tiny patchwork needlebook

I did it.  I did some selfish, not-work sewing and made myself a little needlebook.

I used the pattern from nanaCompany and I'm really happy with it.  I am a scrap hoarder, this is not news to anyone, but a while back I started putting tiny scraps into a separate little tray next to my cutting table, and then when I moved the sewing room downstairs, I started a new tray for very little scraps.  I think my original goal was to sort out pieces small enough for this EPP project, but the collections came in really handy for this too. 

 

 I'm a little out of practice, and this improv scrap top didn't come together as easily as I thought it would.  I actually had several reject bits before these scraps just found each other and I stitched them up.  Instead of play trial and error for the back cover, I just went with a piece of this teal/turq floral from JoAnn's.  I hand quilted it with fans on the back,

and just followed the seam lines on the front.   It had been ages since I hand quilted anything with regular thread (instead of perle cotton).  It was nice to remember how much I like it, but I don't foresee myself doing much more of it in the near future.  All the quilting patterns I want to try are all FMQ, but who knows?  Another little side project like this could pop up at any time..

My favorite detail is the rubber stamping.. I used my little horse instead of putting the date (2014- year of the horse), and couldn't come up with anything cuter to say than my own name.  At least everyone will know who it belongs to.

On the inside I put one "sheet" of felt and a fabric-enclosed magnet to hold my loose paperclips. 

The magnet makes the case very heavy, and I'm pretty sure it would get me stopped at the TSA check at the airport, so I might not keep the case in my sewing kit while flying.  Actually, my TQ#5 sewing kit is bursting at the edges-- it's tough to keep it closed these days and I really don't know what to do.  Suddenly all of those other EPP sewing kits I've seen for hexie-based projects make a lot more sense to me.  We've got a trip coming up soon and as I prepare for it, I just don't know where I can fit all the stuff I need to bring (extra colors of thread, a new pack of 100 hexie templates).  I wanted to make this needlebook, but I'm not sure how to make it work for me yet.. 

Anyway, a finish is a finish, and it sure felt good to flex my patchwork and quilting muscles after all this constant EPPing.  I'm linking up with TGIFF! Be sure to pop over and see what everyone else has finished this week.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Whew~
I made it!  With only 8 hours left in the quilt festival, I managed to finish my quilt and blog about it.  Now let's hope that some people start browsing the festival links from the bottom of the list...

Today I'm happy to show off my little owl miniquilt.  This project was underway for a long time.. I bought the owl panel at Yuzawaya in Tokyo in 2007, when C and I were desperate for kids but devastated by infertility.  I was sure one day I'd have a little family, and I'm very very happy that my dreams came true.

For some reason he thinks you have to close your eyes when you say "cheese!"

I started the miniquilt when I was getting ready to try for baby #2, thinking, "OMG, I have to use this awesome panel before we have 2 little owls!" and worried how I was going to applique the next kid's owl on there.  Haha.  well, let me just tell you, getting pregnant isn't as easy as they told you it would be in high school..
The quilt sat, basted, with a couple lines of quilting in it for over a year as other projects kept bumping it out of the way.  I picked it up in September and vowed to finish it and get it on the wall, so we could enjoy it, and be reminded to enjoy our little family as it is now.

It was made to coordinate with this quilt, which is on our bed most of the year, and I used a few left over blocks for the back.  I quilted in perle cotton #8 and as I worked I remembered how much I love hand quilting (of course, today as I rushed to finish the last few lengths of thread, I also remembered how sore your fingers get from hand quilting, and that you really can't rush it). 

Hand quilting gives you lots of time to think.. so I thought about owls, and how they were so trendy, then came out with avengance and got too trendy, and now it feels people are ready to move on to a new cute animal.  For me though, I still like them.

I found these on my desk at work in the summer of 2007.  A co-worker's grandma made them.

Have you seen the Owl Art Calendar?  I just came across it last week, totally cool, and free too!

I also thought about blogging and deadlines, and the pressure to make things just to show them online.  That pressure has been weighing a little hard on me lately.  Once again I'm starting to feel that I've gotten sucked in, that I want to make things because other people are making them, and not spending the time to make the quilts I want to make.  The quilt blog community is moving so fast, with a constant pressure to make, buy, show off, participate.. Some days I love it, it's a great and creative community.  But other days it makes me feel guilty and stressed out.  This miniquilt is mine.  My idea from my experiences.  My time, my family.  It's a good reminder that you don't have to have or do everything out there,  What really matters are the things that make life more full and balanced.  I hope seeing this quilt on my wall will keep me centered, positive, and grateful for what life has brought me.