September 30, 2012

Big Finish: Little Bow Ties with Grey


I recently finished this baby boy quilt.  It's going to an old friend of mine for her baby boy expected later this year.  I posted about this quilt when it was in progress here.

Baby Boy Quilt: Little Bowties with Grey

I used Kona Medium Gray and various scraps of orange, aqua, and lime green for the front.  The squares are 6" finished.  I didn't want the quilting to interfere with the colored bow ties, so I stitched simple diagonal lines through the center of each one.
 
Baby Boy Quilt: Little Bowties with Grey
 
For the back of the quilt, I pieced together the fabric remaining from the bow ties on the front and added some grey strips to extend the length.  The scrappy binding also features the prints from the bow ties.
 


September 17, 2012

Craft Book Month: Garden Party Selvage Wristlet


It's Craft Book Month at Craft Buds!

Have you been celebrating?  My craft book library is still growing – I have some oldies that feature more traditional quilt patterns, and the more recent acquisitions are split between quilting and knitting.  I like to get craft books from my local library to check out the patterns before I buy; if there are enough projects that catch my eye, I get my own copy of the book.  (I don’t know about you, but it can take me a while to start (not to mention complete!) a project, and by then the library copies would surely be seriously overdue.)


When I picked up Everyday Handmade by Cassie Barden and Adrienne Smitke, the first project that caught my eye was this selvage wristlet.  Selvages are cool.  These strips that may seem like trimmings to drop straight in your trash can actually have a lot of promise.  For this particular pattern, you don’t need much print fabric beyond the selvage strip, so if, before you knew any better, you were stingy (like me) and trimmed your selvages really close to the edge, this is a great project for them.

Garden Party Selvage Wristlet

I decided to try to stick close to the look and feel of the wristlet in the book, using a green print for the outside accents. When I make another wristlet, I’ll use a bolder color and print. The pattern is easy to follow and the finished wristlet looks just like I hoped it would.  One tip: Assemble the selvage front panels and trim them to size (rounding the corners) first. Then use them as your template for cutting the lining pieces. The lining on mine is a little big and not a perfect fit because the pieces I started with weren’t quite a match for the assembled outer pieces.
Garden Party Selvage Wristlet

This project is appropriate for a beginner sewist, even if you’ve never sewn in a zipper.  Oh, that reminds me of another tip: My needle-nose pliers were the perfect tool for moving the zipper pull out of the way of my presser foot as I sewed alongside the zipper.
 

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll continue to follow along the Craft Book Month blog hop!
--Elizabeth




All month long in September, our friends at Craft Buds will celebrate sewing, quilting and all kinds of craft books by shining the spotlight on new releases, interviewing authors and editors who make the magic happen and giving you a chance to win.


Blog Hop

Week One
Sunday 9/2: Hopeful Threads / The Jolly Jabber
Monday 9/3: Stitchery Dickory DockMe Sew Crazy
Tuesday 9/4: Olive & OllieSew Sweetness
Wednesday 9/5: Fabric SeedsThe Busy Bean
Thursday 9/6: CraftFoxesStitched In Color
Friday 9/7: Katie's KornerA Prairie Sunrise

Week Two
Sunday 9/9: Sweet Diesel Designsmissknitta's studio
Monday 9/10: Sew TaraClover and Violet
Tuesday 9/11: Sew Fantasticamylouwho
Wednesday 9/12: Projektownia JednoiglecTwo More Seconds
Thursday 9/13: Ellison Lane QuiltsDon't Call Me Betsy
Friday 9/14: Live a Colorful LifeLRstitched

Week Three
Sunday 9/16: Fairy Face DesignsCanoe Ridge Creations
Monday 9/17: Inspire Me GreyFreshly Pieced
Tuesday 9/18: Lindsay SewsThe Cute Life
Wednesday 9/19: The Littlest ThistleSew Crafty Jess
Thursday 9/20: Urban Stitchesimagine gnats
Friday 9/21: Sew Bittersweet DesignsThe Plaid Scottie

Week Four
Link up your craft book project at Craft Buds from Sept 23-30 from your blog or Flickr account, and enter to win prizes. Winners will be announced on Monday, October, 1!
To participate in the month-long contest, just link up any project you've made from a pattern in a craft book. It's that easy! You'll tell us a little about the book, the project, how you personalized it, etc.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) Your craft book project must have been completed in 2012.
3) Create a new blog post or Flickr photo (dated September 1, 2012 or later) and link back to Craft Buds/Craft Book Month in your post or photo description.

No time to create a project? This month, just follow Craft Buds and comment to win some new craft books and lots of giveaways! We'll also have expert Q-and-As to show you what it takes to write a craft book, from the initial idea to the layout, photography and the actual printed product.

September 16, 2012

Ornaments: 12 Months of Ornaments {September Theme}

September: Ornament

The ornament theme this month is ornaments?  Yep, you read that right.  Fancy ball ornaments, teardrop shapes, sequins and glitter and beads -- there are lots of options.

This month's announcement is a little later than usual because I was finishing up this ornament to share with you.  I used felt and a scrap of ric rac that was hanging around my craft stash.  The ornament is decorated on both sides, since you never know what you'll see when it's hanging on the Christmas tree.

August Ornaments: More Snowmen

August: Snowman
 

We have a couple more snowmen to add to the party for August's ornament challenge.  First up is Jen's creation, made with yarn pompoms.  I'd seen this idea online, and I'm glad Jen used it.  The three colors of pompoms really up the holiday factor.  (I can't tell if his top hat is really cocked to the side or just appears so, but either way -- cute!)


August: Snowman
 
Also joining the party is this little guy made by our mom.  She used white fleece, beads, a little felt, and a scrap from a kids' shirt (because Mom is good like that and always has useful scraps around the house).  I like the simplicity of this snowman -- he doesn't need a body, just a cute scarf!

September 9, 2012

August Ornament: Snowman

August: Snowman

I had every intention of posting my August snowman ornament weeks ago, but my first idea and attempt didn't turn out quite as planned.  What I ended up with was actually a modification of my original original idea, so clearly there was some frustration involved, and I decided to start fresh with a new idea.  Then I went on vacation for a week.  And that's where we are now -- after arriving back home on Sept 1, I got to work and finally have a snowman ornament to show off.

I followed the tutorial available here.  Unfortunately the tutorial doesn't include a template for the snowman, so I had to draw my own.  I cut two shapes from white wool felt, added scraps for the hat and nose, and sewed on some tiny buttons from my button jar.  Finding twigs for the arms turned out to be the hardest part of this project!  I live in a condo with a pretty diligent landscape maintenance crew, so tiny twigs were nowhere to be found.  I finally found some outside a church nearby, and although they weren't quite as perfect as I wanted, they do the job.  After a little hot glue to keep them in place, I stitched around the outside of my snowman, added stuffing, closed up the edges, and tacked on the scarf.  I was almost done before I remembered that it needs a hanger, so a loop of yarn through some stitches on the hat had to suffice.

Google Images has loads of photos of really cute felt snowmen -- just search "felt snowman ornament."

September 7, 2012

Giveaway: Craft Buds' Craft Book Month Blog Hop and FreeSpirit Friday


Hi everyone!  Coming up on Sept 17, Inspire Me Grey will be participating in a month-long craft book blog hop hosted by the lovely folks at Craft Buds.  Today is the end of the first week of the hop, and it's also FreeSpirit Friday, which means you can enter to win loads of great solid fabric from FreeSpirit.  Visit the Week in Review at Craft Buds for a review and giveaway.

Back-to-school season means its time to hit the books. Craft books, that is! We love craft books for their inspiration, stunning photography and crisp, glossy pages. Hard covers or soft, we just love craft books, and we know you do, too!

All month long in September, our friends at Craft Buds will celebrate sewing, quilting and all kinds of craft books by shining the spotlight on new releases, interviewing authors and editors who make the magic happen and giving you a chance to win.


Blog Hop

Week One
Sunday 9/2: Hopeful Threads / The Jolly Jabber

Monday 9/3: Stitchery Dickory DockMe Sew Crazy

Tuesday 9/4: Olive & OllieSew Sweetness

Wednesday 9/5: Fabric SeedsThe Busy Bean

Thursday 9/6: CraftFoxesStitched In Color

Friday 9/7: Katie's KornerA Prairie Sunrise

Week Two
Sunday 9/9: Sweet Diesel Designsmissknitta's studio

Monday 9/10: Sew TaraClover and Violet

Tuesday 9/11: Sew Fantasticamylouwho

Wednesday 9/12: Projektownia JednoiglecTwo More Seconds

Thursday 9/13: Ellison Lane QuiltsDon't Call Me Betsy


Friday 9/14: Live a Colorful LifeLRstitched

Week Three
Sunday 9/16: Fairy Face DesignsCanoe Ridge Creations

Monday 9/17: Inspire Me GreyFreshly Pieced


Tuesday 9/18: Lindsay SewsThe Cute Life

Wednesday 9/19: The Littlest ThistleSew Crafty Jess

Thursday 9/20: Urban Stitchesimagine gnats

Friday 9/21: Sew Bittersweet DesignsThe Plaid Scottie

Week Four
Link up your craft book project at Craft Buds from Sept 23-30 from your blog or Flickr account, and enter to win prizes. Winners will be announced on Monday, October, 1!





To participate in the month-long contest, just link up any project you've made from a pattern in a craft book. That easy! You'll tell us a little about the book, the project, how you personalized it, etc.
Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) Your craft book project must have been completed in 2012.
3) Create a new blog post or Flickr photo (dated September 1, 2012 or later) and link back to Craft Buds/Craft Book Month in your post or photo description.

No time to create a project? This month, just follow Craft Buds and comment to win some new craft books and lots of giveaways! We'll also have expert Q-and-As to show you what it takes to write a craft book, from the initial idea to the layout, photography and the actual printed product.







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