Friday, May 31, 2013

MIA From My Sewing Nook And Blogland...

Happy Go Lucky - FQ Bundle
I splurged and ordered a Fat Quarter Bundle of Happy Go Lucky from Jennifer at the Knotted Thread! Isn't it lovely??? I currently have no project in mind for this, I just bought it because I love it.


Not sure if anyone has really noticed, but I have been MIA... both from my sewing nook and my blog... I have a really good reason. I wasn't planning to share this with the general public for a bit longer, but since it has been keeping me from living life as usual, I thought I had better share.

3 weeks ago today I got some totally unexpected news... I AM EXPECTING! Yes, expecting a baby, our third baby in fact.

After I got over the initial shock, and readjusted my thought process to include another child in our family I started to get excited. Started scouring Pinterest for adorable and creative ways to announce our unexpected news to very unsuspecting friends and family. I started peaking at nursery ideas, and fabrics for bedding...  But only ideas for little boys, because I have two boys, and I just don't want to get my hopes too high that we might have a girl! But wouldn't that be fun??!!! Oh if I let myself I can get very carried away with thoughts of all of the wonderful girly projects that I would love to make!

Announcement that I plan to post on FB once we are ready to share with more people. It might be hard to read on here, but it says "We thought our family was complete, but God has blessed us with two more feet... Arriving January 2014!"


Then about a week into my excitement, I began to feel a bit nauseated, over the course of a week the nausea went from just needing a cracker or two to settle my tummy, to something I won't even try to describe. Lets just say I couldn't keep anything down for about 5 days. I finally got some prescriptions medication this past Wednesday, and while I am still nauseated all day long every day, I can now eat, which has given me energy to at least get off the couch every now and then.

Since I do have limited energy and still don't feel the greatest, I have had to put crafting, sewing, and quilting on the back burner just to manage some of the MUST DOs of every day life. Like making sure my boys don't kill each other, and that they know where the food is, they are almost 9 and 4 1/2 so between the two of them and a lower cabinet full of snacks they are managing pretty well.

Hopefully I only have 4 or so more weeks of this and I will find my energy and get back to my old self, until then I can't promise myself or anyone else that I will be accomplishing anything, but surviving.

I really have so much to get done, I want to finish up ALL of my WIPS before the end of August when we will find out whether the baby is a boy or girl. I know after that all of my sewing will focus on the baby! So much for everyone's handmade Christmas gifts! LOL!

So basically, I am not sure what the next few weeks will hold, if I will be sewing/quilting and blogging, or just surviving... I am just taking it one day at time.

Talk with you soon... hopefully :)

Jessica


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Wonky Log Cabin Grunge Quilt - Committed



Last Monday I wrote about my issues with committing to fabric for my Master Bedroom Quilt... Well I committed and there is no turning back!

After hours of looking at fabric and designs, I am going in a direction that is completely out of my norm... I have never made a quilt with only solids, but I think it will be lovely when its finished.

Fabric - Seven different colors of Grunge by Basic Grey.

PB&J Fluffer Nutter
PB&J Jelly
PB&J Basket
PB&J Creamy
Pear
Kissing Booth Dark Chocolate
Charmed


Design - Well I said I wasn't going to do this... but I am. I searched for a pattern, and although I found some images of quilts I liked, I couldn't find patterns for them... So I drew my own. I will make 9 wonky log cabin blocks, with 4 different fabrics in each, measuring 26 inches square upon completion. Then I will use Fluffer Nutter to create a 10 inch border between each block on all sides.

I ordered about 1/2 the fabric, since it is going to take about 20 yards of fabric just to make the top!

I was able to make quick work of the first 3 Wonky Log Cabin squares on Saturday, these goes quickly, but haven't had time to get into my sewing nook this week. If I had a good solid day to sew, I think I could do the whole top, but of course I only have half the fabric so I will need to order more before I can finish it anyway.



I am starting with an approximately 8 inch wonky square in the center, and then I use 3 1/2 inch strips to go around the square. The wonky affect that I am using isn't huge, but I am not creating perfect squares.




I really hope to make some progress on it later in the week and this weekend... We shall see.

What are you working on this week?

Monday, May 20, 2013

Philippians 4:8 Wall Hanging - Finished!!!

"...Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of Praise." Philippians 4:8


I am so excited to finally write this post. I ordered fabric for this project back in March, and even did some cutting in March, you can read about the start here... But a few other projects cut in line and it took longer than I anticipated.

Also, once I really got started on it, I added in some Kona Canary Yellow and I really wasn't sure about it. My husband and some of you readers really liked it (you can read about that here)... so I went with it, hoping that I would eventually fall in love.

Last week I didn't sew/quilt quite as much as I hoped, but when I did I really got to work and made some progress.

I finished the quilt top on Thursday... Sorry about the pic, the wind was blowing and I couldn't get the top to stay flat!


I used wide strips (13 inches) of Kona Gray and Kona Pond to back the quilt. Since it is a wall hanging I figured the back won't be seen so it didn't matter too much. I was able to do a little quilting on Thursday night, but didn't get too far. 

Friday I finished it up!



I don't know what the quilting design is called, I just saw a quilt online from Oh Fransson where she did something similar, so I tried to replicate it. I didn't do the greatest at it, but it works. I used Kona Canary to bind it, to finish out the framing. I wanted the wall hanging finished because I have had a blank wall in my living room for too long, so I machine bound it. This is the first time I have done that with a quilt, it worked, but I do prefer hand binding. 


Close up of the quilting on the back. 


So now it is hanging on the blank wall in my living room. I am still not as in love as I had hoped. I think the colors are a bit out of my "norm" but I am sure it will grow on me... And it is much better than plain burlap plaques on the wall. 


I may not be so sure about the color combination, but I love the words, and I do love that they are hanging in our living room where our family will see them every day. I hope that we do not grow complacent to their meaning and that we daily remember to - Fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. And to Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."  Philippians 4:8.


I have already moved on to my next project, and will post about it later this week!

Linking up with Plum and June's Let's Get Acquainted, hosted by The Sewing Chick.




Monday, May 13, 2013

Fabric Choices... Commitment isn't easy!


Palette I created using www.fotor.com (fabrics from Hawthornethreads.com)

I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day. I know I did! Lots of family time, enjoying beautiful weather. 

I won one of the giveaways during the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!! I am so excited. I won a beautiful fat quarter bundle of Robert Kaufman Quilter's Linen from Kim @ Windsor and Main. She has a terrific blog, check it out! 



Quilter's Linen by Studio RK, New Neutrals 2013

Of course I will be mailing out the goodies from my giveaway to Sandra @ Sandra's Craft Corner today! The SMSGD was amazing. I still can't believe all of the comments, sorry I didn't respond to each  one individually, there were so many!

I actually worked on my Philippians 4:8 Wall Hanging on Sunday afternoon, which is coming along nicely, but I don't want to post about that because that's all I have posted about for a while. Hopefully I will finish it up this week and then I will give a final post about it. 

Above I mentioned that Friday we did a little shopping... And I bought the painting below for our bedroom. 



This painting is going to be my inspiration for colors for our quilt, I would like to focus on the aqua and the rusty orange, although I love the mustard and green in there as well. I will also be looking for a pattern that compliments this painting, I am not going to design something myself, I just don't have it in me right now. I have procrastinated in decorating our bedroom since we moved into our home over two years ago. I am finally going to start making decisions, it is time. 

This week I want to begin ordering fat quarters as samples of possible fabrics to use in the quilt. Below are a couple of palettes I created using www.fotor.com with fabrics from Hawthornethreads.com. I have already spent many hours trying to decide on fabrics... I am not usually this indecisive, but I feel like undertaking a King Sized Quilt for our bed is a really big project and I am having a hard time committing. 




If anyone has any ideas for fabrics/patterns please let me know. I am very open to suggestions. I have been playing around with collage makers to try and see different fabrics together, it has been fun. 

I am linking up with Plum and June's Let's Get Acquainted that is hosted today by Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts






Wednesday, May 8, 2013

WIP Wednesday

Good Morning!

First off I must say I cannot believe the number of comments/entries I have received from participating in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! Wow! All of the comments have been so sweet and I have enjoyed hearing what people are planning to do this Summer, whether they are sewing plans or just general plans for the Summer.
The giveaway is open until 5pm Friday and there are SO many giveaways. Check out my giveaway here and visit Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day to view the 100s of others.

We are enjoying some warmer weather and sunshine here in Missouri! Both Mikko (my 3rd grader) and I are excited that we kept very focused all school year and this Friday will be his last day of school! It was tempting to take snow days with the our public school friends, but we didn't, and now we are reaping the rewards of working hard over the winter, and we will be able to start our Summer break early.

So on to my WIPs for the week... Honestly, I really must finish these because I am tired of posting about them, and I am sure you are tired of reading about them!

I started working on the Philippians 4:8 Wall Hanging again yesterday. I am currently working on one block, and have one more after that, before I can sash and piece them together.



I am almost finished with my Hand-Pieced Hexagon Chevron from the SkillBuilders BOM, I have three more hexies to hand piece on... Then on to block # 8! Whew! 


And here is a quick look at the 5 Farmer's Wife Blocks that I have finished... I haven't gotten very far since I mentioned it last week. 



That is what I am working on this week. I am trying to focus on the Philippians 4:8 Wall Hanging, as I really need to finish it up. There has been a large blank wall in my living room for several weeks now, and I would like to fill that space again very soon. 

I hope all of you are enjoying sunshine today! What are you working on this week?

Like I try to do every Wednesday, I am linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday. 



Monday, May 6, 2013

Giveaway Day with Sew Mama Sew



For those of you who haven't seen my blog previously, my name is Jessica and I enjoy all sorts of crafting... But mostly I quilt. Although, my last two posts were about my latest project an Apron. I started blogging my project so that I could share them with friends and family that wanted to see pictures of what I was making... But now I have made friends all of over the virtual quilting world!

I am a wife and mom. My husband is a youth minister and I work from home as an accountant/bookkeeper. I home school my 3rd grade son and attempt to get my 4 year old son to do a little "preschool" but he is more of the "un-schooled" learning style.

I sew/quilt/craft when I should be cooking and doing household chores, as well as entertaining my boys... sometimes juggling all of the "Must do's" with the "Want to's" is crazy, but I manage and my home is generally clean, the laundry eventually gets done, the boys don't seem to suffer from neglect, and we mostly eat home cooked meals.

I hadn't planned to participate in Giveaway Day with Sew Mama Sew, but after I saw the number of blogs in the giveaway, and started entering the giveaways, I thought, why not? So I am going to do my first giveaway on A Bushel and A Peck!

I have won a 2 fabric giveaways in the past couple of months and it was so exciting, I wanted to share that excitement with someone else...

I will be giving away 2 Charm Packs of Grace by 3Sisters for Moda as well as a coordinating fat quarter (not sure who the designer is).


How do you enter the giveaway?

1. Leave a comment on this blog post - If you aren't sure what to say tell me what your Spring/Summer sewing or vacation plans/hopes are. 

2. Followers - old and new get a second entry - just leave a comment letting me know how you follow me. 

3. If you are a no-reply commenter please leave me your email address so I can get in touch with you if you win. If I do not get a response from the winner within 3 days I will choose another winner. 

4. International Entries are welcome.

5. The giveaway ends at 5pm CST on Friday May 10th. 

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!
Sandra from Sandra's Craft Corner is my lucky winner. 








Rock-N-Romance Apron Complete!



Last week did not allow for much sewing/quilting. The only thing I completed was my Rock-N-Romance Apron. I think it turned out really cute. 


The apron started out as two 1/2 yard pieces of Rock-N-Romance and some solid Kona Gray. 






The pattern I used was Pat Bravo's Spice It Up Apron Tutorial.

After a short period of time the top took shape and I thought, this isn't so bad... 






I don't think I understood how to do the pleats on the skirt portion of the apron, but it still turned out okay.



And... All finished! I didn't put the flower on the strap because I only had gray left and I was tired of working on it. I might go back and do the flower this week though. 



Goals May 6 - May 12

1. Finish remaining two blocks for Philippians 4:8 Wall Hanging and begin sashing/piecing together.

2. Finish Hand Piecing Hexies for SkillBuilders BOM Block # 7 and start on Block #8

3. Make a few more Farmer's Wife Blocks

I have several other projects I could work on, but the way the last couple of weeks have gone, I know that I won't accomplish as much as I hope, so I think I will keep my "goal list" manageable. 










Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Rock-N-Romance Apron - WIP Wednesday

Not a lot of sewing to share today. I have spent very little time in my sewing nook this week. The weather has been beautiful and I have spent much of my "free" time enjoying it!

Per my last post I was a bit frustrated with my "big" WIP - The Wall Hanging... So I thought why not get away from it and try something new, something very different for me, that will really challenge me, and something that might make me happy to get back to it in a few days!

A few weeks ago Pat Bravo posted an Apron Tutorial on her blog Soulful Eyes. I loved the apron and "pinned" the idea. I decided to pull out some of my favorite pieces of Rock-N-Romance and give it a try. I have never sewn clothes, well I have made a LOT of pillow case dresses and a few peasant dresses, but that is it.

(Hate to even show you the pic of Pat Bravo's, as I am sure mine won't be nearly as cute.)



I didn't get very far yesterday, cut the fabric, and worked on the top part a little bit, but that's it. I had a snag, the tutorial said that it required two 1/2 yards, and one 3/4 yard of coordinating fabric. I don't know what I am not understanding but one of the half yards was not enough fabric for the portion I thought it corresponded too, so I had to improvise, so mine doesn't follow the fabric instructions
perfectly.

The top of the apron



I also had some machine issues, my feed dogs weren't feeding well. I think I got that fixed this morning. I spent a little time early this morning working on the "skirt" of the apron. I didn't get too far before it was time for the day to begin... So this is what is accomplished and maybe I will have time to work on it later today.




As far as my WIPs that I plan to work on the rest of the month...

Philippians 4:8 Wall Hanging


Farmer's Wife Blocks (I have completed 5 of 111, but I only started last week.)


Skill Builders BOM - Finish April's Blocks and start quilting the blocks I have finished.





Linking up with WIP Wednesday by Freshly Pieced and Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet.
Lily's Quilts




Lily's Quilts