My first quilt in a really long time.

Aloha!

The workroom has been filled with my sewing stuff. I still haven't unpacked the jewelry making supplies yet! It seems I need to organize more space to have even a small inventory at hand.
 
I made a quilt a while back. It was a Blanket of Hope for the Soldier's Angles charity program. It was my first attempt at making a quilt. I made a rag quilt which came out pretty good. The second attempt at quilt making was a queen size for my bed. It remains a UFO to this day.

I decided to make quilts for my grandchildren. I started with a baby quilt for the youngest. Here is my progress through it. I learned a lot from searching the web but apparently I must learn a lot more! More about that later.   

She likes Disney Princess.

The journey began with a trip to the local fabric store for princess print fabrics. With these and a few fabrics from my own stash I was on my quilt making journey. After rotary cutting everything I tested out a pattern by placing my quilt squares in rows and columns. Looks okay but something is missing.

My daughter mentioned during a phone call that they purchased new furniture and the baby was moving into a bunk bed. (She lives in Cali and I live in Hawaii.) So, back to the fabric store for more fabric. I felt that I needed white to make the prints pop. I also found a princess panel that I figured I would use for the quilt back.

I felt that the size must be bigger as it was now for a bigger bed. Back to the drawing board. The white blocks were added to the design. Still not big enough. Okay, lets put a border. Not wanting to return the the fabric store I used the fabric I had left and pieced together a bunch of them for the border. Sewing it to the quilt piece was a challenge as; I had never done a border before, the strips were too big or too little. Some creative piecing was done and whew, it went together!

Now the back. I'm not sure if it was my lucky day or if this happens a lot but the printed panel was off. To square it up was a challenge. I hope you can't tell too much. A little cut here and there, another border or two and I got it squared up, assembled and ready to quilt. I've watched free motion quilting tutorials and practiced a bit and was ready to go.

Not quite. Why not a few appliques? Now I've never appliqued either, but did that stop me? Heck no! So what started out as a simple baby quilt turned into this. She loves it. I made a pillow too. It's called the sprocket pillow. I found a free tutorial for it on Cluck Cluck Sew.

How does it look?

Finished top.

Back

Pillow

Pillow back

Hearts!

 

 

 

 

What did I learn? You should probably use a pattern if your a quilting newbie. Stick with a plain back for your first one. I know it's not perfect but I accomplished my goal. My granddaughter loves it!

Aloha! We have a new family member....

Well, 2012 was quite a year. Dear hubby participated in the WBRC, blind rehab program for three months. Then, it was off to dog school. I am so proud of my hubby. He has over-taken this latest obstacle with patience, humor, and the endurance of a soldier.

John and Rocky's Graduation Picture

I have linked to the Western Blind Rehab Center and Guide Dogs of America. I cannot thank them enough for giving me my husband back with a positive view of our future. The programs and people that work there are absolutely wonderful. If anyone has vision that limits their daily functions please contact those facilities. I believe you must be a veteran to attend WBRC although GDA has their own admission requirements.

Also, a special thanks to the puppy raisers. Your love and dedication has enabled Rocky to transition into our furry clan which includes, our adopted children Mickey, our dog, and Felix, our cat.

While John was away I worked on turning our second bedroom into a dedicated studio. We got lots of ideas from houzz.com. I am completing the process of adding the sewing items to the room. Next I will add the jewelry making supplies.

I have gathered the fabric for a baby/toddler quilt which I will work on this afternoon. I also found this great fabric store. They have a design wall feature so you can see the fabric choices together and get an idea how they will work in your project. Check it out! Till next time, be creative, love what you do!

Mahalo!

Changes and Challenges

Aloha! I apologize for being away from my blog. I had surgery to remove my gall bladder in November. My husband's vision has gotten worsened so I have been his driver since I recovered from the surgery. My dear Mother passed away December 31.

My granddaughter was Tiger Lilly in the school play. I made her costume and will attempt to get a picture up.

Since my surgery I have been challenged with arthritis pain in my hands, arms, wrists etc. My doc thinks it's carpel tunnel. I sleep with braces and am taking new meds that help most of the day.

I am learning how to quilt. I made one, a rag quilt, several years ago. This one is a patchwork quilt. I am totally confused right now. I found a great site the Missouri Star Quilt Company. Their website can be found here: http://www.missouriquiltco.com/

Well, that's it for now. I'll work on getting some pics up.

J & J Design Inspiration: Aloha!

J & J Design Inspiration: Aloha!: "I promised a photo of the gown I made for my granddaughter and here it is. I had to wait for my daughter to send the photo and then scan it ..."

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho,

Yippee, I got my laptop back! Now that I've been on the desktop in the studio for weeks I'm not sure if I'll be switching back. All my stuff is gone anyway. Well it's on a hard drive; on top of the workstation in the studio. I use an office chair and slide from my workstation to my computer. Wee!

Anyway I've been busy creating but am a little disappointed that sales are not what I had hoped for when I started out in June. That's when I lost my job and decided to get back into jewelry making.

At this point I am thinking of incorporating more sewing into the business as I've always done well with sewing. The only drawback is, as I have mentioned before, is space. Sewing takes up a lot of space! Especially if you sew window coverings and home decor stuff. Yikes! We are still recovering from sewing the two gowns for my granddaughters. I'm still pulling thread out of the vacuum!

What to do? Well I have taken more classes. John and I went to soldering class and I took another one to make bangles. It was really cool. We used a drill to enlarge holes in beads. It's another level of knowledge I can use. It's different using the torch and drill press from beading with wire and beads. Well, different muscles anyway! Holding onto those beads so they don't go flying and knock someone out was challenging.


I will post photos when I get a chance to take them. Busy with the turkey day and all that.


I must also mention I was surprised no one participated in the pendant give-away. I promise not to sell any one's address, ha ha. So, guess we will have to do another one. I will post the details soon. Don't be shy, leave comments, follow me. Which brings to mind a patch I sewed onto my favorite jeans back in the day...Don't follow me; I'm lost too!

Mahalo,
Jozee

My new pendants are old school tattoo designs. No I didn't do the art! But kewl, dontcha think? I know, I drive my granddaughter nuts. She calls me the crazy grandma! hahaha I'm not crazy, girls just wanna have fun!



My Bonanza Booth:  http://www.bonanza.com/booths/J_J_Designs

Being creative

My angel earrings are made. How many different ways can you make an angel earring? Ha ha! I made one that looks like she has hair. I also made regular ones. Tell me what you think.

I was pondering doing a tutorial for my drawstring jewelry pouches. Just in case I took lots of pics. The fabric is the backdrop for the photo above. Wondering if anyone would like to make their own bags?

Anyway I not only made Maddy's Halloween costume, I also made a gown for my older granddaughter. She's in A Midsummer's Night Dream as Helena at school. After the horror show I had working with real bridal satin and chiffon for the bride dress I made Maddy, I swore I wouldn't go that route again. After all, it's only a school play, right?

Wrong! OCD kicked in and I got the color she wanted, lilac and it was what I believe is called damask. Satin with a flower sort of embroidered into the fabric.

Here's a pic I took when I started cutting:

I'll post more later. You get the idea. Just me being creative.
Holla back if you want to know how to make one of these:

Have a great week!

Happy Halloween!

I just shipped off my granddaughter's Halloween Costume. Don't you love the holidays? I enjoyed making glass tile pendants for Halloween. Here are a few samples:

I sewed a few drawstring pouches for them. Here is a photo of one:

I sent my older granddaughter this black cat glass tile pendant necklace:

Check out my Bonanza booth for upcoming Christmas theme pendants. Purchase a glass tile pendant and mention you saw my blog for free shipping on Christmas themed pendants. Valid October 29 through December 10, 2010.

http://www.bonanza.com/booths/J_J_Designs

Happy Halloween!