Sewing my heart out for my first show!

I am frantically sewing to make sure I have enough for my first juried craft show.  I like saying "juried" so you don't get this picture in your mind of crocheted afghans and popsicle stick ornaments.  Of course, I love crocheted afghans as much as the next girl, but it makes me feel great that there was an application process and I actually got in.  Is that sad?

I've got a ton of these goodie bags that are perfect for small gifts or gift cards.  Time to make some cuddly baby blankets.

Etsy Shop Update & My First Juried Show!

I can't believe I haven't done a post about this yet!  When I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler back in April, I bought a headband at the expo there.  I've never been able to find one that actually STAYED in my hair AND held my hair back.  This one did.  But I paid $15 and I realized that I could easily sew them myself and better yet, I could use vintage ribbon.  Yahtzee!

Here are what they look like.  You can find them in my Etsy Shop here.

Here's the best part!  They will be featured at my FIRST CRAFT JURIED CRAFT SHOW!  It's Saturday, November 16, 2013, at St. Peter Claver Church in West Hartford, CT.  Much, much more to come on that.

I also started a running blog, which you can find at The Reticent Runner.  I'd love to see you there!

Sock Monkey Square Dance - Say that 10 Times Fast

This is the third quilt I've made in this pattern.  It's Square Dance by Bits 'n Pieces.  It goes together SO quickly and it looks so fantastic.  I made this for my friend and personal trainer who is having her FIFTH baby.  Yowza!

I used an all yellow chevron back, and I love that this pattern only needs one WOF for the back, so 1 1/2 yards does the whole thing with no need to piece.

It uses eight fat quarters and a 1/2 yard for the back.  She's not sure if she's having a boy or a girl, and I thought these bright colors were gender neutral.  I love the bright colors anyway.

 Here it is all folded up with my label.  I love my labels.

Only one more baby quilt to go and I can get back to working on three other WIPs at once!

Green Living Market Bag - the perfect quick gift

I went to a great Farmer's Market last weekend with a friend.  When I got there she said "do you need a bag?  I brought a bunch."  Except, that she had the recycled shopping bags from the grocery store.  So when I got home, I immediately got to work making this for her.  It is, in my opinion, the PERFECT shopping bag, and a perfect gift.  It's the Green Living Market Bag, by BariJ.  You can get the pattern from her directly.  It sews up in about 1 1/2 hours (including the cutting), and it looks like a million bucks with your farmer's market haul sticking out of the top.

I actually had these fabrics out on my table for another project, and knew they would look great for this bag.  I didn't think to try to get the diamonds to go perfectly up the center of the handles, which is why they're off a bit, but they're close enough for me!

I got to use a bit of vintage ribbon from my stash...

And here's the best part...it folds up and the ribbon wraps around and it looks like a gift when you hand it to someone.

This pattern was designed by my dear friend Bari Ackerman, of BariJ.  She currently designs fabric lines for Art Gallery Fabrics and writes THE BEST patterns.

What is your favorite sewn gift to give?

Ally's Tumbler Lap Quilt - long time UFO

I.am.finally.done.  I have so many UFOs.  This was one of the quilts that I took to my aunt to long-arm quilt for me.  I got all of the red, white and black fat quarters during a shop hop...dear lord...was it THREE summers ago??  This was the first quilt I cut using my Accuquilt GO cutter and then the pieces just sat and sat.

My daughter LOVES to have a quilt on her lap while she watches TV, and she had actually forgotten that I was making this for her.  She's very happy with the finished product.

She was willing to pose for a few shots. Gotta love that summer, unbrushed hair look.

The back is some Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush that I just love.  I have a ton of red fabric, and it is amazing how broad the spectrum of red can be.  This was the perfect color for the back.

The binding is some of the first fabric I ever bought...years and years ago from Jona Giammalva's Fabritopia.  It's Mary Englebreit bowls of cherries.

I found out about two friends having babies in the last week, so needless to say the next two quilts you'll see will be baby quilts.  One boy and one girl.  Wondering if I should do the same quilt in different colors?  Likely I'll just use it as an excuse to buy more fabric.  Which I do not need.

Last Two Mystery Designer BOM Blocks!

What seems like LONG after a year ago, I finally finished my last two blocks for the 2012 Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Designer BOM quilt.  It was actually June 25 when I finished the first block last year.

What I liked most about this block was the HST made from one triangle, and the other side having a split triangle.  They were fun to make. ("County Fair" by Julie Comstock for CosmoCricket)

I'm not sure if Fat Quarter Shop saved this block for last on purpose, but MY GOD were there tiny pieces in the pinwheels in the corners!  ("April Showers" by Sweetwater)  The whole thing all assembled is only 3 1/2" across.  The toughest part was sewing them together with the really thick centers from all of the layers.  I hesitated trimming because there was so little fabric to begin with.

I've got a bunch of other projects to finish and two baby quilts to make before I can do all of the filler pieces to this quilt.  I think this will be my winter opus this year.

Not only am I still alive, I actually finished something!

I am finally coming up for air.  May and June were just crazy for me at work and at home.  But I was able to take a four day weekend for the 4th of July and I'm back into a more normal routine.  I even got to work on one of the my Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Designer BOMs that I have left.

This is 11 of 12, County Fair, by Julie Comstock of Cosmo Cricket.  There were a few new things that I did in this block that were fun.  The four corners have half square triangles, that then have another triangle placed horizontally across.  I love the look of those!  I also didn't get my center seams lined up just right on the first try and I'm very happy I ripped it out and re-did.  The center is just right now.

What took up all of my precious little sewing time in May and June was my super double top secret project.  Here is a super mega close up, which is all I can share.  But I LOVE the way the project came out and I can't wait to share more.  I learned a lot about working with linen...which I'll share when I can do a bigger reveal.