A month or so ago Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com and Sew Much Cosplay put out a call for bloggers to take part in the yearly Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop. We were asked to take a photo (or seven) of our studio as it was and then clean it up and share the difference.

Due to being very sick with numerous chronic illnesses, I haven’t really sewn in my studio since last November, so it was a complete and utter disaster. It had turned in to a dumping ground for all my sewing and craft supplies, as well as my daughters supplies (I didn’t know about that part until I started cleaning). I am also redoing my fabric, craft and product storage in my workroom (I know it sounds weird that there are two rooms, but they are rather small and one just couldn’t contain everything) and I was storing a lot of the bins holding my fabric in my studio.

It was ridiculous.

When ever I needed to sew something real quick, I’d just use my machine that I had stashed away in the dining room. Again, ridiculous.

So I jumped on the chance to force myself to clean my studio up. I NEEDED the push so badly.

If you are curious about how bad it was, and then what it looked like afterwards, then keep reading…

So here is the before…

I couldn’t even walk in there!! I had started storing my everyday sewing supplies permanently in my travel sewing box.

Ridiculous.

Are you ready for the reveal?

Eh? Eh?

Well, here you go…

I can see the actual floor now! I can even walk on it. Crazy, right?

I even had room to bring in a ladder and have my husband finally help me hang this metal sign I’ve been hoarding for almost 7 years.

I had bought it when PA Fabrics was going out of business in Lemoyne, PA. My mom would always take me to the Baltimore location and it was a staple in my creative life. So I am beyond happy that I get to have a piece of the shop hanging in my studio.

I also like how much contrast it adds to the kind of hectic wall.

I also finally hung all the acrylic peg hooks I had designed and laser cut for myself. They hold my tools very nicely as well as dowels to hold my washi tape.

My husband and I also took this time to switch out some bookshelves. I had a skinnier dark grey bookshelf under my TV originally, but I switched it out with a wider white one we had in our bedroom. It added storage AND blends in with the wall a bit more.

I also added a shelf in my closet storage to hold my paper cutter.

I’m still trying to decide what to do with the storage on the top shelf in the closet. Do I add another shelf? Do I add a curtain to hide everything? Its just my zipper, Velcro and other bulk item storage, nothing special.

I kind of organized my thread in rainbow order as well. Not all my thread, but my mostly used thread. The rest of it is either stored with my longarm or in storage containers under the pegboard desks.

Do you like my thread storage? I made it using clear nail polish racks attached to patchwork wood.

This is my ironing corner! I couldn’t find an ironing board that I liked, so I made one.

This is a 2′x4′ piece of plywood covered in cotton batting, ironing board fabric and quilting cotton. I then attached it to a rolling metal cart. It has been perfect with my gravity fed iron. Plus being on wheels means I can move it away from the door for the rare chance I may want to use the patio out there (we don’t use it much because it’s long, skinny and uncovered)

Since we are on the subject of things I made because I am picky, here is my design wall!

It is made from two large pieces of 1/2′ thick Homasote (paper board) that I covered in flannel and attached to the wall. It kind of does double duty in the room. The flannel allows for me to use it like a normal everyday design wall, and the Homasote makes it like a cork board. So I can attached finished pieces, papers, inspiration and EPP pieces that wouldn’t normally stick to a design wall.

OK, well that is it for now! Maybe I’ll feel good about this room again and maybe share more photos? OR maybe I’ll share some photos of the other room being redone? Would you like to see that?

If you enjoyed my CLEAN studio and would like to tour other creative’s studio then you should check out the rest of the Studio Spring Clean Blog Hop…

About two months ago I was contacted by the lovely people over at Andover Fabrics with an idea they had for a rainbow wall of mini quilts at QuiltCon this year. They would send me the fabric in a specific colorway and I would send them a mini quilt to hang in their booth during the event. I have been very sick, and haven’t had the energy to finish anything large, but I figured I could hand sew most of the mini so I said “yes!”

They sent me the gorgeous bundle of blue and white fabric shown above, which arrived right at the beginning of the blizzard we had. The majority of the fat quarters were either by Lizzy House or Alison Glass. The rest was from various other lines with Andover (I really should look in to them because they were all beautiful).

I decided to hand sew this mini using the technique called English Paper Piecing. I’ve talked about it loads on here before, but usually I just sew hexagons. I’ve been branching out in to other shapes lately and I’m just dying to show you all where it’s taken me. This piece of course being the first one. It took me about a week and a half to baste and piece, and then one day to matchstick quilt.

As you can see if this photo, I tried something new and did matchstick quilting (super close quilting) in various directions to kind of break up the design a bit. I also quilted to middle in a grid pattern to separate it from the rest of the design.

The finished piece ended up being 18″ across, and I am over the moon happy with how this piece turned out! I really can’t wait to mess with this idea a bit more. Would anyone be interested in a pattern? I number all the pieces and have a legend already to go, since that’s the way I work.

Added Bonus: Here’s a shot of my mini surrounded by all of the other pieces made for their booth!! (photo by @giucy_giuce on IG . One of the faces behind this project btw) How gorgeous are they?!? I feel so honored to be included in this group full of peers and friends. I really wish i could of been there to see it all in person, byt that just wasn’t in the cards this year. Next year however I WILL be there,no matter what!

Today on the Sizzix blog I share a step by step tutorial on how I assembled these birds after using one of Kid Giddy’s Sizzix dies.

You can see the full post of the Sizzix blog

QuiltCon is less than a week away and I just now finished my first sewing project for the trip! I had this crazy plan to make two tote bags (one featuring my fabric and one as part of a contest/promotion that I’ll talk about later), a drawstring bag, a makeup bag, a zipper pouch, a dress, a brooch, and a 100 or so hexagon pins to hand out. Whew, yep, crazy lady here. Most of the projects are about 75% done, which is pretty impressive for me. I’m normally a “the night before a trip and I am still sewing and refuse to sleep until I get on the plane” type of girl. I think I was just too excited about all of this selfish sewing!

Ok, now let’s actually talk about the bag I keep showing photos of! This is the most intricate bag I have ever sewn from a pattern. Do you see those gusseted sides? Normally when I need a tote bag I just throw some squares and some straps together and call it a day. This is QuiltCon though! I will be surrounded by loads of other talented people who appreciate what goes into such projects. So no thrown together bags for this event.

Instead I made a Super Tote using a pattern I bought from Noodlehead. The pattern cost $8 and is worth every single penny.

As for the fabric I used my own designs printed by Spoonflower for the front, straps and zipper pieces (if theres any interest I’ll put them up in the shop next month). The sides, lining and top front piece are from Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures line through Robert Kaufman fabrics. There is also a hint of Alison Glass’s Grove fabric in beet as an organizer in the front pocket. All of the hexagons were actually taken from another project I’m working on and the fabrics are by different people. The shiny fabric around the hexagons and used as zipper ends is a glossy black oilcloth I bought years ago for embroidered collages I use to make. There is also a bunch of heavier weight interfacing used that helps give the bag its shape and strength. Overall, I think all these fabrics blended so well together and really show my personal taste!

 This inside of this bag was actually really hard to photograph! It was so dreary here and I just couldn’t seem to show just how spacious and versatile it is! I altered the inside pattern slightly by adding a zippered pocket on one side. This was to securely hold my inhaler, medication and anything else I truly can’t live without. Plus I like to have these items separated from everything else so theres no digging around, freaking out, while having an attack.

The rest of the divided gathered/elastic pockets were part of the pattern. They are perfect for an event like Quiltcon where I’ll be picking up random bits and pieces all weekend and I’ll be able to divide them up and not just have a mound of crap on the bottom of my bag. Plus I’m taking a workshop one of the days, so this way i can keep my supplies separated from anything else I buy or am given.

This bag also has two options when it comes to the main zipper on the top. You can either have a zipper, or not have one! I chose to add the zipper to this bag, and omit it on the second one (purely because I forgot to buy a second zipper) The instructions made it so easy to install it, which has made me way more comfortable with the idea of always adding a zipper. (I already have plans to make loads more of these bags)

The front pocket was even harder to photograph than the inside! It’s so slim and flat, it just wouldn’t stay open. As with the interior of the bag, I also altered this part a little to fit my needs. I had seen on the From A Blue Chair blog where Kati added a small organizer type of pocket inside the front pocket. It was brilliant! (you should check out her post too! She did a few other alterations that were great and worth reading about!) So I used a super bright purple fabric and stitched up three dividers to help me hold my phone, business cards and extra pens (or business cards I’m given). This way I can get to all of those items super fast without taking the bag off my shoulder.

As you can see, I used a magnetic closure to secure the pocket when not in use. The pattern suggests this option, velcro or nothing at all. I think the magentic closure looks best. Thats just my opinion though.

I think thats it. Who knew I could type so much about one bag? Wait until I start talking about the next bag!! Hahaha.

If you will be at QuiltCon, please look out for a girl with purple hair, carrying this bag! If you see me, please come say hi. I have some sparkly goodies for anyone who does.

P.S.: Everytime I look at that last photo all I can think of is Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock asking “It’s weird. What do I do with my arms?”

I priced them according to quilts similar in quality and design that I’ve seen online. I don’t plan on taking custom requests and won’t update quilts non stop, but it’s nice to know that if I have an idea I can test it out and it may end up finding a new home one day, not just sit on my shelf and get dusty.

The first three quilts that I added are all completely different. Both in color and design. There is the light muted tone hexagon quilt above…

The black in white plus sign quilt with a surprise mustard colored backing…

And the icosahedron quilt made up of lots of blues and grays.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about these pieces and anything else that may be on your mind right now!!

I had so much fun designing and making this project! I wrote up a full tutorial, with pictures, over on Silhouette America’s blog. Trust me when I say, this project was way easier to make than it looks!

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 Also, if you are new here and would like to keep up on all the new projects I will be posting then please add me on BlogLovin!

In early August I took a trip to Seattle, WA to be a vendor at BlytheCon 2014. I spent most of June and July preparing for the show. There was lots of casting, cutting, sewing and building.

I had documented some of it over on Instagram and thought it would be neat to put it all together here on the blog.

 I had a lot of fun coming up with new designs and trying to figure out how to make a display that would fit in my suitcase. The show itself was sort of a bust (I’ll talk more about that later) but the trip was great! I can’t wait to share more.

 Also, if you are new here and would like to keep up on all the new projects I will be posting then please add me on BlogLovin!

I’ve been a huge mess lately preparing for BlytheCon (2 WEEKS LEFT TO PREP) and working on my Silhouette America projects so I can focus on that BlytheCon stuff, so I haven’t been able to play with all this fabric uninterrupted.

I did attempt to make a pretty, kinda chevron looking pillow out of the new 1Canoe2 line. Halfway through though I realized I had cut a bunch of pieces wrong and now I am reassembling what I can into pot holders. Luckily the line has food related items in it, which actually makes it PERFECT for potholders. Why didn’t I think of potholders before? I’ll share the finished set soon!

I also attacked the Chillingsworth charm packs and made a couple huge piles of hexies. They have already been pieced together and are just in the queue waiting to be quilted. (I like to do all my quilting at once. I may be a weirdo like that) Just like the potholders, I hope to share  the finished piece soon.

I also have BIG plans for those fat quarter bundles shown in the background of the first photo. I’m just not ready to share yet.

So, on a slightly different note, this post is just a sweet reminder of the changes I’ve made in how I spend my days! I can now sit down and sew, draw, bake and more without all the stress involved with what I was previously doing. I feel like I’m actually making progress in my goals I talked about last month and I have learned so much in that time too. I’m happier and a bit less stressed (I’ll be even more stress free after BlytheCon).

So I’d like to say thank you to everyone who encouraged me and has been supportive along the way.

You are all awesome!!!

Unlike the swaps I’ve done in the past, this one was done in such a way where you and your partner had similar taste. I was asked lots of questions when I signed up to make sure of this. Another cool part is the person you send a mini quilt to is not the person who sends you one. It’s all super secretive and makes for a great surprise when you open your package.

Oh and you are probably wonder what makes a quilt “mini”. Well, its kinda self explanatory, it’s a miniature quilt! Ranging from 8″ to 24″ square (or rectangular, or any other shape a quilt can be).

Mine ended up being 13.5″ square. Which makes each of those little squares 1.5″ finished. The tiniest I’ve ever done. I had some leftover squares so I also whipped up a little zipper pouch to match.

It’s doubled sided, so I took a photo of the front and back.

My partner said she really loved Heather Ross fabric, and I just happen to have a lot of her fabrics from over the years. I “fussy cut” most of the pieces, which means you cut the fabric in such a way that it showcases a design in the center. I do it alot with my hexie quilt but this was the first time I tried it with machine quilting. I LOVE the outcome, so you’ll probably see more projects including it.

I also included a quilt inspired necklace I made as a little gift. I wanted to send candy and treats but my partner lives in Canada and I didnt want anything to get held up in customs. (sorry partnet) She probably won’t receive this for about a week or two. I feel fine sharing it though since she has no clue that shes my partner! I can’t wait to see if she likes it or not. (I realllllllly hope she does)

I’ll also make sure to share the quilt I receive! I can’t wait to hang it up in my sewing room.

I was so excited to get a hold of these little things, and I seriously cut right into them the second I got home. Well, after I made custom paper hexagons specifically to fit these with little waste. I used my Silhouette Portrait to do that btw.

I documented the entire process on Instagram, so I’ll be sharing some of those photos too.

Making the hexies themselves took no time at all. There were 120 2.5″ squares total (3 mini charm packs worth) and I can do about 35-40 a night. The part that took me the longest was whipstitching them all together. There wasn’t too much rhyme or reason to where I placed everything, I did make sure to keep similar pieces as far apart as I could, but thats it.

I know some people stitch their hexies on the bottom and don’t go through the paper, but I found that doesnt work for me and my slightly uncoordinated hands. I work much cleaner and faster when i baste through the paper. You can see me taking out the basting stitches and papers above. I always use neon pink thread because it allows me to see every stitch so i don’t miss any before quilting.

The above photo was just taken for fun! This was right after taking all of the paper out and steam pressing the entire thing. Isn’t it pretty?

I seriously could not decide how I wanted this thing quilted. I’m really only good at straight lines and tracing around objects right now, so to make sure I secured all the hexies and still had a pretty design in the end I went with the above combination. I used the edge of the hexies and the edge of my basic walking foot to line up all of the lines. It went pretty fast this way and I absolutely love the texture it added.

I squared off the edges, quilted a simple back piece using Robert Kaufman’s Essex Yarn Dyed in Denim, added an invisible zipper and stitched the entire thing together…

Tada, I have a finished pillow! One that has already been taken by my four year old as her own. She even gave me a hug and said thank you for making it for her. Ok, I guess it’s hers now.

I’m waiting on an invisible zipper for my other hexie pillow I’ve been working on. This one actually IS for my daughters room. I’ll post photo’s of that project soon enough.

Who knows though, I might start working on a 5th and 6th hexie project too! I may be a little obsessed…