A Quilting Mother's Journey

Fabric ATCs

2011-11-13T23:15:00.001-08:00

Well, life with a new baby and three boys has been very busy this year. I wanted to try something that I could accomplish easily in a couple of hours or less. Fabric ATCs(Artist's Trading Cards) seemed just the thing. I joined a group on Yahoo and immediately signed up for a major swap. I've got to make 10 of these little 2.5 X 3.5 inch mini quilts. I finally found inspiration in my home state of Vermont and have been churning them out reasonably fast ever since.

I've never really done any art quilting, but I really liked the stretch. I definitely think I'll be doing more of these. I've tried my hand at beading, embroidery and applique.

Volunteer Sewing and Family Pics

2011-04-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

I'm hemming scarves for my sons' music teacher. In true Heather fashion I heard sewing and signed up without knowing exactly what I was going to have to do. Turns out that she needs this really sheer fabric hemmed. Well, I panicked a little bit, but then decided to go to my local Bernina shop and sure enough they have a foot for exactly that purpose. It's called the Roll and Shell Hemmer. It worked out quite nicely and the hem looks pretty professional, still working on the corners though.

Thought I'd also share some family photos, we had our portraits done at JCPenny this last weekend. I found out that it's nearly impossible for all six of us to face the same way and smile at the same time. I like that they aren't perfect though, it shows everyone's personality.

Check them out here.

One block is better than none

2011-04-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

A wonky log cabin, I really like the freedom of the block, we're doing a round robin/swap in my quilt group, and I think I'm going to request wonky log cabins in this color way.

And I just had to add a photo of little Ava, hard to believe how big she's getting!

Connecting Threads Custom Kit

2011-02-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

There's a contest at Connecting Threads promoting their new Kit Builder feature. It's actually quite fun trying different combinations of fabric. One of my designs is here.

Busy With Baby

2011-01-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how someone so small can make such a big impact on a family

I haven't done much sewing since little Ava Jane arrived on December 14th. Life has been so crazy with a tiny baby with her own crazy schedule.

I got a Bernina 330 for Christmas from my husband and it's been sitting in my sewing room quite lonely for the most part. I'll get to it all in due time though, Ava will only be so little once, and the sewing and fabric will wait until there's more time.

Christmas Swap

2010-12-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

My swap partner Cris sent these lovely things to me for our Christmas swap and I couldn't be more thrilled. Chocolate from Indiana, an amazing table runner, handmade Christmas cards for me to send out, a handmade ornament and a charm pack of Bliss fabric. I'm already thinking about what to make for our sweet baby girl that's due in less than three weeks with that girly fabric.

Thank you partner! Everything is beautiful!

2010-12-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what happened to my last post. It's kind of a mess and the links don't work, also can't figure out how to delete it.

Maybe this link to the Green Grocery bag Challenge will work.

I also had a link to AllPeopleQuilt.com for the cute gift bag.

Green Christmas

2010-12-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

Just taking a moment to share some of the reusable wrapping I've been working on. Since I heard that we use 4 tons of wrapping as Americans every year, it inspired me to do more.

First I'm trying to wrap as many gifts for friends and family in reusable shopping bags as part of the Green Grocery Bag Challenge.

This is some animal print fabric I've had for a while, I got it in a fabric swap our quilt group did a couple years ago and it seemed right for reusable grocery sacks. This one is going to a family friend. I'm planning on a few more, although the pattern I used is not lined, I think for longevity it may be nice to line it.

These are bags from a pattern I downloaded for free at allpeoplequilt.com. Perfect size for the two second hand DS's we bought our sons for Christmas. I'm making a couple more, but for these I decided to increase the height by a couple of inches to fit more in. We'll see how they do.

Some Christmas Progress... and crazy creatures

2010-11-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been working on in preparation for Christmas. There is more, but to retain the element of surprise some things will have to wait to be revealed.

Small Patchwork Christmas stockings for teacher gifts made from the Sugar Wrap Stocking kit at Connecting Threads found here. It was a really quick project and happened to be on sale when I picked it up. I think I'm going to put small denomination gift cards in them.

A Color Pencil roll for a friend's daughter. I loved picking out all the colors from my stash, it was so quick to put together after that. I got the pattern from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.

The beginnings of a Mountain Laurel Dishcloth found here on Ravelry

Finally 3 crazy creatures for my three crazy boys, I was planning on making them for Christmas, but I got caught making them and gave them early, the boys are still carrying them around, dressing them and sleeping with them so it was totally worth it

2010-11-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm working on Christmas swap boxes for Little Miss Shabby's Christmas Swap.

The box must contain the following:

~Delicious Chocolate/Sweets

~A Heartfelt Handmade Item (just something small)

~Selection of Fabric Bits

~An Unexected Surprise

~A Christmas Card

And since my partner Cris shared a little sneak peek of what she is working on, I thought I'd do the same. I am mostly a quilter, but when I saw the project that I'm working on, I knew that this paper crafting project would be perfect. Don't worry, I'm sewing up a bit too :)

A Quick Update

2010-10-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting as much as I hoped, but I have been busy. Sewing costumes, knitting and piecing tops, and with a baby due the day after Christmas, I've been scrambling to prepare.

A few projects that I've completed recently:

A baby quilt for a friend's new little girl

A knitting needle roll for a craft swap
(tutorial found here: http://bit.ly/aO8UvV)

Looks like I need to get my camera out and get some more pictures of some of my projects. More to come.

Giveaway over at Jaybird Quilts

2010-06-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

Jaybird Quilts is featuring The Quilt Shoppe in a really great giveaway. A Martinique Jelly Cake and a $20 gift certificate (a $90 value).

http://giveaways.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/06/sponsored-giveaway-featuring-quilt.html

Sister's Choice Completed

2010-04-25T20:20:00.001-07:00

My friend's birthday was this weekend. Her husband asked if I would make a quilt for her several months back. Her favorite color is green. I think the greens blended nicely. I tried to stay in away from the yellow greens and more on the blue green side.

The back is pieced with all the fabric I had left over, including 3 left over sister's choice blocks I didn't use on the front. I machine quilted it with my walking foot across each block diagonally and then in the ditch. The final size was somewhere around 86"x 94". The first border is organic cotton and most of the natural as well. I bought a few yards of batik and other greens, but the majority is from my stash, which was mostly handed down to me by the lovely ladies in my quilting group.

Quilting for a Cause

2010-04-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Too long since my last post. I've been working on a few projects. This one for quiltsforkids.org. They send the kit with all the fabric and you just sew it up and quilt as desired. It's an easy and meaningful project for a good cause.

Also another big project that is completed, but I can't post until next week.

First Quilt Finish

2010-02-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the first quilt I ever started. It was started about 3 years ago 2007. It had been calling to be finished for quite a while, as I have a hard time starting and not finishing, I now only have one UFO left... well, for now. This quilt was about half way done with paper templates cut out of card stock. Painstaking and time consuming, so glad I purchased a rotary cutter and a cutting mat before finishing. Still don't have my dream machine, seems to have been put aside for things like diapers, preschool and family vacations. So my $250 brother suffices.

None of the fabric was pre-washed so it got pretty puckery

Lego Guards

2010-01-31T20:09:00.000-08:00

My sons decided that my quilt blocks in progress needed protectors today. Building Lego creations are one of their favorite things to do.

I'm working on a commissioned project for a friend in green. I'm working from Blocks by the Square by Jodi Barrows. The blocks will be 12" sisters choice blocks. I've not purchased any fabric made in china as far as I know and will be backing it with organic cotton, probably to be ordered from NearSea Naturals. The person ordering it is the husband of my friend, it's to be a surprise for her birthday. Her bedroom is green and I hope she'll really like it. It's similar to a quilt I finished for my son last year. His favorite color is also green.

While I love green, I'll be glad to move on to other things when this is done, I have a pile of organic fat quarters I got more than a year ago waiting for me.

New Year - New Goals

2010-01-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

The past year has been a tough one for me. After loosing my mother on Christmas 2008, my interest in quilting waned for quite a while. My sewing room sunk into disrepair and my sewing machine sat idle the majority of the time.

But, it's a new year! I'm feeling stronger and my ever growing fabric stash calls to me. My Quilting resolutions include, using up the fabric I have and buying only sustainable or organically produced quilting cotton and cotton blends. Cotton growing uses more pesticides than any other crop grown in America. As I find new places to buy organic and sustainably produced fabric, I'll post them here.

So I'm ready, time to turn on my sewing machine, watch less TV do my part to save the world and get sewing again!