A Feather in Umbrella Prints Trimmings

Posted on May 15, 2014May 15, 2014 Posted in Bags, QuiltingTagged feather, Umbrella Prints, umbrella prints trimmings8 Comments

A couple of months ago I discovered one of my favorite fabric companies, Umbrella Prints was having a competition with their trimmings. I ordered two trimmings packs and got busy making up a bag of my own design with the blue trimmings.

Umbrella Prints Trimmings Challenge | Entropy Always Wins.

With another pack of beautiful brown and black trimmings in my possession, I couldn’t resist playing some more. Last night without a well thought out plan, I just started cutting and sewing (my favorite way to create) and came up with a feather. I picked up some scrap leather from a local upholstery store recently on sale ($4 for two beautiful brown scraps and some white 80s style leather that I am dreaming up plans for). I am hoping to put the feather and leather together into a clutch or ipad case. I would love any suggestions!

This is not my first rodeo with pieced feathers. I made a bag and some pillows with the very popular Anna Maria Horner free feather pattern, (Anna Maria Horner) and some hand printed Malka Dubrawsky fabric (a stitch in dye by stitchindye on Etsy).

I will finish this little project up by the end of the month and still not sure if I will add it to the official Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition. (Umbrella Prints: 2014 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition) Regardless, I LOVE creating with these fabric tidbits.

My husband and I are taking our kids to Washington DC next week. If you have any good recommendations for restaurants or off the radar favorite attractions send them my way.

Hillary

Monday Musings

Posted on May 12, 2014May 12, 2014 Posted in Monday MusingsTagged photography, Travel4 Comments

While my work schedule is not traditional, Mondays still mean the end of the weekend, the start of the kids’ school schedule and back to homework for us. I often muse about previous vacations and places I would rather be. Are their places you dream about on your Mondays? (My Mother’s Day was spent working-financially supporting my family, folding laundry and helping the kids with big school projects. A perfect Mother’s Day Trifecta? Hmm, no but definitely representative of this mothering job of mine which I wouldn’t exchange for all the money in the world. The picture is of my son on a recent weekend hiking in Pt. Reyes National Seashore, California.)

A fun present to both my mother and I yesterday was to have my Mother’s Day Bag picked as a weekly fave on Craft Magazine online. Haley has generously featured several of my handmade goods on this blog. Such an honor.

Check the blog post here:

CRAFT Flickr Pool Weekly Roundup | MAKE: Craft.

Haley’s nifty personal blog is here:

The Zen of Making | Brooklyn-based DIY from a gal in granny glassesThe Zen of Making | Brooklyn-based DIY from a gal in granny glasses.

A Mother’s Day Present

Posted on May 10, 2014May 11, 2014 Posted in BagsTagged antique, Bag, Mother's Day, recycled, repurposed, up cycled14 Comments

I come from a long line of crafty women. Perhaps it is the fact that my family hails from Seattle where sitting by the fire with a cup of coffee (I remember when Starbucks was only in Seattle!!) or tea and some handwork is compelling on dreary days. My grandmother was a sewist and knitter extraordinaire. My mother has been sewing her whole life. She has sewn countless curtains, quilts, clothing for herself and my brother and I along the way. She even sewed my wedding dress. Recently she has gotten into refurbishing old Singer sewing machines, one of which she gifted me a couple Christmas’ ago. (As an aside, she is also quite a potter and I have such fond memories of going to her craft fairs as a child and spending all the money she made with her sales on other handmade treats.) 🙂

In honor of this year’s Mother’s Day, I pulled out an antique quilted block I inherited from my grandmother and upcycled it into a bag for my mom. I used some fusible fleece to bulk it up a bit and Brandon Mably’s Babble fabric for the lining. I have packed it with some Clover Wonder clips that my Mama is sure to love and took pics with the Singer my mother refurbished.

Check out another gift I made for my Mama here:

Flowers for My Mother | Entropy Always Wins.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Carolyn Friedlander Park Pattern Pillows

Posted on May 8, 2014June 29, 2014 Posted in Quilting2 Comments

Boy I love a project finish! Last night as I was marathon watching Downton Abbey on disk (we’re those weird types who have had no TV reception for years) I finished hand sewing my Carolyn Friedlander pattern pillows. I am now officially obsessed with needle turn appliqué!

It is hard to go wrong with one of Carolyn’s patterns. She has the modern aesthetic down to a tea. Mix that with some Maze and Vale uber cool fabric and we have a winner-new pillows for our house.

See all the Carolyn Friedlander Patterns here: carolyn friedlander | fresh, modern quilt patterns.

Maze and Vale fabric here: Maze & Vale.

Carolyn’s patterns are so wonderful, she may even tempt me into paper piecing which is another quilting modality I have yet to try. So much to learn!

Forward Motion

Posted on May 7, 2014May 7, 2014 Posted in Knitting, QuiltingTagged Knitting, quiltingLeave a comment

Catching up on family and work needs after my weekend retreat but also making slow, steady progress on knitting and sewing projects. I’ve been adding to my hexie quilt a few hexies at a time and loving how it is evolving. Also making SLOW progress on my first lace weight shawl. Oh my goodness, this knitting takes so much attention. I have to constantly check the pattern which is not what I am used to with knitting projects. It doesn’t yet much look like the finished product on Ravelry. I am hoping for miracles when finished and blocked. Pattern here:

Ravelry: Windspiel pattern by Nicole Eitzinger.

Lastly, I did finish my Carolyn Friedlander Needleturn applique on vacation and liked it so much I am working on another with more fun Maze and Vale fabric. I’m hoping they will come together as complimentary pillows that are not too matchy-matchy.

Hope your crafting is moving forward as well.

Hillary

Monday Musings

Posted on May 5, 2014May 5, 2014 Posted in Monday MusingsTagged Arizona, photography, Travel, Tucson1 Comment

Basting and a Retreat

Posted on April 30, 2014May 2, 2014 Posted in Everything Else4 Comments

Tomorrow, I get to hop on a plane and spend four days without folding laundry, working in the ER, making dinner, helping with homework or doing dishes. I am one of several women in my medical group picked to go to a conference on Women’s Health in Arizona! It has been a few years since I have had a weekend away from the family and I am pretty excited (though also a little guilty-a mama’s curse). In addition to learning some new medical info, a retreat to me means sleeping in, reading, exercising AND doing some crafting. I am toting along a needle turn applique project I have wanted to try using a pattern by Carolyn Friedlander and fabric by Maze and Vale. Wonder how I will explain to my colleagues that I have to check a bag, not for extra clothes but to accommodate my embroidery hoop, needles and scissors? 🙂

carolyn friedlander | fresh, modern quilt patterns.

Maze & Vale.

Have a great weekend all.

Hillary

Machine Quilt-As-You-Go Wrapped Hexagon Quilt

Posted on April 28, 2014April 28, 2014 Posted in Quilting13 Comments

Can I admit something? Hexagon projects have both intrigued and intimidated me for years. I’m a girl who likes to see results quickly and the idea of spending so much time hand sewing hexagons together has always put me off.

This weekend I ran across a book, Quilt-opedia by Laura Jane Taylor with a hexagon project that helped me break through my hexagon timidity.

Quilt-opedia: The Only Quilting Reference You’ll Ever Need: Laura Jane Taylor: 9781250044792: Amazon.com: Books.

In her featured project, you wrap a larger hexagon around a smaller hexagon with some batting sandwiched in between. She gives you the option of hand sewing them together, but again because of my impatient nature and the fact that I believe a machine stitch will better secure the pieces against the wear that my intended baby blanket may encounter, I have been machine stitching them with a decorative flower stitch.

I am using some Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile that I have been holding onto forever and combining them with a peppered cotton in brown/grey. Within a couple hours, the project is well under way. And the best part . . . to finish it off, I will just need to trim to a rectangle and bind. (By the way, these clover wonder clips are the BOMB. This has been my first project using them and I am in love.)

Monday Musings

Posted on April 28, 2014 Posted in Monday MusingsTagged Italy, photography, Travel, vatican3 Comments

Ok, Just One More . . .

Posted on April 26, 2014April 26, 2014 Posted in BagsTagged Bag, recycling, repurposed, repurposing, upcycling7 Comments

I swear, this leather repurposing is as addictive as chocolate . . . well, almost. 🙂 While the kids, my husband and I anxiously await my folks who are coming to visit after a road trip in southern Utah, I put some finishing touches on yet another bag. Once again, with an idea in my head, I drew up a pattern and stitched it up. I used the same printed leather as in my previous bag but flipped it over to show off the suede side for the bottom. I added a linen flower I had made awhile back which feels like icing on the cake for this basic tote.

Linen Rosebud Flower Tutorial | Entropy Always Wins.