't stop, and this is how it turned out...


This photo looks a bit more busy than it does in person - but still, maybe too much. Free-motion stitching is fun, maybe too fun. I have always said I didn't care for the look of it, but it was because I was never very good at it. Still not, and not quite sure how to use it. I always prefer the look of stitches done by hand, but if I am to get as many pieces done as I would like I will be using the machine more, then adding hand-stitched details. As for the machine free-motion stitching - I am learning the delicate balance of speed of the pedal and speed of the hand - it's still tricky for me - but loads of fun to practice. I am trying to make practice pieces into something useful, gifts maybe - and plan ahead as far as sizes, so these are large enough to make something. This one - the cherry branch? (about 12 " wide) - is destined to be a zippered bag I think...

Sketchbook Cover

It might be that Fiber "Arts and Crafts" Almost Every Day may be a better title for this blog.

I started a sketchbook for the year and made a patchwork cover for it in hopes of experimenting with some stitches, etc. directly onto the cover of this book. The inside cover panel are both possibly shirt fabric scraps from my Grandma. One has staining on it - but the resulting color and pattern is so nice. The inside panel colors are so soothing - the outside is a little nuts. It looks very unfinished - but I have a whole book of stitches I want to try.

First entry in the sketchbook includes dimensions and details to make the sketchbook cover. This was pretty straightforward - but I am trying to be better at saving a pattern for things I cut and sew from scratch so I can make another if I want to.