Tag Team Quilt

I'M FINISHED!!! One year later, and I finally finished this quilt for Ulrike!!! And I hope she doesn't mind, but I went ahead and named it the Tag Team quilt since she made the top, and then "tagged" me to go in and finish the rest :)

For those of you not familiar with the story behind this quilt, about this time last year my friend Ulrike contacted me about finishing a baby quilt for her. It was for a mutual friend who lives in the States, but it would cost a royal fortune for her to ship a finished baby quilt from Germany to the U.S., so she mailed me just the top, and I created the backing and put it together for her :)

The top was so fabulous that it took me MONTHS to decide on how I wanted to style the back, because I really wanted it to complement the front (and do her gorgeous work justice!). By the time I got the back done, the holiday season was upon me, and I was in full-on handmade Christmas present mode from then until the end of the year. I emailed Ulrike at the first of January to let her know finishing this quilt was priority #1, but a week later all my neck craziness started, so that pushed this quilt back another two months.
 

But I'm happy to say I finally finished binding it this weekend, and this beautiful quilt will be on it's way to a new mom tomorrow morning :) The thought of a chubby, happy baby rolling around on this quilt makes me incredibly happy. I can just picture him staring at all the bright colors and shapes, and finding little pieces in the quilt that will be his secret "favorites" as he grows up - Ulrike did such a fabulous job :)



I free motion quilted this using a cyan Sulky thread. I normally use Gutterman, but Sulky thread quilts like a dream when you're doing FMQ!

And below you can see my favorite bit of the entire quilt! I love that wonky little Owl & the Pussycat block...so sweet and whimsical :)

And here ladies and gentleman, is the back I made for the quilt! Again, the thought of pudgy little baby legs rolling around and pointing at the numbers and letters makes me wanna squeal! (I have a serious case of baby fever right now, in case you hadn't noticed, lol!)
 

I paper pieced the numbers & letters using templates from Kumiko Fujita's 318 Patchwork book, and I meticulously fussy cut those rainbow strips from an Ann Kelle stripe print. Her fabric is so perfect for kids projects and I have an obscene amount of it hoarded for future babies (not to mention serious yardage of her red & black Scottie print for Sir Whiskers projects!)

 For the binding I went with the new gray dot print from Denyse Schmidt's Aunt Edna line for Joann's. LOVE how it turned out - I seriously couldn't be happier that everything finally fell into place with this quilt! I think this is the first time I've ever made a quilt, and in the end felt like there's nothing I would go back and change. And it's the best feeling ever - I feel so creatively satisfied when I look at these pictures :)

And since the letters are a little hard to see from the shots above, here's a closeup of all the paper pieced text. Mmmmm....scrappy goodness!!!

Hope you all had a lovely Easter! I had a beautiful day full of worship, family, photographing quilts in the beautiful sunshine, peanut butter cookies, napping on the sofa with Ray and Sir Whiskers, and Indiana Jones/Jurassic Park movie marathons...all in all, the perfect Sunday :)

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The Cripple Surprise Group

I love my online quilty friends. They are about the kindest, funniest, and most fantastic group of gals I know.

Last week was about the worst week I've ever had in my adult life. Aside from the neck issues & sewing hiatus, there's just been a whole host of utter crap going on in my life (don't worry - me and the hubs are cool...we're an unstoppable team that competes against other teams...sorry, totally stole that line from an episode of The Office), and last week was the apex of it all. So after all was said and done, I put on my pj's Friday night, settled in on the sofa, and prepared to spend my 4-day Mardi Gras weekend wallowing in a fresh batch of eBooks and self-pity (Jacey was sweet enough to have sent me a hilarious Salt & Pepper themed Amazon giftcard). But come Saturday morning, there was a knock at my door and my mailman handed me what would turn out to be a complete ray of sunshine. My good friend (and ringleader) Kelly had secretly organized a "Cripple Surprise Group" for me on Flickr, and a big group of my crafty friends banded together to send a giant box of happiness.

I can't tell you how completely happy it makes me to have such an amazing group of friends in my life, and I feel blessed to know every single one of them. It gives me such a wonderful feeling of contentment to have caring friends like Angela, Jacey, Michelle, Kelly, Cherie, Elena and Kristie in my life. I'd had such a rotten week, and was so blown away by my coordinated box of crafty fun that I honestly burst into tears while I was opening it. Ray thought I was a complete lunatic because he walked in the living room and found me sitting on the sofa covered in tissue paper and crafts, crying my eyes out, and then I looked up at him and said in my snotty, puffy-faced cry voice (while gripping my new goods in my hands and gesturing wildly) "they made a cripple package Ray! my friends sent me a cripple package! they all wrote me notes and sewed things! look it's a handicapped quilter!"...therein commencing a new batch of crying...and he had that terrified husband look like oh god...i'm cornered and this could go either way....so then after a few seconds he cautiously asked me "sooooo....is that a good or a bad thing???" LOL.  I'm sure it wasn't a pretty picture to behold, because I'm a hideously ugly crier...my face gets all red and blotchy and I look like Mad Madam Mim in Sword in the Stone after she catches germy Merlin. 

My package contained all manner of beautiful things, and they even coordinated the colors to match my newest obsession - pink & navy. You ladies didn't miss a trick! :)

Let's take a tour of my new get-well goodies, shall we?

First there's a 20" Granny Square Pillow from Elena (which has already been claimed by Sir Whiskers - see above), and she was even sweet enough to include some money and a coupon to Joann's in my card so I could buy a pillow form. I also found a super cute sewing necklace from Forever 21 tucked in her package, which I proudly wore to our MQG meeting today :) Stylin' and profilin'...

Angela made me this adorable Scottie pincushion/voodoo doll. I'm leaning more toward voodoo doll, because Whiskers managed to snatch it out of the box and attempt to eat it within the hour *sigh*

Jacey - my movie-quoting partner in crime - made me about the darned cutest wall quilt on the planet. Her quilting is fabulous and gives it really a cool texture - wish you could feel it for yourselves because words don't do it justice :)

And Kelly - ohhhhh Kelly - she made me a coaster that nearly made me wet myself. I texted a picture of it to most of my family, and then took it in to work and showed nearly everyone in my office, lol!

And here's a picture of the rest of my haul. Jacey sent the pink & navy scraps, Kelly the nail polish, and Cherie and Michelle coordinated on embroidery items! Cherie got me a book that I absolutely love! I'd never seen it before, but it's filled with the sweetest patterns for all manner of critters, holidays, and day-to-day items. Michelle rounded out the fun by sending me tons of new needles and thread, which I desperately needed because my local store has a crappy selection of colors, plus all my needles are older than dirt and getting blunt.

And what are those other mystery items, you ask? Well my crazy other half in Canada, Kristie, put together a hilarious gag box filled with candy and irreverent humor. That journal is a scream (I censored it lest innocent eyes be offended), but I doubt Ray will let me out in public with it, because knowing me I'll make some kind of accidental scene by dropping it in church right in front of our pastor or some sweet white-haired grandma. But jealous journals aside, wanna hear something else that's hilarious? After I opened up that journal, moose pencil, and umbrella hat (which, according to Kristie, is to help shade my face from the scorching New Orleans sun), I found the pouch pictured below. After reading the note, feeling the shape of the contents, and taking into account the nature of the package (and Kristie)...hand to God...I thought she'd stuffed a bunch of condoms in there. I laughed for a good 2-3 minutes before I was even able to open the darn thing. 

...only to shake out the contents and realize I was the pervy one who thought a bunch of innocent square needle holders were condoms. My bad...guess I've been living in New Orleans for too long, lol ;)

I heart you my dear, dear friends. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and friendship :) And a big friendly squeeze as well to all my lovely readers - thanks for caring, and for checking in on me each week...it means a lot and makes the crappy days easier to bear whenever they come along :)

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Loopholes

Since I can't sew, I've been trying to find other ways to unleash my crafty energy. Loopholes, if you will, to Ray and the medical community's strict "no sewing" policy.

 My solution? Ice cream dish towels.

My brother-in-law is getting married next month, and their wedding shower was yesterday. They've both been out of college and living on their for a few years, so they already have most of the household necessities. And since my future sister-in-law loves ice cream more than any human being I've ever met, I decided to give them a fun "date night" present instead. It included all the tasty fixin's you'd need for a proper ice cream soiree. Sprinkles, hot fudge, caramel, brownies, and I even filled some small glass storage cups with their favorite candies - chocolate covered peanuts, mini Reese's, mini M&M's, and mini Oreos.

And to add a little extra cuteness, I picked up a few kitchen towels (you can never have too many of those) and parfait glasses at Target, and folded them inside to mimic ice cream.

 Yum O!

To round things out, I bought them a gift card to the grocery store down the street (so they can purchase lots of ice cream when the time comes), and a gift card to Best Buy so they can pick up a movie to watch while they munch on their favorite frozen treats. 

Enjoy you crazy kids!  (I know it will probably be eaten within the next few days, rather than after your actual wedding....and that's okay ;) )

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Un-Adulterated Pity Party

Warning: be prepared for no small amount of whining. It's 3:00 in the morning, and I'm up on the sofa ready to start crying like a small disturbed child...again (the first breakdown was at 10pm). I have a pinched nerve in my neck/back again (this happened to me previously in the fall), except that it's waaaay worse this time. I'm no pansy, but this is seriously the most pain I've ever been in. No position is comfortable, my left arm is constantly half-numb (I'm typing with one hand right now), and even worse, I don't think I'll be able to get in to see a doctor any time soon, so I'm probably going to have to ride it out with no pain meds or muscle relaxers because I refuse to go to the Emergency Room and fork over a $200 copay. We recently switched over to Ray's health insurance from mine, and since the gym he works for is owned by a hospital, we have to change primary physicians to one within the hospital network because they only pay for in-network benefits. So yeah, wish me luck trying to get an appointment as a new patient, on the very day I'm calling. Before the weekend is over, I may convince Ray to club me over the head like a caveman so I can be unconscious until this is all over, lol!

To add insult to injury, I had the flu earlier this week, so the only bright spots of my week have been some seriously awesome packages I've received from friends. Kristie sent me a lovely winter package full of my favorite things - cookies, scottie dogs, and witty crafts :)

And there's no real reason for the following picture, but I'm in a lot of pain and wanted to look at something cute. Whiskers has taken to perching on top of the sofa cushions like a cat...because apparently it's not good enough to sit on a pile of quilts on the sofa cushions like a normal person. Life is hard. And yes, that is a giant pile of clothes he's laying on. Ray likes to use the corner of our sectional as a laundry basket. And in case you were wondering, those are Iron Man pajama pants you see. After 6 years, I've learned that married life is about picking your battles, and this is one I gave up a long time ago in favor of more important things, lol ;) Besides, it was 2 against one because Whiskers voted for the clothes to stay since he likes using them as a pillow.

And now back to awesome packages....

Got these in the mail from my friend Brenda at Pink Castle Fabrics today...yesterday? Yeah, yesterday. It's 3 am.

Yum! I could eat these Ruby Sundae Stripes with a spoon!

And these are a few little ditties that tripped and fell into my Etsy shopping basket like that cruise ship captain...

Looking at these little trims makes me so happy *sigh*

And that's not all! Here in the Telschow family, we don't mess around when it comes to interfacing. I always wait to buy it until Joann puts it on sale for 50% off, because then I can get an additional 10% off with my VIP Card. I scored an entire 20 yd bolt of my favorite interfacing for $29 (including tax)...which breaks down to $1.45/yard.

So wish me luck on the shoulder this weekend (and feel free to mail me any controlled substances you have lying around, lol!) In a moment of pure weakness, I almost took some pain pills I found in the medicine cabinet leftover from Ray's wisdom tooth extraction back in 2008!!! My better judgement kicked in before I did anything rash though...

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Playing Catch-Up

Due to the massive number of Christmas presents I had to sew, I kind of unofficially took a break from blogging back in December, so there are a ton of things I never posted on here.

For starters, I received an adorable mug rug and an awesome bundle of scraps from Ulrike! She has the best fabric, and I love the charming little details she puts into everything she makes. I won a pillow in one of her blog giveaways a few years ago, and it's one of my favorite holiday items (the hubby loves it too).

And my favorite part? The hilariously accurate portrayal of me reaching for cookies, and Whiskers making off with a stocking. Both of those things happened numerous times over the holidays ;)

I honestly made out like a bandit this year, because my friend Kristy made me a lovely holiday item as well! She wanted to get her husband a special Kindle for Christmas that was only available in the U.S., so she had her purchase mailed to me and I forwarded it to Aussieland. As a thank you gift, she sent me this pillowcase and some chocolate treats. I was dumbfounded when I opened it because of all the intricate piecing and quilting - it must have taken her forever to do all that circular quilting!

And she even included one of my favorite holiday prints - the snowflake print from Happy Zombie's Holiday Happy line! I've been debating buying those prints for a while, but hadn't taken the plunge because I need more Christmas fabric like a hole in the head. But after seeing how cute they were sewn up in a project, I found some on clearance (for $5/yard) and bought 1/2 yards of the snowflake and triangle santa prints. Yay!

Since her package didn't arrive until after Christmas, I'm thinking about sneaking it onto the sofa because it's too lovely to put in storage for a whole year. I think I can get away with people not realizing it's a Christmas pillow, so long as they don't turn it over and expose the trees on the back!

Oh. And I have one more thing to show you. It's more of a confession, really. I went on a bit of a bender during the pre/post holiday sales...

But I'd like to officially blame Angela for the Safety Pin prints, because she posted about a shop that had them on clearance for $3.99/yard. I can't be held responsible for my decisions when informed about fabric that cheap.

My other splurge was in my friend Ayumi's shop. I bought those adorable laundry and baking fat quarters on the left, and because she's a sweetheart, she added all those cute scraps you see on the right! She is so, so nice and I love having email chats with her :) Isn't it wonderful when you get the chance to "meet" one of your crafting heros, and they're even nicer than you imagined?

That being said, you guys probably know what's coming next. The great post-Christmas fabric purge of 2012. I just put up a bunch of new listings in my Etsy shop including some cheap fat quarter bundles, an It's a Hoot Layer cake, and various cuts of fabric. I also put together about 5 scrap bundles because my bins are overflowing from all my recent sewing. They're organized by color, and what you see is what you get - I'm pretty generous with my scrap packs, and everything shown in the photo will be included in the bundle.

As always, you can use the code PLAIDSCOTTIE10 for 10% off anything in my shop :)

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Martini Block Pattern

I designed this block specifically for the back of Amanda's Swanky Squares quilt (because what's a Mad Men themed quilt without a martini?), but I decided to go ahead and make a test block for another project I'm working on right now. The recipient of this mystery gift will probably take one look at this and know it's for her - but maybe not - so I'm still gonna attempt to keep it a secret for now :)

The finished block is 8.5" x 12.5", and I put together a little paper piecing template for you guys! There are three sections in the template (A, B & C) that you'll need to cut out. When piecing & cutting, make sure you leave room for 0.25" seam allowances on each side because the paper templates don't include seam allowances. Also, in addition to the three sections in the pdf, you'll need to cut two 3.5" x 8.5" pieces to sew to the top and bottom of the block. If you're new to paper piecing and need more detailed instructions, Christina at The Sometime's Crafter has a great tutorial with detailed photos.

And if you wanna make it extra fancy, you can quickly free motion applique a little olive & toothpick in the center with some fusible web!

Martini Block

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Swanky Squares Quilt

This block is one of the many new projects currently hanging out on my design wall.

This particular quilt has been a long time in the making. Remember when I posted this bundle last June? Well it's taken me 6 months to actually get started on it because of time, and also because I was having difficulty finalizing the pattern. I knew what I wanted to do...I just didn't know how I wanted to do it!

It all started when I decided to make my friend Amanda a quilt for her wedding gift, and she told me she would like a Mad Men inspired one (to go with the styling of their ubercool city loft). A few weeks after our email exchange, I was surfing through Shutterstock at work looking for images for a flyer, when I stumbled across this image. After that, I became obsessed with finding a way to not only easily piece a square with rounded corners, but with one (or more) squares nested within it.

Now that all my Christmas sewing is out of the way (if I have to sew another bag or pouch I will shoot myself!), it's time to get back to my quilting roots. I already have 3 quilts in the works right now, but this project is definitely my top priority since I'm 6 months behind....*sheepish grin*

I decided the design would look a lot cooler and bolder done in solids, so I edited my original stack down to the following, and I'll be using an additional charcoal gray solid for some background sections, plus (maybe?) this Lotta Jansdotter print for the backing...but I'm not 100% committed to it yet. I wanna wait and finish the top before I make a final decision. More to come...

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Strawberry Pocket Clutch

It stinks because I really wanna tell you more about this pouch - like who I made it for and the thought process behind it - but I can't because I'm afraid they'll read this!

So all I can tell you is that it's a Christmas present for someone close to me, and it's not Ray (although he did think it was "cute").

I used Keyka Lou's Pocket Clutch pattern (which was incredibly easy, by the way). The most time-consuming part was cutting out the fabric, because it literally took me about 20 minutes to sew this puppy. And I liked how it turned out so much I made a duplicate for my shop! I'm slowly but surely managing to build up my inventory - a big thanks to those of you that commented / emailed me with tips the other day :)

And in case you're wondering where I got the fabric, the Navy Dot was from Joann's Premium Quilting Cottons section, and the adorable Strawberry print is from Hancock Fabrics (I don't know if they still carry it though, because I picked it up pre-incident and haven't been back since then, lol!) I know a lot of people rag on Hancock's and Joann's...yes, some of their fabric is really cheap, scratchy and/or thin, and 99% of their employees are oblivious to anything sewing related...but I actually find a lot of cute fabric there. You just have to be willing to dig a little bit! Because let's face it, they do have some nice stuff that most people would buy if they saw it sitting in their LQS - but since it's Joann's, they turn up their nose. I put on no such airs because hey, let's be honest, I come from a small town in Eastern Kentucky, plus momma didn't raise no snob. She can bargain hunt with the best of them :)

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Sweet Caroline Quilt

Remember the last-minute present I was working on last week? Weeeelllll the thing is, I bit off a little more than I could chew when choosing the pattern (the Stamps version of Elizabeth Hartman's More Simple Modern Baby Quilts), so I didn't finish it until Saturday morning.

I finished basting it late Thursday night, and was fully prepared to pull an all-nighter in order to finish in time for the baby shower on Friday. But the hubby intervened and told me I was being a mad woman...and I chose to listen to the voice of reason for a change. My hubby takes such good care of me :)

I did, however, stick the basted quilt in a baby-themed gift bag and bring it to the shower. And before she "unwrapped it", I stood up and yelled across the room "it's not finished! I just didn't want you to think I didn't get you anything!" And when we were all standing around looking at it at the end of the shower, one of my coworkers said "this is an interesting way to finish it *makes face*...what's this weird flannel stuff sticking out of the ends?" Apparently I'll have to scream a little louder next time (which shouldn't be a problem, because I'm pretty much a megaphone with legs).

The binding is Nicey Jane Welcome Road in Pink, and the backing is from Denyse Schmidt's newest collection for Joann's. I'm totally in love with the back of this quilt! I'm not usually a fan of pastels, but this Sugar Creek print is pretty freaking fantastic...I had my friend Kelly run to her local Joann's and pick up 5 more yards for me because it's the perfect baby quilt fabric. I'm kind of regretting not getting the whole bolt.

Aren't the colors delicious? I named this quilt Sweet Caroline because I kept singing that song while I was making it....the colors make me think of candy and sunshine and fluffy bunnies munchin' on clovers :)

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