RJR Cotton Supreme Solids Blog Hop + Giveaway

I have discovered a new fabric-line love.  Well, obsession, really.  When some of my favorite fabric designers joined forces to create Cotton + Steel, a division of RJR Fabrics, I knew it was going to be fabulous.  I may have underestimated just how fabulous...my sewing studio is now overflowing with gorgeous prints that I have been using in just about every project lately.  When RJR Fabrics saw some of my work on Instagram and asked if I'd like to participate in their What Shade Are You Cotton Supreme Solids Blog Hop, I immediately agreed.  And then realized that I don't often create with solids.  In fact, I usually only use them as zip pouch linings.  Uh oh.

When I got the Cotton Supreme Solids color card in the mail, I may have done a little dance.  I was hoping to create a wallet using one of my new favorite Cotton + Steel prints (Memory in Aqua from Playful by Melody Miller) and coordinating solids.  But I had NO idea how many gorgeous solids there are in the collection, or that they go so beautifully with my favorite prints.  As I stitched up my wallet, I realized that I had to show off these colors more.  So I made a second project.

Inspired by the hexies in the Cotton + Steel print and the English paper piecing project I have been working on, I decided on a mini quilt to showcase the amazing colors of the Cotton Supreme Solids.  Using the English paper piecing glue basting method from Katja Marek's The New Hexagon, and the hexie quilt gluing method from Modern Handcraft, I was able to put this together rather quickly.  I think it may be my favorite project.  Ever.

These fabrics quilted up amazingly well.  I used Aurafil 50wt, and it was like sewing through butter. The background is Cotton Supreme Solid in Moonlight.  I also used Toyboat, Hot Pink, Kelly Green, Redwork, and my new (surprising!) fav, Goldilocks.

The back (in Goldilocks) came out just as awesome as the front.  Did I mention that I love math and geometrics?! Binding is Arrows in mint by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cotton + Steel.

So now I have a fab new wallet and matching mini.  This baby will be going on the wall in my studio.    This project has inspired me to look at solids in a whole new way.

Inspired to make your own?  RJR is giving away a fat quarter bundle of the solids that I used in my projects.

Just enter below.  Open to residents of the US and Canada.  Winner will be announced here on Monday!

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Friday Finishes

This week, I finished a mini quilt for the Ocean Wave Quilters Guild scholarship auction.  I have never made a true mini quilt.  I was inspired by this half-square triangle mini on Pinterest.

I decided that if I was going to make a mini quilt, it was going to be very mini.  I started with a design made on a grid.

My final blocks are 1" squares.  I continued the 1" white squares through the whole quilt, rather than adding on a large triangle to the bottom right corner (which would have been SO much easier!).  I underestimated the difficulty of lining up 1" square rows!  It's not perfect, but it's art, and art isn't perfect.  The quilt measures 17" x 18".

 I used all scraps for this project, aside from the Moda white solid.  There are bits from Cotton + Steel, Tsuru by Rashida Coleman-Hale, and some Art Gallery Lace Elements.

I love how the quilting turned out.  I struggled with tension on the back for awhile before getting it right.  Well worth the effort!

If you'll be in Sitka the first week of March, stop by the auction!

WIP Wednesday

It seems that I always have at least 3 projects going at a time.  Usually more.  Here's a look at what I have in progress this week.

First up, I finished the January portion of The New Hexagon Millefiore quilt-along.  Whew.  It measures about 36" across.  It's been fun so far, and great to have a project that I can work on practically anywhere.  Now that I'm waiting for the February block instructions to be released, I don't quite know what to do with myself while waiting at piano lessons and wrestling practice.

I'm also working on this tiny quilt.  It's the first true mini quilt that I've made, and it's for my local quilt guild's mini quilt auction in March.  The guild raises money for scholarships each year.  I decided to torture myself with 1" blocks.  Some of them are made up of two half-square triangles.  Eek.  It's turning out well, and all that's left is binding. If I finish it up this week, I'll share more about it on Friday!

I initially wanted to quilt in a rainbow of colored thread.  But I couldn't get the thread tension quite right for some reason, and the stitching on the back was not good.  Oh well.

The back, with quilting complete

I'm also still working on a new quilt for my bed.  I started it in September and meant to finish it up this month.  Oops.  Not gonna happen.  It includes gorgeous fabric from the Indelible collection by Art Gallery Fabrics.  And it's all straight lines.  You'd think I would be able to zip right through it, but I keep getting distracted by other ideas.  More on that next week!

The New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt-Along

It's been quite awhile since I've blogged, mainly because I've been busy sewing things for my shop.  Now that the holidays are over, I'm taking a break to work on some projects for myself.  I use Instagram on a daily basis, for ideas and inspiration.  I've been admiring some pics of Millefiori-style quilts for months.  These quilts are meant to represent Italian glasswork that has a kaleidoscope effect.  They are also sewn ENTIRELY by hand.  Yikes.  If you know me, you've probably heard me say how much I dread hand-sewing.  If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably also noticed my obsession with the gorgeous, modern prints from new fabric company Cotton + Steel.  I just want to buy it all up and use it for everything.  I've probably become one of Hawthorne Threads' best customers.

Thanks to Instagram, I stumbled upon The New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt-Along.  Created by Katja Marek, author of The New Hexagon, it's a Millefiore-style quilt composed of English paper pieced hexagons.  I thought this might be my only chance to actually complete a quilt like this, one portion a month.  And since I am using only fabrics that I absolutely love from Cotton + Steel, I have a great motivation to work on it.

Just a small portion of my fabric selections!

PaperPieces.com is putting together packs of the correct shapes for each rosette (what they are calling each monthly section of the quilt).  You can also copy them out of The New Hexagon  and then cut them all out yourself, but it's SO worth it to have someone do that all for me.

Here are some pics of my progress this month. January has the largest rosette of all the months, and it was a bit overwhelming at first to think that I might not finish before February!  But it's now looking like I will be done within the next few days.  Katja suggests the glue-basting method, which is a huge time-saver.

I have been loving this portable project more than I thought possible.  I sew every evening while watching TV, bring it to my son's wrestling practice, and even to my daughter's piano lessons.  There is a fabulous group on Facebook (with over 1000 participants!) where others are showing their progress.  It's an open group--stop on by and browse through the amazing photos, and remember that most people are doing this entirely by hand.  Wow.

Giveaway Day: Foxy Pleated Pouch

Welcome to Giveaway Day (week!) via Sew, Mama, Sew!

I recently changed my shop name from a.Amelia handmade to accesSEWrize handmade, and to celebrate I'm giving away this cute foxy pleated pouch.  It is sized to hold business cards, credit cards, coffee punch cards, etc.  It has a magnetic snap closure and a D-ring that can be attached to your key ring.

Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Giveaway Day: Fabric de-stash

Welcome to Giveaway Day (well, week) via Sew, Mama, Sew!

I have had this great fabric by Lizzie House in my stash for far too long without finding just the right project for it, so I'm offering it up to you instead.  It includes a half yard each of the top two, and about a quarter yard of the bottom print.

Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.  Thanks for stopping by!


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a.Amelia handmade is now accesSEWrize handmade

Big news around here!  In an effort to make my shop name more descriptive of what I love to create, I am changing the name to...

I absolutely love my new logo.  My very creative cousin over at Harvest Joy Designs made it for me.  She took my ideas and used her graphic design genius to give them life.  Thanks so much, Amy!

So, what will this change mean for you?  Well, not a whole lot, since you are probably already familiar with the fun accessories that I like to stitch up.  But since I'm entering a new market with my products (hello, Sitka, Alaska!), it's a good time to make the switch.  I originally named my business after my daughter, who loves fun fabric prints probably even more than I do. Now it's time to take my shop to the next level, and that starts with a snappy new name!

Keep an eye out on my Facebook page.  Facebook has approved my business name change effective April 15, so I will be hosting a giveaway to celebrate!  You can already find my new name in my Etsy shop, and I will be stocking it with all new items for sale soon.

If you're in Sitka, come on down and see me on April 12 at the Rainy Day Bazaar, from 10-4 at the Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Meridian Cardigan: pattern tour and giveaway!

You haven't heard much from me lately.  Not at all in the past three months, really.  Well...remember how our family just moved over the summer.  Surprise! We're moving again.  Back to Alaska. In two weeks.  Thank you, US Coast Guard.  We are very excited to go back so soon.  But it was really unexpected, so we have been scurrying around trying to get all the details figured out.  Before all of this came about, I signed on as a stop on the imagine gnats pattern tour.  I'm so glad I did, as it gave me a good reason to get out my much-neglected sewing supplies and make up something cute.

In honor of my girlie's 8th birthday, I chose to make the girls' Meridian Cardigan.  Today is her birthday, in fact.  And she has all the sass that an 8-year-old should.

This pattern was really simple to sew up, and it came out just fine using an easy zigzag stitch.  Getting a serger is at the top of my to-do list!

I got these adorable knits from Girl Charlee.  I have been looking for an excuse to place an order from her, and am so glad I finally found one.

My favorite part about the cardi?  It's reversible!  Because sometimes you feel like a bunny, and sometimes you don't.  Can you tell we have a *tiny* obsession with purple?

This pattern is rock-jumping approved.  And that's important when you're eight.

All patterns in the imagine gnats pattern shop are 20% off for the month of January with the code "januarytour"so be sure to stop by and take a look at the selections for kids and adults.

Even better, you can enter to win a copy for yourself.  Just use the Rafflecopter widget below.  Winner will be chosen on January 31, after the movers have left my house with all of my stuff!  Leave a comment on my blog with your best moving tip for an extra entry.

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Quick and Easy Halloween School Treat

This isn't sewing-related, but you have probably figured out by now, especially if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, that I love to bake, too.  Last year, I made some awesome pretzel and white chocolate spider web treats for my son's pre-k class.  I planned to make the same this year for kindergarten.  But then I realized that he has 150% more kids in his class this year (25!!).  And the spider webs take quite awhile to get just right.  Not to mention that we walk to school every day, and I am afraid of what would happen to them if they got ostled around.  So I simplified the treat into spiders.

Eight legs.
White chocolate chips melted to make a dollop in the middle for the body.
Two raisin eyes.
Done!
And easy enough for my kindergartener to help with.  We love the combination of the salty pretzels and sweet white chocolate.  Just enough for a treat, but not so much sugar that the kids go batty!

Simple Cork Board Makeover

With school in full swing, my refrigerator is getting cluttered up with drawings and spelling tests.  And they always fly off when the dog passes by with his big tail wagging.  I seem to have found my crafty mojo again (finally!!), so we did a quick project today to help the kids organize their own favorite pieces of school work (and get them out of the kitchen).

We bought simple cork bulletin boards at Ikea.

Everything else came from my stash.  I let the kids choose a fabric.  Good thing, too, because they both chose something that I wouldn't have expected them to like.  I cut each fabric into a rectangle about an inch and a half wider on each side than the framed bulletin board.  I didn't worry about exact measurements.

Then I went through my glue selection and found this!  I sprayed each board very well with glue, centered the fabric over it, and then just smoothed it on.  Then I turned the boards around, sprayed the frame edges, and wrapped the fabric toward the back.

Voila!  They came out better than I expected for the little time they took.

I always go to fabric first when trying to pretty something up.  And this time it didn't even involve the sewing machine.  I love easy projects!

Some sewing for you, some sewing for me

We are in a new school district this year, and the schedule has really thrown us for a loop.  Now that I have one in kindergarten and one in second grade, everyone asks me what I do all day while they're in school.  Th answer: I run around like a crazy person.  My little guy in K gets out of school earlier than my daughter in 2nd.  Every day of the week.  Three days a week, he comes home shortly after lunch.  The other two days, he gets out a bit later, but still an hour earlier than the upper grades.  So I walk to and from school three times per day.  Make that 4 if it's Monday, because that's my day to volunteer in kindergarten.  After a month of school, I'm still trying to figure out how to fit in working out and household chores.  Sewing is squeezed in here and there, but not nearly as much as I would like!

I came up with a grand idea a couple of weeks ago to focus the business aspect of my sewing a bit more, and concentrate on one of my favorite things to make: wallets.  I'd like to eventually have everything streamlined down to two collections, one featuring fun prints (The Whimsy Collection) and one with a bit more versatile solids and just a pop of color on the inside (The Classic Collection).  The idea was to whip up samples of three or four wallet styles in each collection, and launch them all at once in my shop.  But with my current schedule, that could take months!  Still keeping the same general game plan in mind, I'm going to give you a sneak peek of the first in the Whimsy Collection right here.  These are the largest wallets I will be making, from a pattern by Emmaline Bags.  For me, this is the ultimate wallet for organizing everything in one place.  It has 12 card slots, an inside zip pocket for change, two slip pockets for checkbook/cash/receipts, and extra spots inside where you can even stash your phone.  I added a wrist strap and could make a long cross-body strap as well.  Here are some quick snaps to give you an idea of the style:

 I'm still working out the pricing on these, factoring in materials and the time it takes to make them, as they are very detailed.  Next on my list is to make up some in solid canvas and linen.

Now to the sewing for ME part!  Have you heard about Selfish Sewing Week?  It's next week, and the perfect reason for me to put aside my other projects and focus on several that have been on the back burner for myself.

I went to Jo-Ann's today after realizing that I may need to tone down my fabric choices a bit from those in my stash if I am going to make something that I will actually wear. I had planned to use these: a beautiful (but large-scale) print voile and a minty striped knit.

My plan is to finally make myself a Washi Dress, and also try out this knit skirt from icandy handmade.

I got a more subdued gray and gold geometric print for the dress, and some brown knit for the skirt that I plan to add an applique to.  I also found a lawn on the sale rack that may end up as a tunic version of the Washi Dress.  If I have time.  Ha.

Now to get everything cut out this weekend so that next week, all I have to do is sew, sew, sew.