patchy patchwork

I've been working on a variety of patchwork projects.

A little Shoo-fly, for my month of do/Good Stitches, in blues and grays.

Some super scrappy improv, for a "to be determined" project.

I really love this kind of sewing. Using up little bits and making fun shapes. That's what it's all about.

I finished this pillow in time for my craft show, and it sold. Now, a friend has asked for another similar pillow! So, I'm cutting some 2.5" squares today.

I also decided to make some progress on my long-lingering Single Girl quilt top. I finished the third quarter blocks this weekend.

And finally, I intend to finally sew a second Prairie Braid this week. I've got the scraps cut to size.

Variety is the spice of life, right?

Enabler alert: Pink Castle is having a one-day sale with the code "VETERAN20" for 20% off everything.

Have a wonderful Monday, full of patchwork!

WIPs to finish

Like most of you crafters, I want to make all of the things! I tweeted the other day that I feel directionally challenged when it comes to crafting.
I feel pulled to several projects and crafts. To find some direction, I first want to document my list of outstanding WIPs.

There are a few I'm not listing, but these are the items I most desire to finish.

Knitting

First up, the embarrassing 3.5-year-old Central Park Hoodie. I'm so painfully close to finishing. All it needs is for me to finish picking up the second side of stitches and knit that button band. Then, seaming.

Second, the Gray Skies Cardigan. This one is another nearly-finished sweater. I think I have one partial sleeve to finish and seaming.
COME ON.

I've also got two single socks that need buddies.

I'm also close to finishing my Stripe Study shawl.

Quilting

I have four quilts-in-progress at the moment.

There's Single Girl, which I haven't touched since April.

There's Bottled Rainbows. I've completed four of the sixteen blocks, and this is a long-term project. I like to do a block every now and then, but it would be rad to finish this before the end of the year. The bright side is that it's quilt as you go, so, once the top is complete, the rest should go really quickly.

There's Rain or Shine, which is probably the closest to being finished. I only have six more blocks to make for the top. I've actually been working on this one for the past few days. I'll have an updated progress photo to share soon.

And of course, there is Swoon.

I've made six out of nine blocks, which you can see in my Swoon flickr set. Lucky for me (and you!), Katy has assembled a group of (300+) quilters for a Swoon-along! Feel free to join in on the fun and make your own Swoon!

In the next few days, I'm going to share my additional goals for 2012. But you can surely expect to see progress on these nine projects in the upcoming months!

FO: Nicke's Curvy Echo

It seems strange that I only met Nicke last year. We've become such good pals, and it feels like I've known her longer. I say "known", but we have not yet met in person. I think that will happen this year, though!

We recently agreed to do a swap, and she received her package last week.

Like most of the sewing and quilting community, Nicke fell hard for Lotta Jansdotter's line, Echo. I've fallen hard for this fabric, too. There's no question of that! I've already purchased some for myself to make a fun new project! Oh, but back to Nicke's pillow! This was not my first time sewing curves, as evidenced by my lingering Single Girl (I desperately want to finish that this year!).

For Nicke's pillow, I used some templates my grandmother shared with me from her stash. It was an old package, with two sizes of Drunkard's Path templates, and also, a clamshell template, which I am still investigating.

This was a perfect excuse to do more curvy sewing, which is fun and impressive!

My favorite part of this pillow is the yellow stitching. My mom gave me a fun box of assorted Guttermann thread for Christmas (too bad, but it's no longer on sale!), and this happy yellow was crying out to be used. The pillow is envelope-style, and I backed it with some It's a Hoot Chocolate brown dot fabric from the stash.

I knew Nicke would be thrilled, because I didn't want to give this pillow away, which is always an indication of a good gift! I will share what Nicke sends me in return when the time comes!

Oh, p.s., if you are intimidated by curvy sewing, you should check out Rachel's new class!

I hope you all have a fun weekend!

Sewing FOs and Progress

After receiving the adorable owl hexies from Amber, I really couldn't get them out of my head.

I used them to make this pillow. It's not exactly what I wanted, but I really like it. I hope I did the little owl justice. I used a scrap piece from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow (I have lots of this line stashed; I eventually plan to make a quilt using all the prints I have), and the circles are from Kumari Garden. I like the hand-stitching I added.

I used a fat quarter of this Amy Butler Soul Blossoms print for the backing. The pillow is 14" square (I used a pillow form from Ikea; it's been in my closet for at least a year).

I took this picture of my bed, which holds most of my homemade pillows (I didn't make the solid aqua one; that's a Target purchase). I'm using my Grellow+Pink quilt as a bedspread at the moment, and loving it.

I also made this Kindle cover for my sister over the weekend. After shopping together on Saturday morning, she picked out this stashed Ruby Star Rising, and we picked coordinating solids.

The inside uses a second piece of Ruby Star Rising fabric, some Kona Eggplant and some Laura Gunn Painter's Canvas. I used this pattern from Birdiful Stitches on etsy. I liked the pattern, and it's cool that you can sell items made from the pattern. I don't think mine looks very polished, but I'm guessing that on the second (or third) try, it will look better. Specifically, my flaps aren't quite straight, and I had to top stitch at the top of the pocket, which shows on the front.

I've got one more piece of sewing to show you today.

I worked on my Single Girl quilt recently, and I now have completed the top halves of my rings. It feels good to make some real progress on such a big project. By the end of May, I would love to have the quilt top assembled, but I may be dreaming there. We'll see!

I hate you, DST

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of daylight savings time. Despite the hour lost today, I managed to do some fun things this weekend. Dinner with Elliott and his parents Friday, followed by drinks with friends and an impromptu slumber party, and plenty of crafting yesterday and today.

I finished my March blocks for do.Good Stitches. Jennifer asked for these stacked blocks using aqua, blue yellow and gold. I really enjoyed making them. I could see myself making a larger project like this.

I've also done some knitting!

I'm working on the second front piece for my Gray Skies Cardigan. it's been two months since I've worked on this project, and it feels good to come back to it.

This afternoon, my Single Girl quilt is also getting some attention.

I hope your weekend has treated you well.

My heart and thoughts have been (and will continue to be) with the people of Japan.

xo, Jacey

P.S. The giveaway is almost closed. Thanks to those who have entered!

Overcoming the curves

I haven't blogged much about the Single Girl Support Group, but I joined as a way to challenge myself with my second quilt project. The Single Girl quilt, by Denyse Schmidt, definitely fulfills the challenge I was craving. I've never sewn curves before, and I was pretty intimidated when I started.

I chose to work with my fat quarter stack of Innocent Crush by AMH.

For my background color, I chose Kona Peridot.

I'm planning to make a QUEEN-sized quilt, because I am crazy.
I realized as I was sewing my first curve that I may have bitten off more than I could chew.
I pinned the curve to death, started sewing, had to rip.
Second time, same thing.
Finally, I decided to check my seam sizes. It turns out that almost every seam was shorter than 1/4 inch.

Precision matters here, folks.
Apparently, I'm not a very precise sewer.

Luckily, I had only sewn a few ring sections together at this point, so I didn't have to completely start over.
Trust me: there was enough cussing without any additional ripping.

Here's my first completed square.
Would you believe me if I told you I sewed this with no pins?? I don't believe it myself, but it's true. It's not perfect, but I felt so thrilled when I finished. I watched nova's video for pinless curves and just went with it.

So, only fifteen more squares to go. Um, yeah.