April 2013 Recap

It's completely dizzying to see everything that I wrapped up in April. No wonder The Clubhouse is a mess ;-) Here's what I was up to!

Updating the Quilts Page

Marine Den Coloring Page

Fusible Interfacing Party Garland

Marine Den Quilt in Pearl Bracelets

Purse Progress

Rose Stars

It felt so good to wrap up a custom quilt and to have nearly finished a custom purse this month. Making it all the sweeter is the fact that I'm almost done with my English Paper Pieced Rose Stars. Wow! I'm looking forward to more progress in May :-)

Happy Crafting!

Claire

26 Quilts and Counting!

Like the post title says, it recently came to my attention that I have made 26 quilts all told. Whoa.

I had no idea I had made so many until I started reorganizing my "Quilts" page. (See the tab below the blog header!) I created my blog to keep track of my sewing and to participate in the online sewing community. It's somewhat of a garden journal where I write down what works, what fails miserably, and where I ask you for help ;-)

I hadn't been doing a great job of documenting all of the quilts I made, especially during the Renegade Craft Fair, so I recently took the time to do it and was blown away. It's completely dizzying to think that I have made 25 of these quilts in the past 18 months.

I'm glad I took the time to write a little post about this, though. While writing, I realized that I was at 26 instead of 25. AND I remembered I had some home video footage of my first quilt top that I could screenshot to fill in for the lack of a good finished quilt photo. Yay! (I'll spare you the video. The only thing worse than home video footage of a quilt made in a dorm room is footage of an 18 year old quilter.)

Alright, I'm going to go back to enjoying Season 5, Episode 6 of Parks and Recreation, in which a quilt plays a key role :-)

Quilt On, Champions!

Claire

March 2013 Recap

March was a really productive month, so let's do a little wordless recap before I get completely intimidated by everything that needs to happen in April ;-)

Guest Hosting at Freshly Pieced

Lots of Rose Stars

Marine Den in Blues and White

do. Good Stitches Starburst Cross Quilt

Dinner Napkins with Mitered Corners

Marine Den Quilt in Dark Gray and Backyard Baby

I'm thrilled with my March progress, and I can't to see what everyone else has been creating!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

New Year, New Goals

Somehow January is almost over, so I better review my 2012 goals and set some new ones for 2013 pronto!

Reviewing My 2012 Goals: 

1) Find a permanent .com home for this little bloggy.
     - Done! I love being Sewing Over Pins, and I'm so grateful to Mr. Pins for helping me find a home on the web.

2) Make quilts from these patterns I'm crafting up and make the patterns available to everyone!
     - With one pattern for sale in the Craftsy shop, I'm pleased to have blazed a trail.

3) Sew up a couple of baby quilts for some new humans and ones that are on the way.
     - It's hard not to laugh out loud at this. Lots of sweet kiddos had birthdays in 2012, and I'm thrilled to say that quilts I made went home with at least half a dozen of them.

4) Finish this frustrating Storm at Sea quilt at some point. At least the top. I'd be thrilled to piece the top.
    - Blurg. This was a great disappointment of 2012. I was so grateful for everyone's support while I tried to figure out what to do. Ultimately, I decided to walk away from the project rather than try to unpick all of that sewing and re-use pieces where I'd already trimmed off the tips. The next time I try a Storm at Sea, I'll probably go with a paper pieced version.

5) Try not to repeat the mistakes of 2011.
     - Haha, well, I guess I did a fair enough job of that. I've done so much sewing over the last year, and I've picked up lots of new skills thanks to participating in Block of the Month series, hours of classes at Quilt Festival, and seeking out info and tutorials online. At the end of 2011, I couldn't have envisioned how much I would learn and how much sewing I would do over the course of 2012. While I would have loved to have done twice as much, I'm definitely not disappointed, just unrealistically ambitious sometimes ;-)

Here's a recap of some of my sewing in 2012!

It started off innocently enough making baby quilts and testing out my Cascading quilt pattern. By the time summer was fading, I was finishing up two donation quilts. The end of August signaled the beginning of Renegade Holiday Market preparation.

There were lots of smaller projects that kept me busy during the year. I took my first stab at zipper pouches, made a few iPad envelopes for Renegade, and did a little hand embroidery.

I enjoyed making all kinds of bags from my little BB travel purse, to Amy Butler's Everything Bag for toting my crafts, to metal frame clutches to sell at Renegade.

2013 Goals:
1) I'm going to get more quilt patterns put together this year!
     I'm working on a pattern for the Marine Den quilt right now, and I did a lot of work on the Empire quilt pattern while I was sewing for Renegade. I'd also love to share my template and tips for making metal frame purses.

2) Strike a balance between sewing and exercise.
     I was doing great through June, then I lost my way. The summer heat in Austin just gives me an excuse to slack off. By the time I started sewing for Renegade, exercise went completely by the wayside. I've done a great job of running this month, despite being under the weather. Alas, it's going to take more than three runs a week to get me where I want to be.

3) Keep my sewing space organized.
     I came home with lots stuff after Sewing Summit, and much of it never found a home. Somehow it's become acceptable for me to have a pile of stuff on the floor outside of The Clubhouse (aka my sewing space) for months. I'm over it. I'm going to do some decluttering and reorganizing to keep everything functional and tidy.

4) Finish my Summer Sampler Series quilt.
     We're already having 80 degree days in Austin this month. I'm sure we'll get another freeze before it's officially spring, but it's already too hot for the comforter most nights. I'm using flannel instead of batting in this quilt, and it would be great to use it as a cooler alternative in the coming months.

5) Finish the Rose Star Quilt.
     I need to decide how big I'm going to make this thing. Once I know what number I'm going for, I'm going to cut a bunch of blocks so I'm ready to sew whenever. This worked pretty well during the holidays, and I think it's the key to getting this quilt done. This project is already a year old, so it's time to wrap it up!

Happy Crafting in 2013!

Claire

October 2012 Recap

This blog post is coming to you live from International Quilt Festival in Houston! I'm starting this month surrounded by everything quilting, and I absolutely love it. Seriously. I've died and gone to quilting heaven. November is going to be out of control, so let me shed a little light onto what happened in October.

New Logo

Holla! My amazing graphic designer sister, Paige, brought Sewing Over Pins to life with her crafty computer ways. She's got the gift of Illustrator and it shows. Feel free to hit her up at paigertyler (at) gmail (dot) com for all of your graphic design needs. I met with her casually twice about what I needed and envisioned, and she zeroed in on exactly what I was hoping for. Amazing! I am thrilled and thankful :-D

Accepted to Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market in Austin

On October 8th, I learned I was accepted to the Renegade Craft Fair Austin Holiday Market on Nov 24 & 45. Oh boy! I'm gonna be makin' it rain quilts around here ;-) I'm grateful for the support of my husband and my family going into this adventure. (We're having Thanksgiving in Austin instead of Louisiana to accommodate this undertaking.) I felt less intimidated after reading about Rachel's craft fair experience, so I'll be sure to share my experience as well. If you're in Austin that weekend, do come see me! The fair is on from 11am to 6pm both days.

Amy Butler Everything Bag

I've got a whole post written about my experience making this diaper bag for all my crafty nomad needs at Sewing Summit and beyond. Get pumped! I'll share the changes I made to the pattern and my suggestions for lots more tweaks ;-)

Sewing Summit

Do reference the long post from yesterday about the amazing crafty adventure that was Sewing Summit's second annual conference. It was such great time!

Fall Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival 2012

I drove the 2 hours and forty-five minutes from Austin on Saturday morning, unpacked in my Airbnb digs, and headed straight to my first Quilt Market. Whoa. This is fun. It was great to see so many fabric designers, trim & button vendors, pattern designers, notion distributors, machine and notion manufacturers, and quilters all in one place. Randomly running into fellow Austin Modern Quilt Guild members has been a riot. Seeing friends from the web like Christy, Charlotte, and Bianca, has been mind blowing fun. Mind blowing. The Echino booth was a candy shop of woven delight. Melody Miller's magical mid century booth and Ellen Luckett Baker's booth full of ginko leaf and ladybug prints from her new Stamped line filled me with radiant joy. I'm taking so many classes during Quilt Festival, it's like going to quilt college. It certainly felt that way during an accounting-heavy 8am session during Market on Monday ;-)

Halloween

My Halloween treat was running the table at The Modern Quilt Guild quilt exhibit at International Quilt Festival last night. I was concerned it was going to be more of a trick than a treat since I was on duty from 5-10 pm after a day of two three-hour classes. I had originally signed up for a 7-10 pm slot, but when no one else could work from 5-7 pm, I agreed to go straight from the end of my class at 5 pm to the table after grabbing some quick food to hold me over. Once I got to the table, it was non-stop fun. I enjoyed having people ask me questions about modern quilting or how to get out of the giant exhibition hall. I tried to help folks find quilts, exhibits, and their missing friends. Christy Fincher from Purple Daisies stopped by to say "Hi." I got to meet two quilt angels, a gal and her 92 year-old mother-in-law who used to quilt. She talked to me about her grandmother making "britches quilts" by holding worn out pants up to the light and cutting squares from sections of fabric that wasn't yet threadbare. Yup, my idea of a good time is talking to a 92 year-old about her grandmother's quilting. I'm wild and crazy.

Let the holiday season begin!

Claire

September 2012 Recap

Boom goes the dynamite. Apparently it's October.

Well, I guess I better take a break from sewing like a maniac and show you what all I've been up to.

Etsy Shop Open!

Creating an Etsy shop was never my main goal, but everyone was always asking about it. So there ya go: an Etsy shop. The real reason I built up some inventory to open an Etsy shop was to apply for the Renegade Holiday Fair in Austin later this year. They asked for a link to an online shop or portfolio as part of the application process. I don't have a lot of items in the shop, and I may not get selected, but I'm glad I finally have this outlet. 

Pouch Palooza

Taadaa! I'm starting to feel better about zippers. I love making these square-bottomed pouches, but I need to branch out a little bit to some lined flat pouches box pouches and  I'm rather partial to obnoxious colored zippers.

iPad Cases

I made three of these lovelies this month, but somehow one didn't get photographed before it ran away. I found I like closing these better with velcro than with magnetic snaps. Probably better for the iPad anyway. Hand stitching the binding takes a little longer, but it looks so nice on the finished case. It doesn't help for making it a profitable endeavor, but there is one for sale in the Etsy shop.

X Marks the Spot Quilt

I was so happy to finish this first do. Good Stitches quilt for the Cheer circle. I highly recommend this tutorial from SewCraftyJess!

Rose Star Block 15

I'm losing steam on these what with all of the other sewing getting in the way. I have a lot of traveling coming up in the next two months. I need to prepare by cutting out some blocks so I have some hand sewing to take with me :-)

Pink Striped Baby Quilt

I love this Quilt Blocks fabric! This little quilt is up in the Etsy shop.

Gray Striped Baby Quilt

This is the other Quilt Blocks baby quilt up in the Etsy shop. I really love both color ways :-)

Water Everywhere Baby Quilt

Oh, I adored this Salt Air print from the first time I spotted it. I was glad to find it on sale so I could craft up a very affordable quilt to put up in the Etsy shop.

Pressing Board

Featherweight

Phew! Even the recap is wearing me out. I'd love to go into more detail about all of this fun stuff. I look forward to getting some blogging in between now and Sewing Summit. Yay!

Happy October, everyone!

Claire

August 2012 Recap

Happy September! Blogging on vacation is tricky. I snapped some photos before we left, though, so I could share what I got done in August. You'll get a peak at some things I haven't been able to share yet, so get pumped!

Terrain Summer Sampler Series Quilt

The quilt top is well underway. I knocked out the last two blocks while at the Wimberley Quilt Ranch last weekend. I had to make a run to Jo-Ann's for some more Kona White, but the end is in sight for this quilt top.

Rose Star Block 14

Blurg. I guess I gotta get crackin' on some more of these, because I wanted to have more to show for the month of August. I've picked up some fat quarters with this quilt in mind, though, and I'm excited to  work on more blocks in the next couple of days.

Laminate Zipper Pouch with Lining

I'm so glad the Austin Modern Quilt Guild did this pouch swap, because it really forced me to get over my zipper fear. I used canvas as interfacing in this bag, but I really wish I had a better variety of interfacing weights floating around the Clubhouse.

Cascading Quilt Pattern

Boy was this a big one to get off the WIP list! I'm so happy that I finally finished the pattern and put it up on the Craftsy website, I've been so thrilled with the interest in the pattern, and I can't wait to put out another pattern ASAP.

BB Bags - Teeny BB

I grabbed this super cute pattern at Valli & Kim's quilt shop in Dripping Springs, TX. The pattern was really tough to get through, but it makes more sense to me now that I've made one of these. This is a good little purse to help you keep your phone with you throughout the day. I'd like to make one in the other sizes as well. I started making a much more streamlined phone purse based on my own design last summer. I'd still like to give it a go, since you can never have too many ;-)

Cheer Circle Sixteen Patch Sawtooth Block

This is the August block for the do. Good Stitches Cheer circle. The idea was to make a block with a gray background, then use hot pink, navy blue, and golden yellow for the other components. There was an interesting tutorial for how to assemble this Star of Virginia variation.

X Marks the Spot do. Good Stitches Donation Quilt

I love the way this quilt is turning out. I got it pin basted before we headed out for Denver, but I'll have to re-do some of it due to bunching on the back. It's a generous twin size, and sandwiching a big quilt on carpet is enough to make you want to bang your head against the wall.

Frost Bank Mini Quilt

This was one of those ideas floating around my head, and I had to take a stab at it. It was kind of a paper piecing disaster, but I think it could be enlarged and streamlined. This little guy based a building in downtown Austin didn't fulfill its destiny as a QuiltCon challenge block, but I'm very happy with it as a densely quilted mini.

I'm thrilled with my August progress, and I can't to see what everyone else has been creating!

Happy Crafting!

July 2012 Recap & WIP Wednesday

July is a thing of the past, and August is going to bring lots of quilts this way!

AMQG Donation Quilt Top & Back

I just dropped the back I pieced on Friday off at Remnants for quilting today! (I also picked up some fat quarters of the QuiltCon colors to make a challenge block.) The back was a pain to piece in The Clubhouse. That may have been because it was a raging disaster in there. In the end, I don't love the back, but I love the layout for the front, and I can't wait to see it quilted. I should probably start thinking about binding ;-)

X Marks the Spot Block

This is my contribution for the inaugural Cheer circle of the do. Good Stitches quilting bee. I'm the host for our circle and the quilter for July. It's been fun to watch the other blocks come in the mail. This block is from a tutorial on SewCraftyJess. The addition of the borders means these blocks finish at 16.5." I look forward making this quilt in August!

Rose Star Blocks

I only finished three of these hand pieced blocks in June, and I lamented that I should have finished one per week. I made up for it this month by knocking out blocks 10 through 13. Plus, thanks to some hand sewing during primetime Olympics, I'm in a good position to have a great month of English paper piecing in August as well. If you need some hand sewing, check out the tutorial on selfsewn.

Terrain Summer Sampler Series Blocks

This will be a quilt for me in the end, and I'm so happy to be up to ten Summer Sampler Series blocks after an intense 48 hours of sewing (and even a little sleeping) at the Austin Modern Quilt Guild retreat last weekend. Now I just have to decide if I'm stopping at 12 blocks or if I'll throw in the Solstice Series blocks for good measure.

Ruby Star Rising Ironing Board Cover

Woohoo! My ironing board looks so much better now! The before was bleak and upping the ugly factor in The Clubhouse. These Viewfinders from Ruby Star Rising are amazing!

August is happening, apparently. Are you ready?

      

I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day, Freshly Pieced, Sew Much Ado, Someday Crafts, Rae Gun Ramblings, and SNAP.