Destash Sale Coming!

In order to avoid a visit from the Hoarders television crew, I have decided it is time to part with some of my beloved fabrics. As you can see, my stash might be just a little bit out of control. And this is just a little part of it. There's much, much more. 

Don't get me wrong, seeing all these mountains of fabrics everyday brings me great joy. But I could sew every day until eternity and still not use it all up. Plus, there is always something new to buy!

And then there might be one other little reason I want to unload some of these precious beauties:

Don't laugh at me.... I went and fell in love with Blythe dolls. (If you aren't sure what a Blythe is, just search for them in Flickr and you can see millions of people's prized dollies, all complete with handmade outfits and custom hair-dos). A few of my favorites are here and here and here. (Yes Katy, I have a crush on your girls). I got these two little miniature Blythe dolls at Target to help tide me over until I can get my hands on the real thing - 

They are super cute and Happy Meal sized, and best of all, cheap. But the real deals are 12 inches tall, imported from Asia and expensive. So, I'm cashing in some of my stash to pay for this new frivolous obsession. Plus, Mark is not really on board with the idea of his wife starting a doll collection that Lucy is not allowed to touch, so this is my only way!

Okay, I know you are all saying "who cares about Blythe, Megan, what are you getting rid off???"

I have a fat quarter bundle of 19 different prints from Amy Butler's Lotus collection, my favorite line she ever produced. I'm still in the process of making a king sized Lotus quilt for our bed, and this is some of what I have to spare. Most of these prints have been out of print for awhile now and some are impossible to find.

I also put together a fat quarter bundle from Tula Pink's Flutterby line, which I fell for well after printing and ordered from all over the country. 

Lots of rare japanese fairy tale prints to go through - I'm still not sure what is going or staying. They are hard to let go of but I know they will make someone else very happy!

And I may just be letting go of a Flea Market Fancy layer cake or two! I purchased these from an Australian quilt shop about a year and a half ago and they include lots of desirable prints, even brown posies and grey bouquet. I'm adding a few extra prints from my own stash to sweeten the deal.(****I should also add here that these were made up by a quilt shop and do not include every FMF print, but enough for a good sized quilt!)

I do want to state here that I have never destashed fabric before and it does make me a bit uncomfortable because I do not want to be perceived as a gouger. All of these fabrics are rare and hard to find, and I am not trying to make a large profit from them, just get the value I put into them and buy myself a new Blythe! And hopefully in turn make their new owner happy.

Lucy just went to sleep so I am spending the evening going through everything else. I am thinking of adding some Uptown, Lush, Munki Munki, Heather Ross, Neptune, maybe some more FMF and even a little Anna Maria Bohemian to the list. 

If you are interested in anything here or are looking for something in particular let me know. I just wanted to let you all have a crack at it before I list it on Etsy. Please email me at meggied23 at hotmail (dot) com. if you need more info.

And don't worry, this will still be a quilting blog. But I might have to show you a cute Blythe doll every now and then:)

****Just wanted to let you all know I've already got a lot of inquiries so please don't be upset if I can't answer your email until tomorrow early afternoon:)

Weekend Sewing

Here we are at blog post 101! Thanks to all of you for your warm wishes for me making it all the way to one hundred posts. I'm not really sure how I had enough to post about in that many posts in just over a year, but I'm happy you're still here reading with me!

I've got a few finishes going on now, which I'm super happy about so I can dust off the sewing table, re-organize, and tackle a bunch of projects that have been on the back burner for too long. And start a holiday project or two. And then there is round 4 of the Pillow Talk Swap! But first I think I'll just take a few days away from it all and just knit. I don't love deadlines but I seem to have more than my share right now.

The Bliss quilt is almost finished. The top has actually been done for a month or two but I just haven't had time to quilt it yet. It's a gift for my mom's birthday - which is tomorrow! - but do you think there is anyway on earth I will actually finish? No. I thought I could knock out some quick free motion quilting, but after drooling at Brioni's quilt for so long I really wanted to go with these cathedral circles. So here I am at the ninth hour and not even half way done. But it looks great and I think my mom will be impressed once she finally gets the quilt! A sneak preview for her will have to do for now. Good thing moms are a forgiving bunch:)

And I'm just on the last leg of hand sewing the binding on this one, and I'm dying to show it to you but it's going to have to wait a couple more weeks! It's my very first tutorial and I'm a bit nervous about all my instructions working out. 

It's made with the new It's a Hoot line from Momo -  it's so cheery and vibrant and I couldn't wait to sew it up. Yardage is coming out soon and I'll definitely be investing in lots of the prints for the old stash.

Well I'm off for a rockin' Saturday night of quilting but I promise not to get too wild! 

I've discovered the secret.....

to successful quilt basting!

And Happy 100th Blog Post to me!

Dreamy Windmills Quilt

Before I do anything, I have to say a huge thank you to you all for such lovely, helpful and sometimes hilarious comments on my Arrrgh!!! post. You sure all do know how to make a girl feel better! When I first started blogging and flickring, it was to share my projects with whomever cared to see them, but I really think I've kept at it because all the supportive, caring - dare I say friendships? - I've made here. It's not that I don't have "real" friends in my "real" life, I've got lots of great ones, actually. But the kindred spirits I've connected with here understand the part of me that obsesses over fabric, curses my sewing machine and gets my panties in a bunch over quilts puckering. No one else in my life besides you guys gets it! So thanks for being here:)

I think all of your collective empathetic encouragement and sweet advice did the trick! Dreamy Windmills is by no means perfect, but guess what? No puckering! I adjusted my presser foot pressure as a few of you suggested and it really made a world of difference. Serves me right for not taking the totally free Bernina classes offered at my LQS that it never occured to me that was a big problem. I also succumbed to the temptation of basting spray for the back, but I doubt I'm pregnant yet so it's only my own brain cells I'm offing. And lots and lots of pins, every one I own, for the front.

We got outside to take a few shots this afternoon, but as you can see, autumn has landed in Seattle, and a blustery storm is rolling in.

Here is a more cozy indoor photo:

Isn't Dream On such a pretty line? I chose the orange stripe print from the line for the binding and I'm completely in love with the print I used for the back. It's a big cheater print that comes in two colorways and is perfect for backing if you're like me and usually just want to get to it and not have to bother piecing the back for interest. I used four charm packs combined with the Kona Ash solid in simple half triangle square Windmill blocks. If you're thinking it looks different than most Windmill quilts, it's probably because I set these on point. After it was washed and all cozy and crinkly, I decided there was still something missing, so I'm going back now and hand-quilting some of the star outlines. It measures a generous 60x60 and Mark thinks it's a little bit girly but somehow I doubt that will stop him from using it.

Welcome to the bunch, Dreamy quilt!

Oh yeah, you probably want to know who won the City Weekend jelly rolls! Here we go!

Number 284 Mary on Lake Pulaski

Number 293 Weatherbee:)

Number 71 Jennspen

Congratulations ladies! I'll be in touch soon to get your mailing addresses. I can't wait to see what you make with City Weekend!

Aaaargh!!!!

In the spirit of full disclosure, and because a little empathy always seems to help me feel better, I'm going  to share with you the crappy crafty day I'm having. As much as I love the tons of inspiration I get from reading blogs and cruising Flickr, sometimes I just have to wonder, are these people human? Some of these ridiculously talented crafters never seem to have a pucker, hole, bump, missed seam, chopped off point, crooked line or unintentional wonky quilt block in all the hundreds of gorgeous projects they endlessly churn out. And I have to love them, because the only make me aspire to be better. But I happen to be a mere mortal, and all this crafting is for me, a journey, as cliche as that sounds, of learning.  And the thing I love most about crafting is the process. But today, I would really rather be perfect!!! I just don't have time for this and I really wish I could be making forward progress instead of having to backtrack over all these mistakes! 

I thought I did quite a nice job basting my Dream On quilt and set out to try out some straight line quilting. I went really well on the City Weekend baby quilt and I thought I was finally starting to even like my walking foot. But damn it! PUCKERS! I don't know if this one is just too big and is tugging too much with it's weight, or if I just suck at straight line quilting. I have a Bernina 440 QE and it should be able to handle this. I'm bound and determined to get this one perfect. So I'm spending this morning during Lucy's naptime unpinning all 300 pins and tearing out the quilting I already did. Not my idea of fun. I'm trying to go without spray basting since we're trying for another baby, but I may just have to get out the gas mask and douse this thing full of toxic goo.

The other large pain in my arse today is my Kererra WIP. I've been making such progress and I've really been enjoying this knit - until I got to the shoulder. Take a closer look:

Yikes! I've tried picking these stitches up three times already and the join looks like absolute crap. So this afternoon I'm off to my fabulous new LYS to be rescued. This shop just opened a few weeks ago near my house and I was thrilled to find the woman who taught me most of what I know is working there! So I pray Annelie can help me move past this, and hopefully I'll even learn something.

If anyone out there has any advice to offer, I would love to hear. But first, I'm taking Lucy on a nice long walk on this blue sky morning to blow off some steam and look for some motivation to tackle these projects again. And if any of you need a to vent a little crafty frustration, feel free to let it go here:)

And if you haven't entered in the City Weekend giveaway yet, it's still going so pop into my previous post and leave a comment!

City Weekend Baby Quilt - and a giveaway!

I was hoping to get a few more sunny-day pictures of this little quilt before I showed it but it looks like the weather won't be cooperating today. So here it is, all washed and cozy and ready to be packaged up and sent to it's new owner in Portland, Oregon, who is being born today! Lucy has a new cousin, Harper, (isn't that a cool name?) and I thought this would be a perfect gift to welcome her arrival.

I am just adoring this new line, City Weekend, by Liesl Gibson of Oliver & S fame. The color palette is so vibrant and unique! I'm especially loving the bright tomato red, turquoise and golden yellows, so I chose to highlight those colors in the backing, border and binding. The rest of the quilt was made with just two charm packs and a bit less than a yard of solid. Half triangle squares and little four patches, sweet and simple. It measures about 42 x 48 and I made friends with my walking foot with just some simple straight line quilting. I also used bamboo/ cotton batting for the first time and I LOVE it! The loft is a touch higher than Warm and White so it's super squishy and soft. I based the design off of a traditional pattern I'd seen in some vintage quilts, but I think the fresh colors give it a modern feel. I should also mention that the hand of these fabrics is silky soft when you touch the yardage, more so than typical quilting cotton. I'm thinking Liesl must have had a say in choosing the base cloth to make the texture wonderful for children's clothing. Lucy will definitely be getting a dress made from these soon.

So are you thinking you might like to play around with these lovely prints too? Moda has generously given me not one, but three, jelly rolls to pass on to three of my lovely readers!!! You've got three separate chances to enter, too! For the first chance, just because I love hearing what everyone else is up to, leave a comment telling me what your big crafty project is this week. If you're a follower, leave another comment for another chance, and if you follow Moda Bakeshop, go ahead and enter for a third! I'll have random integer choose three winners on Thursday at 5 PM western time. Good luck!

In case you were wondering what my big project is this week, it's quilting up my Dream On quilt. I'm in serious finish-mode and it feels so good!

Have a great Monday!

My husband is gonna hate this hat....

But ask me if I care. I don't. I'm so proud of myself! This is my first ever hat-for-me and my first cable pattern. Cables have scared me off for a really long time but these were beyond simple and this was actually a very relaxing knit. I totally recommend it for anyone who has wanted to try cables but didn't know where to begin. If you can knit in the round, you can do this.

And to show you the fit, here is me playing self portrait model again, this time in the bathroom. I had to take a lot of these to even get one OK shot - and without the toilet in the background. I almost left in my beloved Heather Ross VW vans bathrobe that hangs on the wall, but I decided it was so cute it would distract from the hat.

Yep, Mark has already called this a Rastafarian hat. I had to take back some new jeans I bought recently because he said they looked like "swabbies", and who wants jeans to look unflattering to their guy? But the hat is staying. And you know the best part? It's loose so I can wear it all over on cold days but still not have total hat head.

Oh yeah, the pattern is free on Ravelry - Star Crossed Slouchy Beret - and mine is knit with a scrummy squishy Mirasol Miski baby llama yarn.

More on this next post - a new baby quilt from Oliver & S's new City Weekend line. The binding is only half on and I really don't count a quilt as finished until it's all washed and crinkly, but the sun was shining today and I'd like to get all the outside pictures of quilts while I still can. We never trust the weatherman in Seattle when he says tomorrow will be sunny too!

And I found a new method for taping down backing! Wine labels work beautifully! I'm always running out of tape when I decide to baste, so I was happy to find this roll in the garage. Don't worry, this vintage has already been bottled so these are just some leftovers who needed a job.

I might not be back until Monday but check in then for another giveaway! There's a hint in this post as to what it will be - and it's a good one!