We Did It! Wednesday

Two blog entries in one day! Can you believe it?

Sew Much Ado is participating in Go Green Month that is all about repurposing things in a crafty way. There are tutorials, pictures and I am sure we will all find new blogs to follow and lots of ideas to try.  
A while back I made dresses from pillowcases for the orphans in Haiti. This was right after the big earthquake. I have shared it on We Did It! Wednesday as my green project. I am number 48 so far. It should be fun looking at all the things others have made. Check it out!

Due to my extreme ignorance in placing this as a button on my blog, it probably doesn't link back to the blog I borrowed it from. I tried to figure it out, but copy and paste is all I came up with. I am a beginner blogger, so your tips are welcome!

Let me know if you have shared your own project there after reading this post!

Sale! 20% off and a giveaway

Randi at the blog I Have To Say is doing some Spring Cleaning. Her Etsy shop is Fresh Squeezed Fabrics, and the sale looks great. To top it off there is a $50 gift certificate giveaway! Pop on over here to get the details! While you are there, check out her blog also. It is full of fun ideas!

This is her shop. We are supposed to pick just ONE thing we like. How about "I like all that fabric. I'll take one of each."  That's what I have to say!

Blah, Blah, Blah

So many ideas, no free time!!! I feel like I am in mental labor and need a c-section! I got all these lovely fabrics on Saturday and I am TOO excited to stand it. I want to be making skirts NOW!!!And that is despite the fact that I have had NO LUCK on finding a Florida state map tablecloth for the adorable travel skirt found in Sew What! Skirts. Most of them on Ebay are Moda reproductions and should be $24.99, but are selling for over $50 each. Too much $$ to cut it up for a skirt, thank you.

But back to my new fabrics! I would like to thank Quilt Fabric Closeouts and also Over the Rainbow shops for not only having super prices, but incredibly fast shipping on these beauties! You need to shop there!  Okay, second from the right is a very cute lime green floral from the line called Chinese Takeout. Far left is a very pale aqua with brown bandana type floral all over. Peeking out 3rd from the left is a very neutral floral in an oatmeal color. Should be able to go classy or fun with that one. And the far right is an oriental print in pinks and lime greens that will be first up, as soon as I prewash it. I hope you get this book if you don't have it. Such cute ideas in there.

Will someone please send me some spare time? Maybe I should check myself into a motel - under an alias - and just sew for a few days?

I have quilts that need finishing on top of my Spring Skirt emergency and not getting much done there either. Therefore, I feel like all my plans and talk about To Do Lists is just blah, blah, blah. Like Charlie Brown's teacher. Oh well, you can admire the pretty fabrics with me. And if you have the book, you can try to imagine where I am going with these fabrics...someday.

As a sidenote, I would like to thank whomever has fixed Blogger. Many of my pics in previous posts were missing all day, and when I tried to write this post, no new pics would upload correctly. I am so glad it got debugged (or whatever they did to right it!)

Boxy Stars and Beach Cottage

A lot of people are really excited by the book Scrap Basket Surprises that came out recently. You can find it here . http://magnoliabayquilts.blogspot.com/  or on Amazon or wherever you buy your quilt books. I have a copy of the book and I can't wait to dive in. I just have so many other projects to finish before I get to that!

This is not from that book. It is from Quilt Dad, as featured on the Moda Bakeshop. I am almost done with this "Off the Grid" quilt. Mine is in Moda's Three Sisters Glace fabrics. There was a little hiccup with getting a 3rd charm pack, and while I waited I started other things, so... You know how it is. But I am off topic now.

Nicole over at Sister's Choice Quilts has been showing her progress on "Beach Cottage" from Scrap Basket Surprises and it looks great. http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/sisters_choice_quilts/2010/03/beach-cottage-coming-along.html Nice choice of fabrics, Nicole! I love the blues and yellows! And I love how the stronger blue makes them all pop! Keep going!

(I apologize for not being able to do a better job aligning the pics on this blog. I need help. At least I am figuring out the link things.)

Anyway, I realized that "Beach Cottage" is very similar to the above pictured Boxy Stars from Quiltville.com  I made this Boxy Stars quilt last year - king size - and just love it. I made it from my stash/scraps too! The only differences being the arrangement and that there is sashing and corner stones in Boxy Stars. I really especially love mine because it has Laurel Birch fabric in it. That dark blue with dots. That is hers. And I love the seashell sashing. And the quilting job that Jackie in Las Vegas did on it is stunning. Can you tell I like it? 

I consider this my Summer bed quilt. The other one is maple leaves and I showed that in my second post. That is obviously the Autumn quilt. So, I only have 2 quilts for my bed. I think I need more. At least one for every season, right? I have such a long "to do" list, plus my list of WIPs, that I don't even know when a spring or Christmas king size will happen.

I'll have to settle for the Christmasy Glace "Off the Grid" throw on my bed for Christmas until I get time for another king.

Spring Sewing Frenzy

Spring makes me want to sew cool clothes and plant new flowers in the yard. I know I am sick to death of sweaters, socks, boots and dry skin by now. Bet you are too. Every year by the end of Winter my mind is reeling with ideas for skirts, cotton tops, dresses.

I start making new clothes and then I have a body confidence crisis and usually don't finish them. I am short - under 5'4" - and curvy. Apparently no one in the fashion world has a concept of this hourglass figure. Not even the pattern makers seem to understand a D cup is not a freakish size. That is where I hit the dressmaking skids and give up nearly every time. Okay, last year I did make a tunic out of turquoise gauze that looked like I escaped from a production of "Hair."

This year I vow it will be different! I will succeed and feel good about my creations, even if I have plump calves peeking out from under my new skirt! I bought the book "Sew What! Skirts" and it is full of great ideas. Have you made any of them yet? I'd like to hear about the outcomes, the errors, the big smiles after success!

This one especially caught my eye. Now I am on the hunt for a Florida (or other) state map tablecloth to use.

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2009/06/tutorial-table-cloth-skirt.html  I first heard about making a skirt from a tablecloth here, but after I saw the state map one in the book, I had to do it!

I borrowed this image from http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/images/2007/07/23/skirt.jpg  where she models her version of the skirt.After I win an Ebay bid or two, I should be able post my new skirt pics here. After I tan my legs a bit, of course!

According to the latest news on fashion, more and more people are making their own clothes! Thanks to reality TV and to save money! Duh! Does this mean people who actually enjoy sewing are going to get respect? I hope so. Really tired of the whole "Oh! You're so domestic!" comments I've heard from coworkers. They say it like you would say "What a cute baby!" to someone with an ugly child.

So, Mom, if you read this, thank you for buying me the sewing machine I definitely did NOT want for Christmas when I was 12. You must have had divine inspiration or something. You know you created an addict. I love you for it!

My Quilt To Do List

I've been going through my notebook. I keep lists of quilts I need to finish, other projects I have been meaning to do, and things I want to make in the near future. The list is long and overdue. As in, I am sadly behind in my endeavors. I AM A SLACKER. Or maybe I have Fabric Attention Deficit Disorder? F.A.D.D.

I try to be good! I tell myself I won't buy any more fabric until I get caught up. I tell myself no new books or magazines, because they tempt me. I sometimes actually believe I will cross everything off the list soon. But deep down, I know it won't happen. I have access to the internet, and you can shop in your pajamas. Need I say more?

Look at all the quilting and craft blogs! There are MILLIONS and they are quite good. Mothers, businesswomen, teachers, designers. They are out on the web sharing their latest and greatest gifts and I am  giddy about all of it. You can't not buy new fabrics when you look at things like  thepatternbasket.blogspot.com/2010/03/tying-knot.html  This entry is why I had to buy a layer cake of Hunky Dory immediately. Even though I have piles of projects almost done, need to work on, need to start, and why isn't this finished yet? I had to have that layer cake! I still have my eye on Verna and several others, but I got my fix for now.

Nicole at  http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/sisters_choice_quilts/2010/03/an-abundance-of-riches.html is showing off  piles and piles of layer cakes and patterns she got as a thank you for "stunt sewing" and I am drooling. Whatever stunt sewing is, I'll try it if I can get piles of yummy layer cakes too! How do you get a job like that?

I could start a group for myself and others afflicted with FADD, but I don't think it would be a therapy group. We would become a support group. Codependent. Encouraging each other to get that new book or fabric. Our opening greeting would be something like "Hi, I'm Wendy. I bought this, and I don't know what I am going to do with it yet, but I just had to have it!"

Right?

What is email?

I have to ask this question. Is it a speaking platform? Is it a way to throw out jokes, commentary or concerns with no feedback? It was not supposed to be, in my opinion, although I think many people are mistaking their email for a blog. Or maybe they see it more as throwing darts. Not sure. To me, email was a replacement of written word. Correspondence. Yes, it did become a handy interoffice/ intraoffice communication device, but when did it become a one way channel of thought?

Are we really becoming a society that doesn't want communication back? When computers, and text messaging phones and bluetooth devices became the Must Haves, I wondered if we were going down that road. No more personal interaction. Just text. Really? It is so sad.

My email address does not say "Do Not Reply" and yet very few people respond to direct, open ended questions and replies.Even family!Why? If you send me an article that you feel strongly enough about to pass on to me, and I reply back with comments and questions, why is that the end of the dialogue? Was it really a dialogue at all? 

I think there is a world-wide case of P.E.E. Premature Email Ejaculation. Everyone is out there receiving email: jokes, tips, political items, interesting news and facts, etc and they are firing them off to others without caring what those others think. Maybe they don't want to know what they think. Do these people just want to be a delivery service?Are they on a soapbox or are they mindlessly throwing out fodder?

All I am saying is, don't be so fast with that DELETE button, people. If someone took the time to write back to you, why ignore it? You started it, right? And no, you are not too busy. If you are too busy, or you just don't care what that person thinks about your emails, take them off the CONTACTS list, please. Please!

Those of you who actually do respond back, THANK YOU! I (and everyone who has actually gotten a reply answered) appreciate the respect and care you offer by acknowledging us and our response. You are the ones who matter. Because you have manners, courtesy and an old fashioned sense of correspondence. Because you care what we think, and we are not just a dart board that you have fired your email at without afterthought. Right? Thank you for your responsible email habits. Long may they continue.

Past and Present Quilt Projects

A few years ago, a woman passed away who was the closest friend of my friend Laura. And knowing that I make quilts, Laura asked what I could do with her late friend's medical scrub tops. I had recently been to a memorial quilt trunk show, so I had an idea of what could be, but I told her we would need much more fabric than was provided in the 8 tops she had brought over.

So, Laura went to the local secret quilt shop and bought (if I remember correctly) 30 different prints of everything that reminded her of her friend and their many decades of friendship, raising kids together, being neighbors etc. It was quite a variety. Fish, lighthouses, flowers, farm animals, you name it, it was there. And she wanted 4 quilts made. One for her, the other 3 for her friend's children and grandchildren.

Unfortunately I only have pics of two I made for Laura, but they all came out quite nicely. Laura's was the largest. The others were lap size or smaller.  This one is Laura's. It is a split square with a strip of contrasting fabric sewn in between. Sort of like making the stem piece of a leaf block. The border fabric is footprints in the sand.

Sorry the pic is sideways here.

This second one is from a book I have called "Coffee Time Quilts" but I have also seen this pattern from Heather Mulder Peterson in her "Fat Quarter Five" book. Of course, after this was all done, I spotted several mistakes. My eyes must have been worn out while I put this one together. Don't tell Laura. I don't think she's noticed yet - or she's just too nice to ever say so. Probably the latter.

Which leads me to the Present Projects, meaning currently in the works. Laura and I picked out a bunch of family related prints for her new grandson's first quilt. Another big mix of themes. It is going to be great though. A full sized I Spy quilt, and I should have enough leftovers to give him a baby quilt to coordinate with it. I am using the Lantern Bloom quilt pattern from Fons and Porter's Spring 2010 website. It is a free download here: .http://www.fonsandporter.com/userdocs/FonsandPorter/design/Lantern_Bloom.pdf

Lastly, since Laura is the theme of this post, here is a pic of the quilt top I just finished for her granddaughter. It is full size also, and currently being longarm quilted for me. This one was fun to put together. I bought all the fabrics online and am so pleased with their combination. The long strips are alternating panels of cowgirls and ballerinas. The border fabric is pink Florida Gators (college football) and the back is not pictured, but it is pink and brown John Deere.

So, if you think you have to have fabrics all from the same line to make a cute quilt, think again. Rise to the challenge! Throw in more colors or prints until it is so mixed that it is actually "together!" That's how I do it.

Downsizing

Bookshelves are my recent internet obsessive shopping item. I need to get some that will fit in two odd spots that flank the fireplace and are surrounded by brick walls, with firewood pits below each spot. That leaves a tiny 12 inch deep ledge to sit them on and then anchor them to the brick wall behind. And I want a dark color so they don't stand out. And I don't want to pay $200 each, but the options are slim, so I don't think I can be choosy on price much.

Anyway, I stumbled across this cool site. I have never even imagined bookshelves could be so non-square. http://www.oddee.com/item_96613.aspx  Seriously, who thinks these up? Who wouldn't want the "bookman" figure shaped ones for a cool kid's room? Is it a robot or a man leaning to one side? I don't know. And how about that Autumn bookshelf? I love the look of it, but I am too organized linear to not have straight lines of books.

So, we are selling our mammoth sectional sofa, the bulky tube tv and stand and making a fun, more modern and cozy, technologically more advanced living room. Can't wait to have the new leather sofa set! The giant chair and a half that was marked WAY down to clearance it out will be my quilt binding and reading oasis!

That's it for now. I should have some quilt pics soon. I just hate to post pics of them before they are quilted and bound!