Gert's First Weekend Away!

This weekend, Gertrude got to go to a BIG Bernina event with Seams Like Home, the first ever Alaska Sewapalooza! She was in a room surrounded by other Bernina's (7 and 8 Series machines) and she had a great time! Though I think she may be a little worn out.. she has been protesting a bit at the amount of things I've made her do today!

A week or two ago I picked up some blank canvas bags to embroider for the girls' Trick or Treating bags! And as you know, one of my favorite embroidery sites, "Urban Threads" had some awesome designs I just had to put on these bags! The design pack is called "ApotheScary" and comes with some cute printables, so you can have a whole theme going on at your party! :) Gertrude only asked me to stop a few times! I think they turned out pretty cute! (Color coded of course so we know whose bag is whose!)

Gertrude working away on Trick Or Treat bags!

Completed bags! Sergio even got in on the action to help me finish up the inside seams!

Since Halloween is this week, I figured I really should get the twins hats done for their costumes! They are going to be a yellow and a purple minion! Last week I shared with you the gal who was my inspiration (and also who I copied!), though she included her whole family in the Despicable Me fun!

But of course, me and my procrastination... the hats are about 20% done.. :P I have the "hat" part cut out and experimented with some yarn for the Purple Minions hair (Avalyn) but thats about as far as I got today. 

The two Minions have been sick the last few days.. actually all of us have.. I think we keep passing it back and forth, so our schedule has been way off the past week, which of course makes it hard to get much done! 

My hope is that next week you will get to see some very adorable pictures of three little girls, Two Minions and an Elsa all dressed up in their Halloween best! :) And, if all else fails and I don't get the costumes done, well... the twins will just go as each other! :P 

Happy Halloween week and Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and a very tired Gertrude)

P.S: Ohh, I almost forgot. I am doing a Pumpkin exchange (kinda like Secret Santa) with a Moms group I am part of. The other Mom I got really likes tea, so I found this cute little tutorial for a travel tea bag carrier- thing! :P I whipped one up today, and it turned out pretty good if I say so myself! 

 

I even put her initials on it! :P You can put a few tea bags in it, or for those long days, it will hold up to four bags at a time!!

Well, despite my best intentions of getting the twins' Minion hats done this weekend.. I got distracted by this cute little hedgehog baby quilt for my sister! I started this cute project while we were in Valdez for Quilt Festival and have been wanting to come back to it since then! 

This is a great pattern from one of my favorite designers, Elizabeth Hartman! You can check her out at www.ohfransson.com! She even has a new book coming out on November 1st that I CAN'T WAIT FOR!! :) The new book is called, Patchwork City! 

Isn't she just too cute?! Technically her name is Hazel, according to the pattern. Though if my sis ends up with a boy, I feel that I'll have to rename her to something more masculine?! :P Or something like that?!

Anywhooo..  this is what the twins' hats look like currently .. hah I guess I'd better add it to my "Must-Do" list for this week! I know once I get in gear, it shouldn't take me too long.. right?!!

 I promise that next week, I'll have some finished hats to show you! :) 

Until then, enjoy the snow and Halloween festivities!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (And Gertrude) 

P.S: Who can find the boo-boo I made on the first hedgehog?! :P 

Elsa & Two Minions

It is that time of year again... get to work creating the Halloween costumes. The last two years, Alia has been very decisive on who she wants to dress up as.. and well the twins didn't get to vote!

This year, Alia waffled between, Cat-in-the-Hat, Elsa and the Grinch! :P Not sure where the kid comes up with stuff! She finally decided on Elsa, which is great because on our last trip to Denver I hit up a Disney store and bought her a stuffed Olaf and Elsa dress! (Very excited to not have to make that costume!) 

We're missing a few pieces... the crown and shoes... if you stumble across an Elsa crown or shoes, let me know! 

Now, for the really exciting part... The Twins! This is the first year I am dressing them up! And since we celebrated their 2 year birthday with Despicable Me 2, I decided to carry that theme on to their costumes! 

If you know my girls at all.. you would know that when Avalyn (7 minutes the youngest!) gets crazy, she very closely resembles a purple minion! And Ascher, while a bit more mellow..is still the more mischievous one, so she gets to be a yellow minion! 

Just to give you an idea! :P Her hair can be that crazy, though her teeth aren't quite so terrifying! 

As soon as I decided, I of course went straight to Pinterest. And what did I find...

The Perfect Tutorial!!

First, let me say a HUGE thank you to Blogger "Another Big Bite" for posting this tutorial and doing all the hard work of figuring it out!

She has a great tutorial on how to create these hats! If you're looking for some inspiration, or even just something cute to make you smile, head over to her blog! Her and her hubby dressed up as Lucy & Gru! Super Cute! (Not sure I can talk my hubby into dressing up as Gru though!)

I've collected my supplies and plan to tackle these this week, hopefully Gert and I can work through them and get something half as cute as what she has done!

I hope all of your Halloween crafting is going smoothly! Please post pictures of costumes or projects you are working on!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (And Gertrude) 

Baby Projects.. the Beginning!

So as it turns out my sister and my sister-in-law are both pregnant right now, due within a month of each other! In my opinion this is AWESOME! I get to have two sweet little babies to snuggle at the same time! Since my babies aren't really babies anymore, I have to get my baby fix somewhere!

This means that I had better start cracking on baby stuff! I love making baby stuff, and now I have two SUPER reasons to make all those adorable blankets, burp clothes and bibs!

This past weekend I was at a Women's Retreat with our church and had the perfect opportunity to try a new baby project! One of the gals was teaching the self-binding receiving blanket, which if you can believe it, I had never made before!

We actually used a great tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company for our "pattern".
(Found here: http://quiltingtutorials.com/basic-skills-techniques/binding-baby-quilt-receiving-blanket/)

This is a great beginner project, that is very easy to cut and even easier to sew! You could probably just watch the tutorial once and have it down!

This is your chance to use that super cute flannel you've been saving for the perfect project. You use one each of a 30" & 40" square. The way you sew them together gives you beautiful mitered corners! You top stitch the opening closed so you don't have to do any of that pesky "hand sewing"!

Here is the cute one that I made for a new little baby girl at our church! Can't wait to see pics of her wrapped up in it!

This is also a great opportunity to play with those cute decorative stitches on your sewing machine! 

(And yes, this is a hotel bed.. I definitely set up my sewing machine and mini iron in my hotel room!)

This is a must-do project, especially because of all the ridiculously cute flannel out there that is just begging to be used for like a million of these blankets!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (And Gertrude) 

Moda Modern Building Blocks is FINALLY here!

Sometimes at  Quilt Market I get a bit fanatical about certain new products/fabrics that we see! This was totally one of those products! We were walking around the showroom floor and Moda always has a great booth, so I was just quietly admiring it, until ... OMG Modern Building Blocks Quilt practically jumps off the wall and screams to me... "YOU MUST MAKE ME, YOU MUST HAVE ME... NOW!"

So, of course when we finally sit down with our Moda rep. I basically badger him on the WHEN, WHERE, HOW SOON, etc. of when I can get my hands on this wonderful kit! I tried to talk him into letting me take some part of it home.. I couldn't convince him.

All of that to say.. last week when these beautiful kits showed up at the shop.. I was ready to halt all ordinary daily life activities and go pick one up. Unfortunately, most days I act like a grown up and decided not to just abandon all the kids for my kit. (I went the next day!)

I have decided that since it is such an amazing project, that we MUST do a workshop at the store next quarter where we can all cut and sew together, though I have to admit, I'm starting mine now.. gotta be able to give you all some tips and tricks!

And, my first tip.. LABEL ALL FABRIC! While Moda did a great job putting the fabrics together and packaging it all so beautifully.. they did not label the individual pieces.. so, here is my labeling system.

The fabrics come layered by smallest size to largest size cut. The first stack is all the Fat Quarters up to the 3 yards of the off white fabric!

 

I didn't take a picture of the 3 yard piece of fabric.. it's pretty obvious which one that is! Also, because it confused me the first run through.. the binding fabric (it is Navy) is included and is tucked in between the 3/4 and one yard pieces! 

I labeled each piece with its color number and name, since as you go through the pattern card, the fabrics are only labeled by color number. 

Once I cut the first block, I labeled each of the pieces with their corresponding letter, and put the entire stack in a zip lock bag. 

DISCLAIMER: It took me about half an hour last night to go through and sort/label each of the fabrics, and then about an hour to sort/cut my pieces for BLOCK 1 this afternoon .. I'll get back to you on whether I am just slow (because I don't want to mess it up) or if I come up with a better system. 

Right now my idea is to cut block by block that way I can cut a few blocks, then sew a few blocks to avoid getting bored!

Anyway, I am SUPER excited about this project and can't wait to do the "workshop" at the store. I might even have to make another one with a few of my favorite prints and solids! Stay tuned, and make sure you get over to Seams Like Home to pick up a kit.. they are going quickly! 

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude)

And we're off... Again!

I'm finally feeling like I've recovered from our trip to Valdez (which was awesome and exhausting), just to turn around and head back out on Wednesday. Though I really can't complain because this time I'm headed out with the hubby to Seattle to watch the Broncos/Seahawks re-match! :) We're Broncos fans, so we're hoping for a little better outcome this time! 

And, in true Enjoli fashion, I am cramming in three projects before we leave! As of last night I have 1 of 3 complete! I decided that I needed a blanket for the plane, a nice big carry-on bag to carry said blanket and a new stroll around Pikes Place bag! :) My husband thinks I'm crazy, maybe I am, but at least I'll be crazy in style! 

For my "stroll around Pikes Place" bag, I chose the Noodlehead 241 Tote! I used mostly Art Gallery, Indelible, as well as an Angela Walter print for the lining. I decided to make the strap adjustable, but once it was done, I decided I liked the length and stitched it down. If I decide to, later I can just undo that stitch and adjust the strap a little more. 

I'm not going to lie, I am pretty excited with how it turned out. 

Here is the pattern if you want to make one too! It really is a simple bag to make, and like all of her patterns, the instructions are great!

For my extra large carry on bag, I chose the Noodlehead Poolside Tote! (Are you sensing a trend?!)

As you can see, we're still in the construction phase on this one! I have all the pieces cut and interfacing fused, now just to find a few moments to sneak away and start sewing! I used more pieces from Art Gallery's Indelible line, as well as an awesome striped denim we had in the shop!

Here is the link to find this pattern, it is going to be BIG, but I think it will work perfectly to tote my plane blanket and reading materials!

And, for my cozy plane blanket, I'm pretty much making it up as I go, but I have some awesome fabrics cut and washed! I am using a few of our new Birch Organic Cottons, and a coordinating Organic Fleece, which is oh so soft!

Doesn't that look comfy?! The two prints are the organic cotton and super soft once washed! And I won't tell you how soft the fleece is, you would be jealous! Though, I will say, if blue isn't your color, we have it in brown and yellow too! I may be buying more of it! 

So, all of this is to be finished by Wednesday afternoon, since I have to be at work by 3, am teaching that night and then headed to the airport at 10 pm! Hmmm.. do you think I can do it?! 

I hope you all get some sewing in this week, and if you are football fans ... look for me in the Seahawks stadium! I'll wave!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

Valdez Quilt Festival was a Blast!

Well we made it back from Valdez on Monday night! It was a busy but fun trip! We had a bit of sun while we were there too! This was the gorgeous view from the Convention Center! 

We had a booth where we were selling notions and other items. It was a fun week spent enjoying some sister time too! 

Gertrude had a good time, I think she enjoyed being out of the closet for awhile! We put her to work stitching out a new OESD Free Standing Lace Pumpkin design. The table she was on was a little wiggly under her weight (don't tell her I said that!) so she was stitching slower than normal to keep from jumping off the table. 

All the ladies were quite intrigued with her and that she could stitch such a design. We even had a few ladies come by to say "Goodmorning" to her every day, and one gal that gave her an encouraging pat on her way by! It took three days for Gertrude to stitch out the Pumpkin and the ladies checked on our progress everyday. 

Gert was quite proud of her finished pumpkin! 

Gertrude's little cousin, Timmy got adopted by teacher Brenda Clyde and was happy to be headed home with her on Sunday afternoon! 

We stayed at the cutest B&B just before you head into Valdez. The owner Suzy took great care of us and we had delicious home cooked breakfast every morning. It was kind of bittersweet, as we were the last guests to stay at the B&B. The B&B is closing and the property had been sold. Suzy was off on a grand adventure to Germany, then on to Idaho to live next door to her son and his family! 

We had such a great time in Valdez, getting to sew and visit with other quilters. We even got to spend time with friends we made our first year working the festival! We look forward to heading back again in 2016! 

If you didn't make it this year, check out the Festival website and make plans to join us in 2016! We really have a fun time!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli & Gertrude