Oak Grove Silent Auction Quilt - Part 1

I have a long history with Oak Grove Elementary school so when my mom asked me if I would make something for their silent auction, I couldn't resist! I was a student there from kindergarten to fifth grade, am still very close to some of the friends I made there, and stay in touch with some of the teachers and staff. My mom taught there while my brother Michael, sister Alissa, and I went to school there and returned there later in her career as the principal. I made history at Oak Grove with my campaign slogan 'I may be small, but I am on the ball'. I stood on a basketball and balanced myself for several minutes while I delivered my SCA presidential campaign speech! As president, I helped change the school colors from yellow and green (yuck) to black and gold (woo hoo!). I didn't actually want to change the mascot, but I was part of the SCA that ultimately changed the mascot from squirrel (so cute) to tiger (makes no sense with the Oaks but powerful!). I could go on but you probably want me to get to the point...

I decided to go with a pack of  Bali Pops in Strawberry Fields for the quilt since it had a nice range of colors, deep rich tones, and thought it would work well for a log cabin type pattern which I have been meaning to try. Here's what it looks like so far:

Sorry for the bad picture. I took it with my phone! I broke the strips up by color: teals, purples, multi, red, green, orange. I saved the lightest 4 strips to use for the center of all blocks. I then selected an orangey red from my stash and cut 2.5" squares for the centers. I added a few strips of a neat garden maze looking fabric from my stash to go around all 6 squares to unify them. I am using the leftovers from my log cabins to cut 2.5" squares of all of the fabrics to border all of the squares and plan to add the orangey red at each block corner. I think it's looking pretty neat so far. Batiks are crowd pleasers so I think this will do well at the silent auction!

Threaded Mess Revealed

If you've ever wondered to yourself, "Now why does Natalie call her blog Threaded Mess?"

Exhibit A:

Threaded mess.

Onsies for Benjamin

My sister Alissa sent me this adorable photo of Benjamin in the onesie I made and I thought I would share it with you:

I was worried it was too big a design but I think it looks pretty good on him! Lot's of projects going on this weekend...

Happy Sewing!

Scrappy Pincushion Swap - Big Reveal

Drum roll please.....



THE BIG REVEAL!


For all of those following along as I posted hints, here are the reveal pictures of the pincushion I made for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap!

Meet Freddy the Fish:

Freddy has one heck of a dorsal fin! He's got buggy eyes made from cover buttons and felt, and puckered lips just waiting for a kiss. Freddy was made without the use of a tutorial or pattern so he has some imperfections. His body was created using red wool felt which gives him a cool texture and stuffed with Batting Scraps. He's partially machine stitched for stability and partially hand stitched to get all of the fun details and piecing just right. Here are some more action shots:

Swap buddy, I made this strap for you using some of my favorite fabric! It's sturdy and won't slip on your wrist. You can also wear it a little higher on your arm if you prefer. If you get tired of this strap, or it doesn't fit just the way you like it, you should be able to make another one pretty easily using Peltex or Timtex and a strip of a fabric of your choice. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve before Freddy swims your way so stay tuned....

Happy Sewing!

UPDATE: Freddy has lots of fans! Several people have marked him as a favorite and he was added to this gallery! I hope you love him too Swap buddy!

Just the Girls

Matt is traveling for work so Lucy and I have the house to ourselves and we've been spending quality girl time watching Where the Heart Is and fixing the eyes on my pincushion for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap. Here's a new hint for my swap buddy:

I think I like them better...what do you think?

I'm off to iron some new Anna Maria Horner fabrics I bought at QuiltHome.com and Fabric.com so that I can make some clothes for myself.

Happy Sewing!

More Hints for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap

!!!!

Are those claws? Is that an eye and mouth? I hope you're wondering scrap partner!

Happy Sewing!

Sully Quilt Show

also posted on: novamodernquiltguild.blogspot.com

Kate (my buddy from the NOVA Modern Quilt Guild) and I went to the 2010 Sully Quilt show with my aunt Ginny and MIL Ann last Saturday (the 11th). It rained earlier in the day but by the time we arrived there was just enough cloud cover to keep it shady and just a little cool.

virginia.org

fairfaxcounty.gov

Vendors assembled on the grounds of the 1794 home of Richard Bland Lee for this annual fall event to show and sell new and antique quilts, quilt-related merchandise, other fiber arts, antique linens, antique sewing tools, books, and fabric. 

Surprisingly there were some modern gems mixed in with more traditional prints. I was able to pick up some out of print Amy Butler fat 16ths and an assortment of scraps that just looked fun. I also purchased some adorable stuffed animals made from vintage chenille that were just too cute to leave there. They will make great gifts for all the babies in the family. Kate and I both picked up some fat quarters that had a gray and lemongrass color story. Kate also picked up some great Moda pre-cuts!

Ann, Natalie, Kate

Ann, Natalie, Ginny

Happy Quilting!

Two More Hints for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap

A quick post and then I am off to rip the seams out of the dress I made this weekend...

Two more hints for my scrap partner left here on the Scrappy Pincushion Swap flickr group. I hope you're wondering what the velcro is for swap partner!

Happy Sewing!

Busy Little Bee

I've been busy girl catching up on my bee, swap, and a project for my sister! First up are my 2 blocks for the do.Good Stitches {a Charity Bee}:

This month our theme is blue and green slightly wonky squares within squares for a boy. I used all sorts of lovely scraps of this and that for these blocks and incorporated some solids because I love them. The apples were appliqued on my center square to tie in to another block someone else made. I figure there should be a hint of continuity even though each block will be a little different.

Next up are my first couple of hints for my scrap partner from my Scrappy Pincushion Swap:

Can you guess what it is?? I used some red wool felt scraps and a bit of Red Letter Day Pearl Bracelet in aqua for this beauty. Oh and guess what else? I stuffed it with BATTING SCRAPS! I hope my partner lurrrrrves it!

I am also doing the Modern Swappers swap because I couldn't resist. We haven't been given our hints yet about who are partner is so I haven't started anything but I'm really looking forward to it!

Last but not least, I made some burp cloths and bibs for my sister to give to her sister in law Dana:

I used some of my favorite Amy Butler Love prints on the front and nubby minky on the back of the bibs. For the burp cloths I used the same Amy Butler Love prints on cloth diapers. I threw away the package a long time ago but I think they were Gerber tri-folds from Target.

I also made a dress for myself to wear to the Sully Quilt show last Saturday but I don't have pictures yet. I will post some up here if I don't look too horrible in them...

Happy Sewing!

Onesie for Baby Benjamin - Part 2

Remember when I made those cutie pie onesies for Ben in this post? This was my first time attempting to machine applique something for a little boy. I was a little low on creative juices that night but managed to make a few really cute ones....with one exception:

Gah! Ok, stop looking at it! I know it's bad! To be honest, it looked girly to me and the poorly executed dark blue satin stitch around the light blue wonky rectangles (the "shooting" part of my shooting star) looked odd. I was torn because I couldn't stand the thought of giving it to my sister like that and I knew if I took out the stitching that the knit would tear.

I decided to take the stitching out carefully and see what I was left with. I won't show you...it was scary. I knew if I was going to keep the onesie that I would have to do something fairly big. I asked Matt what he thought would look good on a star background for a boy and he said "a rocket ship, or a solar system". I went with rocket ship because I figured I could make the rocket pretty big and cover up the holes that were left behind.

I did not have a template or anything but I am fairly good at drawing so I thought I would give it a whirl. I started with a piece of red fabric and drew the basic shape of a rocket with a couple of windows and other little details. I sewed some fun yellow fabric pieces behind my "windows" and cut them out from the front. I added some blue for the top and legs of the rocket and cut out some wonky yellow stars. I laid everything out but some of the holes were still visible so I used a light blue Kona charm pack square as a background behind the rocket and stars which covered up the last couple of questionable spots. I also sewed the holes closed from the inside.

Ben's rocket onesie

Rocket close up

I did some decorative stitching up at the top between the red and blue but otherwise used a straight stitch around the applique pieces. I left the raw edges out for all of the applique pieces because I think they will fray in the wash and look cool. So what do you think? Improvement?

Happy Quilting!

Featured on Crafterhours!

Hey go check out Crafterhours! My VT quilt is featured on the left sidebar:

Yesterday Adrianna had a great post about Hokie Football and I couldn't resist leaving a comment since I happened to go to the Hokie vs. Boise State game on Monday at FedEx Fields. Matt and I had awesome tickets in section 2 right behind one of the end zones.

Adrianna made the most adorable dresses for her girls from some Maroon effect and Orange effect t-shirts:

From Crafterhours

I can't wait to make cute Hokie gear for our kids someday! She also gave me some great tips on where to shop for Hokie clothes because I didn't have anything I wanted to wear for the game. I ended up making a necklace with a tube of Hokie fabric, and beads. I followed Amy Butler's method of putting beads in the tube with a knot on either side of the beads. Imagine this in Hokie orange and maroon novelty fabric (only my beads weren't at big and I only wanted it to wrap once):

Amy Butler Designs

I will post a picture of it as soon as I get home tonight soon.... Finally! TWO pictures!

Happy Quilting!