A bit of sewing, a bit of growing

With Spring supposedly here in Seattle, I am now fighting the squirrels to grow my container garden. I have little yard, but a lovely long deck that is sunny enough to grow a few pots. I have been struggling with the local squirrels to keep them out of my bulbs, and failing mostly, until my mom suggested the magical hardware cloth! After cutting up circles and squares, I tucked them neatly on the top of my pots and viola – no more dug up, half eaten and discard bulbs! I might have some flowers this summer after all.

However, after the April Showers, my nasturtium seeds were pathetic so I started a little garden in my sewing room window.

The west-facing window gets fantastic light, and everything grows well there. It could be because it faces an open street and has no shadows, or it could be because I have luck on my side.

My string-of-pearls blooms constantly, and I just had to trim it back a few inches to keep it happy and off my fabric stash.

So last week or maybe even, this week, I made a modern type quilt. It was my first attempt, had no plan and no pattern, and I just went with it. This was my first mistake. If you are quilting, you have to plan because stitches show on both sides of the quilt. Tricky tricky. Here is the back or maybe the front, depending on which side you like better. I had fun since the quilt is quite small, just hacking my way through stitching up the poplin and Tina Givens “Annabell” by Westminster Fabrics.

I love the bold jewel tones, from a couple of fat quarters in my stash. My mother wore these colors for all of the 90′s, and I adored her in her long suede earrings, matching pumps and black stretch pants until flowing bright colors.

The good news is I have finally mastered binding and handmade bias tape and mitered corners! YAY! A challenge unto itself, I love the teal and brown as the main colors. Very earthy. And a steal when I purchased them from Laura Bee‘s sidewalk sale for $8 for a near full bolt in each color last year.

So I am just getting excited about Easter and while I am not exactly celebrating, I did tell my husband he had to fill a fabric basket I will make for us. And with good things, not Cadbury Eggs or Peeps, which are more of a structural art element than edible food. So even if we aren’t hunting for eggs or decorating our house, I did manage to begin a small fun car-napping pillow in cheery easter colors.

So I am spending these crazy weather days (hail yesterday, sunshine today, it’s mid April, what is this craziness?) in my sewing room, crafting and putting together fabrics to just admire colors. And growing, oh yes, and that.

What are you stitching up lately?

Love,

MaLora

Baby Quilt

I wanted to start my venture into quilting easy. Am I a chicken? Maybe. Oliver + S’s charm pack of City Weekend was the perfect size to make a simple play mat for tummy time for any new baby. What took forever, was arranging and rearranging the squares. I even had my graphic designer husband come and double-check, to make sure I didn’t have any two patterns too close to each other. (Hey, perfection is what you make it.)

So… on many tutorials, smart people mention using painters tape to make sure your lines are even and straight. I may have been overconfident in my ability to literally stitch through the center of each square. During stitching, I would like to say, my sweet puppy Asia wanted a ton of attention, but she doesn’t like the sounds my babylock makes, so she comes in, nudges my thigh for pets, and leaves. And repeat. It’s very hard to stitch when you have a darling 65lb pitbull being so cute and nudging your sewing leg. Here she is, sleeping on my bed, which she is not supposed to do.

So for the baby quilt, I knew the size would be sorta small to actually have it cover and wrap up any infant very well. So I used a highloft natural lining, and a kona red handmade binding that is extra wide. The backing is a fun polka dot material I had in my stash.

Overall I am very pleased! Especially because today, my fantastic new book arrived! Yay!

The book is lovely, with full size patterns and a fun cover you can cut up into paper dolls. The patterns inside are for either a boy or a girl, and have thorough instructions. I am super excited to be making new little things!

Hope you are all enjoying the crazy Spring weather we are having. In Seattle we had hail, sunshine, extreme winds, and a gorgeous sunset today.

Love,

MaLora