Pillows,pillows, who's got the pillows?

I have the pillows!  Using this post on Sew Mama Sew, I created covers for a couple pillow forms I had.

If you want a quick uplift to your couch pillows, these covers are the way to go. You can use any fabrics, designs, etc. Just follow the basic measurements and basic rules and go for it!  

First, I chose a focus fabric and then I added borders.  Very simple.

Next I quilted the pillow front and then applied the backing.  Oh, I love this simple, simple technique.

Last note, I've been saving these babies for a friend of mine. I don't think she'll mind that somewhere in the process of one, I lost a 1/4" or so and now the sizes aren't exactly equal. Heck, she has kids... in about a day they probably will all be distorted anyway, right? -wink-

Go, check out Sew Mama Sew if you've never been. It's a fabulous resource.

Cheers!

Beck

St. Patrick's Day Wall Quilt (5 months late)

I'm in the mood to catch you up on my quilting and sewing year. I have been so quiet here and I miss it.  Therefore you get the brunt of the backlog of posts, er, I mean, I am just sharing what I've been up to.

One of my goals in life is to have 2 seasonal wall hangings for each holiday or season. One smaller for the kitchen area and one larger for the family room.  Last year, I blogged about my Rainbow Trail small wall hanging. Here's a reminder.

I decided, oh, maybe on March 13, that making the larger wall hanging would be good for the upcoming St. Patrick's day.

I took leftover fabrics from the Rainbow Trail quilt and created a simple top.  Since we had a rainbow with sparkles throughout, it only made sense to applique a pot of gold.

I then let the quilting speak for the quilt. Silly shamrocks on the outside borders.

Baptist fan in the rainbow give it a full rainbow feel and arches of thread coming out of the pot to provide a shine effect.

Lastly, a 70s-ish beaded curtain style meant to reflect rain drops. It kind of looks like spoons but the effect is cool so I don't care.

In case you are wondering, it did not get completed until the end of the day on March 17. But, it got done!

Cheers!
Beck

I completed my first 5k Race

...but not sure it can really be called a race. It's title stated it was a race so maybe it does count after all.

You decide.

I, along with 4 of the kids and sister in law, completed the ROC Race (Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge Race) this past Saturday in DC.

After completing Insanity, I wanted to see if I could do a 5k but wasn't sure I wanted to run and only run. So, I started looking for a silly sort of 5k, a color run or something.  I found the ROC Race. I asked my family if they wanted to join and we all signed up.

I decided to show you my day in photos. Much more interesting than my words, I think.
Before:

Warming up. (Click on the link for video)  

During:

We didn't make it. (Click on the link for video)

 After:

At this point, all I can say is if you have this race come to your area, sign up and go. So much fun!

Now I want to do a Tough Mudder or a Spartan Race but I know I'm not there yet physically so one of them will be my goal for next summer or fall. They look awful and awesome!

What does that mean? Motivation to keep exercising and getting stronger and fitter. Motivation to continue to eat right.  All for the bragging rights of saying I. Did. It.

So, what will you do? What will your goal be? Start small. Meet the first goals, add new ones as you feel better and know you are stronger. I know you can do it.

Cheers!
Beck

Did I show you Mom's tote?

After seeing the tote I made myself and the one I made for a swap buddy, my mom asked me to make a tote for her. 

She bought batiks and gave them to me to use.

I set about, once again, to create another tote. I made 3 changes this time around.  The first change was to sew all the rectangles for each side together and then iron them to two large pieces of interfacing instead of of cutting the interfacing into individual rectangle pieces.  

The second change was to make longer straps. My mom intends to use this tote to haul items to and from the thrift house she works at.  She takes toys and clothes home, cleans them and brings them back to the thrift house to sell.  She commented that the bag sometimes gets really heavy so I wanted to be sure I gave her a chance to wear it across her chest if she needed to.

The final change is an improvement. I quilted on straight lines.  I love the final look and thankfully, so does mom.

I am beginning to feel like a “one bag pony” over here but at least we are all happy.

Cheers!

Beck

Fleece Charity Quilts

I have been trying to clean out space in my sewing room but at the same time I have only managed to curb my fabric hoarding a teeny tiny bit.  Needless to say, I needed to make more space.

My mom gave me several fleece panels and solid fleece yardage with the instructions to "do something with them" since she wouldn't be using them. I opted to quilt them together for donation blankets.

I loaded a solid and a panel on the frame and quilted them together.

Then I took them over to the serger and serged up the edges.  Worked like a charm and was a relatively  simple overall.

These are the fleece quilts.

I hope to donate these very soon and I hope they make some kids very happy. On Instagram, someone suggested My Very Own Blanket so I'm going to reach out to them and see if they would like them. Fingers crossed.

With these, I've cleared up a lot of space in my sewing room (fleece takes up a ton!) and I am able to meet my goal for charity quilts completed that I set in Jan.  I'm really happy.

Cheers!
Becky

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