Film Placemats

I started brainstorming when my mom told me my brother wanted to decorate with a movie theme in his new place. What I ended up making was a set of film strip placemats. 

I love the way they turned out. I have one bound and the other just needs to have the back tacked down. 

I made them up as I went along, so they are a little oversized, but I really didn't want to end up with one inch squares. That is just too small for my taste. :) Here's the completed one testing out my kitchen table.

oh the anticipation

I am so excited about the gift I am making right now. I am debating if I should even post this. I want to share, but I want to wait to so that I can share a finished product. This project I am making is a set of two of the same thing. Had the first come together as quickly as the second, I might be done. But alas, I grew hungry and tired of sewing and cutting (and pressing) and have a little more yet to do. So now I leave you wondering, and hopefully you will be as excited about my reveal as I am! tee-hee-hee

And since a post is no fun without a photo... here is my 2-year old nephew is the midst of eating a chocolate cupcake with red frosting last night. (went to an informal concert last night when I stopped sewing) And thanks to my husband for doing the dishes while I did my sewing.

Christmas gift making

This year I am making most of my Christmas gifts.

This pillow is for my brother. I used canvas drop cloth for the fabric and stitched on felt pieces. I plan on making a non-holiday pillow cover as well.
(this is under my lovely tree. You see my fabric piled up to the right)

Then, for all the nieces and nephews I have (which I need to use two hands to count), I am making matching pajama pants. I just need to have them all over at once so they know they all match!

These are 18 month old size (for a 2 year old) and the smallest ones I've made. (This pair isnt' finished btw) I have 3 more pairs cut and ready to sew waistbands and hems into.

I have more gifts I have been working on. I'll take a picture when I have the set ready to go. We are having a gift exchange this weekend. I hope my gift is considered "fight-worthy." I hear this group gets quite rowdy at these.

Like a kid on Christmas

I had some birthday money from just about 2 months ago, and have been wavering on what to get with it. I knew what I wanted. Some Terrain fabric by Kate Spain. I have been drooling over the colors since it came out. I love jewel tones and knew that I would make a personal wrap-myself-up-on-the-couch-quilt with it if I could. But it isn't cheap. I thought, maybe a fat quarter bundle! Even when they were on sale, it was way more than my $30 gift card. 

Fast forward a few weeks, and I think layer cake! I searched online and found one for $25 on etsy. With shipping costs, it was just what I had. WooHoo!

...

I got it in the mail last night, oh it is so beautiful. Beautiful maroon, hot pink, lovely shades of teal... aaah, love. I'm not a big a fan orange, but I might just have to use that too as it all coordinates so well. 

I can't wait to carve out some time to sew it all together. I am going to have to stop by the LQS to get some coordinating solids. I might just do some sashing with different colors in the cross part and a border. I am going to have to work out all the measurements and fabric variations to see what works best. Basically I am less concerned with the details of the quilt and more interested in showing off the fabric!
....
modabakeshop.com ideas:
What if I got solids for the back and made this 2x as big?
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/11/cathedral-window-baby-playmat.html

This looks like more work than my original idea, but I think it would be gorgeous. http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/09/ruby-pearl-and-opal-quilt.html

Christmas fun

I have gotten a sewing bug. I enjoyed finishing up my last quilt so much that I have been ready to charge forward with more projects. Last night I decided to work on a Christmas coffee sleeve. I use my Java one nearly every day and thought it was time to go seasonal! So I whipped this one up:

I love the red and white and cute little snowmen!


I had used some leftover charm squares from a pillow I made last year. (and have used year long- shh) And I still had some squares left. I also came across the EZ dredsen ruler that I got a while ago, and so decided that I would try it out on my charms.

As I cut and laid them out I worried that I was not going to have enough to finish the circle. But I did! with 2 squares left. Last night I sewed the points and flipped them around, and today I pressed and pieced them all together. I don't care much for pressing, but the anticipation of seeing it complete made it worth it.

I love it! It is super cute, and I can't wait to make a pillow out of it so that I have two for Christmas. The picture is on the back of the first pillow.

I can see the finish line!

I am almost finished - finally. It seems like forever ago when I started this quilt. I just have to tack the binding down. I used a pattern by Natalia at Piece N Quilt.
This is my first free-motion quilting where I am had an idea of what I was doing. I did pebbles in the white area, Charger bolts in the yellow, and footballs around the border (some look deflated, but oh well). I also wrote the recipient's name into the border. It is a bit crooked as the quilt was really pulling against me.
(sorry for the upside down photos. I'm not sure I can rotate them in blogger.)

Baby Headband

I was curious to try making some yoyo's, so this weekend with some scraps I made this. It will be a headband for a one-year old. I haven't trimmed and finished it yet since I don't have a clue how big her head is. :) It is Breakfast at Tiffany's line from Fig Tree Quilts and just looks so sweet for a little girl. The larger brown yoyo I made by rounding out a charm square. The smaller ones are an inch and a quarter (if that).  I used a tutorial I found on pinterest to make them.