Sunshine Sews ..

Sewing Room Addition

2012-01-28T16:49:00.003-06:00

Today my husband installed a wall mount swivel unit to hang my tv. It's nice to have the top of the file cabinet back and to be able to swivel the tv to any direction that I want. Plus it's on a wall that would otherwise be wasted so it's not taking up any prime real estate like my design board does. My husband is a perfectionist so he will come back to tuck the cables away so they cannot be seen but I am happy with it the way it is.

Solstice Star Series: Ribbon Star

2012-01-22T19:30:00.002-06:00

I've been following the Fresh Lemons quilt blog and I came across a post for a quilt series called Solstice Stars. The first tutorial was for a block called the Ribbon Star. It was pretty and simple plus I could pull fabric from my stash so it seemed like a good way to spend a cold, wintry Saturday afternoon. I pulled out some bright, happy colors and started the series.

Softies

2012-01-17T21:23:00.000-06:00

I bought a Softies book about a year ago and I finally decided to try one out. I am looking for something new and fresh to add to the craft fair booth and maybe this will be it. I will make a few and test them out by leaving one for Chloe. If she gravitates towards it, I will make some more. The book is called More Softies Only a Mother Could Love. It's full of cute stuff.

Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose

2012-01-10T15:31:00.007-06:00

A co-worker of mine was crazy about his favorite pair of jeans but they were wearing out. He hated to give them up so he asked me if I could turn them into a dog bed for his precious pooch. He thought that since his little doggy weighed in at a whopping 10-pounds, that there would be enough fabric to make a nice little snuggly spot for the dog.

So I got the jeans, bought 3 shades of blue thread and a bag of fiberfill. It was most difficult to make that first cut into these jeans; if they were mine I would consider them still wearable. So I started slow, took the waistband off, then cut the legs off. As I worked my way around them, it got easier to cut them into logical pieces. Then the fun part began. I stitched them back together into pieces of fabric. I wanted to make sure the pocket with the Ralph Lauren Polo label was in tact and the focal point of the top piece of fabric. (It would also make a nice place to store doggy treats.) After I had a main center piece, I felt it needed contrast so I dug out pieces of jean fabric from 3 other pairs of old jeans I had cut up previously. It made nice little alternating shades of blue patches around the center fabric. I then reversed the fabric on the back, making a piece of darker jeans the center of the fabric and placing the Polo jean pieces around it.

Once I had a nice 25 by 25 inch square for both the front and back, I stitched them together, turned it, stuffed it and hand sewed the opening shut. I also had stitched my custom label on the back to give it a nice designer look. Doggy can squish down nicely in the middle of the soft, lofty cushion since I made sure not to overfill the thing with stuffing. It is much softer than it looks and it should be snuggly for his treasured pet.

Quilts N More - Pick-It Fences

2012-01-08T09:55:00.000-06:00

Using my most recent issues of Quilts and More, I decided to make the Post-It quilt that is on the cover. The instructions state to use 26 different fabrics besides the solid for the background. I was very happy that I could find almost all of them from my stash. Or maybe it's a sign that I am a fabric hoarder. Completing this quilt top was rewarding and it felt good to purge some fabrics for the nice results. It was also my first opportunity to use my design board to ensure I had the squares point in the right direction.

Table Toppers

2012-01-02T15:09:00.005-06:00

Since we refinished the furniture in the guest room, I've been concerned about setting things on the dressers. So I decided to make some table toppers to protect the wood. I found some Susan Winget fabric with sand dollars in a shade of turquoise that matches the room perfectly. It only took me an afternoon to design, sew, quilt and complete these two custom-sized table toppers for the dressers.

Build a Quilt Workshop

2011-12-31T18:01:00.000-06:00

I signed up for an online build a quilt workshop through a quilting blogger. I wanted to get more ideas on how to use precuts; the class required the use of a charm pack. I got the fabric from my local quilt shop and started the class. The instructor promised instructions in a post each Wednesday.

As this was an online class, everything would be handled through the comments on a private Flickr site and photos of progress would be posted there. I had a bad feeling about this when no one seemed interested in posting progress after the first week of class. I posted a sepia version of my layout (part of the class exercise that was a way to view color value) and it didn't look that great to me; I didn't get any comments on how to make it better. There were over 20 people signed up for the class, but no one was posting. By the fourth week, even the instructor stopped posting instructions. I was interested in finishing so I sent comments asking when more instructions were coming and I sent emails to her main email address. I even sent her an email and asked her for my money back since she wasn't finishing the class. Nothing. This class started October 1 and the last post was October 25.

As the blogger/instructor kept posting new projects to her own site, I was getting more and more annoyed. Finally on December 30 she posed the question on Facebook, "How about a new class? Anyone interested?" I immediately responded...How about you finish the one you started? And wouldn't you know it - all of a sudden the class got a response.

Here it is:
i posted the last set of instructions, but i must not have confirmed the post or something.
i had zero clue that the last set of instructions weren't available until kathy said something on facebook a few minutes ago.
i hadn't gotten any admin alerts about this group or anything.

Funny thing, the last set of instructions wasn't the only thing missing, there was more than the one class missed and she posed all the missing classes on December 30. She didn't get ANY alerts from the comments I sent, from the emails I sent or from the Paypal refund request either. I tried at least 6 times in 6 weeks. In the end an apology would have been nice. So it's finished now and the lesson learned is not to take classes from instructors who have little skill in handling a classroom setting.

Finished Class Project

After-Thanksgiving 6AM Sale

2011-11-25T09:23:00.001-06:00

I swore I was not getting up at the crack of dawn and going out into the hordes of shoppers this morning. After perusing the fliers after our Thanksgiving dinner, I determined there was nothing worth running out for. In fact, I had most of my Christmas shopping done so it was nice not to feel the pressure of needing that middle-of-the-night deal. The only thing that was tempting me was the JoAnn Fabrics 6AM specials which means I would be shopping for myself. They had flannel on sale for $1.49 per yard. An incredible deal, but I didn't really need it, so I decided that I would prefer to sleep in and enjoy a lazy morning. Then I heard my husband sneaking downstairs to head out for some 5AM early bird specials. I was wide awake. I knew there was no going back to sleep so I got up, threw on some clothes and headed out. I got to the store at 5:54 and there were approximately 12 other women waiting. The doors open and we all politely waited our turns to get a cart and scattered through the store. I went right to the flannel and loaded my cart. I got in the cutting line, which already went up an entire aisle. As it turned out, it took longer to get the fabric cut than it did to wait in line. I had 29 bolts, 85 yards of fabric cut in all. It was a great shopping day.

Sewing Room Table Topper

2011-10-10T20:16:00.001-05:00

Since I repainted my file cabinet to a fine matte white finish, I've been worried about scratching the paint. Especially since I put my television on top of the file cabinet. The colors are a good match to the grey walls. I look forward to making lots more things in this color combination. Plus it was a good opportunity to try out my free motion quilting skills.

The Sewing Room

2011-09-18T18:30:00.006-05:00

We are making progress on the sewing room. Jeff built me heavy-duty base cubes out of high-density laminate. It is thick and extremely heavy. I painted it with some paint I had custom tinted. I bought 3 quarts of 3 different shades of the grey paint that is on the walls. Luckily, it took less that 1 quart to completely paint the base. Since it was meant to fit tightly in the space, we struggled a little to get it in place, but it's in there! Jeff made me some dowel holders that he mounted in the side of the closet after I painted them a darker shade of grey. I loaded my ribbon spools on two of the dowels and I am glad to report that I have an entire empty dowel to load with more ribbon, if I so desire. Once that was completed, I put my wire IKEA drawers on top of the base and had plenty of room to stack the canvas boxes I also got from IKEA.
I had a fun afternoon loading the drawers with fabrics as well as the cubes. We even re-used one of the wire shelves from the closet organizer that used to live in this closet. The last thing, was the closet doors. Even though this is supposed to be a standard sized closet, the opening was a little smaller than standard. When there were sliding doors on the closet, it didn't matter but with the folding doors, Jeff had to cut just under half an inch off of each side of the doors. So I got out my white enamel paint I used on my bench and touched up the edges that were cut off. Once installed, it made the whole room look better and neater. Even though I do like to look at all that fabric.

Picnic Quilt

2011-07-21T08:23:00.001-05:00

I quickly made this little quilt just to have for picnics and any other outside activities. It's a nice size, comfy enough to fit two, small enough to fold up and carry. It fits in the wagon nicely along with my granddaughter and is great for sitting at the fireworks. It even makes a nice summer tablecloth.

The Sewing Room

2011-07-04T21:05:00.002-05:00

We spent the first day of our 5-day holiday taking a trip to Ikea. It's only 70 miles away but since that 70 miles is through Chicago, it's not usually the most enjoyable of travels. I had an agenda so it was pretty easy to weave through the aisles (or aisle since the store seems to run in a big circle). We still enjoy looking through all the gadgets and doo-dads available for cheap so even with an agenda, we still spent a good 45 minutes on each of the three floors. I got a new bookcase and a little desk for my sewing room and I bought Chloe a dresser. The fun stuff was getting the organizer jars and boxes to hold all my sewing stuff in style. Once I have it all organized, I will post photos.

This post is about the fun little shelf I found. It is meant to be a ledge to hold photos or art, where you lean the items against the wall. In Ikea language, it's called Ribba. I thought it would be a great way to hold up my new design board. The design board is large, but extremely light-weight. To my surprise, it's bulky size is making it annoying to move around so this little ledge-shelf seemed like a great way to keep the thing off the floor and give it a permanent place. So we placed the shelf 24 inches off the ground. It made the design board easy to reach from both the top and the bottom. I was worried that it might not lean enough to keep it up, but it worked out perfectly.

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

2011-06-30T10:08:00.002-05:00

This is the final quilt top entered in the drawing for the $100 fabric gift certificate prize. Now I have to get the backing on and quilt it.

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

2011-06-27T21:52:00.002-05:00

After folding all the squares in four and fitting a printed square in the middle of the white square by matching the folds, the squares were stitched together. Then, the squares were cut in half then in half again making the four squares seen above. The cut squares were randomly pieced and stitched back together to make the new squares. The new squares are placed in 7 rows of 6. After moving the squares around a bit, they are ready to be sewn into the quilt top.

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

2011-06-21T21:49:00.004-05:00

The first instructions for the quilt along was to cut the layer cake to 7 and a half inch squares using the 2 and a half inch leftovers to make the binding. I cut the fabric on Sunday and made the binding on Monday. I am ready for next week's instructions.

Quilt Design Board

2011-06-20T21:10:00.002-05:00

While I work through my new sewing table design ideas, I thought I would try a project that I can complete within one day. So I searched the internet to figure out how to make my own quilt design board. After reading through a few different versions posted (thank goodness people like to share their hard work online), I decided what my design board was going to look like.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought 3 yards of white flannel lined vinyl tablecloth fabric. I knew that most boards sold at home improvement stores came in 4 by 8 foot sheets so I used that measurement as a guide. The tablecloth fabric came in a 54-inch width so it was just big enough to cover 4 feet. The vinyl was thick enough to cover whatever the looked like so it seemed like a perfect choice. With a 50% off coupon, the fabric was only $4.98 per yard so I spent less than $15 for the vinyl.

The I headed to Home Depot where I bought a sheet of Owens Corning Foamular. It comes in the standard 48 x 96-inch sheet, just like I expected. The tougher choice was deciding the thickness. It comes in half-inch through 2-inch thicknesses. I knew I had to get a feel for it. When I thought about the vinyl covering, I decided on the 3/4-inch thickness. It was thin enough to not be too bulky but thick enough to handle the weight of the vinyl. It only cost $8.44 for the sheet. The hard part was getting it into the car. I had to bend it slightly to make the 4-foot width fit in my little SUV, and thank goodness for the SUV or else I never would have gotten it home.

The foamular has a tongue on one side and a groove on the other, so pieces can be locked together. I took a razor knife and cut off the tongue on the one side of the piece. I laid the vinyl flat on the floor, flannel side down and plopped the foamular on top. I made sure it was evenly placed on the fabric.

Starting from the middle top I used duct tape to tape the fabric to the back of the board. Then I moved to the middle bottom and did the same. Then I moved to the middle of each side and taped the fabric down so it was tight and even. I worked towards each corner then folded a miter into the fabric and taped it all down. It was the easiest project ever!

Synchronized Squares Quilt Along

2011-06-08T14:26:00.007-05:00

I just ordered the Ready, Set, Snow Layer Cake by Me and My Sister Designs for Moda Fabrics and the Bella White for this new quilt along. Sadly, the fabric by the yard isn't available yet so I hope I don't have to wait too long to get it and finish. I loved doing my first quilt along so I can't wait to start this one. It's a great way to stay motivated.

Time for a New Sewing Room

2011-04-28T21:55:00.002-05:00

My spring project is going to take a little longer than I anticipated. I started by emptying my sewing room. It was very difficult to pack away my sewing machine. Then I had Jeff remove the cubicle which was so tedious - too many parts. I tore out the old dirty white carpet, ripped down the wallpaper and realized that this job is bigger than me. I hired a painter to repaint the room and ordered new carpet. I put in some high quality commercial carpet so it would be easy to keep tidy when I sew or paint or whatever crafty thing came up. I hope my patience holds out, it's going to be worth the wait.

Project Linus Quilt in memory of Stephen #2

2011-02-20T20:55:00.005-06:00

I finished my second Project Linus quilt but I haven't added my 'Stephen's Grandma' label as of yet. It will be done soon! I think this was a good sample for producing many. I look forward to making more out of some funky flannels for older children in need.

Superbowl

2011-02-06T13:29:00.003-06:00

In honor of our wonderful Green Bay Packers, I thought I would take the opportunity to post this photo of the Raggedy Ann and Andy-gone-green and-gold just for the occasion. Go Pack Go!

My daughter, Bailee made these, she makes the hair as well as everything else that makes the dolls.

Finished Postage Stamp Quilt

2011-02-05T15:31:00.004-06:00

Here is the finished product. I machine quilted it with simple wavy lines which seem like a nice contrast against the perfect little squares. It was so easy to complete when stuck at home with 3 feet of snow on the ground. I felt so productive and the snow was a nice excuse.

Rachel Griffith's Postage Stamp Quilt Along

2011-02-01T19:57:00.012-06:00

For a few years now I've wanted to do a quilt along. Things always came up though. Either I discovered the quilt along after it started or it was a pattern that I wasn't fond of doing. So when this one came along, I knew I wanted to participate. I ordered the fabric, Moda's Dilly Dally. I chose it because the finished project will look great in the guest room.

In the process, I learned that I love jelly rolls. These precut fabrics are a gem to work with and the project went quickly since I didn't have to spend any time cutting strips. During the first week, we stitched the strips together. The second week, we cut the strips and stitched them into blocks. The third week, we put the blocks together to make the quilt top.

Now that I have the quilt top done, it's time to add the batting and backing and start quilting. As luck would have it, there's a blizzard hitting the entire midwest today and I have plenty of time to get quilting.

Fons and Porter's 4-Patch House Quilt

2011-01-31T11:30:00.002-06:00

I started this quilt last winter. The colors had such a cozy, warm-me-up-in-winter feel that I couldn't resist. And I love the checkerboard look.
The pattern is from one of Fons and Porter's books called Leftovers. I love most everything they do so it's always a struggle to decide which one to make next. But as summer came, I put it away even though I was almost done with the quilting. It was difficult to lay the large, flannel-backed quilt on my lap when it'w warm outside. It's hard to think of wintery things in the few warm months that we have so I packed it away until the summer ended. Then summer turned to fall, then turned to winter and I was reminded by the chilly nights that I could be spared if I would finish my house quilt. So I got it out and for a few hours over the past couple of weekends, I got it done. It's nice to get this off of my to-do list and even nicer to curl up in it on a cold night.

Baby Chloe's First Quilt (from Grandma)

2010-09-30T10:13:00.007-05:00

Baby Chloe's room is decorated in her mother's favorite green and there is pink too because after all, she is a baby girl. Everything is pink and green. And since we all love kitties, I found this fabric with kitties, and pinks, and greens. How perfect, just like baby Chloe. So here is her first quilt from grandma..

Shoes for Chloe

2010-04-03T18:18:00.004-05:00

My daughter, Bailee made these adorable little shoes for her daughter. She got the pattern from Etsy and had fun making a bunch. I think she could sell them.

Project Linus

2009-11-09T21:03:00.003-06:00

I took the day off because it is Stephen's birthday. Not that I knew what that meant when I woke up this morning, I just knew I couldn't go to work. Since his death, I can't focus or plan anything. Finding meaning in the loss of a baby is totally impossible but I just did not want to waste this day wallowing in my own sorrow, I've done enough of that on most other days. I wanted this day to be a positive remembrance of this most important day.

I had ordered altar flowers for church in memory of Stephen, and I planned on planting a bush in memory of his birth. But it all felt sort of superficial, like some common thing that everyone does whether it's meaningful or not. I did it anyway, I found a beautiful blue butterfly bush. It was something that felt good to do, but at the same time I couldn't imagine myself planting a bush every year on his birthday. I guess I really wanted a tradition I could continue in memory of him.

So I fidgeted and surfed the net for nothing in particular. Of course all I usually want to do is sew on my off days as sewing is therapeutic for me. Before I knew it, I was surfing for baby quilt patterns. And that's when I remembered Project Linus. I looked them up and there it was - a reason to do what I love best - make a quilt. And I could do it in memory of Stephen and give it to Project Linus so a sick baby could have it. And I could do this every year. It was a perfect idea. I was rambling and excited and ready to get started. It's perfect and how incredibly coincidental that I am a big Peanuts fan. It was like this was meant to be. I got started immediately. A review of a good pattern and a look at what I have on hand still meant a trip to the fabric store. I really enjoyed picking out such cheery fabrics. I got them home and put them in the wash machine immediately. While I waited for the laundry to finish, I read the instructions and prepared everthing to get started. In no time I had the top done. Since I machine quilted it with straight lines, that also went pretty quick. Before I knew it, the binding was on the edges and I was done.

My daughters really liked the idea and thought they might want to do the same next year, so a new tradition begins out of sadness and love for our little SIDS baby boy. I am so glad I took the day off.

With love,
Stephen's Grandma

Fall Craft Fair

2009-11-06T20:13:00.002-06:00

Even though I had planned on doing two craft fairs this fall, as it turned out, I didn't get my booth money in quickly enough and the craft fair at my church filled up. But that's ok, it just meant I had more time to prepare for the next one. And that one was paid in full so there was no turning back. Plus it was at work so it was an easy decision.

The craft fair at work was meant to benefit the Alzheimer's Foundation. It was pretty successful for me and I am glad I had the opportunity to participate. I almost forgot how much hard work it is to pull this off but it was a great experience and pretty profitable as well. It was a nice "employee benefit".

When today came I was a little nervous even though I had done this years ago. There is something about having my hard work judged and sometimes rejected by customers that I find intimidating and I guess I take it too personally. I mean there are plenty of things at craft fairs I'm not interested in so I don't know why I take it so hard.

I set up my booth which was pretty stress free and almost relaxing. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would and I had plenty of time to enjoy the process. I think part of the reason was I followed a crafters suggestions and set my booth up at home first. I also did a lot of prep work including great signage and good packaging after the sale.

The craft fair took place from 10 am until 1:30 pm, not long but it was enough time to sell lots of stuff. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to sell my items. I sold woodcrafts, tote bags, hand made dolls, and lots and lots of catnip toys. What fun! I had a great time and made some extra money in the process.

The hardest part of the day was taking everything down and packing it all away. It took me four trips to the car to get it done and I was exhausted when it was all over. Now it's time to list the rest on Etsy and get ready for the spring crafting events.

Until then, it's time to make some handmade Christmas gifts and get back to quilting.

Halloween Cover

2009-10-07T20:43:00.002-05:00

For Halloween, I made a quilted pillow cover using a Thimbleberries design. I love fall colors so I really enjoyed making this, plus the Thimbleberries designs are wonderful as well.

A Warm Quilt

2009-09-20T08:00:00.008-05:00

Jeff mentioned that we could use a new bed quilt. The weather was getting chilly at night and he wanted something warm and comfy. After some thinking I decided to take my pretty little beige, scraps and make a quilt. Of course, I did not have enough scraps to come close to queen size but the idea gave me a good sense of direction on what this quilt was going to look like.

Once I dug out all of my beige, off-white, ecru, flowery little prints I realized that some of this fabric was almost 30 years old. The reason some of it was still around is that these prints weren't exactly favorites of mine, probably something I bought to fill in around prettier fabrics at one time. I was bound and determined to use every last bit of it.

I cut the squares into triangles and started to make the rows. Incorporating the old with the new was fun and I could very easily stick in the not-so-favorite fabrics and they blended nicely without making me cringe with dislike. It was turning into a lovely, soft, warm looking quilt.

It didn't take me long to complete it, I think the cooler temperatures were a signal that I wanted this one done soon as well.

Back to Craft Fairs

2009-09-15T20:25:00.004-05:00

I finally took the plunge. I bought craft fair booths. Not one but two so I jumped in with both feet, I paid for a booth at my church craft fair and another at my work's craft fair. Now I'm committed to making lots of inventory. I just wish I had more time.

I used to do craft fairs regularly but I stopped as the kid's events seem to take over. Now that they are grown, I am excited about getting back to it. I have really nice display racks that Jeff built for me. So I scrubbed them so they are clean and ready to go.

The Friendship Bag

2009-08-22T12:36:00.003-05:00

I found this tutorial on a blog called p.s.iquilt. It was so cute I had to give it a try. I used scraps from a wall hanging I made so I didn't have to invest in any new fabric (**rats**!). I think I am going to make a bunch of these. I am also going to try a larger version as a lunch tote.

Iron Cupcake and the Cupcake Apron

2009-08-21T12:21:00.001-05:00

My daughter, Jen enters a monthly contest called Iron Cupcake. Each month there's a specific theme, such as liquor, savory, spice, fruit, etc. for each month. During the last month that she competed the theme was vegan/gluten free so she made a s'more cupcake with flourless chocolate cake cupcake in a graham cracker crust with homemade marshmallow topping. They were delicious. So I made her this cupcake apron to wear at the competitions.

Good Morning Pillow

2009-08-20T20:43:00.001-05:00

I love to go through the clearance buttons. It's like an adventure to see what I can find, and not just for the cuteness or the deals but for how they can spark the imagination. I found some Mary Engelbreit buttons for 50 cents and I had to make something to attach them to. The buttons are on the back and now they seem pretty boring compared to this design so I didn't bother to include a photo of the buttons, just the inspiration from them.

A Thimbleberries Quilt

2009-08-19T10:40:00.008-05:00

I don't know why I am compelled to make quilts in dark shades in August. But the colors are gorgeous, I love the dark reds, greens and blues. My all time favorites are the beiges though. Maybe on some subconscious level I try to work color into my beiges. It could be that the pastels of spring have worn out their welcome for me. Although I will never tire of the warm weather season. I guess I should try working with summer colors one of these days.

I always have company when I'm quilting. My kitty loves to pounce the thread as I baste the layers together. He constantly breaks my thread. So I usually have a few needles threaded and ready to go so when he wants to play, I'm ready.

He is a great quilting companion.

Catalog Copy

2009-08-13T20:37:00.007-05:00

I saw a quilt just like this one in a Pottery Barn catalog. I loved how the colors were like a rainbow, soft, and flowing through the color wheel. And the white background is a great contrast, crisp and clean against the softness of the pastels. So instead of ordering the quilt, I made my own version. The really cool thing is that I only used fabrics that I had in my stash, except for the white. I didn't have enough white to complete something this size.

Sampler Wallhanging

2009-07-28T20:14:00.004-05:00

I took a quilting class for fun and the first suggested project was this sampler. It was a great opportunity to make a bunch of different kinds of quilt squares. I used one of Debbie Mumm's fabric collections to complete the project and I used the leftover scraps to make the backing. I learned a good technique to attach a rod pocket to the back in order to make this into a wall hanging.
I've been making quilts since seventh grade but since most of what I know about quilting was self-taught, I thought it would be a good idea to see what I could learn. It felt good to discover that I knew more than I thought, good validation and it gave me more confidence. I did pick up a few new tricks and techniques so it was a worthwhile investment. It also gave me incentive to keep on quilting.

Pink Lemonade Quilt

2009-07-20T10:11:00.003-05:00

My favorite colors are yellow and pink but not necessarily in that order. I found this wonderful quilt pattern and whipped up this lap quilt. It's made with hourglass blocks and Irish chain blocks, pretty simple. I call it pink lemonade. It's backed with a traditional pink-white striped fabric that looks like the old fashioned ticking fabric found on mattresses and pillows years ago.

Kitty Quilt

2009-07-10T21:00:00.003-05:00

I fell in love with this fabric full of kitties and doggies. Some of the coordinating pieces have little paw prints and many of them are varieties of blues, reds, blacks and whites with adorable cats and dogs.

So what does one do with this kind of fabric?

Make the kitty a quilt of his own. And as you can see, he likes it.

Because of Summer

2009-06-21T11:15:00.003-05:00

I love summer and I love gardening. I also love Country Threads patterns. In honor of some of my favorite things, I made this wall hanging. Now I just need to re-paint my kitchen to reflect the colors I used. Is that a bad thing to decorate a whole room to match a wall-hanging?

State Fair Entry

2009-05-24T09:04:00.006-05:00

I entered this quilt in the Wisconsin State Fair. It qualifies under the memory quilt division. It is to commemorate my husband and his time in the Navy. Even though the fair is in August, the entry deadline in May so I have to think about this way in advance, in fact, I got the entry form in February.

I printed some of his Navy photos onto fabric and incorporated them into the quilt. Then, I embellished the photos with some trim that looks like the rope that is used to tie ships to docks and I found some with stars and anchors embroidered on them. I used Navy print fabric and the blues either had stars or a wavy pattern to resemble water and the beiges reminded me of sand.

Funny thing is when I did the blocks individually, they looked great but for some reason when I put them together...well, there really was no way to put them together where they looked like they had some asymmetry. It's mish-mosh bunch of stuff that didn't turn out so well together. Luckily, when Jeff is under it in is favorite chair, it's not straightened out enough to notice how bad it really looks. At least he likes the memories that the photos bring. I doubt if I will win anything with it but I've seen worse at the fair. At least it was a good learning experience.

Breast Cancer Quilt

2009-04-28T12:47:00.004-05:00

At work we do a fund raiser as part of the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk. My company is a corporate sponsor so it's a big deal. The really cool thing is each department is asked to make a gift basket and most people are pretty enthusiastic about it. It's pretty amazing to see the creative ideas that go into some of these baskets.

I decided to add a breast cancer quilt to the mix. Since pink is one of my favorite colors, I used scrap fabric and some of my stash that I had on hand. All in all, my out of pocket investment was under $20, with a third of that used on the pink fleece fabric I used as the backing. I cut out simple squares and machine-appliqued some pink hearts on it. It was a fun and easy project that brought in nice sized bids and a great final sale price.

Etsy will have to wait

2009-03-31T08:36:00.004-05:00

OK, so I open my etsy account and plan to sell my crafts. As I start to surf the site, I find more things that I want to buy, especially fabrics! I keep buying and making crafts but I haven't posted a thing for sale.

But there's a reason for my change of heart (for now). I volunteered to work at a spring craft fair and loved the camaraderie and fellowship that goes with working in a booth. I did craft fairs years ago, but I forgot how much fun it was to hang out and sell the things I made. I rented a booth for the fall craft fair. The committment is giving me incentive to keep sewing, sewing, sewing!

I will be ready in fall for this new adventure and in the mean time, etsy will have to wait.

Sunshine Sews on Etsy soon!

2009-02-18T17:14:00.006-06:00

I've finally been sewing for real. My fabric stash is fantastic, and the projects are flowing. I am getting ready to open an etsy store and preparing to get back into the swing of creating new things. I'm pretty excited to get this thing going.