Crafting as fundraising

The Minnesota RollerGirls All Stars are having a trivia night fundraiser with a silent auction this weekend. As a member of the Minnesota RollerGirls and beneficiary of the All Stars budget in my role as the travel manager, I wanted to contribute to the auction. Quilts don't tend to get a lot of money at auctions because they are so easily purchased at big box stores for much cheaper than it's worth to make them. But, small items like pouches and especially baby crap get much bigger bucks, despite them being easier and cheaper to make. So, that's what I made!

Three pouches in different sizes.

Assorted baby crap: two burp cloths, crinkle toy, and diaper pouch

I'm also working on the first rosette in the New Hexagon Millefiori quilt. I've made a little progress:

And then the machine broke... :(

Mid project (a clear travel pouch,) my machine just stopped functioning. Every time I tried to sew something it made a terrible noise and the bottom of my fabric ended up like this:

Sometimes when the machine malfunctions there is lint in in the bottom gumming things up. I opened her up and cleaned out some nasty fuzzballs. It looked like a lint trap of a dryer in there! I clean it pretty regularly, but haven't gone that far into the belly of the beast before. Then I took apart the top to see if there was any thread caught in there. Boy, was there!

All that was wrapped around an arm inside the top of the machine! Yikes. 

After trying everything I knew to do and that was recommended on the internet, I finally brought it in to the repair shop. Turns out, I chipped the bobbin casing (probably a result of a needle break) and there wasn't a simple fix. Had to send it in for repair, which will take 3 weeks and $120! Luckily, I have a back-up  machine that my step-mom gave me when I graduated. It's not as fancy and is much louder, but totally functional and I can continue to sew!

However, I decided to start another long-term English Paper Piecing project called the New Hexagon Millefiore. http://www.katjasquiltshoppe.com/the-new-hexagon-millefiore-quilt-along.htm. I just started, but things are progressing nicely with Rosette 1. 

Procrastination over.

Last weekend was spent working on a BUNCH of sewing projects that I had been procrastinating until after our Canada trip.

When I procrastinate, I make zippered pouches. They are fast (except these weren't because I was paper piecing or sewing very small things together or doing quilt-as-you-go) and I love making useful things. It was my intention to sell or give these away, but I love them too much.

I finally finished the quilt for my nephew Cannon. The thread came in my last fabric order so I really couldn't do it before the trip anyway. This is an in-progress shot - I haven't taken any full photos yet. I loved working on a baby quilt! It came together very fast and I was able to free-motion quilt "as desired" all over the top without getting too mad at it. The fabric is outer space themed and the construction is all straight lines and rectangles so I wanted the free-motion quilting to be a little more rounded/free flowing to counter that. Loops and rounded stars seemed the most whimsical and appropriate for the quilt.

Making baby things has been very fun. The fabrics are soft and so cute! Most things come together very quickly and it's very satisfying to have quick finishes while I'm also working on long-term projects. I made some burp cloths, a crinkle toy, a bib, and a diaper pouch for my friend Adam. Their nursery is bright pink, navy blue, gray, and "humpy" whales. The whale fabric I found is minky and SO SOFT. I want to wear it.

So many things done!

Curling gifts

David and I are headed to the Brier curling tournament in Ottawa, Ontario on Friday. Some curling friend of his is hosting us in her home for free. I sew things for people as a general activity, and frequently sew things as thank you or other gifts. When I asked what I could make (quickly because we leave in three days) for her, no one had any suggestions. They all said "she just really likes to drink!" A drink coozie seemed like the perfect gift!

I found a pattern on Pinterest - http://www.aprettycoollife.com/2013/08/diy-mason-jar-cozy.html - and a curling stone paper piecing pattern there too:

 I found scraps in the right colors and got to work to test the pattern out.

The coozie pattern calls for 12.5x3.5" pieces to sew together. After I had sewn them, I tried to wrap it around my can, but it was too long. I added two longer velcro pieces (so this thing could fit a 40oz beer if we wanted!) rather than starting over. On the second one, I made it 4.5" wide to better fit the can. 

I'm not the hugest fan of this pattern, but I don't think there was a better quick way to make it happen. 

I did alter this pattern to make a smaller block, and if I have time I will turn it into a small zippered pouch to bring along as a gift as well: http://quiltsocial.com/quick-holiday-gift-tutorial-curling-rocks-quilted-runner/ 

Another purchase at Spoonflower may be necessary to buy some curling fabric! If people at the Brier go crazy for these patterns I may have found a new outlet for my crafts!

Gatherer Cross Body Bag

My friend Abbey contacted me about making a bag in exchange for a knitted craft. I would have made Abbey a cute bag anyway, but it gave me a great excuse to tackle a new pattern and buy some more fabric! She wanted it to have Dr Who lining with no hint of nerdom on the outside.

I decided on the Gatherer Cross Body Bag by Anna Graham of NoodleHead -  http://noodle-head.com/2015/12/carkai-gatherer-crossbody-bag.html. The pattern was easy to follow and turned out super cute!

Isn't it so pretty!?

 It was so cute that I needed to make one for myself! We are going to Canada this weekend and I need a small bag I can easily stash in my carry on and bring into the curling venue.

This beautiful fabric is Rain Walk, also designed by Anna Graham. The navy blue is Essex Linen. I auditioned piping colors on IG and ultimately decided on gold, but not the gold in this photo.

This lighter gold actually matches the fabric better and brightens the purse up overall. The lining fabric is also from the Rain Walk line. 

Repurposing old furniture

I first started seeing and quilting in college. My step mom sewed all my life but I didn't pick up interest until my hall director loaned me her sewing machine over spring break to make a (crappy) cover for my futon. I later got a sewing machine from my step mom for Christmas and I was bit by the sewing bug.

Over the years since then I have improved my skills, bought a much fancier machine, and joined a quilting club. I've made several quilts and recently began sewing and selling bags.  I post a lot of photos on Instagram but thought it would be nice to log my projects and progress.

My friend was giving away her changing table and it looked like the perfect organizational and cutting station for my sewing room. It's just the right height for me and has a drawer, shelves, and a cubby to store fabric and other bits.

It started out very much as a baby changing table:

We had to take it apart a bit to fit it in the Subaru and I hauled the bits and pieces into our dining room, after derby practice one night when I was ridiculously sore and tired. The dining room was as far as I could go. David was leaving town for a week and it seemed like the perfect time to take on a big art project.

I looked up how to paint laminated furniture. Priming it seemed like the way to go. I bought some Kilz and threw caution to the wind by not putting down any newspaper or dropcloths. Ended up getting some droplets on my glasses, a streak of white in my hair, and a few splotches on my shirt, but nothing on the floor!

I found out that you can get small "sample" paint jars from Home Depot in any color they have available, or they will even match some color you bring in. They are, like, $2! I chose a pretty aqua, Caribbean color which will brighten up my sewing room. Jeffrey is supervising.

In order to make space for it and move things around, I had to clean up the place a bit. But this is the in-progress sewing room photo. What a disaster! 

Here it is is, all finished! It looks so much better in there now. 

David is also happy to have all the cutting mess out of the dining room, I'm happy to have a height-appropriate table on which to do it and not have to go up and down stairs every time I need to cut new fabric, and the dogs are happy to have the mess out of the dining room.

Here is Bears very scared of all the commotion.