Cloth napkins?

I think maybe this is another project to add to the list: Fabric Napkins - so easy and functional. I love projects that use small amounts of fabric because that is usually all that I have. And I have been thinking about cloth napkins. Even if we don't use them all the time, how ever much we do use them would cut down on our paper towel use. And since they would be light weight, they could line-dry easily.

But now, to clean a bit and then iron carefully the fold on the baby quilt binding so I can sew sew sew!!!

Laptop Case (Belated Finished Project) and Clutch

 Here is our laptop case I don't think I fully posted about. I made it with a bottom-weight twill gray fabric that worked really well for the project. This project is based on this tutorial, yay for online tutorials!

I added a pocket on the outside for our cables so we could have it all together. Check out the Red Velcro! The outside pocket fabric is white flannel with pink snowflakes. The inner lining is cassette tape flannel - awesome! of course this case has a few imperfections, but it is awesome and very functional. (And Manly enough for my husband,)

Okay, here is a clutch I was making many months ago from the book : Sew What You Love. My biggest issue I guess is that I didn't realize I was making such a big clutch. It is so big I probably won't use it. But I did learn some construction things and with a better fabric and better sewing perhaps it would be lovely. I think a stiffer fabric that maybe didn't show all the pleats through the top fabric might be good. I was going to attach large snaps instead of the recommended velcro. But now it has been sitting for many months. Maybe I will just attach velcro. Also, just a thought. Maybe if I attached a strap I would like it better? We'll see.

Duck fabric as the lining - Yep.

In Progress

Mending Mike's jeans. I do it by hand because that's the best way to do it to not have stitching in places where I don't want it. 

Also. The beginnings of a baby blanket. I bought knit picks needles that are interchangable because that's the only way I could buy the size I needed. I had an issue of the needle falling off. I didn't realize that there was a small tool that came with the needles to help tighten it. I have tightened them now and will see very soon if that does the trick. I love the pattern and am having fun knitting. The one sad thing is that the yarn kind of sheds and I get white fuzz on my pants. Oh well! I have a free morning off work and I'd better get back to my mending.

Summer is coming.

From 5/13:
I planted Lobelia and Geranium in pots and am glad to see they are starting to bloom. At the front of the house are huge bunches of Iris and at the back, beautiful pink roses. Today I am replacing a broken zipper in a pair or jeans. I have also already spent a lot of time fighting the ants in our kitchen. I may also work on the baby quilt binding.  Perhaps I will even bind on for a knitted baby blanket that I bought yarn for. (In hopes that it will be a more portable project, lunchtime knitting?) Change is in the air as we may be moving sometime soon and right now I love this spring to summer moment.

5/14:

I have started to knit the baby blanket. The pattern called for size 8 and worsted yarn. My yarn seems thin, and I don't know quite yet how I like the feel of it. It is an Ivory color. I will keep on going and do a few rows of the pattern before I decide if I need to change needles. 

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Not Sewing Related

Well, we have been prepping for our concert, and I made some merch items. My husband helped me re-invent my cd covers (They were originally limited run 4-panel hand silk-screened) We made and image and had it printed, and I hand glued them. Yay!





Also I made awesome stickers through moo. I love them. featuring upsidedown cat images and the wedding one is part of a vintage  greeting card.

Hope to see you at the show on Saturday! upsidedowncat.bandcamp.com

Sewing threads

I don't remember which sewing blog I saw this idea on, but I thought it was interesting. I believe it was an end-of-the-year post where the blogger showed how many spools of thread she had used up on projects that year.

I do like documenting things, and being able to look at something and feel like you finished something. On the baby quilt I am working on, I sewed the whole top by finishing off some almost-bare spools of thread. It did feel like I had accomplished something even though I know the thread was almost gone.  I will have a longer wait until my next empty spool(s). I have inherated thread over the years from people.
Hopefully this topic isn't too boring. We'll see if i can continue and maybe do a grand count at the end.

Sneak Peek!

Just a little look at a baby quilt I am working on. I cut out many squares. (Maybe 80 more than what I needed, oops!) But I wanted lots of options and wasn't quite sure how big it would be. I did 4x4in squares. The fabric was random vintage kid fabric from my stash, along with greens and grays as requested that I got as fat quarters. I also got some random fabrics at SCRAP which is a great place to find fabric. More pictures when it is finished. I sewed the whole quilt top in the afternoon today. I find it is best to power through quilt tops if possible, even if I get a little tired. I'm so glad that the quilt top is done because I can get it off the floor and fold it neatly! 

 I bought this cassette flannel fabric several years ago, thinking I would make PJ pants. I have grown out of large prints on my PJs, so I have already used some of this fabric for the lining of an awesome laptop case I made several months back. It will be perfect for the back of the quilt.

The good thing about all the extra squares is that I can make some more quilts and there are Plenty of friends and acquaintances having kids now. Sometimes I wonder if I should just start making items for my (hopefully) future kids. To try to get ahead while I have some free time?

Podcasts Listened to today:
  Stuff You Missed in History
  Stuff You Should Know
  Knitmore Girls
  Knitting Pipeline

Upsidedown Cat Show!!!!

Upsidedown Cat, my long-napping Casio band, has a show on  May 10th. If you are in Portland you should come! There will be some cds for sale... and it should be lots of fun!!! Visit upsidedowncat.bandcamp.com to listen to our music.
The last few days have been pretty busy with figuring out show details, practicing, and stressing out a little. I'm really excited to play!

Green Jeans Quilt (Finished project!)

      Hooray! I'm so glad to say that I finished sewing the blanket edging for the jean quilt I have been working on for a while now. I have made at least five twin sized jean quilts and one queen sized one over the years. I really like the blue-green look of this one. The back is a blue-green wool that I got from an elderly neighbor who was moving. It is pieced in a few places to make it the right size. Normally with denim quilts I just do two layers because the fabric is so heavy. For this one, since the wool was lighter weight I decided to do a middle layer of fleece that I had. I tied the three layer together with embroider threads.

I arranged the colors and sewed the top in a weekend. Then I got the great idea to hand embroider our friend's dogs on there. The longest part definitely was the binding because I did not have enough wool to fold over top. I made strips of fabric and ironed the seam allowance under so I could just pin the edging on and sew it. I used a blanket stitch and I think it looks great. 

Even though it took a while I think it is definitely worth doing it "right" and having handsewn details.

I finished the binding when we were on a weekend trip. We stopped to take pictures on the bleachers in Irrigon Oregon. (Mike's hometown).

I have a problem sometimes of making things and giving them away right away without proper photos. My Ravelry page is pretty sad because I dont have photos for most of my projects. Oh well. I am trying to learn to document things better. Yay!

          

Next projects: 

Baby blanket. Squares are cut but i need to lay it out and sew.
Sewing the Sorbetto and Hazel that I have cut

Colette's Sorbetto and Hazel

More Colette Patterns prep work. I cut out this light green and white floral fabric for the Sorbetto top a few weeks ago. My mom is borrowing my sewing machine right now so I have been doing just prep work for projects. Today I cut out pieces for the Hazel dress also by Colette. It's black and white gingham. The fabric is pretty lightweight, so I may need to line it or find the right slip. I know gingham is good when you need to find the grain of the fabric weave. This pattern has some pieces of the bodice that are sewn on the bias so I'm excited to see what difference it makes with the checks on the bias. I have never really sewn with stripes, but someday I plan to. I also downloaded the Sencha pattern to hopefully make it some day. I guess I figure if I can make several patterns by Colette Patterns sucessfully I will learn a lot and it will help me with other pattern brands later that I feel are generally too big when I sew my size.

An update: working on the jean quilt and I am inches away from finishing the hand stitched blanket-stitch binding. I am really excited to finish, photograph it, and give it to our friend.  Then I can move on to other projects!! Baby blanket, other quilts in the works, and actually sewing the above patterns. I feel like this is going to be a productive summer!