Pin Cushion Caddy

Wow, what a fun project! Since I finished up so many things this past week, I sat down last night to enjoy my first new project in a while. I chose to make the pin cushion caddy from Seams To Me by Anna Maria Horner. I've been thinking about this one for some time now... basically since I really started sewing again. I figured tonight I would pick fabric, cut out pieces, and leave them on the card table for when we get back from our short vacation. I didn't expect to finish it! What a nice surprise.

While I would love to make and keep one for myself in the future, this will be headed to a different home. When I sat down to sift through my scraps to find large enough pieces, I came up with a fun version of a primary color scheme (plus green) - pink, yellow, green, and turquoise. The combination is pretty playful. I think it kind of ended up looking like a ball that a seal might balance on its nose! Or maybe an elephant should be standing on it? At any rate it reminds me of a circus.

I was really glad I've spent so much time in the past reading online about others trying out this pattern and finding that matching up the inner tube with the outer ring of wedges was challenging. After learning from their mistakes, I had no trouble at all! I didn't follow the pattern measurements for the length of the piece that makes up the inside cylinder. Instead when I finished sewing my wedges into a round, I carefully measured around the opening, added an inch (for 1/2" seam allowances) and used that number instead. As a result I also ended up modifying the interfacing size, and the sizes of the circles used to complete the proejct. All it took was a little basic geometry, improvisation, and some forewarning that it would be problematic. So thank you to everyone who has gone before me.

I found that I wish I had even stiffer interfacing, though I bought the thickest stuff I could find. I didn't have problems until stuffing at which point moving all the fiberfil around inside sort of bent the interfacing in a couple places making it more prone to bulging in. I have managed to smoosh it around to make it stay, but I'm sure over the life of this little guy the walls of the inside bucket will shift around some. I read somewhere that putting a coffee can inside while stuffing helps, but alas we have nothing that size -- pod coffee drinkers.

Speaking of little guy... little he is not! The finished product measures about 7 or 8 inches in diameter which is a pretty hefty size for a pin cushion! The great thing about it is that it is a convenient size to hold a bunch of things (rotary cutter, pins, needles, thread in the picture below) without feeling like they will tip out if you pick it up and move it. I have visions of making a bunch of these and having them live stacked up on a shelf. How cool would that look? I probably don't need that many pin cushions, though.

Birthday Skirts, second finished

I'm a bit behind with the birthday mailing for my nieces... basically because it took me some time to find the oomph to sit down and start this second skirt. It's kind of like second glove/sock syndrome? Maybe not. I'm only one week behind; this way they'll get 'second birthdays' -- kind of like second breakfast.

It was raining outside, so here we have the skirt hanging off my craft cabinet

I honestly just haven't wanted to sit down and cut out 26 strips of fabric that are 2.5" wide. Cutting is not my favorite. But I did get that out of the way on Sunday afternoon so my evening Monday was spent with the much more engaging task of sewing everything together, and tonight I finished off putting in the elastic and sewing on the ribbon inside the waistband.

This kitty fabric was a fortuitous find while I was out looking for something else. Rather than a quilting type cotton, it is a lightweight kind of drape-y twill. It is very soft and nice to sew with. Samara in particular likes to ask about our cat, Jack, when we talk on the phone so I think she'll enjoy the little kitty portraits as a substitute for the real deal. The dark aqua solid keeps the whole thing from being too busy and provides a nice contrast to the peaches and pinks. Also, because the print is such a handy grid, I was able to cut cleverly so there is a nice little row of smiling cats around the dropped waist.

Jack, the inspiration behind use of the kitty fabric 

The colors in the skirt match fabulously with the hoodie vest I finished up on Sunday. An outfit made with love.

Jasmine Kimono

The last time I was visiting my parents, Mom gave me a stack of patterns she had picked up at Michael's. They were all free one page patterns they had hanging up by the yarn. They were all really nice, so I've been working my way through them. One project, a little kimono for Jasmine, was 'finished' a couple of months ago and it's been hanging around since waiting to be blocked and have buttons installed. (Most appropriately, this pattern was named 'Jasmine Kimono' on the sheet. Had to make it.)

Ta da! It is now officially finished and ready to be worn by an energetic three year old. The yarn is Lion Brand Baby's First in a lovely green they call Beanstalk. This yarn was fantastic to work with - highly recommend. It knits up so evenly and the fabric ends up feeling soft and squishy. Perfect for a spring sweater.

This last weekend I overcame my fear of blocking using a great hand held steamer from my mom. It was the perfect tool for the job. That combined with the new thick padded cover on my ironing board made it almost effortless to get this last step done. (The last time I blocked something, it was a 5 foot diameter circular shawl with picot edging, I used the steam setting on my iron with it's tiny reservoir, and my dining table had a towel taped on it for DAYS). 

This sweater pattern was written to be wrapped and tied with a string, but I wanted to use buttons instead. There is one inner button to hold the wrapped bit inside, and a second main button to finish it off. The flower button also has another clear button sewn on behind it to prevent the fabric from getting stretched out where it is attached.

I think it pairs nicely with the owl skirt I made for her; she'll be such a fashionable little girl!

Curtain Inspiration

When I saw this stack of fabric on one of my favorite blogs (Maureen Cracknell Handmade) a couple weeks back, I immediately coveted them. The bright blues and greens, not to mention the awesome flower print, are just my taste.

So I bought some! I'm very excited now that they have arrived. Inspired by the idea of curtains mentioned on Maureen's blog, I too plan on making curtains with them. I just want an excuse to hang up (and stare at) large pieces of these fabrics. They will hang in our bedroom; I do believe they will fit right in with our quirky sense of style and love of color. 

In my ever so accurate back-of-the-envelope/engineer way when I decided to buy the yardage, I went into the bedroom and stood next to the window thinking to myself "well, I'm just shy of two yards tall, so I guess I need two yards of each". I have not decided on a design yet, but I am thinking of bands of linen (what a shock) and patchwork squares of matching solids along the top. I was at the library the other day looking for another book (for another project soon to come) and happened upon a book about making curtains. I've made curtains before, but this book has given me some good ideas. Ribbon tie top anyone? 

I leave with a gratuitous close up of the beautiful pattern, LouLouThi Coreopsis - my very first Anna Maria Horner purchase. Thank you for the inspiration, Maureen!

Hoodie Vest, all done

I finally finished it! This hooded vest project has been really fun to knit up, but I was pretty happy to be done with it by the end. The pattern, Paprika by Elena Nodel, is available on Ravelry and totally worth the money I'd say. It has directions for 6 months up to size 14! How is that for a long lived pattern? She also includes links to great tutorials for some of the more complicated parts. This post has lots of pictures, so get ready.

Today, the steamer was my friend. I'm pretty lazy about blocking. This fact of life has been a big reason why I haven't ventured into making knitted garments - I stuck with hats, gloves, scarves, and blankets. This pattern changed my mind though. It's so darn cute! Because I was convinced it would look better, I decided to give it what it deserved and figure out how to block for real. Since I used acrylic yarn, steam blocking (or no blocking as many have said) seemed to be my only option according to Dr. Google, and I happen to have this great hand held steamer my mom sent me a while back. Perfect!

I don't have a blocking board, I just used my ironing board which has a super thick padded cover on it. I steamed enough to see the yarn change shape (acrylic morphing is pretty cool to watch!) but not so much that I soaked the piece through. This meant it was dry within about 10 or 15 minutes and I could move on to the next section (I did it in three: bottom, middle, hood).

What a difference blocking made! The ribbing in the front isn't curling up at the corners anymore, the sleeve caps are well behaved, and generally the whole thing is pleasantly drape-y. I think I'm a convert. No more laziness, the extra step is definitely worth it. Plus, it was so much easier with the steamer than with my iron!

I found a nice shanked gold button to put on it and crocheted a fastening loop for it. This little button and his companion (a clear button I put on the back to prevent the fabric from stretching too much) came out of an assortment of buttons I bought at Britex Fabric - four stories of fabric and notions! - in San Francisco. It kind of reminds me of a little hot air balloon.

Here's the finished product, front and back. I ended up using just under 2 skeins of Caron Simply Soft (persimmon... fantastic color!) for a size 6 vest. Hope Samara likes it!

 

Amsterdam Quilt, conceptualizing

About a year ago, Dave and I moved (temporarily) to The Netherlands. We relocated from Palo Alto to Amsterdam for three months to pursue fantastic opportunities to do research at an institute there. We remember our time there very fondly and continually talk about going back. 

FOM Institute AMOLF, our temporary workplace

One of the most distinct things (of many) we remember about living there are colors. First off, AMOLF is housed in quite a new building, so the architecture and design inside is very modern. This includes hallways, walls, and couches in a stunningly bright green. You'd think this would be distracting, but really it was very energizing. It sounds hokey I know, and I would never believe something like that if someone told me. But, having experienced it I can vouch for it --- bright green is a great color for the workplace!

AMOLF wall

Another color that is associated inextricably with the Dutch is orange. Orange is the color of the ruling house, and has become a sort of national color. Did anyone see those amazing football uniforms in the last World Cup? Orange. 

We were fortunate enough to have arrived shortly before a major event in The Netherlands, Queen's Day. We went into the city center to sit at our soon-to-be-favorite cafe on the canals the night before Queen's Day, and the city was awash with orange. Perhaps you can see the orange banners and balloons in the picture below. There were even special little cakes in the Albert Heijn bakeries iced with orange!

Queen's Day celebrations beginning

Queen's Day cake

Since we've recently been 'pining for the fjords (canals)', so to speak, and I've been so inspired by the amazing modern quilting I've seen around the web, I have decided to make a quilt commemorating our time in Amsterdam. Such a clear color inspiration is almost cheating -- bright green and orange.

I have said before, as one does, that I am 'done' purchasing fabric for a while. That is mostly true, until I see great sales. The fabrics in the next photo were all purchased for 40-50% off at various shops because I could not resist a good deal, and they were the right colors for the job. Of course there are also others (to be shared at another time) that have nothing to do with this quilt or those colors but I had to have them anyway. What lack of will power!

I especially like the green fabric with the little white cats; we missed our cat very much while we were away. The green with bike wheels with birds perched on them (which you cannot make out from this photo) is of course highly appropriate as I love birds and of course we rode bikes everywhere in Amsterdam. 

I will also likely use the two beauties below that I bought in Los Gatos, and some more of that great green Ikea duvet cover fabric I recently used in my laundry room project. If anything says 'AMOLF walls', it's that fabric.

Next is the hardest part: choosing a pattern. I've been pondering this for a while, and I have settled on some sort of windmill-like quilt block. I've seen several types around the web, and even a sampler with many flavors of windmill blocks. I do think I want to stick with one block to keep it simple looking since the colors will be kind of crazy. There is a block called the Dutchman's Puzzle which ends up looking like windmill blades in the center if the colors are placed correctly. I'm gravitating towards that one, or there is a simpler block I'm thinking about, too.

Then of course there is the choice of background fabric. Definitely a solid, but what color? White or gray I think. We'll see what I end up choosing when the time rolls around. This quilt is going to rattle around in my head a bit more while I catch up on my Retro Flower quilt and probably make a few more little projects between. For now it is fun to dream up the possibilities! 

Birthday Skirts, one finished!

Short Friday post: 

I have so far finished one of the skirts I have on my list. One more to go! Hopefully that will be done tonight. I think this one turned out really cute. The little owls on the pink fabric are so sweet, and I am really happy with the combination of them with the yellow and white polka dots. The bottom picture shows a closer view in combination with a sweater I knitted to go with it. (I will post on that when it's blocked and be-buttoned.) Just look at those pleats! This was a really fun pattern. Here's hoping the little birthday girl will enjoy it.

Linking up to finish it up Friday!