Hello 2014

I've been neglecting this little space of mine, but I'm OK with that for now. I've been trying to sit back and enjoy the ride for a bit. But I do share what I'm up to on Instagram from time to time (I'm @gwennypenny2), so I'd love to see you over there.

I have been sewing. I made a whole slew of tissue holders for Christmas...

Updated: I totally forgot to mention the tutorial I used for these tissue holders! It's from The Cottage Mama, and you can find it here.

Another one of my birth announcement embroidery hoops for my new nephew...

And an applique penguin t-shirt for my youngest's 4th birthday...

This was done using the Silhouette Portrait that I got for Christmas. I love that machine so much. I always wondered if I would actually use one if I had it, so I never really thought about getting one, but I have given that thing quite a workout in the month that I've owned it. If you're on the fence, get one!

See you around :)

Elk Grove Cheater Baby Quilt

If you follow me on Instagram (I'm @gwennypenny2), you already got a sneak peek of me working on this quilt. It was supposed to be a Christmas present for my nephew who was born almost two weeks ago, but I got it done before Thanksgiving and really wanted to deliver it to him, so we're back down to a big fat zero in the Christmas sewing department :)

The front and back fabrics are from the Elk Grove collection by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabric. This was a quick one because I used the Elk Grove Patchwork print for the front, no piecing required. Just layer, baste, quilt, and bind. I had this done from start to finish in about 2.5 hours!

The back is more Elk Grove...

The binding is also from Birch Fabric, from their Mod Basics collection...

It's nice to sew something for a boy once in a while :) Around the time I started thinking about making a baby quilt for my nephew, Jodi from Sew Fine Fabric contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in a little barter. I have been ordering fabric from Jodi's shop for about a year and a half now. She and I have very similar taste in fabric, so I know that if it's in her shop, I probably need want it! I have ordered from her several times, and I'm always amazed by how quickly I receive my order (flat rate shipping is only $2.50 in the US, $4.50 to Canada!) and how nicely the fabric is put together. She has an amazing selection. I highly recommend Sew Fine Fabric.

You can also find Jodi on Facebook, her blog, Pinterest, and Instagram. Oh, and make sure you sign up to follow Sew Fine Fabric in one of these ways so that you can find out about sales and new fabric in the shop (I took advantage of her 15% off sale a couple weeks ago :)

P.S. I was compensated with fabric for this post, but the glowing review is all mine. I have ordered from Jodi many times over the past year and a half (including once more two weeks ago!), and I will order from her again!

Suburbs Quilt

This fall I hit a deadline that crept up on me much quicker than I thought it would... Time to make my youngest a twin-size quilt so that she could move out of her toddler bed. I dread huge projects like this... if it can't be done in a day or two, I avoid it like the plague. So, of course, I waited until the last possible minute on this one until I couldn't put it off any longer. I really wish I was a process-loving person, but I'm a "final product loving" person ;)

The pattern is Suburbs from Allison Harris (Cluck Cluck Sew). My daughter picked it out herself. I was a little more than thrilled because I love this pattern. I decided to go with wavy quilting lines. I've never done anything by straight-line quilting, so I was afraid the wavy lines were going to look like a complete novice (or drunk person :) quilted it, but I absolutely love the way it turned out.

I'm also happy to report that all but the blue sky fabric and the backing came from my stash!

The entire back of the quilt is one fabric. It's from the House & Garden collection from Cloud9 for JoAnn's. I love the little pink birds on this...

So glad that this one is checked off the list. I actually have another quilt on tap... a cheater baby quilt. Much more my speed... should be able to hammer this one out pretty fast :)

Cowl Neck Bimaa Sweater

Last spring I saw the most adorable cowl neck shirt on Sarah's blog EmmylouBeeDoo. I'm a sucker for a cowl neck, and a cowl neck on a little girl? Who could resist that?!? I told Sarah that I was definitely making one this fall, and in September, I did.

I love this shirt! It is the most adorable thing ever! This one is for my three and a half year old, and I'm currently in the process of cutting fabric to make one for my oldest, too. You would not believe the number of compliments my daughter has received when she wears this shirt.

The Bimaa Sweater PDF pattern comes in six nested sizes − 12 months all the way up to a size 6 − with three different options: cowl neck, shawl collar, and hoodie. I was amazed at how easily this shirt went together. Knits can be so tricky, but this shirt was a breeze. The banded waistband and cuffs are quickly becoming a favorite of mine... much easier than hemming. I found the pattern to be true to size (note that this shirt is designed to have a slim fit).

The fabric came from JoAnn's. I have a really hard time finding knits that I like at JoAnn's, and honestly I wasn't a big fan of this one when my daughter first picked it out, but it turned into such a sweet little shirt.

This pattern is available in Sarah's Etsy shop, LouBeeClothing. It really is an amazing pattern. (I just want to add that I was not compensated for this post. I paid for the pattern myself, and I'm so glad I did :)

Spoonflower Shop Update

Last spring I posted about dipping my toes into fabric design on Spoonflower. I have a couple new designs in my shop to share with you. First, I received a request to design my Cloudy Day fabric with a light blue background...

My Cloudy Day design is now available in gray, teal, and light blue.

My second new design came about as the result of a recent Spoonflower contest. The theme was to design a "cut and sew" pencil pouch, so I decided to enter. Remember my pencil-shaped pencil pouch tutorial from two years ago? Well, I designed a fat quarter that easily recreates that pouch in record time with no piecing required...

The exterior and interior pieces are all there... all you need to do is cut them out and add some interfacing and a zipper! Here's the final product when it's all sewed up...

Over the past couple of months my designs have started selling! I now have proof that (my mother and I) I'm not the only person who likes my work... and that feels pretty good :)

The Skipper Top

If you follow me on Instagram (username gwennypenny2), you may have seen a sneak peek of this project last week. I purchased the Skipper Top pattern from Sew Much Ado and made matching shirts for the girls.

This pattern goes together so quickly. I definitely want to make more of these shirts. There are different options for the sleeves, neckline, and waist. I went with bands on all three. It was so easy to do. And I found the pattern to be true to size. I made the 3T and the 6 for my three and six year olds.

I absolutely love the feel of this knit fabric. I bought it while we were on vacation in Maine last month. It's from Riley Blake's Knit Basics line. It's one of the softest knits I've ever felt. The photos don't do it justice. It's a beautiful lavender and navy blue.

My girls live in knits, and they tend not to wear things that I sew for them unless they're made from knits. They love these shirts!

The pattern goes all the way up to a size 10, so I'll be able to use it for many years to come. I highly recommend the Skipper Top!

Another Pint-Size 241 Tote

Back in February I shared the smaller version of the Noodlehead 241 tote that I made for my youngest. When my oldest's 6th birthday rolled around in June, she asked me to make one for her, too. Just like last time, I let my daughter choose the fabrics, with a little guidance :) It turned out really cute.

The fabric is from the Happy Jungle collection by Allison Cole for Camelot Cottons.

• Jungle Animals in Turquoise
• Happy Sky in White
• Diamond Ikat in White/Aqua

I stuck with shrinking the pattern to 75% and then sized the strap to fit my daughter. And I once again skipped the magnetic snap closure and interior pockets. Keep it simple.

I also sewed up a Michelle Patterns dumpling pouch to match.

This is my fourth 241 tote and my sixth dumpling pouch... am I stuck in a rut or what?!? It doesn't bother me... These patterns have served me well, and I'm sure I am nowhere near done with them :)

Noodlehead Open Wide Zipper Pouch

Wow! Where has the time gone? I can't believe I haven't posted anything in two and a half months! We have had a wonderful summer, but it is going by much too quickly. I can't believe it's August already! My six year old starts first grade this fall. Our town still has half-day Kindergarten, so this year is another big step for us as she moves to a full day of school for first grade. She's excited, I'm nervous, but it will all be good, I'm sure :) My three and a half year old will be returning to her preschool... still two days per week, but this year will be attending for a couple extra hours each of those days, so I'm looking forward to getting some time to sew and be creative and (hopefully) blog again.

I have made a few things over the past couple months, although my sewing machine has been collecting dust for the last 4 or 5 weeks. After I made my flat-bottom zipper pouch back in the spring, I tried out Anna's (Noodlehead) open wide zipper pouch tutorial to make this...

My oldest is using it as a toiletry bag. I made the medium, and it's the perfect size. I had previously made a toiletry bag from Michelle Pattern's ditty bag pattern, and somewhere in that post I mentioned the fact that I needed to make a second bag so the girls would each have one. Apparently that motivation took a year and three months to show up because that post was back in May of 2012! Gah!

As always, you can't go wrong with Anna's detailed instructions and photos. I like the way the zipper goes in. It's something different, and it was fun to try.

Fabric

• Exterior: Captured from Next Stop Collection by Monaluna for Birch Fabrics
• Interior: Abacus in Coral from Mod Basics by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics

I have a few other things to share over the next few weeks. Once school gets going, hopefully I'll be around a little more often :) Hope all of you are enjoying your life right now, wherever you are.

Swoon Block Mini Quilt - It's My Party Day 2

It's the final day of our third annual It’s My Party and I’ll Craft if I Want To. Amy (from Ameroonie Designs) and I are celebrating our birthdays this week by sharing a few projects that we made just for us. On Wednesday I shared my flat-bottom zipper pouch. Today I'm sharing a single Swoon block mini quilt...

I've been in love with the Swoon pattern for quite some time, but I know it will be years before I can see myself tackling an entire Swoon quilt. I decided to try it out with a single block mini quilt to hang on the wall. One block is massive... like 24" square massive. And labor intensive. But I got through it and came out relatively unscathed :)

I added a 3" white border, and when all was said and done, the final quilt measures about 29" square.

The "X" quilting was inspired by the quilting that Kirsten from Gemini Stitches used on her gorgeous modified Swoon block. It ended up being a lot less difficult than I imagined.

The binding on this quilt has been waiting on the sidelines for the right project to come along. Rita from Red Pepper Quilts used this turquoise Patty Young Running Stitch fabric (from the Lush collection) on her beautiful postage stamp quilt, and I immediately ordered the fabric for "someday". Its been sitting around for about a year, and I'm so glad I finally got to use it for this project.

The back is some polka dot fabric I've had sitting around for a couple years. It never really went with anything that I was working on (since I tend to favor the ROY G BIV color scheme), but these colors really worked for this quilt.

I love the overwhelming sense of accomplishment you feel when you finish a quilt... even a small one :)

Make sure you check out Amy’s project today over on Ameroonie Designs. She made this adorable pillow (I'm a sucker for polka dots)...

Thanks for following along with our annual birthday week celebration. It gets scaled back a little bit every year as life gets more complicated, but I wouldn't miss this for anything. As always, thanks to my partner in crime Amy for joining me again this year :)