Baby P's Quilt

I finished A QUILT. That's right! I still make those! Baby P's Quilt is done, and none too soon. (Baby P was only born three or so months ago!) So I'm a wee bit late! But if I tell myself that I want to give it to him in person when I see him in a few weeks, well, then, I've finished with plenty of time to spare.

This quilt took a hard left turn from the original design/idea. And then, just when I thought I'd settled on another idea, it decided to veer left again. This spot we've arrived at? Well, it may not look it, but it's definitely a stretch for me. I don't usually make quilts like this. Cool colors? Loads of negative space? I know a ton of quilters will laugh at me, but that kind of business is utterly terrifying for me.

And I made this quilt with the intention of stretching myself. It's just, what I didn't realize was, my sewing time has become seriously limited. It's a decision that I've come to for myself, and it's a good decision, but it means that when I *do* have sewing time, I don't want to spend it stretching myself. I want to spend it making something I can get very very excited about. And while I don't hate this quilt or dislike it by any means, it doesn't feel very Audrey to me. (Okay, the quilting totally feels Audrey to me, and I fought that urge too, exploring two other possible quilting ideas that would be even more of a stretch, but ultimately returning to a scheme I knew I would like and could execute. I'm happy I did.)

For the back, I used a charcoal kona solid. I had originally planned to use this as the back when my color pull was white, gray, black, red, orange, and mint with just a hint of pink, but it still worked even after transitioning to a mint/blue/green combo. I used the same mint thread for both my top and bottom threads.

And for the binding, I used the same kona mint solid and went with a machine bound zigzag finish.

This is my final finish from my Q2 FAL list. I completed everything on my (short) list! But since I've never finished an entire list before, I'm extremely pleased with this accomplishment.

Felicity Dress in Lawn

Finish #2 from the Q2 FAL is my Felicity Dress in Lawn. I used a Cotton + Steel lawn (I believe the collection was Hatbox?) for my dress, and it was a lesson in making do, let me tell you. But now it's done, and I love my dress!

I originally finished off the neckline, but it didn't sit right, so I had to rip everything out and begin again. It was totally the right call, but ugh.

I didn't have *quite* enough fabric, so I had to use something else for my pockets. This is some sort of Kona solid that is actually a really pale blue. I had it on hand, it was the perfect amount of material, it worked.

And I finished it off with a pink waist sash using the edge of the fabric. I had intended to utilize that pink for the bottom hem, but I didn't have enough fabric to make that work, so sash it is! And really, without the sash, I think the pink at the neck and armholes would look out of place, but with the pink sash, it all comes together.

I've already worn this dress out twice--graduation event and my anniversary dinner!--and I'll get at least one more event out of it this summer alone, so I'm calling this a good finish, even if a white dress is extremely impractical in this household.

Coast to Coast Traveling Bee Quilt 4

For this round of the Coast to Coast Traveling Bee, I had the privilege of working on my super awesome friend K's quilt. K elected to go with a teal, black and white color scheme. I know K is a fan of geometric small scale blenders, and I tried to shape my contribution to this quilt to compliment the blocks that have come before mine.

The above pic shows the blocks for K so far, not including a set of seriously awesome flying geese from Alison. I also pieced together some extra HSTs that were leftover and included some additional fabrics to be used for sashing when it comes time for K to put this all together. 

Before my turn, there was only one block with a gray background, and I thought I should contribute a few additional blocks that might read as gray, so I used a lot of that black and white crosshatch from Carolyn Friedlander. One of my first impressions of this quilt was that a lot of the blocks have movement, so that was my goal when selecting which blocks I wanted to contribute.

Other fabrics I used include some Violet Craft (the black and white bird print in the bottom block) and a teal print from one of Elizabeth Hartman's lines. The blocks from top to bottom, left to right are Fibonacci Sequence blocks, Ashley's Star (alt block), Pinwheel block (I did modify mine), and Ribbon Star.

In some ways, this traveling bee assignment was one of the more difficult for me. ONLY three colors???? Do I know how to piece blocks in only three colors? But it appears I do. I think the Ribbon Star block is my fave, though I do like that Ashley's Star block too.

It's hard to believe, but I have only ONE MORE quilt to work on before this round of the bee is done. It has been such an enjoyable experience, and I think everyone is going to wind up with a really exciting finish!

241 and Done!

Another 241 tote is in the books. I had to special order hardware to finish it--1.5" slide adjusters aren't common, I guess--and only realized after I'd placed my order that it was shipping from Malaysia! But it arrived last night, and of course the first thing on my mind when I woke up this morning was finishing this purse. (But first--coffee and taking care of kidlets and other mommy stuff.)

When the baby went down for her nap, I practically ran to my sewing machine. Sorry, dirty dishes, you'll have to get in line. It was time to finish this bag! (And now the dishes are waiting for this blog post. #priorities)

For my friend's bag, I used a canvas exterior with quilting cotton for the sides. I interfaced this bad boy with fusible fleece, added an exterior zip pocket and interior slip pocket as per pattern instructions, but I opted to also include a second interior slip pocket, this one sized for a writing instrument or two.

For those of you following the great strap debate--we opted for the bunnies! I think they look so good with the bag. But the mountains peek out too, so they weren't completely lost. I used that slide adjuster in making an adjustable strap for the bag.

I am totally in love with this bag. I seriously wish it was sticking around with me. I figure if I love it so much, there's a good chance my friend will be pleased as well, right?

This is my third finish from my Q2 FAL list, but I just realized I haven't talked about my second finish! And if I could just finish that quilt that is looming every time I walk near my sewing nook, I would be 4 and 0! That's motivation to get 'er done, let me tell you.

Yes, Another 241 Tote.

Maybe I should rename this blog Hot Pink 241 Totes? Because I sure do make a lot of them! But I think you're right--it doesn't quite roll off the tongue the way Hot Pink Quilts does, so we'll stick with HPQ, and eventually maybe one of these days I'll get around to photographing the quilt-in-progress I'm working on. Maybe one of these days I'll actually get it done! But until then--241 Tote time!

I honestly don't know what number 241 tote this is for me. Eight? Nine? TEN? Suffice to say, I've made a ton of them. This time, I'm making a commissioned one. And if I'm going to make a commissioned tote, you'd best be believing it's going to rock and be exactly what that person is looking for in their heart of hearts.

We started with choosing a canvas for the exterior body of the bag. I love this print from Tokyo Train Ride. (We'd also considered a Melody Miller canvas and a few others, but we came back to this one, and I'm so glad we did. It's been magical watching it form.) I used fusible fleece interfacing, so this bag is good and solid.

I got the exterior mostly put together, went to insert the zipper, and face palmed as I had FORGOTTEN to buy a zipper. Bravo, Audrey! A few days later, I rectified that mistake. The super thick nature of the canvas + fusible fleece made it difficult to insert the zipper cleanly, so I did my best.

The interior (not pictured) came together without complication, including the pen pocket I added. I pressed fabric for the handle, choosing to fussy cut (ish) the mountains thinking they looked pretty bomb. But on the reverse of the mountains, quite by accident, there is this SUPER CUTE line of bunnies. Now, you'll be able to see both sides of the handle, but one side will be prominent, and choosing one which side to face out was hard! I took to instagram (thank you, friends for your input!) and chatted with my friend who commissioned the tote, and we made a decision, but I think I'm gonna have y'all wait until the end to see what we chose!

And when I went to finish up the adjustable strap--I use this tutorial, though I did modify it this go around, more details in the finish post--I realized I ALSO had neglected to buy a slide adjuster. Rather, I had one on hand, but I hadn't considered that it's 1" wide when I need one that is 1.5" wide. Finding one has been an awful pain, and I finally thought to check etsy, and sure enough, there were like fifty million listings.

When that slide adjuster arrives, this bag should come together in twenty (or so) minutes, and I am SO eager to have it done because it already looks pretty smart, so don't you think it'll look even better when complete?