Olivia The Pig Purse

A few weeks back, I made a Star baby quilt for someone who is about to pop. That baby has a three year old sister, named, Olivia. My niece also has that name, so I have Olivia the Pig fabric in my stash. I decided to make a small purse for her and fill it with some fun girly items.

 This is a largish stuffed bear who is modeling my purse so well.

Pattern called for piping, I used faux piping instead.

 This was a new-to-me sewing pattern that went together fairly fast once I decided to sit down and just sew.


I want to eventually write sewing patterns so this was a great lesson on what to do and what not to do. I find some pattern makers choke at a difficult part - they can't find the words to describe what they are doing, they can't get clear photos.

I'm left trying to figure how to get from step K to P with nothing of use in-between. That lesson is to re-make the dang thing, take even more photos, and get help to figure out the words.

Her pattern was short without excess wordiness chatter - which I like.
Her site is slow and filled with ads, so it can be slow going to navigate the pattern.

Finished Star quilt

I added some Bubbles, a Tiara, Stickers and some cool Sunglasses for Big Sister.
The quilt is rolled up next to the purse.

 And here is Mr. Bear reclining on the lovely flannel quilt.

 This is my most awesome African Violet. Pink, edged in lime green ruffles.

Star Baby Quilt

This baby quilt is destined for my substitute carrier (on my mail route). She's got about 5 weeks before she pops and I wanted to make her a little quilt.

 I keep some baby ideas in my Pinterest folder and this Star quilt jumped into my head. Fortuitously, Joann's fabrics had 60% off their crappy flannel.

I was trying to pick six colored flannels with the same size motif at Joann's and that was difficult as most of the flannel was most definitely for girls (frozen princesses anyone?). They also had a zillion blues but hardly any greens or reds.
 
I went for an I-Spy type of fabrics. These squares are 9" when sewn (HST's half square trangles) as this pattern was written using a layer cake cut of fabrics.

I bought enough extra for super shrinkage. This is one of my nicer point intersections where the flannel did not stretch out of whack.


 

 

For quilting, I sewed straight lines along the star shape and then tried some free motion quilting on the middle and sides.

First up is my pretty good FMQ of random lines. I did pretty good once I figured out my machine hated the thread I already had on my machine and reducing the thread pressure helped too. There are some skipped stitches here and there but I'm pretty sure babies eyesight up close isn't good enough to spot it.


And then, I tried some circles. I even drew on the fabric good - round - circles. A little wonky. Oh well. I know certain readers will have a good laugh over my crazy circles.

 I am over halfway sewing my binding down and then it will be finished. This new boy has an older sister named Olivia which is also fortuitous because my niece is named Olivia. I still  have some cute Olivia the pig fabric leftover to make a small purse to carry.

I still need to quilt the four corner squares. No idea what yet unless I repeat the squiggly line thing again. I'm pretty sure I won't be trying circles again....

Oh and Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post. My flu ended up going into bronchitus as in cough, cough, cough. I am feeling better on the energy front and am able to do my normal too many things in one day better.

Star pattern is here.

Hot Pads

Backsides were not pieced - I had just enough 9" squares for 3 of the blue/silver and one of the white/music.



And, I'll have you know, I am using the teensy red scraps today on something else.
It might be my one and only success of using all of the fabric to it's very end but at least today ---  I'm sticking to my resolution.

Having a huge clean out sale  in my etsy shop right now.
RunningWithNeedles
Just use the code CLEANOUT2014 to get 40% off everything.

Folded Star Trivet

I pinned this folded star trivet tutorial a while back and when I saw these non-stick baking pans in turquoise at  my Grocery Outlet,  I got excited enough to make two for Christmas Gifts. 

The first went to Minnesota in my little sis's luggage in November with no photos as it was iffy if I could save myself postage on those pans and get the trivet done in time.

This is the second one. I've ironed out the peculiarities from the original tutorial which has you cut a bazillion 5" circles. This was because they were 'selling' the Go Baby Fabric Cutter and they must have had access only to the 5" die.

There is no need to cut circles. Squares work much better, especially near the 10" diameter edge where coverage was skimpy enough with the circles that a lot of hand sewing was done so the backing wouldn't show. The squares eliminate that hand sewing.

Each square is pressed in half and then folded points to middle to create folded triangles. Lots of pressing.

obviously - the back side

The last squares are 7" square and I lifted them up here so you see the layers underneath.
Those layers are 5" squares.

There are five layers in this star, however, you can make it any amount of layers depending on the size you want.

You do need to do a fair amount of hand sewing on this project but it's not rocket science stitching. Just tack down the points and then baste around the outer perimeter. Repeat for each layer.

When you start the project, you chalk an intersecting set of lines on your black interfacing/stereo cloth. This helps line up your triangle points.
The hardest thing is to put down your measuring tool and just eyeball where the points lie. Going for equal distance here. Then tack them down.

I found this thin black 'stereo' cloth at Fabric Depot and it has come in handy lately.
Very inexpensive but durable.
Just showing you the 'spiderweb' of stitches tacking things down.

Back to here. Once I basted things at the perimeter, I trimmed it all even with the backing. Then I made about 34" of bias tape for finishing. You do want bias as it will be going around the curve.
I made mine 1 1/4"+ wide. I then iron one long side down at 1/4" - helps with finishing and then eyeball and press in half, pretending I hadn't just pressed that quarter inch down.

I take the unpressed side of the bias tape and sew this on with a 1/4" seam. I fudge the ends together so it's one continuous circle using my clover wonderclips to help position the bias tape.
Once sewn, I flip over to the back side and hand stitch it down.

Sometimes, I bite the bullet and use my sewing machine to do this but I wasn't happy with my first trivet so I hand sewed the 2nd one.

No special stitch - just a side-to-side movement of grabbing a bit of item fabric, a bit of bias tape, a bit of fabric, bit of tape, pull needle through. It's mostly invisible and very quick to do.


I didn't use any batting as this is very thick in the middle with multiple layers of cloth. 
You could if you wanted to.

I have a New Year's Resolution in mind and I'm pretty sure I'm doomed to fail. Each time I get out a fashion fabric to sew with, I keep sewing until it's used up.

I did succeed with these: I strip-pieced the remainder of these five fabrics and made four hot pads.


Happy, Happy New Year!!!



 Having a huge clean out sale  in my etsy shop right now.
RunningWithNeedles
Just use the code CLEANOUT2014 to get 40% off everything.

Around The World Blog Hop

 Welcome to the Around the World Blog Hop making a stop today on Running With Rocket.

I was tagged by Marilyn  of Shades of Bold to participate today in this Around the World blog hop that is traveling through the blogosphere.  Hopefully you will discover more about myself and why I blog and also to find some new blogs that just might make it onto your Bloglovin' list.

Marilyn makes stunning bags and so do I (humble :-)).  I love to sew and craft and I have a dedicated sewing room that I  finished two years ago. I've been blogging since 2008(!)- writing about sewing, my auto-immune, my airplane.  Yes,  I  live on an airpark. When we want to go flying, we roll open the hangar doors and pull the plane out. The runway is at the edge of my backyard. Which I also like to play in. I live on an acre where I garden - both flowers and the edible things. The blog has turned out to be a surprisingly good place to put all those flower photos.

Yes, I have sewn the cockpit cover and the luggage compartment for this all fabric Stearman Biplane.

My name is Kathy. I started blogging because I like writing and I take lots of photos. This  blog has turned into a big rambling journal for flying and flower photos as well as documenting items I've made. I don't know about you but my memory is going and I enjoy backtracking once in a while to view what I've made or to find a recipe that sits well in my tummy with my auto-immune.

I work in a day job that  is usually less than 40 hrs/wk but in the last three years, that job has turned pretty demanding. I need the creative outlet that sewing involves and I've made a couple of really cool bloggy friends over the years.

I've been sewing since I was four. It wasn't until I started blogging that I found out this was unusual. I started off sewing garments and designed my Barbie's clothes - I still have the tiny patterns. When I got married, I sewed a lot of my children's clothing and this is when I learned to copy Ready to Wear (RTW). The children's patterns at that time were about a foot too long with gigantic ease. My family has always been frugal so we learned how to read pattern layouts in order to buy less fabric than the envelope suggested.

 I sewed for years without a serger and I only bought one about four years ago and I love it.
Love It.   How did I sew so much without one - my Bernina serger is probably my favorite part of sewing now.

I will sew just about anything that tickles my fancy. I am also very good at saying "No" without any hesitation. This is my creative outlet.


Anyway, the Around The World Blog Hop asks us to answer the same four questions and at the end, I'll tag two more bloggers that I think you would enjoy and they will post next Monday.




1. What am I working on?
That pincushion above - I finished it yesterday afternoon. My bloggy friend Benta over at SlikStitches posted a little teaser photo of a gift for someone and it turned out the rest of us wanted one to organize our needles too.

How many types of sewing machine needles do you use? I have a variety because I sew through thin rayon all the way through leather. I buy them at garage sales because the price of fifty cents to a dollar does not make me swear as much when I break a needle at ram speed.

 The back side which will always be down had a little patchwork zakka moment. You'll notice a few of my favorite fabrics - some airplanes, some japanese, some mini-stripes.  I wanted to do this Benta-gift justice and post a huge thank you to her for doing the machine needles embroidery.

What - you don't know what this pincushion is for???
It's for when you need to change out your needle for another project but you feel there is still some sharpness left in the needle.   --Instead of putting them willy-nilly on the cutting table next to the sewing machine - ahem.

My other project: I'm waiting for these beauties to ripen. Another 20 days?


 2.)  How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I have a genre? Good lord. I suppose my projects differ because I can't stick to a pattern as written even when I do the writing/measurements. I'm kind of a think-as-I-sew sew-er. Let's just say I need to make it more difficult than it has to be.

Snap Bag. Paper pieced Bee.

 3.)  Why do I create what I do? I am 100% committed to handmade gifts. I make what I like or what intrigues me. My brain loves engineering and I enjoy figuring out how something was made.  I make copies from RTW  a lot. I like the detailing that you cannot find on home sewing patterns.
Taking time to create balances out the stressful parts of my life.
I sew garments as well as dabbling in quilting (tedious).

I give away most of what I make. The few remaining items get placed on Etsy. I am unable to make duplicates - just sayin'. Once I've mastered a skill, I'm ready to move on.

I made this tote bag for my niece. 
I had some internet inspiration but I did a design as you go construction.

4.)  How does my creating process work?
2 am. Seriously - don't you have the best thoughts at 2 am?
For instance, in the bag above, the reverse side is the reverse of the van - the back window flips out to feature a cell phone pocket.

I hope you enjoyed visiting me.

And now the Around the World Blog Hop goes on.  I have picked two great bloggers to be my taggees for next Monday:

 

Kyle from Vacuuming the Lawn is a great garment sew-er as well as bag maker. I noticed Kyle a couple of years ago commenting on the same sewing blogs I was reading.  She just sewed two stretch lace gym tanks and they are awesome. She blogs about her fitting intrigues and posts great flower photos from the Princeton Farmers Market. She recently made this gorgeous dress - go look at what she sewed!

 

Janine  of Crafty Tokyo Mama is someone I met during a SewMamaSew giveaway day. I was intrigued about her haunted house in Amity (oregon) and come to find out - she is from Oregon. She has lived in Japan for the last 25 years - most recently Kyoto. She sells her creations in her Etsy store - she is definitely good at making 1000 bags! and blogs about life in Japan and her sewing adventures at CraftyTokyoMama. She shows stunning photos of the different shrines and festivals that  make up Japanese life. She made this Patriotic Table Runner last month that I love.

one last airplane picture - 'cuz you know how cool it is to own one!
No - I am not the pilot - just the navigator. My hubby has his license. . When times are rough at the day job, flying in an open cockpit biplane is positively guaranteed to blow out the cobwebs. Or as we say, "reach out and touch the hand of God."

More random facts about kathy:
Worked in Southeast Alaska as a cook in a gold mining camp. Got to fly in a Beaver and a Huey.
I almost got my flying license.
I love small towns.
I've been sewing all my life.
My juicing/blendering supports my garden as well as the produce manager at my local Thriftway supermarket.
I like to embroider but I'm so done with cross stitch.
I require my daily Sudoku fix {or else}.
My favorite flowers are Iris's.
My old gardening goal was to be able to pick flowers any day of the year.
I love to travel and I'm headed to Kyoto next Spring.
Yes - you can travel with an auto-immune to a country that breathes in soy (#1 bad guy).
I won three blue ribbons (and one white) at our county fair this year.
I can remember four jokes at one time instead of three - making progress here!

Sewing:::  1. Why should you never iron your four-leaf clover?
You don't want to press your good luck.

Flying:::    2. What do you call an alligator who uses a GPS?
haha - a Navi-gator!

Star Quilting

I don't do much quilting.

The exactness required is really exacting (excruciating) on my 'just sew it already' personality.
I saw this pattern on the SewMamaSew website and it grabbed me enough to derail some other sewing plans.
I used my Road 15 'layer cake' - my first ever quilting fabric pre-cut. A layer cake is 10" squares.
2 1/2" strips (jelly rolls) or squares (charms) scare me in their tinyiness and perceived lack of usefulness.


Involved were numerous 2 1/2" blocks - squares and HST's (half-square triangles).
Almost  90 in all - for a 18" square. It was 9 blocks across and down but you need to fill in those edges - just so - requiring a few extra.

These Road 15 fabrics really appealed to me as well. The fabrics are made up of real street addresses. street maps, neighborhood views. Not to mention the color palette of turquoises and wine red.

The turquoise reign seems to be over in favor of the 2014 pantone color of the year - Radiant Orchid.
Not sure how that's gonna work for me - although it may curtail buying way too much fabric which is always a noble goal.


I was *so done* trimming my 2 1/2" squares around number 45.
I had to suck it up and keep going.
It's like making 45 hotpads - another thing I am not good at (quantity sewing).


I had to search my stash for wine red crochet thread. Thank heavens - the nearest fabric store that carries this thicker ply thread is half-an-hour away in a direction I don't need in my busy life. Another reason to keep too much stash.

Notice on the black star "Oregon trail".

Stuck for now. I'm not a fan of endless quilted wallhangings. Most of the quilting blogs seem to be making new wallhangings each week. What do they do with them all? Do they gift them, like me & my sewing projects?

I do like this finished make, a lot!
However it doesn't quite go with my couches so I am re-thinking the pillow idea.

I ran out of enough of  my grey to make it into a pillow (Ha! another excuse to go to the fabric store). Debating whether to make this an envelope back pillow case, utilizing the extra blocks as a small design feature on the back. . .
Or, backing and binding to hang on my sewing room wall. . .This is my top choice because then the back doesn't matter as much. I could use another grey in my stash.
Thinking. . .

I'm doing some training at work so my hours have temporarily increased. Just luv that 8 minute commute because even with working more hours, the free time is still mind boggling.

Here's one of my three orchids - Radiant orchid -haha - reblooming.