{Sew} Modern Monday

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! It was in the high 70s here & I was wearing a sundress yesterday!! Today it's in the 30s & trying to snow. You gotta love springtime!

For me it was a weekend of quilting firsts for me.

Saturday I used 505 spray basting for the first time, I'm in love! It's so quick & easy to use.

And I got the vertical lines quilted on my Tula Pink couch quilt. I decided to use some of the Aurifil thread we got from Sewing Summit last October, used the 28 weight in lime. What a great thread!! I will definitely be buying more in the future.

This was actually my second attempt at quilting a large quilt on my home machine. They first time was my very first quilt & it was pretty much a lumpy disaster. The nice thing is that quilt was just going to go in the car so it didn't matter how ugly it turned out. At least my corners matched up! ;)

Since I only have about 20 yds of thread left after finishing the vertical quilting I will be doing the horizontal lines in a reddish brown some time this week.

I also finished my black & neon quilt top (second picture down on linked page) & will be finishing that up hopefully over the weekend.

There was also some dyeing (above) and redwork (below) going on over the weekend!

Linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations

Fave 5 Friday

Today my 5 favorite pictures are all about sewing. Enjoy!

My design wall. On the top, more progress on my Hometown Heart & Home quilt (sorry the giveaway on my LQS blog is closed). On the bottom, my Little Apples HSTs and blocks that have started arriving from the 3x6 & 4x5 bees.

Sherbet Pips demo quilt for my work is finished!

I learned how to use the longarm this week. So far, I've only learned to use programmed designs, but there's a lot to that too. You don't just set it up & let it go. Well, maybe a little. :) Hopefully soon I'll be able to learn more detailed & free motion quilting. That's what I'd like to do for my sister's wedding quilt.

The lovely Amy (needledfig) taught me how to crochet yesterday. We had a great lesson on all the basic stitches. She made them so easy to learn. In return I showed her how to do hand piecing, which is how I'm doing by Farmer's Wife Quilt. I think I got the better end of the deal. :)

I was so excited about my new skill that I found a tutorial for granny squares and made this fun little thing. There are definitely some problem areas, but I'll get it eventually. I also started a cowl for winter, but when I got to my 4th row (of 145 stitches!) I realized that I had, in fact, gotten it twisted. Blargh!

I designed a flannel charm pack scarf this week (so stay tuned for a tutorial soon). Sorry about the goofy self portrait. Jake was supposed to be my model, but it never happened.

Lindsay from Lindsay Sews posted this charm pack on Flickr to swap & I jumped at the chance! I am such a fan of Tula Pink. I love all her whimsical designs. I swapped her a Hometown charm pack & one of my fun little sketchbooks. This charm pack is going to become kitchen goodies. I am in desperate need of new oven mitts & have super ugly pot holders, so soon I will have beautiful bug-y decor in my kitchen instead! :)

Thanks for visiting! If you'd like to join the party just post your 5 (or so) favorite pictures from the past week. Be sure to mention that you're linking up here & there's a button on the sidebar if you'd like. Then come back here and link up. It's as easy as that!

WIP Wednesday

After living in the mountains for the past few years, and having a very short summer on the Montana prairie last year, I am no longer used to hot weather. July & August were miserably hot and humid (for Wyoming), and since the A/C in the house doesn't work well I was basically a puddle on the floor for most of the summer. Working in a sewing room with a hot iron was out of the question.

With the beginning of September it has cooled down considerably and the leaves are starting to turn yellow. Soon it will be hunting season, The Sewing Summit, our wedding anniversary, jeans & sweater weather...I LOVE autumn!

I know it will warm up again before winter, but I sure am enjoying the cooler nights & tolerable days. I was able to get quite a lot done on Saturday.

Here's what I've been working on:

I completed more work on the Heart & Home quilt that I'm making for our friend as a wedding gift. I'm using Sweetwater's Hometown. Such a great collection!

30 Misfit tree blocks. They still need to be trimmed down, but they will be heading to Kentucky this week where Amanda will be dispersing the trees to all the other Misfits.

Halloween quilt, I'm still working on the layout of the blocks.

Little Apples HSTs. I started with the 2.5" mini charms. Still trying to figure a layout for these as well. I was trying to organize them by color, but my plan is not working so far. I may go for a more random layout as far as color goes.

I also finished bee blocks for 2 bees & got my fabric out because September is my month for String Me Along.

Be sure to visit Lee @ Freshly Pieced and see what everyone else has been working on.

Fave 5 Friday

Sewing Fun!

I don't think I've shared this with you yet. I made this picture holder wall hanging for my friend Bree who just had a handsome little boy last month. The beads in the lower left say "Goose" which is what they called him while she was pregnant.

I also made her this really cool Obi Wrap (from the One Yard Wonders book) with a scented rice bag. I used lavender & rosemary essential oils to scent the rice.

Another amazing quilt from the Neversweat Needler's Quilt Show in Dubois, Wy.

An awesome pillowcase I made with Heather Ross' Far Far Away III.

Close up of the band.

And for you foodies... homemade walnut pesto. YUM!

Fave 5 Friday link party:

Post your 5 favorite pictures from the last week (or so) & link up here. Easy peasy!

I still haven't figured out the button completely, but if you would like you may use the Fave 5 Friday picture I have at the top of the post. Just be sure to link the picture to this post.

Fave 5 Friday

French Knots!

Evening tea on the patio.

Striped binding.

Whimsical quilts. Seen at the Neversweat Needlers Quilt Show in Dubois, Wy.

Smoky sunsets.

I'm am trying out my first linky party. Hopefully this works. If it does, post your 5 favorites from the week & link up here. :)

*It looks like it worked! Hooray! Hopefully next week I'll have a button. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's faves*

Quilt Tops & Screen Doors

My parents just left today after a long weekend visiting. It was a very nice visit & we had a lot of fun going to the rodeo (more on that later this week), driving around the area, and just hanging out at home.

My mom is an amazing sewist and taught me garment making last year. This year she wanted to learn how to quilt so she was my first quilting student.

Mom's first quilt top. Made with an Etchings charm pack & using the Bennington pattern in Schnibbles Times Two by Carrie Nelson.

I finally finished my A Morris Tapestry quilt. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it had ended up in my "on hold" pile. After cutting the border twice (short both times) and running out of fabric I had to rethink it a bit. I think it turned out better than my original plan. :)

Since we have moved so much my parents have never gotten us a house warming present. (It wasn't something I had ever thought of, but something my mom brought up recently.) So while they were here we headed over to Menard's in Scottsbluff and got screen doors & a weed whacker! So awesome! Now I only have to fight with the bugs when I'm outside.

My dad played on the riding lawn mower most of the day yesterday and the "yard" looks amazing! :)

They also brought this with them. When my grandfather passed away recently we received a flag for his service in the Army Air Corps during WWII. We also received a flag for grandma, who was in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve and served in New York during WWII. They never received a flag when she passed away, but now that everything's computerized they discovered the mistake. My brother has the other one so this flag is in honor of both grandparents' service for our country.

And see that painting in the upper left hand corner? One of several paintings that I own that grandpa did. :)

Thanks for visiting!

Finished Quilt Top

Yesterday I shared a quilt top that I was working on for work. Well, I finished it today. When I went through the blocks again I realized I didn't have as much unpicking as I had originally thought (which is always a good thing). :)

Today I finished it.

Isn't it pretty? :)

Hopefully we can get it on the longarm soon so I can bind it & we can put it on display in the shop. Can't wait to see what I get to make next!

Also, yesterday I went into town to help with the 4H activity day. They were making Little Dresses for Africa using Nancy's Notions pattern. It took longer than expected, but it went pretty well. They did a great job with the bias tape, good thing we got the extra wide kind! They'll all be on display at the Niobrara County Fair in a couple weeks, so I'll be sure to snap a picture to share all the lovely dresses these girls & boys made.

Little Dresses for Africa actually sends these dresses all over the world, including here in the US. So, if you have a little extra fabric or pillowcases & a few hours, I highly recommend sewing up a few dresses for needy girls around the globe. Nancy's Notions also has a shorts pattern that you can purchase to sew up for the boys.

Thanks for stopping by!

WIP Wednesday

The other day, while my mother-in-law was in town, we decided to explore more of the country, so we headed over to Fort Laramie for a day of history. Ft. Laramie is only about an hour from here and is located on the beautiful Laramie River. It was used as both a fort & a stopping place along the Oregon trail in the mid-1800s. Many of the building are in ruins, but there are several that have been restored over the years.

On our drive out there I decided to start working on my Misfit DQS. This is my first time doing hexies and can I just say I LOVE them. So relaxing & mindless, and in no time you've got a nice little stack going. :)

This was the hospital. The cemetery is a ways off to my right, but there were a couple graves around the back of the hospital. (See the crosses in the foreground?)

Inside the barracks everything was set up as if the men were still living there.

The married officers quarters were set up beautifully.

Beautiful dresses & hand sewn quilts.

The Old Bedlam. The oldest standing building in Wyoming, was built in 1849.

The last stop on our way back to the truck was the old bar. The fun thing about it is that they serve Sioux City sarsaparilla & other "Old West" pops. They had one called Birch Beer. Well, I had to try it. Like root beer, that was once made from roots, birch beer was once made from the bark of birch trees. It had an anise (black licorice)-type flavor & was stronger than the sarsaparilla. It was delicious!

The wallpaper behind the bar was beautiful. The "barkeep" told us that the original barkeep's wife was from New York & although she loved the prairie she wanted the men to have a little "culture." So she ordered some William Morris wallpaper from New York, she put it behind the bar because she figured that was one of the walls that the men probably stared at the most.

Well, I just adored the wallpaper so when I came home I looked up this English textile designer. Immediately I recognized some of his work & realized where I had heard his name before!

On Monday, Sally & I went to my LQS to look around and she was nice enough to buy me a charm pack of my new favorite collection, A Morris Tapestry. :)

I wanted to keep the charms whole to show off the tapestry & yesterday I spent some time arranging them into 4 9-patch blocks. I'm still not happy with the arrangement, but hopefully I'll get it so I can start sewing it together today.

If you have any suggestions on which charms to move for better distribution of color & pattern I'd love to hear them.

Today WIP is over at Don't Call Me Betsy. If you haven't already been there, head on over and say hi.

Yeah, that says "6 sore heads." I love Wyoming! :)

Sis Boom Jaime Dress Sew Along

A few weeks ago the lovely Sara of Sew Sweetness decided to host a sew along with Sis Boom's Jaime Dress. I haven't made any clothes for myself in a few months and I decided I needed a new dress for Easter and my sister's graduation next month so I signed up to play along.

I was a little worried since I waited until this week to start it and with Easter being on Sunday I wasn't sure if I'd get it finished or not. Well, I sat down late Wednesday afternoon to start cutting all the pieces and by midnight that same night the dress was complete except for the hem! I had cut the skirt pieces a little long "just in case," but when I tried it on with the hem pinned I realized that it needed to be a bit shorter.

Because of the angle of the photos the dress looks longer than it actually is. With the right hem it hits right at the knee and is perfect where it is. (I'll have Jake take better pictures this weekend.)

I didn't change a thing with from the pattern. I went with the size I measured for, since my bust was on the small end of the scale for that size. I thought about adding a back to the waistband, but since I have kind of a big booty I didn't want to add any extra bulk to the back. I know many other participants didn't like the gathers on the skirt, but I like them because they help hide my tummy a bit.

This was my first zipper (besides the terrible one I struggled through on Jake's insulated bibs, don't ask). I'm not usually a fan of glue and sewing, but I think it did help keep the zipper on straighter as I sewed.

I loved the construction of this dress and the ease of the directions. All the pictures really helped too. I will definitely be making this dress again. You can never have too many summer dresses. :)

And since you can kind of see our bed in the background I thought I'd share the most fabulous quilt ever. Made by Jake's Aunt Leigh, who is the one who taught me how to quilt, as a wedding gift. Thanks a million, Leigh!