Old Project Discovered

We had a wonderfully lazy day at home today for the Martin Luther King Jnr holiday. Since it was so incredibly cold, (0 degrees F which for my NZ/Oz readers is MINUS 17 degrees celcius! Can you even imagine how cold that is???) we stayed indoors as much as possible. I was sitting on my bed and my bedside drawers started talking to me, saying, "Clean me! Clean me!" And a trash bag full later, the job was done. Believe me, this is a HUGE improvement over the before. I didn't think to take a 'before' shot, but this drawer (ok all 3 of them) was completely packed and overflowing with junk. And what did I find at the bottom of one of them but something that wasn't junk - 22 finished basket blocks and 2 more unfinished ones. I had forgotten all about these, so it was a very exciting find! I did a couple of posts about them way back in 2009 which you can read here and here.

So I took a few stitches in the one above (that counts for my sewing for the day, right?!) and thought, hmmm, I really should do something with these. My friend Anna designed the baskets, so Anna, I know you're reading this - what should I do with them?!!
Anna does not know how to write a short blog post. No matter how hard she tries, each post becomes a novel, but that's a good thing because she is such an interesting person and amazingly talented to boot!

Pillow 1 Finished

The black/white/green cushion is finished and I think I have pillow fever! It was so much fun - while applique is my first love, sometimes it's nice to get away from it and do some straight line stitching on the machine, and then I can get back to applique and feel refreshed.

It's also fun to do some modern type quilting on a project. I just did big concentric rectangles on both the front and the back (envelope closure) which seemed to match the theme of the log cabin nicely. I plan on making 6 pillows, so 1 down, 5 to go...

And now for something completely different...

I think I am all appliqued out for a few days after finishing up the bag, so today I opted to work on a nice simple improv log cabin block. I didn't know where I was headed when I started it, but as you can see it evolved into green, white and black. I want to make some cushions for the living room, all different styles, but have them still match a little. I plan on doing some modern techniques such as this improv style, and some more traditional applique. And perhaps mix them together. We'll see!

Finished!

Yes the bag is done. As in done done. And that is why I look so surprised! I can barely believe it myself!

Rather than go on and on about the process, how about I just post a bunch of pictures, you know, since a picture is worth a thousand words and all...

Squiggly Leaves Tutorial

Oh how I love leaves! I love appliqueing them - short, long, skinny, fat, straight, curly, and like today, squiggly!

These are fun to add just a little something different to your applique piece, and are actually quite easy to do.

1) Cut your leaf shape, and a another leaf shape the same size but a different color, in my case, purple. This will be the squiggly bit that shows through, so pick something you think will contrast nicely with your leaf.2) The green leaf sits on top of the purple one.
But first, you need to cut a squiggly shape down the middle of your green leaf as such...Draw your seam allowance line so you know where to turn it under, and attach it to the purple leaf. I used glue baste-it but you could pin it if you prefer.

3) Applique one side and then the other. It is kind of like doing reverse applique but not really. Yes I know how technical my description is getting :D4) Lift up your green leaf section and cut away the excess fabric of the purple leaf. This helps eliminate bulk when you applique the leaf in its entirety. Doesn't this one look like a cute pea pod?!

5) You are now ready to use your squiggly leaf. It wasn't that hard, was it?!I am still going strong in my sewing every day goal. Today I finished the applique on my bag and tomorrow I'll finally get that darn bag finished! I should have added some squiggly leaves to it, don't you think?!

Progress

I know I said I would do a tutorial on how to make the squiggly leaves today, but after just doing the third round of snowblowing for the day I am too tired! We had so much snow - close to 2 feet, so the removal of it took up a good chunk of my day. But on my downtime I did manage to make significant progress on my bag. I quilted it, made and quilted the round piece for the bottom, and joined the sides up, covering the seam with a binding.


I think I may be just one day away from a finish. Thank goodness. Instead of the song that never ends, this has turned into the bag that never ends!

I just need to applique the final bird and tree branch tip, then join the tube to the bottom circle, cover that seam with a binding, and decide how I want to have it close. Drawstring?. Zipper? Handle? Decisions decisions!

Tasty Tuesday

Since I'm sure you're all as sick of looking at pics of my bag-in-progress as I am, I thought I'd mix it up a little and do work on something new. Remember the rejected flower from the bag? I am stitching it up on another background, and at the moment I think it will end up as the center of a cushion cover. I borrowed the bird from the bag and will make a different one for this particular applique...
I am in love with the green and purple leaves and took some photos of the steps to make them and will do a little tutorial for you tomorrow on that.Other than sewing we have been cooking, as it is....drumroll...Tasty Tuesday again! My daughter needed to cook something using an appliance to earn a cooking badge for Girl Scouts. My husband had sent me a link for a recipe he thought I'd like to try, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, so I thought Sofia could make them for her badge. She was SO excited!I wasn't sure how they would turn out but they were actually really good! They were a little different from regular cinnamon rolls and you could definitely taste the pumpkin in the dough, but it wasn't overwhelming. The recipe was basically the same as I use for my regular dough, but a cup of pumpkin puree was substituted for a cup of liquid. You can see the recipe here. If you are a fan of pumpkin give them a go. And don't forget to pile cream cheese frosting on top!