To Boston with Love

By now I think nearly every quilter in the world has heard about "To Boston With Love," which is being organized by the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild with local coordination by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time and the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild.

Amy has amazingly arranged for the flags--which are arriving fast and furious from all over the world-- to be displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for a month, beginning on Memorial Day weekend, when admission is free. 

It took me longer than I planned but I finally finished three flags this week.

The Citgo sign is one of my favorite Boston landmarks.  I see it every day on my drive in and out of work, and it always reminds me of home.  It's also an example of great graphic design.  I was planning to piece this but due to time constraints, decided to raw-edge applique -- see here for a gorgeous pieced example -- and please ignore my sloppy "wabi sabi" applique.

Visitors to Boston--especially those with kids or a sweet tooth-- will recognize this as the Milk Bottle that stands 40 feet tall outside the Boston Children's Museum, another favorite Boston landmark.  I took the liberty of replacing the "Hood" logo with a heart, just for the occasion.

There's still time to make and send a flag for this exhibit!  See all the details at the Vancouver MQG's page. 

claiming my blog....

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

kids' clothes week 2013

Confession: not all of these projects were started for KCW 2013, but they were all completed during the week; that counts, right?

Up first:  romper/ John-John from a vintage pattern, Simplicity 6157 (bought on etsy). I love classic boy styles, and this pattern, which appears to date from the early 70's, fit the bill nicely.

 

I made this one as a wearable muslin so I could check the fit; the fabric is from the back of an IKEA duvet cover.  I modified the pattern slightly to omit the zipper, which seemed a little extraneous in light of the fact that there are both 1) working shoulder buttons and 2) crotch snaps.  I'm all for easy access in baby clothing, but three points of access?  That just seemed unnecessary.

Look at the adorable boys on the pattern envelope.  Check out the chevron-aligned striped fabric!  So on-trend.

Those cheeks!  That tipped up nose!  That lollypop!  (Who gives a one-year-old a lollypop?  Ah, the 70's).

Because the pattern leaves you with a seam down the front of the suit, I thought it needed a little something in the middle, so I raw-edge appliqued this little paper boat.

I have plans to make a couple more of these for summer.

Up next, two little pairs of pants.  I used Rae's "Basic Newborn Baby Pant" pattern and tutorial sized up for my 6-month-old.  The first pair, in Little Lisette fabric.  Can you spot the ultra-embarassing rookie mistake?

Of course you can.  Don't pretend. I didn't notice the fabric was directional until AFTER I sewed these together.  EMBARASSING!  Eventually I'll make another pair and get it right.  Maybe.  Or I'll just put him in these and hope no one notices.

The second pair came together a bit better.  I used some leftover seersucker for these and added patch pockets.  You know, for his wallet and phone.

Finally, reversible sun hat.  This is dedicated to the lady who chided me on Saturday morning--the first sunny day since last September--for having J out in the Boba without a hat on.  Unsolicited advice is a mom's best friend.

I made this hat by winging it and learned a valuable lesson:  patterns are good.  This did come together in the end but with a lot more work (and cursing) than necessary given the fact that there are tons of great free patterns online, like this and this.   Lesson learned. 

Quilts for Boston

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is requesting blocks in blue, gold, grey and white for comfort quilts to be distributed to those affected by last week's attacks.

If you can help, please visit the BMQG's blog for further information and more details. 

solar system

One of my longest lingering UFOs is finally completed.

This pillow cover for my space-obsessed kindergartener started as a sample from a reverse-applique circle lesson we had at Guild well over a year ago.  I brought a square of Kona coal and a few scraps of Heath and Sketch. I just serendipitously started with the orangey-yellow "sun" circle, and once I had a couple more done I realized that the yellow one looked like the sun and the others like planets.

The design was inspired by a quilt from Garnet Hill that they no longer carry; this one from Land of Nod is similar.

If I had planned it out, I would have left more space around the outside edge -- poor Neptune and Uranus (heh) are falling off the sides of the solar system.  I hand-stitched the orbits in a shimmery silverish embroidery floss -- the effect is really nice, though you can't see it in this photo.

I did an envelope closure on the back using "Star Charts" in black from Lizzy House's "Constellations" collection -- a perfect backing for this pillow, so I guess it's serendipitous (again) that I waited this long to complete this project?

bunting easter baskets

Another mini-project.

They are a little wabi-sabi, but I'm calling it shabby chic.

bandana bibs

I went back to work about six weeks ago and since then my time for sewing has essentially evaporated.  It seems like there is never enough time to make a dent in any of my quilts-in-progress, so instead I have been taking the edge off my sewing addiction with small projects that can be done in an hour or two.

I can't recall where I first saw one of these bandana bibs, but there are good tutorials all over the web.  These are genius if you have a spitter or drooler (J is both).  It feels like every time you get the baby dressed up in a cute matching outfit he immediately proceeds to cover the front of it with spitup.  And regular bibs aren't ideal since they make baby look like he's about to have a meal.  These bibs do double duty as a spitup/drool catcher and a stylish accessory. :)

I made five of these in just an hour or two, though I ran out of snaps so two of them are unfinished.  I added a little tag to each one, just because tags are fun.  Some tutorials suggest backing them in toweling, which would certainly be more absorbent; I used flannel because I didn't want them to be too thick or stiff.  These would be adorable shower gifts and would be simple for even a novice sewer.

I've also been playing around with some applique, which I always thought I hated, and actually don't.

Instant gratification as my WIPs languish.  Someday baby will sleep through the night and I will have more time for sewing.  Right?  Right?