I just looked back at the date of my last post and am shocked that it's been over a week since I blogged last. This summer is flying by. It doesn't seem possible that we're already into July.

I'm gearing up for a craft show in a few weeks, and was looking to make some new things to take with me. Here's what I've been working on the past few days:

Shoes! Aren't they so much fun? I should probably call them slippers instead, since I'm not sure they'd completely hold up for wearing out and about. The pattern comes via I Think Sew. Her patterns are so cute and really reasonably priced. And the shoes....oh my goodness!

It took me a few days to figure out how to make them correctly, but now that I've got everything down, they're a lot of fun to make. I'd like to have a nice pile of them to take with me to the show in two weeks!

And speaking of which! If anyone is semi-local, I'll be at the I-Art Festival in Redford, Michigan July 24th and 25th. The show runs from 11-9pm on Saturday and from 10-4pm on Sunday. I'm hoping for great weather and a big turnout this year!

posted by Sarah | July 8, 2010 | Sewing | 12 comments | link

As of noon today, I am on summer break, and I am a very happy camper.

See?

I love summer for so many reasons. I love the flowers that grow in my garden. I love Fourth of July picnics, parades and fireworks. I love going swimming on hot days. But more than all of that I love sewing as much as I want, all day long. I feel like for two and a half months out of my year, I get to live my dream of being a full time quilter and crafter. It's bliss, and it's what I look forward to all year long.

In fact, in only took about 10 minutes this afternoon to get started.

Bring on the new projects, the iced tea, the fresh blueberries, the day lilies that grow in my yard. Bring on my most happy time of the year.

posted by Sarah | June 11, 2010 | Sewing | 3 comments | link

More selvage action, people! I love this stuff.

Does it step over the line a little when the reason for wanting to buy more fabric has changed from using the actual fabric (or at least stashing the actual fabric) to being solely about the selvage? Because I think I've gotten to that point.

Also, good news everyone! I have two days left of work until my summer break starts. I am so looking forward to spending more quality time with my sewing machine.

posted by Sarah | June 9, 2010 | Etsy Shop | Sewing | 1 comments | link

I just recently (within the last six months or so) figured out about paper piecing, and it has totally changed the way that I think about piecing now. I got started with a few little string piecing experiments, based on Film In the Fridge's tutorial and loved how simple it was. I love how you can take just a sliver of fabric and make it look neat and tidy in a block. It made me think about piecing in a whole new way.

So last night I got to thinking about how I could make it work for squares and small pieces. I know so many people have figured this out already and are thinking "duh, Sarah, duh," but I was so excited about how precise a teeny three inch square could look! Seriously fantastic.

I want to make a whole quilt out of these lovely little blocks, but for last night, I made a very quilty pouch with my little blue square. I'm thinking that tonight I'll make a little green square!

posted by Sarah | June 3, 2010 | Etsy Shop | Sewing | 5 comments | link

You know what's super cool? How SO many people seemed to be genuinely excited about the hand quilting tutorial last week. It's must have struck a deeper chord to me because it kicked my sewing mojo into gear. I want to sew everything now!

Despite my ongoing "Finish It or Pitch It" campaign (two quilts finished this spring!) I broke down and started some new things for my shop. When I updated last week, all three of my selvage pouches sold (thank you!!), so I figured that I'd make some more.

This has resulted in me losing my mind. I want to cut selvage for days, then refold my fabric and find interesting ways to stack it. My mild OCD is shining through the Internet like a beacon of light for all of you to see. I am crazy.

My mind is buzzing with activity. I want to sew (and cut) and sew and sew. I love that feeling.

posted by Sarah | May 27, 2010 | Etsy Shop | Sewing | 2 comments | link

Wee people are surprisingly easy to make gifts for. Find cute stuff, make it, and present to wee person's keeper (or mom). Simple.

I do not have wee people. I have a dog. And I work with mini people at work everyday. Although I do not currently have the desire to own my own wee person, I apparently have an intense drive to make cute embroidered onesies for other people's wee people. Monkey onesies!

Despite saving these until the last minute (and staying up most of the night before the were due) I was overall happy with them. I used a Sublime Stitching iron on pattern, and other than figuring out that I had to use an interfacing under the stretchy material, the whole thing couldn't have been any easier.

I also wanted to knit a blanket, and being that the wee person will be arriving early this summer, I went with something lightweight. I used the Baby Chalice Blanket (link here if you're on Ravelry) pattern, with in Knit Picks Comfy. It's a 100% cotton yarn, and while I'm not usually a fan of knitting with cotton, this stuff seemed really nice to work with. Plus, it should help the wee person's mom and dad when she spits up all over it and it needs to be washed about 15 times a week. No worries about felting it all up.

posted by Sarah | May 12, 2009 | Knitting | Sewing | 1 comments | link

What makes me happy these days?

Three bins full of fabric scraps to be re-sorted, cut, ironed and used.

A messy desk filled full of projects in progress.

Happy, but maybe a little overwhelmed, I must say.

p.s. A few new items are in the shop. I'd love it if you'd take a look!

posted by Sarah | March 31, 2009 | Sewing | 2 comments | link

...to the sewing machine decision! I really do appreciate all of the great suggestions about machines, and I have to tell you all that I really did a lot of investigating and checked out your suggestions. It's amazing to me how many variables there are in sewing machines. That, and the prices. I think I was a little shocked when I started looking at how much a nice machine would run. But, after debating what I wanted, I decided to pick something that would do everything. And everything is what I got.

I ended up choosing the Brother QC-1000, and so far, I really love it. I had worried about picking a computerized machine (out of fear that it might be obsolete in a number of years) but from what I found is that the power of a computerized machine is so much stronger and can keep its stitches much more even. The cool thing about this machine is that it automatically senses the thickness of the thread and adjusts the tension and stitch power to keep the stitches all the same. When I first started top stitching my totes, I was shocked at how nice and even and not messy it looked, even when going over the handles and sides.

There's so many features that I haven't even had a real chance to work with yet, but I love the fact that it will be a long time before I run out of new things to explore on it. It's such a dream to sew on, and I know that my finished products are looking a ton better. It's fast, it's smart, and it's been a quick machine to learn, despite all the features.

And as far as features go, it threads itself, it cuts the thread at at the end of the seam, it sews front to back, side to side, and diagonally, it came with a walking foot, plus several other quilting feet (I have to get some practice with those soon!) and has more stitches than you can shake a stick at. Then, if I couldn't find a stitch that I wanted it to do, I could upload a pattern to the machine and it would add it to it's stitch library. It's seriously, freaking cool!

posted by Sarah | October 7, 2008 | Sewing | 9 comments | link

So, I think I'm unofficially, officially shopping for a new sewing machine. Anybody got any suggestions?

As much as I really, really love my sewing machine, I think the problems that I'm having with it are outweighing the good. Emma, my machine, went in for a tune up earlier this year, and she ran much better for about 2 months. I'm having the same problems that I did about this time last year though--sloppy, uneven length stitches, sliding out of tension in the feed dogs, and weird jamming up problems. I would consider taking her back in to be serviced again, but I they had her for almost 2 months because they had to re-order a broken part. With Renegade coming up, I can't be out of a machine for that long. Plus, I just can't justify spending $150 every six months for a tune up. Buying new just seems to make more sense.

My next step is to start shopping. I'm looking for a machine that can be used everyday and not be worn down quickly. I think my current machine was meant much more as a hobbyist model and I'd like something a little tougher. I'm also looking to do quilting with it, but I don't need any of the fussy embroidery stitches and functions. Emma is a Husqvarna Viking, and I've been really happy with the ease of using the machine, but I'm certainly not committed to that brand. I want to test driving some models, but if there's something super good that I should look at, I'd be interested to know about it! I need any help that I can get.

posted by Sarah | August 6, 2008 | Sewing | 19 comments | link

I know that it seems like I've yet again, abandoned the blog, but alas, I am here. Sewing my brains out!

I'm getting ready for a show next weekend, and these are the latest edition to my goods that I'll be bringing along with me. Journals! For as much as I'm obsessive compulsive about writing everything down, these have been perfect for me to make. Once I fill up one notebook, I can slide it out and put a new one in.

I've been using different colors of linen to line the outside, with three pieces of cotton to make it all pretty-like. I've also found a bit sturdier of an iron on interfacing that seems to work really well. I'm not sure of the name; so far I've been able to pick it out based on feel.

**Side note: Am I the only one who does that with interfacing? All the women at the craft stores don't believe me when I ask for other interfacing than what they have on display, and they'll tell me, "Oh honey, these are the only kinds they make. I'm sure one of these are what you need." And I'm all like "no, I can tell the difference by touch, and this isn't the same interfacing you had last month when I was in the store. I swear there's a conspiracy.

So, these, along with oodles of pouches and bags and other sewing have been keeping me busy this month. Next Saturday I'll be back in Ypsilanti, Michigan for the Summer Shadow Art Fair at the Corner Brewery. It's always a really fun day, so if you're in the area, stop by, look at crafts and have a beer! (You'll have to buy your own, though.)

posted by Sarah | July 9, 2008 | Crafting | Etsy Shop | Sewing | 6 comments | link