FO: Go Anywhere Bag

It's not often that fabric gets cut immediately upon arrival, but when I received this stack from Stash Fabric, I knew I wanted to use them together, and fast.

I bought Anna's Go Anywhere Bag pattern when it was released (almost a year ago, wow!), and decided to give it a try this weekend.

If you've never used one of Anna's patterns, let me say that they are very easy to follow! I've tried both her envelope and gathered clutch patterns previously.

I used a variety of prints to make this bag.

For the main exterior fabric, I used Laura Gunn's Painter's Canvas in Mermaid. Painter's Canvas is definitely one of my favorite blenders. I just love the texture of those brushstrokes! The front pocket is from Khristian A. Howell's Desert Daydreams. And you can see I used the Riley Blake Ombre Dots for the straps.

I also used them for the back pocket. Yep, those dots don't disappoint! I love their scale, and of course, their ombre-ness (Yeah, I just made up a word).

I decided to use two different lining prints, one for pockets, one for the main portion.

For the pockets, Jenean Morrison's Grand Hotel Mezzanine print in Sand. This is a great basic print!

The main lining is Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley, in Barnwood.

Have you ever installed a magnetic snap? They are so easy, and so fun!

This bag definitely feels summery to me!
I love Holly's version, too! It's so sophisticated!

Swoon #7 and #8

Hello! I'm back from a very fun weekend with crafty friends. I went to Birmingham to hang out with Chris, Rachel and Amanda this weekend. We chose a (fairly) central location to hang out and sew. It was a crazy fun weekend, and we were all very productive! I'll be sharing some of my other projects later this week, but first, here's my latest Swoon blocks.

Swoon #7 includes two Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow prints with my typical Kona Medium Gray.

Swoon #8 includes a Ty Pennington Impressions print with Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow herringbone. And I know I've said this with several of the blocks, but I think this may be my new favorite...

If you haven't already heard (and chances are, you have), Katy is hosting a Swoon-Along, which is 600 members strong on Flickr. I'm hoping to finish up my ninth block in the next few weeks, and get a quilt top together! You can see my other finished blocks here.

I'm linking up with Megan today!

FO: Starry Art Student Tote

I finished the Art Student Tote I shared with you earlier this week! I recommend this Anna Maria Horner pattern wholeheartedly.

My only trouble was during the cutting process. Since I made the slim version (view C), I got a little confused by the cutting diagram. I ended up cutting my main fabric (those beloved stars) wrong, and wasted some (but don't worry, I'll give those large scraps new life!).

I modified the interior of the bag slightly. The slim version has a divider wall with pockets, but since I'm hoping to tote around my laptop in this, I omitted the divider, and just added the pockets to the side of the bag.

Anna's directions were clear, but like with all patterns, reading through before starting is a good idea.
My only other modification was that I omitted the magnetic closure, mostly because I didn't have any, and was fine with not having a closure of some kind. My last modification was that I did not interface the straps.

All in all, I'm very happy with this bag. It was the perfect supplemental project this week. I started cutting fabric Saturday night, and Tuesday, I was finished!

Fabrics used: Joel Dewberry Woodgrain in yellow, Sundae Stripe in gray from Moda's Ruby, Cosmo Cricket crosshatch in yellow, Sandi Henderson Secret Garden (floral pocket print), and Dear Stella stars.

I highly recommend this pattern. When I first purchased this pattern, I thought a sew-along would be fun. I'd still be up for that, if anyone is interested. I have hopes to make the larger version.

Would anyone want to sew-along with me?

FO: Fenced Foxes

I seriously love this quilt. The pattern, from Elizabeth Hartman's book, is called Fenced In.

It was very easy to size this down for a baby quilt, but I skipped adding the outside border. I used only Lizzy House Outfoxed prints, purchased from Pink Castle.

I also used stash solids, including Kona Corn Yellow (back), Kona Stone and three greens (not sure which ones) for the binding. I used an emerald green Gutermann thread for the quilting.

I think Jessica really loved the new quilt, and it was so much fun seeing old friends at the shower yesterday. From left to right, Kristen, Jessica, me, Julie and Laurie. I've known all but Laurie since elementary school, where we were all girl scouts together! Laurie went to our high school, too.

I know baby Wyatt will enjoy his quilt!

2011 Goals: A look back and a video

I LOVE making lists. LOVE. Earlier this year, I made a list of goals for the year. As I make my list for 2012, I thought I'd share my results of this year's list.

2011 goals
1) No yarn purchases in 2011, with noted exceptions:

Result: Mostly win.

The only yarn I purchased this year was the Wollmeise Claudia offered to bring me (um, and I just bought a Sundara holiday gift bag. oops). The only other yarn stash additions were handspun offerings from Sara, Sam and Elizabeth.

2) Finish the Gray + Pink + Yellow quilt and make two additional quilts

Result:Total win. You can see my quilt set here, but I finished three large quilts and several minis this year.

3) Complete the swaps I've joined

Result: Again, Total win. I participated in three quilt bees and SIX public swaps. I also participated in several private swaps, which I'm now addicted to. You can see my swaps and bees set here.

4) Complete the two pairs of socks I've started, and two additional pairs

Result:Um, less than win. I knit one sock this year, and it was not a match for a previously knit sock. LAME.

5) Finish the colorwork hat I've started, and one additional colorwork project (I've got to get better at this!)
Result: Half win! I did complete my color work hat, which I love. But no new colorwork projects this year. Next year, for sure!

6) Finish both my CPH and the Gray Skies Cardigan

Result: FAIL. Yes, that deserved to be bolded. I didn't finish either one of these, although a little progress was made.

7) Knit Beatnik
Result: Nope. But I didn't buy yarn for it either, so that counts. A little.

8) Sew three garments for myself

Result: I made two skirts for myself, but I don't count it as a win, really.

9) Clean out and donate from closets, cabinets

Result: I made lots of progress in purging stuff this year. I hope to continue to do so, as I make the move to Elliott's house. Or, our house. ;)

10)Blog more often

Result: Total win. My post count for 2011 is just about double my 2010 count. I've been in this space more often, and I've enjoyed it!

11)Take more pictures

Result: I would say this is pretty much a win, although I have short-term plans to make a lightbox for myself. As the winter light takes over, I notice a drastic drop in the number of pictures I've taken.

12)Attend the Sewing Summit in October

Result: Yep! I did that!

13)Use fabric and yarn stash on projects I can enjoy

I guess this is a partial win. I've gotten better about making things I'll actually use. However, I still have an addiction to shawls, even though I've not found myself wearing them yet. 14)Exercise at least once a week

Result: Um, next question, please.

15)Finish Jill's house items

Result: I'd say I'm okay here. I still have some curtains to make for Jill, but she's gotten some fun handmade stuff this year. But I will stick to my word and finish the other curtains!

16)Travel

Result: No good here. I only went on one out-of-state trip (Utah). But at least it was a new-to-me place, and it was beautiful!

When I look at this list, it doesn't seem like I accomplished very much in 2011. Then I watch the video below (which is all thanks to C and her lovely 2011 video), and I think, "oh, yeah. I did some stuff."

Jaceycraft 2011 from Jacey Lucas on Vimeo.

I hope you'll watch it. And then I hope you'll make your own over at Pummelvision.
*Note: the very last image in the video has a swear word. I haven't blogged this yet, but I wanted to make a disclaimer.

If you'd rather peruse the photos, I made a Crafts in 2011 set.

FO: Stockings for Jill and Ryan

Whew! What a nice long weekend! For those of you in the states, I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with your families. I got a lot of time with my family and Elliott's. And yes, I'm engaged! I don't have any details to share on the when or how, but we know it will be sometime next year! For now, I'm just enjoying the feeling. I'll share more with you soon!

In the meantime, I crossed a couple of things off of my gifty list this weekend.

My sister asked me for Christmas stockings, personalized for her and her boyfriend, Ryan. Using Fabricworm's tutorial and some Alexander Henry Holiday Hoot fabric, I came up with some pretty fun stockings!

I worked on the embroidery over the holiday, and finished them up yesterday afternoon.

It's always fun to stitch up words in embroidery. And of course, Bella always likes to help.

The pattern was very easy to follow, and the second one came together better than the first.

I'm linking up today with Megan this morning!

Card making party

My sister and I had a little girly get-together this weekend. We invited several friends over, scoured pinterest for recipes (and came up with some real winners!), and even had party favors. We spent Saturday getting ready for the party, and then enjoying our friends' company and making cards.

Unfortunately, I was too busy having fun to take pictures during the party, but I do have some prep shots to share with you, as well as links to the recipes we used.

Links to recipes (except sangria, corn chowder and caramels):
Veggie tartlets with pesto sauce
Roasted squash and red pepper quesadillas
Ginger cider bourbon (we tweaked the measurements to: 1.5 parts ginger ale: 1 part cider: .5 part bourbon
Maple Apple Tartlets

The apple tartlets were the only food I got a finished shot of. They were delicious and easy to make!

I mentioned party favors, too. Jill and I went a little overboard, but we had a lot of fun with it.

Jill got little Yankee candles and some homemade jam from etsy for everyone, as well as sharing some scrapbook paper and adhesive. We also shared little rolls of washi tape, purchased here on etsy.

I made coffee cozies, using Jeni's tutorial. I loved making these, and I actually have a few left over to gift next month.

Here's mine!

So, that's the party recap. I made some sweet cards (including one with a robot!).

I hope you had a fun weekend, too!

FO: Floral Circles Skirt

Back in September, I received a fabric order from Pink Castle Fabrics. A beautiful floral Lecien print was included, and I immediately wanted to make a skirt with it.

I've long been a fan of the My Folklore prints. Some of the first fabric I ever purchased and used was from this line.

The new prints are just as fun, and I have a few other cuts in that box from Pink Castle!

So, the skirt!
I picked up Simplicity 0498 at a Joann's sale months ago, and felt the cut would be more flattering than my last skirt attempt.
Verdict?

I like it! I had the navy blue binding in the stash, and I think it adds just the right amount of contrast. I adore the pockets, and the length is very flattering.

I will enjoy wearing it this fall (maybe with the black boots I never seem to pull out of the closet!). The print is conservative enough that I can wear it to work, but fun enough that I can wear it elsewhere.

The pattern is pretty easy to follow, although it appears to be discontinued.

I'm entering my skirt into Celebrate Color, my first entry!

By the way, you've still got a little time to enter my pillow giveaway!

For the Love of Solids - complete

Now that I've both received and sent in the Solids swap, I'd like to show you the results!
So first, I received from ShapeMoth. My package flew all the way from Germany, and it contained:

this incredible metal-frame pouch (just look at that linen!), and

this beautiful mini-quilt. I love the gradient effect and the quilting is fabulous.
Joanna really spoiled me with these lovely items!

On the other side of the swap, I sent to Krista. Krista really wanted placemats or an apron. I almost made an apron, but I was afraid not many people would have requested one, and I didn't want it to be obvious she was my partner.
So, placemats!

Krista's favorite solid is Kona Butterscotch, so I paired that with some lovely blues, yellow, and a few brighter solids.

Krista has three kids, so I wanted to make sure everyone had their own placemat.

When I made that decision, I didn't think about all of the hand sewing it would entail, but I'm so glad I didn't skimp.

These were really fun to make, and I know Krista really loves them!

I quilted each one a little differently, and bound them in various solids.

The triangle quilting was my favorite (I didn't want to let that one go!).

I also whipped up a little zippy pouch to send along, and stuffed it with some solids and a couple of prints.

Swaps are super fun, and I'm so glad I jumped in for this one.

I don't plan on joining any others until the new year, but I'm sure I will be tempted. ;)

P.S. I'm planning to post my very first tutorial here soon!

Have a great weekend!

Winners and some DS projects

Well, winners have been picked via rng! Our winning numbers were #8, #1 (really? that's pretty rare!) and #25. So, the winners are: Susan, Chawne and James-Linda (Who is actually, Linda)! I've already got addresses from all three, and will be sending out the shawls this week.

Thank you so much to all that entered. It was fun hearing about your current craft obsessions! It feels good to get a few of these FOs out of the closet (and it also allows me the freedom to cast on for a new shawl soon! It's a sickness, I know.)

I wanted to share a couple of projects with you, which have DS Quilts in common.

I, personally, do not love the entire DS Quilts first line that came out, but I do love the print I used in both of these items very much.

First up, I made this skirt from Butterick pattern 5613.
The reason you're not viewing a modeled shot is because it looks frumpy as all get out on me. I think you have to be a size two to be able to pull this off, due to the gathered waist.
I thought it would be a good "masking" choice, but no, it adds more than I actually have around the waistline.
Not good.
I'm debating whether I should try to salvage it. I do love the style, and maybe I could pull it off if I reduced the amount of gathering at the hips. It has pockets, which are pretty awesome!

Until I make up my mind, this sits unhemmed.

My other DS project is a win, though!

I bought Anna's Gathered Clutch pattern awhile back, and finally tried it this weekend.

I used Kona Daffodil, Annie's Farm Stand Seed Catalogue, and the DS Quilts print, as well as a vintage zipper from the stash. This was a great pattern, and I will definitely make more of these in the future.

P.S. Thanks to my sweet boyfriend, I have AC in the car again! It was a little cheaper than expected, and I didn't have to suffer in the August Houston humid heat.

Some finishes, and some silliness

I have two FOs to share with you today. Over the weekend, I was able to complete my third embroider-bee block. This one was a doozy, people. It wasn't hard, but there was a lot of stitching. I'm glad I chose it, though. It's such a fun design, and it gave me a chance to learn two new stitches.

I can now make french knots to my heart's content, and lazy daisies are now in my knowledge base as well. The embroidery design was drawn by theflossbox, a fun little etsy shop that I will definitely visit again.

I had fun picking a color for each section.

I chose my fabric scraps with the thread choices in mind, and I like the eclectic mix. I probably would never choose some of these fabrics together, but I think it works!

I've only got one embroidery block to finish for this bee, and it's a good thing, too! My deadline is one week from today. I'm about halfway through the stitching on the fourth one, and I hope to finish it up this weekend.

Jill had a barbecue on Sunday. I always like to take my sister a little homemade something, and this time, it was a new pillow for her couch.

I made a quilted log cabin square with some of my current favorite fabrics and just made a simple envelope pillow for her to enjoy. I used some Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush, Kona Marine, Joel Dewberry Aviary 2, and an unidentified Moda fat quarter (I think it might be from the Happy Camper line, but I'm not sure).

Love it!
I can always tell if it's a good gift by whether or not I want to keep it for myself!

Speaking of Jill, she posted this picture of us on flickr recently. It's from my mom's wedding (almost three years ago). We have a fun little game where we make silly faces, but she usually breaks into laughter before I do. Oh, how grateful I am for my sister.

June bee blocks

I finally finished my Wonky Bee blocks for June. I've never made word blocks before, and they were a little tricky for me. Carrie wanted Christmas word blocks for a quilt she is working on. She sent along some fun holiday prints, and I shamelessly tried to pick easy short words for these blocks.

I think this one turned out the best.

My second one is definitely "wonky".

I also finished up my blocks for do.Good Stitches earlier this month.

Jenn asked for triangle blocks in masculine orange & blue fabrics. I loved these blocks. They were fun to make, and I think they look so bold in the colors Jenn chose.

I also joined a group that Chawne mentioned on her blog called 60 blocks of summer. The goal is to finish at least 60 blocks of summer, which seems totally possible.

I've finished six blocks so far, so I better get moving!

Progress: Bottled Rainbows

I finished my third Bottled Rainbows block this week.

I don't why I didn't think of it last month, but I realized that I could work on Bottled Rainbows as part of Project Spectrum. Duh. I know, obvious, right?

So, this week, I put together my Lime green block. I have a ton of green scraps. I recently traded scraps with a few people, including Melissa, so my scraps options were plentiful.

Bella offered to help me place scraps, which was awfully helpful.

Here's the finished block. I really love it, although I think the orange block is still my favorite.

I like the look of these blocks all lined up in a row.

I hope to get my second green block done before the end of June.

In other green crafty news, I've cast on for a knitting project with this yarn:

I just love the color, and even though Worsted Wool is absolutely impractical for Houston right now, I couldn't resist starting something with it. It should work up quickly, and I'll share photos soon.

I'm working on getting some furniture out of the house and donated this morning, as well as breakfast with a dear friend. And of course, there will be crafting!
Have a fun Saturday!