Thought you should know...

Haha - sorry - this is blog wasn't meant to be a music video onslaught - but this week I feel the need to spread the awesomeness of some of these bands I love. So without further ado I give you probably my favorite song by the Xx:



Happy Friday everyone! Hopefully I can finish up my blocks for Nubees this weekend.
-k

You see me rockin' you see me trollin'

Average day for me: procrastinate dirty mouse work by trolling the interwebs. Cue fabric and you amazing online crafting fiends who share! I am currently listening to this and rocking out while the monsoon outside my window gets the f outta town:



While frolicking on the flickr I came across people making wallets from this uber cute tutorial  by Jennie and Clara at Clover and Violet. Guess who wants to make one real bad... haha of course.

Also - apparently there was a linky party about pets and quilts at Lily Pad Quilting. Made me sad I didn't have a pet to put on a quilt (MO refuses to be a part of this whole fabric thing). Solution: visit my friend M at her blog, Sew Hungry, to see the pups I craft with. Leuko likes to walk under the table and step on my pedal and sew a little himself!

Leave you with a picture of one of my crafting heroes - my Aunt - enjoying the beautiful weather by her and just having fun picking some cherries:

Ciao bellas!

-k

NY Beauty Pillow finished!

I finally finished the pillow! Yay me for actually finishing a project - something I always have issues with as my crafting friends will attest to. I learned a lot about paper piecing with this and also realized I have a bad habit of not reading the instructions all the way through before starting a new project. I used the Block 8 template and I like the way it looked, but all the fabric junctions were a pain to sew a curve with. I would like to try all the blocks but reorient them and do something awesome like what karibou13 did. I ended up quilting a square type thing in the middle and then followed the edge of the circle on the outer edges, which I really liked. Also, the first time I did piping on a project. I used this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew! and really liked it. Anyhow here are a few pictures. Sorry the pillow form was a little small so it doesn't puff out quite right.

Also in news - I started my blocks for my first bee swap and thought I was doing grand when I realized I was 0.5 inches short... BLARGH!!!! I could have sworn I did my math right but alas back to the drawing board.

Happy sewing!
-k

Future homes for quilts

I love the process of designing the quilt, picking out fabrics, and sewing it all up into awesomeness. But I have come to a crossroads - I don't have that many people left that I know that I can gift the quilt to (personal problem huh?). I was perusing blogs - when am I not? - and taking a closer look into this do.Good Stitches business and finally figured it out. You can make your quilts and send them here:  My Very Own Blanket. As I just did the Quilts for Kids quilt, this new (to me) charity would be a great opportunity to find a home for future quilts. Especially because I love kids' fabric :-)

Ciao!

-k

NY Beauty pillow in the making...

NY Beauty pillow in the making..., a photo by mikesmunk on Flickr.

Ah ha - the paper piecing... well let's say it was interesting - not like what I had previously done with the double wedding ring quilt arcs. But I have made a little progress from this picture!!! I actually have the whole front of the pillow done - looking to finish it up in the next couple nights while watching some Olympics.

I finally jumped off the metaphorical bridge and joined a quilting bee. I am super excited but afraid I won't be able to sew to everyone else's standards... EEP! I will do my best, though. M has also joined with me and she is in a separate hive so we can have fun crafting together for other people.

Happy Tuesday!
-k

Quilts for Kids quilts

TINK by me

GARDEN PARTY by M

TRACTORIFFIC by C

This blogging stuff is hard...

I find myself taking lots of pictures of projects - both in the works and done :-) - and reading everyone else's blogs and discovering more awesome crafters out there and I just don't get around to updating this one. Quite a few bloggers have also given great pointers for new bloggers like myself ( Plum and June and Stitched in Color) - and they are right: it takes time and effort to keep up!
So an update: 
1. All quilts for kids got finished!!! And shipped!!! So hopefully soon some little kid will have a cool blanket to snuggle down under. Pictures eventually up on flickr.
2. I finished my disappearing nine patch quilt (the blues and greens and browns) and I really like it. A bit smaller than I really wanted it but it will do. Here's a picture of the pieced top. Currently waiting to wash it for the final look... I am trying to run to the store to grab some of these color catcher doohickeys. *UPDATE* photos on Flickr ----> see sidebar :-)

3. Pulled out my first sewing machine - my Gramma's old Viking. This was inspired after a day of sewing machine shopping with my crafty friend M- M and I checked out Pfaff, Bernina, and Viking machines in and around town on Saturday. I had retired the Viking because I was having problems and for the $100 it would cost to fix it I figured I would just buy a little ghetto Singer from Joann. Anyway - the day of shopping inspired me to haul out Mr Viking and see if now, with more sewing knowledge, I could fix him. Lo and behold I could not. It appears to definitely be a tension issue (picture of stitches below). I think I am going to bite the bullet and see if I can get it repaired.

4. Finished a clutch for a friend using this great tutorial at Elm Street Life. Pictures to come. I wish I would have shortened the wrist strap a little, and it was my first zipper endeavor - so other than those two things - I love the way it came out. I used a teal linen for the exterior and just a fun white and gray patterned fat quarter for the interior. *UPDATE* photos on Flickr ----> see sidebar :-)

5. About to baste the beloved Sudoku quilt - hopefully I will have that quilted very soon!

6. And lastly received my wonderful fat quarter bundle of Across the Pond by Cloud9 from Honey Be Good! 

Sorry for the long post!!! I will try to post more often and have more pictures of what is happening. Lastly I leave you with a song I have been loving:

Happy Tuesday!

-k