Happy Halloween!

What to do in LA this weekend

 

Denyse Schmidt is coming to speak to the LA Modern Quilt Guild tomorrow night and everyone is welcome!  The talk is free for paid members of the guild and just five dollars for everyone else.  I am very excited.  Denyse's quilts were the first to really inspire me to try quilting and to this day her book is my favorite quilt book.  So come if you're in town!  Eight o' clock at the Art Center College of Design, Ahmanson Auditorium, 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena.

And then on Saturday night...

My good friend Trisha Gum along with artists from the crew of Robot Chicken are hosting an art show to raise funds for the production of Trish's first live-action film "Losing Ferguson", part of AFI's Directing Workshop for Women.  The show is from 6-11, Saturday night at Hold Up Art, 358 E. 2nd St, LA.
Harv donated some of his toy photography and I made a series of miniature quilts.  This was a tough show to make something for because I wanted to give something that would sell, since the whole purpose of the show is to raise money.  The series is called "Ferguson's Cabin" after the film.

As you can see, they are all simple log cabin blocks, made up in fun, modern color palettes.  The quilts will be available individually but you can get a deal if you buy more than one.

Each quilt has a label printed on the back of the binding.  The labels say "Ferguson's Cabin ##  by Liz Harvatine  June, 2011".  (Sorry I didn't get a better shot of the label.  These babies were past due when I hurriedly took photos.  It's tough sewing on a deadline with a 5 month old in your care!)

 

So if you live in LA please stop by, support the film and take home some art!

Happy Easter!

Little Anvil

This quilt was made last fall for my pregnant friend who was due about a week after I was but beat me to the punch by nine days!

Anvil was the "working title" for their little boy.  They have a penchant for all things Scandinavian.  I kept that in mind when coming up with the color scheme for this quilt.  I think the white/neutrals with a pop of red are very reminiscent of Scandinavian design.

The label echoes the curves on the front of the quilt.  I traced the text off of my laptop screen and appliqued it on.

Squashed Hexagon Pillow

The LA Modern Quilt Guild had a holiday swap back in December and I had to make something for Andrew (maker of this awesome quilt).  He sent me a picture of the curtains he has in his house and I based the colors on that.

Photo by Nicole Ramirez.

The pattern pieces are squashed half hexagons.

I sewed them into rows to end up with pairs of like colored pieces sewn the "right" way (into squashed hexagons) alternating with pieces sewn "backwards" (the hour glass shapes).

I bought the ENORMOUS pillow form at Ikea. It's a great pillow and it only cost (I think) six dollars. I'd call that a steal, as long as you have a need for something so huge in your life. It would make a great floor pillow.

Luck of the Just-a-Teeny-Bit-Irish

Although my maiden name is Kelly, I'm only a little bit Irish.  Virginia has just a touch.  I'm not sure how much but it's got to be less than an eighth.  It is the one nationality that Harv and I have in common though.  Ginny's also Polish, German, English, Danish, Slovenian and I believe Dutch but don't quote me on that one.  I think at this point we can just call her American.

I miraculously found enough time to make her a little St. Patrick's Day outfit today.  The romper is a Citronille pattern I've made a couple of times already.  I couldn't waste any time preparing a new pattern, or even this pattern in a larger size which is a bit of a bummer since she'll be too big for this soon.  But that's ok, I think it was worth it.  I just winged the bonnet pattern, based on measurements from a store bought bonnet we have.  And the inspiration for the entire endeavor, the socks, came from my sister Lauren.

We're not having our corned beef and cabbage until tomorrow night so Ginny will get a little more wear out of this get up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

LAMQG Retreat!

Two weeks ago the three of us went to Lake Arrowhead for the LA Modern Quilt Guild retreat.  Harv took Virginia for most of the weekend and I sewed to my heart's content.  It was the first time I had done any sewing since Ginny was born.

I did give him a couple hours break both days and Ginny slept in the Moby while I worked.

Of course, it was amazing to be able to sew for two days straight after not sewing at all for six weeks.  But what was even more amazing was the incredible time I had with this wonderful group of women.  I have made so many great friends through the guild.  We had so much fun sewing and chatting and drinking and eating and playing games, we all agreed that not only do we want the retreat to last longer next time, but we also want to make it a semi-annual event, not annual.

Photo courtesy of Alissa Haight Carlton, Handmade By Alissa

I really can't wait for next year's (or maybe this summer's?) retreat.  I'll have to get my fix this Saturday at our weekend sew.  If you have a branch of the MQG in your area and you haven't joined yet, DO IT!  Of course the guilds are all different but I get the feeling that modern quilting just draws a certain type of crowd and chances are there will be some wonderful friends to be had.

It begins.

Here she is, in the first Mommy-made outfit we could get her in.

You can read a bit about the romper here.  I also made the leggings using Made By Rae's baby tights pattern.  It's a free pattern and they fit her well.  The only problem I had was the pattern tells you to measure your baby's waist to get the elastic measurement.  That was hard to do when your baby isn't born yet.  I think I based my measurement on Rae's measurement for her 7 month old daughter but Ginny ended up being a little too chubby so these have to ride low on her hips.  I will definitely make more of these when I can carve out a little sewing time.  We have so many legless onesies and it's a little too chilly for bare legs despite being in Southern California.

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Thank you all for your kind wishes on my last post.  It's so exciting to finally share Virginia with you all!  A birth story will be forthcoming as per popular demand.  And I'll give fair warning so anyone who doesn't want to read all of the gory details can look away.  It's tough to find time to do much of anything though, as any of you parents can understand I'm sure, so I can't promise when I'll get it all written up.  Turns out babies are a lot of work!  Who knew?

My best creation yet.

She's here!

Virginia Mae Harvatine was born January 18, at home.  She was 9 pounds even and 22 inches long.  Labor was hard (I pushed for SIX hours) but I'm so glad we had her at home.  It was definitely the right choice for us.  Is anyone interested in hearing the birth story?  I'd be happy to share if you want.

My mom came to town four days before Ginny was born so we had a nice little visit before the main event.  My dad arrived a week later for a visit.  Ginny is the first grandchild in my family so they are very excited.

We're all doing really well, enjoying a couple of weeks off for Harv.  We're very tired but so happy to have our little girl here at last!

Temptation

Sometimes you just can't wait for a quilt to be finished before you start using it.

 

Bricolage and Butter Bee quilt.  This is destined for the grown up bed in the baby/guest room.

Baby Clothes Galore.

I have been making baby clothes as promised, I just haven't been sharing anything.  As today is my due date I'm going to inundate you with everything I have made thus far but have yet to share.  Which means all but one dress.  So I'll try to make this quick and painless with lots of pretty pictures and very little to read!

This pattern is Pomme from Citronille, a French company with very classic, beautiful designs.  The patterns only come in French so it takes a little bit of translation to work them out.  It really helps if you have sewing experience so you don't have to rely entirely on the instructions.  This little sleep sack is so soft and snuggly, I can't wait to use it.  It is made from Little Folks voile that is interfaced and lined with flannel.

This is another Citronille pattern, Coline.  Little Folks voile on top and shot cotton on the bottom.  I love this pattern, it's so sweet!

 

Here is the back. 

And I liked it so much I made another, this one from corduroy wale.

This is a free pattern that you can get from habitual.wordpress.com.  You have to email her to get the pattern but it's a great, easy little shirt to make.  I lengthened the sleeves on this one.

School Photo dress from Oliver + S.  Very cute.  I love the little stand up collar.  Harv picked out the fabric for this one.

This is the Itty Bitty Baby dress, a free pattern from Made By Rae.  I altered it a little by getting rid of the tie straps and then added buttons to the back.

These are the baby kimono shoes from ithinksew.  These and the next shoes are so cute and so simple to make.  I also bought the women's kimono shoes pattern.  They are equally simple to make and cute to wear.

Also from ithinksew, baby sneakers.  I originally made these for a friend who was having a boy (he due after my baby and came last Sunday, yipes!) but then decided I wanted to make him an entire little outfit and didn't have enough fabric to match these shoes so I started from scratch.  I didn't get a picture of that outfit before I gave it away but maybe someday I can share a photo of the baby wearing it!
And hopefully I'll have photos of my baby soon!

Happy New Year!

Hope you're all having a great year so far!

I'm just hanging out, getting bigger.  I've got about 10 days to go until my due date and I'm feeling good.  My mom's flying out next Thursday and we still have a couple classes to take next week so here's hoping I can hang on for a while.  I'm a little worried about going early but I don't think it will happen.  I was 17 days past when I was born and my brother was 21 days past!

Have you seen the beautiful quilts this baby is collecting already?  Here's one from Alissa and one from Latifah, both amazing and I can't wait to have a baby to lay on them!  Right now I'm working on a queen sized quilt made from bee blocks that will go on the big bed in the baby's room.  I'd love to get that done before she's born so keep your fingers crossed for me!