I've been super busy crafting these past two months of 2013. I was asked to make a quilt for a little boy, but with little guidance, so I made three options for the requester to choose from. I have yet to quilt them because my new craft room doesn't allow for quilting ease since the table is up against the wall. But I have plans this weekend to relocate to the front room to do some serious quilting. I received a free pattern in the mail from one of my many quilting magazines that really spoke to me. I didn't like the colors they used in their quilt, but I really enjoyed choosing my own fabrics for the pattern. I chose some bold red, yellow, lime green and navy fabrics for this cute modified pinwheel quilt. Dad's friend Debi asked for the quilt and loved it, so I am happy to sell her this quilt.
I couldn't stop at one pinwheel though. I really like making pinwheel crafts. There is something whimsical and happy about them. I think they remind me of sitting in the yard with the family as a kid and being fascinated as they spin and the colors they produce. Hours of entertainment for me! A few months ago, I ordered the Modern Quilt blocks book and fell in love with over half the blocks in there. Since I committed to doing the rainbow of quilts, I decided to honor my commitment to finish all those quilts, but I kept flipping through this book with longing.
In particular I really liked this one block called Pinwheel. Its actually a very simple pattern with very little in the way of putting it together, but I really liked its simplicity. So I decided to make my version simple as well. I'm not good at copying a quilt design verbatim, but I love taking great ideas and tweaking them to make them my own. I love the "denim" color background and the cute pinwheel fabric I ordered a while back. I just put together the top...and I am hoping to quilt it this weekend. I was asked to donate some quilts to auctions for some elementary schools and for a dance club so I am hoping one of those groups like this quilt...because I really like it!
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| Fun with Pinwheels! |
One day, I just didn't feel like quilting very much, but I had been wanting to try to alter Jeni's lined drawstring bag pattern to hold a wine bottle. I was asked to make some wine bags, so I spent an afternoon experimenting with measurements, I nailed it....thanks Jeni! I love your bags!
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| New Wine bags! Love these.... |
Also, I have been interested in starting to make clothing. But, I am a little intimidated especially since mom isn't around to ask questions like I was used to doing for so many years. So I decided to start small.....Aprons! I downloaded about five apron patterns and found a couple I liked in my sewing books, so I tried a few. I love how they came out...big thanks to the bloggers out there with really easy to understand directions! I hope the people that I made these for like them. The best part about aprons...they use a lot of fabric and don't take a long time to make...so quick results and a stash eater! Woo Hoo!!!
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| Susie's Vintage half apron |
I decided that after I honor my few sewing commitments I have made, I am going to spend some time quilting what I want to quilt for a little while. I haven't lost the passion, but I really want to love the projects I work on for a little while. This is not to say that I won't make items for other people, but I am really going to actively try to use the fabric I want to use, try new patterns that look interesting, and not worry so much about reducing the stash as much. After all, I am doing this whole thing for me, right? I should really love what I make. I got to get to the sewing machine.
