this week's sewing time

It's the last week of Summer vacation and so, since Monday, I've only been taking the sewing time I need to fill my etsy orders, which happens to be alot more than I realized when I took time to sketch my feather Sunday night. Oops! Ever so often I receive an inquiry for this Train Pillow set through my little shop. I don't offer this set as a regular listing simply because even though I really do love making these pillows, I wouldn't want to make them more than just once a month or so. I figure if someone stumbles upon my design through Pinterest or a Google search and takes the time to reach out to me, well then the time it takes for me to make these for the recipient will be time well spent!



For all of my fabric applique pillows I love to use ThermoWeb's iron-on fabric adhesive HeatnBond Lite! To create each pillow I first prepare each fabric by fusing on the adhesive, sketching my applique train shapes right onto the paper side of the HeatnBond, cut out my shapes, iron them onto to neutral shades of solid fabric, in this case Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Elements in Light Gray & Ash. Using a light blue shade of cotton Aurifil 50wt and my satin stitch, I simply stitch around each shape to finish. It's fairly time consuming, but so worth it! These steps create such an adorable, well-made pillow!



The back of each pillow in this set is finished in a bright aqua Amy Butler geometric print, with a little colorful touch of binding on each in Patchwork Plaid by Michael Miller!

Besides this order, I'm a Birthday Crown factory! I'm turning out so many of these, I rarely take the time to photograph them anymore. However this colorful set in my celebration style matched too perfectly with the Moda fabrics I used in this newest set of Train Pillows not to snap and share!



Now that these are done, this afternoon I promised one last sewing session to my girl. We're making a tote bag, which I'll be sure to share soon!

♥ Maureen

A Feather Sketch Stitch : :

When it comes to sewing, these days it's pretty impossible for me to think of anything other than project ideas for my fabric collection Wild & Free. I've shared the digital swatches and still plan to share a little back story on the inspiration and reason for each print sometime soon, but the true testament will come when I have my fabrics in hand and I can begin to sew with them! This waiting is a little brutal, and so, last night when I sat at my sewing machine hoping to make something to share here this morning, I decided to begin creating the project ideas that are within my power, so when the fabrics arrive at my doorstep I can dive right in!

Sketch Stitching or thread sketching is something I truly love to do, but rarely make the time for. After having spent so much time drawing the sketches that became Wild & Free throughout these past several weeks, I'm certain now that drawing nourishes me in a completely different way than sewing does. Combining them in this way creates a feeling so good that I've decided to give just an hour a day to this type of work solely. It's too beneficial for me to continue ignoring my need for it, and after sharing just a quick feather thread sketch on my Instagram last night I felt so encouraged that this is something I truly should be doing and sharing here.



This sketch began with a rectangle piece of Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Element in Sweet Mint quilted to a scrap piece of StitchnSew fleece by Therm O Web. Next I pulled from my box set of colorful 50wt and my jar O' Aurifil a thread color story that matches Wild & Free, and I began to freely sketch stitch a simple feather.







Just as the wildflowers that are illustrated in Wild & Free, feathers are a common and meaningful memento of my days spent exploring with my children. To me the feather has multiple meanings, but mostly represents beauty, lightness, and being free in life. And although there aren't feather designs found in any of the prints that make up my small collection, I do hope to share those other meaningful symbols that won't be found in the prints, in the projects I create for Wild & Free.



Once the outline of my feather was sketched in Navy, I used several spools of Aurifil to add in color and texture, combined with some of the beautiful decorative stitches my Janome offers. I really love the end result!



I'll be saving this to either finish as a pillow once Wild & Free arrives or it might end up as part of a wall display idea I've been dreaming up for my Quilt Market booth!

Happy Monday & happy stitching, friends!

♥ Maureen

A Train Pillow Set in Moda : :

I recently received a very, very generous surprise box from Moda Fabrics, filled to the brim with up-coming collections in Moda's much loved, classic pre-cut bundles, folded perfectly & wrapped in ribbon!

A beautiful sight!



Inside I found a Fat Eighth bundle of Amy Ellis' first collection for Moda, Modern Neutrals, a bundle of Fancy by Lily Ashbury, one of Lella Boutique's Into the Woods, Bonnie & Camille's Miss Kate, Lauren & Jessy Jung's Pedal Pushers, A Field Guide by Janet Clare, and a colorful Layer Cake of April Rosenthal's Best. Day. Ever!





It was a challenge to undo each neatly tied bundle, but I knew these colorful prints would make an adorable Train Pillow Set, which I had an Etsy shop order for, so I jumped in! Using ThermoWeb's iron-on fabric adhesive HeatnBond Lite, I prepared each fabric by fusing on the adhesive, sketching my applique train shapes right onto the paper side of the HeatnBond, cut out my shapes, and ironed them onto to neutral shades of RJR Cotton Supreme Solids. Using a white, cotton Aurifil 50wt and my satin stitch I simply sewed around each shape to finish. It's fairly time consuming, but so worth it!









The back of each pillow is finished with a print from Ellen Luckett Baker's Quilt Blocks fabric collection for Moda, with a little colorful touch of binding on each in Patchwork Plaid by Michael Miller!



In the Summer weeks ahead I'll be sharing more of what becomes of each of these new Moda collections! I've even promised to share with Haila!

Happy Monday!   ♥ Maureen

A Hip Holiday Patchwork Pillow { Tutorial & GIVEAWAY } : :

Good morning! Today I'm sharing my most recent patchwork pillow makings, this time for a Quilted Patchwork Pillow project I designed for ThermoWeb using HeatnBond Fusible Fleece and Josephine Kimberling's holiday collection, Hip Holiday for Blend Fabrics!



These fabrics are so cute!! This "Tree Shopping" print is my most favorite!



A few weeks ago when I had shared my Chicopee Patchwork pillows, many of you especially over on my Facebook page, had asked for a tutorial. Remeber these?







So.. I teamed up with ThermoWeb and Blend Fabrics to put together a tutorial to share as quickly as I could, along with a Giveaway right here for a sample of the HeatnBond High Loft Fusible Fleece I used to make these cozy, quilted pillows!



I hope you like this super quick & easy pillow project! It takes only eight 6" charm squares to make the pillow front, plus the backing and binding fabrics, and when you finish you'll have a snazzy, new pillow!







You can find the FREE pattern available on the ThermoWeb blog tomorrow, I'll add the link for you here once it's posted!



Today, you can enter to win a one yard sample package of the HeatnBond Fusible Fleece by leaving me a comment! I'd love to read what you're working on these days? I'm working on a Marvel Comic quilt that I need to finish up before Christmas, yikes!  

Anyone else scrambling to finish up handmade gifts???  ♥  Maureen  

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Thank you to all who entered the Giveaway!!

From 204 entries, Mr. Random says the lucky winner is... 

Comment #12 --   * Vickie *
   

Congratulations! I will be in touch shortly! 

A Halloween House Pillow : :

With each new holiday it's always my hope to make at least one new, handmade decoration. Halloween is a favorite of ours! While I don't have the time to make the Halloween quilt in my dreams this year, I do think a few small projects can be made in time! So, when Therm O Web asked if I'd be interested in putting a little Halloween spin on my House Pillow Tutorial to share on their blog this week, it was just the motivation I needed to cross some new decor off of my to-make list!

 
At first I pulled from my stash a stack of traditional orange and black, with a few cute Halloween prints leftover from this project. Then I asked myself, if I were planning to make that Halloween quilt what fabrics would I use? And, the answer is these fabulous MicroMod fabrics, paired with Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Black, Cloud9's Dem Bones by Sarah Watson, and some solids! I love purple for Halloween just as much as I do orange and black. With those little touches of that golden yellow, I think MicroMod works perfectly!



My Halloween House Pillow came together quick using the MicroMod bundle & Essex Linen I had on hand, with HeatnBond and SpraynBond for easy applique and basting, combined with some fun sewing notions, and a pretty eggplant purple Aurifil 50wt from my Simply Color Thread Box!







You can find the tutorial for this project on the Therm O Web blog a little later today!



Happy Halloween Sewing!!
♥ Maureen

A Ballet Bag : :

This past Saturday afternoon my girl and I made a little, dance class bag together. This is her first year doing ballet and we're both so excited! I've been patiently waiting for her to reach this time where she feels comfortable enough to join teams & take on extra classes without wanting me to coach or volunteer. We made it and I'm thrilled!!

She picked out the fabrics -- several of Sarah Jane's Children at Play prints left over from the pillow & crown set I made my niece Molly, while I tried to find the blog post for when I had shared the ballet class bag I made my niece Ceci for Christmas. Rather than trying to remember how that bag was constructed, we decided to just go for it and make something new. It's a little big, but we think it turned out pretty cute!



We had fun making up the design as we went along including a large, front pleated pocket, an inner smaller pocket, an inside drawstring for cinching, and the handle design was definitely inspired by Anna Maria's Multi-Tasker Tote. For a little extra sturdiness I used a light weight fusible interfacing by ThermoWeb. A medium to heavy weight would have worked much better, but the light weight is what I had on hand. I'll need to stock up soon, I've been going through my interfacing, stabilizers, and adhesive like crazy!





Besides all the crowns & fox pillows I've been making, it was so nice to start and finish this smaller sewing project in just a little over an hours time. Now that I've been busy making all these quilts, I've let all my smaller project ideas fall to the wayside. I really need to work on finding some project balance. While there's nothing quite like making a quilt, creating something small & special can certainly be just as rewarding!



Happy sewing!!  ♥  Maureen

An Appliqued Apron Set Tutorial for Therm O Web : :

We're home!! This morning we woke up in our own beds, missing so many wonderful people, with so many new, special memories made these past two weeks to reflect on. It was such a terrific vacation!

Today, I'm making every effort to dive right back into our regular routine so, I'm taking some time to blog and sew this morning. Oh, how I've missed it! I'm excited to be sharing my Appliqued Apron Set Tutorial over on the Therm O Web blog for the first time since I was recently invited to join their Design Team line-up!



Along with my tutorial is a fun Giveaway for some of their great products! I'm such a huge fan of their basting spray and iron-on adhesive products, especially HeatnBond Lite for all of my quick and easy applique projects!



This apron set if one of our most favorite things I've ever made! Adding the black stitching to my applique projects is one my very favorite things, it's so simple and I just love the look of it!



How could I pass on the chance to share this tutorial one more time?! Hopefully with many of you new readers both here and with those of you who follow the Therm O Web Design Team!



Pop over right HERE to see my full tutorial, to enter their Giveaway, and pretty please feel free to pin it, too!

Happy to back here in this space with all of you!   ♥,  Maureen