moleskine cover, take 3

I think this is it! I added interfacing, moved the pen holder down so that the bottom gets caught in the seam (just makes assembly a tiny bit easier), and narrowed the inner sleeves a bit (again, for assembly reasons).

I also traded out the hair tie/button closure for an easier full-length elastic closure, because it was actually a pain to sew the hair band and because I'm basically lazy and didn't relish the idea of hand-sewing all those buttons! On the top, it's in the "locked" position (elastic pulled over the back), and on the bottom it's "unlocked". It would have been better with black elastic, but I'm not picky with my prototypes. At least I did change out the white thread for brown. :-)

I also added a ribbon at the top, for a page marker. Kinda gratuitous for such a small notebook, but I like the detail.

I love this floral fabric, and I'm so glad to have found a use for it. It's a "mystery" fabric that I got at a church rummage sale. It feels like cotton, but maybe just a little bit crisper and "vintage-y". The funny thing about it is that when I iron it, it smells just slightly spicy, kinda like Opium perfume! And yes, I washed it! This one is definitely a keeper, and it's mine. :-)

So, now I'm all set to gin out a couple dozen of these at the retreat this weekend. Yay!! I'll take pictures and write up a tute while I'm there, and will post it sometime next week.

moleskine cover, take 2

Here's attempt number 2 (minus the button...). I combined the Mr. Monkeysuit tutorial with a binder cover tutorial from the Moda Bake Shop. The fabric I used this time is from a pillow slipcover that I bought at a thrift store. I love to find slipcovers or duvets that have coordinating fabrics - they are perfect for projects like these!

In the binder tutorial, I liked the wider sleeves and the pockets on the inside. The stripe part here is folded over to form a pocket.

The other thing I liked from the binder tutorial is the "pillowcase" method for combining the front and back, so that the cover is exactly the size of the notebook, instead of sticking out an extra 1/4" on the top and bottom. It looks much tidier this way.

There will probably be a version 3.0 - I'm thinking about narrowing the sleeves a bit, and I might try to add some reinforcement where the button is sewn on, and I'm tempted to try it with some interfacing. After that, I'll write up a mini-tute in case anyone wants to try my version. And speaking of which, the plain Moleskine notebooks (with a blue cover) are currently on sale at Amazon for $6.15 per set of 3. That's about half price, and even cheaper than when I bought mine a couple weeks ago! I'm tempted to buy more!

moleskine cover, take 1

Here's my trial version of the Mr. Monkeysuit moleskine cover. Yes, those are sideways trees. Sigh. Lesson #1 - pay attention to the orientation of the pattern on the fabric!

Oh well, this one is just for me, so I'll still use it! I don't totally love how it turned out, so I think I'll try a few modifications to see if I can get it more to my liking.

I found some interesting loot this weekend! I only went to one sale, for a business that was downsizing (check it out - it's heelarious!). For just a buck or two (thrown in with a plastic cauldron full of pretty halloween decorations, all for $10), I got an envelope chock full of really cool leather samples.

There are 30 different pieces, in various shapes and sizes, most about 4" square. It's hard to tell from the photo, but they are all really thin and supple. I think they will be so wonderful cut into fun shapes for hair clippies or other embellishments. This is one of the funnest parts of thrifting for me - finding cool stuff that I could never, ever buy in a store!!

crafty friends

You know you have a crafty friend when...

They visit for the weekend (along with two kids, sister and brother-in-law), and they just happen to bring their sewing machine and 3 quilts to baste and quilt! And, then they decide to also bake and decorate a fancy cake to take back home for a party! All in less than 2 days!! My friend is a maniac. Only (ha!) one quilt got basted and quilted, but the cake was made and it was awesome (dang - I wish I'd taken a picture!). I wish a picture could capture the sense of chaos in the house, but there is just no way. Instead, here's a picture of her quilt (for a charity auction) and my trashed living room...

AND, we girls got to spend Saturday morning going garage saling! Yippee! It's almost the end of the season, so it was great to have one last fling. :-) Here's a bit of the crafty loot I picked up:

These are 4 practically brand-new hand-made curtain panels, about 1.5 yards of fabric each. All for $1! They will at least make some great quilt backs.

And this is just a portion of a $1 bag of scrap fabric. Nothing fantastic, but definitely some usable bits, and I sure do love the "mystery" of a random mix of scraps!

So, I have one more week until the quilt retreat. I'm excited, but I'm not at all prepared! I've made a list of all the crafty projects I'd like to do, and sort of prioritized them, but I haven't put anything together yet. Has anyone been to a quilt retreat before? Any words of wisdom about what to bring, what not to bring, how to prep projects, etc.?

And does anyone have any exciting projects that they're doing for xmas gifts that they'd like to share? My main "friend" gift this year is going to be this project - I've already ordered a gazillion (okay, 24) notebooks, and am trying to pick out some cool fabrics and get the pieces cut so that I can just assembly-line them at the retreat. I think I'll try to whip up a trial version this weekend, so that I can make sure I know what I'm doing... :-)

tutorial: simple I-Spy patchwork

There are probably a zillion I-spy quilt tutorials on the web, and here's one more. :-) This is how I made those tops in my previous post... They are about 45"x55".

First of all, cut two 5" squares from 30 different novelty fabrics. Then cut 60 5" squares from your solid fabric. That requires 7 and a half 5" strips of standard-width fabric, so about 1.25 yards. I made binding out of the same solid, so add 1/2 yard more if you're planning to do the same.



Chain piece them all, keeping the pairs together. (If you're me, swear under your breath when you realize you only cut 14 strips when you "doubled the recipe", and then trudge back upstairs to cut one more strip - grrrr...)



When snipping the threads, separate the pairs into two piles, with one of each print in each pile. Then hand one pile to your house's randomizing unit. If you don't have a small child, maybe a few spins in the dryer on the fluff cycle would do?



While the randomizing is going on, take your first pile of 30 pairs and put 6 aside. Pair up the remaining 24 and sew them together to make 12 sets of 4, then pair those up and sew together to make 6 sets of 8, and then sew on the 6 you set aside, so that you end up with 6 sets of 10-square-long pieces. Iron those all in the same direction - I put the solid on the right and pressed the seams to the left.

Take those 6 rows, sew them together while alternating the orientation, to make a 6x10 checkerboard.

It will look something like this. Repeat the drill for the second randomized batch of pairs, except when it comes time to sew the rows together, take a moment to make sure that the row that will attach to the first half doesn't contain any of the same prints as that first row.

Sew the two halves together, iron the seams to one side, and you're done. Then take a digital picture and be amazed that somehow all the red blocks ended up on two rows. Oh well, truly random things have patterns, don't you know?

There you go, easy peasy!

Hope squared

My contribution to the Hope Squared project at Margaret's Hope Chest is all boxed up and ready to go! I whipped up two I-spy quilt tops, along with two scrappy patchwork backs and enough binding for them both. I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to let someone else finish these off!!! I'm so slow at the basting and quilting parts, and I'm just so pleased to be able to contribute what I have most of - fabric!



I'm also passing along some simple whole-cloth quilt kits (coordinating fronts & backs) that I picked up at an estate sale last year. I emailed Carin to make sure these were acceptable (since they aren't technically patchwork), and she said sure! There's a Sunbonnet Sue at the Zoo, two of the animal alphabet...



...a Mother Goose, and a really soft turquoise flannel.

I'd been intending to sew these up for Project Linus, but had just never gotten around to it. I'm really happy to know that they'll be sewn up so much sooner than if I had kept them to do myself. I hope they will bring some joy and comfort to those kids!

PIF time!

 Sweet Marguerite twisted my arm into playing the Pay it Forward game...

Here are the rules, as I copied them from her blog:

1. I will make a little something for the first three people who comment on this post. It will be a surprise and it will arrive on your doorstep when you least expect it!
2. I will have 365 days to do it in.
What's the catch? To get a handmade prezzie from me, you have to play too.
1. You must have a blog.
2. BEFORE you comment here, you must post about your Pay It Forward on your blog to keep the fun going, and display the Pay It Forward button.

Here are my addendums:
- If you don't want a total surprise, I'm happy to take suggestions about what you'd like.  How about a book bag, quiltie, or  toddler birthday shirt?  I've also been thinking about trying some needlebooks and pin cushions, and I can make a pretty great bunting (fabric or paper)...
- I'd also be more than happy to "make" a crafty surprise package for you.  It's not technically hand-made, but you can be sure some labor was involved.  ;-)  Maybe you'd like some vintage linen FQs or 6" squares?  Or maybe a 12000 yard spool of white cotton thread?  How about a set of 5" or 6" novelty squares?  Pretty much any thrifted find you may have seen on my blog over the last year is fair game.  You know how I love to share the loot!   Well, except the beer fridge - my husband would be sad.
- You don't have to post on your blog first.  Who ever thought that was a good idea?   Comment here, then go post when you have time.  :-)