Tag: quilting

Looking Ahead

Oh boy, did we have a hectic August! It tends to be so every year, though, because both my husband and my son’s birthdays are in August… only 2 days apart! We also had a wedding out of town, which was great! And, unfortunately, I had to say good bye to a friend.

My coworker, Ricky Manginsay, passed away from cancer very young. I worked with him every day.. on our team we had our Director Rob Oliver, Ricky as the assistant director, and me as the lead Background artist. It was very emotional for everyone. I am happy to say that we have celebrated him as much as we can since he passed! And I took the opportunity to make something special for him (and his wife), and as a way for me to process/grieve. I’m only sorry I didn’t get to give it to him in person. He died the morning of the day I was to visit with a group of coworkers. I hope, with all my heart, that he may rest in peace and that his friends and family’s suffering is eased.

Sorry for the sad moment..there were a lot of great parts of August! Levi’s 4th birthday (puppy themed), the wedding of friends in Idaho, and how much family we got to spend time with thanks to 2 reunions!

Lets look ahead to the rest of the year! The SewMyStash Mini Quilt Swap is getting close to the ship deadline of Oct 3rd (international) and a final ship deadline of Oct 12th! Its been really fun to see what people have been making! I invite you to browse the hashtag on Instagram: #SewMyStashMiniQuiltSwap

As we have gotten closer to the end of the year, I have begun to panic about how much (read: little) I have sewn my stash. Not as much as I intended, I’m sorry to admit. Oh, I have sewn from stash, but I have not made time to sew my collections that I have been hoarding. And I am not sure how much I can honestly get done with only 3.5 months left in the year! Not to mention the holidays!

Instead, I think I will focus on something a little different, but is still stash sewing. This month I had joined blogger Emily Chapelle of So Damn Domestic in her “30 Day Countdown to Clutter-free” challenge. I am certainly not a hoarder, but I do find that I have copious amounts of clutter around my house. The past few weeks I have been working successfully at reducing this clutter, and would like to apply the concept to my stash. I have already gone through and very honestly destashed some fabric. After that, there was still a lot of “but I want to make something with that” going on in my head. So, I think I am going to focus on stash busting the fabrics I like, but don’t like for me…. how, you ask? Sewing for my Etsy shop! I’ve already used a charm pack to make a simple baby crib quilt that I whipped up in just a few hours! I plan to do the same with a few more too. And after that, I think I will pull out all my baby nursery fabrics and make bibs for the shop. And sew on and sew on!

I was kind of thinking about starting a SewMyStash Holiday bootcamp group…. what do you guys think? Something to motivate each other to sew up some stash for our shops and for handmade gifts!

Leasa

Tags Quilt, quilting, Review, sewing, SewMyStash2015, swap, vacation

Finished Projects SewMyStash

#SewMyStash2015: 6 month Checkup!

Post author By Leasa
Post date July 31, 2015
3 Comments on #SewMyStash2015: 6 month Checkup!

Hello sewers! Can you believe its July already!!?? Less than 6 months until Christmas! Ahhhh!!! Ok, lets focus on the now… how are you doing with sewing your stash!!?? Have you gotten some projects done? Have you filled your shop more? Selfish sewing? Gift sewing? If you are like me, you haven’t made NEARLY the dent you meant to…

I began the year vowing not to do any swaps for a while, and I am happy to say I kept that promise! Except for the one I am currently hosting.. but that one is for SewMyStash so it doesn’t count!

January & February: I participated in the Valentines weekend challenge and finished up the Downton Abby swap that I had previously signed up for! I also had the precuts party challenge but I didn’t get to participate. Instead, I wrote a quilt block pattern for my Modern Quilt Guild chapter, the LAMQG. I did use some stash! The pattern is on sale in my shop! (Marching On Pattern)

March: In March I was no so disciplined. I did a little selfish sewing by making some scout tee’s… but I think only 1 of those was from stash. In fact, I *may* have visited Michael Levine in Downtown on their 20% off all cotton sale day. Oh.. yeah I did. Evidence:

See that stack next to my husband with the Heather Ross?? That’s mine. Whoops. See! I am not perfect at all!

April: I did better with the bag challenge. I made a Caravan Tote in preparation for our vacation in May. I used 75% stash and I just LOVE it!

May: Vacation!!!!!!! Mostly. But I also decided to write the pattern for the “It’s A Small World” inspired mini quilt that I made for the Disney Mini Quilt Swap…. and boy did that consume all my time! I’m happy to say I got it done, but it was a month of keeping me from sewing my stash… sigh. There were a handful of fabrics I needed to buy for my color samples so it wasn’t as stash busting as I would’ve liked. I’m very proud of it and will be writing a blog post about it soon! (The Small World Mini pattern)

I came back from The Netherlands with an exciting amount of Dutch heritage fabric and wanted to get started right away. This quilt is 100% NOT stash! But I am ok with that. I want this quilt to be exactly what I want it to be without compromise since it kind of commemorates our trip. It is coming out perfectly!

June & July: In June I totally dropped the ball! I was headed back to work from hiatus (I work in animated television) and my sewing time was zapped. So lets just quietly skip over June without another mention… ok cool.

July I tried to spark the “Holiday in July” movement but with little success. I just don’t have much enthusiasm for Christmas crafting yet. I LOVE me some holiday time, especially the decor… but I just didn’t get in the groove.

I took a Carolyn Friedlander class at my local quilt shop for the Park Pillow. I am excited that I added needle-turn applique to my sewing skills. And the fabrics were from stash 🙂

The LAMQG hosted a bag swap amongst our members this past month and I was able to create a Library Tote all from stash and the 2 bits of fabric my partner supplied.

And, lastly, I did launch my first swap! The SewMyStash Mini Quilt Swap! It felt like the right time to get the mojo flowing more. Its been… an adventure.. so far but I have some awesome swap mama’s (helpers) and I think its going well so far! The deadline is October so I am pretty sure it’s going to keep me busy. Here is my progress so far:

As I reflect on the year so far, I have not touched my hoarded fabric collections which was the reason I started SewMyStash2015 in the first place! I’m trying to be realistic about what is do-able over the remaining 6 months. I will be happy if I can complete these things:

Dutch Swoon Quilt Top
2 Halloween Pillow Covers- from stash
Christmas Tree Skirt- from stash
Start secret sewing- from stash
Another Small World Mini- from stash
Small sewings for my shop- from stash

That might be ambitious. Heads up… I think there will definitely be a SewMyStash2016 😉

*************GIVEAWAY!!!**********************

Post your favorite finish (from stash) so far this year in the linky below! I want to congratulate you all on any stash finishes! Only 1 entry per person. This time I will chose 3 random winners! Giveaway Items will be announced next week! You have until August 16th to enter!

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Tags fabric, Quilt, quilting, Review, sewing, SewMyStash2015

SewMyStash

SewMyStash2015: Mini Quilt Swap!

Post author By Leasa
Post date July 11, 2015
18 Comments on SewMyStash2015: Mini Quilt Swap!

Welcome to the SewMyStash Mini Quilt Swap! Below you will find the details and rules for this swap. It is open to international sewers as well as domestic! The ship deadline for international is October 3rd and final deadline is October 12th. My intention is for all packages to be received by the end of October. Since this is mostly stash sewing, everyone should be able to get started right away and finish easily within the deadline. There is no specific theme, you may request anything from your partner, including holiday related! The link to the google form is at the bottom of this post! Happy quilting!

The Details:

It must be a mini quilt ranging from 12″x 12″ to 24″x 24″
It needs to be 75% stash at least! Really try hard for this, guys! Its the honor system, but its also the fun/point of this swap!
Lets try to keep the extra goodies to yardage or scraps from your stash or other little things! No need to go on a shopping spree. You are welcome to use more stash to make something small, of course!
We will be using the #SewMyStashMiniQuiltSwap hashtag as well as hashtags for swap mamas (example: #LeasasStashSewers)
Be aware that people will be pulling fabrics from their stash for you! I recommend being generous with your info on the sign up form and with your posted mosaic.
Know that this swap is open to all skill levels, but we will be attempting to pair people up who would fit well together.
This is a SECRET swap
The swap is limited to 350 participants

Rules:

You MUST have a public and active Instagram account!
You MUST post a mosaic of inspiration for your partner within 1 week of partner assignment
You MUST check in with your swap mama at the halfway point of September 1st. You need to have started by then!
International shipping deadline is October 3rd
Final deadline is October 12th
You MUST notify your swap mama when you send and receive
You MUST properly thank your partner for their hard work!

Swap Mamas:

@crazydutchbirdquilts @jaclynb @london_and_granger @megsincali @sewhoitytoity @wolfykisses @projectleasa

SIGN UPS ARE NOW CLOSED!

Leasa

Tags fabric, Instagram, Quilt, quilting, sewing, SewMyStash2015

SewMyStash

SewMyStash2015: Holiday in July!

Post author By Leasa
Post date July 2, 2015
3 Comments on SewMyStash2015: Holiday in July!

Only 6 more months until Christmas!!! Yay!! The concept of “Christmas in July” is not a new one, especially in the crafting/sewing world. I love Christmas time and really wanted to get SewMyStash2015 involved in this concept, though I did alter it slightly so that its more friendly to those who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanza and the Winter Solstice.

This challenge will be about using up those holiday fabrics, or making those holiday themed patterns as well as handmade gifts to give! Rules below!

Anything holiday! Fabric, pattern, gifts for others… make anything you want!
75% stash, approximately
Every finished item is an entry to the giveaway (multiple small items count as one. like stocking stuffers of ornaments, etc)
Completed (basically) by July 31st (Harry Potter’s birthday!… ahem)
Spread the word! I’m not going to require that you post or blog about it, but if you get a chance, spread the word! Its always more fun the more people doing it!

That’s it! All you have to do now is decide what to make! I’m hoping to use ALL of my Cherry Christmas fabric by Aneela Hoey.

I would really love to make a tree skirt using this free pattern from Amy Butler. I want to try and include my wedding veil as trim! Its the only piece from my wedding day that I kept and I have been trying to think of what to do with it for years. I hope it works out! **Side note: I love the way this blogger used pre-quilted fabric from Jo Anns instead of wool!

(image from Amy Butler Design)

I also would love to make a Christmas quilt. I recently saw some patchwork that looked like a bunch of little wreaths! Seems simple enough to get done in a realistic time frame and is a good way to showcase my adorable fabric! I cant resist Amy Smart’s little trees either! Squeeeeeee!

And 2 star pillow covers… if I can swing it! Hmm… this challenge might have to extend into August, lol!

What do YOU want to make!!?? P.S.- I have a blog post for quilted stockings that I wrote 2 years ago if you need one. It’s a tutorial/tips but looking back I think I would do a quilt-as-you-go method 🙂

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Get working! And check back soon for the giveaway items announcement!

Leasa

Tags christmas, Holiday, Instagram, Quilt, quilting, sewing, SewMyStash2015

Finished Projects

Schnitzel & Boo Mini #3- Angel Mini

Post author By Leasa
Post date October 6, 2014

Hi friends! I was scrolling through my Flickr feed and realized I never took the time to share with you a project I completed in 1 week! After having so much fun with Schnitzel & Boo’s mini quilt swaps (see the Flickr photo stream here)… and being blessed with great minis that came my way…. I decided to volunteer to be an Angel in this swap! An Angel is someone who agrees to take on another partner without something in return. These new partners had partners of their own at some point but, as happens in all swaps, their partner had to drop out for some reason. Without Angels, that person will have made their item for THEIR person, but would never receive one.

I knew I was going to need to whip up something great and fast, and package a lot of goodies for it! Luckily, I was paired with someone whose taste was similar to mine so I was able to pull right from my stash instead of ordering new stuff! I also had a Red Letter Day pattern by Thimble Blossom that I won from Westwood Acres a few months ago that I was DYING to try out! And the pattern for 1 block was the perfect size for a mini quilt! The pattern was well written and so easy to put together… I should make things from patterns more often. LOL

I chose fabrics from Art Gallery (arguably my favorite fabric manufacturer) using mostly Bonnie Christine’s Sweet as Honey and Leah Duncan’s Tule and Meadows collections and a little bit of Heather Ross‘ Briar Rose. I kept it simple with straight line quilting, but decided on a super cute pieced back. I picked up some goodies from the Daiso store (Japanese dollar store) and I made this awesome pin cushion mason jar after spotting it on Pinterest.

I just love doing these minis!! Every time I do one, I keep wanting to make the same thing for myself! Someday I will. Enjoy the photos!

I really enjoyed the whole, fast, process of this mini and the results have my head swimming thinking about the next time I put these fabric beauties to use!

Happy sewing!

Leasa

Tags fabric, Instagram, Quilt, quilting, sewing, swap

How-To or Review

#TheGreatFabricDestash

Post author By Leasa
Post date January 30, 2014

A few weeks ago, Blogger Erin from Two More Seconds had the brilliant idea of doing an Instagram wide fabric destash sale! How does it work? Using the hashtag #thegreatfabricdestash! If you are not really familiar with hashtags, the basic idea is that it’s a way to filter. Posters use hastags to categorize their content and people can click or touch (from their mobile devices) on the link and see all posts from anyone who included the hashtag. With that in mind, users posted photos on Instagram of the fabric they want to sell, and include the hashtag, filtering all the fabric for sale for users to browse! You simply leave your email address connected to your Paypal account to claim the fabric and the seller sends you an invoice via Paypal. Days later, you are snuggling your purchases!

Here is a good sampling of what it looks like when you go to the hashtag:

I sold a few things myself on the destash and was able to use it to get some hard to find and out of print fabric from favorite designers like Heather Ross and Aneela Hoey. You have to be quick, though! People were snatching things up in a blink! Here are the few I purchased!

Looooooove those little puppies!!

And I was sooooo excited to score these Heather Ross Horses on green! I was really fast with the typing! LOL

Don’t I look happy??

The best thing is…. its STILL GOING! Yeah! Erin decided to keep it as a permanent place where people can keep selling and buying destashed fabric! So head on over and get something on a great deal!

Leasa

Tags fabric, quilting, Review, sewing