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 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

For the Kiddos : :

There certainly hasn't been enough sewing/crafting time happening with the kids this Summer! How about for you? Usually, crafting together as a family is a huge part of our Summer, so I'm pretty bummed about it! But don't feel too bad, I think I'm the only one! I had so many things I wanted to make with them, that's just not happening. The main reason being this weather! It's just too nice hot to be inside. So, today I thought it would be good to share the couple of projects we actually did work on together before too much time passes.

Have you seen the book Sewing School? It's full of simple sewing projects for children to make. We've used it to help guide us through a couple different projects in the past (here), and it was really helpful. This time, in the early morning a couple of weeks ago, Jacob joined me in the sewing room and had decided on following a pattern in this book from start to finish.

It was fun to watch, to lend a hand when he needed it, and to have that chance for just the two of us to work together on our own projects.

He did a great job! Teaching him the basics during our Sewing Buttons 101 craft, really has given him the tools he needs to do this type of project almost completely on his own. And, he even has plans (weather permitting) to make more as gifts. Aren't they cute?!

Another project that we really had fun with are these fork pompoms!



We've made these several times (here and here), and this time we combined fuzzy, wool yarn and Divine Twine to make a colorful strand of garland, and even used one pompom to make a sweet flower!



If you're looking for a fun and easy craft to do with your own children or grandchildren, this is it!

I also finished up another Train Pillow Cover Set, as an etsy order, that I have to share! I've had my shop closed most of this Summer, and it certainly feels strange to not be busy making all those crowns and pillows like I was. Hopefully, I'll be plenty busy this Fall, when my shop is open, and I give my all to making this sewing gig my full time job!!



For now, I'm going to keep hoping for a nice two-day stretch of rain to happen sometime this Summer! One for a full day of crafting together, and the second to clean up our mess!!

Sewing Gifts : :

First, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has entered my Handmade Giveaway so far! Yesterday was such a great day all around!! So Thank You! The giveaway continues through Wednesday, so there's still time if you're interested!

Over the weekend and during my sewing time yesterday I mostly worked on sewing up gifts. A couple that came through my etsy and a few that I'm planning to give as gifts myself. Wanna see?



This sweet pillow and crown set I just made to give my little niece to have on her birthday a few days from now. Just like this train pillow and crown set I made for her big brother. I had all my nieces and nephews choose their own fabrics from my stash when they came to visit over the holidays. Molly chose these Sarah Jane fabrics herself, I really hope she loves them!



I actually just made a new train crown via etsy order yesterday.



And, an I Love Pink Crown, too.



Now that I just have to add the binding to both my Scrappy Improv and my Bottled Rainbows quilts, I decided it was ok to began work on a new quilt project! This one will be a surprise gift for the time being! I told you I wasn't done with those Improv Chevron blocks yet!



I really loved the colors March hostess Natalie for do. Good Stitches Love Circle chose for our improv chevrons, so I decided to stick with the turquoise, robin’s egg blues, yellows, and greys -- adding in some navy, brown, and that wonderful chartreuse-y green. I think these colors together are just..cool. As is the design, an Improv Chevron tutorial created by Six White Horses. Yes, cool! That's the simplest way to put it, I think! 



I love the earthy, vintage-y vibe of this block and it just so happens that when I think of those words -- cool, earthy, vintage-y -- they also describe perfectly the person I have in mind to receive this quilt.

Today, I plan to finish up my next Design Team project with those lovely Riley Blake Chevrons and then hopefully begin one more sewing gift -- a baby blanket for a new little one who will be joining our family anytime now. The mother's due date was on Sunday, EEK! I guess I best put a rush on that one!

Happy sewing, friends!

♥ Maureen

Train Pillow Set : :

What a busy and beautiful weekend! I hope a good one was had by all!! Over the weekend I finished up a recent, pretty adorable custom order that came through my etsy that I thought I'd share today!

Sometimes the most simplest of projects are the ones that make me the most happy! And, look... something for little boys! Finally!!



My customer sent me photos of a pretty simple, applique quilt with a transportation theme to base these train pillows after. She plans to have them sitting in front of the headboard instead of shams. I think it's both a clever and extremely cute idea!

This was definitely a fun project for me!



I'm loving them all stacked up!



The backs are finished in a few of the Ruby Dot prints I just picked up from Skye Reve Fabrics. These teeny tiny dots are another great neutral. I love that Sundae print, too!



I hope there will be a happy boy on the receiving end of this weekend's pillow making!! I'm linking them up with Today's Creative Blog!

As for today, I'm hoping to make a dent in my new stack of felt!!



How about you, do you have any sewing plans for today?