May Mayhem!
I am participating in the Pioneer Quilter’s May Mayhem Challenge.
The challenge is to work on something crafty everyday for a minimum of 15 minutes throughout the month of May. Truthfully, I feel like I am cheating. I have been doing this everyday for over a year. Anyway, I love challenges and I love to participate with other crafters. Every Monday, we have to update our status on what we worked on all week.
My main project for this challenge is going to be this Centennial Basket. I have had this kit for almost a year and never touched it. It is a miniature quilt, measuring 8″ by 8″. I am going to piece it, applique and quilt by hand.
Tonight I pulled it out; I traced and cut out all the templates. Look how small they are!
I know what you are thinking…..Today is May 4th?! What have I been doing. Actually, on Friday I pulled out my hardanger embroidery coasters. I have one about 1/4 of the way done. I will post pictures later as this challenge progresses.
Birthday Card for Sprout
This is what I worked on tonight. This is a birthday card for Morgan’s 6th birthday – which is this Friday. I am sending it to Sprout. The pick a few birthday cards each day to show on the “Sunny Side Up Show” or “Goodnight Show”. Those that are and are not selected can be seen on their website at www.sproutonline.com.
Sprout is a great channel and Morgan has learned a lot from them. The website is wonderful too because there are so many easy-to-do crafts. Morgan gets on their herself and with a few items from around the house makes all kinds of things. I think for Mother’s Day she is making me a decorated flower pot; an idea from Sprout.
Sorry for skipping the podcast this week. I just didn’t have it in me. I have a busy weekend coming up with Morgan’s birthday, her party and mother’s day (plus I have to squeeze grocery shopping in there); but I will do my best to get another one up next week.
Homemade Lightbox
This weekend took a piece of plexiglass and cut it to fit into the opening of my sewing table; turning my sewing table into a lightbox when I need one. Below are the pictures of how I did it in case you want to try.
First you need a piece of plexiglass. I was lucky enough to get a scrap from work that was big enough. The plexiglass has blue film on both sides to prevent scratches.
I took a piece of freezer paper – because it was wide – and laid it over the opening on my table. I marked the corners and used my quilting rulers to draw out a perfect square. I taped this template over the plexiglass.
The tools I used and my workstation (see the safety glasses? The nail files were for sanding, I didn’t have sandpaper and I didn’t feel like going to the store). I used a circular saw to cut the plexiglass and a grinder to round the corners.
Once you have it cut and you have tested the size, sand your edges smooth. Then you can peel off the blue film and clean it.
Tip – I could have cut the piece bigger and just laid it over the opening when I needed to use it, but I wanted a flat surface to work on as well; plus this idea didn’t hit me until later.
Now I had to figure out how to suspend it in the open space. I had some pegs left over from some shelves. So I drilled some holes and stuck them in.
Fit perfectly
Next I mounted a light underneath. I bought this light at Lowe’s for under $20.
Viola!!! I now have a lightbox.
When I want to use it , I lower my machine and place the piece of plexiglass on top.
I think I am going to add another light. The lights I bought link together so it should be easy and the one light is not quite bright enough.
Episode 44 ~ Sashing your Quilt
Listen to the podcast of this postToday we talking about sashing for quiltblocks.
Thank you to everyone who left comments this week.
- Almosaquilter suggested Aurifil thread to help stay within a quarter inch
- Denise reminded me that thread position can help with thread troubles.
Beach Town from Jaye at www.artquiltmaker.com. The colors are wonderful! get a closer look to see her beading and hand work. Thank you so much for sharing Jaye!
Congratulations to Pat! Our winner of the Quilty Sayings Fat Quarter.
The Frolic quilt top is DONE!!! All applique and embroider is completed and the quilt top is pieced. Next is adding borders.
This is the yarn I bought for Rick’s socks. You can’t see it in the picture, but there are flecks of dark grey and black. Check out my messy desk – see the iPod to the side. lol
Giveaway!
Win this Vintage Ornament kit. Leave a comment on this post to be entered to win. Drawing will be held May 8th!
Episode 43 – Staying Within a Quarter Inch
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This week we talked about how to make sure you are sewing an accurate 1/4″ seam.
Sally sent us pictures of this wonderful table runner. Her dining room table is square and she has a toddler; no little fingers are going to pull this one down. One side is hand stitched Grandmother’s Flower Garden done with English Paper Piecing. The reverse side is machine pieced. She machine quilted it by printing out the design on paper and stitching through the paper. I LOVE the Butterflies! Leave an comment and let Sally know what you think.
I spent most of my week re-designing the blog site. I wanted to make it look more like a sewing site. I scanned most of the images myself and edited them with Microsoft Paint and Powerpoint – I am not lucky enough to have PowerPoint. I also wanted to streamline the site. I wanted to get rid of the advertising and make it more about the blog and podcast. Don’t get me wrong, I will still accept advertisers and podcast sponsors; but I now limit the visual to one spot. Because of this I lowered the cost as well.
I plan on adding more graphics down the sides soon (a rotary cutter and ruler, for sure). But doing this was a bit trickier. I also need to edit some pages to make them more consistant with the theme. I wanted to get the new site launched and I felt these few things can wait. I hope you enjoy the new look. All the same content is there ~ but now you know you are on a sewer site.
Topic this week – Staying within a Quarter Inch.
Picture of my 1/4″ presser foot.
Picture of my Janome guide.
Picture of my machine when I am using the guide. I have to put my machine at the top level so the carriage can go out. This is the same carriage system used when the machine is doing machine embroidery.
Don’t forget about the Big Tent Giveaway or the Tote Bag Swap.
- BT Giveaway ends April 24th
- Tote Bag Swap ends May 24th
Tote Bag Swap
Craft swaps are a great way to make something different, try a new technique, and be part of our crafting community. What I love about swaps are that you get the chance to see someone elses work and see how they made the same craft as you.
This time around we are swapping tote bags. Below are links to several sites with directions or tutorials on how to make different types of tote bags. Choose any or all or make up your own - whatever suits your fancy. All bags will be shipped to me and I will swap and ship different ones back to you.
- Craftster – Reversable Tote Bag
- Tiny Happy – Shoulder Bag
- Mama’s Pocketbook – Pink October Basic Tote Bag
- DIY Bag Patterns – Rag Bag Tote Bag
- Sew Mama Sew – Classic Tote Bag
- Got Fabric – 6 Pocket Tote Bag
Here are the RULES:
- Send me an email, bryelynn@sewstitchcreate.com telling me that you want to participate. I will respond with my mailing address.
- Make at least one tote bag. You can make as many as you wish, but we this swap is so new and we have so few participants, I recommend not doing more than three.
- Fabric used to make the bags must be of good quality. There are no restrictions on color or fabric design.
- The size of the tote bag must be larger than 12″ but smaller than 21″ wide.
- Mail the tote bag(s) to me with a self address stamped return envelope. The weight for postage of the return envelope should be the same or close to the one you shipped to me.
- I must recieve the bag(s) no later than May 24, 2010.
- I will swap out the bag(s) with other crafters bag(s), returning to you the same number of bags you shipped. I will try to match the sizes so you get a bag close to the same size you sent
- I will ship out no later than May29, 2010.
- If you live internationally, you are welcome to participate.
Grab the Swap Button for your site.
Help promote the swap!
Episode 42 – Quilting Natural Florida
Listen to the podcast of this postToday we talked about my visit to the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Quilting Natural Florida exhibit.
Check out this great picture that Vanessa sent us. Vanessa had 8 dresden plate blocks completed and had to come up with a way to put them all together. Don’t you LOVE what she came up with!
New Podcasts
Join us in the Big Tent. Big Tent is a site for groups to get together. Many of your favorite quilting podcasters have joined together under one group – Quiltcast Supergroup. There are forums, polls, news, pictures, events, and much more. It is a big quilting community!
Big Tent Giveaway! A drawing will be held April 24th for this wonderful Fat Quarter of Quilting phrases. To be entered in the drawing you must join the Quiltcast Supergroup and the Sew ~ Stitch ~ Create! subgroup. All subgroup members names will be put in a hat and one winner drawn – Good Luck!
Florida Museum of Natural History – Quilting Natural Florida
Laura Quinn’s Pelicans by Susan Walen
Happy Together by the Lovin’ Spoonbills – Susan Slaton
Check out how she did the leaves.
Riot of Color by Kathleen Faraone
Sunshine in the Piney Woods by Sandra Pozzetta
Heart of My Community – by Valerie Rosenkrantz
Loved this one – thought it would be a great idea for a quilt-along
Check out the quilting:
Blue Springs by Sandra Pozzetta (I guess I like her work!)
She hide pictures in her quilting
Rosie and Bill by Rebecca Douglas (check out the reflection in the water!)
Cute ones I liked but did not get names or artists.
Celebrating Volunteers by Linda Benton
See the faces of the volunteers in the quilt.
Florida Burning by Pamela T. Zeck
If Jean Claude Quilted by David Strom
Wildflowers of Florida by Alice Greenspan
See all the different techniques she used – needle punch, Hardanger, and quilting!
Ghosts of Autumn in the Hammock by Gloria Craft Comstock
My Florida Oak by Deborah D’Amelio
Tranquility III by Judy Momenzadeh
Florida Swamp by Lynne Capehart
I loved the hand quilting on this with the swirl pattern.
Wakulla Mist by Bunny Hand
Split Oak at the Land Bridge Trail Head by Nancy “Kay” Smith – inspired by a picture she took.
I loved this border and check out the tiny pieces she machine appliqued on
Road 9, Crandall Pasture by Julie Mainor (My favorite!)
Mysterious, Magnificent and Majestic Manatee by Tamara Schultz
Dancers of the Deep by Marilyn Wagner
Path to the Beach by Joan New
Undersea Fantasy by Darby, Tara and Doogan Townsend
Start a Podcast
I finally finished writing out all my info on how to start your own podcast. You can find it on the page tabs at the top of the website or click here.
It is really wordy but I wanted to give you all the information. Please don’t let it scare you.
I hope some of you out there grab this info and act on it. I really feel like our quilting community needs more podcasts. It is a great way to get more people involved in our craft.
Email me with any of your questions.
Easter Eggs are Shipping
Thank you to everyone who participated in our very first craft swap. We only had a small group this time, so I thought I would post the pictures of everyone’s eggs.
I have the packages all set to go and will mail them out tomorrow morning.
Our next swap will be a tote bag swap. I will get it posted this week.
No Knitting in the Dark
The past two nights have been “Family Movie Night” at my house. My husband brought home a bunch of movies home and I felt obligated to sit with him and watch. Since I was working on my new knitting project, I couldn’t have been happier.
I have heard of stories of people knitting without looking. I always thought that one day I would get there. I pictured myselft watching TV and not even paying attention, looking down and seeing a completed sweater. I could knit while riding in the car, so I could knit anywhere. Plus, if they could do it, I could too.
My husband has a bit of OCD (just kidding, but he does get obsessed with things). One of his pet peeves is having the lights on when you don’t need them. When the movies started it was still daylight out; thanks to day light savings time. But half way through the sun set and I found myself sitting in the dark – knitting.
Now, I could have very easily gotten up and turned on the lamp. Or better yet, called one of my slaves (oops, I mean kids) to turn the light on. But heck! they could do it, so could I.
Warning – don’t do this without practice.
Tonight, the lights are on. I looked at my work and God only knows what I was thinking. It looks like I turned halfway through a row in several spots. Not that I remember doing this. So, I have spent the last 2 hours tearing back three rows of stitches. Remember, I cast on 272 stitches.
All is better now. I have learned my lesson. Although I get lots of messages of how well I knit and how amazing it is that I am tackling a sweater already or how incredible it is that I have made socks as my second project; I think I am letting this go to my head. For now, I will practice the “not-looking” thing and check my work often.
Welcome
I am Brye Lynn, host, author, and creator of Sew ~ Stitch ~ Create! I am a lifetime sewer and beginner quilter. This blog is dedicated to my journey into the crafting world as I learn and explore my favorite medium – fiber and fabric.
Where to Find Me
Call me: 352-505-BRYE (2793)
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