shake your pom poms!

Welcome to my little stop on the Shake Your Pom Poms blog hop from Sew Quilt & Pigtales and Quilts! 

My project was inspired by {this tutorial}  from the Moda Bake Shop by Trish of Notes of Sincerity.  I used a charm pack of Dream On fabrics by Moda, a pretty blue floral flannel from Joanns for the backing, and about five yards of pom pom trim to sew into the side seams.  I wanted to lengthen the scarf and make it like the infinity style.  {I should probably mention I have never made an infinity scarf before}

This is my scarf, sewn with right sides together with a small opening to turn the scarf right side out.  Aside from taking forever to pin the sides together with the pom pom trim {and having to redo one side}, everything was going great up to this point.  Then I turned my scarf right side out, and got...

a fully lined tube instead of a scarf.  It looks like one of those giant worms from Tremors :)



I turned the scarf wrong side out again, got out my dressmaking shears, and cut through the scarf.  After sewing the raw edges, I now have a scarf.  Not an infinity scarf, but a wearable scarf.  With a whole lot of pom pom going on :)

My 7 year old said he would help me get some pictures.  Um, yeah. 

This is the only picture he took that actually had me in it and wasn't blurry.  Unfortunately, my eyes were half closed and I was in the middle of telling him to stop running around in the tree fort with my camera & stop taking pictures of his brother swinging from the tree like a monkey.  No way am I putting that weird pic of me on here.  But hey, the scarf looks good!

I like my scarf, and I think it turned out great in the end even though it isn't exactly what I had planned.  But honestly, I think I liked the man eating worm version best ;)

Be sure to visit the other stops on today'sschedule for more pom pom fun!

April 26

Cherry Valley Designs

Life in the Scrapatch

Felt free på Åsly

Love it Sew it

Patchouli Moon Studio

Dreaming In Patchwork

In The Boon Docks

Jane’s Quilting

Charming

This little stack of pretties is winging it's way to Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting.  Most will travel on, to happy new homes.  I wonder what exciting, crafty plans await them?  One of them will return, with 55 new friends.  A rainbow of possibilities :) 

Linking up with Sunday Stash

*Thank you, thank you, thank you Mom for cutting my charm squares for me after I hurt my right hand!

flying geese

My rainbow batik flying geese is now a proper finish, with the binding all sewn on! :)
I went for a rainbow look with the binding, too.
I completely forgot to check the measurements, but it is a bit shorter than a 9 yr old :)
Linking up to: Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Threading my Way, JAQS Made by Me & Submarine Sunday

ugly quilt progress

just popping in to show you a peek at how my ugly string quilt is coming



I wrote more about my plans for this quilt {here} if you missed it :)

I've made nine blocks, this is the only one I have trimmed up so far.

A Little Retail Therapy

Yesterday I went down to Manchester, NH for a day out with my SIL & Mom.  Kid-free time in a quilty environment with a good dose of retail therapy was just what we needed  :)

I didn't bring my camera, but I can tell you that the two big trends in the quilts on display were rhinestones and naked men.  I don't think either one will be showing up in my own work anytime soon ;)

I was super happily surprised to see Sew Fresh Fabrics had a booth at the show!  Sew Fresh Fabrics is one of my fav online shops, so I was excited to peruse their selection in person!  I managed to contain myself, and resisted the urge to jump up and down and squeal 'I love your shop!' to the lovely ladies in the booth, but it took all my self control.  Which explains the strawberries and chocolate Mississippi Mud cake I had for dinner :)

These two prints were a great find for my lobster fabric collection.  Maybe this summer I will finally put them all in a quilt?

Aren't these little Japanese Kitties the cutest? 

But the one purchase I'm most excited about is my little Sashiko kit.  The design was pre-marked on the fabric, and will wash out when I'm finished.  Perhaps I will make this into a small pillow, with the kitties for the fabric on the back  :)

{click here to learn more about Sashiko}

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash! :)

my strings overfloweth

 

Have you heard about String Fever?

 

Well, I have this container of strings I have been accumulating for ages.  A few months ago I decided what to do with them, but told myself I needed to finish some WIPs first.  Maybe keeping my string box within sight of my sewing machine was a mistake, because every time I sit down to sew the strings are beckoning to me.

 

Most of my in process WIPs have hit a snag, and motivation to sew has been about nil.

 

Then Rachel posted about String Fever.  I couldn't resist any longer.  I opened up my string box, and it exploded!

 



The lid actually did fit on before, but clearly these strings are not going back in!  Guess I have no choice but to sew them ;)    {I actually sewed two blocks before I stopped to get the camera}

This is going to be my wonky, stash cleansing, anything goes, ugly quilt!  All those fabrics that just don't play nice together, are going to be sewn together anyway.

If you have been around here for awhile, you may know I have a soft spot for ugly fabric.  But this is going to be an entire ugly quilt! You just can't imagine how happy that makes me :)

That box is {over}full of pirates, chicken butts, and chocolate chip cookies.  There are homespun plaids, modern prints like Happy Mochi Yum Yum, and batiks.  Quite a few have gold etching or sparkles.  There are traditional florals, solids, and polka dots. 

I'm having a blast sewing them randomly together!  It turns out an anything goes, no matching points, no pressure to look pretty project is just what I needed to get my sewjo going again :)

*while there are a few fabrics that I would affectionately consider ugly in their own right, most are just so different from their neighbors that they don't play nice together.

How about you? Are you stringing along?

Easter Bunnies

I was sewing late into the night, but I did finish the stuffed bunnies for my sons' Easter baskets.

all three fabrics are DS for Joann Fabrics 

I used a template that was part of a tutorial by Sew Much Ado

I love sewing for my boys, and it is my goal to do more of it.  They were all happy to have something I made, and as a Mom that really is the best part of sewing :)

Linking up to Show & Tell Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday, & Linky Party Tuesday