Update: Scrappy Christmas Block Swap

Looking for the original post about the swap? Scroll down one!

Just a quick update on the swap before we board a plane for the beach (update added to original swap post).

And if you've been daydreaming about what you might make with your blocks, check out this gorgeous tree skirt by AudreyPawdrey:

More details here. Posted with permission of AudreyPawdrey.

Scrappy Christmas Block Swap

UPDATE (to the above posted update): Thanks so much to Elizabeth for posting about the swap! I'm a bit overwhelmed by the response, but I do like a nice even number which means we have about 5 more spots (6 blocks = 1 spot; 12 blocks = 2 spots). WE ARE FULL! I will be sending out all the details when we return home from the beach on Saturday.

Please, please remember to leave your email address. I'm without emails from the following:

Andy
Lee Ann
Bridgid
Jo
Celeste
Tracey
Jeanette
Ginny
Melissa (from SC)
Humming Cat

*UPDATE OUT, back to vacation!*

Yes, it's still July.

Yes, I'm a planner at heart, and I would like to finish a Christmas quilt *before* the actual holiday.

I would really like a scrappy Christmas quilt, but I don't want to buy a lot of miscellaneous fabric to make my quilt look scrappy.

You?

How about you join me for the 2009 Scrappy Christmas Block Swap?


It's easy! You can choose to commit to 6 blocks or 12 blocks, and get the same in return. We will be making blocks using Elizabeth's Scrappy Starling block tutorial at Oh, Fransson! (thanks, Elizabeth!). The blocks you create should feature holiday fabric, but do not have to be made solely of Christmas fabric. Feel free to include your favorite seasonal colors, polka dots, stripes, and fun patterns. When you finish your blocks you will mail two blocks to each of your team members. Deadline for mailing is September 1, which gives you plenty of time to back, quilt, and bind your quilt by the holidays.

Show your interest by commenting on this post...be sure to include your email address if you are a no-reply/anonymous commenter! I will allow signups until August 1, or until I feel overwhelmed.

*Also* if you really enjoy making these blocks you can send me an extra block and I will assemble a quilt to be auctioned with all proceeds being donated to charity. Because Christmas is about giving!

Photo courtesy of Oh, Fransson!Now imagine this quilt in holiday fabrics keeping you cuddly warm all through the holiday season (or looking lovely as decor for our friends in the southern hemisphere)!

PS Those of you who expressed interest to me before this post will get an email from me to confirm participation...or you can comment here and I will consider you committed!

Bloggy Friends Meet Up

Courtney and I have been emailing, swapping, and blog-visiting for almost a year now, and when she mentioned that her family would be visiting Ohio we jumped at the chance to get together! We had intended to meet at a local minor league baseball game but standing room only made us rethink that. Instead Charlie and I spent the morning following Jaxon around COSI and met Courtney for lunch, and then her crew of kids and cousins enjoyed the museum.

The disappointing part of missing the baseball game was the 3 or 4 hours we could have had to sit and talk. As it was we filled an hour and a half with non-stop chatting...and of course, gift exchange!

I made Courtney a wristlet to commemorate her journey from Texas to Ohio and as a thank you for knitting me mitts.



But it looks like I still owe her that thank you, as she brought me gifts as well!

This little lidded dish is the color of the paint I bought for my sewing room walls! Until the room is reassembled it is in a place of honor on the shelves.

And the artist who created the bowl also gave Courtney a free berry bowl (actually, I think one for each of us) because of a small crack in the bottom. Beautiful!


Courtney, I enjoyed meeting you so much, and can't wait to meet up again!

Addict

Do you find yourself trolling fabric web sites in anticipation of your next score? Do you pine for the mailman to bring you that next hit of fabric bliss? Do you hoard certain fabrics knowing that it could be your last taste of that line?

Welcome to Fabric-holics Anonymous. Only I'm not so anonymous. You might remember my after-Fourth-of-July posting of a few new fabric acquisitions...it hasn't ended there. As many of you can understand, money is a bit tight for us right now so I am now reliant on gift cards and Etsy sales. I keep a separate bank account for Etsy transactions, and everything I sell goes into this account for replenishment of sewing necessities. That account is now depleted so I guess I better get to work filling my Etsy store!

Z&S Fabrics was having a "clear out the store" sale as their orders from Market are starting to roll in. I got this order for under $15 including shipping!

From bottom up, half yard cuts of: Prints Charming's Two Young Street for Marcus Brothers, Jackii Jones's Nearsighted for Marcus Brothers, Rosemarie Lavin's Mambo for Windham, Kathy Hall's Mid-Century Modern for Andover, Anna Griffin's Mackenzie Christmas for Windham

And when I was writing the post about this Orla Kielly-like fabric I discovered the rest of the line. OH MY! I found it at Rainbow Fabrics.

Apples and Apple Trees for Timeless Treasures

And.....

Home Sewing is Easy for Alexander Henry
....for a project to be revealed later!

And lucky for this addict, I won a gift certificate from Kathy at Pink Chalk Fabrics for choosing a selected fabric combo. Now I need to decide, do I put that GC toward the fabric I need to make new curtains for the dining room, or do I buy some of my selected combo...or some Summer Soiree??

But lest you believe I sit in piles of raw fat quarters, I *did* actually make a little something for myself.


Pattern: Wide Leg Lounge Pants from Amy Butler's In Stitches

Fabric: Route 66 for Alexander Henry

Result: Not love...I might take out the drawstring and do some elastic. The pants have a low rise and tend to loosen and droop the longer they're on...I think I should have made a "lounge dress" instead!

The day after....

The party is over...the dishes washed and put away...but Jaxon's new gifts cover the living room floor and I didn't have the heart to take down the decorations. So the dining room remains in this state.

I have a lot to tell you, but I am going to dole out it all out slowly...so stay tuned for some new fabric, a couple of finished projects, a bloggy friends meet up, and info on the scrappy Christmas block swap.

I'll leave you with the birthday boy in his new shirt...already out of date as he is now 3 years old and 3 days!

The right way to celebrate independence....

....is to buy fabric!

The last of my birthday JoAnn gift cards....

All from the clearance rack...a microsuede from the home dec dept., and flowers, stripes, and fruit

And *most* of my FatQuarterShop.com gift cards from Mother's Day...

Half yards of "Apple" From Timeless Treasures (reminded me of Orla Kiely), and two prints from "Wildwood" From Free Spirit

A fat quarter pack of Jewel Tones from Michael Miller

Two charm packs and two one yard cuts of "Have a Sheri Berry Holiday" from Northcott (I had a hard time deciding between that and this)

I couldn't help myself when it came to the Christmas fabric...good thing I am going to be organizing a scrappy Christmas block swap!

And another way to celebrate independence:

With the cutest boy in the U.S.!

Then and Now

Today is our eighth anniversary...sometimes it seems it has gone so fast and sometimes it seems eight isn't a big enough number!

Here we are then....


And now....


I made my honey some lemon bars.


I made *me* a dress (from this free pattern).


Notes on pattern...the cut is very generous. If I make this one again I will cut the top to small/medium (and I am a 37 bust). The elastic thread didn't like me much at first...it worked much better when I stretched a bit when I wound the bobbin. Also, I added an inch and a half to the length, and then cut off four inches when I hemmed -- it's got plenty of length!

I'll try to get a shot of me wearing it soon...perhaps when we celebrate our anniversary this weekend. It's so nice that we get fireworks for our celebration...forget that "other" national holiday!

Thanks to those who showed interest in a Christmas block swap. I'll start organizing after Jaxon's birthday next week.

Woot. I did it.

What was I waiting for? Why was I so afraid of free motion quilting?

I finally took the plunge.


Yes, this is the front. But those of you who preferred the sashing, don't despair....


....maybe *this* is the front! I didn't want to purchase any fabric for this project and I didn't have enough to back two quilts...so now I have a "reversible" quilt.

The FMQ wasn't bad at all *except*:
1. I kept reading how fatiguing it is...but it's hard to believe how tired my shoulders were!
2. Logically I understand why this would take so much thread. But I was still shocked that 8 bobbins weren't enough.

The key to the whole hand speed vs. machine speed ratio for me seems to be music. If I got too focused on quilting I would mess up, but if I was bopping around to upbeat music (put Michael Jackson into Pandora, you won't be sorry. MJ, Stevie, Marvin Gaye, Prince, and even Queen and the Beatles!!) I wouldn't get overly stressed about what I was doing. I think margaritas would have a similar effect. I will test this and let you know.

Speaking of messing up, I had one major faux pas.


HMMMM....Where'd that crease come from? I didn't baste well, most of my safety pins are tied up in half done quilts, and I didn't feel like hand basting. I paid for it (plus I think I should try starting in the middle instead of the edge, but I liked hiding the beginning of my quilting in the binding). I'm not pulling all the quilting out to fix this -- I'm leaving it as a badge of honor on my first FMQ quilt! More pictures coming when I finish the binding.


Also, I tried Angry Chicken's Iced Tea concentrate this week and I am in love. Super fast, super easy, and super good! This is one family bag of decaf black tea and two bags of blueberry tea. Yummy! I do a ratio of one glassful of ice, two thirds full of water and topped off with concentrate.

And lastly, I've been thinking about organizing a Christmas in August swap/modified round robin. I love Christmas fabrics, I love scrappy quilts...what could be better than putting them together?!? I thought each participant could make six (or 12?) scrappy Christmas blocks (maybe based on Oh, Fransson's scrappy starling tutorial) and send a block or two to each participant (more planning inserted here). Then we would each end up with 12 Christmas blocks in a variety of different fabrics without having to buy a ton of fabric. Then we would have plenty of time to assemble, quilt, and bind before the holidays! Would anyone be interested?

Poodles and Pop

I got a bug in my bonnet for a new skirt and dug the biggest piece of fabric I could find out of my stash. I had bought a pattern a few weeks ago that included a petticoat for a dress I have, and decided to take this costume poodle skirt and make it into work wear!


It took a lot of fabric, I had to piece the yardage I had to make it work.



I've also made a decision about my Old Red Barn Quilt-Along quilt, which you should see the results of later today or tomorrow!

I want to end with a little mourning for Michael Jackson. Michael was a big part of my childhood; "Thriller" was the first album I bought (I can still do the Vincent Price "rap" from start to finish), and I was also the proud owner of "Bad" on vinyl. When my college radio station did an 80s retrospective, they knew to come to me to borrow "HIStory."

He was a talented man, better equipped to deal with the stage than he was the rest of his life. I think of him as two people, the musician of the late 60s-early 90s, and the man who couldn't deal with celebrity, who also seemed to be trying to change himself into someone else.

This is the Michael Jackson I choose to remember, singing my favorite of all of his hits:

Help! I need somebody.....

....to love. Wait, I'm getting my Beatles and Queen mixed up. I *really* need some help deciding how to proceed with my Old Red Barn Quilt-Along blocks. Yes, I am still behind.

I attempted to lay out all the blocks today. Not easy to do with a nervous old golden retriever and an active almost-three-year-old. Forty-two 12.5" blocks make a big quilt! I think regardless of how I decide to assemble the blocks I am going to make two smaller lap quilts rather than one big quilt. But should I butt all the squares up against one another:


Or make 4 block squares and add sashings?


Thoughts?

Also, Courtney and I have been eyeing this retro baseball-themed fabric for our baseball-themed swap -- and The Fabric Shopper is doing a giveaway. Wish me luck, and let me know if you see this in any online shops!

Cleveland Rocks!

We spent the weekend in Cleveland celebrating my dad's retirement (36 years teaching middle school). My dad is a huge Indians fan so we hit up a baseball game and spent the next day at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Jaxon wasn't thrilled by the game, too loud, and didn't "get" the hall of fame...but he sure enjoyed the waterfront!



I also delivered this custom order to my sister to give to a woman at work who just had a baby.


Now it's back to grading. I'll come up for air on Wednesday!

Strips for Quilt

Strips for Quilt
Originally uploaded by modernjax

I've joined Old Red Barn Co.'s Quilt-Along. I'm a week behind, but I chose all the fabric from my stash (nothing purchased) based on these Hawaiian prints a friend bought on a trip to the islands.

Also, I am guest blogging over at T Minus, T Plus, a fashion blog. I'll be featured every Friday in June!

Are we there yet?

It seems like this school year should have been over *weeks* ago, but we are still chugging along. This is the last week of classes, next week is finals week, and then it's grading time. *sigh*

I've been absolutely swamped, but I have stolen a few moments at the sewing machine. It seems the concept of making a large quilt in a week was a silly one (as I am now going on week 3), but I did make progress.

The backing:


Basted:


Soon to be quilting! Be back soon!

In the blink of an eye

The week is over in a blink! It's hard to believe Mother's Day was a week ago.

We went handmade this year (kind of including my gift -- a GC to FatQuarterShop.com). I made my mom and my MIL pillow shams. Jaxon's school had a fundraiser over the holiday where parents could by their children's artwork on mugs, matted prints, tshirts, postcards, and squares of fabric. I used Jaxon's tree as the center square with this cute tree-themed fabric from JoAnn.

I got one shot before Jaxon hijacked the pillows.

After that, I got one more shot off before I was told no more pictures!

I also made rice therapy packs for my sis and SIL. They were inspired by one I received from Courtney (that I never got a photo of because it's been in use all the time). I kind of miscalculated the amount of rice necessary and I now have a giant mixing bowl full of lemon and eucalyptus scented rice. Or as Charlie says, "lemon pledge and mentholyptus."



Now that these gifts are done, I've decided to challenge myself. Can I make a quilt in a week? Not a doll quilt or a table runner -- but an honest to goodness quilt-sized quilt! I had all the fabric cut for my beach/picnic blanket so I started sewing blocks on Wednesday. Here they are as of this morning, they are now sewn together in a quilt top.


This was probably a really bad challenge to do during the school year, but I have so many WIPs I wanted to see if I could actually complete something start to finish in a shorter time frame than the year it usually takes me. Of course, I've completed the part I like -- now I need to piece the backing and baste. UGH. This won't be done by Wednesday -- too many papers to grade!! -- but maybe by the weekend.

And look what the mail carrier brought to my house this week: a swap package from Courtney. I was so excited to get this lovely quilt on the table that I forgot to also photograph the accompanying fabric coasters! Thanks Courtney!

This is called "April Showers bring May Flowers." Check out the *adorable* rain print!

Spring Swap

Thanks for all the kind comments about my tenure. My director has received a copy of my promotion letter, but I have yet to see my copy, so I have been joking that this is all an elaborate hoax. But it better not be!!

Courtney and I are swapping again (we can't be stopped). We decided on a spring-themed mini quilt with embroidery and one other item. I was inspired by her post about Jay's Meadow, and, as usual Project Improv. You may need sunglasses for these pics -- the quilt *is* bright, and it was an extra sunny day -- and my batteries died before I could shoot more than a couple of pictures.

I drew some flowers on linen, and then embroidered using two different shades of pink. I filled in all the blank areas with french knots, going for the look of a wild meadow.

After some machine quilting, I had the perfect spot on the back for a label...

Whoops, this is before I stitched down the label.

And I also made a necklace out of fabric covered beads (Midwest Modern Ohio Sky). I love how this turned out (I *must* make one for me) but I am a little concerned about its staying power. Courtney, keep me posted on how it wears!

My batteries died right after this shot, and I was too lazy to dig out the fully charged set, so this will have to do.

Also, I've been meaning to "comment" on this post by Joanna about turning off commenting on her blog. Can you other bloggers identify with this? I can, but not completely. I *do* feel guilt about being a delinquent responder to comments, and I agonize over you "no-reply" commenters (commenters who only leave a name, but no way of responding via email). I always think, "Does she know I can't respond, or does she think I'm ignoring her thoughtful comment?" When the no-reply commenter has a blog, I always try to leave a comment....but wonder if it is enough. Oh, the angst!

I also identify with Joanna feeling sorry for herself for not getting "enough" comments. I recognize that this is ridiculous, having a blog is not a popularity contest (and admitting my insecurities has me insecure), but there it is.

I think, though, for me blogging is not just about throwing my thoughts/work/family out there into the internet ether, but making connections with people who, although aren't geographically near me, share a commonality. Whether that commonality is crafting, or caring for a toddler, or balancing a career with both those former things, it's nice to have friends who understand me....even if they don't "know" me in a traditional sense.

So I am making the choice to leave my commenting "on." I look forward to hearing from you, old friends.

Necessary Fabric Hoarding

I finished a couple of gifts today but, along with a package I sent out last week, I can't share with you yet. I need to start making for myself instead of making gifts so I have something to post!

I did do *something* for myself. I've been drooling over Elizabeth House's new line, Red Letter Day. It's finally available and I snatched up a fat quarter pack -- (*justification ahead*) I needed to see the whole line to match to my dining room for curtains, etc.


Here's what I am thinking:

Trees = roman shade; Rings = french door curtains (this looks yellow on the linked page but is actually green); stripe = chair pads for the chairs currently without

I like how the tree print has black (like the furniture), green (like the walls), and orange (like two of my vintage chairs and the pads on the others). Thoughts or other ideas?

And, you know, you save on shipping if you place a bigger order (don't burst my bubble), so I picked up this as well:

I have a feeling this will be one of those prints that I can't bring myself to cut. *sigh*

edited to add: I almost forgot! I found out today that my tenure case has been approved. I am now an Associate Professor.

May Already??

I haven't posted in awhile thinking I didn't have any pictures to share (and I hate a photo-less post). I had two projects I couldn't show you, so I avoided posting. When I downloaded my photos from the camera this evening I realized I had plenty to show you: I have the cutest boy in the world!

I *can* show you one of the projects -- my mom's birthday quilt. Mom's birthday is today (Happy Birthday), and we gave her the quilt yesterday so I am now safe. You might remember this quilt top from way back here. I put it on the back burner when I thought mom might suspect she was getting it for Christmas. I am happy to say I finished this in time to include in my Spring to Finish. I need a hand quilting break for a bit.

Speaking of Spring to Finish, Jacquie is doing a second in May (because some of us have a lot of WIPs to finish)!! I'm hoping to get two or three half-done projects off my plate, and will be including the painting of my sewing room on the list.

In non-crafting news, we took Jaxon to Final Friday in April, and let him look at the trains. He was a bit disappointed he couldn't climb all over them, but still had fun.


Also, in my April roundup:

We ate watermelon...

...and put paper towels on our heads.

Fun!