Saw it, was inspired by it, made it! That is the story of these hexie coasters and I love them!
As I shared in my April sewing plans post I used this tutorial using a small pack of fabric I have had in my stash for at least three years called “Sleeping Porch” by Heather Ross. The only modification I made was to print the hexagon template at 50% so that it would fit on my pre-cut squares of fabric and would be mug or soda-can sized rather than trivet or Chemex-sized (although I love that and will totally do a larger one later!) and otherwise followed the tutorial as written. I did find it helpful to sew with my needle beginning and ending in the “down” position so that I could make clean turns while quilting each side of the hexagon and while sewing all of the layers together. I also used a chopstick to turn all of the corners out once the layers had been flipped right side out to get those cleaner points.
Highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a easy, cute, and quick sewing project. Hooray for one project crossed off the list!
As I’m sure comes as a surprise to absolutely no one except for me, I’m looking forward to summer in a way that I never have before this year. I always joke with folks who always say, “You grew up in Florida! Shouldn’t you love summer?” In fact, I left Florida because I was over the heat. The older I get, the more I love to visit my home state, but in general, summers even here in NC are too long and too hot for my taste. But this year? This year I cannot wait for all of the tomatoes, all of the heat, days on the lake, and also hiding in the AC at our new downtown library because hopefully summer will also mean more mobility and freedom after quarantine.
I’m also really picky about summer knits because I live in such a hot climate. Ours is not the locale of the evening sweater, but rather the evening sweat. No ocean breezes require a cardigan but rather a full-on embrace of a gust of wind that breaks up the humidity. The only reason that knitting has ever happened over the summer for me is due to one thing: air conditioning. I tend to knit a lot of socks in the summer also because it is generally a season with more travel, and socks are extremely portable and fun. However, I’m super interested in potentially, MAYBE making my way into the world of linen/cotton yarns this year after I have enjoyed working with the Cattail Silk for my Terrace Wrap and if I do, these three tops will be at the top of my “to knit” list. In the past couple of years I have also seen a decent number of new patterns for bralettes and cami tops that are knitted that are very cute, but I’m not sure work with my wardrobe or what I like to wear.
I included this incredibly sweet summer veggies garland from Susan B. Anderson because I just cannot with how cute it is. I knit her Fall Charms mini-set last fall and it was my absolute favorite so you know I’m going to be digging through my scrap bin to find the right yarns to work up some little carrots and corn on the cob this summer.
Are you looking forward to any summer knitting this year? Or projects for Me Made May?
Attempting to get some long-neglected plant babies some sun
It’s Monday, and there are some things I’m choosing to focus on and be excited about as I’m feeling stressed. Here’s what I am really looking forward to this week:
Finishing my first Wren Dress! After our at-home Easter festivities yesterday I found a few hours to watch The Office and crank out most of the construction of this dress. It looks great and the fabric is really soft. I made a few modifications to the pattern and am looking forward to sharing that.
Sending off a very special gift to a family member!
Starting the sleeves on my Wool & Honey sweater! Planning to finish the sleeves and do a first try-on before deciding how long to make the body and make sure I have enough yarn.
The rainy start to this week. We were awoken at 5 AM by a monster wind/rain storm that lasted about 15 minutes but there’s more weather on the horizon and that always makes it feel better to stay inside and be cozy even though its getting hotter.
Getting back on my “moving every day” challenge for myself with consistency.
Sewing B a fabric mask and hoping that neither of us needs to use them. (AKA: not planning on going to any public places.)
Eating more fruits and veggies. This quarantine is long enough that I’m coming to terms with leaving the house once a week for food and trying to keep lots of fresh things in our diet.
Also, just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has commented on here or my IG about blogging and loving it too! I am thinking about how to add more features and organize the blog a little better so it is easier to find content as this progresses and potentially add a “subscribe” feature to get these posts straight to you. For now, I am registered on Bloglovin’ (what I personally use for following blogs) and you can follow me there to see new posts as they arrive too.
I once heard a sermon from a pastor that used the analogy of a piece of embroidery to help us understand difficult times. On the backside of things, the piece of art being created looks incredibly messy, unplanned, jarring, all over the place, and unintentional. The colors are mixed up, there are random pieces off to the side and overlapping, and the string looks awful. However, if you flip it over, you can see how a design has been created from all of those seemingly haphazard stitches and the beauty of the finished work to be displayed. This image has been coming to me a lot over the past few weeks, and particularly this Easter Sunday as we walk through a very uncertain and messy season in the world. It brings me hope, and I hope it brings you hope too.
May we trust that the finished piece of art, this life, will be worth all of the confusion in the end. Happy Easter all, and to my friends who are celebrating, He is Risen!
Total personal post today, but I just love these two so incredibly much. It was such an honor to be a part of their wedding celebration yesterday, a private ceremony in a beautiful backyard on an even more beautiful day complete with face masks, tacos, and a car parade of friends who loved them so. I am so glad that they found each other, and that now they are man & wife. I love you so much K&C!
I said my goals out loud and started a daily blog habit that I am loving.
I made a large batch of French onion soup and loved eating it all week.
I watched the pink shadows outside my frosted bathroom window become vibrantly pink with the giant azalea blooms outside.
I didn’t do a great job of getting up and moving my body, but I got a lot of work done.
I finished a big project for a tiny human.
I made two cakes, including a wedding cake.
We mulched our front yard and welcomed spring weather.
I cooked a delicious hash for breakfast.
I got ready to love on some dear friends who will host a private ceremony today for their wedding in lieu of the party they had planned.
I ripped out a few inches on my Wool & Honey sweater when I saw a mistake I knew I’d never be able to let go of, and felt good about it.
I hung out with my husband and cats a lot.
It feels as though we have been living in our home in self-quarantine forever, but really it’s only been about a month. It’s weird thinking of all of the things I used to take for granted as so normal that now I miss so much. Going to the library. Getting a coffee downtown. Eating at a restaurant. Popping into my local yarn store. Not wondering whether a business is going to be open this weekend that I randomly need to visit. Going for a swim at the Y. Not wearing a mask outside. I know we’re getting through this, and in some ways have settled into a routine, but in others it just continues to be hard and I want to acknowledge and be OK in that space too. Happy weekend friends. May it be full of health and goodness and love for you!
I’ve been doing a good bit of sewing this winter, but only some of it has actually made it to my Instagram. Last year I started ordering PDF patterns online and having them printed in large sheets through PDF Plotting and it has been an absolute game. changer. No more fussy tissue paper patterns, no more spending hours tracing a size, then cutting the pattern pieces: instead I cut the pattern pieces out on sturdy printed stock and start cutting my fabric. I’ll usually order a few patterns at once to save on shipping and for patterns with multiple variations, I’ll spend the extra $4 to print two copies so I don’t have to re-trace or modify or reorder later, I just have a second copy ready to be cut differently the next time.
With this new system, I can cut and sew whole patterns in an afternoon. It feels AMAZING. So far this winter I’ve made the Ebony Dress, Wiksten Shift Dress, Wiksten Haori, two Gypsum skirts, and a self-drafted maxi skirt based loosely on this tutorial I found on Pinterest (it turned out so cute). If I’m not trying to do a marathon sewing session, I’ll cut out the pattern pieces and fabric one day, and construct it the next. Next month is Me Made May and I am really happy with the options I’ll have to participate based on the sewing I’ve gotten to do in recent months. And, it is motivating me to work on a few more pieces I would love to wear during the challenge.
In addition to all of the garments I’ve sewn, I’ve also totally caught the quilt bug. Going from garments to quilting has been such a fun and different type of construction and I have at least three quilted projects either in process or planned in my head right now, including a queen-sized quilt to use every day in our master bedroom. Here’s what is in progress this month:
Quilty Table Runner
I had a plan for a quilt top I wanted to construct last fall using some fabrics from Elizabeth Hartman’s fabric collection for her quilt pattern “Norm and Nanette”. It’s the perfect combination of bright, but sweet, and homey. Unfortunately for me, I ran out of the background chambray fabric I was using to construct these blocks of quilt stars and of course, I didn’t write the fabric label down, so I am abandoning my original plan for a lap quilt and turning it into a table runner instead. I still need to purchase the backing fabric (or figure out how to use the quilt block fabric for the back) and purchase batting for this project but if I am able to I think I can finish this up this month!
Wren Dress
I’m excited about the easiness of wearing more knit fabrics this spring and summer, and the Wren Dress is next on my make list for a knit dress. I have two potential knit fabrics that I’d like to make a Wren out of, and think that I will start with the pink floral that I purchased at JoAnn’s before diving into my beautiful Birch Organics blue floral knit (This weird cloudy day photo does not do it justice). I’ll definitely do the version with sleeves and may even try to make it maxi-length if I can finagle the patterning and have enough fabric to do so.
Coasters!
I have not historically been really interested in home decor sewing, but being at home for days on end has made me much more aware of all of the little projects that might be nice to have around while I work. The wood finish on my desk is rather delicate and between a coffee mug, water glass, occasional smoothie, and afternoon tea, I definitely need some more quality coasters in my life. I love this tutorial, and am also considering doing something in the log cabin style. I have a lot of small fabric pieces I could pull together for this which is great.
Queen Quilt planning
This may or may not actually count, since I’m not planning on actually starting to sew this quilt in April, but I would love to figure out how much additional fabric I’m going to need to assemble my eventual queen-size quilt. The plan for the last year has been to slowly collect tiny floral prints that I love to create a patchwork of florals on a plain background. My original thought was sawtooth stars, but I have recently also fallen in love with some simple nine-patch patterns that I think would be gorgeous too. I think finding a more specific pattern with guidelines on fabric would help, or just crunching the numbers on block size vs. finished size of quilt. Laying out all of the fabrics together was also helpful in seeing what additional colors I may want to add to make it feel more “rounded” and complete.
The start of a new season also makes me want to clear out a lot of the mending and re-fashion projects I have sitting waiting to be addressed, and I’d love to build in more time this month to get those off of the shelves and back into my wardrobe. For the amount of time that those projects have been patiently waiting to be attended to, it will almost feel like a new project getting done and new pieces getting added to my wardrobe. I also have the fabric all picked out and ready to go for a Roscoe dress and Hinterland dress but just realistically am not sure I’ll get to them this month.
What are you planning on sewing in April? Any plans for Me Made May? I’d love to know!
All of that creative energy I’ve been feeling recently, while awesome, has resulted in a lot of projects happening at the same time. I try to be a semi-monogamous knitter but I’m not feeling the pressure to just work on one thing at a time right now and that feels good! Here’s what I’m currently working on this month.
I’ve been working slowly on this project ever since last August. A year ago B took a trip to New York City and brought me back this amazing Cattail Silk from a detour he took over to Purl Soho (he loves me). It is 100% silk, and super gorgeous but not so shiny or smooth. I had originally started knitting the Rue Shawl with this yarn, but the intricate lace was really hard on my hands since the fiber content of this yarn has almost no give or stretch. I frogged it, and started instead with this simple pattern that was paired with Cattail Silk from Purl Soho, and it’s great. The yarn is already starting to bias in the pattern creating a slanted edge that I love. I’m maybe halfway through my first of two skeins and have a feeling I’ll get more and more into this as the weather warms. Hilariously, this would be the perfect wrap for a summer wedding and this is the first summer in years that we have no weddings on the books between May and August. C’est la vie, it will still be lovely. This also gives me hope that maybe someday I’ll be interested in knitting summer tees in linen or cotton yarn, which up to this point I have had absolutely no interest in.
I started this sweater almost immediately after finishing B’s Riddari in February and knit the entire first skein in maybe three days. The combination of squishy, beautiful Brooklyn Tweed Loft and interesting pattern growing on my needles resulted in being completely obsessed from the get-go. I separated the sleeves and started the body just in time to go see our last movie in theaters before self-quarantine started (although, we didn’t know that would be true at the time). I took a break from it the past few weeks to finish up my new nephew’s baby blanket (more on that later) but I am excited to start working on it again despite the complete impracticality of knitting a wooly sweater in April. I’m thinking I will add some length to the body if I have enough yarn to do so, and that this will become an instant classic for me. The colorway here is called “Fossil”.
Ah, the hexipuffs. These are without a doubt my longest-running project I have ever worked on, going on at least four years of very intermittent knitting on and off. Each puff is extremely adorable, easy to memorize, and takes maybe 30 minutes to knit, but I still cannot seem to get traction with this project even after a month of knitting them every day.
My lack of motivation, upon reflection, I think comes from two things: 1) while each puff is beautiful on its own, I have no idea how these colors are going to work together in the overall blanket, especially considering the mini skeins and sock yarns that I have to add to them. 2) I have no idea what final size I want this quilt to be, and no idea if I even want to use it in my home. These colors are so bright, happy, neon, crazy and are a great little pick-me-up when I actually knit them, but looking around I see no place where these puffs would reasonably live. The process is good, but the final result is not that motivating for me right now.
I almost want to give up on these puffs, I think, to open up new creative energy for other mini-skein projects. I would definitely be open to working on this project again in the future, as I love the pattern and LOVE the finished look of the original design, and I think that truly does come down to the colors. If I ever made this pattern again, I think I would go at it from the angle of choosing the palette ahead of time and purchasing all of the yarn together to make sure it’s cohesive. If you’re interested in adopting this project and the yarn I have devoted to go with it, shoot me an email in my contact form.
