A Flower Garden for Cold Nights

I wanted to share a glimpse at one of the many WIP's I have going, this one something I have been picking up during quiet nights at home around the holidays lately. Sometimes I get so ashamed of the vast number of planned projects I have going, but I am learning to cherish the joy I get out of pondering over each one and the satisfaction of crossing each one off my list at its own appropriate time, rather than worrying about what others will think.

Alas, I was an over achiever with plans and dreams that went beyond the scope of my own hands and time, even in grade school. My granny was the person who taught me to sew then when I went to stay with them for a couple weeks each summer as a kid. After lots of crooked hand stitches on fabric scraps, she and I poured over all her quilting books and she let me pick out a block to work on. The one that had caught my eye was Grandmother's Flower Garden, which seemed appropriate besides being intricate and lovely. A story + detail + aethetically pleasing = right up my alley! This was in third or fourth grade I think and I remember her gently trying to tell me that it wasn't exactly a beginner's block, but being the good and encouraging sport she is, she showed me how to use a template to cut out lots of little hexagons and I got through a nice little stack of them by the end of that visit, lopsided as many of them turned out to be. We've laughed at them since but at the time, I remember her telling me they were beautiful no matter how long they took me or how uneven my stitches were.

Fabric from the dress my Granny made my first china doll,
fabric from my Grandpa's and husband's old shirts,
fabric from my 5th grade halloween costume (a "Laura Ingalls Wilder" dress) made my my mom,
fabric from my favorite pajama pants in college

Granny is a firm believer in the value of a quilt sewn by hand, nevermind the fact that you could make several by machine in a fraction of the time. She has made such quilts on the machine, and so have I, but when it comes to REAL QUILTING, only hand stitches will do. I never cease to be grateful for being taught that from the start. While I love working with my machine for so many projects and appreciate what modern quilters do (myself falling into that  category I suppose), I sometimes get a little sad reading blogs where people churn out a bajillion different quilts a year by machine alone. At a certain point of saturation, do they mean the same thing? Personally, I think there is a difference. One is no less valuable, but there is a difference in that value and that difference is why I'm ok with admitting that I'm working on blocks by hand for a quilt I started in grade school. It's not in fashion, and I think I love it all the more for that.

I really started adding to this pile back in 2008 when I took up sewing again after college and every year since, I add a few to the pile. Once I have enough for a queen size quilt, will put them altogether, perhaps with sashing, I'm not sure yet. Sometimes I pack them into the car on visits home to show her and we lay them all out and marvel at the stories each little scrap holds or my own stories of when and how I worked on each one. Each block combines some of her material that she gave me back in grade school, and some of my own that I have stashed away. I've finished 7 for 2013 so far and will pack it back away again in my sewing room soon as I need to get back to orders and school, and...my machine. Until next year!

Grandma Meets Design

(the two in the background are store bought ages ago and the bear is a handmade heirloom from my husband's childhood)

The first two pillows for my shop are finally here! Can i just say that i am pleased as punch with these? I know, way to toot my own horn there, geez louise. But the idea/design/fabrics/technique have been running around in my head for a while and there is always something a bit magical about having one of your creations take shape and looking all snazzy in its own little Etsy listing, no matter how many times you finish a seam and click that button.

I decided to make up two of the same design with yo-yo rosettes in slightly different fabrics from my AMH scraps—each one sewn, pieced, and attached by hand. What i love most about them is the bright against the sparse, the way they combine a more traditional homespun aesthetic with an overall clean and modern design. I really wanted to take what I loved about quilting and blend it with a contemporary bohemian á la anthropologie look. I might just have to put one aside for my own decor/napping needs...

yo-yo rosettes in two colorways of anna maria horner little folks voile

Each one fits a 14x14 inch pillow form and has an envelope closure with my very own professionally printed labels that I'm pretty geeked about (from mommiemadeit on etsy...i just can't show much with my website on it since i use flickr as a photo platform but you can see them, and specifics on the pillows, here and here).

I want to continue this line with a few more designs featuring other old-school quilt blocks such as the dresden plate, grandmother's flower garden, pinwheels, or perhaps some miniature patchwork. Now if only I could get my hands on a few of those Liberty of London Color Wheel bundles! Did I almost not post that link because I'm afraid they'll sell out again before I can strike it rich? Um, maybe...gosh this fabric addiction might be getting serious!

a girl can dream.

i definitely set this to be my new computer desktop

today is one of those quiet fridays that i relish in. i'm baking rye bread, getting all my custom orders organized for a weekend of embroidery, and i still haven't changed out of my pajamas. shush now, don't spread that last part around.

i'm also taking a bit of time to work on my of my own projects (yes, there are just too many that i have going right now...) as this afternoon light fades and, as long as we're on the subject of anna maria horner, i thought i'd share with you my progress on my AMH queen-size patchwork quilt! now, if you remember from my first post on this, i am doing the whole thing by hand...piecing, quilting, binding, the works. i started it back in the fall and i now have six rows done and sewn together which amounts to 126 squares. if all the holidays had not taken place right after starting it, i'm sure i'd be further along but that's ok because it's also something that i just want to relish in. the above photo shows some of my finished rows and some of the next ones that i have planned out.

the voile is so nice to handle and the colors make it such a cheery and relaxing thing to work on...i am really finding that piecing, designing, and planning a quilt is my favorite part! as i work i think more about my overall vision for the design of our bedroom: this folksy and luxurious quilt on the bed, creeky wooden floors, sweet and bright little accent items a la anthropologie, all contrasted by clean white walls and all white wooden furniture so that it's not at all overwhelming or clownish but anchored in peace and calm: very grimm brothers meets anthro meets cape cod meets prairie homestead meets color theory art student....a girl can dream right?!