Eek, it's been a while...

So it has pretty much been well over a year since I have sewed anything. I guess life happens sometimes...

I just began a little volunteer gig teaching sewing to kids, so I guess that rekindled my flame for sewing. I also discovered a new (to me) fabric shop called Sew Memphis. The two women who own it are charming and the whole shop is beautifully decorated. Nothing like an well styled shop to show off some beautiful fabric.  I bought a few fat quarters and random yardage. 

I had promised the boyfriend that I would make him a computer sleeve a few months ago, so that seemed like the perfect first project back. 

Front, with a button/elastic closure

Inside

I realized my style really didn't change after this sewing hiatus...still love the simple modern fabrics, paired with some sort of natural cotton or linen. 

Hexies!

At the September meeting of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild, we learned how to make hexagons and diamonds using a technique called "English Paper Piecing". I have admired hexagons on other blogs for quite some time now but was intimidated by what I thought would be too finicky of a technique for me. However, they are actually quite simple to make.

I made this wall piece for my parents room. It is very simple but cute. Plus, it matches their quilt :) 

Quilted macbook case

Front (the coloured bit at the top is the front of the velcro flap)

I made myself this quilted case for my computer. It has a few of the fabrics I am currently obsessed with (hence why my last few projects have all looked very similar). 

Close up of back   (echino <3  )

Back of case 

I am definitely starting to get the hang of these cases, now that I have made three. I really enjoy making them as they are both pretty and functional.

Inside lining of case and back of velcro flap. 

Bon voyage, Lake!

Modern wall quilt

My little brother moved to Paris, France last week to attend Sciences Po for a school exchange. I made him a couple going away presents. I made him a quilted wall hanging as wall decor is probably not going to be high on his 'to buy' list for his new place. I didn't take a pic of the back but it is a funky coloured wine bottle print, which I thought was appropriate given he is going to France.

One side of the eye mask 

 I also made him a sleep mask. I thought this was a very necessary gift after he told me he sometimes puts a pillow over his face to keep the light out in the morning. I think that an eye mask is a much safer alternative to a pillow...it has a much lower risk of smothering. I have been obsessed with bird fabric lately so both side of the mask used bird fabric.

Other side of the eye mask

Best quilting day EVER!!!

Side view

I quilted my first quilt on a longarm machine today. It was the most incredible quilting experience I have  ever had. I went to Red Red Bobbin, located just outside Brantford, Ontario.  Louise and Jim, the lovely and super kind couple that own Red Red Bobbin were the greatest teachers. As most of you know, I am a totally self-taught quilter (and even sewer, I guess) so I have a lot to learn about the technical aspects of the art. They taught me everything I needed to know to be able to work the longarm on my own...however, it was a lot of information so they helped me every step along the way. 

Robin the Longarm and I (Jim took this photo and emailed it to me minutes later without me even knowing!) 

I was pretty set on just doing some sort of free hand design, maybe some loops and swirls. When I got to the studio though, I soon realized that I might as well try a pantograph. Louise and Jim were able to find one that was exactly how I wanted my design to look and that was going to be okay for a beginner. I am so so so happy with how it turned out. It wasn't easy but I am sure I will improve with practice. Now all that's left is the binding! 

 I highly highly recommend Jim and Louise at Red Red Bobbin. The offer long arm lessons as well as their own quilting services where you can send them the top/back and they will quilt it for you.

Quilted iPad case

Front (the coloured bit at the top is the front of the velcro closure flap)

 I made this iPad case for my boyfriend. I used some of the fabric scraps from the quilt I am making for him as I am in love with the colours. I made it using the same idea I used for my Mom's  kindle case.

Back 

I'm not sure if you can see it very well in the photo but I made sure to include my tag in the case. It is a tree on one side and says 'by sky' on the other.

Inside lining and back of closure flap

Toronto Modern Quilt Guild: Kaufman Challenge Complete!

I finally got around to binding this quilt. I was having a tough time thinking of a binding that would look good with all the colours and was still kind of funky. My Mom actually came up with the idea to use the same one that I used on her mug rug. However, I only had about 12 inches left of that binding. I decided to check out a fabric store in the east end that has some quilting fabric. Oddly enough, when I got there, sitting right smack dab in the middle of the cutting table, was the exact same Michael Miller gray polka dotted fabric I had used for my Mom's mug rug. Very weird but I was obviously thrilled that I was able to find the fabric I had in mind.

 In the end, I think the binding was a perfect fit. I LOVE the wrinkly look after it's been washed.

Kaufman quilted

I haven't been doing any crafty stuff because I was in MEXICO! My amazing parents surprised me with a trip to Mexico last Tuesday as a graduation present. It was a wonderful trip!

Here are some process shots of the Kaufman quilt. It seems like it's taken ages. I had some machine difficulty at the beginning of the quilting part. The owner of my local sewing store was incredibly helpful and kind and fixed my machine for me on the spot. 

 I really love the quilting design I chose to do. It was very fun to quilt (once I got my machine fixed...).

Ooh, you can see a tiny bit of the back. I will wait to show the whole back until I finish the binding.

Kaufman Top Done

This is the finished quilt top for the Kaufman Challenge. It's simple but I really like how it turned out. 

Toronto Modern Quilt Guild -- Robert Kaufman Challenge

I joined the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild last month. They have been working on a challenge since March but I was able to participate as well, I just have less time to complete it. 

The rules were pretty simple. We were given a kona solids charm pack in the 'dusty' palette. We had to use the charm pack, plus only ONE metre of ONE additional fabric (could be solid or print). I chose a light grey linen/cotton blend as my extra fabric. I also went with a design where I wouldn't have to cut up the charm squares too much as I wanted the quilt to turn out a functional size.         

I am going to add a grey border and then the top will be finished. There are no rules about what we can use for the back and binding... I have a few ideas of what I want to do for the back.

Mug Rug!

I realized something as I was making this project...I have a style! At first I was thinking that all my stuff looked the same and was kind of thinking I might be boring. But then if you think of it as more of a distinct style, that is pretty cool. I think it is because I am officially obsessed with linen and bright colours. That's why the lavender pillow, linen quilt, kindle case and now this mug rug all go together.

Mug rug- front

I made this mug rug for my friend Sarah for her birthday. You might be asking "oh golly! what in the world is a mug rug?", well, a mug rug is kind of like a giant coaster, but it's bigger and has room for your mug and a snack, like a cookie! You really don't need a whole plate for a cookie but it would be too messy to just set on your desk, so you need a mug rug! It's literally a super mini quilt, so it is totally machine washable for times when you put your fresh baked ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies onto your mug rug, or spill your pink forever nuts tea on it :)

Mug rug- back

Sewn scarf for Lake

This is a scarf I made for my brother, Lake. He designed it and picked out the linen fabric, and I sewed it. 

Front- the colours are navy blue, chocolate brown and off-white linen.

 Sorry for the bad quality pictures! My camera ran out of batteries and I had to take these pics with my computer.

Close up of front

If you couldn't already tell, I LOVE linen so I was very happy with the fabric used for this scarf.

Red linen on the back.

Here I am trying it on.

First wristlet

One side

Other side

My friend taught me how to make these wristlets and this is the first one I made. I made it for my Mom for her birthday using Echino linen-cotton blend fabric that I bought at the Creativ Festival. I really loved the fabric and I think it turned out really well. 

Inside with by sky label

Quilted Kindle case

I am very happy with this project. I actually think it is my favourite thing I have ever sewn. It is a Kindle (e-reader) case for my Mom.  I found out this morning that I got into the Masters in Social Work program and Laurier so that put me in a good mood and I felt like being creative!

The front! I am holding the flap down but there will be velcro there when it's done.

  I made up how to make the Kindle case all my myself, no tutorial. Due to that, I'm quite surprised it turned out so well. I tend to rush things and even though they turn out, I know they could have been better if I put more time into it or thought about how to do it a bit longer.

This is the back. 

 Btw, it is not totally done, I have to add some velcro but I didn't feel like trekking through 1 foot a snow today. I really like the quilted look. It reminds me a lot of the linen quilt. The fabrics are all random but I think they worked really well together.

This is the front with the flap open. I added a little extra flare to the inside of the flap.

As I mentioned above, I made up how to do it all by myself. I also just made it up as I went along, I'm not much of a planner with this sort of stuff. I did think of a detail that ended up working out really well...I knew you would be able to see a bit of the inside lining even when the case was closed and I thought it would look messy and distracting if you could see a whole different pattern. I made the top inch or so of the lining with linen so that it blended it. If you take a peek inside, it is a very funky pattern. Also, I am pretty sure it is a perfect size! I want it to be snug but not annoying to take out and put back in.

Looking in.

Linen quilt

Work in progress. Ping-pong tables make great work areas.

 I made this quilt as a distraction from applying to grad school in December. It was my second quilt ever and my first non baby size quilt.  When I decided I wanted to learn how to quilt, I flipped through some books at Indigo. Kaffe Fassett was the first book I looked at and I instantly fell in love with his fabric. My boyfriend's Mom gave me some Kaffe Fasset fabric and I knew I had to put it to good use.

Finished quilt (front). I LOVE LINEN!! 

 The natural coloured fabric on the front is a linen and cotton blend. I love the earthy look it has. If you use linen, prewashing is a must! It shrinks A LOT. Luckily my Mom told me this before I began cutting and sewing.

Finished back.

The back took so much longer than the front to make. I learned a pretty good lesson in quilting while making this quilt. Making things line up and look very tidy and organized is easy! Making things wonky and random is much much more difficult. That's modern quilting for you! I had to cut the back up into so many pieces and basically replace areas of the brown (Kona solids in Sable) with my squares. I wanted to change my mind and just line up the blocks but I knew I would appreciated the wonkiness once it was complete.

Close up of a pieced area on the back. No, it is not perfectly square but I like it this way. 

I finished this quilt on Christmas Eve at my Nanny's house. I got the binding from a cute little quilt shop in Kingston.

Sweet dreams

My boyfriend really loves the smell of lavender so I made him a little lavender pillow and gave it to him in his Christmas stocking. It's my own wonky take on a log cabin design. I used a variety of scraps for the log cabin and a linen-cotton blend for the boarder and back.