sewtakeahike

Blue lake on the 4th

 
 

L-man and I had planned a short backpacking trip for this last weekend, but due to rain, we decided to do a hike instead up to blue lake.  The hot air balloon was flying almost directly over our house as we were packing the car.  That's one thing I'd like to do, take a hot air balloon ride, wouldn't you?

I'll spare you all the gory details of losing the trail due to snow cover, having to bushwhack, crossing snow fields, post-holing through the snow into the stream beneath and giving up hope of finding the lake only to find it AND discovering we were WAY above it and able to see Hang Lake as well.  It was a very good day indeed!

   

  

 

 

 

I hope your week is bright!

-Penny

 

Market bag pattern and giveaways

I am sew excited I finally did it!  I have my first pattern for sale! 

Introducing........ the Market Bag!

  

And it's now available for purchase through paypal on my sidebar, or in my etsy shop. 

So many people have asked how to make this bag or have requested custom bags, so now you can make a Market Bag of your own! 

Now about the giveaway.  I'm going to give away 5 pdf files of this pattern AND the actual bag in the top photo, totaling 6 lucky winners!

But really, everyone is a winner.  Because during the giveaway, I'm offering the pattern up for only $3.50.  Just through the giveaway time.  It will go to it's normal price of $5 next Sunday June 12th at 8pm MST.  (If you purchase the pattern during the giveaway and win a copy, I will reimburse you.) 

 

 

It's easy to enter, and to get extra entries!

1.  For one entry, if you don't crochet, leave me a comment telling me what color of bag you will make when you learn (or ask your dearest crocheting friend to make for you)!  If you already crochet, leave a comment telling me who taught you how to crochet and and how long you have been crocheting. 

2.  For a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog and then come back here and leave another comment saying so.

3.  For a third entry, subscribe to sewtakeahike and come back and leave another comment letting me know.

I'll leave this post open for comments until Sunday July 12 at 8pm MST and will share the winners on Monday July 13th which will be chosen randomly.

Good luck to you all!

Penny

p.s.  This quilt is coming along nicely, so make sure you check back for the *possible* (wink wink) quilt giveaway!

 

the storyteller completed and colorful crochet

 

Thank-you all for your sweet comments about this quilt in my last post!  You all made my day!

This last week, I've had limited use of the computer while my husbands parents have been visiting.  Since my sewing/computer room switches to a guest room when we have company, I have not been keeping up on all your blogs as much as I like, but I will be back visiting soon! 

To prepare for their visit, we moved my serger table and fabric shelf (which has wheels, thank-God!) out and moved the bed in. 

 

They were gracious enough to allow me to use their room for sewing, and I am happy to have the storyteller completed.  The quilting is random, including top stitching around each flower and center and free motion eiffel towers and flowers.  Here's a close up of one of the eiffel towers.  You have to look close since it's white on white.

 

I wanted this quilt to have lots of dimension, meaning there will be some things that pop out, but some things will have to be "found".

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I finished the top and bottom with the points, but am happy with the way it ended up.  I did have to bind this quilt completely by hand, my first time ever doing that.  It was a little daunting at first, but flew by quickly as I made some progress.  I'm very happy that process is done :).

Alrighty then, I should be back to visiting you all within the next week, so until then, I hope your days are as sweet as these little flowers I'm crocheting for an afghan I'm making!  ***edited to add link for flower pattern.

strip quilt progress and the storyteller

 

These last two weekends have been a whirlwind of quilt (top)-making for me. Here is the strip quilt I pieced last weekend waiting to be backed, quilted and bound. 

 

it ended up measuring 60 X 73 and I will hopefully have it done in the next two weeks.  My husbands parents are coming to visit this week, so hopefully I will be able to carve out some time to work on it.

THIS weekend I did something I never thought I would ever do.  I made a hexagon quilt top (out of 5 inch hexagons which are pretty big, but still!)   I never wanted to make one because I thought I would have to hand sew it together.  And that just wasn't going to happen.  I love to sew, but i like to go fast!  When I found this link via Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio, my dilemma had been solved.  I could in fact machine piece hexagons with the info given there.  Hurray!  I do love a good hexagon quilt and I am totally in love with this process. 

I'm not usually one to plan a project too much, I usually just start cutting and sewing and see what I end up with.  I decided to go a different route with this quilt top though.  It's a birthday gift for my dearest friend (who has been banned from reading my blog until I complete and give it to her)  who is very intentional with most everything she does.  So in honor of being intentional (but still random) and honing my ability to be patient and actually plan, I picked up all the hexes I had haphazardly arranged on the floor and started laying them out in flowers.  The next part nearly killed me.  I had to leave out half of the hexes I had cut out and cut more of a background color.  (I tried to get a really good photo, but there's some weird shadowing at the top right corner, along with the ends of the clothespins)

  

I'm calling this quilt "the Storyteller".  Each piece of fabric in this quilt has a story.  The fabrics were either given to me or is a fabric that Glynis has mentioned she likes.   For instance, do you see that orange and blue floral fabric in the center of the "Polly goes to Paris" flower?  Glynis gave that fabric to me in the form of a dress that was cut out, darted, and ready to be sewn together.  It belonged to her grandmother.  And do you see the sweet little hexes from the flights of fancy line and the orange Amy Butler polka dots?  Those were from some scraps Sheree sent to me with an order a while back.  I could go on and on about each and every fabric in this quilt top.   I love quilting like that!  I'm still thinking about what the back will be, but I also hope to have it finished in the next week or two. 

Have a great week everyone!

p.s.  I made a loaf of this oatmeal banana bread this weekend and it's my all time favorite banana bread.  The oats add a lot of texture and make it substantial.  One tip, use the walnut oil.  It's real good.  Oh, and I did not whip the egg whites and it turned out fabulous.  Next time I'll follow the directions better, I promise!

she's at it again

 

Just HAD to tell you all about Sheree's latest Super Summer Giveaway here!  She's stuffing a box full of scraps (and I have to tell you she has some amazing scraps) and sending it off to the winner! 

the Alma apron and a sneak peek

A couple weeks ago while in Kansas visiting my folks, my mom pulled an apron out of a box and showed it to me.  She had picked it up at an estate sale or garage sale and really loved the fit.  When she tried to wear it to cook in though, the material was so thin that when she got something on it, it went right through and onto her clothes.  I brought the apron home, unpicked it, and with a few minor tweeks, came up with this apron which I am naming after my mom's mom, Alma.  (I wish I had taken a few pics of the original before I took it apart, but didn't)

 

 

I think one of the reasons my mom likes this apron so much is that it doesn't have to be tied, she just slips it over her head.

 

The crochet flowers on the pocket tops are from a pattern I made up a couple years ago.  I made a long strand of them and keep them in my sewing room to embellish with as the mood strikes.

 

I just got a phone call from my mom tonight and she received her apron and loves it!! 

In other areas of my sewing room, here's a sneak peek of a project I worked on this weekend

I've almost finished the top for this quilt and I'm making mainly from the jellyroll I won here and a few other odds and ends of fabric to lighten it up.  Some people might say I'm ruining it with the bright border, but I just cannot help myself! 

Anyway, THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE A QUILT I'M GIVING AWAY

wink wink 

when I'm finished.  Here's another angle just in case you need convincing

 

to be continued........

omniGRID vs. omniGRIP- showdown and redemption

Yep, there is a difference, for sure.  I purchased my first omniGRIP ruler a couple weeks ago and I almost cried there was such a difference.  The urge to cry mainly because over the last two years or so I have invested in many (maaaaannnnnnyyyy) omniGRID rulers.  My main complaint with them was the slipping.  As soon as I tried the omnigrip, I thought "oh no!!!, now I have to give all those slippy omnigrids away and start replacing them with the grip kind. 

  

BUT WAIT!!!!  After lamenting over this dilemma for a couple of days and even putting all my omnigrid rulers in the goodwill pile, I came up with a solution.  I put a small dot of hot glue in each corner (on the down side of the ruler) and smoothed it pretty flat while it was hot and I can.NOT believe the difference!!

 

and as you can see from this next dot, it doesn't have to be perfect, just small and relatively flat

So out of the Goodwill pile came all my rulers, redeemed by a few dots of hot glue.   I even did this with all my "special" shaped acrylic templates and it works great!

two sweet giveaway links

I know, I'm breaking my once a week posting here but I just need to tell you all about a couple of sweet giveaways!

Sheree is having one here

and

Marjorie is having one here!  

(just as a side note, Marjorie gave away the sweetest apron a while back and since I didn't win, I just HAD to order one up from her instead.  Here craftmanship is just awesome

 

The brown and pink gingham binding is the best!

and I love the way she makes her aprons so unique!!  Just look at the pocket detail which I think was from an old hankie

 

Good luck in the giveaways!

fruit of our 8 hour drive

from our home to see my parents last weekend.  Firstly, I finished this baby blanket made of bamboo fibre, so soft and cuddly, which I will be listing in etsy.

 

You can get a lot done in 16 hours while driving in a car. 

And take a look at this!  

 

My L-man (endearing name given to my husband by my best friend which will be how I refer to him from now on.  I've struggled with what to call him since calling him "my husband" or by his name seems so unimaginative) figured this bike out quickly and was having a ball on it in no time.  My nephew designed and built it similarly to a bike called a "swing bike" that was produced in the 50's or 60's.  Twas so much fun to watch them ride around on it.

 

This is Josh, the brains behind the bike.  Love that paint job!

It was so nice to see my family again and as we drove away to come back home, my heart was already missing them!

And the winner is:

 

 

no, he's not the winner, but just plain cute.  he's my mom and dad's "bouncer"

Thank-you so much for all your enthusiasm for the SMS May giveaway!  It was a lot of fun and although I normally would respond to each and every comment, I just cannot this time!  You have made that impossible for me due to the sheer number of entries!  So without further delay, here is the winner:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

50

Timestamp: 2009-06-02 00:33:03 UTC

And #50 happens to be Emily!  I'll be emailing you shortly Emily!

SMS May Giveaway Day is here!

 

  

It's here!  It's here! 

And this is what's up for grabs on sewtakeahike:

a ladybug pincushion-keychain thingy (tutorial found here)

 

two linen heat resistant covers for cast iron skillet handles

 

a tote that wraps up into the front pocket

and this stack of eight fat quarter vintage sheets. (I think one of them is not actually 18X22 but has the same square inches as a fat quarter).

I will leave this post open for comments until May 31st at midnight **edit** 8pm (Mountain time in the US) and will pick a winner via the random number generator on Monday June 1st in the afternoon.  International entries are welcome and good luck to you all!

p.s.  I almost forgot, go check out sew, mama, sew!'s three giveaway categories here, here, and here to find links to more giveaways!

 

weekend rain

ahhh, we had such big plans this weekend but alas they were cut short by incessant rain and snowy trails.  We headed up to Mt. of the Holy Cross this weekend to do a little car camping and maybe hike part of the trail of this well known 14er.  Talking with the very helpful ranger at the Forest Service station halted our plans when he said the road to the trailhead won't be open till the middle of June because of snow.

 

So I did a little of this

 

while Lenny took on the ever important task of cutting a stick with a rock to use as a prop to keep our tailgate open a smidge while we slept.

 

 

Maybe it was on purpose, but does anyone else think there might have been a little "oopsie" moment when this bridge was built? 

 

 

 

p.s. don't forget to check back on Wednesday for the big sew mama sew giveaway day!

sms may giveaway day

 

Just a quick post to let you know about this.  I will be participating this time around in the handmade/crafting supplies category so make sure you stop back by on the 27th!

summer-ish

And I'm crocheting.  hmm.  I found this awesome block pattern via crochet pattern central, which took me to this site.  In order to get the pattern, you have to commit to sending her at least one block you have crocheted so she can put them together to make charity afghans.  How cool is that?  I picked up nine different colors of this bamboo yarn (thanks to a friend for tipping me off that they were on sale!) at Hobby Lobby, and plan to make 9 squares for a baby afghan.  I love the way it's turning out!  The next block is a combo of pink, green and white.

 

So I'm thinking that for the time being, I'm going to start posting just once a week on my blog.  I've found it harder and harder recently to make myself get on the computer but I still want to stay connected.  It's so hard to divide up my time with all the things I want to do.  What's that you say?  You've never had a problem like that? :)

See you next week!

short boxed tote tutorial

 

I like writing tutorials.  Actually, maybe it's not the tutorial writing I enjoy, but the sharing part.  Yesterday I was feeling the need to share so I made this bag and wrote a tutorial.  It's a very simple bag, no lining or zippers, but very practical.

It does have snaps on the boxed bottom part, you can see them a little better in this photo:

 

But snaps really are a snap!

For this tutorial, I tried my hand at making a more professional presentation on photoshop rather than my chicken scratch handwriting and diagrams.  (which some have told me are hard to read.  I know, I know!  I almost didn't make it out of kindergarten for that reason!)

 

So I hope you are able to use this, and if you do, I'd love to see pictures!

Download the pdf here, or print from these two pictures!