Busy, Busy. But a Good Busy!

With my sew-jo is back in full force, there has been quite a bit of action in Julie Pickles Land. 

I have been getting myself acquainted with my new embroidery machine. It's taken me a lot longer than I expected, that's for sure. Heidi and I have been working through some kinks in the whole embroidery process together, she's been a fantastic help for me as a beginner. As we were discussing an issue in a little group we're a part of, another friend commented that, based on our conversations, she never wants to try her hand at machine embroidery. Heidi was all like "Hey, it's not sunshine and rainbows, that's for sure!" I'm paraphrasing actually, but that was the gist. And I have to agree! I'm an extremely tenacious person though and tackling things head on is what I do best. 

The biggest issue I have had is with puckering while embroidering on quilting cotton. Quilting cotton is just not strong enough to withstand really dense stitching and well, that's what I'm going to be embroidering on most!

This was one of the first things I tried embroidering.

A hot mess, right? Besides the puckering, there are places where the stitching doesn't even meet because the fabric had shifted so much. According to Facebook, I posted that picture in March 2, so I had only owned the machine for a week or so at that point. 

This is one I stitched over the weekend.

SO smooth!! It's amazing what some starch, the right stabilizers and a basting stitch can do! I'm ready to tackle that first design again!

I also figured out how to make monograms over the weekend through my digitizing program. And one evening I decided that I needed a new pouch for my Kindle. I had put it in one that I had already made when I bought it, and it was just too big and not protective enough. I wanted to be able to drop my Kindle in my purse and not worry about it bumping around in there. 

So I came up with this pouch. It's padded with soft and stable and the Kindle fits nice and snug inside.

As you can see, I made this one before I figured out my puckering issues with the embroidery.

I was showing it off in my little group when one of the girls, and a very good friend, piped up that she wanted one too! We discussed monograms and she asked for the same outer fabric as mine so this is hers.

Her pictures are nicer as I needed some really good photos because these covers are now listed in my etsy shop! That poor shop has been set up for 4 1/2 years and the only thing I have ever done is list fabric destashes in there. I promised the husband that I would put the embroidery machine to work if he let me get one so I finally got off my rear and did something with it. I couldn't until I figured out the puckering issues and now that I have I'm ready to branch out and do this. I'm still not confident enough to do other things yet, like custom embroidery for people, and shirts and stuff. I'll get there, but this is a start. 

You can see I have added mine and Bree's etsy shops up at the top in the tabbed area. Come check us out!

And since I have your attention, today is the last day for me to link up (scratch that, my brain quit working apparently, I missed the link up!) my June goals for A Lovely Year of Finishes. The last thing on my list for this quarter of the 2013 Finish a Long is to finish my cathedral window sampler, so that will be my June goal. 

It's pretty heavy already because of the cathedral windows. I'm pretty sure I'll use batting but I can't decide how best to quilt it. If you have any advice, I'm all ears! I actually thought about adding some tabs across the top and making it a wall hanging. Yay or nay? Seriously, any advice on how to finish this one up is very welcome!

Baby Quilt-a-Palooza

At the beginning of the year, when I made the mosaics of last year's projects, I included a couple of baby quilts that I had never blogged. I promised to blog them so here we are, along with a couple of recent finishes. 

Back in December, within a day of each other, I had two friends give birth. I was actually prepared for once and had the quilts ready to go when the babies arrived. My friends were nice enough to send me pictures of the quilts in use so we get to see babies! 

The first one was for a sweet new baby boy. I used the Insignia Tutorial over at BluePrint Textiles for this one. I didn't put any squares in mine though, just insignias. I used some prints from the Seven Seas collection by Cloud 9 as a starting point and added a pezzy print and some solids for a nice, bright palette.

Isn't he sweet?

The other one was for a beautiful baby girl. I used the Sweet Starlet pattern by Basic Grey for this one. My friend loves France so my starting point for hers was the J'adore Stella collection from Dear Stella. Actually, I think all of the prints were from that collection with the exception of the green and the pink one in the middle.

Look at this sweet squishy!

The next two are more recent finishes. The first one I recently posted the unfinished version of, the baby sized Wedgeulous. This one will be going to a very good friend who is expecting her first boy after having three girls! She doesn't know it yet, but considering I've made quilts for her other babies she probably has a good idea one is coming for her little man too ;)

I used a random assortment of prints from my stash for this one, along with some Essex linen in Natural. I quilted it the same way I quilted the larger one, by echoing the wedge shapes. 

Last, but certainly not least, one for my soon-to-be niece. This one was made using Bree's newest pattern (coming VERY soon!!), which I had the privilege of testing for her. The timing worked out perfect because she needed testers and I needed a quilt for my niece! The baby size calls for 1/2 yard cuts so I went digging through my stash to see what I had in that size. I usually buy fat quarters so my selections were limited, but I was very pleased with what I did find!

I paired it with the linen as well, I actually used what I had left over from Wedgeulous and ended up being able to squeeze out just enough. The pattern does not call for borders, but I added some, using what I had left of each 1/2 yard cut, to make it just a bit bigger.

I backed it in that same purple print from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom and bound it with another print from the same collection.

This finish and the new bag completes my May goals for A Lovely Year of Finishes!

And can I just say a Hallelujah for my tree finally blooming and giving me a decent background for my quilt shots? It was looking quite doomy and gloomy there for awhile!

Glutton for Punishment

I spent a good part of Wednesday reworking that tote bag that I wasn't in love with. I had an idea of what I wanted to do with it, but wasn't 100% sure how to carry it out. Once I figured it out though I couldn't wait to get to work. 

Because one time wasn't enough, I made another weekender! Well, sort of. More like a day tripper. 

I knew that, whatever I did, I wanted to add some kind of sides to it to help make it bigger. I only had so much to work with with those panels and sewing them to each other and creating gussets was taking away too much of them. It hit me at one point that the weekender had exactly that, and I already had that pattern so I didn't have to try to recreate it.

Problem was, not only were my panels not large enough, I didn't want another weekender. I wanted a purse!  So I copied the pattern at a reduced size, 75% to be exact.

The panels were a bit too short for that size, but they were wide enough. I couldn't go any smaller or else I would have been chopping them up even more, so I finagled some things a bit and was able to make it work.

As you can see, I used all of the fabric that was already involved in the original tote, complete with it's original pockets. I had to add the sides and a new zipper. I went ahead and added the piping detail too. I wish I had more of the black fabric that I used for the piping though. I wanted it to be where the green fabric is, and for the green to be my piping, but I was determined to use what I had on hand. Fortunately I had the foresight to order extra 18" zippers when I bought the one for the wallet, or I would have been stuck!

I made this little patch a few weeks back, just a little reminder to myself. I had to include it somewhere.

The wallet still looks too large for the bag.

But pictures can be deceiving!!

Here it is next to it's original counterpart. 

If I were to do it again, or had set out to make it this way in the beginning, I think I would have gone a bit smaller, to 50% even. And I probably would have added the other pockets. I do like it though, a lot. And I love that's it really roomy without looking like it. Oh, and I only used Soft and Stable for this bag, see how well it stands up next to the other one? It's much lighter too. That duck cloth really added to the final weight of the original one.

And you know what? The weekender pattern really isn't that hard to make. Now that I've done it twice I won't hesitate to make more.

Why Yes, I Did Make Myself Another Bag (and a Wallet!)

Back in March, when I realized that I would be able to attend my Grandpa's memorial service and that I would be flying for the first time in about 10 years, I decided I needed a new purse. I needed something smaller, less to travel with since I was planning on taking my weekender as a carry-on too. 

I purchased the Emmaline bag pattern that I had been eyeing for quite some time and set to work. It seemed like it was a pretty large bag, so I scaled it down a bit (90% I think). 

I liked the bag, the shape, the pattern and even the fabrics. Something about it wasn't screaming "JULIE!" though. Then I got to Phoenix and my Sister in Law saw the bag and declared her love for it. So I gave it to her. 

I snapped these pics at my Aunt's house before we all left since I forgot to take some when I finished it.

And because I get asked every time somebody sees it, that black print is Love City by Alexander Henry.

Well, that set me back one new purse so I started looking for my next one. I did like the Emmaline bag, but what I didn't realize is that the pintucks in the bottom of the bag caused it to kind of collapse when it was set down flat. That bothered me a bit. 

Then one night, during a sit and sew, a friend was working with some By Annie's Soft and Stable. I told her I had been wanting to try it out, so she gave me a huge piece from her stash to play with. 

I stared at that piece of stabilizer for about a week when I finally decided that I wanted to try the quilt as you go with it, very much like I (and everybody else) did when making the weekender. 

Let me tell you, I wouldn't hesitate to try to use this instead of the batting and duck cloth if I ever make another weekender. What a great product!!

I made two quilt as you go panels and then pieced them together into a simple tote. I gave it a little character by adding the straps using rectangle rings instead of sewing them directly in between the outer shell and the lining.

See the little pocket there on the outside? I totally didn't plan for those letters to end up centered like that and was pleasantly surprised when the did. That's my phone pocket!

I also added a zipper pocket on the inside, of course.

Well, after I put this bag together, Sara over at Sew Sweetness released her Greenbacks Trio wallet pattern. She had been posting sneak peeks on Instagram of them and I was waiting with baited breath for them to be released. I have gotten into a habit lately of just grabbing my wallet when I go into the store, but it didn't hold any more than my cards and some cash. I found myself at the checkout without my coupons or change many times and I hated that. 

Once I got my hands on the pattern I couldn't wait to get to work! I didn't have any zippers long enough though, and I live in Podunk so I couldn't get any local. Drats! So I ordered some and waited. (Got them from Zipit on etsy, SUPER fast service!)

I originally intended to use some of my Notting Hill Stash, but loved my scrappy tote bag so much that I went that route with the wallet too.

This was a very fun, albeit challenging, wallet to make. I did not install the zipper exactly like the instructions called for because I didn't want the extra hanging off of the wallet. It made it a bit more difficult to get that binding on because of it. I couldn't get it to open that far. My perseverance paid off though I think!

If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen a sneak peek of the inside. I used the cassette tape fabric as a focal point, and then chose tone on tone prints to coordinate with it. 

I totally love this wallet! So far it is holding my coins, all of my cards, my coupons, a pen, gum, and headache powders. I could probably even put my phone, complete with it's bulky Otter Box case, in there too. I left the bottom card slots open instead of sewing them into actual card slots. I don't have that many cards so I figured I could use them for cash, coupons, receipts, whatever. 

Now I have a problem. The wallet is too big for the tote bag!!

Don't you think? I have a plan to fix this though. I've already taken the tote bag apart again. Oh boy.

This was one of my Lovely Year of Finishes goals for May, and even though I've taken it back apart, I'm totally counting it as a finish. Now that my sew-jo is back maybe I can finish it again before the month is out! 

Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes and Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Bree

Well, nothing draws out the occasional bloggers like Amy's Creative Side's Blogger's Quilt Festival! Even though I never win anything, it's a blast going through all the posts and seeing the really cool quilts everyone has done.

I haven't shared many quilts lately, though I've been speedily sewing along. You can follow my instagram for more regular updates. If blogger could come up with a tap-tap-send app on the phone, I'd probably blog way more! Such a creature of convenience.

So, most of our regular readers haven't seen this finished quilt!

My quilt is made using Julie's new Tunnel Vision pattern, which is available on the sidebar. Seriously great pattern! I haven't given it a special name, because Tunnel Vision is pretty perfect.

Stats - 

Size: 58″x72″

Techniques: curved piecing, home machine free motion quilting

Quilting: Quilted by me on my domestic machine

Category: Home Machine Quilted Quilts

I love this quilt for it's simplicity. From a distance, you don't really get the details, but it is certainly a fun quilt. I used remnants of a Kona Poseidon bundle paired with Kona Chartruese, and a little pop of Michael Miller's Groovy Guitars. The back is the fabulous IKEA Britten Nummer fabric.. seriously great quilt back!

The fun came in with the quilting. I left the blue arches unquilted, and used a different technique in each separate green section! All of this was done using lime aurifil thread with a white aurifil bobbin on my domestic machine (A Janome 6600)

This section is easily my favorite. I'd love to do an entire quilt with this motif!

I even included a fun little sun motif. 

This quilt was an experiment in control and quilting different elements. I watched a bunch of Leah Day videos on youtube.. and since it was staying in the house (my four year old claimed it), there was no real fear of screwing it up.

Thank you for stopping by and peeking at my quilt! Go on over to Amy's Creative Side to check out the others!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Hey guys, guess what? Come a little closer, I have something to tell you. I'm going to whisper it really quietly though, so I don't scare it off. 

*I think my sew-jo might have come back*

It's a slight possibility, but still a good chance. I spent the better part of yesterday actually MAKING stuff, with my sewing machine!! And and and.....When I had to stop and make dinner, I couldn't wait to get back to it!

So while I keep on trucking so I'll have something to actually share with you guys, I'm going to throw in an entry to the Blogger's Quilt Festival to at least give you something to look at in the meantime.

Now, it hasn't been that long since I posted this one, so I do apologize for shoving it in your faces yet again, but it was fun and I enjoyed making it!

My entry is my Storm at Sea mini that I made as part of a doll quilt swap.

This quilt measures at 16" and was entirely paper pieced.

There are some very tiny pieces in there! I think the larger diamond shapes measured somewhere in the vicinity of 2"x 3" if that tells you anything. 

I made this during my annual weekend retreat at my friend Karen's house. I spent almost the entire weekend working on it. Paper piecing isn't my favorite type of piecing, but doing it in the presence of friends actually made it quite fun!

I'm entering this into the wall hanging category, Come check out the other entries. There are multiple categories this year, so don't forget to see them all!