Monochromatic Mosaic Contest

Over at Stitched in Color there is another Mosaic Contest happening.  Always so fun to challenge myself to follow a specific prompt when picking out fabrics!

Where I've Been

This last year, was the craziest year of my life. Which meant I did not sew much and I did not blog at all.

So, what have I been up to this last year? My pregnancy was a difficult one, and my third son was born 7 weeks early, on June 16th. His birth ended up being one week before we moved across state. So, a bit overwhelming.

He ended up spending about a month in the NICU, in two different cities, due to our move. He did very well, only needing time to grow and learn how to eat on his own. He even left the NICU able to nurse! Overall, it was a busy, crazy, blur of pumping and taking care of my babies at home and my baby in the hospital. 

So, after moving to the new city, we moved again in October into a house we purchased. So, we moved 2 times within 6 months, with 3 children under the age of 6. Needless to say, sewing did not happen. 

Thankfully our new home does have a sewing space for me, so once we were a bit settled in I was able to start back sewing a bit. I took a foundation paper piecing class at a local quilt shop (Stitched Studio) in the beginning of December, and started attending the local modern quilters group. I've been posting some my sewing projects over on my Instagram.

Now that I'm starting to get back in my creative groove again, I hope to share what I'm up to in this space once again. I really enjoy blogging about what I make, as it pushes me explore what I'm doing in a different way. 

I did some English Paper Piecing for the first time, inspired by the Color Wheel Challenge posed by the GRMQuilters. I can see why so many people love EPP! It's been a great project to take on the go. 

I hope to post weekly, so I'll be back in the next 7 days to share more of what I've been up to!

Some Stitching

I have a bit of smorgasbord of things to share today!

Sewing time has been a precious commodity lately, as life with young children is unpredictable and very, very FULL. I have been sneaking in time though, here and there, and I have a little to show for that time.

A bit of practice

I've been intimidated by the applique involved in the first couple of blocks for my penny sampler, so I took the opportunity to practice the techniques a bit before jumping into the quilt. Above is a heart that I sewed using the freezer paper technique, and below is a dogwood blossom that I stitched practicing turn and sew applique. I'm feeling more prepared now for the quilt blocks!

Still working on binding this guy. 

I've been working on a project for a friend who is a photographer. He's commissioned me to make diaper straps that he is going to give to folks to hire him for a newborn photo shoot. 

Isn't the Ann Kelle camera fabric cute?

I've been trying to break up the somewhat boring sewing of diaper straps with small fun projects. One of which was a simple lined tote with the goal being to practice my FMQ.

Blurry... :/

My FMQ still needs quite a bit of work(notice that I didn't get a close up...), but this was a fun way to practice. I woke up at  3:30 am a day this last week, and I wasn't able to get back to sleep. So I decided to play with fabric instead. I blame the time of day for the fact that I installed the straps backwards. Oops.

Fabric!

I also picked out my fabric for the heart blocks in my penny sampler. Now I just need to get stitching! I'm really glad I went with the 12 month plan for the penny sampler, since I'm already very behind. I just keep telling myself that it's fine, and I just need to keep moving forward even if it's slowly.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Off the Wall Friday, and NTT.

An announcement and 2017 goals

Lets ignore the fact that we are in the second month of 2017 and I am just now posting my 2017 creative goals. Alright, good.

Last year (2016) I rung in the new year by myself, making a list of all the crafty/sewing type things I wanted to explore in the new year. I didn't plan to do that, it just poured out of me. It was like I was re-energized to pursue all sorts of creative endeavors that I had been telling myself were for people more talented than myself.

This year, as we have entered into this new year, I am much more exhausted. I still have creative drive, but it's on the back burner once again. This is in part because I am creating something that is taking a lot of energy. We are expecting a new little one summer 2017. This is worth being fatigued for. :)

In the last year I have gathered things to expand some of my creativity in new directions, but haven't ventured into them yet. I have a screen printing kit, and for Christmas I received a batik kit and a tjap. Starting up a new thing can be really intimidating to me. Also, I'm running into the problem of having a place to play with these things. My sewing area isn't the best place to get things messy (with paint and dye at least, it's not very accessible to an appropriate sink), and I'm not sure where to set up these very messy things. I really want to dig in though!

So, my goals for 2017 are to play with screen printing and batik, finish some of my WIP, consistently work on my penny sampler, get in some baby sewing, and birth a healthy baby.

Here's hoping that I am able to meet some of these goals!

Gigantic Tote Bag FINISH!

I have a finish this week! (actually late last Friday night, but I just got photos this morning)

I made a (unintentionally) huge tote/crossbody bag.

My new phone takes "eh" pictures

So, it's pretty huge, and I guess that's the advantage of using a pattern that has already been tested instead of trying to make your own. However, I am not deterred, I'm still pleased as punch, although it's too big for it's original purpose, it's a great overnight bag. I've already tried it out!

A better representation of the colors

Something that I'm proud of with this bag, is the quilting. I actually took the time to mark diagonal lines, and it turned out great!

'Eh' colorization... 

I'm so glad I have something to share today!

I need to figure out my camera situation. Any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive cell phone that takes GREAT pictures?

In other news, Google tried to redirect my questionable parenting yesterday...

Linked up at Crazy Mom Quilts and My Quilt Infatuation

Cathedral Windows Mosaics

So, I've put together some online fabric pulls for the mosaic contest running over at Stitched in Color. The prompt was  Cathedral Windows, and it was really challenging for me.

Mosaic 1

I really struggled to get across the brilliant colors with the darkness and shadows...

Mosaic 2

So, I tried solids, with 'eh' results... 

I really prefer playing with fabric in person!

My first Sampler quilt

I've decided to join along with the Penny Sampler over at Stitched in Color this year. I hemmed and hawed a bit, since I'm not sure I should be adding to my commitments, but the Penny Sampler won out. I've loved this quilt for a long time and I didn't want to miss my chance at making it. I've joined in the 12 month plan, so I could go slow and (hopefully) steady.

This weekend I've been playing with my color story. I decided to play with a vintage scrapy look. I made this pinterest board to get a feel for what I liked and didn't like.

Some of my favorites surprised me.

Found here 

The scrap factor on this quilt is crazy! But I really loved it. I like the pops of red, and all of the saturated colors. 

Found here 

The red on this one delighted me even more!

found here

The dark colors mixed with brights drew me to this one. 

So I went though my fabric and pulled out anything that read vintage to me on first glance. 

The photo is kinda crummy but you get the idea.

I need to figure out solids to pair with what's I've pulled. I'm leaning towards some very light pastels, and some more 'faded' saturated colors in blue and green. I'd like to hear what anyone thinks! I'd love some input.