{the wonky cross pillow}

 The wonky cross quilt block has been on my to-do list for ages! (See? I'm practically the last person to try this block!) So whilst trying to figure out a second pillow design for my living room, I figured HEY why not try it?  Its quick, wonky, and a nice contrast to the other pillow... Octagonol Orb which is very precise and angular.

 I rather adore the pebble quilting!

It took 3 bobbins of thread to do a 19"x19" area, but who cares?  The pebbles soften up the blunt angles and contrast nicely.  See the one block with a blue border?  Yeah.  That block ended up over an inch too small and I was NOT going to start over so I tried to salvage it with a border.  I think it works!

 The back!  One of my favorite parts about this pillow (also pebble quilted.) 

A 20" pillow form is stuffed in this not quite 19" cover... so its bulging at the back opening.  I may end up taking out some stuffing, OR adding a button.  I have a feeling some stuffing is going to go.  Much less labor intensive.

 I thought I should take a shot without the pillow form so its not all poofy and un-square.  The binding is the same fabric I used for our curtains.  Sandi Henderson, I love your fabric!

This now completes my "I MUST make two pillows for the living room!" phase.

Thank you for listening.

I have plans to make a tank top or two (eeek!)  and a quilt from one teeny random photo from Pinterest.  Oh yes, I already have the fabric pulled...

a day of t-shirt de-construction

Or maybe its t-shirt destruction... you be the judge.

From t-shirt to grocery bag!

Here's my go at a few t-shirt grocery bags!  Let me tell you, I've already made 5 more and I love them!  Cheap, stretchy, compact,  and washable - what else could you possibly want in a grocery bag?!  I guess if they stood up on their own it would be nothing less than perfect, but then the "compact" attribute would no longer apply.  The plastic grocery bags you get in stores don't stand up on their own either, so yeah, its a moot point, I suppose.   And these hold WAAAY more.  Seriously.

 

I started out with a simple instruction from Martha Stewart and tweaked it to make a flat bottom, as I like to make everything more complicated!  Ok, not exactly complicated but two extra lines of stitching... worth it for more "area" at the bottom of the bag.

All you need to form the opening and handles is a good sharp pair of scissors - no sewing required!

 Detail of wrong side out... see? Not that complicated!

And here's what the finished bottom looks like.  Plenty of room for a gallon of milk, a box of tissues, 18 bags of Easter candy, or 4 boxes of cereal.  And these bags are STURDY which is most important!

So off you go!  Raid your closet (and your husbands closet!) the local thrift shop, and garage sales for medium size t-shirts...  just be careful - you don't want XXL shirts with long arm holes.  The size of the arm hole = the size of the handles.  

Time to make one bag: about 5 minutes

Have you ever re-purposed t-shirts before?  If so, what's your fav thing to make?

{Going Local}

You all know I love Etsy and have my own little shop, Hazelnut Designs. 
A new little kids boutique/resale shop called Trendy Kids is opening in Grove City and they'll be carrying my collection of birthday onesies and tie onesies! 
I'm pretty excited for the new adventure!  I hope customers find them charming, and fun!

Eli modeling a tie onesie

Eli might be bound for GQ Magazine!  Quite the pose....

So that's what I've been working on recently - cutting out ties and number ones:

I should be done later this week... then I have big plans for a +pillow project, yippeeee!

What have ya'll be doing this weekend?  Any big plans for the coming week?!  

(Hopefully you'll also be enjoying some gorgeous spring weather in your area!  Its going to be in the 60's and 70's here in the Midwest!)

Octagonol Orb Pillow finished!

 Ever had one of those weeks where you have so much to do but all you really want to do is sew?  That was my week.  I did manage a bit of housework but nap time and post-bedtime were pretty much devoted to working on this pretty little thing.

As I mentioned before, the block pattern is from the Modern Quilt Guild blog.  I'm not one who follows patterns often (although I might be now!) but this was EASY to follow, although labor intensive.  84 pieces in this one block... whew!  But so worth it!  

 I'm in LOVE with the backside, which is also quilted - for sturdiness sake.   Those colors wrap up the whole project well, and the dots... well who doesn't love a good dot?

Its called "So Sophie" by My Minds Eye for Riley Blake.

 Really, I made this pillow cover just like a quilt, except for the back side which creates the envelope enclosure.  The binding is no exception.  Mitered corners just like a quilt!  And I love the Mendocino fabric with seahorses, its the perfect binding!

 Here's a better shot of the quilting... I decided to do the opposite of my original plan.  Chevron straight-line quilting in each of the 8 sections thanks to my walking foot. 

You guessed it, I'm in love with that too!

My husband was impressed, if that means anything!  Engineers are hard to impress, mind you.

{As an aside - I'm interested to see how Elizabeth (the author of this block pattern) quilts her quilt made from 9 of these blocks!  It will be fabulous, I'm sure!} 

The Orb pillow sitting in its official home, on our couch!  Its my first handmade pillow for our living room - with more to come!  I've only just begun to make a dent in that pile of mustard & aqua fabric... stay tuned.

I hope your weekend is filled with much sewing, relaxing, and coffee-sipping!

Bluegrass Kaleidoscope Quilt... and it already has a date!

**Warning!  Obscene amount of photos, be prepared!**

A name has been chosen for this quilt so without further adieu....

Finally finished a year and a half after starting...

Bluegrass Kaleidoscope Quilt:

Straight-line quilting VERY close together, about a half inch, to be exact. 

If I had it to do over again, I would have quilted it a little less densely, but oh well.  

I admit, its a very stiff quilt but I'm sure it will soften up after a few dozen washings!  

BUT

It will not be washed anytime soon because its been accepted into the NQA Quilt Show this coming June!  The show is held in my hometown, Columbus, Ohio... so how convenient is that?  I'll actually be able to drag my family and friends to see it!  Yay! 

 For one in my life I chose one solid color for the binding... Kona in Grass Green.  I'm usually partial to a scrappy pieced binding but since the top is so busy its nice to have a calm binding, in my opinion.  I think it works rather well.

 The back is pieced from scraps, and the white strips are actually left over from a bedsheet I used as backing on another quilt.  Gotta love those bedsheets for quilting!  I do!

 Love my quilt rack!  I was a birthday gift last October but I finally get to use it in our new house... more specifically in my sewing room!  Makes a great place to hang freshly-ironed fabric, too!

 {quilting took 600+ meters of white thread, holy cow!}

 {folded}

 Finally, a couple shots with little guy, who is almost 2!  I had to coerce him to sit on momma's quilt.

He knew he wasn't supposed to walk on it, but I gave him the okay this time.

Bluegrass Kaleidoscope Stats:

54"x65"

Finished blocks are 11" square

Pieced by myself and the {Bee}autiful VQB on Flickr (which makes this a "group entry" at the NQA Show since it was me plus 10 other girls! Thanks so much girls!)

Fabric is mainly Darcey by Windham Fabrics... plus a few others thrown in for good measure.

Quilted on my little Janome Magnolia 7330

If you're wanting more background, read from past entries here here here and here.  Notice the first post was from January 2011!  Gaah!

Glad its done and I wish I could wash it up and start using it... but alas - its got a higher calling, at least until June!  Now... to figure out a sleeve for the back of it.  Any suggestions?

{stuck} Octagonal Orb Pillow

My Octagonal Orb pillow is coming along nicely... but as of this afternoon has come to an impasse.

Its going to be quilted, because it will dwell in our living room, which means lots of abuse from an (almost) 2 year old little guy.  It will be stood on, body-slammed, sprinkled with snacks, licked by the dog, karate-chopped, hugged, sat on, and probably drooled on by nappers.

The only quilting design I've come up with so far is some free-motion quilting echoing the 8 sides... maybe 4 rounds per ring, plus the inside and outside solid portions.

Thoughts? 

If this were yours to quilt, what design would you do?

 

a fabric detour...

 Like so many other fabric enthusiasts, I couldn't resist getting my hands on a few yards of Patty Young's newest release -Lush.  This particular print is called "running stitch" and its divine! (I've already cut into the aqua - it was just screaming to be added into the pile of living room pillow fabric!)  I think this fabric is a great "basic" for any stash, and the stitching print is just too much!  

I love it!

I was meeting friends for brunch at Easton last Saturday and afterwards we decided to wander around West Elm which I've never stepped foot in before, although I've always admired their online store. The table linens sucked me in, and I was pleasantly surprised when these lovely napkins were on clearance for $1.75 each!  They're 100% cotton and a bit larger than a FQ... score!  

Fine... I also took home two pretty green cereal bowls that were just as good of a deal.  I'm a bowl addict, I admit!  They just make me happy.

What's your favorite non-traditional store to hunt for yummy fabrics?  I love Target, Home Goods... and now, West Elm!