Catch up Time

So I have some catching up to do. Apparently this is now a bi-annual blog. Let's start with one of my favorite things I have ever made:

Kindle Case of Accurate Historical Portrayals

This was the brainchild of me and Ben. I wanted to make him a case for his Kindle, but I always find it difficult to make manly sewing projects. I wanted to embroider something, so together we came up with the idea of Napoleon riding a T-rex with a light saber. Ben loves history and had been reading a lot of books on Napoleonic times, so obviously historical accuracy was paramount. T-rexes were pretty abundant in early 19th century France, and the light saber had been just developed in Prussia. I do really like my homage to David's "Napoleon Crossing the Alps." Because I am classy like that. 

 The other side was tricky because Napoleon-T-rex-Lightsaber was such a genius idea. But Ben's favorite is Civil War, and so aside from Lincoln, no one is more iconic than Robert E. Lee. So what is more regal for this Southern gentleman than a woolly mammoth and Wolverine claws?

Scrappy Body Pillow Cover

I made these squares for another quilt originally, and didn't like them. I found the black pattern to be too small and get lost in the scraps. So I decided not to waster the blocks and turn them into a body pillow cover. I have a body pillow that I got freshman year of college, and let's just say it is a little worse for wear. It doesn't help that it was right next to the crack in the curtains and was totally bleached from the sun. I should have taken a picture, but....too lazy. Anyway, it definitely has grown on me. 

Let's pretend that the 3rd hourglass from the left is rotated that way intentially....

This was my favorite result from the image search for "gross body pillow."

Purple Stripey Tray

I made this tray thingy for my mom, from an idea I saw in my favorite quilting library book. It is full of Japanese projects, and I can't remember the name of it, but I have a hunch all Japanese quilting stuff is top notch, because the internet quilting universe is obsessed with them. I did some hand-stitching for the quilting. And the Sharpie demonstrates one of the many possible uses for this tray. Actually, I put it in there for skill, which is a habit I have now developed from my engineering inspection photo-taking.

 Pencil Case

I had two extra blocks I made for a quilt further down on this blog entry. You'll notice these are navy blue and the actual quilt is black. I made the two blocks back when I thought I could get away with having two navy blocks amidst a bunch of black ones. Silly me. It makes a nice colored pencil case. I did a spiral quilting pattern, which I think looks really great if you squint your eyes a lot.

Inside is a fun Amy Butler print I had been trying to figure out how to use. My wrist looks fat here.

 Chiquis Quilt

I made this quilt for my ole' roomie Chiquis. She told me she loved my blog, so...I made her a quilt. I got some bundles of fabric for Christmas from both my mom and my mother-in-law, and they happened to be nearly the same color scheme and went really well with each other. I wanted to do something simple on a white background to showcase the fun fabrics. For the quilting, I just did some large diagonals. Quilting is still my least favorite part. I love the result, and it was fun to surprise Chiquis with the quilt when I saw her next!

 The back is a hodge podge of some of the front fabrics and a few others.

 The Big Green

I was thinking of what to name this one, and then I remembered this movie. Yeah, I saw it. So this pillow does not at all remind me of, "Another Disney underdog sports team of misfit kids learns to play a new sport and become champions, while building self-esteem" (IMDB), I just thinking about that movie now when I see this pillow.

I made this pillow case after seeing the movie "Frozen." I loved all the Scandinavian motifs and design in that movie, and I wanted to recreate it, especially with some embroidery. I don't think that this pillow looks like anything from fantasy Scandinavia.

But it is kind of nice.

 B&W + India Quilt

This is one of my favorite quilts I have made. I always admire quilts utilizing only solids, but I find it hard to do myself because there are SO MANY COOL PRINTS. But I was able to restrain myself somehow. I first designed the block you see repeated in the middle. I think I made it up, but you never know, I might have seen it somewhere. Note that it is the same block as the ones down the right and left side, they are just arranged differently. I had been seeing some medallion style quilts on a bunch of blogs. Actually, I just kept seeing the same one on different blogs. I liked the concept, so this is my version. The middle is less medalliony, but I just REALLY liked that block!

I gave this quilt to my best friend from high school who is getting married in July. She is very on top of her thank you notes, and already sent me one, saying that her fiance liked it more than she would have expected him to like a quilt, and "stared at it for an uncomfortably long time." I think that is the highest compliment I could receive.

I just really like the strong contrast between the black and white.

 The backing is made from some extra blocks I made and the fabrics I got in India, which I was very happy to use! My favorite is the orange one (probably because it is the brightest). I think it goes well with the black and white.

 Quickest Baby Quilt

Quick doesn't mean poorly designed or made - at least I don't think so. I was going to a baby shower and delighted in the self-challenge of making a quilt for it in a few days from what I had on hand. I had this piece of yellow plaid flannel I thought would make a perfect, soft backing. However it was the weirdest shape and size. But I was like, "whatever, babies are the weirdest shape and size." The baby was a boy, which is always harder than a girl, because fabrics are always floral. At least it seems like it.

I used a few prints that I had ordered from Heather Ross's Briar Rose collection. I keep seeing them around and became a little obsessed. Somehow I found some other good coordinating fabrics in my stash. I almost used a mustardy yellow for the sashing, but I am VERY glad I didn't. I have a bunch of mustard and keep trying to figure out what to use it on - no luck yet. I have kept finding uses for that plaid shirting I bought a while back. I intended to make myself a shirt, and even cut out the shirt pattern in the fabric. But I got lazy, so now I have all these weird-shaped pieces of plaid lying around.