Nerd is the Word: Vote for your favorite robot quilt

Tags

baby room, owl sweater, robot quilt

This weekend, one of my best friends in the whole wide world came to visit. Sara is the one who’s pregnant and planning a space-themed baby room.

In case it’s not obvious, Sara is a knitter; she made the owl sweater she’s wearing in the picture (you can find the pattern on Ravelry). Love it!

Sara and Mark are having a baby girl in May (playfully referred to as “the little goldfish” for now), and they want her room to have a gender-neutral space theme. They’re putting space decals on the walls and hanging pictures of “space superstars” like Leia from Star Wars and Captain Picard from Star Trek: TNG. Have I mentioned how much I love my nerdy friends?

They’ve got popular sci-fi pretty well covered in the room, so we decided together that I’ll craft some robot-themed fabric gifts for the space.

I’ve started doing some research on robot quilts, and here are my favorites so far.

From the book Dare to be Square by Boo Davis:

Zak the Robot Quilt at Tried and True:

Robot Love by Bumbles & Lu:

Robot Quilt by A Little Craft:

And of course, there’s the Too the Moon kit from Caleb Grey, which would help me cut a lot of corners, but I don’t love the design.

Sara helped me pick the fabric this weekend (strongly centered around the Good Fortune line by Kate Spain), so it’s just a question of which robot to sew. She likes the first one ~ what do you think?

~ Kristina

Work in Progress: Disappearing 9-Patch Update & Happy Mail!

I’m linking up again with WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced. Check out some of the fantastic projects my fellow bloggers are showing off!

I have an update on my disappearing 9-patch quilt, which I’m sewing with the help of Craftsy’s online Quilting Quickly class. I decided to use sashing to make the blocks pop, and I did some basic straight-line quilting around the borders and in the center. Now I can’t decide what kind of design I want to quilt in the blocks – ideas are welcome!

Also I am pleased to share some “happy mail” with you, aka fabric that came via post. I bought from a new (to me) vendor this time, Wondrous Woven Fabrics, and I’m delighted with the quick shipping and excellent deals there. I bought 7 yards of Aster Pumpkin from Across the Pond to make pajama pants & more. I was drawn by the simple pattern, single bright color, and the dragonfly detail; it’s a beautiful textile.

There is a great sale going on at Wondrous Woven, so I picked up a bunch of other fabrics too for future projects, including the London-themed linen blend to add to the Underground map fabric I found at a store in Colorado Springs.

~ Happy Wednesday, all!  Kristina

Nerd is the Word: Nerdy Valentines

Tags

nerdy valentine ideas

First, I am beyond flattered by the response to my blog post yesterday. Thank you so much. As Mike said, “that’s the power of nerd love!” Indeed!

As you may know, I’ve been working on an embroidered Valentine for Mike. I finally finished and mounted it. I found the frame at a thrift store; it was originally a mirror frame in faux-wood plastic, so I spray painted it black. Our bedroom walls are deep red, so it makes for a nice contrast.

Besides showing off the Valentine, I want to share some of the awesome embroidery pattern-makers who make these fantastic, nerdy designs available.

This particular design is by Minneapolis-based Heidi Hengel of Speckless. Called “Binary Folks,” it’s for sale as a PDF on Etsy. I was so excited when I found her pattern online because it is the perfect combination of a traditional look, a Valentine, and of course, robots!

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Finding Binary Folk made me want to look for more “love”-ly embroidery patterns on Etsy — check out my Treasury!

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Here is another Valentine-y pattern that is really appropriate anytime — I think it’s a perfect fit for Mother’s Day too (I hope my mom isn’t reading this!!). The pattern is by the ladies of Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, which is home to some very adorable, creative and modern cross-stitch. Click through to check out “Love Letter Friends”!!

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Last but not least, it’s never too late to get some Valentine’s embroidery done — and Sublime Stitching is giving away this pattern for free on its website for that easy last-minute present!

Lots of Valentine’s love to all my stitchy friends!

xoxoxo

~ Kristina

Big Weekend News: Engagement!

Happy weekend, indeed. Mike proposed, and we are engaged! It accidentally involved sewing too, which feels very appropriate (my two loves coincide!).

Friday night was Super Secret Sewing Social, where I decided to work on an improvised mini quilt just for myself, just for fun. I picked a couple fat quarters and got to work highlighting the Dreaming in French line from Art Gallery Fabrics. I started binding around 9 pm and abruptly learned my new rule: never sew when exhausted. I screwed up the binding and was cross-eyed tired.

After a good night’s sleep, I sat down with my seam ripper and started to fix the binding. Keep in mind, I was in my PJ’s, and I had just rolled out of bed. That’s when Mike came in, got down on one knee and proposed.

We went ring shopping a few months ago, and he promised to surprise me with the proposal — he certainly did that!

I feel immensely grateful to be marrying my partner and best friend. Mike is an amazing man.We celebrated after with a special lunch:

And later that day, I finished the mini despite continuing binding issues. It’s also the first quilt I’ve machine bound (I usually hand bind one side), so it’s a bit wonky. But I don’t care because it will always be our Engagement Quilt from now on! The plan is to frame it and put it up on our bedroom wall.

Front:

Back:

~Kristina

PS. I’m linking up for the first time at Sew Modern Monday & trying out Nerd is the Word on Tuesdays. Don’t worry – the nerdy feature is a regular one!!