Sashiko, Done!

It's official - the sashiko towels are done!

Here's the set all together:



And a detail to show some of the stitch work:



I will admit that the stitch work did not improve as much as I had hoped between the beginning and the end of this project.  I suppose that's what comes of trying to do hand stitching in the car (while parked!), in bad lighting and with a squirmy toddler on your lap.  I DID notice a marked improvement in stitching speed, though and yay for that.

After I finished the towels last night, I caught up with the embroidery on my LITJ quilt blocks and it went SO much faster!  Seriously, when the swap started it was taking me as long to embroider the four letters of my name as it had to prep, cut and sew the blocks together.  Insane.

And today was mailing day!  YAY!  I didn't realize just how much I was worried about getting things into the mail until everything was sent off and I felt physically lighter. :)

All of the past-due LITJ blocks have gone out.  The next three are sewn, embroidered and waiting for their mailing days.  Two left to sew and I'm all done there.  I'll be sad to see the project end, but it'll be exciting watching as the quilt-building phase takes place!

I also sent out my fabric for the Sew, Mama, Sew fat quarter swap.  Pictures taken, but I'll wait a few days for the fabric to reach it's destination(s) before posting those.  And I got Sandi's block for the Quilt Block Swap into the mail.  Whew!

Next up?  Kelly's postholders for the Stitch in Dye swap, two more LITJ blocks for Carrie and Paula, and perhaps I'll dredge up some previously abandoned projects.  I've got some pretty linen kitchen towels that are close to being done, a little project for my grandmother and, if I can find my flannel stash, maybe I can finish Bug's quilt and make some wipes for Boo.  Hmm....

Woo AND Hoo!

The stars must have aligned last night, because even though Richard got home late, everyone was in a good mood and I got to sew!  I'm so excited that I actually - finally! - have some finished projects to share!

First, I was able to finish Boo's project.  A new mei tai!

Bug asked to put it on immediately, but it was too dark to get a decent picture.  And I'm way too impatient to wait for Richard and Bug to get home today to take one (and it's getting dreary again, so it'd probably be too dark, anyway) so here it is, modeled by my dressform and a tiny lion-baby.


The outer fabric is an Ikea cotton that I've been in love with for awhile.  The name of it escapes me.  It's an older one and I can't seem to find it on the website anymore, but they still carry it in the store closest to me.  The lining, inner lining and straps are a pepto-pink cotton that I've had in my stash for years.  I've looked at it a million times and wondered what in the heck I'd ever do with it...and between the mei tai and the quilt blocks I've been working on, now it's almost gone.  Amazing.

Then I wrapped up two more of the sashiko-inspired towels.  So now, three of the four are done.  I'm *thisclose* to having the fourth one finished, so I'll hang on to the pictures until I have the whole set complete.

I wanted to work on Amanda L's block for the LITJ block swap, and I needed to work on Sandy's block for the Quilt Block Swap and, when I looked at them both together I realized that I'd chosen to use the same fabric in both blocks.  So I did them both.

Here's Amanda L's block:



And here's Sandy's:  (I'm mailing today, but I hope she doesn't peek at the blog!)



I know I won't have a lot of time today, but I'm hoping to get the towel set done this week.  And maybe the potholders...  We'll see.  My mom is coming into town this weekend (YAY!) and I'd like to have some nifty stuff to show her.

LITJ Quilt Block Swap, and a New Bag for Me

Mrm...so much for cleaning the house. Bug just went down for his nap and I'm running out of steam. So I'll post about an exciting project and then go join him. I'm allowed to nap at will while growing another person, right?

Awhile ago, a parenting group that I'm a part of did a craft swap. It was awesome. Roughly each month (I think it was a five week cycle, actually), we had a different theme and crafted for someone specific within that theme. It was awesome. Truly. It was really amazing to see the love that we had for one another flourish into tangible expressions of friendship. I was particularly amazed to see how people who didn't consider themselves to be crafty or artistic came up with some of the most amazing (and beautiful!) projects. And, within the framework of the friendships we'd built, a lot of people really stepped outside of their comfort zones to create some impressive tokens.

Life being what it is and some downtime to the website kind of put an end to the craft swap. It has recently been reborn though (yay!) - though this time it's been designed as a quilt block swap. Aside from a few people who have some experience with quilting, the rest of us are new to it. I've done a psuedo-quilt or three, but never attempted an actual, honest-to-goodness quilt. It was more than a little terrifying to add my name to the list, but I love these women and knew that it would be an awesome experience, so I did.

Unlike a more traditional block swap, which usually has a deadline of one block per month, we're focusing on one member per week. Our first mail-out day was February 25, and we will wrap up on June 3. Keeping in mind that my hands ended up terribly swollen and I was unable to sew (or hold a pen or tie my shoes or much of anything else) during the last half of my pregnancy with Bug, I've tried to get ahead of the game with my sewing. We have a list of who we're focusing on by week and what their likes/dislikes are, so I've been able to get ahead on my blocks.

This week, we mailed out our sixth blocks. The pictures that people have been posting are very inspiring. Already, confidence is building and - as a group - we're pushing ourselves to work outside of our comfort zones and try new things. These are going to be some beautiful quilts when they're done!

With the concern of swollen hands, I opted not to create a new block for everyone. Instead, I spent some time designing one block that I feel expresses my love for the group as a whole and have been choosing fabrics, colors, etc each week based on the recipients personality and requests. So far everyone seems to be happy with their blocks and I've been able to sew through our mid-May deadline. I have three blocks left and I'll be done with the block construction. (Oddly, embroidering my initials on the blocks has what's been the toughest for me.)

So, anyway. Here are the blocks that I've created so far. (Clickable thumbnails as I'm still having issues with resizing photos.)

Laura's week was first and my camera was still in Arizona, so I don't have a picture of the very first quilt block.

This one went to Amanda D:


Trinity:


Karo:


Tiffany:


Micael:


(Note that these pictures were taken before the blocks were trimmed or embroidered.)

Coming up next, will be...

Ella:


B:


Jen:


Colette:


Jenn:


I have fabric chosen for Amanda L, Carrie and Paula, but haven't gotten the blocks done yet. Soon. Soooooon.

This week, I felt the need to pause and create something for myself. Mostly because my purse - a hardworking little canvas bag - was on it's last leg.

It came together quickly, thank goodness. I chose and washed the fabric one day, prepped, patterned and cut the next morning and, that afternoon when Bug came home from school, we stitched it together. (He's getting to be a really good little sewing helper. Have I twisted him at all, do you think? How many just-turned-two-year-olds come home from school and ask to sew?)

It's not perfect and there are things that I'll change when I make the next one, but overall I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.






And that's all for now, folks. I'm going to go snuggle up to Bug and try to get in a decent nap.