13 May 2013

Honeycomb Stitch Along, all finished!

I finished my lovely Honeycomb Pillow!
It was such a fun Stitch Along over at Echinops and Aster and although it is now over, if you have plans to do any stitching you should check out all of the post because she has so many great tutorials on how to do things, like how about those hard to make French knots.
Super easy to make french knots if you follow this tutorial found HERE
She takes you through all of the steps and even different methods are allowed.  Here is a picture of me using embroidery stabilizer for the first time, she goes over how to use it here.
I was a little late to the party so I did cheat in a few places, I didn't sew the hexagons down by hand, instead I used the machine, I also used the machine for the binding.  I tried to do only hand stitching on the back, but it was turning out really lumpy.
SEE, but look at my cute french knots on the octopus :)
So I used the machine to sew the binding in as well.  I also did not do to much machine stitching for the front like she did echoing the hexagons, I just didn't like the way it was looking on mine, plus I had technically already machine stitched them on.
I tried but didn't like the look of it.

And here is a story about why I only did 1 bee, you see we only have 1 B in our family our other little one is a ladybug, therefore my little embroidered ladybug her is trying to sneak her way into the hive.
Now B does not stand for bee but for Ba-bula (sounds like) this is a name that all baby children are given in Greece until they are baptized, most children are baptized fairly young, but we did not baptize our son until he was 1 1/2 and he was also named after his grandfather so he kind of kept the name Babula for a long time, pretty much until the day his grandfather died and our new baby was born.
So I have 1 B and 1 Ladybug in my Hive.
This pillow is also a dual purpose pillow and the back mimics the almost finished quilt I have done for my son.  The majority of the fabrics used in making this pillow are from the Salt Water fabric line by Tula Pink.
See the blue fringe this is the backing I am using on my Anchors Aweigh Quilt it is a Polyester throw from IKEA.
I did do some extra stitching on the back, the blue fabric is Ombre Aqua and that is why it looks like all different shades of blue.
and on the octopus that you see above, but not on this one.

The front all finished
The back all finished
I hope you like it, I know that I do and I wouldn't change a thing, except I would really like to perfect the hand stitching on binding thing, I am just not very good at it, yet.
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12 May 2013

WIP and Sunday Stash #62

I am off and entering in another challenge or better know as The Easiest Sew Along Ever!  As I was quickly navigating the SMS giveaways last week I caught wind of this sew along, and just made the deadline, pictures of your fabric and the start of your project are due tomorrow on Monday the 13th.  I am super excited about this one, it is basically anything goes, just as long as you don't buy anything new for your project, well that's pretty hard for me to do anyway, lol!
So here it goes I am making a clutch with burlap and a beautiful silk scarf that my mother-in-law got from family friends in Australia, but she poopoos any gift and gave it to me.
burlap, interfacing, silk scarf and beads (I made the fused glass pendants)

The clutch tutorial I am taking from another blog that I found during my SMS scrolling at Flamingo toes.  I already cut out my burlap pieces and the interfacing, but I need to wash the scarf.
The snap buttons are from a pair of jeans, you know how they send a little pack of extra snaps sometimes, well I will use this as the closure for the clutch.  I also decided to add a piece of floral flannel as the bottom and sides for the outer piece of the clutch, thought it would add another element of texture.  Well that's that.

I am also linking to Finding Fifth for the first time, and guess how I found this blog, yup, once again during the SMS giveaway hop!  She has a linkie party for your stash on Sunday and I actually have some stash to show.  My package to get me started for the Make It Right Challenge came on Friday, oh such beautiful fabric, I really just love the way AGF's fabric feels, like butter.  I can't wait to get started on it, it is a secret project, but I can show off the fabric, I can not use the bundle for the project but I have some grey shades of Pure Element colors that I am allowed to use.  I got everything from I don't do dishes etsy shop, including the Pellon and Aurifil required for the project.
I want to Thank my awesome parents because without them giving me my early birthday money I would not have been able to buy this fabric, LOVE YOU GUYS!

11 May 2013

Bloglovin' Claimin'


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Rainbow Swap

ALL FULL!


I have been loving Rainbows lately and guess what Stacey at The Tilted Quilt has made another awesome swap, called the Rainbow Charm Swap, go check it out!

Here are the rules from her blog.





over the rainbow swap

Rules are never fun, but here they are:

1.  There are 56 slots available.  You can sign up for up to two slots - Each person will be assigned a color. Once all the swap slots are filled, I will email you your color assignment. (red, pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue, aqua, green).  

3. Fabric must be designer label, 100% cotton, quality fabric.  
No Hancocks, Joanns or Michael's fabrics.

4. Fabric must be new and unwashed and must come from a smoke free environment.

5. Before sending your fabric to me, cut your fabric into 5" x 5" charm squares.
1 yard = 56 charm squares (5" x 5".)  If you need a  tutorial on how to cut fabric into charms check out this one by Elizabeth Hartman.

6.  Put your fabric in a ziploc bag and include a 3x5 index card with your name, email address, mailing address, fabric info (designer, manufacturer, line, color.) I will compile a master list of fabrics and email it to you once the swap is complete. 

7. In your envelope, include, the charms in ziploc, the index card a PREPAID SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE for me to mail your charms back to you! This swap is open to international swappers, but you will need to be provide me with your PayPal address so I can bill you for your return postage.  If you have questions about this, please let me know.

8. After the sign up is full, I will provide you with deadlines for mailing.


For some Rainbow inspiration check this quilt out here  , here or here.

I also just got this quilt pattern for free, but you can get it for less than $1.00 on Craftsy, it is made with orange and grey fabrics but I could so see a cascading color of rainbows instead, check it out here

Rainbow Swap

The swap is all full now! 


I have been loving Rainbows lately and guess what Stacey at The Tilted Quilt has made another awesome swap, called the Rainbow Charm Swap, go check it out!

Here are the rules from her blog.




over the rainbow swap

Rules are never fun, but here they are:

1.  There are 56 slots available.  You can sign up for up to two slots - Each person will be assigned a color. Once all the swap slots are filled, I will email you your color assignment. (red, pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue, aqua, green).  

3. Fabric must be designer label, 100% cotton, quality fabric.  
No Hancocks, Joanns or Michael's fabrics.

4. Fabric must be new and unwashed and must come from a smoke free environment.

5. Before sending your fabric to me, cut your fabric into 5" x 5" charm squares.
1 yard = 56 charm squares (5" x 5".)  If you need a  tutorial on how to cut fabric into charms check out this one by Elizabeth Hartman.

6.  Put your fabric in a ziploc bag and include a 3x5 index card with your name, email address, mailing address, fabric info (designer, manufacturer, line, color.) I will compile a master list of fabrics and email it to you once the swap is complete. 

7. In your envelope, include, the charms in ziploc, the index card a PREPAID SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE for me to mail your charms back to you! This swap is open to international swappers, but you will need to be provide me with your PayPal address so I can bill you for your return postage.  If you have questions about this, please let me know.

8. After the sign up is full, I will provide you with deadlines for mailing.


For some Rainbow inspiration check this quilt out here  , here or here.

Just found this cool one here.

I also just got this quilt pattern for free, but you can get it for less than $1.00 on Craftsy, it is made with orange and grey fabrics but I could so see a cascading color of rainbows instead, check it out here

07 May 2013

May Challenges and Goals

I am a sucker for Challenges, give me a start and I want to create or think about what to make or how to make it a little different and therefore all mine.  For example Sew We Quilt's blog hops with Madame Samm, ooohhh.. they are so tempting to do each one and challenge myself to create, the one going on right now is anything about birds, so many possibilities and so many projects out there.  Some of them are a little more rigid in the guidelines but most of them you can create just about anything you want and you get to see so many amazing projects while hopping to other blogs.  This month I am in 2, phew, blog hops, "It's for the Birds" and "Say it with Flowers".  By the way she is having a giveaway of 3 Reliable Irons for mother's day so you should probably go check that out.

I am doing 2 Challenges this month, I finished one already by creating a quilt on Threadbias for Pink Castle Fabrics "Briar Rose Quilt Design Contest".   I had never used Threadbias before and wanted to give it a try, I don't make to many quilts but I could see where if someone did this tool would come in pretty handy.
I actually already won a charm pack of Briar Rose from the Houston Modern Quilt Guild, and this fabric doesn't even come out until July, how cool is that, so of course I just had to play with this cute line of fabics.  If you would like to vote for mine you can, because the top 5 will be judged by Heather Ross and she will pick her favorite to win enough fabric to make the quilt, mine is about the 16th row down and it is called "Briar Rose Maze", there are some really amazing quilt ideas in there.

The second challenge I am doing is the Make It Right Challenge, there is still time if you want to do this one and Caitlin over at "I don't do dishes" has all of the material you need, plus pellon and aurifil (if you need it).  My parents made it possible for me to enter in this challenge and gave me my birthday money early so I could buy the fabric, I can't wait to show you what I am making, super excited, I hope everyone likes it as much as I do.  Now I just need the fabric to arrive, lol.

Now Goals for May, Finish my Honeycomb Stitch Along Pillow, that I am doing with Echinops and Aster.  This is due May 14th same day as my Bird hop.  Sneak peek at my embroidery skills, hehe, ps I just love this site for all of the stitches so many and wow, so little space to do them all, Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials.

I also need to quilt my Anchors Aweigh Quilt, so scared, I am quilting it to a polyester throw rug from IKEA, I hope it works.
The blue one, it should be nice and cozy.
That's all I can think of right now, I think it will keep me pretty busy for the month of May.

Linking to A Lovely Year of Finishes.

In case you are looking and think this looks familiar, I am Mara and normally blog over at Grecomara, but my husband greatly frowns on my fun time and how I blog about it, so I have created a secret blog that he doesn't have to look at.

03 May 2013

It's for the Birds Blog Hop Coming Soon

Here is the schedule for another great hop!


Tuesday, May 7
 
 
 
Wednesday, May 8
 
 
Thursday, May 9
 
 
Friday, May 10
 
 
 
Monday, May 13
 
 
 
 
Tuesday, May 14
 
 
Wednesday, May 15
 

30 April 2013

April Finishes

A very busy month April ended up being.
I did pretty good at working on my goals and even added another one by doing a few stuffies for Hopeful Threads monthly project "Fluff for Foster Care".  I contributed a total of 17 little stuffed items.
2 rainbows

12 owls

and 3 cars
All my own little designs, so not perfect, but kind of cute.
I finished 5 mugrugs for the April Showers blog hop, you can view that post here.
I made my rainbow table topper you can read about it here and here.
Getting used right away.

But I am most proud of finishing my very fist quilt top, a mini version of the Anchors Aweigh quilt using Salt Water fabrics from Tula Pink.
I am hoping to quilt it in May to a blanket that I bought at IKEA, a little scared about that, but I don't have the way or money to buy batting, I think it will work and it will be nice and soft for my kids bed.

Linking to a Lovely Year of Finishes - April
and
April Finishes