Community sewing

Emily and I have been hanging out a lot lately and sewing. The accountability has been good for us. We are actually making progress; Emily more than me. The cross stitching has proved contagious and I am working on a project right now. It combines my love for Masterpiece Theatre and cross stitch. How awesome is this?!

I bought the pattern off Craftsy. It is a super simple pattern and well written. I am going to drop the 'I'm down with'  and possibly the 'Downtown Abbey' part as well. I think it is going to end up being a throw pillow. I wanted to turn it into a wood box top to store tea, but those things are crazy expensive. It is supposed to be a gift so I really need to stay on pace. I have finished up the windows (just the darkened panes) and working on the rest of the house. I will post pictures in my next post.

Emily has made much progress with her deer. It may not look so but she has. She is trying to figure out the boundaries so she keeps moving in different directions to see how bit it truly is going to be. More like how much do I have to fill in, in my opinion.

I did get distracted from quilting with another purchase. Winterset has a lovely yarn store called Heartland Fiber.They had an open house this weekend and had a trunk show for Esther Purl Fibers. I bought some yarn. It is pretty! The sheep were raised locally and it is hand painted. All the colours have different people names and are specific sheep varieties. Mine is from a California Red sheep. I plan on crocheting a scarf. Let's see when I start on that! I bought beautiful alpaca almost 10 years ago that I still haven't touched. 

Had to share. . .Ode to the Seam Ripper

From Jill at Simple.Frugal.Quilts

Seam ripper, seam ripper.  Where have you gone? 

I need you! I need you!  For that sewing machine has done me wrong.

Oh you darn machine!  You stitched this block all wrong!
My points do not point. My stripes are all wrong.  Come to think of it, so is my tension.

Seam ripper, seam ripper. Where have you gone?

I need you! I need you!  Show yourself now.  Before that darn machine makes me bang my poor head.

Oh you darn machine!  How you frustrate me to no end!

I clean you, oil you. I cover you.  And you treat me so bad.

Seam ripper, seam ripper.  Where have you gone?

I clean you not. Your cover is forever gone.  And yet.  You still help me out of a jam. So I take back those evil thoughts in my head.

Oh you darn machine.  Will you ever learn?

I am the boss.  I am! I am!

Seam ripper, seam ripper.  You are my friend.  You judge me not.
Unlike that darn machine.  Who torments me to no end.

Yes seam ripper.  You have helped me time and time again.

For you dear seam ripper understand.  I am better at stitching then what that darn machine says I am.

http://simplefrugalquilts.blogspot.com/2012/11/ode-to-seam-ripper.html

Mug Rug Madness

I LOVE my mug rug! Janora pegged me perfectly.

This side is technically the 'reverse', but it coordinates with my coffee mug.

This the correct side. A pinwheel, stacked rectangles. It is perfect. The blue looks like denim and the stitching is in the goldy type of thread that you see on jeans. It really is very me.

Janora and I ended up swapping. This is what I made for her. Just to be clear- It is supposed to be wonky. It isn't bad stitching. She was very gracious in her acceptance. I hope she gets to use it.

Here are more pictures from the swap. This has been a great experience for my first time swap and I think I may do another one. If anybody is in the central Iowa area, please come to the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild. It is very fun and the group is super creative.

Block 2 on its way

I had to think about 'its' in the title. I mix 'its' and 'it's' up all the time.

Yellow this time.

Love it!

I used the spun silk left over from my sisters's table linens. The silk was a bit squirmy so I used a light weight stabilizer. There are 3 more pitchers in Anne Marie's line and right now she has a giveaway. Now, do I wait to see if I won the giveaway or do I just go ahead and order the next one in the series? Me thinks order.

Updates with pictures

Here is the promised picture of the Giant Granny Block. I think it turned out well. It calls for a sashing border, but I think I am going to leave it as is. I think I may quilt it myself.

I finished my mug rug for the quilt guild swap. I am really nervous. I am a beginner quilter and so I veered off on a couple occasions. I also hope I interpreted my partner's likes appropriately.

Yesterday Emily and I hung out and did some cross stitching again. She has made progress on her project. I never knew I was filled with wisdom, but my tip about stitching the borders of a solid section and then stitching in the 'filling'. The last picture I have is from September 2011. It is fun to see the progress that has been made and more importantly, to be made.

I have tomorrow off again so I may have more pictures at the end of the day. I need to try the paper piecing again.

No pictures, but randomness

I hadn't blogged, but I have been keeping up with sewing hobbies. Emily has come over one evening for the last two weeks to work on her cross stitch. We both work crazy hard during the summer so we are milking the cooler, less busy fall. I worked on my Last Supper cross stitch. Last weekend was the AQS show and I went to that with a fellow quilter. That made for a fun (EXHAUSTING) day. I picked up some dupioni silk and Fassett fabrics. The tide is starting to turn in the main stream quilting community in my opinion. I noticed a few more modern fabric vendors and a couple more negative space/minimalist quilts.

I took today off and had a 'Karen Day'. Lounged and did some sewing. I finished up the Giant Granny Square Quilt Along top. I ordered the kit using Flea Market Fancy. I wasn't sold on the line when it was re-released and when my kit arrived I wasn't sure. It grows on you and I like the way the top turned out. I will take pictures tomorrow and post.

This evening I worked on some paper piecing. I took a class last fall, but had never worked on anything. It took some trial and error, but my block was coming along nicely until I had to tear away the paper. I hadn't shortened my stitch length so the stitching came apart. Oops. Tomorrow I will try again.

I was catching up on my blog reading and caught this. Robert Kaufman is coming out with precut hexies. Last month at the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild meeting, Emily V presented about English Paper Piecing. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

One more thing- Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is having a winter themed calendar of sorts. I haven't decided if I am going to or not. It may be too cutesy for my liking.