Tag: SewMyStash2015

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

SewMyStash

SewMyStash2015 Precuts Party Winner!

Post author By Leasa
Post date March 9, 2015

I am happy to announce that the random number generator chose submission #6 as the winner! The lucky sewist is Kris Jarchow from SewSunshine.blogspot.com! Great job Kris! She won the Liberty of London bundle from Westwood Acres and the pattern of her choice from Clover and Violet!

Thanks for playing, everyone! Great job!

Leasa

Tags SewMyStash2015

SewMyStash

SewMyStash2015: Precuts Party!

Post author By Leasa
Post date February 5, 2015
32 Comments on SewMyStash2015: Precuts Party!

Are you guys ready for the next challenge??!! It’s PRECUTS!!!!

That’s right! Use up those mini charms, charms, jelly rolls, honey buns, layer cakes, Fat quarters, Fat eighths, dessert rolls, honeycombs and turnovers! We all have them… looking so yummy stacked pretty in our fabric cabinets and on our shelves… looking like our very own fabric store……… AHEM…. let’s use them! We will be using the hashtag #SewMyStash2015PrecutsParty to share our work together! There will be another giveaway at the end. Details for everything below!

Rules!

1) Your fabric must come from a precut bundle. I will accept your own precuts as long as it’s from all the same collection, or manufacturer, or designer. I believe most manufacturers make precuts, but the most popular are Moda and Robert Kaufman. But in case you didn’t know, Windham Fabrics and Cotton + Steel make them too! (I only just discovered this while researching for this post!). Anyway, the point is to use up coordinating precuts!

2) Again, sew anything you want!! This will be a common rule! It does NOT have to be a quilt! Precuts are super great for pillows, fabric baskets, backpacks, and bags too! This challenge may not lend itself well to apparel sewing, so if you make a lot of clothes, break out of your comfort zone and try something else!

3) Yes, you may purchase fabric you need for background/sashing, backing, binding, bag hardware, etc. Just use precuts that are in your stash!

4) This must be complete in 4 weeks! That’s Sunday March 8th! For quilts, we will accept quilt tops completed. I gave a lot of time for this challenge so that sewers can make an actual full size quilt!

5) To be entered in the giveaway, you must link up HERE! Since this will be such a long challenge, I cannot reasonably cycle through the hashtag and write down each of your names. Instead, you will link up here by submitting 1 picture of your project. The link up widget will number the submissions, and then I will use the random number generator to get a winner. This also makes it easy for non-Instagram users to participate and for everyone to see each others submissions!

Bonus!!! You may submit a SECOND entry if you complete another project that coordinates!! Example: quilt top and pillow, 2 pillows, purse and little zippy, etc. I hope you get the idea.

I will reveal the giveaway items soon, and the link up will be active in the next few days.

Happy Sewing, and thanks for playing along!

Leasa

PS. I super love all the use the hashtag is getting and the buzz about SewMyStash! You guys rock my socks off!

****UPDATE***

We have a giveaway package!! Amanda of Westwood Acres and Jennie of Clover And Violet have graciously donated to the giveaway package for the Precuts Party! Westwood Acres will be sending the winner a 25 piece fat sixteenth bundle from the Liberty London Club! The winner will need to provide me with their address and Amanda will send the bundle direct. Clover and Violet has offered up $9 shop credit so that the winner may chose a PDF bag pattern of his/her choice! Winner will be provided with a coupon code to use in the shop. I will also send a small care package to the winner! Keep up the great work!

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SewMyStash

SewMyStash2015 Weekend Challenge 1

Post author By Leasa
Post date January 19, 2015
18 Comments on SewMyStash2015 Weekend Challenge 1

Welcome to the first challenge for SewMyStash2015! I’ve called it a weekend challenge, even though it starts on a Monday. I didn’t want to leave out any sewers who primarily sew during the week (ie: stay at home moms, part time workers, or work at home moms). Also, it gives everyone fair time to pull their fabric and work out their ideas for the project. Ok, ready!?

It’s a Valentine’s day challenge! Rules:

1. You must incorporate hearts! That could either reflect in the project/pattern you chose, or some Valentine’s Day fabric you have in your stash.

2. You may sew any project you like: mini quilt, bag, purse, clothing, pillow, anything!

3. You need to finish (basically) by the end of the weekend of Jan 25th (Sunday). I say basically, because I don’t want to encourage someone starting a queen size quilt that they can’t finish. The point of the challenge is to get a quick project done, using your stash and therefore making you feel awesome about yourself!

4. You must use approximately 75% from your stash. That pretty much means only backing or binding or that sort of thing can be new. Extra points if you use 100% stash! (Extra points can only be redeemed for pats on the back)

5. Use the hashtag #sewmystash2015challenge1 on your finished project! There will be a giveaway…. of some sort… and I will be using the images in that hashtag as entries.

That’s it! Need some ideas?

Robert Kaufman’s Pixelated Heart pattern is an awesome modern take on the heart shape. The pattern is for a full sized quilt, but its super easy to reduce for mini quilt or pillow size. And its free! Get it HERE.

Cluck Cluck Sew just posted a tutorial for an ADORABLE heart quilt pattern! Omg it’s the cutest. It makes me think of candy hearts. See it HERE.

EmilyAnnsKloset has a great simple pattern for a Candy Hearts quilt that could easily be reduced for this challenge. Get her pattern HERE. (She is @emilyannskloset on Instagram)

I’ve always loved Canoe Ridge Creation’s XO quilt… (for some reason her site isnt working for me. Try HERE.)

You can get your paper piecing on with this LOVE tutorial on Sew Mama Sew.

Don’t forget to look around on Pinterest if you need more ideas! You can use hearts in anything! Totes, mug rugs, sew together bag, pillow covers.

I cannot wait to see what everyone creates!

ok, GO!

XOXO Leasa

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Tags SewMyStash2015

SewMyStash

SewMyStash2015: Getting Past Quilter’s Block

Post author By Leasa
Post date January 7, 2015
14 Comments on SewMyStash2015: Getting Past Quilter’s Block

Hello SewMyStashers! By now, you should be into your first project (at least) using your stash! I am a little behind because I need to finish up my #DisneyQuiltSwap2015 mini quilt, and then I’m all aboard!

I wanted this post to focus on getting over the quilter’s block. What I mean by that is similar to writers block. You have fabric you want to use, but are not sure the best project or pattern to showcase it the way it deserves. OR you have a pattern you have always wanted to make but are not sure which fabrics to use. I’m going to show you some of my approaches and I hope they help you!

Pinterest!

Pinterest is my usual go-to. I like to see what others have done with that fabric or the pattern! It gives me great ideas! For example, I have always wanted to make a quilt showcasing my Heather Ross fabrics. So I search for fabric + “quilt” or “pillow” etc. Pretty straight forward. Think about the fabric you are using. Heather Ross fabric is novelty and has lots of character in her illustrations. You wouldn’t want a pattern that cuts it up a lot. Something with fussy cutting would be the best way to showcase. A polaroid pattern or monkey in the middle… or a churn-dash. You get the idea.

You can use the same approach for a pattern you like but are not sure which fabrics would be good. Ive always wanted to do a plus quilt so here are search results that I might be interested in.

Now I can see that an all-over print or solids would be fabulous for a plus quilt. Also, don’t forget to check your own quilting pinboard! There is a reason you pinned a million quilts over the past few years. Rekindle your love for past inspiration.

Pattern Books!

We both know you have a stack of quilt books that you bought during sales at your LQS or received as gifts. Its time to break them out! Challenge yourself to chose patterns that maybe don’t catch your eye. Sometimes, the fabrics used in those patterns are not everyone’s taste. You know you can do a great pull from your own stash, so don’t let their choices throw you off of a good pattern 😉

Hashtags!

I do the same with hashtags as I do with Pinterest! I just search using the fabric collection name or the designers name… or the type of quilt pattern! Quick and easy when you’re mobile! Just take a screen capture and you’re all set.

Really that’s it! Look for inspiration everywhere, challenge yourself to use an “ugly” quilt pattern, use those pattern books, and consult the quilty community! How do YOU get past quilter’s block? Share with us in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Leasa

Tags SewMyStash2015