Too much swap freedom = headache

I signed up to participate in a mug rug swap. It was a no-holds-bar sort of a thing. I liked that idea, although having that much freedom for creativity seemed to turn mine off :)
I asked my swap partner what colors she did NOT like or wanted me to stay away from, and that was basically my only restriction. Jenna, if you are reading this, stop, close your eyes, and exit this post if you want to be surprised.







So, I tried a few different ideas for this mug rug. I wanted to try out some new piecing designs that I have seen on other great blogs....not all of them went well!

My first attempt was a pieced-in circle. I had read Angela's (of Cut to Pieces) Tutorial
On which she made it look easy peasy!! I think I should have started with a bigger diameter circle for my first attempt! It ended up rather puckered even with the snipped notches






Okay, truthfully, my first attempt at this was even sillier than that. Angela even said Right in her Tutorial, make sure to cut the circle .5" bigger than the exterior square - so of course, I forgot to adjust my circle size. Instead of wasting it, I thought I would try to zig-zag topstitched the two together. Also puckered a bit - GRRRRRRRRR. SCRAP THAT IDEA FOR NOW AND MOVE ON! I finally did.






I moved on to a cute scrappy triangle, paper pieced concept. Tutorial by AmandaJean over at Crazy Mom Quilts had a tutorial



Wow, does making each of these take some time for as little as they are! I cannot imagine making the like hundred of these that she must have made for her cute pillow! I'll likely make these again sometime as it would be a good scrap buster.







I actually liked this mini top, except when I got done I decided the execution had a bit to be desired. Plus, I remember afterward that the ONLY color she did not particularly want was yellow, of which there is quite a bit of for "pop" Ooops.

So, I decided to try yet another idea that i have been seeing around blogland instead. I didn't have a pattern or anything since I needed such a small scale, so I decided to wing-it. I think this it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I had several stupid Quilter moments, but I survived as did my seam ripper (which was my friend as the binding fought with me every step of the way - no seriously, cut wrong, tried to "splice," cut wrong Again, tried to re-patch further back, puckered, took off the entire binding, THREW IT IN THE TRASH, re-cut a binding, and attached it without issue. Really, i'm not sureif I was more annoyed at the one that would not cooperate for an hour or that the next went on in 5 minutes!)












SIGH OF RELIEF, first swap project complete and in the mail. While I was frustrated at times, I will so do another swap! Hope my partner likes it as I LOVED the one she sent me.






Isn't it fantastic?!? SO cute! Go see Jenna's other work at Sew Happy Geek






-Sew Sane Jane
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

Bee Block

If you are a "contact" on flickr sorry - I posted it a week or so ago when I first sent the blocks, but am just getting my post up now.





I recently got to join the do. Good stitches quilting bee. April was our first month of sewing. Our "Quilter" this month chose a great set of colors and give us a great herringbone tutorial.
I used some stash fabrics (I know some are from the newish Sugarpop Moda line) and some others that I don't remember the names of.
I can't wait to see the finished top once everyone sends in their blocks!

-Sew Sane Jane
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

A More Insightful Bib

Are you getting sick of Photo Bib posts yet? Sorry. I tend to get on kicks (they are usually brief though, so hang in there). I have previously posted about photo bibs, here and here.

Originally the conception was to create a set of onesies that would display how old baby was for monthly picture updates. Worried about baby not being "true to size," I was hesitant to make them - thus was born the bib idea. In looking for bib patterns, I came across this Cute pattern and all - but I was worried about it only fitting up to about 4 months.


Eyeballing it, I used the same basic pattern by enlarged it (mentally, not the pattern itself which might have been a mistake). They turned out cute, but the one is fit for like a 10 year old!


Online a bit ago, I found the idea to make a bib of a completely different shape. I made this instead for my number bib. I love this shape, but it is pretty modern.




A friend of a friend wanted one to give as a gift, but like the original shape better. Wanting numbers for months 1-12, I went back to the drawing board.
Finally, inspiration hit. A bib that would allow for a variety of neck sizes; one that would "grow" with baby. Instead of a back velcro closure, I make a dual sided button closure. Two buttons on each side allow for you to control the neck size.










Some of these available on my ETSY store. More soon to come.

-Sew Sane Jane
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

Giveaway Winner!

Giveaway Winner day!

So I went to RANDOM.ORG, then to choose integer. Told the computer to choose 1 number from the range of 1-20 (number of comments left here) and it chose #3
(Nancy D. said...

This is one of the things I plan to make for Christmas presents. Thanks for chance to win one!

April 14, 2011 8:10 AM )!

 

So Congratulations Nancy D! Look for an e-mail from me in the next little bit and we will identify which Koozie you are interested in and all that fun jazz!

Thanks for playing along and helping me celebrate my first Moda Bake Shop recipe.

-Sew Sane Jane

Wow, I was Featured!

I am featured on Moda Bake Shop today! How exciting! Pop on over to check out the Recipe for the "Cozy Wine Koozie."

To celebrate, let's have a giveaway!
Two ways to enter:
1) leave a comment on this blog
2) "follow" this blog and tell me you did so in an additional comment.

*be sure you are a "reply" blogger, or else leave your e-mail address in your comment so I can get ahold of you if you win!

One lucky winner will get a Cozy Wine Koozie of their choice (see below).
I will draw (Mr. random seems to be the best source) one lucky winner on Monday (April 18). Good Luck!































-Sew Sane Jane

A Bib for the Ages

So, some months ago a friend came up with the idea of a "picture prop" for all those fantastic mommies and daddies that like to take monthly update pictures of their cuties.  We started with the idea of a onesie which morphed into an idea for a bib.  I attempted this concept once before; with that particular bib pattern I only made 1-4 months as I was afraid that the bib would not fit too well thereafter.

A friend of a friend was looking at the bib and asked about making it useful for longer.  Searching I went online for a new bib pattern.  I searched and found Lots of cute ones, but none that I was confident about sizes with.  Then, I stumbled upon a cute tutorial (of which I have already lost - I am so sorry.  If you are reading this and recognize it, let me know - I Want to give credit to the creator of the bib shape!).

I decided to change the dimensions up a bit to make it 9.5" in length, 9.5" wide at the bottom, and 7.5" wide at the top.

I made the numbers and letters in a Word document, adjusted to the desired size, and printed on plain paper to use as a template for the numbers and the "mo". I then cut the letters out of just the red flannel, and cut the numbers out of a cream felt (for sturdiness and durability) and the red flannel.  I topstitched the mo to the top later of fabric along with a .5" bit of sew-on velcro.

I then sewed the "Wild Thyme" fabric to a plain cream colored Kona solid (I don't actually remember the exact color - it was some leftover from a previous project), attached the flannel "bias tape," and attached velcro to the back of each of the numbers.

How cute right?!?  I actually intended this to be a "gender neutral" set of color choices.  While the colors themselves are gender neutral, I think that the Wild Thyme fabric ended up looking a bit girly.  Apparently, I have trouble picking out fabrics that don't make me say, Awww when it comes to babies (as this is my 3rd attempt to find neutral fabrics).  Ah, well.  I think it is adorable anyway. 

It is currently for sale in my Etsy shop!

Linking up with

I won, I won, I won!

So I don't mean to flout it (ok, I do, but not rudely so), but I won an AMAZING!!! Giveaway from JayBird Quilts and Fat Quarter Shop about a month ago.
I was lucky enough to win the BYOG giveaway, which was amazing as it was a $100 build your own giveaway. (seriously, amazing - I never win anything).

Anyway, I went shopping and found that while the Fat Quarter Shop has great deals, I found SO many fantastic things I wanted.

Julie at Jaybird Quilts has made some very fabulous patterns. She had been blogging about them and I knew I was going to have to get one (some) even before I won. I ended up choosing



The Fast Forward pattern - although it was a tough call as they all look tempting!
The pattern utilizes a new ruler, the "Lazy Angle," so I got that too!

And I got some great fabrics...


A fat quarter set - Blue Jay Penny Lane




Some yardage of the Ty Pennington "Impressions" line


Some cute yardage for an upcoming swap.


And a cute pale green/white print and some Kona Charcoal.


HOW EXCITING! Thanks again to Julie of JBQ and Fat Quarter Shop for such Fantastic goodies!


-Sew Sane Jane
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)