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Archive for the ‘Scrap Projects’ Category

Lanea’s Corner. Finished.

Posted in Bags, quilt squares, Random Projects, Scrap Projects, tagged , , on July 5, 2012 | 3 Comments »

I’ve been sewing a bunch, it feels. And I can tell by the look on my husbands face, I’m right. Thank goodness this weekend is all about getting out of the house. A mini vacation for our family is what’s in store and we’re going to a resort. Oh baby! I’m so ready…

Last week, I finished Lanea’s wall hanging {original post, here}. She has a younger sister and two younger brothers and I couldn’t leave them out of the gift giving. I hope they can find some use out of a fun drawstring bag. They each picked their own fabric for a more personalized touch. And let’s see, yes, I’m still looking at my unfinished granny squares quilt. I must, I tell you, finish those darn squares! I think I only have 8 more to go. Must finish {banging my head against the wall}.

Lanea’s Corner {Wall Hanging}

Personalized, Drawstring Bags

My official work in progress, Granny Squares

I think I’ll do a tutorial for the drawstring bags, they were really cute.

♥ Robin

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Scrappy Granny Squares

Posted in quilt squares, Quilting, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , , on April 4, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I’ve jumped on the bandwagon with this quilt, thanks to a tutorial by blue elephant stitches.  It’s granny squares and I”m going scrappy!  I intended to have this particular quilt {in another design} entered into Rachel of Stitched in Color’s Scrap Attack and admittingly, I didn’t finish in time.  Honestly, I didn’t even start it prior to the due date.  Originally, I wanted to do a mod mosaic design, but it wasn’t settling with me.  At first, I kept telling myself, get going!  Sew darn it!  But, I didn’t.  That was a clear sign that the design didn’t motivate me.  I resolved to gazing at all the fun and amazing quilts being uploaded on her flickr group.  Once the celebration started and official quilts were being showcased, the granny squares were calling my name.  Now I can celebrate my procrastination, because really…this quilt is so ME!  It reminds me of my grandma, allows me to use a modern element with all the white negative space, and showcases my super sumptuous fabrics.  You could opt to simplify the color scheme, but I wanted color.  Lots of it.  At this point, my imagination tells me that if a box full of color crayons got the flu and puked, this would be the result.  However, I do have a plan.  The colors are pulled from my favorite piece of artwork that is hanging in our living room.  This quilt will share the same room and hopefully fill the space with some modern and colorful country.  And the squares are really fun to make!  But I’m, quite possibly, the most excited about my quilting plans.  I’ve decided to follow direction from Elizabeth of Oh, Frannson’s Orange Peel Quilting.  ACK!  I can barely handle it.  It’s going to be FABULOUS!  Here’s the progress, minus a few squares I’ve made since.

Scrappy Squares

Initial Progress

Scrappy Granny Squares

Oh and if you’re curious, here’s my color inspiration…

{please excuse the terrible photo}

So there you have it, my Scrappy Granny Squares Quilt in progress.  I’ll be stitching up a few more squares tonight.  This top will be finished very very soon and end up at about a full/queen size.  Plenty of room for some TV snuggling!

♥ Robin

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Bags & Fabric {WIP}

Posted in Online Fabric Shop, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , , on January 18, 2012 | 8 Comments »

I’ve been having the worst cravings for stitching up bags.  I means seriously, I dreamt about it one night.  That’s disturbing right?  Well, as I was buying my spring textbooks on amazon, I found a great deal on Lisa Lam’s The Bag Making Bible.  Oh yes, I did!  I bought that sucker in a flash and counted down the days to arrival.  That day is today and sheesh I’m happy as a kid in a candy store!  Oh and to plop some extra sweetness into my day, both my fabric orders arrived.  Gosh, if only every day it could rain skittles…you feel me?

While I awaited Lisa’s inspirational book & directions, I decided to make my own messenger bag for Carmen.  Just click the picture for a tutorial.

Making the messenger bag was so fun.  I can’t wait to stitch up some different creations, while making more scraps for my Scrap Attack quilt due late March.  I needed a few purples, red, and oranges, so that’s exactly what I bought.  Well, and a “few” others.  Since I have quite a load of school books myself, I’ll be playing a little hide and seek in the pages of my new book tonight.  Hopefully I’ll find my next project.

Now, onto the fabulous new fabric in my collection.  As usual, I mainly purchased from Hawthorne Threads.  But this time, I also got a few from Bloomerie Fabric’s online shop.  They had killer sale prices and two plum/purple fabrics, which I find so hard to locate.  Overall, great experience.

Chrysalis, Seed Pods in Orange, by Sanae

Outfoxed, Outfoxed in Plum, by Lizzy House

Outfoxed, Foliage in Green, by Lizzy House

High Society Victoria, Purple Blossoms, by Anthology Fabrics

And onto my Hawthorne Threads loot:

Amy Butler, Midwest Modern 1 and 2, Optic Blossom in Linen

Emily Herrick, Going Coastal, Sea Kelp in Gray

Bella Blvd, Sunny Happy Skies, Panda in Yellow

Patricia Bravo, Modernology, Mod Vines in Raspberry

Ann Kelle, Ready, Set, Go Organic, Helicopters in Chocolate

Samantha Walker, Decadence, Pears in White

Suzanne Ultman, Critter Community, Trees and Critters in Bermuda

Ann Kelle, Urban Zoologie Part 2, Bird Houses in Spring

Hoodie, LAmour de la Vie, Aux Champs Elysees in Pink

David Walker, Get Together, Flock of Birds in Grey

Creative Thursday, Meet the Gang, Bird Lattice in Red

Timeless Treasures House Designer, Totally 80s, Mix Tape in Multi

Bella Blvd, Sunny Happy Skies, Floral in Pink

Now comes the hard part; I have to figure out a way to sneak this goodness home without my husband finding out…lol!  You think I’m kidding.  I’m so not!

♥ Robin

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{Scrappy} Mod Mosaic Block

Posted in do. Good Stitches, Family, quilt squares, Quilting, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged on January 11, 2012 | 15 Comments »

In spending quite some time pondering ideas for a new quilt for our living room, I think I have the golden ticket!  My hubby built me a really nice shelf/quilt hanger and I’ve just been using quilts I have at home for display.  None of them are quite right and I’ve known a new project would be under way.  But what?

Last year, I was excited to participate in do. Good Stitches {a charity bee}.  One particular month, Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson was the quilt designer and I was lucky enough to be a stitcher.  I fell madly in love with her mod-mosaic quilt blocks and had fun creating two of my own to contribute.

Do you see where I’m going with this?  Oh yessiree, I’m ecstatic to make my very own for our living room display.  This will be quite a bit of work, but I’m in no rush.  Rachel at Stitched in Color is hosting a Scrap Attack Quilt Along and I think this will be a good opportunity to hold myself accountable for a completion date at the end of March 2012.  I’ve never needed help keeping motivated, but it will still be fun to be part of a scrapping community.  Speaking of scraps, I’ll be using various fabrics from my 2011 quilt orders and a few other projects.  If you’ve ordered a quilt from me, you’ll probably spy your quilt scraps.  And since most of my quilt orders are from sweet friends, this will end up being a sentimental quilt.

Luckily, I’ve been hording my scraps, in desired colors, just for this project. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough scraps for a queen size quilt , so I’ll cut into my stash.  And since I always order just a little extra to stash away for my personal projects, I should have enough.

There’s a particular piece of artwork above our television that I love.  I’m pulling all the same colors from my scraps and their larger counterparts that are stashed away.  I’m going matchy-matchy, which I normally hate.  However, since it’s a mosaic design with multiple contrasting colors, I think I’ll love it.  To be sure before I pour a lot of hard work into a large quilt, I did a sample square.  And baby, I think I’m in love.

Love is a funny thing.  Sometimes you just know it’s the one.  And sometimes you “think” you know it’s the one, but then it’s not.  Do you know what I mean?  So I turned this mod-mosaic square into a pillow and will hang out with it for a while to be sure.  If I keep stealing glimpses from it, then I’ll proceed.  If not, I’ll keep searching for another scrappy design.  I’m 99.9% sure this is it!

Artwork & Coordinating Fabric

Artwork & Coordinating Fabric

Fabric Scraps from Past Projects

{Larger Stash Pictured Above}

Scrappy – Mod – Mosaic Pillow

Imagine this square as a queen size quilt.  Hard work?  Absolutely!  Worth it?  I think, oh yes!  And onto some super-duper cuteness, we got a puppy!  She’s a golden retriever mix.  And do you notice she’s the same color as my flooring?  So on purpose!  Wow, I did not realize a new puppy would be such hard work.  I’m like seriously exhausted!  We are house/crate training her.  We’ve been very diligent and consistent with her training {thanks to inspiration from Cesar Millan}.  Surprisingly, she has learned so much in just 5 short days.  Luckily, I am taking her to work with me and hopefully that will lend to a very sociable and obedient dog.  At least that’s the plan.

Our girl, Kona ♥

♥ Robin

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Owlettes {Phase 2}

Posted in Family, Holiday Projects, Random Projects, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , , on December 15, 2011 | 1 Comment »

After completing phase 1 of my owlettes, improvements were necessary.  Isaac’s owlette just wasn’t settling with me.  Plus Luke & Carmen’s eyes were too far apart…must fix now!  Isaac’s eyes are now much larger and more proportionate to his body frame.  And I moved Luke & Carmen’s eyes closer together, much better!  Cheyenne inherited Isaac’s original eyes, which work out great.  Next, onto the bottom support structure.  The directions here use cardboard, but my hubby suggested 1/4″ plywood rounds.  Cardboard would eventually get wonky and moist in our Hawaii weather, so plywood would be a whole lot better.  Plus, plywood is heavier and props up the owlettes perfectly…yay!

New & Improved Isaac

{Double Button Eyes with Chocolate Brown Center}

Luke’s Eyes are Now Centered

Cheyenne’s X Eyes from Playing Video Games Too Long

Owlette Bottoms

1/4″ Plywood Rounds

{Nothing fancy, my hubby used various drill bits and no sanding necessary}

Fabric Cover

Hand Stitch in Center

The Correa Owlettes

{COMPLETED}

That was fun.  Off to the next project…

♥ R

 

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Owlettes {Phase 1}

Posted in Family, Holiday Projects, Random Projects, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , on December 14, 2011 | 6 Comments »

I admit, I’m not one of those crazy for ‘everything owl’ people, but owls happen to be significant to our family.  Interestingly enough, {my 9 yr old son} Cheyenne’s father’s side of our family & my now-a-days hubby have the same Hawaiian ʻaumakua, The Owl.

“ʻAumākua are intimate members of the human family, spiritual relationships with them are especially close and their presence is sought for feast and festivity, as well as in time of crisis. They act as healers and advisors, counteracting troubles and punishing faults.” -J. Gutmanis

After finding some great {& easy} owls here, I thought it would be fun to make an owl of each one of my children.  Not for them, but for their other parents {my husband’s ex-wife & my son’s dad}.  They combine the quirkiness of crafting, fabric that represents each child’s particular interest, and the sacredness of ‘aumakua.

Isaac {Our paddle boarding, fisher, & lover of all things, ocean!}

I was hoping the buttons look like fish scales.

Luke {Our dirt bike riding, skate board loving, & all around no fear adventurer!}

Okay, the buttons looked like wheels until I added the green buttons.  Now it looks like he’s wearing glasses…oh well!  He is our only green-eyed beauty.

Cheyenne {Our tech savvy, “No, I don’t want to go outside & play, computer game loving, & smarty pants sweetheart!}

What did you say, “I have no eyes mom?”  Oh yeah, I’ve got to hit up the store again for that…coming soon!

Carmen {Our sweet as sugar, lover of all things girly, especially Hello Kitty, & youngest muchkin!}

Just love her button eyes!

The Correa Owlettes

{Minus eyeballs for Cheyenne}

I’ll admit, there’s something just not quite right about Isaac’s owlette.  I’ve got my mind set on restructuring him somewhat, if time allows.  However, isn’t the idea fun?  They would be great book ends, plain ol’ knickknack decorations, or even Christmas ornaments.  I highly recommend this pattern if you are looking for a quick project.  It really doesn’t get any easier than this…although sewing on buttons after stuffing makes stitching somewhat of a pain.  There’s probably a trick to it, but I have no idea what.  Next time, I might sew down the nose and stitch in the button eyes before I stuff the owl…just a thought.

♥ R

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Hanging Hoop Wall Pocket

Posted in Random Projects, Scrap Projects, tagged on October 24, 2011 | 10 Comments »

Thanks to the lovely a girl in paradise, I found this sweet hoop of an idea!  I wasn’t looking for any sort of inspiration and then WAMP it hit me right up side the head.  It’s Sarah’s birthday you see & she loves herself some hoops!  She started doing a bit of sewing with me so I thought she might be able to use this sort of cute organization for her new-found sewing tools.  It took me one easy-breezy evening with Carmen sweetly designing her own special gift for Aunty Sarah, a sweet card that made me realize how kindness can really penetrate the heart.  As Carmen said, “Aunty Sarah, I love you because you make me feel loved when you make me hair clips.  I love you very much”.  I think we often wonder if our kids notice all the little things we do to make their lives special and it was evident in Carmen’s words that it was noticed.  As a seriously sentimental sappy mama, I was so happy she expressed her gratitude and made Aunty Sarah’s birthday all the more special.  I should’ve taken a picture of her master piece card, she gave my wall pocket some serious competition.

Hanging Hoop Wall Pocket

Filled with goodies!

Cute, yes?  That’s what I thought *wink*!

♥ R

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for L.O.V.E. S.A.K.E.

Posted in do. Good Stitches, quilt squares, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , on May 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Gosh, I fought through this month’s do. Good Stitches charity squares.  Not because I don’t love them.  I do.  Not because they were hard.  They’re not.  Ugh, why?  I honestly couldn’t tell you other than my same ol sob story, I’m busy yada yada.  Plus, they were time consuming.  I finished one square mid April and just finished the second today.  Um oops, they were due in Michigan yesterday.  WHAT A SLACKER!  In my sad defence, once I did the first one I thought, dang that took half my day.  So I just glared at my pile of scraps for the next two weeks dreading round two.  Gosh, that’s so silly.  I’m just getting back from the post office where I promptly mailed them off to Natalie with Greenleaf Goods.  I can’t wait to see the finished product.  I really really love string quilts {i prefer large scale} and the hodgepodge of color.  Mmmm yummy color!

"Love" April Springy String Blocks

So I’m guessing you may want directions.  Natalie used this tutorial to direct us.  We were to use 9 4 1/2″ squares to assemble 1 large 12 1/2″ unfinished square.  The tutorial does suggest using paper piecing and glue.  Glue?  No thanks.  So what to do?  I did cut 4 1/2″ squares out of tracing paper I found in my kids craft closet {shhhh, don’t tell}.  I lined up my middle strip and pinned with 2 pins on the top and bottom.  I then cut and placed my next strip face down onto the mid strip.  This is the only time I sew through the paper.  For all the other strips, I tuck the paper out of the way and just sew onto the next strip of fabric.  It’s just as effective and leaves just one stitching line to pull paper from.  But first, I trim my fabric down to my 4 1/2″ piece of tracing paper before I remove it.  No glue necessary.  It’s faster…trust me!  Yes I do have patience, but why spend more time then necessary on things of this nature?  I’ve got to get dinner going if you know what I mean?

Block 1

Block 2

Colors of Spring

I love wonky!

I’m so very happy May’s squares are nice and simple!  It’s a lovely yet busy month.  If mostestest worstest busiestest month ever is a word or words…that’s my May!

Yay for S.I.M.P.L.E.!

♥ R

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March Bits & Blocks

Posted in do. Good Stitches, Quilting, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , on March 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Here’s to another do. Good Stitches charity block for the month of March.  This block is completely representative of my March 2011.  It’s been one block after another and I can only remember bits of it all.  One wedding after another, oral surgeries, ortho appointments, spring break, mainland visitors, 100 cupcake order for a sweet birthday boy…it’s been one NONE STOP CRAZY MONTH!  Although, this weekend finishes the 2nd wedding, luckily it is accompanied by a mini family vacation at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay in Kona, Hawaii.  Aw, sweet joy!  Bring on the 200 ft water slide that will entertain the kids while I sip a Mai Tai pool side.  Yeah that’s so not going to happen, but a girl can dream right?  No, it’s going to be, “WATCH THIS MOM”, “I’M HUNGRY MOM”, and “WHERE’S THE BAND-AIDS?”  Isn’t that how all family vacations are?  TOTALLY EXHAUSTING.  Regardless, I won’t need to clean the house this weekend or make breakfast, lunch, and dinner…hooray!

Bits & Blocks was really enjoyable for me.  I chose to use a lighter grey with mustardy yellow fabrics.  Yellow fabric leaning towards green vs. orange was requested, but I had none.  I even went to the local fabric store and NADA!  Truthfully, I did try, but it’s wasn’t in the cards for me.  And in the end, the colors really do it for me.  I just hope they blend in well with the rest of the group’s fab creations.  I loved loved this rectangle square.  I’ll be using it in a quilt I started last night.  Check out the bits & blocks tutorial here.

Bits & Blocks

Fun Fun!

♥ R

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{Be Mine} Wonky Star

Posted in do. Good Stitches, quilt squares, Quilting, Scrap Projects, Tutorials, tagged , on February 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Rachel, the originator of do. Good Stitches, is the quilter for the month of February.  She is putting together a “Punchy Wonky Star Quilt” full of red, pink, and white.  I can’t think of any better quilt & color combination for the love month of February.  Her quilt top vision was a burst of wonky star blocks.  As instructed, 1 large or mini multiple stars were on the menu.  A quick peruse through my sewing cabinet turned up a solid pink that might have been a bit too purple for the assignment.  The color is just so deep & “punchy”, I had to give it a go.  I decided to try one square & check in with Rachel to make sure it would work.  She agreed it could, with another square with the same solid background.  Fine with me!  Happy it worked out and I was able to use fabric I already had.  I had red & white too, but this is so much better.  I’ll let everybody else follow the rules…ha!

February "Love" Wonky Stars

Instructions for the wonky star blocks can be found here.

♥ Happy Love Day Friends ♥

R

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