SSS ~ June for Anne

I'm still catching up on my over due bee blocks. Anne asked us to make a map block for her month in Snip.Sew.Send. and that was about it. I really enjoy the general directions as it allows every one's creativity to show through a little.

My map is a road trip route from my house to visit all the other bee members. A little more of the design and inspiration details are here.

This was the last block for the first round of SSS. The second go round has already begun and I plan to actually keep up on them now. Famous last words. =]

http://snipsewsend.blogspot.com/2010/07/sss-road-trip.html

Snip.Sew.Send. ~ Rebecca

Very late, but very fun. Rebecca asked for a monochromatic log cabin around a pinwheel square. All the blocks look cute and I am interested to see her final quilt. I was able to get 2 1/2 blocks out of the fabric Rebecca sent.

Orange is one of my favorite colors. Working on these was a lot of fun and I like how they look. I love how happy and cheery the colors are.

Rebecca is also first up for SSS2. I have the fabrics, too. I should get to the orange and aqua wonky maverick stars later this week. Talk about excited! I can't wait to get stitching on those! =]

Snip.Sew.Send. March for Tina

Snip.Sew.Send. March ~Tina
Originally uploaded by Clicky the Moose

Watch out! I may be catching up on items from the to do list!

Tina's block for March's Snip.Sew.Send. is finished and *should* be in the mail tomorrow.

Tina is using the blocks to make a quilt for her daughter's bed. I am sure it will be sweet and well loved.
Cross posted at Snip.Sew.Send.

Snip.Sew.Send. February Houses

I'm still playing catch up with all my to do quilting bee blocks. First up was Kris's February Houses. She provided the sand colored solid and we used our scraps/stash for the rest. Making wonky little houses and trees makes me happy so I was looking forward to making these blocks.

I first made this purple house. I saw Kris likes purple and so do I. Every girl should live in a house painted her favorite color. A fat, little gray kitty is poking his head through the striped curtains. The curtain fabric is from a pair of capri pants I loved, but Dirty said looked like curtains. Now they are. This is the only one I could get to 12.5".

Next was this little wonky building. I imagine it as the local fabric shop. I hope it is bright and mellow enough. I am a little iffy on the mellow part of it.

It needs a little greenscape so there are two trees, too. The one on the left reminds me of a little kid's drawing. The right one is good for having a picnic under on a warm summer day.

They are late (again) but on the way to you, Kris! =]

Snip.Sew.Send. January Log Cabins

Robin's idea for January's installment for Snip.Sew.Send. was awesome and right up my alley. I get into a kind of zen meditation when making log cabins. That was a welcome feeling with all the craziness lately. (Nothing bad, get life amping itself up.)

I got to make the green and pink blocks. The goal was to make one straight log cabin and one wonky. For the straight green cabin I laid out the fabrics on my ironing board and tried to put the fabrics in shade groups light, medium, bright and dark. The middle block is a faint-ish floral that I really liked. It had all the shades in it and was perfect for the center square. Then I spiraled out using one strip of each shade as I went around. I put a star on the fabrics from my stash.

When I was happy with it I snapped a quick photo and labeled each strip with a piece of tape and a tag for the order 1L (first log on the left), 1B (first log on the bottom, 1R (first on the right) and 1T (first on the top), etc. I had read about this somewhere else and never tried it until now. It was great, especially since I got called away during the construction. It made it much easier to get back in to the flow when I returned.

Here's the final block. I am pretty pleased with the result. The final strip on the right is a fabric Chen sent me at the beginning of this bee. I thought it was a good addition.

Next, I worked on the pink block. This one was going to be wonky and as soon as I opened the package from Robin I knew the bunnies were going to steal the spotlight of this one. They are so flippin' cute. I LOVE making wonky log cabins and I hope Robin likes this one. I just kind of went on a wing and a prayer with this block. Didn't really plan much other than the bunny in the center. The dark pink stripes are from my stash. I didn't notice them jumping out quite as much until I cropped the picture. I hope it settles in.

Robin~Although I made these last weekend they are still in the envelope addressed and ready to go. I kept forgetting to take them to the post office with me. They are now in my bag and (as long as I don't space out again) they will be on the way to you tomorrow. I'm not blonde, but I sure can act like it sometimes. =]

Snip.Sew.Send. ~ November for Gretchen

Gretchen, these are on the way to you. Gretchen had asked for 2". 3.5", 6.5" and 9.5" blocks to make her own quilt like these. Like everyone else in the bee has said these were addictively fun. My measuring sucks, apparently, because I tried to make a 9.5" block, but couldn't work it out. Also the bottom right one is only 6" (I didn't have strips long enough to go around to make it large enough). Maybe she can use it as a base for a 9.5" block? I also tried twice to make a 2" block. Disastrous.

Surprisingly I really liked how the fabrics worked together. Surprising because if Gretchen had just told me about the color palette I would have thought she was crazy. I think the brown, orange and teal look so cozy and inviting together. My favorite is the top left and the small brown and teal one. This will be an awesome quilt.

I have had my Snip.Sew.Send. quilt top and back finished for about two months but just haven't put aside the hours I'll need to baste it. It will be a full/queen sized. Yikes! =]

Snip.Sew.Send. ~ October for Nichole

First, the purple shot cotton Nichole of Indie House sent us for October's Snip.Sew.Send. is delicious. It is my favorite shade of purple (which is my favorite color). I think she said the color name is Thunder. The fabric has a deep purple base with threads of dark blue and almost a warm burgundy.

Nichole's instructions were to make a 16.5" square block pulling in 1-3 flowers from our stash. The final quilt will look like a field of flowers. Lovely idea.

I didn't think I had a lot of flowers in my stash, but I was able to find several. These three looked best in the Thunder field.

Amazingly, the block when smoothly and that scares me. I checked and double checked the instructions so I think I am good on that end. It was fun to arrange and rearrange the flower placement. I decided on this so that the flowers were further from the center, but still kind of balanced. I am really interested in seeing Nichole's finished quilt. The block should be in the mail tomorrow! =]

I Like Having More Crafty Time

For anyone who cares: Later in this post I am going to show a picture of my cuff from the
Through the Loops 2009 Mystery Sock. It will be directly after the part about my Snip.Sew.Send. quilt. You've been warned. ;]

My work schedule has changed a bit and I now have more free time which means more time to sew and knit and clean our house. Oh, yes, it is usually in that order.

{Dirty's first sock}

I started this sock in January. It is the first sock I have tried to knit and I am glad that I finally finished it. Although I didn't work on it very consistently it did seem to take forever to get enough length in the foot. I did a little searching online and learned that I was not knitting properly. Instead of inserting the needle left to right in the front, I was going right to left in the back resulting in every stitch being twisted and tight.

{What you can't see is that my foot is turning purple}

Due to that, this sock has NO stretch and barely fit my foot and started to cut of circulation in my foot after wearing it for about 2 minutes. No way is it going to fit Dirty's foot.

{Sock 2 is going much better}

I cast on for the second sock with US 4 dpns instead of the 3s I was using before. I also adjusted my knitting technique which is making a huge difference. This one has stretch and potential. Not to mention I am using about half as much yarn and about a third of the time I spent on the first. I will frog the whole first sock and make a matching pair for him.

Ravelry info here and the pattern tutorial is great and is here.

{Rainbow Button Tab Hat}

OK, so it is 90 degrees today with 100% humidity and I really won't need a winter hat for about 4 months I couldn't help but cast on for the Button Tab hat by Marcie Nishioka. (Thanks for sharing yours, Heather.)

I am using gifted acrylic yarn for this so it won't be super fancy, but I am hard on my hats when I do get to wear them. It will be permanently fixed to my head for about 3 months and will no doubt get grass clippings, concrete dust and who knows what else on it. I prefer to just throw it in the washer rather than having to hand wash and air dry a hat. I think it will be OK. I am not much of a fabric or yarn snob. I just use what I have for the most part. My Ravelry info is here.

{The layout for a stacked books baby quilt}

Thank you for all your suggestions on how to showcase a fabric in a quilt. I really liked Anne's suggest of a coin quilt, but uniform straight lines scare me. And the fright makes me sew crooked. So I took Anne's suggestion and tweaked it a little with my style and decided to make a stacked book quilt. I took inspiration from this quilt and although I think there is a written pattern for this I am winging it.

{Left stack sewn and needing a good trim}

I am using a mix of new (Heather Ross VW buses on blue and Amy Butler Full Moon in the light blue/gray colorway), scraps and thrifted/flea market find fabrics. The white is from a twin-size sheet. I am loving how this is turning out. I construction is going smoothly and I get more and more happy with it as I go. Thankfully, the baby isn't due for a few more weeks and I may get this finished before the birth.

{My Snip. Sew. Send. Quilt: the front}

This new schedule also gave me a little time to work on my Snip. Sew. Send. quilt. I have the top finished (except for trimming it it size) and am working on the back.

{A closer view of the blocks}

I am very happy with this quilt so far. It will be the biggest quilt I have made so far and I really want to get it finished and start using it.

{Probably layout for the back}

The back will be something like this. Probably three strips breaking up the purple on the back. The strips will go all the way across, I think. Kris and Gretchen both sent back two blocks so they have one on the front and one in the strips on the back. So, so happy with this.

***SPOILER ALERT***

If you don't want to see my cuff for the Through The Loops 2009 Mystery Sock stop scrolling now.

{The mystery cuff}

I am so happy that I decided to participate in the Through The Loops 2009 Mystery Sock. Each Thursday Kirsten posts a portion of the sock pattern. First was the cuff, pictured above and last Thursday was the leg, which I am working on. I like having the pattern in sections. It makes it easy to manage and very exciting. When I was younger I loved grab bags and those games where you close your eyes and stick your hand into something that feels gross (like peeled grapes or cold pasta). I would have been horrible on Let's Make a Deal. But Mystery Socks are a win-win.

I am using Alpaca with a Twist yarn in a really pretty green/purple colorway that I did buy special for this project. I validate it because I did not have fingering weight yarn in my stash. My Ravelery info is here.

So far the sock looks pretty good to me. It is the first project where I have to do yarn overs and thanks to my trusty Stitch n' Bitch by Debbie Stoller I've got that technique in my knitting bag now.

So that was a couple of pretty productive weeks. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get some things finished. =]

Snip.Sew.Send. ~ September

{Snip.Sew.Send. September Scrappy Star Square}

For this month's Snip.Sew.Send. my favorite (and most stylish) chemist, Lisa, sent 9 different fabrics and asked for a 10.5" square quilt block. The other requirements were very open--use at least a little bit of all the fabrics and include a star somewhere on the block. After brainstorming different blocks, I settled on a version of the Galaxy block in the book(let) Miss Jump's Favorites by Linda Brannock. None of the pieces were intended to meet up exactly or be perfectly symmetrical which really plays to my strengths.

The outer squares and quarter circles were stitched together by machine. The star and inner two circles were stitched by reverse applique. Then the two sections were stitched to each other with reverse applique again.

The block is a little wonky, a little scrappy and a lot hand-stitched. I hope it looks quirky and fun rather than sloppy. I really liked using all the different fabrics and found this to be a really creative and fun challenge. Thanks, Lisa! =]

Zonnah has curves

{Plan A, which didn't come to be}

August is Zonnah's month for Snip.Sew.Send. She asked for 7.5" square blocks with curves and circle featuring the floral print and the red as an accent. Zonnah is putting the blocks together in a quilt for her sister. I sketched out several blocks, but decided on this half flower. It was inspired by a magazine ad for a spa in Savannah.

{The block that is}

Somehow the block ended up 7.5" tall but only 6.5" wide, thus the orange strips flanking the flower. This was my first flat work with curves. I've sewn curves in garments, but this was a lot different. Zonnah, you really stretched my skill on this block and I was very happy for it. I hope you like it!

Snip.Sew.Send. ~ July

Since the first month of our Snip.Sew.Send. quilting bee was my month to send fabrics, July is the first month I am able to use someone else's fabrics and instructions. The fine maiden of Mushyhed's Sweatshop sent us all different pieces of Anna Maria Horner's Chocolate Lollipops collection and requested a 12.5" square blocks. The rest was up to each member and her (may I say quite astounding) creativity. Need proof? Just check out the blocks already posted.

{Chocolate Lollipops with a chewy strawberry nougat center}

At first I thought I would slightly alter a pattern I found in a quilting book, but once I received the fabrics I had to rethink things. I agree with much of my hive in that the patterns and colors really called for bigger swatches of fabric. With my first choice I would have cut fairly small pieces and I think it would have taken too much away from the fabric themselves. However, I will use that idea in the future mainly because I thought of two or three hilariously ridiculous names for the pattern. Forget about that now.

In the end I chose to steal a design I saw in another quilting bee. It is based off a classic quilt block, Kansas Dugouts. Going with the theme, I think they look like donuts or high class chocolates with chewy strawberry nougat centers.

{Measure twice, cut once is totally lost on me}

OK, I am a very "fly by the seat of my pants" girl and didn't really plan and check everything out the way my Girl Scout Leaders probably taught me a million years ago, but this lets the brain work and clean up the cobwebs that have collected in the nooks and crannies.

I had the other three print fabrics traced and cut when I tried the template on this last print. It didn't fit. I thought about cutting the strip in half, in using it as the little triangles, of searching for more of this fabric, but in the end I just made up the difference with what was available and I am glad to say that every last thread of this print was used to make this portion of the block. Hopefully the pieces blend in with the print. Is it bad etiquette to point out blunders? But is this really even a blunder? Honey, I hope you don't think so because I think its frugal and resourceful.

=]

Seams To Me Swap ~ My part

{Seams to Me in Springy Style}

A few weeks ago I sent out my end of Tracey's We the People Swap: Seams to Me edition. When we signed up for the swap we got to choose which of Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me projects we would like to receive in the swap. One of my partner's choices was the Taxi Tote. She gave spring and summer, the beach and funky fabrics as inspiration. I used a thrifted sheet and some coordinating fabrics from my stash to make her tote. Mine hasn't arrived, yet, but soon I hope.

{Seams to Me Taxi Tote Front}

For the button closure I had to extend the fabric loop a lot. When I followed the instructions the loop was way too short to fit under the binding and around the button. I ripped out the seam there and doubled the loop. I used two stacked buttons, one cloudy white and one teal, for the front closure.

{The back}

The colors and watercolor like floral print struck me as nice and springy. I used a solid sea foam green for the lining and a soft yellow for the binding.

{Room for snacks, toys, keys, a book, a notepad,

knitting needles and a little take along project}

The interfacing is iron-in and pretty stiff. The bag has nice structure and is roomy enough for everything a girl needs and lots of stuff for her young son, too.

{A flattering side shot}

The pattern was great and really easy to follow, as was the other project I made from the book. Immediately after finishing a project like this, I always try it out. While modeling in front of the mirror I decided that when I make one for myself I will extend the strap a bit and make it more of a sling style. I've got a lot of this fabric left over and even though I am not usually crazy about florals, I do quite like this print.

Speaking of thrifted sheets I think I am finished gathering the necessary fabrics for my month in Snip.Sew.Send. No photos yet, I want to wait to post on the bee blog. I found a great, colorful fitted sheet and pillowcase set at Goodwill yesterday. I also grabbed a queen size white flat sheet and what I thought was a king size white flat sheet that turned out to be a king size white duvet cover. Yea! Twice the fabric for half the price. Next weekend I plan to dye the white sheets with coordinating colors since I can't find just what I am looking for. I am unnaturally excited to do this. I am sure it will be a mess, even if I decide to follow the instructions. Wish me luck!

=]