I experimented a little with that photo & added a texture to it… I think I like it, although it is a bit different.

(Click on any photo to see it slightly larger…)

And just because, a photo of Pounce…

And one of Axel (he loves this basket, although he is a bit big for it!)…

Even the cats are impressed that I actually got around to finishing it:)

I do have to admit that I sort of cheated on this, because it doesn’t have any binding around the edges. I really wanted to finish it though and I figured binding the quilt would probably take me another four months, so I just went ahead and top-stitched the edges. I am glad though that I waited those four months to finish it, since the quilting went so much smoother on my new machine than it would have on my old one! :)

The plan is to use this quilt in our living room and so I backed it in a nice soft flannel so it is extra nice for cuddling up on the couch to read a good book. Hopefully it won’t take me another four months to make some matching throw pillows & curtains for the living room ;) Although trying to figure out the math for making a log cabin pillow might take me that long! :) (Unless anyone knows of a really good tutorial for a 20×20 inch sized throw pillow in a log cabin pattern?)

Edited to include: I am really behind on emails right now, so if you have left a comment lately thank you! I am hoping to catch up soon :) 

:my new pair of summer shoes:

:my other new pair of summer shoes, because I couldn’t decide between the two:

:these lovely postcards from Kajsa’s etsy shop:

:the new mixtape & a couple of the older issues too:

:sewing + hanging out with one of my little “helpers”:

Be sure to stop by again tomorrow, since I am posting every day this week starting today :)

I haven’t been spending nearly as much time sewing lately as I would like, although I did make another simplicity 3835 top. It was either that or do laundry & I decided it would be more fun to make a new top than to do the wash. :) (Of course I still had to do the wash anyways, I just got to procrastinate a little bit longer.)

I added an inch & a half to the bottom of the top this time and I love the extra length. I also took it in a little bit so that it isn’t quite as big around, but I think next time I will also try adding the darts to the back (as suggested by Lera) to make it a little more fitted since it is just big in the back now.

I love the fabric that I used for this one, it is just perfect for summer. This pattern is making me feel inspired to try & make some more summer clothes for myself. Of course having a new sewing machine might be helping that a bit too, since it is so much easier to sew on this one than my old one. (I think I would be screaming about the casing for the elastic if I had to use my old machine!)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I am off to try & get some stuff done (like more organizing our new place & maybe even a little bit of crafting). I’ll be back on Monday with a post a day for the week :)

I have had this pattern, Simplicity 3835, sitting in my pile of patterns for awhile now so I decided to finally follow the trend and try this pattern out for myself…

It is a tiny bit big around, but I still really like it! I followed Lera’s advice & made the back one piece, which I think looks a bit better than the 2 pieces that the pattern suggests (although it does take a bit more fabric that way). On the next version of it, I will definitely take it in a little bit & I think I might add some length to it since I am fairly tall.

There is of course going to be a next version (this pattern is addicting), since I have already bought enough fabric for 3 more tops…

Is it weird that I just want to sit and stare at it? :) I am just amazed that I have such a nice sewing machine! Part of me is amazed because this honestly was not the machine I went into the store planning to buy yesterday. The machine I had planned on buying was a step below this one (in the Activa line), but the shop was out of stock on that machine so they offered me an amazing deal on this one to make up for that. It was just too good to pass up, so this lovely machine came home with me :)

Anina did ask me if I was going to name my new machine, and even though it isn’t very original I think I am going to name her Aurora. It was either that or Nina - which isn’t too original either, but I am just terrible at naming things. :)

Apparently not having a sewing machine the last few weeks made me instead want to buy fabric. Does that seem a little backwards? I didn’t have a sewing machine, so I went fabric shopping a bunch instead. I think it was the crafting withdrawal or something :)

Some lovely new linen that was on sale so I just couldn’t resist…

Fabric from a shop that was closing…

Celebrating buying my new sewing machine with a little bit more fabric…

I think it is probably safe to say that I am addicted to fabric :)

Fabric shopping is not the only thing going on around here though, I am still working on setting up my studio space. Just a little sneak peek with Axel’s help…

A big thank you to my wonderful husband who wanted me to be able to have a better sewing machine, gets that I can never have too much fabric, and doesn’t mind that I only left him a little corner for his desk in my studio.

Edited to include: I am trying a little to catch up on project 365, so there are some new photos over on my flickr page. Head over there to check them out :)

So mostly photos without words this evening…

(This last photo is because I noticed I had a lot of photos of Pounce on my flickr & blog lately, but hardly any of Axel. Plus I think it is a cute photo of him :) 

All of these photos were taken at a park in Seattle the first weekend we were here… (See I did say these had been sitting on my computer for awhile:) There were quite a few good photo opportunities, but I think the best part of the day was getting to meet the sweet German Shepherd in the photos below. (German Shepherds are actually my favorite type of dog.) He came up to us with a stick (more the size of a log) and wanted it tossed, so I asked his owners if I could take some photos of him. So much fun! :)

Posting all these photos has made me think a little about how far behind I am on project 365… During the move & the last couple weeks I didn’t keep up with it, but I think I am going to try to start taking a photo everyday again starting today actually.

In the meantime until I have my sewing machine, I have been exploring our new city a bit and of course taking a lot of photos (at least when it isn’t raining :). I actually have a list going of things to do or see around our new city since I keep thinking of things & don’t want to forget anything. At least it means we won’t have any reason to be bored ever again :) One of the things on my list was to visit the Japanese bookshop, Kinokuniya, which we actually did 2 weekends ago now.

I was just going to window shop until I saw the large selection of craft books! My resolve to not spend anything didn’t last too long - oh maybe about 2 seconds :) I ended up getting 2 craft books, 1 crafting magazine, and 2 cute little notebooks.

This book (on the right in top photo) is full of lovely stitching patterns. I think it is sashiko embroidery, but I don’t read Japanese so I am not totally sure about that. I just love the stitching though and the linen that is used quite a bit throughout the book…

The book in the middle of the top photo is the Cotton Time magazine, which really seems more like a book than a magazine to me. How much do you love those rainboots with that bag? I think I might need to make a bag to match my rainboots now :) There are a lot of other lovely projects in this magazine too…

The book on the left in the top photo has a lot of lovely clothing in it, but it also has some other projects like this lovely purse… Another pleated purse in a slightly different style. I just love how the colors on the bag look so bright & lovely against the solid neutral…

Of course when I spotted these 2 cute little notebooks I had to get them too… Although I had a hard time choosing which 2 to get, since there were a bunch of different colors. I think I might use one to keep my list of things to do in our new city a little bit more organized and maybe the other one will have to become a little ideas notebook for sewing. (Or I might just save them because they are so cute!)

1. tree card, 2. believe it or not…, 3. Studio Mirror, 4. My Studio!, 5. New Improved Studio 01, 6. The Posie studio, repainted and reorganized at last!, 7. sunday afternoon sewing, 8. Casa de Washtub, 9. Sewing table, 10. studio :: so clean, 11. studio 4, 12. studio 2, 13. Creative Nap-spot, 14. New colors, 15. my view, 16. a peek at my studio, 17. the shelves, 18. close up, 19. Sewing table with storage underneath, 20. 03.31.08 {nifty thrift | tablecloth }

I think I could spend days just looking for inspiration photos, there are so many lovely craft rooms out there on flickr! I think that decorating my own craft space is definitely going to be a fun project, so I am sure there will be some photos of the process in the somewhat near future :)