"4" birthday shirt

Last year, I made this "3" birthday shirt for Vada...



I guess it's a tradition now, because I made her a "4" shirt too!



She's grown so much! (Which reminds me - her toenail fell off last week, and all is well with that...)

This year, she even helped with the fabrics. I picked out a dozen or so, and she chose her 3 favorites. Here's the template I started from, just whipped up in PowerPoint, using clip art for the butterfly. (If anyone would like the PPT file or a PDF version, let me know - I can even change the number for you...)



And here it is fused down...



And a close up of the stitching. I was so excited to see that my machine has a "O" buttonhole stitch - it was perfect for the tip of the antennae!



I have to admit, the non-symmetrical-ness of the 4 kinda bugs me. But by the time she's 8, butterflies might be uncool! My math geek friend Mandy reminded me that next year, I can use "V" (the roman numeral for 5), which is also Vada's initial. Fun!!

keep those orders coming...

Thanks everyone for the fabulous response to my 'share the loot' post! I'm a little slow (had my daughter's bday party yesterday - what a zoo!), but steadily working on getting things packed up and mailed. I thought you guys might like a look at what's on the way...

Here's a "groovy flowers" set...



And a "blues and greens" set (which has been quite popular!)...



And the four packages I sent on Friday - so stuffed!!

I still have PLENTY left, especially yellow/orange/pink, so feel free to order more!

Speaking of sheets, have you all seen Jen's new Vintage Sheets blog? It's going to be a fantastic resource! Jen also started up a flickr group for the blog. After you use your loot to make awesome projects, go add some pics there!

sharing the loot

Do you love to sew with vintage sheets? Have I got a sweet deal for you!

A while back, I posted about the Seattle Fabric Stash Purge Party, and my plans to put together some sets of vintage sheet FQs to sell there. The sale is coming up in just a couple weeks, and I've been diligently chopping up my stash and getting prepared to package them up. But then I had a thought - what if my wonderful blog readers would like a chance to buy these before the sale? I don't really want to make a load of cash - I just want to share the loot and decrease my stash. And then keep on buying more cool sheets! :-)

So, here's the deal: $15 for a flat rate envelope stuffed with FQs (that's including postage - what a deal!). My FQs are extra chubby, and I can fit about 18 of them in one envelope. You can pick a theme, like "pinks" or "blues and greens" or "multi-colored" or "stripes and geometrics" or "anything with flowers" or "anything except flowers" or "as little white as possible", etc. I'll try to match it as best as I can. At last count, I had about 80 different prints, so I'm sure I can come up with a set for pretty much any theme! Well, except purple - there's not much of that in vintage sheet land for some reason!

First come, first served, until I run out. Please comment here, or email me directly, and let me know what your theme is. I'll mail you back to confirm. As far as payment goes, I'm hoping we can just do direct PayPal payments. This will be my first time trying to do an online stash sale, and I don't really want to bother setting up a "shop". So, we'll see how this goes. If anyone has done something similar like this before and has any advice for me, let me know!

If you'd like a closer peek at what's in my stash, here are some images I grabbed from my past loot reports. Not all of these are available, but it's a good representation of what I've got.

If you're in the Seattle area, we can arrange a local pickup, and your set will be $10. If you're international, I think it will be $23 (assuming it doesn't weigh more than 4 pounds - I haven't checked!). And if you're totally nuts and want more than one set, we can talk about combined shipping!

done - Project Linus #12 and #13

I finished up those two Project Linus quilts, huzzah! I really loved the quilting from the back - it was SO quick and easy!

I'm so happy with the fabric I used for the binding - it matches the striped fabric perfectly. I still have a lot of it left (and a lot of the polka dots too!), and I know there's still some of that stripe fabric in the PL stash... I might have to whip up a few more of these at the next meeting!

Speaking of Project Linus, if you're in the Seattle area, the Pacific Fabric stores are hosting a blanket bee on Sunday, April 25 from noon to 5pm. I'm sad that I'll be out of town that weekend, but if you're at all interested, you should check it out. They'll be sewing simple patchwork tops, sandwiching tops and backs (with all batting donated by The Warm Company - nice!), doing pillowcase-style binding, and tying ties. No experience is required, and you don't have to bring anything. Just show up!

on a roll

I have a million other projects I could be (should be) working on, but for some reason I feel compelled to finish up the other two Project Linus quilts I have in progress. These patchwork tops were pieced in October and basted in December, and I'm on a tear to get them done. I got the first one quilted this weekend...



Check out that totally even diagonal quilting! Are you wondering how I managed that??



I tried something new to me - quilting from the back! The backing is an awesome huge polka dot, just perfect for it. It was even extra-wide, so no piecing was required. Sorry, I have no idea where it came from (it was a PL donation, and had no selvage info). I'm not sure I totally love the overall effect- it looks a little like a mass-produced bedspread to me. But still, it was super quick and easy to do, and I loved trying something new!

The other one is about 25% done, and with any luck I'll have them both finished this week!

project linus #11 (and #10)

I finally finished the flower quilting for my Project Linus #11. The crayola washable marker washed right out (phew!), and the quilting doesn't look half bad now that it's all nice and crinkly!



Um, maybe a little TOO crinkly! (I left it in the dryer...)

I never blogged #10, which I finished up last month. Gee, it looks familiar! Same design, but with simpler quilting.

Yay, two finishes!

my first freehand quilting

What a Monday I have had! It had been an exhausting weekend for me, and I was so looking forward to a quiet day back at work. And then my daughter dropped a little hand weight (only 2 pounds!) on her big toe just right - and pulled her toenail out from the nail bed. Oh my goodness! So, instead of a nice morning of drinking coffee in a quiet, empty house, I was rushing out the door (unshowered, no bra - perfect!) with a screaming kid (barefoot and in dirty jammies - even more perfect!). After spending the morning at various doctors' offices for exams, x-rays and consults, the consensus was no broken bones, and just keep it clean and wait for the nail to fall off. If you're in the mood for gory pictures, you can see one here. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Maybe Tuesday will be quiet? I'm knocking on wood! Meanwhile, onto happier subjects... I was hoping to be able to show this whole quilted quilt today, but I'll make do with the two blocks I finished over the weekend. I did the wavy line quilting a while back (and bound it already), and have been working up the courage to try some freehand flowers. I know they're so simple, and not perfect, but I'm still proud! I broke the ice!



I marked the first one with a quilting pencil, but it was hard to use (and hard to see). For the second one, I used one of my daughter's washable markers. I've never had a problem with them washing out of her clothes, so I'm hoping it will wash out of the quilt just as well.



And here's the back of that first block. A little wobbly, but cute!

2 down, 10 to go!

vintage sheet bee blocks

I have signed up for my very first quilting bee - the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee, hosted by Jen at Rosey Little Things. Rachel at my tiny robot heart has the first month, and requested scrappy string blocks. I was so excited, because it's been on my list of things to try forEVER. I was all over it this weekend.

Twenty 6.5" squares pieced....



And trimmed...



And waiting to have the paper removed - a PERFECT chore for my weekly team conference call tomorrow afternoon. :-)



I played with a few, just to get an idea of how they'll look together. So pretty!



I can understand why people say these are so addictive. I barely made a dent in my scrap pile, and I just want to keep making more and more and more!