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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Bloom Quilt

Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I am so excited to finally share with you my finished Bloom quilt! When Aneela asked me early this summer if I'd be interested in stitching up her Bloom pattern, I happily obliged! I have long nurtured a soft spot for dresden plates, and this quilt is full of them!

Bloom by jenib320
Bloom, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I knew I wanted to use feminine colors but didn't really want it to have a girly feel.  I think the choice of lilac and eggplant purples gave it just the edge I was looking for!

Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I made mine slightly different from the pattern, but not by much.  I choose to top stitch my dresden plate rings down rather than applique them.  I also left out the borders because I knew I'd want to hang this quilt on the wall! It squares off at about 42" washed!

Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
For the back I used fabrics from my stash.  I agonized for weeks about how to quilt this.  I had such a large value range of colors on the front, and initially I was trying to find a single thread color to work for the entire quilt.  I quickly realized that I'd be happier quilting each round and the background with different threads.

Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Still, I could not make up my mind about quilting! I thought about simple loops in each ring, or even trying out concentric circles.  Then, Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters arrived and I knew exactly what to do.  She has a quilting pattern called flower power that fit the bill to a T.  How could I resist a floral quilting design for this quilt?! The quilting isn't perfect, but I'm happy with how it turned out! You can see it best from the back:

Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Bloom Quilt by jenib320
Bloom Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I love, love, love the way this quilt turned out. I cannot wait to find a place to hang it up! :)

Happy Quilting!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Celebration Giveaway!

Giveaway! by jenib320
Giveaway!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
As promised a giveaway for you guys! Thanks for hanging in with me last week! I can't believe how quiet it got! Let's get this week started off right!

You may (or may not!) have noticed a few weeks back that my blog address has changed! That's right, I finally bought Incolororder.com! It was a long time coming, and I'm glad I finally did it! Over the next few weeks I'll be giving the blog a complete makeover, so keep your eyes peeled! Anyways, to celebrate I thought we better have a giveaway!

PS - Don't worry, any links you have to this site will be redirected! :)

Giveaway! by jenib320
Giveaway!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
First up, I have two half-yard bundles of this lovely Kona Modern Quilts fabric by Cynthia Frenette!

Giveaway! by jenib320
Giveaway!, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Next, I have two Kona color cards for you! One is from last year and one is new, hope you don't mind!

Color cards are so handy to have around, make sure and take advantage of Fat Quarter Shop's sale on all color cards through tomorrow (7/31)!

So, we'll have two winners! Each will receive a half-yard bundle and color card! To enter just leave a comment! All entries are welcome, giveaway will run from now until Thursday, August 2nd at 5pm CST.

Good luck!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Another Destash Sale!

Destash by jenib320
Destash, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
You know how purging can sometimes be addicting?  Well, I've caught the bug, and I've added tons more goodies to my destash shop, jenidestash.etsy.com! Use coupon code JENIDESTASH for 10% off! (Please enter the code above the item total where it says "apply shop coupon code", in your cart.)

Edit: Umm, WOW! Everything is gone! Thanks so much for your support everyone!

I'll be back tomorrow with a fun giveaway for you! :)

Saturday, July 28, 2012

This Week

Scrappy Mermaid Quilt Top by jenib320
Scrappy Mermaid Quilt Top, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Hi! I'm still here! I have been trying to blog for four days now, and every day, something came up! Things are a bit busy at the moment, I can't wait to share some exciting stuff with you soon! ;)

I took a break this week to work on a work-in-progress.  I stitched up this scrappy patchwork section with leftovers from my Mendocino dreams quilt earlier in the year and I finally turned it into a proper quilt top.  I ended up going with a grape shot cotton to give it a little extra sparkle.  It's on it's way out west for a royal quilting treatment from Christina!

Laminated Cotton Tote by jenib320
Laminated Cotton Tote, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I have been following Sanna Annukka's work ever since she did the artwork for Keane's second album, Under the Iron Sea.  Her designs are so crisp and clean but always have a touch of whimsy.  I couldn't resist this laminated cotton print when I spotted it at a Scandinavian gift shop, The Century House, here in Madison.  I could only afford a half-yard, so I made the most of it and stitched up a giant tote bag.  It's huge, and came together really quickly.  Just need to get some plastic canvas to stabilize the bottom and it's good to go!

Indie by Pat Bravo by jenib320
Indie by Pat Bravo, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
A bit of happy fabric mail arrived this week in the form of Pat Bravo's newest collection, Indie for Art Gallery Fabrics.  The colors are so vibrant and perfect for Fall, I can't wait to find time to sew with them! I'm thinking they definitely need to become a quilt! Indie will be hitting stores very soon!

Garden Bounty by jenib320
Garden Bounty, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
My garden took a pretty hard hit from the drought (despite my constant watering!), but I still managed to get a decent harvest this week! The currant tomatoes are exploding, a mere fraction of them were ripe, I'm going to have to figure out how best to use them!

Sweet Treats from Anna by jenib320
Sweet Treats from Anna, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
The sweetest mailed ever arrived from Anna this week! Look at all this bunny goodness! She sure knows me, doesn't she?! Thanks so much Anna, your package really made my week!  George was very impressed by the "girl bunny" and check out the tape she sent, it even has black bunnies on it!!

White on White Prints by jenib320
White on White Prints, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I wanted to follow up about two things, first a bit about last week's fabric dyeing post! I realized after the fact that I hadn't really included a lot of information for you! Above you can see the types of prints that I'm dyeing.  They are a white pattern printed on a white background.  When it's dyed, the white background takes the dye color, but the white printed pattern stays white (or light!).  I use the methods from Malka Dubrawsky's Color Your Cloth. It's a great resource if you're interested in trying out fabric dyeing! I hope that clears a few things up! :)

Next, I have a winner for the Annex Sewing Lounge Giveaway! Random.org choose #192, Tamie! Thanks to all who entered! For everyone who asked about the Jeans needles, I have a bit more of an explanation from Mary:

When choosing my favorite sewing machine needle for sewing and quilting with vintage sheets, my favorite kind is the size 12 Jeans or Denim needle.   These needles work so well because of the way fabric is made.  Quilt fabric is generally about 75 threads per inch, so a universal sewing machine needle or a sharp works just fine.  However, vintage sheets are generally woven with a much denser thread count of up to 200 threads per inch, so they require a stronger needle, especially when joining all those points and corners.  Jeans needles are designed to be used with densely woven fabric, such as denim.   They have an extra long point and the shaft is stronger.  This way the denser fabric can be more easily pierced, and the shaft has the strength to withstand the extra pressure of piercing multiple layers.   Batik fabric is also more densely woven by necessity due to the process used to produce it.   I like to use size 12 Jeans needles because they are very pointy and strong but are still fine enough not to leave those big holes that size 16 or 18 Jeans needles leave.


George by jenib320
George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Oh, George!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Clean apartment
Sound of: Harry Potter 5 audiobook
Taste of: Menchies froyo
Sight of: Sunshine
Feel of: Relaxing on the couch

Good Things about Today:
- Good class this morning at The Sewcial Lounge!
- MENCHIES! :)
- Going to a Laotian restaurant tonight!
- I sewed today!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Favorites

Favorites by jenib320
Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
1. herringbone - finished, 2. Butterfly Quilt, 3. WholeDresCircle, 4. The Birds and The Bees, 5. Untitled, 6. Sarah Jane Children at Play - Twin for Avery's bed, 7. Close up of Star Gazer, 8. random geese, 9. !!!!

Every Friday I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it! 

Happy Weekend! :)

Monday, July 23, 2012

Giveaway from The Annex Sewing Lounge


Happy Monday everyone! Today I have a fun giveaway for you from Mary at The Annex Sewing Lounge! It's a sweet shop filled with vintage fabrics and notions!  You'll also find quilt kits, handmade bias tape, and pre-cuts made from vintage linens! There is a cute selection of patterns as well! There's lots of other treasures hidden too!  For more about Mary, see her about page!

She has a great bundle of goodies for one lucky reader!

1 Charm Pack

1 Design Roll

3 yards 1 1/2" twill tape

1 pack of Jeans needles size 12
(her favorite needles for stitching with vintage sheets!)

To enter, just leave a comment! For a second entry, head on over to The Annex Sewing Lounge and let me know your favorite item in another comment! Giveaway ends Thursday, July 26th at 5pm CST.  All entries welcome! Winner will be chosen with random.org.

Good Luck!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

This Weekend

Weekend Fabric Dyeing by jenib320
Weekend Fabric Dyeing, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Hope you have all had an enjoyable weekend! I was very happy to spend it in Upper Michigan at Holly's with Faith and Lee.  It was a great time filled with great conversation, yummy food, and even a bit of sewing! Holly was kind enough to have us in her home, which is beautiful! You can see lots of photos of it here!

Back when we started planning this weekend, Holly mentioned wanting to try fabric dyeing! I've done it a number of times now, so was happy to share my knowledge and supplies for a dye party yesterday! We ended up going crazy and dyeing up EIGHT yards of fabric between the two of us! Each step took a while, but it was great doing such a large batch all at once! We both ended up with some awesome results, you can see both our stacks together here. This time I dyed Seed Catalog from Annie's Farm Stand, and two prints from Ramblings by P&B Textiles!

Hand-dyed Fabric Stash by jenib320
Hand-dyed Fabric Stash, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Thought it was time to take a new photo of my hand-dyed fabrics all together! I definitely need to do some more yellows, greens and red for sure!

For more dyeing adventures, see here.

The Birds and The Bees by jenib320
The Birds and The Bees, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I could not resist a stack of Tula Pink's new line, The Birds and The Bees.  The colors are so intense, and the designs are just what you'd expect from Tula, fabulous! I plan on just staring at this stack for a while, it's so yummy!

You can find The Birds and The Bees at The Intrepid Thread, Fat Quarter Shop, Pink Castle Fabrics, Bloomerie Fabrics, Westwood Acres, Sew Fresh Fabrics and Sprightly Fabrics.

On the way up to Michigan, how could I resist stopping at a quilt shop? I was good an only stopped at one, Keep Me in Stitches in Appleton, WI.  It's owned by Amy (The Fabricologist)'s Mom! I found some gems and it was nice to get out of the car for a bit! It was a very friendly shop!

Icecream by jenib320
Icecream, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Weekend getaways require ice cream. This mint mac fudge did not disappoint!

George by jenib320
George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
He kills me!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Clean laundry
Sound of: Harry Potter 5 audiobook
Taste of: Diet Coke
Sight of: Michael & George!
Feel of: Home

Good Things about Today:
- Safe drive home!
- Good weather!
- Happy mail waiting for me!
- Getting a few things done tonight!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Favorites

Favorites by jenib320
Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
1. Falling Stars Baby Quilt, 2. corners, 3. Butterfly Strands, 4. Reindeer, 5. IMG_2452, 6. the best ever gift, 7. Simple Patchwork Quilt Top, 8. Scrap Quilt, 9. AMH voile finished!

Every Friday I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it! 

Happy Weekend! :)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Catch-up!

Another Wiksten Top by jenib320
Another Wiksten Top, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
This week is flying by! Tomorrow I'm headed out for a weekend away to hang out at Holly's with Faith and Lee! It's so fun getting to spend time with other stitchers! Tonight I have quite a few finishes to share with you!

I've had this top half-done for a while, but finally finished it up today! It's another Wiksten tank with sleeves added to it.  Regular tanks don't get a ton of wear, but I've been loving these little capped sleeve versions.  This one is made out of the brand new Art Gallery Fabric's Voile! If you've ever felt their fabrics, you can imagine how nice their voile feels. Like butter!

Tank pattern by Wiksten can be found here, Art Gallery Voile can be found here.

Paloma Dress by jenib320
Paloma Dress, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
One more garment crossed off the list this week! The Paloma dress by Sew Liberated! I picked up this lightweight jersey knit from Joanns a few weeks back in delicious eggplant for it (so typical!).  It came together pretty easy, they have some great tips for sewing with knits on their website, here.  I sewed it up on my regular machine since I don't have a serger.  I don't wear a lot of dresses, so this will be used mainly as a beach cover up!

Paloma dress pattern by Sew Liberated can be found here, jersey knit fabric can be found at Joanns.

Summer Patchwork Pillow by jenib320
Summer Patchwork Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I'm working through my list of samples I need to sew for my Sewing Summit class this Fall, and this pillow was one of them.  It's a simple patchwork style pillow, using fabrics from eight different Art Gallery collections: Summerlove, Rhapsodia, Bazaar Style, Bespoken, Sugar (back!), and Pure, Oval, and Nature Elements.  It finishes at 15" square!

You can find all but one of these fabrics here.

Striped Drawstring Bag by jenib320
Striped Drawstring Bag, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
It was about time I played around with pieced drawstring bags, don't you think? I made this striped one over the weekend! It's somewhere between the everything and project size.  Was supposed to be project size, but I cut my strips the wrong size (everyone makes mistakes!) and didn't want them to go to waste! I used some of my favorite eggplant + mustard prints and some fun ruler twill tape to finish it off!

Drawstring bag tutorial can be found here, pattern can be found here, twill tape can be found here.

Some very fun fabric mail arrived this week! I'm excited to be working with Katherine Codega's fabrics for a few projects.  Her prints are so fun, I'm of course in love with the bunny prints! I'm thinking some zipper pouches or travel sewing kit! What do you think, what would you stitch up from these?

You can find these prints and many more here.

George by jenib320
George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
And George! He got a new basket this week.  He loves, loves these baskets woven from timothy hay! He can chew it, sleep in it, and eat it! Win, win, win!

I'm excited and honored to welcome my newest sponsor, Pat Bravo, fabric and sewing pattern designer! Check out her fun new thread collections with Aurifil, they look like candy!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Fresh air after a rain
Sound of: Keane
Taste of: Chocolate
Sight of: Rain, finally!
Feel of: Warm laundry

Good Things about Today:
- Productive day!
- Hanging out with George bun
- Michael is home early!
- Yummy Laotian leftovers for dinner

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Jolly Jabber Giveaway + Meylah Interview

Flagged Quilt by jenib320
Flagged Quilt, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
As promised, a giveaway for you today! Head on over to Fat Quarter Shop's blog, Jolly Jabber, for a chance to win my Blogger's Choice Bundle and hear me chat about it! :)

Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern by jenib320
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
You can also find me on the Meylah blog today, talking a bit about selling digital patterns! Meylah.com is the store platform I use for my two sewing patterns, the Lined Drawstring Bag and Vintage Nine-Patch Quilt!

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Destash and Vintage Sheet Sale!

Destash by jenib320
Destash, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Hope everyone is having a good start to the week! Things are just getting started over here, and I've got two sales for you! I'm clearing out some of my fabric and pattern stash over on my destash shop, jenidestash.etsy.com! Use coupon code JENIDESTASH for 10% off! (Please enter the code above the item total where it says "apply shop coupon code", in your cart.)

Vintage Sheet Scraps by jenib320
Vintage Sheet Scraps, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Call me crazy, but I'm also having a sale in the vintage sheet shop too! I'm absolutely swimming in sheet scraps! You'll find flat rate envelopes and flat rate boxes full with scraps! 5 fat quarter and 10 fat quarter grab bags are on sale too!

Thanks for helping me clear some space! I'll have a giveaway for you tomorrow! :)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

This Week

Pebbles by jenib320
Pebbles, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
Hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend! I'm trying to make myself relax a bit, I'm not very good at that! It's supposed to be in the very high 90s again next week, so I'll probably try to run a few errands tomorrow so I can stay out of the sun during the week!

Things are crazy busy at the moment, but I somehow don't have much to show for it! Lots of planning and such, things that need to get done.  I made a big list of my current works-in-progress and am trying to tackle a few of these! The above quilt is one of those projects.  I'm doing free motion pebble quilting so it will take me a while to finish!

Trick of the Light HST Pouch by jenib320
Trick of the Light HST Pouch, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I did finish one project this week! I'm dubbing these Trick of the Light half-square triangles! I made a similar pouch last year, but gave it to Amanda (she was in love with it, how could I deny her!).  This time instead of using the same color fabric in different values, this time I used two shades of the same print.  I was really happy that I actually had enough prints to do this.  I love how it looks like it's achieved with dyeing/bleaching, but it's not!

Art Gallery Color Cards by jenib320
Art Gallery Color Cards, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
It's no secret that I'm a total fabric nerd, so when I realized that Fat Quarter Shop had Art Gallery Fabrics color cards, I wasted no time in ordering them.  It's so nice having color cards around for reference and color matching.  There are cards for the Pure (solid), Nature, and Oval Elements.  Don't they look like candy? Yum!

Fat Quarter Shop has all their color cards on sale this month!

New Fabrics by jenib320
New Fabrics, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
You can usually tell how busy/stressed I am by the amount of fabric that's coming in the door.  I must have thought I was low on orange, which I probably am! I can never seem to keep enough of it on hand.  This stack came from Joanns, Form and Fabric, and one of my local shops, Mill House Quilts

White-on-white Fabrics by jenib320
White-on-white Fabrics, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
I was really happy to see that Mill House got a few new white-on-white prints too! I love these for over-dyeing! Hoping to dye again very soon!

For past adventures in fabric dyeing, see here.

Okay, one more fabric photo! So, super crazy, but Heather Ross has a mini collection at Hancock Fabrics! It's called Crafty Chloe, and is a companion to the children's book Crafty Chloe, which was illustrated by Heather Ross.  The basecloth isn't great, but they're quite cute, and for $6/yd, I'm sold! I especially like the gray clothespin print!

You can find them online, on the Hancock's website here.

George by jenib320
George, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
George! Flopped!

Today I love the..
Smell of: Happy mail
Sound of: Keane
Taste of: Diet Coke
Sight of: George
Feel of: Relaxing after a long week

Good Things about Today:
- Good class today!
- Quiet afternoon
- Fabric shopping + thrifting
- Noodle & Co for dinner!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Favorites

Favorites by jenib320
Favorites, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.
1. Popsicles Pattern!, 2. My precious {WIP}, 3. Cathedral Windows Pillowcase top, 4. Far Far Away Improv Baby Quilt!, 5. PTS Done !, 6. Rainbow Derecho Quilt in Progress, 7. Flip-Pal Sleeve - Hexagon Embellishment, 8. Pineapple Star, 9. Bella Baby Quilt

Every Friday I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it! 

Happy Weekend! :)