home is where my story begins...

Chevron Floor Pillow

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I love to sew. 

Quilts and home decor are my favorite things to work on.  My sewing table is my happy place. Ok, the pool on a sunny day is really my happy place, but that’s another story.  The chevron pattern, below, was meant to be a quilt. I had seen a couple of fun chevron quilts on Pinterest and decided I needed one. As I started putting the blocks together, I set them on top of a large floor pillow I had just finished and immediately decided it would be a really cute floor pillow instead. I have several extra blocks now, but I guess that just means I need a quilt to go with my new floor pillow.

When I finished the pillow top, I made it into a mini quilt.  The top has three layers – like a little quilt sandwich.  Then, I did a quick stitch in the ditch to hold the quilted layers together.  (Stitch in the ditch just means that I quilted right in the lines that were already there.)  Once the top was complete, I added a zipper and the backing.  A quick trip to the fabric store and my 40% off coupon afforded me this 27″ square pillow insert.  I LOVE putting zippers in these pillows because I can change them out whenever the mood strikes, they are easy to wash, and (let’s be honest) we have kids and a dog. 

If you sew, and you’re dying to make one, here is a clear picture.

 
I’m working on writing up directions for how to create this pillow, including measurements and cutting instructions.  I’m thinking this will be a good project for Sewing Camp for Adults!
 
Let me know what you think!
 
Happy sewing!

 

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Projects With Moda Salt Air Fabric

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I can remember a time in my sewing life, when I walked into a Joann store and said to myself, “I don’t understand why anyone would shop at one of those fancy quilt stores, when you have all these choices at Joann AND you can use your coupon!”
 
Those were the good old days.  I’ve found, over the years, that I have become a fabric snob.  I still shop at Joann.  I still use my coupons.  But, a specialty quilt shop is my happy place.  I’ve even started stalking some of the Moda fabric blogs to see the new lines that will be coming out.  I love how a fabric line will have 20+ different fabrics that all coordinate.  I can pick and choose my look, but know that it all goes together.  It takes the guess work out of fabric selection.  Not only that, but the quality of Moda (my favorite) fabrics is so much higher.  It makes a much nicer quilt, I must say, when you are working with a higher quality fabric.
 
A few summers ago, we were in a small little town in Eastern Washington.  We were just passing through, and had stopped for lunch. When I spotted the quilt shop across the street, I couldn’t resist.  I bought a few fabrics from the Salt Air line.  Here’s a peek at some of the projects they’ve been turned into.
 
So far, there are two quilts.  I played around with different designs on a computer quilting program I have, and came up with these.  I can’t tell you how much fun I had designing my own quilts. 
 
I made a bunch of floor pillows too.  Our family room has comfy seating for about 3 people.  After that, it’s pillows and blankets on the floor.  Joann (see I do still shop there) sells giant 27″ square pillow inserts.  I make all of my pillows with zipper enclosures so I can trade the covers out.  I like to change my look with the seasons.  The Moda Salt Air fabrics are definitely going to be my Summer look.

 

I think I may even take these quilts to the beach with us, and snap a few pictures.  How can you resist taking pictures of projects made with Salt Air, when you’re at the beach.  (Ok, that just shows how incredibly dorky I am.)
 

Happy fabric shopping!

By the way, if you’re a quilter but have not ventured into a quilt shop, it’s time.  Go in, browse around, and pick a line that jumps out to you.  Moda is my favorite brand.  I love the Moda fabrics designed by French General, V and Co., Fig Tree, and Camille Roskelley.  Ask the nice ladies in the shop to show you where those are.  You may just find your happy place too!

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The Shabby Nest

A Great Beginner Quilt

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My daughter is always finding pretty fabric (and begs to buy it) every time she walks into a fabric store.  A few weeks ago she spotted a cute little fabric bundle and started begging.  Well, I have to say, I know the feeling.  There are just some fabrics that you cannot leave behind.  So, we bought the tiny little bundle and had no idea what to do with such a small amount of fabric.

When I asked my daughter what her plans were, she said she wanted to make a quilt.  I told her it was going to be a mighty small quilt, since she didn’t have much to work with.  When we got home, she immediately started looking through my fabric stash.  I’m really not a pink person, so there were absolutely no pink fabrics for her to add to the mix.  Then she spotted a big stack of white fabric.  She pulled it off the shelf and I told her that it reminded me of the “modern quilts” I had been seeing lately.  She asked what I meant, so I sketched her a picture. 

Between our two visions and my daughter’s sewing, this sweet little modern quilt was born. Another trip to the fabric store resulted in the backing (and some really cute green binding).  We’re going to try a little free motion quilting on this, just for fun. Honestly, I don’t have high expectations when it comes to our ability with free motion, but we’ll give it a shot.

I’m just impressed that an 8 year old, with a mini pile of fabric, can make something so adorable!

Happy sewing!

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A Quilt From Vintage Sheets

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A few months ago I was browsing different sewing blogs and came across several different quilts made from vintage sheets.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the shabby chic look, and the frilly look has never been a favorite either, but I do love vintage!  I started looking around for vintage sheets and didn’t find anything quite vintage enough. (80’s sheets aren’t quite vintage in my book.) I asked my mom to keep an eye out for me, and she found the vintage sheet motherload in about 2 days flat.

Well, those vintage sheets sat in my cupboard for quite a long time.  I didn’t really know what I was going to do with them and it was a ton of fabric.  I was a bit overwhelmed.  Then, one day, I decided that doing something (anything) was better than nothing, so I started cutting them up.  (More on that later.  I definitely learned a few things about how to tackle the cutting phase.)  I decided to cut the sheets in fat quarters and then use the fabric to make a little quilt.

What do you think?  Not bad for a bunch of old sheets!  I used a combination of 5 inch squares from sheets and 5 inch plain white fabric squares. I wanted to make a small quilt because I think it’s a good example of a simple quilt that even a beginner could do.  I did my own quilting on this one. I’ve always enjoyed taking my quilts to my quilt lady to finish up for me.  I know how to do my own quilting, but it’s my least favorite part of the whole process.  I figured if I made a quilt that was small enough, I could tackle quilting it myself.  Surprisingly, I didn’t hate the process and I didn’t even hate the finished product.  (Usually, when I try to do it on my own, I end up cringing every time I look at it.)  This time, I think it turned out ok!  I think the quilting pattern adds to the overall look too.

My daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw the finished quilt.  I think she almost had a bit of panic when she asked who this was for, probably afraid I was going to give it away.  I told her I was going to use it as a sample, but that she could have it when I was done taking pictures of it.  In her very calm voice she sighed and said, “I really love that one.”

So, friends, I have several of these vintage sheet fat quarter bundles all packaged up. I have also written up the pattern for this quilt with super-easy instructions.  This is a great beginner quilt.  The vintage sheet bundles will be available for purchase soon, but if you are dying to get your hands on one, feel free to email me and I can hook you up.  (homeiswheremystorybegins@gmail.com)  The bundles will be selling for $12 per pack of 7 fat quarters. For those of you who are unfamiliar with fat quarters, it is an 18″x22″ rectangle.


I’m kind of in love with vintage sheets now.

Happy quilting!

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The Shabby Nest

Rainbow Dish Towels – A Good Beginner Sewing Project

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I think I’ve discovered a perfect project for someone who is learning to sew.

My friend, Diane, had a birthday last week.  Diane is my co-mom.  When our big kids were 3, and we were pregnant with the little kids, we had this grand idea.  We decided that if we both worked half time, opposite schedules, that we could take care of each other’s kids, save a bundle in child care, and choose any preschool we’d like for our kids to attend.  So, we bought new cars that could handle 4 kids, traded in our sanity, and raised our kids together (with the help of my mom when I went back to work full time).  I’m lucky enough to have lots of family close by.  We have many aunts, uncles, and grandmas who have always been like additional sets of parents to my kids, but Diane and her family get “honorary family status” around here.

Anyway… Diane’s birthday was last week and my daughter wanted to make something for her.   She has a new sewing machine and I thought this would be a great way for her to get to know her machine.  We have a stack of flour sack towels in the sewing cupboard, and I have every color of thread in the rainbow, so we didn’t even need to purchase supplies.  She chose her stitch, threaded the machine, and got to work.

There are a few things I really love about this project:

1.  You have to thread the machine 6 times.  Threading the machine can seem like a daunting task when you are unfamiliar with your machine, it’s new, or you haven’t used it in years.  This project gives lots of practice in a very short amount of time.

2.  It may sound crazy, but sewing a straight line IS NOT always easy!  The most common sewing question I’m asked is, “Do you have any tips for sewing a straight line?”  It takes practice and you need to know where to look as you are sewing. (Looking at the needle is not the way to go. You need to watch your presser foot or an outside guide that you have set up.)  You can see that my daughter’s lines are not always perfectly straight.  (Friends, Diane doesn’t mind.  As my daughter was sewing, and noticed that she was off a bit, she said, “It’s ok, Diane will like anything I make for her.”)

3.  The number one reason this is a great beginner project is that it is really cute and practical!  Who doesn’t want a rainbow dish towel in their kitchen?

I buy my floursack towels in a 5-pack at Target and keep them on hand for quick sewing and embroidery projects.  If you are learning to sew, this a great place to start.  Play with your stitches too!  My daughter’s machine has 60 different stitches.  Her next dish towel could take on a whole new look!

Happy sewing!

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Sewing Camp Pillow Pattern

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I’ve been working on a pillow pattern for Grown Up Sewing Camp.
 
 
 
If you can sew a straight line and know how to use an iron, you can make this pillow!  I can’t wait to show you how to do it!  The end result will be a 19×19 inch throw pillow.
 
Sewing Camp for Grown Ups, coming soon!

Being Craftsy

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I’ve never thought of myself as a crafty person.  I love to sew and quilt, but crafting is just not for me.  Paper crafting is just one giant “fail” and glue/glitter projects are just asking for disaster.  I’ve tried knitting and it’s kind of growing on me, but I still don’t feel I’m crafty.
 
When I heard of Craftsy, I wondering what types of online crafting classes they offered.  Well, they offer just about everything!  They do food crafting, baking, and lots of sewing and quilting classes.  I knew I’d be hooked.
 
Here’s the link, if you’re interested.  For the record, I’m not paid by Craftsy.  I just think it’s a really cool website and a brilliant idea. (And I’d love to teach a Craftsy class someday, but that’s for another post.)
 
I started by signing up for several of Craftsy’s free online courses.  I usually have them playing on my iPad while I’m sewing.  Last week I signed up for my first “real” course, meaning I had to pay for it.  Camille Roskelley is one of my favorite fabric designers and I was super excited to see what her teaching style was like.
 
I really liked it!  It was easy to follow.  I learned a few new things, and I also felt validated!  For the most part, I’m a self taught quilter.  I’ve figured things out as I’ve gone along and asked lots of questions as my local quilt shops.  I’ve read just about every book I could get my hands on from the library, but I’ve never known if I was really doing things properly.  Not only did I learn that I’m doing many things right, but I also heard Camille say that she didn’t know if she was doing things right, but it’s always worked for her!  See, even a professional quilt designer just goes with the flow.
 
I’ve loved reading and rereading Camille’s first book.  I love the colors in her house too.
 
 
Her next book is out soon and I can hardly wait!
 
Ok, friends… 2 books, 1 online class, and 1 happy (craftsy) quilter!

The Friendship Quilt

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The Friendship Quilt for the school auction is finally finished!

I love the way it turned out.  The kids did a very nice job!  In the end, I really didn’t do much in the way of piecing the top together.  The kids did most of the sewing and the adults did the supervising.  I did end up doing the quilting, just because we ran out of time.  I decided to go with stitch in the ditch quilting.  Stitching in the ditch can be quite challenging when the ditch isn’t always accurate. ( If you’ve ever sewn with kids, you know that perfection isn’t the name of the game.  )  As we were helping the kids sew the blocks together, we noticed that some of the blocks were a full half inch larger than others.  We made it work though.

Not too bad for a quilt made by a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds!

Happy quilting!

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Ruffled Kitchen Towels – A quick kitchen update

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Oh, what to do with a few pre-made kitchen towels and some fabric scraps.  That was my dilemma.

Time for a few ruffled kitchen towels!  (No, I didn’t bother to iron the towels!)

I started by finishing the edges of the fabric I wanted to use as my ruffle.  I just folded over the smallest amount that I could.

Then, I used my favorite sewing toy ever! My ruffler foot is “sew” much fun!

Once the ruffle was attached to the towel,  all that was left was adding the band.

I finished the edges of the black fabric band.

I stitched it right over the top of the ruffle.

All done!

The only problem is that no one will dry their hands on them.  I think they’re just too cute to use!

Happy sewing!

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The Class Quilt – A Little More Progress

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Remember the class quilt I told you about?  I’m helping my daughter’s second grade class sew a quilt for the upcoming auction.  We’re using Moda’s Double Chocolat fabric.  I’m in love with the colors!  Apparently, the kids’ teacher feels the same way about the pretty fabric.  She told me that she’s been having nightmares about someone else finishing up the quilt and using horrid fabrics that don’t go with our pretty Double Chocolat.

The kids finished sewing their stars during our first sewing session.


This week we started work on the sashing, sewing all of the stars together.  I had help this week.  Yes, I called in the reinforcements.  Thanks for coming to help the kids sew, Jenny!  As the kids were sewing, we kept giggling to ourselves. (giggles with a slight bit of a panic) You see, when kids take over the sewing, perfection is not the name of the game.  There were blocks that finished up at a half of an inch larger than other blocks.  We did a lot of scooching as we tried to line the blocks up. In the end, they’ll never notice the small imperfections.  They’ll just have good memories of sewing their friendship quilt.

One more sewing day and I’ll be able to show you the finished quilt.  I can’t wait to take pictures of the kids cuddling in the finished quilt!

Happy quilting!

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