Running With Scissors

From T-Shirts To Quilt

Casey's fiancee', Alex, asked me to make her a t-shirt quilt and I was delighted to comply. I used my tried and true t-shirt quilt formula and I think it came out rather well. She seems happy with it and that's the most important thing.

Scraptastic

I have no idea how I have managed to acquire two picnic baskets full of scraps, but apparently I have never, ever thrown a piece of fabric away. In an effort to work my way through some of my bits and pieces I made this little quilt inspired by this one.

I used a big piece of gingham for the backing and I love the striped binding.

Not My Circus

I have a new motto for 2014 and a new printer, so I thought I would make myself a little sign to celebrate both.

I hung it up right next my desk to remind me to focus on my own issues instead of everyone else's. Being a grown up is so tedious. But the up side is you can stay up all night fooling around on Photoshop and no one is going to ground you.

Starstruck

I've always wanted to make a lone star quilt, but intricate piecing requires more patience and precision than I possess. Then I saw this quilt and it seemed more doable.

It was fairly easy although not particularly relaxing to make. I think next time I will make the star a lot larger, and have five full points showing. I like the blue/brown color scheme, but I think the choices within the star need to have more consistency. Live and learn.

I quilted straight lines within the star and then meandered on the background.

This is a baby quilt for a dear friend's daughter who is pregnant with her first baby. I thought I would call the it "Baby You're A Star."

Why Yes, I Did Make My Cat A Placemat

 You mean your animals don't have placemats? They just eat like savages? Yeah, well, I'm sure my family thinks this is just the next step into Crazy Cat Lady territory for me. For the record, I only have one cat, but you never know . . .

Oz's food is situated on a counter in the laundry room because Stella, the omnivorous dog, would wolf it down at every opportunity.

Hey I Finished A Quilt -- Last Year

Please excuse the iPhone photos (oh, who are we kidding, most of my photos are iPhone photos), but I was over at my friend Pam's house and realized I didn't take any pictures of the quilt that I made her for Christmas. So I made her pose with it. That's the price you pay for getting a quilt.

She lives on Poinsettia Avenue, so I thought it was appropriate. I saw a quilt made from this pattern on Pinterest and tracked down the pattern on Amazon. It's from Debbie Mumm's Decorating With Quick & Easy Holiday Quilts (just rolls right off the tongue).

It was one of those quilts that was easy and then again not. The point matching made me a little cross-eyed and cranky, but I think I was just out of practice with sewing nice quarter inch seams. I machine quilted it in a meandering pattern.

The dark red fabric is from Basic Grey's Christmas line and everything else is just random because it looked nice with that red. Very scientific.

 

Throwback Thursday -- Cousin Molly Edition

I'm trying to be consistent with the rest of the world and changing Flashback Friday to Throwback Thursday. You cannot understand how much it pains me. I was flashbacking way before anyone was throwing back.

Anyway. I'm honoring my cousin Molly this week because she wrote me the sweetest letter about how much she enjoyed looking at my old photos. That was just the nicest thing Molly, thank-you.

For perspective, above is a group photo of the Flannery cousins, circa 1972ish. This is just the beginning of the dynasty. The cousins stretch from a year older than me to a year younger than my son. We've already lost a couple (Tommy, in the striped shirt and cut-offs and Amy, in the sassy plaid pants) which hurts (it makes me tear up to even type their names). But it's nice to see their cute little-kid faces too. Guess which one is Molly? You're right! The cutie in the stylish purple bell bottoms.

Hanging in some church basement with Aunt Sharon and Grandma.

Amy on the left, Molly on the right.

Molly's rocking the blue bikini at the lake.

My eighth grade graduation. Sue, Amy, me, Molly, Kathy, and Richard (who seems to have gotten into the medicine cabinet and sampled a few pharmaceuticals).

Amy, John Nash (I think, I can't see his face too well) and Molly at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Favorite Things 2013

Since Oprah and I are soooo similar, practically the same person, I thought it would be fun to share my favorite things just like she does. And no,  you are not getting a car.

1. Tervis Tumblers -- Keeps cold drinks cold without sweating on the wood furniture (or magazines, iPad, etc. -- any where I happen to set my beverage).

2. NYDJ -- I can't believe I'm putting these on the list, but they are so darn comfortable! And it doesn't hurt that the sizes are inflated so that I can buy a size (sometimes two!) smaller than usual. If they would just lower the waistline an inch or two so they wouldn't be quite so mom-ish, they would be perfect. Buy them at Steinmart for around $50 instead of $130 at Nordstrom.

3. Diorshow Mascara -- Simply the best.

4. Fiesta -- I know. Hardly original. But I can't help myself. I love it all. Buy it on sale at Macys or Kohls.

5. Mrs. Meyers cleaning products -- Specifically the basil scent. So good.

6. Rosy Rings Candles   -- I usually buy unscented candles because most of them are just too fake, cloying, perfumey -- choose your adjective. This brand is good. I have the apple one and it is wonderful. Pricey (but cheaper on Amazon) but a nice splurge. I want the one with the shells next -- I have already test smelled and it is lovely and fresh.

7.   Kirkland Salted Caramel Macadamia Clusters  -- I hate Costco with every fiber of my being, but for these, I would go.

 

 

8. Hyperbole and a Half -- So, so funny -- well lets just say that Diet Coke coming out your nose hurts -- and this book is totally worth the pain.

 

9. Amazon Prime -- I  have been accused of being a hermit more than once and Amazon Prime doesn't help matters. I can have almost anything I want sent to my house FREE! Well, it's free in Colleen's Fiscal World. In the real world, it's $79 a year. But I think it evens out in the end. And I don't have to go to the store any more than absolutely necessary (like when I run out of Diet Coke). Win, win.

Bonus: It's free for students! And there is some sort of deal for moms, but I lost interest before I finished reading.

10.  Shutterfly -- I like to think that I will get back to scrapbooking, but in the meantime, I'm a huge fan of photobooks.

 

Want to see more favorite things? Check out 320 Sycamore -- she's got some good ones (and it was all her idea).

 

 

Piecework

I have never been particularly interested in intricately pieced quilting. It just looked so hard. I also figured my complete inability to be precise might be a problem. Then I came upon paper piecing -- which is basically using a paper pattern and sewing the fabric pieces right on to it. I was intrigued.

This Sew Mama Sew tutorial looked easy enough, so I gave it a whirl. Very good directions + cute design = fun project. I did change the glass contents from juice to soda to suit my own preferences.

I thought my little block would make an excellent mug rug (cutesy name for an oversized coaster) for my desk, so I added a red border and quilted it with a quick meander pattern.

Works great!

Memory Quilting

We've all seen t-shirt quilts like this one I made for Casey, but recently I've noticed a trend toward memory quilts made with clothing. Sometimes the clothes are cut up and pieced together, other times they are appliqued whole onto each other (which seems more a pile of laundry and less a quilt).

When my dear friend Wendi's husband passed away this spring I suggested  a memory quilt from his clothes and she really liked the idea. When she came to visit this summer she brought a bunch of his shirts and we cut and sewed and came up with a pretty cool quilt.

We chose a brick quilt pattern primarily because it's so forgiving of slightly inaccurate cutting and sewing. This was important because we used a variety of fabric from heavy chambray to rayon. I have to say that while we were laying the quilt out on my design board (aka the living room floor) I was just hating it. The colors looked just awful and the design was a big yawn. Luckily, Wendi was very enthusiastic and by the time we were finished sewing the top I was liking it too.

One of my favorite elements of the quilt are the button plackets that we used every fourth row of bricks.

I quilted it on my machine along each row of bricks -- pretty simple but I think it works well.

Working on this quilt was such a privilege. It was just cutting and sewing and messing around with fabric, but hopefully it will bring a measure of comfort. Love you and thinking of you Wendi and Stuart.