The Blogger's Quilt Festival

I couldn't resist entering my mini's into the Blogger's Quilt Festival. After all - I did finish two mini quilts I am most proud of with in the past 6 months (and miss dearly), so why not give it a go.

I'm submitting both of my mini quilts that I made for two great ladies during the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap:

The first is my Modular Star Mini Quilt (I'll share more details on this pattern soon when I have it up and ready in my Etsy shop) that I am submitting to the Original Design category.

The second is the "Doe Mini" which is a Mini Kite Tails pattern by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time. This is being submitted into the Mini Quilt category.

Although both minis were time consuming - I couldn't help but be proud of finishing them both and seeing the results. Now I want to make more, just have to find the time.

Thanks for checking them out (and voting for them if you did).

Sewing with "Story"

I was so excited that Carrie Bloomston asked me to sew up some fun stuff with her newest fabric line "Story" by Windham Fabrics. Although I've made a few other things - the project and "Story" I wanted to share with you today, is this sweet little mouse I've named Pearl.
What's my story? I love making. I love sewing. Sometimes the smaller I can make something, the better (but I am from Texas so big is never a bad thing). I love living in my imagination and taking the things that I see in my mind or dreams and making them real and tangible. I hope to make a connection between the two, connecting it with life, other people and things around me. Life is crazy, and making things with my hands, is way more fun.

I woke the other morning searching for answers to many questions...as I pondered my week, I thought of Carrie's fabric again, with the moon and the stars, I thought of this little mouse looking out a window and a little bed. So I made it real.

Here's Pearl's story...

Pearl is little in size, but large in heart. She has big dreams of being the First Mouse Astronaut, and loves to look out her window at night before getting into bed. She used to live in a big city, but the street lights were always on and flooded the night sky making it impossible for her to see the stars. Pearl decided that since she wanted to go up in space some day, she would need to see space and learn all about it, so she move up north. She talks to the moon when it's not covered in clouds and tries to reach for it when it's really big. It looks so close, but it's still out of her reach.

It's getting pretty late, so Pearl decides to climb into bed, and invites her little bear to come snuggle for reading time.

Tonight they are reading "New Century Book of Etiquette", because every little mouse and bear should have good manners and know how to behave in all different places, even in space.

Finally Pearl and her bear start to yawn ("He's real" she says, "so he yawns too"), so it must be time to put the book down and go to sleep. Pearl tosses and turns a bit, and counts all the stars when she can't fall asleep very fast. She hopes a shooting star will pass by but hasn't seen one since the last meteor shower. Eventually all the stars fade as Pearl slips into her dreams, soaring into space.

I hope you had fun visiting my blog today. Carrie's amazing Story fabric is so fun and versatile, and if you'd like to win some, visit her Such Designs blog for more info. If you'd like to make a little mouse of your own, you can buy a copy of my book through my Kid Giddy Etsy Shop. I'll even sign it for you. Although I was given this fabric for my own use, my thoughts and opinions are all my own.
Happy sewing and storytelling!

6 Weeks of Softies Guest Blogger on Sew Mama Sew

I'm excited to be a guest on the Sew Mama Sew blog today for their "6 Weeks of Softies". It's been a very long time since I was on the Sew Mama Sew blog, with my Mini Tent Tutorial (in 2011), so I'm glad to be back. Of all the options and avenues to explore for this 6 week intensive on all things Softies, I decided to gear my post towards Storytelling and Sewing. After all, my book Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love: 18 toy patterns for the storytelling sewist, is just that, a lot of sewing and a lot of stories. A perfect fit - right?!

F&W was kind enough to allow use of my Casco the Dolphin pattern straight from the Coastal Waters section in my Sewing Tales book - so download a copy and get sewing. It's among the five easiest patterns in my book - and can be easier if made a little larger, esp for children. I can't wait to see your dolphins, and hear all about their awesome adventures. Share your pics and stories on Instagram and tag me @kidgiddy and #kidgiddy.

Last week I was in Southern California filming some demo videos for my upcoming Sizzix dies and will share some behind the scenes pics, so check back soon.

Happy sewing and storytelling!

Mini Quilts

As I'm finishing my fourth mini quilt, I thought it was time to share my first three minis that I made for the different times I participated in the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swaps.

The most recent was the "Doe Mini" (as I call it), where I shrunk Amy Friend's Kite Tails pattern so I could use the Doe mini charm pack I had from Quilt Market. As I began sewing, I realized I only had one and was going to need way more than just one. I put out an ISO on IG and a few awesome folks came to my rescue. Thank you Judy, Chen and Chelsea!

My partner liked the Doe Fabric line and matchstick quilting. I guess I love to overly challenge myself because I did the matchstick quilting free motion. I don't have a walking foot yet, so a girls gotta do what's gotta be done. When I made my first mini and used my Bernina Stitch regulator for the first time, I didn't know about burying the threads *cringe*, but I've since learned, thank heavens. I sort of cheated on this one by adding a little extra batting and the backing, so I could add a border on the front and cover all the edges. No thread burying. Yay!

Everyone loves some little extras right? I made a little light bulb pincushion for my partner to match her mini. The pattern is from my book "Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love". This doe print was the same as I used for the backing.

The Kite Tails pattern doesn't leave too much extra, as long as you aren't working with 2 1/2" squares as I was. I had quite a few decent sized scraps left over that I felt were too large to toss, so I tried my hand at improv. It was fun and there were no tears. There's no crying in sewing.

Once I had the strips - I thought little mug rugs would be fun to practice some different free motion quilting techniques. Some stressed me out more than others. I guess I have much work to do before I consider this my "therapy" lol. These were (are) not for my partner - but are little gratitude gifts I'm still working on. The hand binding is only getting done when I've gotten all my deadline stuff done. So it's very slow going.

The 2nd mini I made, was the Anchor Mini. The Anchor was my first paper piecing design, and to date is still my easiest.

It was fun to quilt the water pattern - and made a fun effect on the backside.

My very first was the "Modern Mini". My partner had requested modern and loved Tula Pink. I made so many mistakes - but being my very first, all I can say in my defense - I did my best. I still cringe when I see it, knowing I didn't bury my threads - but did some back stitches...(ouch), And machine stitched the binding. I can't recall what I did that - but have a feeling I was running behind schedule and knew it would take me forever to hand sew the binding. I feel bad for my partner that year and hope she has forgiven me by now. I never heard from her.

I'm still working on the Modular Star Mini. It's an "angel quilt" for a special friend that never got one during one of her swaps. It's my first EPP design I created in EQ7 and am making. I'll share all the process and finished pics soon. I want her to see it done first (you can see my process pics on my Instagram acct). I love making minis because I challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I just have a really hard time letting them go. The Doe Mini was especially hard, not just for me, but my husband too. He loved it.

Are you new to quilting? Have you made any mini quilts and experimented with some different quilting techniques?