the new normal

Two weeks ago my husband and I drove Thing 1 - Caroline - far, far away to her first year of college at the Savannah College of Art and Design - SCAD.

For me (and probably my husband and Thing 2), the last several weeks leading up to her departure were full of secret moments of dread and at times, I believed my heart would break wide open at the thought of her being so far away from all of us. After all, who would the three of us be without Caroline here to complete the foursome of us? We are so blessed to have a family that not only loves each other, but genuinely likes each other and spends quite a bit of time together enjoying being together. None of us were able to wrap our brains around how she could be so far apart from us, and yet still keep it all the same.

It isn't the same, but two weeks have passed and I'm happy (and thankful) to report that the three of us here at home are settling into our new "normal", even though we still (and will likely always) miss her like crazy. At home there are still tests to study for, groceries to buy, work days to get through, and even though it seemed unbelievable a few weeks ago - fun things to do. Life goes on. Thank heavens for Skype, unlimited texting, and cell phones!!

Meanwhile down south, Caroline has met so many new friends, loves her classes and roommates and the city of Savannah, and is being challenged creatively every day - exactly what she wanted. We're so proud of her!!

Here are a few shots of her new little corner of the world taken on move-in day...

Our rental van packed full of stuff...

The trip odometer as we pulled into our driveway at home after a whirlwind 102 hours away: 2102 miles and almost 37 hours of driving...

I'm Sew Very Happy

...with this new wall hanging I made for my sewing room.

It was inspired by this photo I saw in a Better Homes and Gardens special interest publication (Do It Yourself, I think) a couple of years ago, and I've had the project on my to-do list ever since. I'm pretty certain the photo example is done in paper, but I wanted mine to be made from fabric.

I started with a great fat quarter of Art Gallery Oval Elements for the background and several Kaffe Fassett scraps from my Crayon Box quilt for the letters.

These punch-out 2" letters were at my local JoAnn's store. I traced the letters onto fusible webbing then ironed the webbing to the wrong side of the fabric scraps.

I just eyeballed the placement of the letters on my background doing my best to center them on the fabric without being too mathematical about it. The dots certainly helped with that!

After fusing the letters to the background, I sewed a very small zigzag stitch in a coordinating thread around the raw edges of each one to secure and give them a little more definition.

This adhesive foam-core mounting board and my frame were purchased at Michaels. I cut a piece of very thin cotton batting and placed it against the adhesive side before layering the appliqued design on top.

After removing the glass I placed the whole thing in this 12" x 16" frame and promptly hung it on the wall.

I just love it! I'm even thinking of using the same motto on a pillow with script lettering - what do you think of that idea?

Oh, the places she'll go...

We're gearing up for Thing 1's big move south to college in just a couple of weeks! She's got her dorm room assignment, two roommates, class schedule, and now a fully complete bed set! The hand-sewing project I previewed for you in my last post is finished - a toss pillow to coordinate with her quilt...

I used the Clover Yo-Yo Maker Extra Large size to craft 36 yo-yos for the pillow center. They each measure about 2.5" in diameter. You can order one from amazon.com and many other online retailers, but I was lucky enough to find mine at my local JoAnn's store.

The inspiration for this design came during a summer shopping trip where she spied this pillow...

To make this personalized version I chose one of the fabrics used for the block frames in her quilt and added some teal chenille ball fringe to the edges of her 20" finished pillow.

Most of the yo-yo fabrics are found in her quilt, which I'm thrilled to say is also completed! Here's the front. It's so large that even standing on a chair she couldn't hold it up off the ground - 78" wide by 102" long - yikes! (I ended up adding an additional row for those of you who remember reading about my dilemma over making it larger.) That size should provide about 15-18" of overhang on the sides and end of her lofted dorm bed.

For the backing she chose an Amy Butler Daisy Chain print, and I added a 8" wide pieced strip to the center. My original reason for adding the center strip was to avoid purchasing 3 more yards of backing fabric, but I'm so glad I did it this way - much more interesting :) Money saved and better result = win/win!

The quilting was done by my regular long-arm quilter, Carol Linder in Hampshire, IL. My college-bound girl chose an overall loopy, swirly pattern in a medium teal thread - fabulous!

Now all the quilt needs is a fun label for the back. I've got a design drawn out on paper and my Pigma Micron pens ready to go!

Quilt Pattern - Green Glass Door by Blue Underground

vacation sewing

Last week I took a vacation trip up north to Michigan with my family. We had many important decisions to make each and every day such as "beach or pool first?" and "where will we eat dinner tonight?"

I took a little bit of hand-sewing to work on, and here's what I accomplished...

36 of these little guys. I've never made them before, but I think they turned out grand. Recognize any of the fabrics?

Stay tuned for the project in progress...

Sunburst baby quilt details - Part 2

If you're just joining me for the Sunburst baby quilt tutorial, see Part 1 here.

*** EDITED January 12, 2016.  Please note that in order for these instructions to work you MUST use the Stack-n-Whack 15 degree Fan Ruler.  Other 15 degree rulers have different top and bottom dimensions, and using them will potentially result in a much smaller or even non-existent center circle opening when all your wedges are sewn together. ***

Part 2 starts now! We're ready to start piecing the circles. Layer a background wedge with a colored wedge...

Sunburst baby quilt details - Part 1

As promised, I've got some details for you about the way I constructed this quilt top. The blocks are basically a variation of a Dresden Plate. But the entire block (with the exception of the center circle) is pieced into a square, rather than appliqued on to a background.

Sunburst baby quilt

You can find Part 1 of my instructions on how to make this quilt here.

A new baby quilt top is finished...

The colors and pattern were inspired by these photos of the deck chairs at Universtity of Wisconsin - Madison...

The new mom is a big fan of these chairs and their sunburst patterns! The baby girl's nursery colors were chosen based on a gallery photo of these chairs, with chocolate brown accents added.

The quilt pattern was inspired by this fabulous quilt by Geta Grama. It just so happened that I was admiring this unique quilt when my husband asked me to make a baby quilt for his co-worker Jeremy (and wife Jill) who were expecting their first child. Jill directed me to the photos of these chairs as a color guide, and this pattern seemed a perfect fit :)

Serendipity. I just love that word.

P.S. Check back next week for more details on size and construction.