VESTS!

Happy Holidays to all! :)
I've picked up a new skill: Embroidery. Well I don't know if I'd call it a skill yet, I'm still a beginner. But I'm really enjoying it. Have you heard of Pinterest? It's kind of similar to stumble upon, but not quite the same thing. I was looking up various sewing topics and I found these really interesting ideas to make embroidered hoops into wall art. (As seen in this photo courtesy of Google Images...here.) I became inspired and decided to learn how to embroider. I found this website Sublime Stitching, that has some great instruction on basic stitching and some patterns to buy. I didn't pay for one, I ended up coming up with stuff on my own. I drew a design onto fabric with a fabric marker and started stitching away. The one in the photo above is actually part of an inside joke with my friend Julia, this is part of her Christmas present. (in case you were wondering "what is with the vest thing?") I think it turned out pretty well..it's simple but it's cute and I know the joke will be greatly appreciated. I'm excited to see how I can work this into my quilting somehow (which by the way, the quilting is coming a long very slowly). I'm going to do some serious work on it in a few days when things start to slow down.
Have a great New Year :)

Quilt Progress

View full :)

New Projects!

With the new school year starting, I decided to start on some new projects. It probably isn't the most ideal time, but when is life not hectic?
I see facebook post after facebook post of friends saying they're headed off for college (boyfriend included), but I'm not cut out for such things so I'm staying here to work towards a career in ballet. I'm so excited to start, it's going to be a completely new schedule for me...totally different to what I'm used to. But I'm ready for the hard work. I won't have too much down time, so these projects are probably going to take a while to finish. So what projects will I be working on?


1. Square Dance Quilt
I picked up this quilting book "Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts" while I was in Washington this summer. I purchased it at Barnes and Noble, you can find it anywhere really. I really liked the "Square Dance" pattern, it looks super quick, and the final result is beautiful...simple but I like it. I was actually hoping to try something different this time around since I used a similar method with Jelly Rolls on the last quilt I did, but I kept going back to this book and quilt, so I figured it was a sign.
I am using Moda's  Kate Spain "Terrain" fabric for this, I love the bold colors! I think a simple quilt pattern will work great to show off the fabric

2. 1950's Skirt
Clothing construction is going to be completely new to me, and I'm a little intimidated by it, but I'm really excited to get this one started. I found this great website that has some vintage patterns from the Roarin' Twenties all the way to the 50's. The company is "Decades of Style". They have other options than just clothing, they had some accessory patterns as well. I figured a skirt would be the most forgiving piece of clothing for a first-timer, so that is what I had looked for. I looked through the current Vogue, McCall and Simplicity patterns but they just didn't have quite what I was looking for. I knew I wanted a skirt with a high waist with some length, and I was thrilled when I found these patterns. I love vintage stuff, I don't necessarily pull it off very well, but who knows maybe this could be the start of something new for me!

I also re-did the blog (well it wasn't ever really 'done up'....I mean I only had one post.) and gave it a fancy name. Pretty cheesy, but that's alright I suppose. Sometimes cheesy is good, right?

Finished Quilt

"Summer in the park" Quilt (My version)

I started this a few weeks ago when I got my fabric from MSQC, and this past weekend I found myself with an entire day to work on it and I was able to assemble the quilt top :)

All the blocks before assembly

And one by one they come together :)

I haven't decided how I want to quilt this, I'm stuck between two designs...I'll let you know what I decide :)