One Thing, One Week Challenge 5

This week Amy of Amy's Creative Side is hosting another One Thing, One Week challenge. This was a short week for me as I was visiting my parents and away from my sewing machine until Saturday, but I was able to use the challenge to motivate me to complete a small, but important WIP. When my son was born I had made myself two pairs of pads for absorbing breast milk leakage using flannel on the inside, fleece on the backside, and a layer of Warm n Natural on the inside. I wanted to try them out before making more to make sure I liked them. Turns out I did like them, but it's two months later and I still hadn't gotten around to making more!

I decided to play around with a couple more different materials. I decided to use the fabric form an old pair of 100% cotton pajama pants that had finally torn beyond use. The cotton is old and worn, and thus very soft, so I thought it'd feel nicer against the sensitive skin. I also wanted to play with the inner absorptive materials. I ended up making one pair with Warm n Natural again, one pair with a pair of disposable breast pads inside, and one pair with a couple of outgrown diapers cut down to size inside.

Not the most glamorous finish, but an important one.  I will be trying them out this week and will be sure to report back which is the most comfortable after wear and washing, or if there was no noticeable difference.  :)

Kelsey

Linking up at:

Friday Night Sew-In

My goal for November's Friday Night Sew-In was to finish this set of four pillow shams for my mom for Christmas, but since she follows my blog I couldn't post about it until I had the chance to give them to her. We are visiting my in-laws this Christmas, so we had Christmas with my parents early this year, putting up the tree and opening presents the day after Thanksgiving. I'm only a week late. ;) Perhaps my tardiness can be made up for in the epicness of my sew-in - I actually pulled an all-nighter to finish these before my flight the next morning!

This gave me a chance to try piecing some more complicated blocks. I spent a while on the internet seeking inspiration for different blocks that would both look good in the fabrics I had purchased and would match the style of the couches.

This block I developed myself. I wanted to use this sort of pinwheel/star shape I had seen online, but wanted it to be a little more complex, so I added a border and turned it on point.

The pattern for the next pillow came from here. I think it may be my favorite of the set. It was the last one I made, so it definitely was the best constructed.

This was adapted fairly faithfully from here, with a slight change around in which pieces I made share the same fabric.

And last but not least, this pillow was taken from here.  This one was made first and has the most construction issues. The only real piecing I've done up to this point was just rows of squares set on point, so I had a bit to learn along the way here. :)

This is what the shams all look like on the back, and each is stuffed with a 16" pillow form from Joann's.

Overall I am quite pleased with the outcome. :)

Kelsey

P.S. The solid pink is really more of a rose than it shows in these pictures....but my flight left before it was going to be light again, so all I could get was night photos. :)

Quilted Halloween Table Runner

This is officially my first entirely complete quilting project, and my piece for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. :) I've been binding like a maniac all day trying to get it done before the linky closed; finished with just 36 minutes to spare. :P Obviously I've totally blown my original goal of Halloween, but hey, I'll have it for next year, right? I love the colors, so I'll probably keep it out until Thanksgiving anyways.

I've recently been falling in love with a number of Robert Kaufman fabrics. I'm still drooling on the inside waiting to start on my Dr. Seuss quilt...but I digress. I spotted this fabric in my LQS, and loved the colors so much I had to buy it, even though I had no project planned. I didn't actually notice it was a Robert Kaufman fabric until I started working with it weeks later - gave me a little chuckle. The pictures here really don't do the fabric justice.

This project is significant to me because its my first completed quilt project (though not the first to be started - I've got a couple UFOs/WIPs laying around yet). I didn't actually do a true binding, but rather folded the back around to the front. I wanted to do a traditional binding, but I ended up realizing I wasn't going to have enough fabric to do so and keep the lines all running in one direction, but I think it looks fabulous anyways. I've never done any binding by hand before - I think I much prefer the look to the machine binding I've done.

This was also my first time piecing, and of course I had to decide to do my squares on point just to make it harder. :P My points don't nearly line up consistently, but I don't really notice it when I just look at it as a whole. It's amazing how those flaws fade from a distance compared to up close examination while working on it.

I also changed up how I usually do my applique. I usually turn it under as I go and stitch by hand with an invisible stitch, but this time I instead first stitched around each letter, turned it under and pressed it, and then used a zig-zag stitch all around on my machine. Definitely went much faster, and I like how the thicker lines around the letters help keep the prints from fighting as much as they did otherwise by creating a barrier between them. Plus that bright orange thread is just pretty. :)

I'm thinking I'll use the scraps to make a 2-4 matching mug rugs. :)

I didn't have a chance to wash it before taking pictures, so please pardon the visible washable marker. I'll be updating the post with better pictures of it washed in the morning when I have a chance.

Kelsey

Linking up to Sew & Tell.