Lonestar UFO finally finished

I've have really been in a rut since we moved to Japan. I'm not sure if it was going from the tropical Paradise of Hawaii to a country even further from home or if it has something to do with losing an amazing (and very inspirational) view of the mountains and trading it for a view of a storage shed and garbage cans but I have been in a rut. Sewing has been a part of my life for years now, it's been my stress relief and my happy place mentally and so I'm really trying hard to get back up and continue on creating.

One of the things that might be overwhelming is the clutter I feel around me.  Going from a bigger house to a smaller house, bringing all my fabric and most of my sewing room furniture, I have yet to feel like there is a positive energy flow in my sewing room.  Yes, i'm lucky to be able to even have a sewing room but the smaller space means more clutter if I don't clean up after every project.  So gradually I'm going to take all my "UFO" projects...otherwise known as unfinished objects, and I'm going to do something with them.

Yesterday I started with this simple lonestar block that I created in Septemeber (yes, almost 1 year ago!!)  I love it but the background fabrics I chose didn't seem to go with any other background fabrics I have. I didn't purchase enough of that Toile fabric to make even more blocks.

I have had a pillow form sitting in the corner of my living room and of course, I restorted back to making yet another pillow cover.  In my house, we can never have too many pillows. I love the pop of color, I love that they can be moved around and I love how they add a little more interest to an otherwise plain couch.  I used the well written tutorial from Pretty Little Quilts blog.

I made my own piping, first time putting it on a pillow cover and I love the way it looks.
 This corner has a different piping fabric.

I decided to go with just straight matchbox quilting.

 The toile fabric was actually a quilting cotton I purchased from JoAnn Fabrics a long time ago. The star fabric is a mix of Tasha Noel's Vintage Market line and Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line.

adventures in sewing

It's been a while yet again.  I have actually been wonderfully busy with my family, my orders and life.  I just wanted to write while I was inspired to share.

I recently joined my very first swap hosted by Schnitzel & Boo I've done most of my posting on Instagram, made many new friends ( #makeaquiltmakeafriend ) and I've been inspired so much that I think about sewing 24/7.  I see patterns everywhere now, whether it is taking the kiddos to the glorious beaches, walking around the neighborhood or enjoying the afternoon in the back yard.  I wonder to myself how I can recreate such beauty through fabric manipulation. Combine that desire with all the lovely paper pieced blocks I have been seeing pop up in my Instagram newsfeed, I decided to conquer an intimidation block I've had.

I have always skipped over paper pieced instructions in books and magazines I browse through.  But how do we expect to grow if we do not overcome our fears?  I decided it was time to try paper piecing for myself.  I found a very quick youtube video that gave me the basic understanding of what to do for paper piecing here thanks be to "theCraftyGemini" for giving me the initial confidence that this too I can do!!!   I made 2 peak-a-book blocks based on her tutorial.

 I tried a sweet hummingbird pattern I saw in my quilting magazine but I messed up dreadfully and almost discouraged myself from continuing.  I decided I need something slightly more difficult but not too complicated and that's when I happened across the "Basketweave" star pattern from Add-Crafter.  I loved it! I posted on my IG schnitzel and boo swap hashtags and I got some wonderful feedback and the confidence builder that I needed to keep giving this a try.

Yet again, excited and wanting more I searched for my favorite pattern that I have wanted for so long yet never had the confidence that I too could do this.  I wanted the flying geese pattern but I wanted to do something slightly different.  First attempt, I do not remember where I got the tutorial for this one  but I thought I'd like to try it to eventually make a colorwheel sort of mini quilt for my Mom's art studio.  

But I wanted to go one step more. I wanted a different looking flying geese pattern and that's when I found the amazingly talented Pat from ForestQuilting.  She has the most lovely flying geese pattern in her free section, it's called "Chasing geese."  Really not tricky but when you print out the pattern it seems a little complicated at first but clear your mind, go with the flow and it WILL turn out beautifully! 

I made such a small version of Pat's pattern that I had to decide what to do with it. Well, a zippy of course! What else does one do with something too whimsical to stash away??  You can find the zippy for sale here.

And so, this little adventure brings me to the here and now.  I've just recently go into this fun method of quilting.  But I want to do something truly my own so I'm experimenting now with making paper piecing patterns.  My first 2 patterns are created by me but totally inspired but stuff I saw on Pinterest.  I came up with a pattern for a fox and a pattern for a raccoon.  I absolutely LOVE them.  I also started creating patterns for the alphabet which I will offer for free once I finish, so please check back and be sure to share! So until I am ready to share some pattern goodness with you, have a wonderfully creative day.  

A landscape of inspiration

I think it's ok to admit how horrible I've been at keeping up these past couple of months.  It has to do something with 3 young kids, summer vacation, a new school year, a new machine and travel! Eventually one day I'll get back into my routine but until then, I have a little to share.

After several weeks with my new machine, I can officially say it is a work horse of a machine. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.  I love that I am able to see a lot of the inside of the machine so I can clean the nooks and crannies that like to clutter up with fabric fuzz. I was very hesitant about the side bobbin but it's amazing.  Love the knee presser foot lift, so much so that my knee does this really awkward jerk when I go back to my Singer machine.

I'm happy to confess that despite being busy with the kids I have managed to give Juki baby a run for her money.  Most recently I have been excited about recreating landscapes of beautiful Oahu, all done on fabric.  My most favorite part of it all though, is the 2nd to final step, the free motion quilting.  First few tries my hands were very shaky but as I get used to it, build up my confidence, and practice I notice a steadier hand and more of a fluid movement to my designs.

I've gone in to a couple of local galleries to see if they will carry my work.  I will pursue this more once we get back from our trip, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will all pan out.  I'm gradually growing my inventory in hopes of joining a gallery in the near future.

So we are heading out on a trip for the grand event of our family! My younger brother is getting married.  And with only 2 weeks to spare my bridesmaid dress arrived and to my dismay, it didn't fit.  In a true panic, I took a few deep breathes, whispered to my seam ripper "don't let me down"  and together we worked at tearing seams apart, reworking them and finally, getting the dress to fit without having to pay a seamstress to alter it.  Another check in my book of things to learn. I'm thankful it worked out.  I'll share pictures of the dress after the event.

I've been practicing my "smokey" eye makeup.  So far, I've tried green, gray and black.  I'll find the links to the good tutorials I have been using to learn how to do this.  I love the reaction my girls give me when they see a new shade of smokey eye.

Despite being gone from the blogging world, I hope you have all stayed creative and inspired!  Until next time,

                                              Mokulua Islands off of Lanikai Beach

                                                The many shades of Kailua Beach

                                                          Mt. Olomana from Kailua

                                                              Plumerias at Pyramid Rock

Free Motion Quilting, House Block

Yesterday we explored a little bit of Hawaii. There was the Haleiwa Arts Festival at the North Shore and we went to check it out.  There were 2 artists there that we were very anxious to meet. One artist we have purchased 3 pieces of hers and though she was very thankful, our conversation was very much lacking. We walked away a little disappointed.  The other artist, I do love her work but I want an original piece from her, not a Giclee,  so we were very anxious to meet her.  Well, she was most definitely not friendly and seemed so commercialized that her art really lost it's appeal to us.  Disappointing? Yes but not a wasted day. We had great pleasure in meeting a few artists who were very much in love with what they do and not just looking to be the next Fad.  That is the kind of artist that I find inspiring, who's work I admire even if it's not my style.  Of these artists, I met the sweetest quilting woman.  She dyes her own fabrics with screen printing inks and she has the most magnificent colors.  She makes quilted postcards, blankets, pillow and other whimsical items. She came close to me and said, "There is no wrong way to quilt, everyone has their own style and way of doing things!"  Just what I needed to hear to try a little bit of free motion quilting last night.

I started small and to be honest, i was pretty shaky. If you look closely at my picture you can see where the swirls overlapped on to the house, some stitches were too long and not everything turned into a swirl.  The back side, well that's scary! I think next time I'll just use a bobbin thread that is the same color as the fabric because my white on brown makes every mistake incredibly visible.   I know it's all a learning process, practice to make perfect. I will continue to practice this but in the mean time, I know why they sell quilters gloves now! I love the soft cotton fabrics that I use but they feel like slippery silk as I tried to maneuver this around my machine.

A learning process still...... Until next time, if you have free motion quilting advice, please share! I shall be eternally grateful :)