As mentioned last week, I did some organizing of the projects that are floating around my craft room and my head and here are three that floated up to the top of the list. (By the way, I have had another big project going on for a while now - reorganizing former Office room to Craft/Guest room. I have been close to finishing it for a couple of weeks now, and I am determined it is going to be this week.) The pink fabrics are a pillow I had in mind ever since I saw a quilt made of strips in one of Kaffee Fasset's book (I believe it was the Museum Quilts?). It was actually a back of a quilt and it was made of long strips of coordinating fabrics with large floral print.
The brown fabrics is for another pillow - the bottom fabrics has a large print of off-white leaves on brown background. The top fabric is for the binding.
And finally the light green pile is flannel squares I cut up almost a year ago for a puffy quilt. I cut up 35 squares for the top out of coordinating green flannel, and 35 squares for the bottom - for the bottom I used cotton because I was afraid that the seams would be too thick. The bottom squares are 7x7 in, the top squares are 71/2x71/2 in.

I found two different ways of constructing a puffy quilt. In the first method, you sew rows of squares together, closing them on three sides, leaving one side open for stuffing. Then you stuff them, close the sides, and sew the rows together. In the other method, you simply sew all the squares together and then tear a small opening on the back, stuff them, and whip stitch the tear. In both cases, once the squares are connected and stuffed, you put the backing and binding and you are done.

Some recent quilts from flickr... I haven't done much quilting since we left for europe in July. And since we came back, with all the housework (after remodeling) and other hings happening, I was busy, and my thoughts were elsewhere. But this week I have actually added some new fabric to my stash (which is in dire need of reorganization) and I started thinking about and visualizing new projects... more to come...

I made a trip to Downtown LA yestarday afternoon and here is what I brought home. I appologize for the picture quality, I did not have time to play with my camera and definitely no time to scan them in (future plans). It was very quiet in the Fashion District yesterday, maybe because it was a bit chilly, or maybe Thursday afternoon is not a big shopping day. I kept seeing the same people from store to store (of course there were many people at Michael Levine store, but I don't really go there - they seem to have your typical fabric everybody else has, I like to look and dig around other stores). Anyway - I found some pinks and reds and also some small print in yellows (it turns out these are japanese fabrics):

And then some small pattern in blue and green and then... I fell in love with plaid. I almost bought more, but I ran out of cash...

After I bought the first plaid (the green one) I started seeing plaid everywhere, in any imaginable color and combination of colors. I always liked plaid, but they just seemed so crisp and fresh I had to had some. And then, I find and add for Madewell in my mailbox and these is (some of) what they have:

I have also finished watching the first season of Northern Exposure. I really, really, really like that show (by the way, the 6th - the final - season will be out on DVD this March). But I was thinking - is it just the show? Or is it also the memories it brings when I watch it? When I was watching it again this time, I was remembering things and thinking about stuff I have not been thinking about in a long time. I first saw it when I was back home, in Croatia, living with my parents, going to college (yes, that's what we typically do, we stay home while in college. And it was fine, actually I would not change it...). I remembered studying, and then waching Northern Exposure late at night. I remembered taking the bus to go to class. I remembered taking exams. And I remembered discussing Northern Exposure with a friend (who I had a crush on, hmm...) between classes and when we happened to walk together back to the bus stop (and it was a rather long walk). And I remembered so many other things, times that were hard but actually worry free and happy (not that these days are not happy, but they are definitely not worry free).

So my question is, would I have liked the show as much if I saw it now for the first time? I remember when I was in a car with my dad, I must have been 12 or 13 and he was listening to some music I did not like, I thought it was so old and boring. I told myself I would never be "stuck" in time, that I would always listen to "new" music. Well, I did not really get stuck, but I do find myself listening more to my favorites - and a lot of them are from when I was younger. Or I will follow those artists that I used to listen to at "that time". Did I get "stuck" in time with Northern Exposure?

By the way - have you seen "Men in Trees". Is that a Northern Exposure wanna-be, or is it just me? I watched two halfs of two episodes recently and I have to say it has not captured my attention. All I do is find similarities with Northern Exposure, but the show's quality is far behind.

It has been busy around here with a recent trip to Sacramento (this past weekend) and preparations for our trip to Toronto. We are leaving tomorrow and the big present for my niece was finished today! I made her a comforter cover (twin size) and two pillow cases for her new, big-girl bed. This is the fabric I used - flannel in white/cream, and green, with little splash of reds.

It was fun coming up with the design and cutting up fabrics, but sewing it all together - not so much. I did not realize that the comforter cover will be THAT big. It just gew and grew, with each piece added. When all the piece were sewn together, I had to cut it to the right diemnsions (66X86in) and that was close to impossible - I just don't have any area that big! And sewing 66 in long strips - not fun either. So, I donlt think I will be making one of these any time soon. But, I am pleased how they turned out:

Off to Toronto...

I made these two "lounge" pants for Luka (he does not lounge a lot, but what else should I call these). The pattern is from a recent Burda for kids. The first pair is Kaufman flannel plaid (pain in the you know what to cut the parts out trying to align the horizontal stripes), and the second is fleece. I believe that the flannel pants are goin to get a lot of wear, but the fleece - I made those basically for our upcoming trip to Canada and the winter vacation in some cold weather place, not determined yet.

I wanted to get some action shots, but Luka would not try the pants for fun. Would any two year old?
And one random thing: Saturday morning, early, a loooked at our bookshelf and the morning sun hit directly on the conch shell we got in the Bahamas.
I wanted to get some action shots, but Luka would not try the pants for fun. Would any two year old?

I mentioned in a previous post I had a really good shopping trip to M&L Fabrics in Anaheim and finally, here are the pictures of most of the fabrics I came home with. I had to leave many more, but they will probably be there when I visit the next time.

First of all, here are two Kaufman prints. The first one is a little thicker cotton, and the second one your regular quilting weight cotton.
I really loved the following two. The first one is actually corduroy. It was from a roll, and I though it was a Kaufman print too, but when I got home, I realized there was no info on selvages so I am not sure any more. The second one is an Alexander Henry print.
These three seem to be a set. They are all by Karen Jarrar for Marcus Brothers. I actually bought the first one on a previous trip and the last two this time. It is a very soft cotton with a little bit of texture (if you look at it from some distance it looks a bit like corduroy).
I thought that all fabric should have some info on the selvages but I found out it is not so (or I bought too little, so the cut did not include the info). The following fabric was a flat fold and I have no idea who is it from. It is a bit thicker and very crisp cotton. The second one is another Kaufman print (large print but I love it). The next two are flannels that will become baby blankets. I just realized that both have a Paris theme. The first one is another no-name, and the poodles are from Marcus Brothers. And finally, this really adorable Kaufman print.

I wanted to practice some log cabin squares, and I needed, really desperately needed, pin cushions, so I made two. Here is one.

This is the newest addition for my shop, but etsy has been down since friday (for an upgrade) so I have not been able to upload it. This is a cotton flannel blanket (30in x 30in) in cream and dark red, with an asian inspired top fabric and a solid cream for the back (interrupted only by a stripe of gingham fabric to make it more ineresting).

Hopefully etsy will be on time, and the shop will be up later today. I am looking forward to all the new and improved features...

The plan for the summer was to make some skirts and tops but here comes another blanket. Actually, this one was long planned for Luka. I wrote about his fire truck obsession and my plans for making him a quilt or a blanket back in May, and I had this fabric for a while, but no time... I did not buy any of the fabric I mentioned in that post, instead I found Kaufmann fabric you see here, at the M&L Fabric store in Anaheim. I had not liked it at first - I thought it was too green (it is lighter than the picture) and did not think it would fit in Luka's room which is light yellow (greenish in artificial light). So I put it in my basket and looked at it from time to time while digging for other fabrics. At the end I really liked it and so here it is.

Now on to some skirts...

... blankie that is. It is for a little girl due at the end of July. Her mom is one of Luka's teachers at the day-care center and I just found out yestarday afternon that today is her last day! I knew she was leaving soon, but it surprised me anyway.

The top, is flannel with red and pink butterflies (you cannot really see pink ones on the picture, the pink is very faint), and the other side is a really thin, stretchy, very soft and cool terry. I used matching plaid fannel for the border. I qiuilted the two pieces of fabric diagonally, in just a few places, to make sure the fabric stays together. That's it. The terry gave me a little bit of trouble (and more pining then I would use normally) because it is very stretchy, but otherwise this was really simple.

Good luck to the mom and the baby!

Finally, I had time to just sew in peace! This used to be a vintage-looking pillowcase bought at a thrift store. Yes, maybe turning linen into clothing is last-year, but I loved this fabric and thought it would make a nice beach skirt. So here it is. The little flowers are surrounded with tiny, faint green leaves, which is why I put the green ribbon at the bottom and a green tie. All I need is a green, sleeveless top!

Luka has been going to a daycare every day for the past six months. It is a full day program, but we have to prepare all the food - luch, and any snacks they will give them during the day. In addition, he needs extra clothing, sheets and blankets for sleeping, diapers, wipes... So until now (shame on me) we have used various plastic/paper bags to bring all this stuff in - I just could not find a suitable bag. And his diaper bags are not really useful in this case. So, finally I had a little bit of time (procrastinating in school) and I made a bag for him, from some fabric I had lying around. I used two fabrics - thicker blue cotton (I bought this fabric at a local Flap Happy factory store where they also sell fabric remnants for very little money - and their designs are fun!) and prequilted yellow fabric I bought also as a remnant at JoAnne's Fabric. I am really proud of the way it turned out, conisdering that this is a very first bag I have ever made. I also like the thickness the quilted fabric proivides - the bag can stand up (as in the pictures) on it's own. It has outside side pockets and one inside pocket. There is really only one problem - Luka's sippy cup does not fit in these side pockets, they are too narrow. If I make more of these, I need to make these pockets wider and then put a bit of elastic at the top. It is big enough (35inx30inx10in) to hold his luch bag, a sippy cup and his bedding. No more plastic bags!


And it is reversible too (here you can see the inside pocket).

I finished this quilt in August of last year, and was reminded of it today when I read Laura's post over at thimble about her alphabet quilt - she used the same vintage insipred alphabet fabric by Moda!
I made this quilt for a friend's baby for her christening. When I started out, I had no idea what kind of a quilt I would make, not even when I saw this fabric. All I knew was that I loved the fabric. When I got it, I went through my stash and took out some fabrics I had, to try and design the quil,t but I did not like anything I came up with. I did not want it to be too busy, but I also did not want it to be too white, including only the letters of the baby's name. I really only wanted two other colors in the quilt, two that stood out in the letters/pictures - vintage blue and red. So I drove all the way to Anaheim, to M&L fabric store and picked out the rest of the fabrics (and much more, but that's another story).
The final design included squares from the main fabric and muslin and strips of red and blue checked fabrics for the "frame" around the letters. The smaller pictures (cut out from the same alphabet fabric, only without the letters) and the smaller red and blue squares were appliqued on muslin squares and then quilted around. The rest was quilted in the groove and around the letters. The background fabric was a funky robots fabric with the same basic colors - here are a few more pictures of the quilt.
This is the fabric I used for the letters and the smaller pictures. I saw it initially at equilter.com, but finally bought it from Bear Paw Quilt Co because it was considerably cheaper. However, I almost did not buy it from them because their website is really not user friendly, and I just don't have patience to try and figure out where the shopping cart went (that was actually the problem - after I selected the amount of fabric I needed I could not get back to my shopping cart!). Then I decided to call them and see if I can order over the phone - I was amazed at how nice the lady I talked to was!. I usually don't like to buy stuff blindly, but she was so helpful that I asked her to suggest muslin that would go with this fabric, considering color and fabric thickness. And she did a great job! The fabrics matched almost perfectly. I know I will but from them again, but over the phone, not through their website.