Inconsistently Yours, Sara

I am learning to embrace that I am not a very good blogger, I just would rather make things than write about them and to show them off I use Flickr.  Instant gratification works best for me and I'm ok with this.  That being said I do like to every now and then just write.  So here's my ramblings for now to show what I've been up to: 

I bought a house:  

I have been trying to figure out what some of these gorgeous flowers are:  

I've made a quilt for my Mr.:  

And I'm working on one for our family reunion auction which we do each year.  Everyone makes or brings one item to auction to raise funds for next years reunion: 

And we got a puppy!  Millie!

I've been a busy girl!  So, I'll continue to blog but I can't promise anything but more inconsistency!  

Inconsistently Yours, 

Sara

I'm back, hopefully.

I have never been the best blogger out there and I fully admit it but I've been particularly absent lately.  I have done very little sewing due to some unfortunate occurances.  As some of you know, I was going to be buying a house and moving.  In December the Mr. and I found a lovely home and it went under contract.  A number of issues came up and we lost the house.  We were extremely upset over the whole thing.  I wanted to change realtors but the Mr. believed they needed a second chance.  A second house came along, but went under contract to another buyer.  The third house we got, put it under contract but upon appraisal it was determined to be valued less than the seller wanted and the seller refused to budge on the price.  Third house down the drain.  So, now we're having to move into a temporary apartment that is super tiny and super expensive, put our belongings into storage and start over with a new realtor.  Everyone keeps telling us it was meant to be and the houses so far were not meant to be.  I am trying to be optomistic but am lately a slight basket case.  So, please bear with me and please be understanding as I look for my fourth and hopefully final home which is meant to be for us.  Hopefully then, I can get back to sewing and planning my wedding. 

The one thing I have finished lately is this:

I made it using this tutorial from Jeni at In Color Order.  The fabric is from a fat quarter bundle I won in a giveaway.  It is Pat Bravo's Bespoken in the Lush colorway and Kona black. 

I'm a weiner, I mean winner!

So, my friend Monica and I joined the Austin Modern Quilt Guild this past week.  We went to our first meeting where we listened to Heather Grant lecture on "Modern Quilting: Philosophy or Aesthetic?"  It was very informative I must say.  The meeting was held at the offices of www.formandfabric.com.  Great online store and the place was awesome, tons of fabulous fabrics all around us!

After the lecture, they had a give away.  Little did we know, Laurie Wisbrun is also a member of the guild.  That's the same lady who designed the Tufted Tweets and Modern Whimsy lines for Robert Kaufman!  Well, she had a bunch of fat quarter bundles of her new line Brr! in both the red and green and the red and turquoise lines for the giveaway.  Guess who got one?!  ME!!  This stuff isn't being released until June she said, so excited that I got my paws on some before that!

I need to get some coordinating Kona solids and I plan to make this with it!  I think it will show off the fabrics perfectly!

Bottle Cap Coaster Tutorial

Items required:

Clean bottle caps

Thread and needle

30mm Yo-Yo maker

2 1/2 inch square or bigger scraps of fabric

Fraycheck

Iron

Felt (optional)

Start by choosing a fabric and placing in your yo-yo maker, top side of fabric inside so that it shows through the hole on the top.

Thread your needle, use a double layer of thread and knot at the end.  Begin sewing in and out of the yo-yo maker holes as directed for your yo-yo maker.  Make sure to hold the tails for the first few stitches as the knot isn't always large enough to hold the thread from getting pulled through.

 When you've gone all the way around pop the yo-yo maker apart.

Pull the fabric off of the inside yo-yo maker disk gently.

Grasp the begining and end thread tails and gently pull to gather the fabric.

 Tuck the edge fabric toward the inside of the yo-yo as you gather.  Don't gather too tight yet!

Take a bottle cap and place inside the yo-yo as seen in the picture.

Pull the threads tightly and make a double knot.  Making sure that all of the edges of the fabric are tucked inside of the yo-yo. 

Repeat this process for the number of caps needed for the shape you want to make.  Trim all threads at this point and place a dot of Fraycheck on each knot to help the knot stay. 

Here are a few optional lay outs:

Diamond

Nine Patch

Snowflake

I chose to make the snowflake option. 

I covered 13 bottle caps for this option. 

Next flip them over so the bottom is showing.  Arrange how you like.

Starting with the center cap, begin sewing your caps together.  Take 4-5 stitches at each spot where the caps connect.  Make sure the stitches are spaced out and not on top of eachother.  Make a knot at the first and last stitch between each connection. 

Continue stitching and placing caps until your chosen shape is achieved.  Once finished stitching use more Fraycheck at each connection on the knots. 

When the Fraycheck is dry use your iron to flatten out the front and back.  This should make the ruffles of the yo-yos a little flatter and make the coaster lay flat. 

Optional: You can cover the back with felt so that the stitching and insides of the caps aren't visible.  (I like the backs left open because they're funky looking!)

Enjoy a frosty beverage on your new coasters!

February Stash Bee block finished

This is month two of Stash Bee  and Samantha is our queen bee.  She chose an awesome pineapple block.  I had never made one but always wanted to.  I'm glad I did but I think I'm over it, by that I mean, that I am glad I tried it but thank God that I don't have to make a whole quilt of it myself!!!

I dove into my stash and quickly found out I do not have many blacks or reds at all.  But I did have enough reds to have a good variety and I used solid blacks with the two black prints I had.  The solid black helped calm it down which I like anyway.  I'm happy with how it came out.  I also made a signature block which is made out of the very inside black fabric (glad I used it on such small parts or the white would have been too much. 

New Years Resolutions

I generally don't make New Years Resolutions because usually within a week I've forgotten them.  This year I still didn't want to make any resolutions but I did want to come up with a few things that I'd like to change. (Sounds like a resolution to me but I swear its not!)  I wanted to pick up after myself.  I keep my house very clean but I am notorious for leaving things around like cups on the tables in the living room, opened maile on the kitchen counter, make up all over the bathroom vanity etc.  This has been going very well for me.  Next, I wanted to finish things I had started.  This weekend I have finished a quilt top: 

I sewed up the stuffing hole in this pillow which has been stuffed since before Halloween.

And I made the pillow out of this embroidery for the Mr. 

This does need to be stuffed still because I thought I had an extra pack of stuffing out in the garage but I was wrong.  So, will have to run to Joanne's tomorrow to get some so I can finish it. 

It turns out that I really enjoy finishing things!  I need to keep this up. 

Treasures found

The Mr. is heading back out of town for work, so tonight we went to Walmart to pick up a few things for him.  While there I checked out the sewing things, I won't buy fabric there but discount notions rock!  I got an awesome 4.5 inch ruler and I got some new replacement needles for my machine.  I've never had to buy new needles for a machine and don't know what I'm looking at it turns out!  What do you all use for needles?  I also picked up a few oldies but goodies in the $5 movie bin! 

Pay it forward

Ok ladies,

I had never heard of this before today.  I read about it on Danny's blog.  I am super excited about this project.  I am a social worker by trade and am constantly talking to my clients about "paying it forward" when people or organizations help them through their tough times.  So, this is an excellent way that I can do it too!  I love reading the comments and blogs that you all write so heres my way of saying thank you.  Here are the rules: 

1. I’ll make something handmade for the first 3 people who comment on this post. What I make will be a surprise and will arrive to you when you least expect it. Doesn’t everyone love a surprise?

2. I have 365 days to make and deliver it to you. But there’s a little catch, to get a handmade giftie from me, you have to play too! This means you take the pledge to send something handmade to 3 of your blog readers. It doesn’t have to be a quilt, just something handmade! Easy right?

3. As stated in #2 you have to have a blog.

4. Once you comment here, you have to post about Pay it Forward on your blog and keep it going!

Sad night for Sara

No fun pictures today of things I've made.  The Mr. left town for work today for an undefined amount of time.  I so miss him when he is gone.  So, that saying I decided to sit down and do some sewing to take my mind off the unknown of how long Mr. will be gone.  I plugged in my machine and my iron and started cutting, made my first seam and turned to press.  NOTHING happened.  Thats right, my faithful iron bit the dust.  I had a short funeral and laid it to rest in the dumpster.  Have to head out to get an iron now.

Friday Night Sew In

I don't know about you but I have been madly sewing to get everything done for Christmas.  Yesterday I completed a set of bottle cap coasters.  (I took pictures of the process and am considering making a tutorial but am not sure.  Should I or is it old news how to make these?) 

I also completed a drawstring bag for the family white elephant swap.  We play poker most weekends and most of us use a Crown Royal bag to carry our change in.  I thought it would be fun to make a custom bag for the swap. 

I also made a Christmas stocking for my niece Tasha.  The Mr.'s family has a tradition of swapping filled stockings.  Usually we just buy a semi cheep one and go on but this year I decided to make mine for my partner.  It came out pretty good but got so bulky at the top that I was scared I'd break yet another needle (I only have one extra left) so I skipped the inside lining.  I'm hoping it won't matter too much. 

Happy Sewing! 
Sara

Another finish!

Today was a productive day for me.  I made two pairs of pajama bottoms as Christmas gifts and finished my Birdie Stitches BOM quilt. This quilt has twelve hand embroidered birdie scenes and four machine embroidered blocks with special messages in them.  This quilt will be a gift for my sister for Christmas this year.  She graduated from high school in June and is in her third phase of cosmetology school.  Each school name is on a block.  As is her nick name from me "Chicken" and a special message from me to her!  I mailed four of the blocks to Connecticut where my Aunt Sue did the machine work for me.  This is a gift of love and has already traveled many miles!  I sure hope she enjoys it, I know the Mr. enjoyed breaking it in for her!  Pictures below are of the finished quilt and each block.  Plus a couple fun ones of the Mr. cuddling with it!