Sunwashed Stars Baby Quilt

 

I made this quilt using the Sunwashed fabric line by Corey Yoder for the colorful pieces and a variety of low volume prints for the backgrounds. 

The pattern is inspired by this tutorial by Diary of a Quilter. Her pattern is for one big star, but I made this baby quilt with four smaller ones. My half square triangles and squares are 4.5" each. 

The backing is a cozy flannel gnome print I found at Joann's. 

This quilt is my 135th quilt! You can view them all on this page. 

Berry Table Runner and Sweet Land of Liberty Quilt

I finished two little projects this weekend. First up is this wall hanging/baby sized quilt made with a  panel from Lella Boutique. It is approx 36" x 44". 

I also finished this little table runner. It is made using the Berry Basket line by April Rosenthal. I love these prints so much!

It wasn't the plan, but these two look very cute together and I love the patriotic and summery vibes. 

Books I've Read & Loved

 I read a lot and always love sharing my favorites. Here are a few of my 5-star picks from the last few months. I will note - these are affiliate links, which means if you purchase, I will receive a very small commission from the seller (*you will not pay any additional amount by using my affiliate link). 

I'll start with some of my favorite recent quilt books. Welcome to Woodberry Way is adorable an is a serious bargain at only $13! I have made a bed runner using a pattern from this book and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. 

This Barn Star Sampler is GORGEOUS. I haven't made the quilt (yet), but it stops me in my tracks every time I see it. I also love these kinds of patterns because I could very easily choose any one of the blocks to make a whole quilt with just that one block, so the possibilities are endless. 

I love Lori Holt's books and this Scrappiness is Happiness book is beautiful. I love a scrappy quilt. I am working on the main quilt from this front cover. One little thing I love about her books is they are spiral bound, which is so convenient so the book stays open and stays flat. 

Another Lori Holt book... Quilters Cottage one is little but the instructions and photos are so clear. I think I will probably make a table runner out of just the house and trees. 

Alright... on to non-quilt books. This new Kristin Hannah book, The Women, is SO good. I could not put it down and loved it so much. It's about the often overlooked role that women played in the Vietnam War and it was so well done and such amazing characters. I also have heard that they are making it into a movie, and I'm sure it will be great, too. She also wrote The Nightingale, and if you haven't read that yet, you should - it's one of the best books ever! 

The Library Book was a really interesting read about the history of libraries and how they have modernized with the times. There was a bit of true crime mixed in and a really interesting look at how the staff of libraries make such a difference in their communities. I loved it and - bonus! - it's under $10!

The Many Lives of Mama Love was not my usual read, but it was really eye opening about how normal, every day moms get involved in addiction and what happens during and after going to prison and rehab. I've mentioned before that I volunteer at my local NICU and have held and helped a lot of babies who have been drug exposed. This book gave me a new perspective. I've often said I started volunteering because I didn't know what to do about homelessness or drug problems in our communities, but I know how to make quilts and hold babies so that's where I will start. I think we all need to do something - anything! - to imrpove our communities in whatever way we can.

On a lighter note, The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks was a much lighter read about a small town book shop and a newcomer who comes in a shakes things up. I almost always love a book set in a bookstore or library and this one is also under $10!

Generations is a non-fiction book that's heavy on statistics, but absolutely fascinating, especially if you are in a position of being in between multiple generations in your family. This book seemed like they interviewed my parents and my kids, it was so spot on in describing them both! I am somewhere in the middle of being a millennial and a generation x, so I didn't fit so neatly into one of these categories, but still found a lot I could relate to. It was particularly interesting to read the author and researcher's opinions on the futures of each generation. 

Hidden Potential was another interesting non-fiction read. I have two teenagers who are getting ready to launch, so I loved reading this book with them in mind. I also got the honor of being on a zoom video call with the author, which was SO cool! He was really fun and funny and clearly loves his job. 

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors and she writes beautiful books. Tom Lake was one I listened to on audiobook (while quilting, of course) and it was narrated by Meryl Streep. AMAZING to listen to her voice. So well done!

Speaking of... The Dutch House is an older Ann Patchett book and this one is narrated by Tom Hanks. Who doesn't want to listen to Tom Hank's voice for 10 hours?! The book was great, too, but honestly I could listen to Tom Hanks read the phone book. 

And last but not least, Stars in an Italian Sky was a beautiful book set in both 1946 and 2017, with beautiful characters and lots of twists and turns. I loved this book. 

If you'd like some of my older book recommendations, check out blog posts here and here and here and here. 

These post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my small business. :) 

Art in Chicago

We recently went for our 3rd trip to Chicago for the clinical trial I am participating in. To learn more about my disease and participation in this trial, please visit https://www.youcaring.com/jodie-bissig-436264

While we were in Chicago, we spent a few hours at the Art Institute. Here are a few iPhone photos of some of my favorites. 

Monet, of course. This is Water Lily Pond (1917/19). 

The detail is mesmerizing. 

This was my favorite of the Monet pieces. It is titled “Bordighera” (1884).  

And Georgia O’Keeffe is always a favorite for me. “Green Mountains, Canada” (1932)

 It was very humbling to see statues from so very long ago. This is “Head of a Girl” from late 3rd/2nd century B.C.  It is so amazing to see these in person and see how much detail remains from artwork from thousands of years ago. 

After the art institute, we visited the Buckingham Fountain. So beautiful, especially with the Chicago skyline behind it.  

The rare selfie! We try and treat these trips like getaways and sneak some sightseeing and “date nights” in between the medical appointments and tests. This was just before going for blood tests and MRIs of my brain. Woohoo! Weird “date.”  : ) 

The following day, we visited the Navy Pier and found a stained glass museum. It contained about a dozen original Tiffany glass pieces from the late 1800’s. SO beautiful. 

I think this one was my favorite. It was titled the Rapelye Memorial and dates from 1880. So exactly 100 years older than me.  : )

 Here is some of the detail. The colors and shapes are so so beautiful. 

Thanks for reading. And again, if you would like more information about my battle with multiple sclerosis or why I am doing this clinical trial, please visit the You Caring page.  XOXO!

Some New Things...

I've added a few new items to my Sew Handmade Blog - first, the new header above! Simple and more "me."

I've also created a new page - now you can see all of my quilts (currently at #59!) all on one page. If you see something you'd like to know more about, you can click on the quilt's title to go to the original blog post with more details. You can see my "All Quilts" page by clicking the collage photo on the right of the page.

Or click here: http://sew-handmade.blogspot.com/p/completed-quilts.html

If you read my blog on a subscription service or on a mobile phone, you may need to click over to the web version to see what I'm talking about!

Lastly, I also added a "subscribe by email" feature if you'd like to receive a message when I post something new on the blog. The sign-up link is also on the right side of the page, just under our family picture.

Thanks for looking!

Happy New Year!

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful celebration to welcome 2012. I have lots of hopes for this year, one of which is to spend more time sewing. This year these two little adorable faces have definitely been a distraction/deterrent. Especially that little one who is into everything and wants to take apart my sewing machine anytime he sees it. He looks like trouble, doesn't he? ;)

Today that little darling took a 3.25 hour nap (!!) and I got motivated to use some of my scrap pile and make some string blocks. I love these blocks and I love scrap quilts. I was able to make four blocks today. I'm not sure where this project is headed - I don't know if I want to make a large quilt or a small wall hanging or what. I figure I'll make these blocks until I get sick of making them and decide at that point. I probably have enough scraps to make a king-sized quilt if I get on a roll. ;)

Happy 2012!

Crochet Flower Pillow

My friend Kelly crocheted this giant flower for me a few months ago. I finally had the chance to look for the perfect linen/canvas fabric and made the pillow part this weekend. I love how it turned out, and it was very little work (for me anyway!). I actually just hot glued the heck out of it and then sewed the pillow slipcover. Super quick!

If you'd like one, too - contact Kelly via her Etsy shop and I'm sure she'd be happy to make one for you in whatever color you like.

Less than 24

So that didn't take long. I finished the Blue & Green Circle Quilt, expressed my delight at being caught up and not having anything on my "to-do" list, and within 24 hours started the next one!

In just one day, I have all of the blocks complete for my first Values Quilt based on this tutorial. It's purples and blues and I love it. I planned for this to be a gift, but I am already waffling on that - I may need to keep this one!

This morning I headed to my favorite local thrift store to see if they've restocked their sheets. I found some great "keepers." This first one is actually a flannel, but I am thinking it might be a great backing for the Values Quilt. The colors are perfect and pansies are one of my favorite flowers.

Here's a shot with my hand (please excuse the lack of manicure......) to show the scale. These pansies are BIG. Love them!

They had only a pillowcase in this print, but I love these colors and the watercolor feel to this one.

This is also just a pillowcase, but I loved the delicate flowers and colors.

Some green / yellow / orange florals - both of these are queen-sized sheets. (P.S. To my Quilt Bee friends - I have plenty of these two, so if you'd like a FQ or two, let me know! I'm happy to share...).

All these for under $10! Love thrift stores!

Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee : March Block

Have I mentioned that I joined a virtual Quilting Bee? It's a great group and we're focusing on using all of the beautiful vintage sheets we've been collecting.

March's block is for Rachel @ My Tiny Robot Heart and she requested String Blocks using this tutorial. Here is my contribution:

And detail of the fabrics - some have been in my collection for a long time now and some are new from the package I received yesterday.




I'm loving this block and the combination of all of the lovely vintage fabrics. Heck, even the back is pretty!