Another: No More Fabric Pledge

Once upon a time long, long ago I made a pledge of honor to my husband that I wouldn't buy any more fabric. For 6 months last year I fabric fasted and only bought yardage when I needed it for a specific project. Each trip to the craft and fabric store was an exercise in restraint (read my story from Stashtacular last year to get a flavor of what I mean). It was hard but I did it. I made it though 6 months and come December 2011 I was ready to hoard again.

And boy did I. For Christmas I was gifted lots of fabric. A fat quarter bundle of Heirloom by Joel Dewberry. 4 total yards of some really pretty dark flowery fabric my husband picked out and bought for me all by himself at the Fabric Depot. $50 worth of fabric from SewPo in red, aqua, yellow and grey.

Then there was the trip to Jo-Ann's where I got a few DS things and some other stash worth prints.  And recently I went seeking Flea Market Fancy II only to come back with a rainbow fat quarter pack, a few prints from A stitch in color by Malka Dubrawsky for Moda, lovely linen and some misc. stashings.

It's not that I went over board....okay maybe I did a little. But it's more that ALL of the fabrics are still in the craft cave just waiting to be cut and sewn. I have ideas...I have books...I have blogs...I have inspiration. What I don't have is the time to make all those ideas, patterns and projects.
And I already have a handful of quilts in progress that are beckoning me to sit down and stitch. There's the

1. Warm/Cool QAL with my vintage stash
2. Calico nine-patch which I've been happily working on the past few weeks
3. Cow boy quilt for Baby J using the Storm at Sea pattern
4. A lovely box of vintage bow ties given to me by my Grandma a few years ago
5. Fun things just for me
6. Along with any custom work that comes my way

That's a hefty list...a list that will probably take me through the end of the year if I'm honest about it. Without cutting into all the above beauties!

So once again I am pledging to not buy any new fabrics for the stash until 2013. Eight whole months of no new fabrics. I'm already excited to get reacquainted with my new purchases and see what the year brings.

Cheers!
Kelly

PS. I thought I'd add in my fabric pledge from Stashtacular last year...(edited just a bit)

I pledge to use my stash, no more fabric for this lass.
My shelves are overflowing with fabric I've been stowing
just waiting for the perfect chance.
Cut it up, stitch it right, quilt it nice and tight.

These designers beckon cutting!
Those patterns don't need coveting,
on the fabrics I've been hoarding.

I pledge to use my stash,
and go a whole 8 months without spending cash.
Instead I'll sew a quilt for my cousin, 
or donate a dozen until my fabric has been slashed.

Then I'll go shopping to fill my stacks with more cotton
and start my fabric stashing scores once more!

Friday Inspiration: Creative Process

The natural flow of the creative process for me and how to come into the middle*. And some pictures to boot. 

INSPIRED

 lots of ideas

 creativity flows

 unique creations

 puzzle pieces fit

MIDDLE GROUND

finish ideas

continue creative process

slow and steady

work through the steps

UNINSPIRED

No new fun

repetitive sewing

feel in a rut

depressed 

do you find yourself in one of these categories most the time too? Swinging like a pendulum can become stress full; remembering to enjoy the middle, expect the uninspired and take advantage of inspiration when it hits. Where ever that might be. 

Cheers,

Kelly 

*(as has been rolling around in my head after hearing about Imagine: How Creativity Works by: Jonah Lehrer on npr)

Scrappy Rainbow Pillows

Rainbow scraps are still a big part of the sewing I do for fun. And this pillow was super fun to make. A two sided scrappy rainbow pillow block in HST's and flying geese. The top side of the pillow echos a granny square block but on a bigger scale and different color layout. I only had so many HSTs to work with so this pattern came about. I like how the red draws your eye around. 

The over sized flying geese blocks were made with triangles of the same size yielding a robust rectangle. I like how it shows off the prints just a little bit more. Around the central block are more scraps in the same colors as the adjoining geese blocks. I love how this blends in the pillow and makes it bigger. 

The quilting is simple stipple on the HST side and on the geese side simple outlines paired with wavy lines around the boarder. I used a nice big zipper to aid in the easy up keep of these beauties. This was also the first time I used my Go! Baby fabric cutter. I used the 4" finished HST die to cut all the triangles. Super easy for fabric scraps but a lot of waste to use clean cut yardage. 

Along with the rainbow pillow I made a blue and red one to match the living room; it's comfy but not as cute. I think one more pillow is in order and that one will be another rainbow of some sort! And there will probably be a tutorial involved for that rainbow goodness.

Cheers!

Kelly

Look for on the link parties I love page to find out where I've link up this week.

oh, and I just found out about this contest check it out over at http://www.canoeridgecreations.com/

Still Not {Over the Rainbow}

1. Somewhere Under The Rainbow III, 2. Pillow or... [FtLoS swap], 3. rainbow acorn color wheel,
4. Color Wheel Quilt, black and white, 5. Squares Fussy-Cut, 6. Mosaic Block, 7. Rainbow Colours.,
8. Rainbow colors of glass insulators, 9. Wide View Rainbow Colours, 10. another rainbow quilt,
11. Hiratsuka Tanabata Matsuri, 12. For Kimmie - STUD, 13. Rainbow Puddle
All Photos chosen from Flickr

I can't get enough rainbow inspiration.Rainbows are everywhere; in nature and in the unexpected places of a puddle, a celebration, a quilt. Notice how each quilt mimics a scene as if inspired by the photo. Enjoy the rainbows and your weekend, lovely friends.

Cheers!
Kelly

Sewing for Men: The Final Sew

The past few months have been all about sewing for the men in my life. Friends were up first with a shirt for the Hunter and a custom quilt for the Musician. It was time to turn that attention onto the most deserving man in my life; Husband. Here we are in NYC on top of the Empire State Building a few years ago (before Baby J - look how relaxed and refreshed we are!)

While making the shirt for the Hunter I kept thinking 'why aren't I doing this for Hubby too?' So I decided to make him a shirt; but his shirt was going to be a Pendelton Woolen Mills shirt for Christmas. Yummy, yummy $15/yard (on rement!) wool. So I bought the fabric (easy) found a pattern (kinda easy) and started the shirt (not so easy!).  Christmas passed...no shirt. Then the Finish Along at Quilter in the Gap started and I knew this shirt was going to get done. But wait! His February birthday passed...no shirt. Uh, oh it was getting close, and after a few mishaps I wanted to throw it back in the UFO pile! But I didn't I kept at it and finally it happened.

Hooray! A finish! This shirt was not difficult to make, but it was hard to fit. I wanted Hubby to have a custom shirt, the right length (his torso is shorter than most) and the right style (he's under stated to say the least).

I embroiderer his initials on the pocket and even used my automatic button hole AND sewed the buttons on with the Viking for the first time. Both worked super and saved a lot of time. No fear of those features anymore!

The last details of the shirt took some time. I'd sew a few steps of the pattern and then put it down waiting for a time when I was 'fresh' to start. Staying away from late night pattern sewing....I've learned my lesson there. It just leads to seam ripping in the morning! The color of the wool is hard to tell, but it's a cross weave of blue and black which makes sense that the pics are blue and black!

Happy to have it finished......it was more a labor of love for me than for Hubby. He likes it and all but I really don't think it's that big of a deal for him! Ah, sewing for me. I mean men.

Cheers!
Kelly

ps. Rhonda find my original post about this shirt here.