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

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

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

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!!

I wanted to be done with it by now, but I am addicted to the satin stitch filler, so I’m going to keep working. Its future home is our bedroom wall, so it needs to be just right!

I’ve also been on the hunt for a frame for this oval beauty, and I finally found a plastic mirror frame at Goodwill, just $3! I immediately got to work cleaning it for spray painting (faux wood is not my style!). Here it is pre-paint:

We found a piece of wood to paint it on, handy since it snowed more than a foot last week! Mike volunteered to do the spraying, since he has painter’s jeans handy. I picked a gloss black, just to keep the look simple:

We gave it two coats, and I love the finished product!

Stay tuned for the complete package: embroidered robot Valentine, fully framed! I promise you will see it next week in “Nerd is the Word.”

I’m linking up over at Freshly Pieced today. Go check out the crafty linky party!

~Kristina

The downside: it’s an expensive habit! Here are three ways to maintain your library without breaking the bank.

Tip 1:

Go to your public library and check books out. I’ve blogged about this before, but here’s a new tip: pre-screen books you think you might buy by borrowing them from the library first.

That’s how I found “Stitch Sampler,” hands down the best book with pictures and descriptions of embroidery stitches. I went to the library knowing I wanted an embroidery reference book, but I didn’t know which one. I sat there and sorted through lots of choices. I’m so glad I did because I don’t think I would’ve picked this book sight unseen — it’s a DK book, which usually publishes children’s and novelty titles — but without spending a dime, I found exactly what I wanted. I own it now and use it as a reference at home and in my embroidery classes.

Also, when you are drooling over a title and feel like you absolutely must have it? Preview it at the library, trust me, because reading the library’s copy may just sate your appetite for it. This was true with Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern, which I read from cover to cover. But once I finished it, I happily returned it to the library. It is a must read, but if I’m spending money, I would rather own her pattern books ~ or buy more of her fabric!

Here are the books in my personal library:

Tip 2:

Borrow books from friends.

Some the books in this stack are my friend Tracy’s, and she has generously lent them to me for at least 6 months. In our Super Secret Sewing Social, we’ve talked about starting a borrowing library at Fabric Bliss, ie just keeping our own books at the store so we can dip in whenever we want inspiration for a new project. Sewist friends tend to have great taste in books, so this is another good way to try a book on for size before buying it.

Tip 3:

Keep a wish list of books online. I have mine on Amazon.com, so I can access it anytime from my phone, iPad, or computer.

That way, if I’m at my LQS or Barnes & Noble or the library, I can check to see if these books are available locally. I often hear about books via other blogs, eZines, or Twitter, and it’s helpful to have a virtual list to keep track of it all.

I do buy from Amazon too though, so I won’t discourage you from doing that.

Don’t forget: Amazon makes it so easy to impulse-buy; I think the best craft and sewing books are worth the wait!

~ Kristina

I’m linking up today over at my Twitter friend Sharon’s blog A Prairie Sunrise, where the theme is BOOKS!

There are so many oranges that many don’t really match one another.

And oranges show up a lot in patterned fabric — which are gorgeous — but makes it difficult to stay within the challenge’s color rules.

So, my first pick was the Fat Quarter Shop’s bundle of Tangerine Tango (left). I love Fat Quarter Shop, particularly its reliable, quick shipping and the presentation. All FQS’s fabric comes nicely packaged in a shiny transparent bag, showing off the fabrics in all their glory.

I hoped the bundle would help me narrow down my tangerine options, but it actually made the process a little worse. Generally I love polka dots, but the dotted patterns here don’t fit in with my nature-inspired theme. Most of the patterns in this bundle include dots, but two don’t:

I like the solids in the bunch, too. I took the bundle to my LQS Fabric Bliss to look for a turquoise, purple or deep green for my second color. But again, it was challenging to fit within the constraints of finding just one color and one neutral.

Now, I know the rules are fairly flexible, and I know the organizers of the challenge want people to have fun and not worry about adhering so closely to the color restrictions.

I am doing this challenge to challenge myself to think differently about color.

So I’m sticking to the letter of the rules, rather than the spirit.

I settled on a olive green print and white as my neutral. Here are the fabrics together (along with a delicious taster of Black Gold, a peanut butter cup milk stout at Renegade Brewery):

~ Kristina

~ Kristina

This is a Disappearing 9-Patch, which I learned from Craftsy’s Quilting Quickly class. So far, this is a great class for a beginning quilter. You work at your own pace, and Jenny Doan’s instruction is very clear. Working with pre-cuts eliminates the pesky step of cutting your own fabric, which is nice to skip while learning a new technique.

The downside: working with precuts limits your fabric choices. Though not ideal, I do admit I like that these precuts push me beyond patterns I normally pick. I’m working with Moda’s Urban Cowgirl, and honestly I would never pick this in a normal scenario. Yet, I’m enjoying watching the quilt grow.

Because it’s my first patchwork quilt and because I don’t love the fabric, I’m making a lap-sized quilt. Here is my favorite block – which I like because of the highlight on the rose (I love roses!) and the sashes with plaid, which is probably my favorite pattern in this line:

Next, I am deciding whether to sew sashing in between the blocks. I don’t like the way the four blocks look together, but I suspect I may not like the look because I’m still getting used to the “quilt look,” ie blocks of different patterns flush and a bit dissonant together. Would love your input, if you have thoughts?

I hope to finish the quilt this weekend. In the meantime, I’m trying to keep the pug away from it!!

~Kristina