Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year, New Resolutions: Fabriholics Anonymous Begins!

FabAnon
This is it!  I have been avoiding any thoughts about this day all week...I received my last minute fabric gifts under the tree and now it is time to dive into the fast.  (to learn more go here)  If you've checked out the pledge linky then you will see that Jess & I are not alone!  There are now 52 participants!
To spread a smile amongst my fellow fasters I am sharing a few pics of my youngest, Miss O.  She is constantly trying to catch up to her sisters and her latest achievement is to climb into their toddler chairs instead of sitting safely in her highchair...
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She is always so satisfied after reaching the top!  At this point she is usually bouncing up and down on her knees and crooning a bit...  Hahahhaaa...I hope we all have that pure feeling of satisfaction when we reach June 2014.

I'll be posting a link up mid-month to check in on how everyone participating in Fabriholics Anonymous is doing...in the meantime think of some steps you are going to take to help you along the way.  Unsubscribing from your favorite fabric shop newsletters?  No more stops into your LQS when you run the usual errands?  What are you going to do to get you through the next 6 months?

Happy New Year!

- rebecca lynne

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Apple Bookmarks for Teacher [Belated] Making Christmas

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I have found that I spent so much time focusing on my Christmas makes this year that I didn't find time to post them on the blog.  Instead of stressing over it I've decided I will simply share them after the fact!  After all, we will all be considering "hmmm what do I make for that person" next year as well right?

This year for Miss E's two Pre-K teachers I knew I wanted to make this apple bookmark which I saw here. Isn't it just perfect?  I've been itching to make one ever since seeing it.  The only change I made to the design was to add a topstitch at the edge of the bookmark.  I whipped these up in one evening and highly recommend making a few for the teachers in your life!

Hope you are enjoying the post-holiday glow we are in the MRL household...

- rebecca lynne

p.s.  Fabriholic Anonymous 5 Day Countdown!  Are you ready?

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Countdown

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These photos pretty much sums up life over the past weeks...
- lots of sweets, both making and eating
- lots of glitter, glue, and brown paper packages tied up with string
- lots of last minute Makes in the sewing room too

Hope you are all enjoying the countdown to Christmas as much as we are!

- rebecca lynne

Thursday, December 12, 2013

"The Force is strong with this one" Star Wars Lightsaber Pillow: TGIFF

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The Jedi Side
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The Sith Side
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If you follow me on Instagram then you might have seen this pillow in the works...  This is my nephew's Christmas present and I must pop it in the mail ASAP so that he gets it on time!  

This summer he came to visit and he saw how much I did on my sewing machine and was fascinated.  As a die hard Star Wars fan (he's a fan of the Sith especially) I knew I had to show him the cool things you can do with sewing and shared with him Kristy's Star Wars paper piecing patterns.  He immediately asked me to make him a pillow for his bed.  So what is an Aunt to do?  After melting in a puddle at the adorable-ness of a 6 year old asking you to sew him a pillow for his bed...you comply of course!  

As a fellow lover of all things SciFi I especially thought it was clever to use the Chicopee fabric which has those black circles on them reminiscent of the Death Star.  My husband, the ultimate Star Wars Geekoid, immediately pointed at them and said Death Star!  Roll eyes.  I also hemmed and hawed over using the White Starry Skies as the background for the Jedi side, as I had been saving it in my stash as a Low Volume for another project, but in the end I am thrilled to have dipped into it and think it looks fabulous!  Oh and I must mention, in case you mean to make your own Lightsaber pillow, I did use Kristy's free lightsaber pattern and increased it by 135%.

I cannot wait to see my nephew's face (via FaceTime as we are half a country away from each other, but it still counts!)...

Linking Up!!!
- rebecca lynne

Fabriholics Anonymous: Can you handle it?

FabAnon

Still wondering if you are ready for the fabric fast?  Considering whether you'd like to join?

Please head over to read what Jodi from Tickle and Hide has to say about her experience fabric fasting for a whole year!  She really is inspiring!!!

- rebecca lynne

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Fabriholics Anonymous Linky Party: WIP List

FabAnon
It is time to acknowledge that there are only 23 days until my fabric fast begins.
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There are currently fourteen other brave souls who have signed up and pledged to also join in our fast.  After receiving a emails asking how we are all going to band together and hold each other accountable we've agreed upon some periodic linky parties wherein we will show each other how we are doing and what we are doing to cope, I mean, persevere with the fast!
Welcome to Linky Party Number 1: Work In Progress List
 Ladies, it is time to lay it all out there...that's right...time to admit to all of the UFOs or other projects you have every intention of making but haven't yet.  I for one always buy fabric with a project in mind, unfortunately, my ideas are far more plentiful than my time!  I am hoping this fabric fast will help me stop dreaming and motivate me to start making.  This is not your regular old WIP List with a list of projects I've started, meaning I've begun cutting/sewing/quilting.  No, no, no, this WIP List encompasses all the projects for which I have fabric for and have intended to create!  I am hoping that similar to a Finish-A-Long this will help me stay on task. 

[I've divided my list into groups: Piecing, Quilting, and Non-Quilty Sewing]
Piecing
  1. Lou Lou Thi Spinning Stars (Miss E)
  2. Lou Lou Thi Spinning Stars (Miss V)
  3. Lou Lou Thi Spinning Stars (Miss O)
  4. Aboriginal Quilt
  5. Del Hi Quilt (see here)
  6. Mid Mod Quilt (see here)
  7. Curious Nature Quilt (see here)
  8. Peaches and Cream Quilt (see here)
  9. Friendship Quilt
  10. Lush Uptown
  11. Color Wheel Quilt (Stitched In Color's Pattern)
  12. Marcelle Medallion (see here)
  13. Midnight at the Oasis
  14. Japanese x and +
  15. Swoon
  16. Drunkard's Path
  17. Tertiary Rectangle Quilt
  18. Orange Cross Top 
  19. Echo Bella
  20. Road Fifteen Garden Gate Quilt
  21. Equilateral Triangles with Chicopee
  22. Wonky Hope Valley
  23. Dowry Mega Churndash
  24. Hand Drawn Garden Arrows
  25. Sampler Quilt such as Summer Sampler Quilt (see here)
  26. Miss E's Flannel Quilt
  27. Miss V's Flannel Quilt
  28. Heather Ross Linen Fairytale Quilt
  29. Scrappy Rainbow Log Cabin
  30. Oakshott Cotton Quilt
  31. Solid Color Quilt (see here)
  32. Low Volume Quilt a la Sunday Morning Quilts
  33. Hex on the Beach
  34. Monochromatic solids
  35. Lotus Brick Path Quilt (see here)
  36. Geode Slice Quilt
  37. Hop Scotch Quilt
  38. Clamshell/Scallop Quilt 
Quilting
  1. The Flight Across (see here)
  2. Dead Simple Quilt (see here)
  3. Purple People Pleaser (see here)
  4. Sheep Baby Quilt
  5. Across the Sea Quilt
Non-Quilt Sewing
  1. Curtains for Miss E
  2. Curtains for Miss O and Miss V
  3. Garland for Miss E's room 
  4. Happy Birthday Banner
  5. Recover all pillows in Living Room (8 pillows in all)
  6. Finish Tote Pattern
  7. Shirley's Foldover Tote
  8. Foldover Clutch with Nani Iro metallic fabric
  9. Super Tote
  10. Social Tote
  11. Sewing Machine Cover
  12. Sewing Machine Travel Bag
  13. Wiksten Tova
  14. Washi Dress
  15. Flannel Pants for the Misses
  16. Studio Cherie Duffle for E, V, O and myself 
  17. Orange bins for Miss E's room
  18. Living Room bin for knitting supplies
  19. Paper pieced letters for spelling
  20. Paper pieced sewing room (see here)
  21. Laminate bathroom clutches for various people
  22. Fix duvet cover which is oversized for my duvet
  23. Hem about 20 pairs of pants
  24. Oven mitts
I am pretty sure no one else's list will be as bad as this...so don't be shy...go on and really be honest with yourself.  Go take a look at your stash, peruse your Pinterest board, or scan your Flickr favorites and remind yourself of all those things you really do want to make with the fabric you already own!

Fabriholics, I encourage you to create your own list.  If you are so brave as to post it online (blog, flickr, facebook) please add your link to the party below...

Good Luck!

- rebecca lynne

Friday, December 6, 2013

Les Amis Twin Quilts: a FINISH!

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Yay!  They are done!  These aren't even a Christmas gift but quilts I was making for my cousin's new twins for months...they are 6 months old now.  Oh well, they can appreciate them better at this point anyway.  ;)
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I decided to do a simply swirly FMQ tacking as I did with Miss O's Zig Zag Flannel quilt because the backing is minky and I didn't want to quilt the whole thing as that material can be ornery while sewing at best.
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And of course I had to fold them and do a little wrapping doo-dah on them to make it special...
Quilt Gifting
After my experience with the Stamp it Up Swap earlier this year I have definitely gone a bit stamp crazy for gift wrapping.  I couldn't help but put these little welcome tags on the gift as well!
Welcome to the family girls!
Final touches for New Baby Gifting
These are fairly big for baby quilts coming in at 48" each.  But my cousin requested them that way so the girls could use them into toddler-hood.
she can quilt
These quilts have been on my 2013 FAL list for a long time...  Thank goodness I finally wrapped them up in Quarter 4!  Whew hew...
FabAnon
For those of you who are thinking of joining Fabriholics Anonymous start motivating yourself by committing to a list of UFOs you'd like to tackle during the fabric fast!  This weekend I will be setting up a linky party for those of us to show off and share the embarrassment at how many UFOs we have yet to finish.  Not sure about you all but my list is at least a mile long!
Linking Up!
- rebecca lynne


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Working on gifts...

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All of my makes in the last few weeks have been Gift Related (as one quilty friend put it - I've been playing Secret Santa) and so I haven't been able to post anything online about them.  However, this is one gift where I am pretty confident that the recipient doesn't read my blog...  I am so relieved to be finally wrapping up these quilts for my cousin's twin baby girls.
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The piecing was inspired by the 2012 Fall Market booth for this collection which you can see a shot of here. Fabric is Patty Sloniger's Les Amis Collection for Michael Miller with Free Spirit Designer Solids Peach Blush, Caribbean Sea, and Cotton Couture Grass.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

DIY Sparkle Pinecones

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UntitledSparkle Pinecones
One beautiful quiet night as I prepared a delicious dinner which required a lot of involved prep I threw my husband under the bus by suggesting that the girls ask him to help them make glitter pinecones...hahahahaaa.  Well, that's what you get when you have me make dinner.  Surprisingly I didn't hear a peep out of him other than a stifled sigh as acquiesced and gathered all the supplies while the girls' eyeballs almost popped out of their heads in anticipation...

Supplies
- Gather Pinecones
- Elmer's glue
- Glitter
- Paper plates
- Paper bowls
- Small Brushes (expect to throw away or save for other craft projects if you don't mind the glitter forever)
- Patience if doing with children; Glass of wine if doing with adults

Steps
Optional Step 1: Convince your children who, naturally, are also wearing glitter princess dresses in order to get into the glittery mood, to wear bibs lest they get glue all over themselves.  If you have a curious babe in a highchair as we do I also highly recommend giving him or her a paper plate of their own and a pinecone minus the glitter of course.  It will alleviate any crying which will inevitably take place happen later on once they realize that they are not an active participant in the ensuing glitter-bomb mayhem...hahahahaa!

1.  Take the pinecones and cover in glue.  The glue covering in my house consisted of brushing the glue on with tender patience at first...and then eventually deviated to drizzling on the pinecone with wreckless abandon.  Both methods work, I suppose it depends on how particular you are!

2. Hold the pinecone over a paper bowl and sprinkle glitter over your gluey pinecone.  My children decided that it was more fun to "paint" the glitter on with their now gluey brushes...I am not sure how effective that was but they thought it was great so we let them have at it!

3. Place your now glittery pinecone on a paper plate for drying.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 and if you are a *don't throw anything away* type of person like I am you will eventually take the glitter in your glitter bowl and use that to sprinkle over your pinecones over another bowl.  Yes, I even took a funnel and put all the extra glitter back into the container because that is how ooh we could use that again I'm sure I am.  :p

For those of you who are wondering or who have a natural aversion to mess -- yes, this will absolutely result in your house being covered in glitter for at least a week or any time you move any of the pinecones or the bowl they are set in.  This is not for the faint of heart.  For those of us made of stouter stuff (i.e. mess isn't going to kill anyone or let's face it, half of the items owned by my daughters are decorated in glitter so what is a little more going to hurt any of us?) these pinecones and the ridiculous joy it gave the girls in making them is totally worth sweeping up glitter throughout the holidays.  

The girls and the Mr. made enough pinecones to have a beautiful centerpiece and a small accent bowl in the bathroom.  I smile each time I look at them!

MAKING CHRISTMAS 2013

I know I've been missing in action but we've had a serious gastrointestinal bug that keeps getting passed between us...believe me when I say that it Has Not Been Pleasant.  I am a tad late but I am linking up this week with Making Christmas.  Go check out Erin's tutorial!

- rebecca lynne