Sewing Room Friday, 9/29/23

 Here it is, the last Friday of September. 

I had to wait awhile to show this pillow, as it was a gift for Charlotte's birthday. I used a great pattern by Alissa Haight Carlton. I wanted to match the forest green of the cushion cover I sewed for her reading loft. 

I had this really great fabric that looks like old library cards, and as she is an avid reader, it was perfect for the back.

This is a 24" pillow, and really squishy. I like this pattern so much, and we already have a pillow this size in need of a new cover. So as soon as I can decide on colors, I'm going to make one for our family room.

While Meadowland is a quilt pattern that has been extremely popular, I have never made it. I had a stack of this (really old) "quilter's linen" by Robert Kaufman that I have incorporated here and there. I decided to make a fall version of Meadowland, and ordered some gold Painter's Palette fabric (my favorite solid fabric, when I'm not sewing with Oakshott) in "turmeric." 

The gold is pretty intense, but I'm happy with it. And the visual texture of the fabric makes me so happy.

I decided it needs to be just a bit larger so I ordered this stripe by Fableism. I think it will tone down the gold a bit, while coordinating nicely with the rest of the fabrics.

If you have read this blog for any length of time, or follow me on Instagram, you know that I love Oakshott fabrics. But I was still so surprised when I opened up an email newsletter from Oakshott and saw that my quilt, Jettstream, was in the header, and also part of the newsletter advertising their Jett range of fabrics! 

They posted this on Instagram, and I know for sure I will be ordering some of this newest color, Huckleberry.

I finished two projects this week.

First is a crocheted afghan for Gabe. He chose blues, and I chose the Cosy Stripe pattern by Attic 24. It turned out great.

Next, a quick knitted scarf using the yarn I bought in Alaska, hand dyed by Alaskan Yarn Company.

Now I need a new project to keep my hands occupied in the evenings. :)

Really Random Thursday, 9/28/23

 I feel like I just said, "Can you believe it's September already??" And now September is nearly over.

Last week, I volunteered with Central Valley Justice Coalition (where our daughter-in-law, Christa, is executive director) as they were part of a donor appreciation night for City Center, where the Fresno Rescue Mission has remodeled a building  designed to be a “one-stop-shop” for individuals and families with children suffering from crisis events, offering up to 20 nonprofit organizations and a school onsite. Eventually there will also be housing. The space has a food pantry where people in need can "shop" for the food they need, rather than just being handed a box. There is a "store" where you can shop for used clothing, toiletries and other items. It was really wonderful to see the services that will be available to families and youth.

Christa made this amazing charcuterie board. It was really interesting to talk to people from other agencies and learn more about different services that will be available to people in need.

:)

Just me?

On Saturday, Charlotte celebrated her birthday with friends. She did an 80s themed party. Think ABBA and the movie Mama Mia. Levi and Gabe both spent that time with friends, so Ella was available with nothing to do. We picked up Amelia, had dinner, and then played a round of miniature golf. It's been years since I've done that. It was really fun with these two.

We couldn't bypass the photo booth...

On Sunday, the family had lunch together to continue Charlotte's celebration. 

Amen to this:

And that's it for this week.

Quilt 248. Friendly Faces 3.0

With this quilt, I'm all caught up with completed quilts.

 Here we are again with a third iteration of Friendly Faces. When I made the Bound quilt, I trimmed off large triangles from the roof of each house. They were large enough that I knew I had to find a use for them. I still had some of a favorite background fabric (by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, sadly no longer available--but I used it in three quilts so I figure I got very good use from it). 

After using it with the triangles, I used the remaining scraps to surround more Friendly Faces. When I finally ran out of the background print, I made the rest of the squares using solid white in the center, surrounded by colorful solids.

It was definitely a "use it up" kind of project, which made me super happy. It needed a fun border and I found these colorful dots in my stash (I'm having the best time using what I already have rather than purchasing anything new).

I used this quilting design on Friendly Faces 2, and really liked it, so here it is again.

Another fun find for the backing. 

I'm so happy with this quilt. I gifted this one to my oncologist, Brittany, who has two small children. 

Quilt Name: Friendly Faces 3.0

Quilt Pattern: Original

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Completed 2023

Size: 46" x 52"

Quilt 247. Bound

 Our very dear friend, Jessie, got married in January 2023 to a really wonderful guy, Timothy. They are both Disney fans. In fact, their ceremony took place at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel. It was a very small ceremony (Mark and I would love to have crashed it, but we did not.) They even had their wedding photos taken inside the park. 

For their wedding quilt, I used a pattern (Quilt Fort) by Laura Loewen, and used a stack of beautiful fabrics I had hoarded for a long time (Modern Solids by Alissa Haight Carlton--I wish they were still available).

I made the entire quilt top at our annual quilting retreat at my friend's cabin near Yosemite. We always drape completed quilt tops over the railing, and I can tell you that it has been years since I have had a finished quilt top to hang on the railing!

Darby used a Mickey/Minnie design. So perfect. And cute!

How cute is this fabric (waiting in my stash for the perfect project)!

I'm particularly pleased with the name of the quilt, Bound, and the symbolism it represents. Jessie and Timothy are now bound together in love. 

Also, as they frequently go to Disneyland, they do something called Disney Bounding. So the quilt name serves a dual purpose. It is also why I used a Disney font. What is Disney Bounding, you ask? You are not allowed to wear a costume into the park if you are over 14 years of age. So fans emulate a character with regular clothing. See how cute they are as Rex and Hamm from Toy Story. 

We took the quilt downtown and photographed it in front of these cool metal sculptures called Acero Picado by Gordon Huether. They have long been on my list.

Jessie and Timothy were scheduled to have lunch with us on their way to the mountains for the weekend, but Timothy had to stay home due to illness. But it was so much fun giving Jessie the quilt in person. (I think she likes it...)

We are so happy for the two of them. 

Quilt Name: Bound

Quilt Pattern: Quilt Fort by Laura Loewen

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Size: 60" x 65"

Sewing Room Friday, 9/22/23

 Let's see. Where did I leave off? Oh yes. I made four totes from the pattern by my friend Krista @poppyprint. I already showed the one I made for Charlotte's friend, Grace, so here are the other three. One is spoken for, but I'm not sure where the other two will go.

While going through my fabric for these totes, I found something hidden deep on a shelf--some original Cotton+Steel canvas called Ruby Star Shining by Melody Miller, circa 2011. It's such a great print, and has my favorite thing--the typewriter. I used a pattern by @crazymomquilts, the Show and Tell bag. It's a nice large tote bag and will be great for hauling things to quilting retreats. And lately I'm in a mode where my favorite color combo is purple/rust/pink with that touch of lime, so this checked all the boxes.

A friend saw the coasters I made Aaron for his birthday and requested a set of six.

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I made a vinyl zipper pouch for Janice. These are fun to make. And I have quite a bit of printed vinyl and fun stripey zippers so I need to make more of them.

I'm nearly done with Gabe's afghan. I wish I had listened to myself when I told Charlotte to weave in the ends of the rows of her temperature afghan as she goes along, rather than waiting until the entire thing is completed. 

When I get tired of weaving in those ends, I procrastinate by knitting a scarf with the beautiful yarn I bought in Skagway, Alaska. 

My biggest accomplishment of the week is that I finished this quilt top, which I have named Lumos. 

I feel like the last couple of weeks have been quite productive. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum.