Elliott's Log Cabin

Just a short and sweet update for you today. The baby for whom this quilt is being made was born last night so I guess it's time to get it finished up. The top is done for now and as soon as I decide how to quilt it I'll get it basted. This is always the hardest part.

I also think it's funny that all of my quilts have fingers at the top and feet at the bottom so I decided not to crop them out this time. By the way, Jason is a really great quilt model for me. He never argues when I ask him to help me out. And he's always smiling behind there. I can tell.

This quilt has lots and lots of polka dots and letters, along with a few monkeys and giraffes for good measure. All the fabrics are from my stash (love that). It's basically a crib quilt that grew a bit because I decided to add the sashing and borders. At this point I think it would have worked either way but it's growing on my like this. Sometimes you have to live with a project for a while before you fall in love with it. I'll share more after it's finished!

Linking up this morning with SEWjo Saturday. Check it out. And also to Crazy Mom Quilts.

ZenFriday - Quandry

Today's ZenFriday entry is my attempt at working on the tangle called "quandry." I like to share in process drawings and sewing projects because I think that too often we compare our "still working on it" attempts at art/whatever, with other people's finished projects. So, you get to see my mistakes and works in progress as well as the finished work.

Anyway, I don't think I've ever used this tangle before so it was interesting to see how it worked. One of my biggest challenges in drawing anything is that I have a really hard time keeping the spacing even. So much so that most of the time I don't even try to keep it consistent. I started this one at the top of the page and moved downward, quite obviously drawing more and more tightly as I worked my way down the page.

Jason thought the loose pieces at the top right looked like petals that were breaking off and flying away.

This post is linked up to the weekly Diva Challenge. You should go take a look at everyone's work over there.

Finish It Friday - Pillow Cover

I needed a quick and easy project to work on while watching tv in the evenings with the kids. This was pretty fun to make but I would like to use different colors for the rows next time to make it more interesting. The inspiration and tutorial for this project came from the Nest.

Zendala Dare #5

This week's template from The Bright Owl and TangleHarmony:

And my finished page:

I found this one a little dizzying at times. When I reached this point with the white space in the middle, I decided it was quite enough. I think I'm reaching that point in learning a new craft when you start to get frustrated with yourself because you're approaching the hard part. The part where I have to actually buckle down and practice to get better. I need to learn to get better at shading. It's my current nemesis. Usually, I just ignore it. I know when I decide to take the time to practice, I'll be pleased with the results.

I also received my first zen in the mail this week. Awfully fitting that it came from Rick and Maria, the inventors of the art form. I won a previous week's giveaway at the Zentangle Blog.

It's kind of amazing. The lines are so gentle and soft. It honestly looks kind of unreal. I'm excited to have it as I continue to learn how to improve my own drawings.

Zendala Dare #4

This week's template from The Bright Owl:

And my finished project:

Again, click on it to see it larger.

And, here's Sarah's version.

Also, please go and enter this giveaway. I'm sure my aunty would love to win but really, y'all are gonna let her win by default? Come on. Really. Go enter and tell your friends.

Audrey (the Quilt) - Finish It Friday

I've decided I'm going to start naming my quilts after people in my family. So this one is named after my grandma, Audrey (Dad's mom).

I started this quilt when I took the "How to Quilt From Start to Finish Class" at my local quilt shop. The only thing I'd been avoiding was the binding. I decided to queue up a Law & Order marathon on Netflix to "watch" and got that thing done!

Remember to enter the giveaway I posted yesterday for a copy of Seaside Home from Stash Books.

Pebble Stack Wallhanging and a Giveaway

So, last week I showed you my finished pebble wall quilt because seriously, who can wait to show a finish, right?

But - this week there's more! The pattern comes from the book called Seaside Home. And this week, someone reading this post will get a copy of their very own from Stash Books and C&T Publishing. (Overseas winners will receive an electronic copy.)

While I was working at Erica's, it was pretty much an occupational hazard that I got to see everything new as it came in. That was part of my job, after all. So when I saw this book it went on the "Jen must have it" list. Because my husband and mother-in-law are awesome I received it as a Christmas gift.

The designer of the Pebble Stack Wallhanging, Deborah O'Hare, is a fabric painter and the fabrics in her quilt in the book certainly show it. The sand and the water, and of course the sky, look almost real in her version. I had high intentions of painting some fabric for this project but time and wisdom (?) got the best of me so I decided to use some batiks. I found Hoffman Fabrics Bali Snaps in Breakers and Caramel which I thought looked perfect. I even decided to use them for some of the pebbles.

Practicing the layout for the background

Also, the designer was able to make her binding match the colors of the different sections. While I thought this was fantastic, I pretty much knew from the beginning this wasn't going to work for me and my current skill set. Maybe next time.

There are about a thousand things I could have done better on this quilt but I love, love, love it all the same. I had originally thought I would quilt it rather sparsely, but in the end I followed some of the coloring on the fabrics with the quilting and it all just led to quilting the crap out of it. It turns out, that's becoming my style, I think.

Now, some of you may know how much I love the lake and would really love to have a seaside home. Maybe some day I will but it most likely won't be for a while so making all of the projects in this book may not be all that practical. But, in the mean time I'm going to choose a couple to work on anyway.

So here's what I think I'll do. In order to enter the giveaway for the book (thanks again to Allison and Stash Books!), you need to leave a comment with your choice of which of the following three projects I should try first. Whichever gets the most votes will be the first one I try.

1. Embroidered Wall Art designed by Jasonda Desmond

2. Porthole Baby Quilt designed by Latifah Saafir

3. Beach Pillow designed by Heidi Troyer

Just leave a comment with your favorite choice, the order of your comment will determine your number, and I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner. Entries will be accepted until next Wednesday, May 8th, 2013, at 12 noon, EST. I'll announce the winner by Thursday, May 9th at noon and your book will be on it's way from C&T Publishing (remember, overseas winners will receive an e-book). I have not received compensation for this review, I really just simply love this book!

Good luck, and tell all your friends!

Zendala Dare - #3

There's really not much for me to say about these any more really. Except that I'm becoming a tad bit obsessed. 

If the smaller tangles are difficult to see on your monitor you should be able to see the image larger if you try clicking on it. 

Be sure to visit The Bright Owl to see this week's template and everyone's drawings throughout the week. I've also been working through some of the previous week's dares and I'll post them at some other point.

Finish It Friday

Here's a project I actually finished this week. I even have the ouchies on my fingers from binding to prove it. I've got to learn to use a thimble. Or find someone to do my bindings for me. I think I like that idea even better.

I'll have more on this next week along with a give away of the book it's from! I'm thinking about giving this wall hanging away, too. I can't keep them all, right? Not enough room in my house. Who wants it?

Zendala Dare - #2

I intend to work more on this one but thought I would like to document the process along the way.

Here's the beginning:

Here's where it's at tonight:

When I spun it around I thought that this view of the checkerboard portions looked like some crazy guy walking across the page.

You can find the template and check out the linky with other people's work as well at The Bright Owl.

And here's the update:

Zendala Dare - #1

So I've jumped into a Challenge a year into the thing. There is a new template posted weekly for you to use as a starting point for your drawing. You can learn more about it by clicking on the blog button below.

Here was today's starting template:

And here's where I ended up:

I'm still not convinced it's really "finished," but that's all I have time for today, so there you go. 

Artists I Adore - Sara Mincy

I love, love, love the art work of Sara Mincy. She's also a hard working mama so I'm just extra impressed that she gets as much done as she appears to. Be sure to check out her blog, her Pinterest, and keep up with her on Facebook.

Source: sara-mincy.blogspot.com via Sara on Pinterest

Artists I Adore - Mary Engelbreit

Ever since I first found her greeting cards with coordinating decorated envelopes at the University Bookstore, I have been in love with Mary Engelbreit. The first one I sent in the mail was to my sister, for her birthday maybe? And I am positive that it made it through the mail faster than a normal old plain envelope.

Source: Uploaded by user via Mary Engelbreit on Pinterest

If you've lived under a rock and never seen any Mary Engelbreit art, take a look at her website, her blog, and her Pinterest page.

I'm determined to attend the Home Companion Workshop in St. Louis but they aren't holding it this year. I'm planning on being there in Spring 2014.

Log Cabin Conundrum

I need your help to decide which way to arrange my log cabin blocks. I tried five different sets but the choices are truly endless. What do you think? In no particular order we have ...

Straight Furrows

Unnamed

Streak of Lightning

Barn Raising

Sunshine and Shadows

The original article I wrote on this is here. I hope you'll let me know what you think.

In case you missed it - Sarah's first sewing lesson

Not too long ago I wrote an article about Sarah's first sewing lesson. Hope you'll click through and take a look. 

How to keep the dining room table clean

Finish your sewing project, of course.

There they are. 49 log cabin blocks. The plan was to make 48 for this quilt. I figure this way I can throw one out if I don't like it.

The next step is to decide which pattern to use to put them together. This? Could take a while. The choices are literally endless.

AND, since I am finished with this part of the project, I removed my sewing machine from the dining room table. This is also very good news.

Edit 4/24/2014 Here's how those blocks finally got finished. And here's my sister's quilt made with the same fabrics.

French General-ish Log Cabin

Of course I started a new project.

French General is the designer of the majority of the fabrics going into this quilt. And yes, I really just cannot stay up long enough to make one more block tonight.

I've been wanting to use this fabric to make a quilt just forever and collecting fabrics as they were in the end of bolts shelf (deep discounts). It's a good start.

Personalized Pillow #4

The one where I finish another project.

So here is my third finished personalized pillow. This pattern has become my new favorite go-to gift for  birthdays for young kids. At least I know that nobody else will get them the same thing, right?

And I don't care what anybody says, that's a hug. He did this just after he opened it up. It made me happy. Happy 2nd birthday to one of Sarah's favorite little buddies! 

Aidan Pillow

Today was my nephew Aidan's birthday. He had a pretty fun Angry Birds party. And I actually finished his birthday gift an entire hour before the party. I really need to get better at planning ahead for this stuff. 

Before I left I asked him to pose with his pillow. He's such a good kid he humored me for my picture. I really enjoy the light saber battle going on in the background.

I know this one is blurry but he looked so stinkin' happy to me when he opened it. It made me feel pretty good.

The stitching looked really cool on the inside before I turned it right side out. This was the first time I've tried satin stitching using my new sewing machine. It's not as easy as it looks, that's for sure. 

Pre-Stuffing

Post Stuffing

So, that's one crafty finish for me. And one happy birthday for the Birthday Boy.