Sew South Swap and Echino Weekender Bag

Is there anything better than a swap? (Nope!) I signed up to participate in a little swap following the Sew South Retreat. I decided to make a super modern mini quilt with neon pink, lemon yellow and linen for my partner. It's a little wrinkly in the photos, but I really love how this turned out. 

Construction was fairly straight forward once I figured out what I was going for. I basically cut in the colorful strips into the background—the pink first, then the yellow. 

I quilted parallel to the yellow strips at varying widths.

I shouldn't even show you the back because holy COW, did that sucker pucker up, but whatever—I still like it, even if it's not perfect!  I had this cool piece of gradated yellow fabric in my stash, and it went perfectly with the pieced-in yellow strips. It was a little thin, and I basted with pins instead of spray, both of which didn't help with the pucker situation. But I figure it's a mini quilt, destined for a wall, so it's fine. The pink corners on top are for hanging, and the one in the bottom right corner is a little label.

My swap partner, the lovely and talented Asha, sent me this amazing embroidery hoop bag. We all got a little addicted to embroidery during Sew South, thanks to Alison Glass, so Asha figured this was a safe bet - - - and boy was she right!

One of my (several) current cross-stitch projects is living in this bag, so I'm using my awesome swap gift every single day!

I think my favorite part are the little words of inspiration in the bottom corner . . . . 

Last but not least, I'm working on Amy Butler's Weekender Bag. Some of my buds in Charleston convinced me to jump on the bandwagon and make one of these (kind of terrifying) bags. We got a little kick in the pants to get started when a 2014 Sew Along was announced - - you can read about the Sew Along here, hosted by Modern Handcraft, Sew Lux, and Love By Hand.

I'm using an Echino print for the main panels, Pennants Waving by Rashida Coleman Hale for the lining and Domino Dot in Starfruit by Violet Craft for the piping. I'm using store-bought strapping for the straps.  Here's my progress so far!

 What have you been working on?

Happy stitching!

Kelly

"Once Upon A Time" Cross Stitch Sew Along

The insanely talented gals at The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery have designed a year-long mystery sampler, all themed around "Once Upon A Time." We are now 5 months in, and I figured it was time to show y'all what I've been working on!

On my scroll frame.

On the first of each month, the Pumpkins release that month's stitch chart. By the end of the year, the sampler will be done and ready for framing!  I LOVE fairy tales, so this was a "must-do" for me!

Snow White with laundry supplies, magic mirror and poisoned apple

I'm stitching on a hand-dyed crystal linen (it has sparkles in it!) from Picture This Plus. It looks a little gray in the pictures, but it's really more blue than gray.

The Frog Princess, her (pre-transformation) prince, and valentine's sweet treats.

The 3 Little Pigs, a huffing & puffing wolf, and the brick house.

Goldilocks, the 3 bears, bed, chairs and porridge.

Jack and the beanstalk, his cottage, cow, magic bean, and pot of gold.

I'm actually all caught up so far! I can't wait to see what June brings!  You can still buy the pattern here and join in the fun if you're interested in sewing along.

Happy stitching!

Kelly

Scrappy Improv Pillow

I was lucky enough to get to go to the Sew South Retreat this year, hosted and organized by the lovely Jennifer Mathis of Ellison Lane. One of my favorite things was that everyone who went took the same classes together.

This scrappy improv pillow class was taught by Kati (From The Blue Chair), and it was so fun to see how different everyone's projects turned out!

Kati told us to bring a bag of scraps to use to make our pillow, and I pulled (mostly) greens, blues and purples. That little piece of pink floral snuck in somehow, and I had to use it - - it's one of my favorite scraps! That piece of text print in the middle was rescued from the trash can at Sew South!  Total dumpster diving score!

I've always sewn my pillows right sides together and then turned out to finish, but I decided to bind this one. I'd been seeing a lot of bound pillows online and really loved the look, so I decided to give it a shot. I love how the binding looks on this - - a very clean finish. The back is a simple envelope style. I used Essex yarn dyed black, with a piece of my favorite Tula Pink Accacia raccoons thrown in, too.

In the background, you can see a little sneak peek of my Tula Pink Peaks and Valleys quilt from the Oct. 2013 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting - - - I want to bind it before I show you the whole thing, but soon. . .. very soon . . .  :-)

What have you been up to?

Happy stitching!

Kelly

Rainbow Baby Quilt

I know it's been awhile since I've really posted - - forgive me!  I've been busy sewing, I promise!  :-)

This little quilt has just now been gifted to a very loved friend of our family who is expecting her second (a girl!) any second now - - - -so I can finally share this Rainbow Baby Quilt!

I really love how this easy quilt turned out. It's a simple variation on my Easy Baby Boy Zigzag Quilt tutorial. This quilt is the same interior, but I added a narrow white inside border and a scrappy exterior border.

This entire quilt was from my scrap stash - - woohoo for scrap busters, right?  The background is my fave - Essex yard-dyed linen in Flax. 

I did a lot of straight line quilting, following the lines made by the chevrons, which provided some nice, square filler in the empty spots. It crinkled up nicely after it was washed, too - - I love (and fear) that part of the process!

I can't wait to meet this little girl, and I hope she loves this happy little rainbow quilt!

Happy stitching,

Kelly