Sweet Boater Chick

Sweet Boater Chick
Quilting and other adventures

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Happy Birthday Layla

My friend's little girl turns 1 today.  We had originally planned to visit today as they headed to the beach, but with me on crutches and their families going with them it would be a bit of a production.  So to celebrate with Layla in my own way I sent her a couple onesies that I stitched a little something on.


Two little cupcakes for a little cupcake.  


One with a cherry on top and...


the other with rainbow sprinkles.  (My favorite!)

I sent them earlier this week and she got them on Thursday.  Her Daddy, my very good friend, called to thank me.  He said that they are Layla approved.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Works in Progress

So while I am off the sewing machine for a bit I have decided that I should must make a list of all my work in progresses.  I have been a busy bee lately, making up some little quilts for my sister's colleagues and making sure things were finished and cleaned up before my surgery.  So while cleaning up I found I have a lot of projects going on...

Hawaiian Quilt - same as last time I mentioned it.  I need to get some white on white hibiscus for the backing and maybe a nice piece of yellow.  I have decided I will hand quilt this with a design out of my Hawaiian quilt square book like it is just one giant square.

Matthew's Space Quilt - a large pile of fabrics.  I need to figure out the design on this, but I like the idea of having circles in it.

I-Spy Quilt - Still collecting fabrics for this.  I can't wait to get it done for my nephews, it will be great for them to watch movies under.

Retro Quilt - Well I did a little work on this and it has been upgraded from a small bin to an under the bed box, wohoo!  I have all my fabrics in there with it so I won't accidentally use them on something else.  I am planning on this being full/queen, but we will see when I can't stand working with the 2.5' squares anymore.

Hexagon Quilt - Well as I lay on the couch with my polar care cooler I keep stitching up my hexagons.  I am going to go across the quilt fading from one color to another.  I would love for this to be bed sized, but we will see because it will take forever!

Mom's Pillow Shams - Still in the piecing stage.  I have one top almost done and the second one is all ready to be but together.  All the hst's are sewn together and trimmed just waiting.  

Mom's Polka-dot Quilt - All fabrics stacked on my shelf in a pile waiting to start.  She wants all hst's.  They will be larger then the shams because 4" is too small for me to make a queen size quilt with.  I am thinking a finished size of 5" will be good.  

Mom's Hand stitched Pillows - Hand-stitching done, pieces cut and ready to be sewn when I am better.  Need to make the piping for the edge.  (I think she wants a plain accent pillow too, but she will have to wait on that)

I recently ordered some charm packs of Peak Hour by Riley Blake and I have an idea for those.  I also ordered some Lucy's Crab Shack charm packs by Moda.  Oh my goodness do I love this!  I am going to make the patchwork chevron quilt with it.  I am sad because I only ordered 2 packs though, so I will have to hit my LQS when I can to see if they have any of this line or something fun to match it.  I am thinking a light orange or light blue for the solids.  I also picked up a yard of a camping print from Dear Stella that may go with the crab shack in the quilt.  

I also sent off today a fun little package for  my one friend's little girl.  Layla will be one on the 30th so I did a little hand stitching and sent it to her.  I will have a post soon about my hand stitching that I have been doing while laid up.  

I also finished up a fun quilt for my sister that I need to write about last Wednesday.  Can't wait to share that fun one with you.  It has primary colors and solids.  I am starting to like solids more.  

My LQS is moving :(  but having a sale :).  And the best part of the move is... they will be closer to me!!!!  :D  Instead of an 8 minute drive it will be more like a 4 minute drive, haha.  I don't know if that is good or bad.  I am going through withdrawal, though, I haven't been in a week.  Hoping to convince someone to take me this weekend, there is a fabric I want to make a wedding gift for a friend and I don't want it to be gone, it has been in the sale room.  And since I had my right knee fixed, there is no driving until cleared by the doctor and that is still at least a week away.  

Well that is the end of my super long post.  Not so many pictures, but at least I have written out a list of things to do.  I am off to make some more hexies.  



Monday, June 25, 2012

Stacked Coin Baby Quilt 2

After I finished the stacked coin baby quilt for my sister (here) I realized I had just enough scraps left to make one more.  I really liked how quickly it went together and how there were no seams to match up so I whipped up another one.


I had a few less purple pieces, but it is just as cute as the first.  


I backed it with a pink with white stars that I found in my LQS sale room... $5 a yard!


It has warm and white batting and is free motion quilted with variegated pink thread.
This quilt measures about 29'x39', perfect for a little baby girl.

I decided to list this on in my Etsy shop.

I am linking up to Linky Party Tuesday at Quilting by the River and to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.


Friday, June 22, 2012

So this is my current view...


Yup, yesterday I had my second knee surgery for this injury I got back in September 2011.  Amazingly I am feeling so mush better than I did at this point after the first surgery in October.  (Lets say that the anesthesia that time and I did not get along at all!)

I have learned that I need to stay off the computer when I am taking my quarter of a painkiller (yup I am a total lightweight).  I ordered myself some fabric today.  I ordered 2 Peak Hour charm packs from Poppy Seed Fabrics.  I also ordered myself some Lucy's Crab Shack charm packs from Intrepid Thread and a yard of Dear Stella Campground, too.


I have also been doing some more hexagon work.  I sewed only about 10 today, my little box is starting to get full.  Luckily, I have been stockpiling some projects that I get to post about while I recover.  I miss sitting at my machine already.


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.  I am thankful to have my Dad.

Dad on his boat

As children, my sisters and I always said, "Dad can fix anything".  And we still say that today.  Today we spent time changing the windshield wipers on my car and earlier in the week he was fixing the license plate on the font of my car, too.  Even my nephews say, "Grandpa can fix it, just needs a screwdriver".  

Dad and my nephew talking tools as
they put together his cooler.
Today was a great Father's Day spent with my entire family.  I don't think we could have asked for anything better.  We are very lucky to have such a loving father (and Grandfather!) who is, according to the 6 year old, "as handsome as a cheetah".  


Little Girl Room

So a friend of mine sent me a picture of her girls in their Easter dresses and asked me if I could make her a duvet cover and curtains based on the dresses.  Of course I said yes and jumped at the challenge.  Ok, maybe not jumped because jumping and I are not friends at the moment, but I did say yes.  I headed to one of my favorite fabric stores and found the fabrics.  The dresses were green, pink, and brown gingham.  I found the exact colors and got started.

The first thing I made was the duvet cover.


The dress had strips of white with little bows, which I mimicked with white kona cotton.  Every single seam in this was done as a french seam so that there would not be any fraying when thrown in the washer.


As I didn't have a good bed to showcase this on I figured draping it over the couch worked.  I backed the duvet with a twin size sheet, putting snaps along the bottom edge to make it easy to open and take off of the comforter that she will be covering.  

Along with the duvet I made a valance and set of curtain panels.  


The panels had all three colors separated by the white and the valance was just the green with a white stripe.  I love how the curtains look.  I was back and forth about putting the white on the valance and I am so glad I did, I think it looks super cute.  These are also all lined, but this time I used the serger to save some time.  I wish I had a better picture of them, but I guess I will have to wait until I get some sent to me.  

I sent these off a couple weeks ago and the little girl, almost 2 years old, loves her new room decor.  I can't wait to see some pictures of it all set up :)

I am linking up to Ellison Lane's Summer Sewing Contest (this one is in the home decor section).  



Little zipper pouch.

One of my recent scrap bag fills from my LQS included a good pile of pretty pastel batik "strings" ranging from about .75" to 2" by 45".  I couldn't help it, the colors were so great together so I sat and sewed them on to some sew in interfacing, making them in to one piece of fabric. And there my fabric sheet sat until I heard it calling that it wanted to be a zipper pouch.


I used the little pieces I had left from trimming the front to make a strip on the back.  The back is a purple batik from my stash.  


I lined it with a neutral also from the scrap bag and made a little pocket on the inside with two sections.  


This little pouch is perfect for my hexies!  I carry it everywhere :)  The pockets hold my finished ones until I have a chance to put them in my super organized hexagon box.  



Wohoo for summer sewing.  I will be doing more hand sewing over the next couple weeks so lets see how far I can get with my hexies.