The Handmade Dorm

My daughter Holly is heading off to Pepperdine this fall & she I had so much fun making things for her dorm that I thought I'd share our creations with you. When you make it yourself, you are able to put in your own unique style! We started off with a purchased duvet from Pottery Barn Teen in a deep navy with white pattern. We then went to my fabric stash & picked out fabrics for her patchwork & minky throw that will be at the end of her bed. You can find a listing to order one yourself from my shop here & I can customize it with your colors!

We created some custom pillows pulling fabrics from her blanket. We used a print from Hawthorne Threads called Cascading Border for one of them

This pillow I used Anna Maria Horner's pattern in her pattern booklet called Love from A-Z  & bordered it with a print that is out of print from Sarah Watts.

We found a really cute doily at Barn House Chicks that matched her bedding perfectly & I sewed it to a solid navy fabric & used piping from Hawthorne Threads called Arrows in peacock

Holly picked out a verse that had meaning to her but also gave a nod to Pepperdine as a Wave. She painted the canvas a deep navy & then glued letters & hand wrote some words in aqua. 

We both got into embroidering, so Holly had bought a pattern from Sublime Stitching with treats on it & since she loves to bake & used to work at an ice cream shop, this pattern group was perfect! She told me what she wanted written & so I did the small hoop that says "Lord Let them see you in me". The P is from the Moda Alphabet called "Spell it with Fabric" that was available as a download & thought it would be great in Pepperdine colors & I embroidered 'Go Waves' in aqua thread.

An obvious, easy make was a tie blanket made from 2 yards of Pepperdine colors tied together while we watched a movie together. We bought these at Joann Fabrics.

These thrift store finds painted aqua will be great for some free downloads she printed out from French Press Mornings "Encouraging Wednesdays" for the scripture.

Holly is ready to go to Pepperdine, but am I ready to send her?? I will post a finished dorm picture.

Quilt from Crib Bedding

I recently had the opportunity to take a patchwork bumper I had made previously for a customer and make a patchwork & minky blanket for her as well as accessories for the new big girl bed! Above is the result. We refreshed the palette by adding some red and used Anna Maria Horner's Ghost Wing as well as a few other new ones. If you look, the top row is bumper at a narrow 8". The next row I did was 12" combining both old and new fabrics and then alternated between the 2. Repurposing the bumper was great in that some fabrics are out of print and I am no longer able to get them, like those from Jennifer Paganelli.

I also made a patchwork gathered skirt, pictured above. It is a lot of labor as all those seams need to be zigzagged to prevent fraying during washing. The result is amazing beauty, don't you think? Since this was going on a toddler bed I also made a fitted sheet and pillowcase using Sandi Henderson's Happy Butterfly in blush. I'm glad she liked the palette so much she wanted it for the big girl bed! It's one of my favorites!

My Happy Quilt

Used Field Study ribbon and pom poms to decorate the lampshades

Pillow made from "Pillow Pop"

I decided when I was starting chemo that I 'deserved' a new quilt for my bed. One that was different than the one I had made before with fall colors. I wanted something that made me happy since I would be spending lots of time there! Starting with scraps I had from Circa, I pulled the colors out~ brighter reds, greens, yellows and a touch of brown. Blue was a new color introduction into my room. I love how it came out!! I used my favorite Jennifer Paganelli prints~ including the now super expensive Loopy Vintage Floral & Elizabeth Rose. I recently bought the brown damask from her Girlfriends line on ebay and I got a whole bolt! The Long Ladies from Marie Madeline had a scrap sale & I was able to get some of the out of print Nicole floral. I have always loved Tanya Whelan's Darla so I included it in there as well as some from her other lines. I like the fun Japanese print with the pastries on it & the text fabric from Moda. I bought some vintage sheets to add to it as well. An eclectic group!

On the back I used large squares of Denyse Schmidt's line from JoAnn fabrics with the intersections accented by more favorite scraps

I will be making more pillows when Circa yardage comes out, but right now I have a Field Study print which isn't in the quilt but looks great all mixed up with the group

Overall, I love the look with the bright pastels and snippets of favorite fabrics to look at every time I'm in bed!

Headscarves!

Circa patchwork, lined with aqua solid

Circa patchwork, 20"

Alchemy reversible full scarf

Baby Bouquet voile self lined

Floral patchwork half scarf

So, you know that if I was going to lose my hair during chemo I'd have to experiment with cute headscarves! An internet search revealed nothing appealing. I think I like the handkerchief look more than those with the band around the bottom and tails hanging down. Maybe I'll think differently when I have NO hair, but for now I like this look better. Here's what I did. My first scarf in Circa I pieced a 20"square, then lined in a coordinating Kona cotton. I folded it in half, like picture #2 and then tied the ends in the back tucking in the flap that would hang in the back. My son said I looked like that war advertisement with the lady in the headscarf. Retro is good! :) Next, I did a 22" pieced square, cut it in half and lined with a solid, like the last pic. There is less bulk & then I had another half with slightly different fabrics. With the pieced ones, pay attention to the fabrics you put in the middle because those will be on your forehead. I was thinking that voile would be super soft and comfy against my head, but I think voile on both sides is too slippery, so I would do voile lined with cotton on the other side next time. Lastly, I did a 22" square with 2 different prints making it reversible with Alchemy cottons. Love the reversible idea! To sum it all up, it seems like a 22-20" square is great for an adult's head. I sewing the right sides together leaving a hole for turning, clipping the corners before turning. Then I ironed & topstiched around the edge. Super fast, super cute!

Some Recent Finishes

 Random Patchwork quilt I will soon be working on

 Circa purse for me!

Flannel quilt for chemo

My new fav combo using golden browns and honey

So, I wanted to post something back to sewing somewhat. All of the above are recent finishes or soon to be. I love the random patchwork quilts and the first photo is a fabric group I'll be working with for a custom order. Love the finished combo Betty & I worked on. Next, my Circa purse, cause I needed a new one. Always patchwork! :) Third pic: during my first chemo I was cold & they had these nice, sterile white blankets to cover me, but I thought Anna's flannels along with the cute coffee & donuts munki munki flannel and a Sandi Henderson would brighten things up. I'm going to try to finish 2 more to hopefully give out to my 'neighbors' during chemo on Tuesday. The last blanket will go in my shop, but I really really love the combo and want to keep it! It's Jennifer, Anna Maria & Tina Givens. It really glows! 

Spinning Stars

So, before joining a quilt along, hosted by Katy I thought I'd make a test block to see how I liked it. Some blocks, which shall remain nameless, are just so time consuming in planning fabric placement. I need something I can come back to when I am able without getting stressed out each time. I'm also not super good at getting everything lined up when there's lots of pieces to put together. This block fits the criteria for me! The 2 issues I had was stretching along the bias & my seam allowances are too small on the finished block after trimming. I can adjust accordingly for future blocks. I pressed the joining seams open and the pie pieces in opposite directions so they'd nestle nicely. This way the block should lay flatter for quilting.You can find the free, downloadable pattern on Anna's blog.  Now to decide which fabrics to choose . . . :)

What I've Been Doing Lately

Fashion Formula Skirt pattern by Kay Whitt

Jennifer Paganelli twin quilt set

I've had lots of different projects I've been working on. I took some time off to have some surgery (hysterectomy) & realized that I needed to wear either drawstring, loose skirts or dresses. I sewed up some skirts using Kay Whitt's pattern from her Fashion Formula Skirts booklet which I LOVE! The strip skirts only require 8-9" strips, so you can easily use up some half or quarter yards you have laying around. I used Anna Maria Horner's Field Study in the aqua/yellow combo as well as a mini check from Michael Miller. The second skirt is all from Queen Street (Jennifer Paganelli). There are lots of other variations to try & I'm really looking forward to it. There are lots of drawings, so there was never a confusing part as I was sewing. I didn't do a good job distributing the gathers with the first skirt, but learned for the second one. I also bought some of her dress patterns- the Diane Kimono & the Bebe dress which Kay modeled so beautifully at Quilt Market. I also have the Monique dress, but haven't tried it yet. You can find all of her patterns here

Next up is a twin size quilt I finished along with matching pillowcases (not pictured) & pillow shams in Jane from Super Fly. As always, I love mixing Jennifer's fabrics & I used Crazy Love & Super Fly with some blue and green additions from Honey Child & Queen Street. It feels so good to be back sewing again and to immerse myself in this creative world again!

Field Study

I am swooning over Anna Maria Horner's Field Study fabrics. I love the intricate designs, the unusual color combinations. They play well with her other fabric lines and it's always fun for me to pull from other designers for that perfect match. This group is on my floor and still needs tweaking, but I'm having fun with it!

I have put together other combos on my flickr and have put a few in the shop as quilt possibilities. What lines are you looking forward to??

A New Purse for Me!

 I started thinking about this purse when Anna Maria Horner released her Loulouthi line and I saw her fabulous pillow she embellished with hand quilting using the Summer Totem print. (I tried to find it in my favs on flickr, but it was too slow and I became impatient!) I was thinking it would be fun to use that print as a flap on a purse and hand quilt/embroider some details on it. I did that on the flap, sides and then just did a running stitch through the squares on the front and back. I am not a good hand quilter, and this was my first attempt at embroidery, but I love the results despite the imperfections. It is my own design using 4.5" squares, 4.5" sides. It will hold quite a bit for my summer travels. I decided against using a closure on the flap as I don't really like pulling the flap off each time. It's long enough to where things aren't going to fall out. I used the grapefruit color of the Summer Totem as I love the hint of pink and the colors Anna Maria chose to go with that light pink. I knew this would be a summer purse, so I focused on pulling out the lighter colors. I'm so glad to get this UFO off my list! :)

Ready to Ship!

Every once in a great while~ well, this is only the 2nd time in 3 years~ I make a bumper that is ready to ship. When I first got the Loulouthi fabric I was wowed by the Summer Totem & Clippings prints and so I was excited to pull fabrics for a patchwork bumper to coordinate with those prints. I used prints from Jennifer Paganelli, Tula Pink, Josephine Kimberling, Khristian Howell, Amy Butler, Annette Tatum & Robert Kaufman. I've been working on this since Loulouthi came out~ was it last summer?? Anyway, I'm excited to put it in my shop, so if you want instant gratification rather than wait the 8 weeks it usually takes, head on over to my shop!

A Very Southern California Christmas

Adult Table outside

The spread

With 95 year old grandma & great grandkids

My last minute skirt

I can't complain about the weather we had today in Manhattan Beach at my brother's house with lots of family. It was about 73 degrees, clear and sunny. We had an outside BBQ of tritip and shrimp with incredible sides, cakes for dessert and amazing appetizers. Normally the weather isn't THAT nice for Christmas, but this one was one for the books~ just gorgeous!! I had originally planned on making the Painted Portrait blouse to wear by AMH, but I must have measured myself wrong as it came out way too big~ I'll try to alter it another time! I made this skirt last minute from the Barcelona pattern from Amy Butler using the Clippings fabric from Loulouthi. There is a basic A line with zipper option that took about an hour to make. I skipped the lining and just hemmed it all up, love how it came out and intend to make more. What a beautiful day! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

Sew Fun at Home

I have so much fun working with lots of bright colors for my customers, but my home already has the fall colors of wheat, olive, chocolate and deep red. My husband won't let me change it all out as that would be a huge undertaking, so I've struggled to get the fabric designs I love into my home. I recently found the Thomas Paul fabric that's on the pillow at fabric.com & thought it worked well with the bird theme & color scheme already in place. I pulled together the caramels, chocolates and saffrons from recent collections from Sandi Henderson, Joel Dewberry, Jennifer Paganelli, Anna Maria Horner, Michael Miller & Moda. I used one voile to see how I liked it mixed in, and it works well. That particular color is really hard to find, but it matches well with Sandi Henderson's Fresh Cut Flowers in maize. My living room is finally ready for fall. I have some fabric pumpkins in the making and if I finish them before the end of fall, I'll post about them! :)