3.30.2013

sample making for penguin and fish


This past month, I stitched up a few samples for Alyssa, the fabric and embroidery pattern designer behind Penguin and Fish.


Alyssa sent me five animals to embroider: a giraffe, an elephant, a lion, an owl, and a hedgehog. I was able to stitch up each of the patterns in one sitting, and I loved the results!


The designs were adorable, and I loved the small details, like the satin-stitched giraffe spots and one-stitch lion's mane.  I'm excited to see what Alyssa does with all of the samples!

3.14.2013

spoonflower staff challenge: rocket ship quilt


For this year's staff challenge at Spoonflower, we were tasked with making quilts (here's last year's project). Inspired by the impending arriving of my half-Japanese twin nephews, my group and I decided to make a bilingual baby quilt. My teammate Jaysen designed the fabric, and I got to work on creating the quilt.



I used Elizabeth Hartman's Refrigerator Magnet Quilt Blocks pattern for the English characters. After mastering the art of piecing with freezer paper (my first time trying it!), I used my new-found knowledge to create templates for the rocket ship kanji. Many, many pieces and hours (and a few episodes of Alias) later, I had pieced kanji.


To keep things simple, I did organic straight line quilting across the quilt.


It was fun learning a new skill, and I have lots of ideas about how to use letters in upcoming quilt projects. You can learn a bit more about our project in this blog post my teammate Sarah wrote. 


Voting for the staff challenge goes through next Wednesday night. You can see all of the staff quilts here and vote for all of your favorites!

3.13.2013

baby shower


This past weekend, I orchestrated a surprise baby shower for my sister-in-law, who is expecting twin boys. Since she and my brother live in Japan, we decided to do the shower via Skype, so that family members could call in from around the country. I sent gifts ahead of time, including a few handmade ones.


Using Prudent Baby's top-knot hat tutorial, I made two little hats out of organic cotton interlock knit printed with two adorable Heather Ross designs (Race Track and Buses).


I also made a fabric banner, using a design I created and uploaded to Spoonflower (you can find the design for sale here). I backed each letter in green and white gingham, and made a light blue binding.


I'm happy to report that the shower was a success thanks to my brother's help, and my sister-in-law was completely surprised. Now I just can't wait to meet my nephews!

3.11.2013

quilt label tutorial for spoonflower


Head on over to the Spoonflower blog today to check out the tutorial I put together on how to make a simple quilt label in Photoshop!


3.10.2013

do. Good Stitches: February Blocks

My February blocks for our circle of do. Good Stitches. Lynn will be turning these Road to Tennessee blocks into a quilt for Project Linus.