Throw pillow love

After repainting our bedroom I got the itch to pretty much remove everything unneeded from the room, only return a select few pieces, and begin redecorating. With Josiah beginning kindergarten and exiting the little kid phase, I'm feeling like we can finally begin creating a home that feels "pulled together" vs. "thrown together." 6 months later...the room is slowly still evolving. Two of my very favorite additions have been a throw size quilt to drape over the upholstered chair (which will be replaced at some point with something non squeaky and non floral) and 5 pillows for the bed and the chair. I actually chose the pillow fabric last summer to compliment a massive California king sized quilt I've been working on (currently waiting for it to come back from the machine quilter). I absolutely LOVE them! They look fabulous even when the bed pillows are stored under the side table. In a room filled with grey and other neutrals they add just the right pop of color. 

When Jim's away, the kiddies will play!

The running joke in our family when Jim leaves town for work is now... "So what room are you going to paint while I'm gone this time?" A few years ago I painted the kitchen when Jim was gone for three weeks, last winter I painted our bedroom, and this fall I would have painted our living room had I not gotten sick. I'm not sure why he whines about this habit since it means he never has to help and doesn't need to deal with the house being a mess during the process. He should be bragging that his wife paints while he is gone on purpose! Anyway...I've been meaning to post these pics since March, especially since painting our room has now led to several other projects and a complete bedroom redo, and painting has become just phase 1...

Photo series 1 --- Former furniture placement and wall color with the "I'm just going to paint a few spots to see how the color looks...oops! Better paint it all now!" splotches. And my little helper...

Photo series 2 --- All done! I love how warm the grey feels during the day, although it gets a little "grey grey" at night without natural light. I also moved the dresser from between the windows to next to the closet, which totally opened up the feel of the room. Now, instead of seeing a huge dresser once you enter the room, you see a chair and side table and a little wall. This area has been evolving and no longer looks the same, but more on that later!

Strip Quilt, Part 2

So the fabric fiasco that I alluded to in my Strip Quilt, Part 1 post is here...and here's the story. I picked out a group of gorgeous fabrics that all went together at my favorite fabric shop (Modern Textiles), and stacked the bolts on the cutting table. From a side view they appeared beautiful and well-balanced, but after I began sewing the strips together there was one fabric in particular that seemed to stand out more than the others. Yikes! After some major heartache and debate, I decided to explore another option and begin removing that fabric from its many locations in my quilt. My sister and I headed to the local quilt shop, which was filled with many not-so-fun prints, and we managed to find a substitute. The fabric in question appears in the left and center photo, and is a white background with grey leaves. It was replaced by the light grey herringbone, which appears almost solid in the picture on the right.

Did I make the right decision? At the time I was totally convinced that the white with grey leaves stood out too much. I really wanted the bolder prints to stand out, and I think since the white background was so bright it caught my eye more than I had anticipated. The grey herringbone is very soft, more muted, and definitely blends unnoticed into the quilt allowing my favorites to take center stage undisputed. Ironically, now that I'm typing this post and looking back at the original mix of prints, I am finding myself liking the brightness that the one I removed brought to the overall appearance. Oh well...too late now to reconsider any decisions!

I'm now in the process of sewing the backside of my quilt. Below are the three cuts that I am totally head over heels in love with. They will be sewn together in three large rectangles running horizontally. The two patterns are from the first line of Cotton and Steel, and the solid is Moda. They are such a beautiful blend of neutral ivory, and even though they are much less bold than the front, I think they are just as beautiful. 

As much as I'd love to say that the final post on this project will be out soon, it's highly unlikely that I will complete the back, get it to and from the machine quilter, and finish binding anytime in the near future. The holidays with all their road tripping fun might just be the perfect time for the seeming miles of hand sewing required to wrap up this monster of a project. 

Strip Quilt, Part 1

From the lovely ladies at Modern Textiles who are quilt math wizards:

For a strip quilt in California King size (100" wide x 98" long), for those of us with 6' 4" hubbies, choose:

7 x 1.25 yard cuts for quilt top

1 x 1 yard cut for binding

Here's my stack! Go ahead and drool...

See that coral color piece peeking out? That's going to be my binding. It's also going to become one of 5 coral colored throw pillows in different prints. Love! 

Step 1: Iron and Cut

From each of the 7 pieces chosen for your quilt top cut 4.75" strips running parallel with the salvage edge. This will make the longest strips. Cut your binding strips 2.25" in whichever direction you prefer the pattern to run for your binding. 

Step 2:

Sew strips end to end, making sure to not put two of the same together. Also pay attention to the directionality of your strips. I had three fabrics that always needed to be sewn facing the same direction. 

Step 3:

Cut your one ridiculously long strip into strips of equal length. Since I completed this step at the lake without my cutting mat and grid, I used the tile floor in the kitchen for my cutting guide. :)

Note:

I "oopsed" the directions and bought too much fabric (that's why you don't forget the pattern at home when you go to pick out fabric). I bought 1 1/3 yards, so I had to adjust the overall dimensions. Instead of 22 rows at 98" long, I had 27 rows at 112". 

Upcoming in Part 2...my fabric fiasco...

New Planner = I heart Filofax

Ahhh...it's already July 23rd, and I'm just starting to feel like I'm getting somewhat on top of things. Summer always seems to appear with a blank slate and somehow fill faster than I can pick up a pen to start writing on my calendar. So far this summer I've been out of town for 3 weeks, in class for 1, and home for 3, and of course those 3 measly weeks were crazy full and busy with running here, there, and everywhere. With the end of July looming I'm definitely feeling some urgency to manage my time well, even though there is no feasible way I'll be able to finish cleaning out our house (and selling everything we no longer use), complete 3 bins of sewing projects, organize 4 months of photos, learn how to use Photoshop, start creating photo books, and create and plan the pile of school work I brought home to tackle this summer, all while spending tons of quality time with my boys and the many friends I want to see. Yikes! Does anyone else have the same problem?! So here is one of the few things I've actually managed to check off my project list...my planner!!! For the last few years I've tried a few options for trying to efficiently and accurately manage our family's crazy schedule. I tried Erin Condren twice, but as beautiful as her life planners are, they simply were not functional for me. Why? The vertical arrangement of the day-by-day section drove me crazy, and I need my planner to house all those random things that I need inconsistently and all the time. Oh, and they are HUGE. I also tried syncing various calendar apps on my phone with my hubby but found that won't work if neither of you are diligent about adding events (or you never remember to check it or look at it regularly). Lastly, I wanted the option to be able to add whatever I needed and eliminate past calendars or lists...so total customization.

Here is what I settled on, and I am SO in love with it. After several weeks of debating (with myself), blog hopping, and searching for the perfect option, I decided to spring for a Filofax (click here for the link). What is a Filofax, you might be wondering? Well, it's a super nice little leather binder that you can fill however you want. Sweet!!! Admittedly, I let it sit empty for a few weeks while I convinced myself that I didn't need to design my own pages (deep breath), but once I decided to just purchase Miss Tiina's printable calendar. Click here for her planner website, and here for her Etsy shop. Was that worth the $10ish investment? Oh wow, absolutely!!! And when I pulled up her Etsy shop I just discovered it's 50% off right now if you'd like to grab it!!!

So after a date with our printer and another with my paper cutter, the last decision was how to organize and insert all the pages. I didn't use the included Table of Contents and decided to create a system that fit me better, so I cut down some super cute file folders from Target and lumped everything into 8 sections: To Do Lists (weekly notes go here too, along with most other random lists of things I keep track of), Calendars, Meals (includes meal planning, grocery lists, and a few recipe cards), Money (budget tracking, bills, and receipts), Celebrating (birthday and anniversary lists along with a record of all the gifts I already have stashed), Mary Kay, Contacts (including sleeves for business cards), and Notes.

How do I love it after a week? OMG IT'S FABULOUS!!! I've already transferred birthdays and anniversaries, taken stock of gifts we have ready to give, added the list of the clothes I have stashed for Josiah in bigger sizes, clipped my coupons and receipts for shopping runs to the divider for shopping lists...WOW, has that been great!!! The last pieces to utilize thoroughly will be meal planning and budgeting sections. Yep, I'm going to be a little over the top and inventory what food we currently have in our freezer and pantry so I can be more intentional with meal planning and prep, but oh I can't wait to have everything I need to keep our family running (more) smoothly at my fingertips!!! I am so never going back to a prebound planner...

DIY Camera Strap Tutorial 1.0

How ironic that after staying up super late on New Years Eve (Jim and Josiah didn't make it) to finish a camera strap cover that I should decide to make 2014 the year that I tackle our thousands of untouched photos. It's about time! I have unfinished photo projects dating back to college, and YES that includes an unfinished wedding album. (Whoops!) I'm also aspiring to create a photo book at the end of 2014 with one photo from each day, inspired by The Creative Mama's post, to keep myself focused on photography...taking better pictures on a more regular basis (this habit has seriously decreased as Josiah grows older), editing and learning to use Photoshop, finishing photobooks, & finding a system to organize and archive all those priceless images. And now I can be all the more comfortable and stylish!!!

On to the tutorial...I had pinned this tutorial awhile back from Doodles & Stitches, but I wanted more of a finished look and a pocket to hold my lens cap like some I had seen on Etsy. So I created my own plan merging the two. This is my first sewing tutorial, so no promises on eloquence or clarity of directions. :) Here's my plan, a few pix, and the changes I would make were I to do it again:

Cut the following pieces:

•  2 pieces of fabric for the main strap cover based on the size of your strap. My desired strap dimensions were 28" long x 2" wide, so I cut 30" x 3".
• 1 piece of Pellon Wonder-Under for padding and body (29" x 3" to make hemming each end easier)
• 1 piece of fabric for the lens cover pocket (3" x 4.5")

Here are the layers for the strap...cute fabric is a must have!

Iron Wonder-Under to fabric intended for the back side of the strap. (I also used it in the pocket, but it turned out to be too bulky, so I wouldn't recommend that.)

Iron fabric for pocket in half (right sides facing) the hamburger way (yep, comments like that only come from a teacher).

Sew 1/4" seam along side opposite of fold. Turn pocket right side out and repress fold & seam for crisp edges.

The pocket will look like this...all set to keep that cover safe!

Back to the two main strips. Hem both ends of each (turn up half inch & iron both ends twice; then topstitch 1/4" from edge).

Pin pocket approximately 1" above one end of the top piece. Sew a quarter inch above the bottom of pocket to topstitch and secure the pocket in one step.

Pin two sides of the straps right sides facing (pocket will be inside) & sew half inch inseam along both long sides of the strap.

(Just beginning to sew along the second side. The seam running across is the bottom of the pocket.)

Turn strap right side out & topstitch (a quarter inch) along each long side. Done and ready to slip over  the strap of your camera!

Finished!

Changes:

Skip the Pellon in the pocket. Start with a longer strip of fabric for the back of the strap since it shrunk when fused. Use a 3/8" seam allowance instead of 1/2" along two long sides to make it easier to turn, slide over the strap, and allow for more lens cap room. 

Note:

Be sure to measure the diameter of your lens cap. If you have a full-size DSLR then the width of this strap will be too narrow. Our lens cap is very small, for now. Hopefully this year we will upgrade our camera, which will mean that I have to make a wider strap! Oh shucks...guess I'll have to go get more fabric from Modern Textiles...maybe by then I'll be better at scribing sewing directions and can write version 2.0. :)

My Summer DIY List

Spontaneously selling Josiah's bed and replacing it with a full now has my brain rolling. It's time to revisit Pinterest so I can slowly redesign and redecorate a few things. Think I can figure out and master Jim's power tools? We definitely don't have a shortage of wood downstairs, but the trick will be trying to use mostly what we have along with excess flooring.

Potential projects: Josiah's headboard, coffee table, cubbies for the back door, fabric covered canvas for above our bed, throw pillows for living room and both bedrooms, a new (much larger) top for the kitchen table, and if I get really good a corner desk unit for the office.

Reality? I probably won't get more than one building project done. Sewing, though, no problem! After a good night's sleep my enthusiasm for a full summer is finally appearing!