See Jess Slack

Slack, Jess, Slack!

I haven't forgotten about this (I promise), and I have actually been sewing my little heart out. I've made a couple bags as gifts and a very large sewing circle tote over the last couple of months. I've been slacking on my quilt-top sewing, though, which it is my goal to rectify in the coming weeks.

I have the first week of July off because the company where I work shuts down for that week every year, which means I'm going to have alot of spare time to sew. Yippee!!

Expect a much more thorough update soon (with pictures, even!)

Thanks,
Jess

...And I thought I'd never have to do math again.

I really, really respect people who create patterns. It is exhausting and mind-bending.

I've been silent for the last couple weekends because I've been working on re-creating an old pattern I found in a magazine from 1998. Back then, I guess jelly rolls and other time saving fabric cuts weren't really a big thing, because this pattern was all ready for me to cut about a thousand HSTs out from yardage.

Yeah. Right.

So, I've been working on changing the pattern to something much friendlier (jelly rolls!) and changing the color scheme from red and white to something that will fit much better in my bed room. Once I am sure I have all the kinks out of it, I'll post it here for you all to see. As of right now, I'm still crossing things out and pulling my hair out, almost simultaneously.

My geometry teacher is laughing somewhere, really, really loudly.

-J

Weekend Warrior Projects

Weekends are my favorite. Sleeping late, lounging around, and hours upon hours of craft time all to myself. It's pretty awesome. This weekend was extra lazy because the Northeast got hit with another little snowstorm, which gives me a way-too-good excuse to stay in my PJs.

My awesome view while sewing

I went to my first Boston Modern Quilt Guild meeting two weekends ago, and was completely shamed by my lack of sweet home-made tote bag. Everyone there had a great bag to carry in their show and tell wares, and I was Market Basket plastic baggin' it like some kind of hobo. I knew I had to remedy this. I went to my LQS and found some great fabric (on sale, no less!) and found a great free pattern for a tote bag. 

The pink is from the Moda Grunge line. It went so well with the floral pattern (I forgot which line it is, I'll have to check when I get home.)

I struggled a bit with the seams around the top of the bag and securing the straps, but I overcame when I used my walking foot and a metric ton of patience. (And my trusty seam-ripper. We're besties.)

It's kind of floppy, so I'm planning on wrapping a piece of cardboard to insert as the bottom of the bag to give it some substance, a great idea supplied by Brenda. All in all, it turned out pretty well, and it's plenty big enough to carry my hand project...

Cross stitching! It's so great to be able to sit on the couch and watch TV while working on something. Sometimes I don't want to be cloistered in my sewing nook far away from the action, y'know? It's coming along pretty well, but it is taking so much longer than I thought it would. More my fault for being an overly-optimistic newbie than anything else. I do like it, though!

And here are some obligatory photos of how it looked around my house yesterday afternoon/this morning due to the snow. It's so pretty, but just looking at these make me wish I was still in my PJs, stitching away...

Happy crafting!
-J

Wait, what am I doing?

This is my sewing machine. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

It's a Brother CS6000i, and it's my friend Andrea's fault that I own it at all. She convinced me to give quilting a try, and by quilting I mean sewing. And by sewing, I mean cutting fabric into little tiny pieces and sewing them back together in a manner that is appealing. Honestly, what the hell am I doing? Really, she tricked me. She just wanted someone else to sew with. Well, it worked. I'm hooked. 

She gave me a crash course in August/September last year and imparted all sorts of quilt wisdom. The quarter inch importance, what the different fabric cuts mean, how important seam pressing is and anything else we came across while making the pieces for blocks that would eventually look like this:

Have I mentioned I'm wicked proud of myself? I am. I am very, very proud of myself. I'm a huge color lover. I majored in design in college, and being able to physically play with color makes me so incredibly happy. Also, can I just say, I sewed that! I sewed that together! Holy crap! That's kind of a big deal for me, me who hasn't gotten close to being domestic with a 10 foot pole until this last year. 

While working on those blocks, I also received a gift of a Schnibbles kit from Andrea's aunt, Brenda. And, of course, in what I found out was true quilter's fashion, I started it immediately. 

 I finished it two weekends ago during the huge snowstorm that hit the North East (so glad we didn't lose power!) and now I'm working up the courage to sandwich and quilt it myself. I'm so nervous, but I keep looking at it and I know I'm going to finish it soon. 

So, this is my sew-y, quilt-y story to date. I have a quilt-y, sew-y story - which is pretty surprising in and of itself, to be honest. My name is Jess, I love color, and I'm really, really good at ripping seams. Like, professional. If there was an Olympic seam ripping team, I'd be the captain. Wheaties would sponsor me. Really, I'm that good.

Happy crafting!