A new pretty scarf!

Don't mind all the crazy going on in the background!

Several weeks ago Shruti posted pics of some infinity scarves that she was listing in her shop... and you would know that my mom follows Shruti on facebook too (that makes me smile!). Well, my mom called me right away saying she wanted to order one, and asking which one I wanted. The delivery was very prompt - but I didn't get mine until my mom visited last week! 

Branding: Shruti adds these cute ribbon loops and a little elephant charm to each one!

I'm so excited about this!! The colors are perfect, and I love the zigzags! Also, check out Shruti's tags. That's the most adorable branding I've ever seen!! 

I can't stop wearing mine! Thanks mom and thanks Shruti!!

(Shruti also sent an extra tiny one for Allie - but I can't seem to catch a picture of her in it!)

CMQG September Meeting: Jane Sassaman!!

You guys might have caught my blog post over on the Chicago MQG blog last week. We were so lucky to have Jane Sassaman join us for a trunk show and lecture last week! 

Jane was an absolute joy to have with us! Her style is fun and crazy! She does a lot of applique - which isn't my style at all, but I really enjoyed hearing about how she goes about designing and balancing her designs. Not to mention that she's just as sweet as can be!

It's always so inspiring to see so many beautiful quilts too! Jane brought a ton to show us!!

And... Happy birthday To Emily! I hadn't seen her since her birthday so I made sure to bring her gift with me. The Quilts of Gee's Bend won't disappoint (even if the handmade portion of her gift isn't finished yet)!

Lastly, for the sake of making Elaine smile -- a snap of my fabulous notebook holder that she made for me! I use it for guild related activities and planning meetings. Thanks Elaine! (note the fun doodling that happened during Jane's talk!)

Hello old friend...

Today I had a day off. 

(I've been so behind on blogging recently that you all don't even know that I'm working full time again now. No more 2.5 days a week. :( but on the plus side that means we have an easier time making our bills!) 

Part of my new sewing area! Bigger table, tiny stash shelf, drawers of notions. I also kept my old wardrobe for big storage.

I shouldn't blame the lack of sewing / blogging on the increase in work hours... but I guess that contributed. 

Sewing table! My new table is so much bigger -- that's an 18" x 26" mat. Whew!

Also - we moved! Whew - I'll be glad if I don't have to do that again anytime soon!

Today while Allie was at school (a new, fabulous, awesome school -- the major reason we moved)... I finally sorted out my sewing space. It's a shared space with our bedroom - which luckily is a nice big room with lots of sunlight!

Jelly Belly's help with FMQing!

So. I sewed today. 

I grabbed a "project bag" of scraps that I'd sorted by color palate way back before the move, and I set off to make a doll quilt. No sense in trying to tackle any huge project right off -- it had been more than two weeks since I'd sewn, and never before in this house -- so simple and non-thinking seemed about right.

I really wished I had had more of the Moda Bella Strawberry, but those little bits were literally the last bits I had on hand! Other than that I love how this turned out. I used only what was in the project bag, and those were tiny scraps! 

I managed to finish the quilt with enough time to take pictures before Allie got home from school! This little one finished at about 11" x 15" 

Hopefully this is the start back to quilting several times a week, and blogging just as often! :) Thanks for bearing with me while I got my stuff together!

Last days of summer, first days of school, and moving across town!

WOW where did this month go?? 

Yep, these are all mug rugs!

We have completely finished moving - all the boxes are moved (not unpacked just yet), and the keys to the old place have been turned in. Whew! What an adventure!

The sad thing about moving is that I've had no time for sewing. None. I sewed a bit at the August Chicago MQG meeting - but I didn't get any pics of the HST's since my camera battery was dead. Yep, that happened. I lost my camera battery charger and cords... for almost two weeks! (thankfully they turned up!)

So here's what I have to show for my month. Pics from the local farm, boxes and stacks of fabric to be packed, a cousin's wedding, allie's first day of kindergarten!! (Kindergarten!!)

I can say that my new sewing area is cute - not a whole room like my last place, but it'll do just fine. I do have to buy an ironing board though -- that's the only reason I'm not sewing right now! For the past few years I've used a folded towel on my hard wood tabletop... it worked great so why mess with it?? Well, now I'm using a different (nicer) table so I'm going to need an ironing board. 

Chaos...

We're moving! Ack - less then one month before we move and it's going to be a busy month of packing!!

You might have noticed that things have slowed down a bit here recently -- I've started working full time again and there's just less energy for sewing / blogging. I'll get better at that once the move is over! 

I'll be peeking in here periodically as I've got some fabulous projects which are nearly finished -- but for now I'll leave you with this perfect shot of the chaos that is my sewing table today. It includes that dreamy stack of AMH reprints from Pattern Crush, my weekender, some hand-sewing stuff, and who knows what else! 

GeoCentric Bag Challenge for Sew Mama Sew!

I'm always amazed at just how much I love finishing a good tote bag. Tonight I had the chance to revel in that finish - coming in just under the wire for the Sew Mama Sew GeoCentric Bag Challenge! 

I'm so excited to have the chance to work with Sew Mama Sew on this project - I've learned so much from them throughout the years and it's good to give a little back! 

Cloud 9 graciously sent us fabric for this challenge - it's a great canvas weight fabric which was a lot of fun to use. I typically sew with quilting weight cottons, and it's always fun to throw in a sturdier fabric once in a while. I paired the canvas with a layer of duck canvas (instead of interfacing) and I really love how nicely this tote holds its shape! 

This tote was made using a tutorial from The Long Thread. As mentioned before I substituted a layer of cotton duck canvas for the fusible fleece that the tutorial calls for. The tote came together really easily, and I'm surely going to make more of them in the future. This one is destined to become my MIL's birthday gift (don't tell her) - I hope she loves it as much as I do!

Chicago MQG Calendar Challenge

Remember that post from last week - the one about finishing my guild challenge quilt. 

It didn't work out how I planned. It became Wednesday and I hadn't finished piecing the top. I knew at that point that I had to change gears if I wanted to finish in time - otherwise my quilting would be compromised and that's not what I wanted for that quilt. I didn't want to rush it. 

So...

I grabbed the closest bit of unfinished patchwork on my table and went with it. 

(ok, ok, in truth I had this one on the back burner for about a month... no time here).

So I pulled this bit of free-pieced patchwork - chopped the overwhelming white borders (which apparently I hand't snapped a picture of), and added a bit more.

I decided to do a bit of free motion quilted flowers, with lines radiating out from the flowers. It makes me remember how much I love free motion quilting! I have some quilt tops that are nearly ready - soon! 

Anyway I really enjoyed making this little mini. In true Emily fashion I finished at about 1am late into the night, the night before it was due. It's a very "me" quilt - free and fun. I love it. 

I have to say I'm a bit in love with it and sad to that I won't see it again for a year! 

That's right, our guild challenge quilts have been accepted to travel in the quilt show with The Original Sewing & Quilt Expo for the next year! Stop by the show in your city to see them!