A few times a year, I swap crafts with my girlfriends. We each choose one thing to make and then make multiples of it to swap with each other. After successfully making my first rope basket, I decided to make smaller versions for the swap. I swear this is so fast, fun and easy. Also, addictive! Just ask Blair.

This time, I used a 1/4" twisted cotton rope instead of the braided clothesline I used for my first one. I love the way it looks. I bought it from Knot and Rope Supply. The quality is wonderful and it came quite speedily. Plus, because you purchase the rope by the foot, you can get any length you want, instead of being stuck with a set pre-packaged length.

While I was stitching this group of baskets, Fatty made a simple comment that had my mind swirling with possibilities. Suffice it to say that I'm not done with these yet. No way. I'm ordering more rope.

Finally, a finish.

Because I made this quilt for our church and school's annual carnival, it needed a name. My friend, Jill, came up with Melon Crush so there it is. Quite a good fit, if you ask me.

The prints are Cloud 9 for JoAnn's and the solids are a mix of Kona (Snow and Buttercup) and Moda (Steel, Amelia Orange, Tea Rose and Carribbean). The back is the Carribbean with a patchwork strip of the various prints. The finished size is 54" square, big enough for cuddling under the couch and not too big that it is cumbersome. I used white thread for the quilting. Again, I went for the loop to loop design, albeit on a much larger scale. (I know that I promised a tutorial for that method and I will do it. Really, I will!) The quilt ended up going home with one of my neighbors. Cool, huh?

In other news, the AC is fixed and that means I can put the studio back together! I'm slowly working to get everything in order. It's a little overwhelming because as I do it, I am trying to figure out how best to use the space. I am also trying to organize my fabric as I take it back into the studio. I'm de-stashing anything that I don't think I'll use. I think that I'll bundle up smaller pieces in color-themed bundles and sell the larger pieces separately.  What do you think? And scrap bags. I will have those, too. Realistically, I probably won't have everything ready until late August, but I will be sure to let you know here when it's ready.

Also, we had these fish tacos last night. Excellent and easy.

I finished the rope basket I started last week on Saturday. I just needed a few minutes to sit down and complete the hand sewing portion which took no time at all. In fact, the entire thing was easy-peasy. And so so fun! I was slightly nervous to sew over rope (eek!), but really did not encounter a single problem. I am super happy that I was able to make it even and round on my first go. I shouldn't have been worried a bit. It was simple, really. And slightly addictive - I know I will make more.

As I said last week, I watched this creativebug class to learn the technique. I wasn't able to find the twisted cotton rope locally, so I went with a 1/4" cotton clothesline that has a nylon core. I bought it at my local hardware store, but saw the same thing at the big box home improvements stores, too. It worked great. I think I have found a good source for the twisted rope - I'll let you know how that works just as soon as I make the next one. I also think this method will be great for some other uses other than baskets. Time to experiment!

The girls left for camp on Sunday. The house is so quiet! But along with that lack of noise, comes bigger freedom with how I spend my time. On my way home from exercise yesterday, I stopped at JoAnn's in the hope of finding the newest fabric line from Cloud 9 Fabrics. And I was in luck!

I cut eight 5" squares from each of the 12 prints and 6 solids. I chain pieced them into pairs blindly - pulling them out of a bag and then arranged the pairs into rows for a 54" square quilt top. I worked on it in spurts, between a doctor's appointment and a trip to the quilt shop for backing and binding. Still, it came together quickly - maybe about 3 hours of sewing, plus about 30 minutes of cutting. It's a good reminder for me that I can accomplish quite a lot in small bits of time. I often think I need a huge block of hours strung together to get anything done. Sure, that is ideal, but knocking off tasks one by one still get it done.

Basting and quilting should happen today. I'm going to try to video my method for the loopy quilting to share with you all later this week. See you then.

The girls had their last day of school on the 23rd. We were all ready for the school year to be over. No more homework! And loads more down time, for them and for me. With a few hours of freedom staring at me, I decided to make myself a dress.

I had seen a few versions of The Staple Dress by April Rhodes floating around on various blogs and instagram. I was immediately attracted to the simplicity of the style. It looked like a comfy, easy dress for summer. Also, the smallest sizes would fit my girls - a new found bonus of having tween/teens that wear women's sizes. I jumped in.

I made a size large based on the pattern's measurements. I did increase the length on top by one inch as I am long in the torso. The most time consuming part was taping the pdf pattern pages together and tracing the pattern. (Side note: I really wish that all pdf patterns had full pattern pieces that you could print at a copy center if you desired in addition to the pages you have to tape together). The sewing came together quickly and the directions were clear and easy to follow. The only hiccup I had was when it came time to use elastic thread for the waist. I had no problems shirring on my Bernina 430 in the past, but as I no longer own that machine (wish I would have kept it instead of trading it in!), I was starting fresh. I did a little online research to figure out what my options were. I could adjust the bobbin case tension on my Bernina 820, but I am hesitant to mess with anything on that machine. Or I could adjust the tension on Kate's Brother. I went with the second option - thank you, google search.

As soon as the dress was finished, I put it on and wore it the entire day. It is super comfortable, albeit a bit large. I think I will try the next one a size down to see the difference. Regardless, I highly recommend this pattern - it's very well done and the result is a versatile dress. I will definitely make myself another and probably one for each of the girls. I'm working my way through large cuts of fabric that I don't think I will use for quilt backs and at just under 3 yards each, this is a good stash busting pattern. Plus, with the studio floors being painted and all of my studio stuff littering the guest room (as evidenced in the above photo), clothes sewing seems to be the way to go right now. I'm taking recommendations for any clothing patterns - dresses, skirts, blouses in particular. Tell me what you've got.

I finished a quilt this week.

I love that feeling.

This Crazy Star quilt is from Denyse Schmidt's book, Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspirations. I started it last July and have worked on it off and on since then. The foundation string piecing of the star was very fun and pretty fast and the rest of it came together easily, once I finally got around to cutting the background and sewing it together.

The color story here was dictated by this bundle of scraps I bought last summer at PurlSoho. I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to buy the scrap pack (I have enough scraps of my own!) and finally went for it. I added a few other blue, black and white prints from my stash and bought a couple additional ones as well. I sliced them all up into strings, put them in a bag and pulled them out blindly, only substituting when I had two of the same next to each other. I love how it came together.

I chose to use Kona Snow for the background of the star. No big surprise here - this is my favorite "white". And for the back of the quilt, I decided to use Essex yarn dyed linen in denim. Let me tell you, this stuff is dreamy. It's a little heavier and toothier than quilting cotton with a beautiful hand and texture. It (or something similar) was in the scrap pack so it was the perfect choice. And the binding? As I was piecing the quilt, I imagined that the binding would be pink. The little bit of pink ric rac that came with the scraps popped against the blues and blacks and I thought the quilt needed the same thing. Plus, it's smile-inducing.

The quilting pattern is the loop to loop that I have done on my last couple of quilts. I'm starting to have good muscle memory with this one - each time it gets easier and easier to get smooth loops. It's pretty easy to do, also. (I'd be happy to do a tutorial on how it's done if there is interest - let me know in the comments). The quilting is fairly dense. Combined with the foundation piecing and the cotton/linen backing fabric, this quilt is good and heavy. I'm not sure that it will get much use over the summer, but come fall, it'll be in heavy rotation.

I'm happy to have this finished before we begin work on the sewing studio/play room in ten days. All of my fabrics and supplies plus the girls' toys, games and a queen sized bed and four tables need to come out of the third floor of our house so the carpet can get ripped out and we can paint the floors (and most likely the walls and woodwork, too). Exciting, but the prospect of moving all that stuff is simultaneously terrifying. Wish me luck!

I finished sewing the last bit of binding on the Free Play quilt last Tuesday.

I love this quilt.

In the end, I went with a loopy quilting pattern. I marked a grid on the quilt top with a water soluable pen and used that as a guideline when I free motion quilted it. For the backing, I stuck with solid Kona Snow, which I also used for the binding. There is just something about all that white, negative space that makes the improvisational patchwork piecing sing.

This quilt was intended as a gift for Emily all along. I knew that I had a short window of time to make it for her before her birthday and I could not settle on what I wanted to do. As an incentive to get sewing, I decided that playing with fabric for an hour a day would get me going and I am so happy I went with that approach. The free play allowed me to jump in and make without over thinking. I felt extremely invigorated and creative while I worked on this. It was only after the majority of the blocks were pieced, that I started to make deliberate, calculated decisions on how it would all come together. And at that point in the process, I could see what the framework and composition of this quilt needed to be. As a bonus, being creative while quilting opened me up creatively and spilled over into my painting class. I was able to finish a painting that had me stumped before. Seeing that translation of playing was really cool.

My intent was to frame this quilt with patchwork borders full of various white and off white prints. As soon as I had pieced the first border, I knew it wasn't right. Actually, I knew while I was piecing the border. My gut told me it wasn't going to work.

Kona Snow for the win!

This solid is my go-to. I have never, ever regretted ordering it 15 to 20 yards at a time because I always have it on hand and it is such a good blending white, working well with prints and solids alike.

I got it all basted and started quilting on Sunday night. I did not like my first try at the quilting so I ripped it out. Yesterday, I was able to get half of it quilted and plan on finishing that today. Back here when it is finished!