Favorites

1. N and I finished the top last night! Now we "just" have to baste, quilt, and bind. #quiltformygirl, 2. About to piece up this lone star block. Completely inspired by @arajaneo 's amazing quilt., 3. Camp Stitchalot sample for August 2013 Camp, 4. Starry Skies top 2, 5. Yellow & Grey Hexagon Quilt, 6. Aaaaand it's done! #xplusalong #hazelsquilt, 7. 1001 Peeps Quilt, 8. Mendocino Detail, 9. Untitled

Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
 
Happy Friday!

Zakka Handmades Blog Tour & Giveaway

Happy Wednesday! Welcome to my stop on the Zakka Handmades Blog Tour! We're helping Amy Morinaka of Chick Chick Sewing celebrate the release of her new book, Zakka Handmades! Amy's style is so crazy cute and this book is too! I couldn't resist playing along!

Zakka Handmades: Raindrops Tote, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I knew that for my stop on the tour I wanted to make something from the book but I have to say, it was hard to choose just one project! There are tons of cute bags, accessories and projects for your home! Ultimately, I choose the Raindrops Tote for my first project!

Zakka Handmades: Raindrops Tote, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I decided to use linen, Pure Elements solids and my new line, Nordika for my tote! It was fun playing with the applique raindrops, since it's not something I usually incorporate in my work.  The tote come together really easily, I love the rounded corner detail!

Zakka Handmades: Raindrops Tote, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

It's lined with another Nordika print and has a little interior pocket. It would be a great size to take to the library or to travel with a small project! Next I want to make some of the fabric buckets!

Congrats on a beautiful book, Amy!

Zakka Handmades, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Would you like to win a copy of Zakka Handmades? To enter, leave a comment on this post.  One entry per person, open to US Residents only. Giveaway will end Monday, July 8th at 5pm CST.

Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour! There is a giveaway at every stop!

6/24/13 - Kerry verykerryberry
6/26/13  Jeni In Color Order (you're here!)
6/28/13  Sachiko Tea Rose Home
7/1/13 – Amber One Shabby Chick
7/3/13 – Kristen Feeling Stitchy
7/5/13 – Hiromi Harujion Design
7/8/13 – Amy nanaCompany
7/10/13 – Lisa and Sarah A Spoonful of Sugar
7/12/13 – Mette Erleperle
7/15/13 – Sarah and Rachel Roxy Creations
7/17/13 - Anna Noodlehead

Teaching at Camp Stitchalot

Happy Tuesday! I'm excited to share some fun news with you today! This December I'll be headed out to Pleasant Lake, MI to teach at Camp Stitchalot (formerly known as Quilt Camp)! I had such a great time teaching at this retreat last year, I'm so excited to be teaching again!


Camp Stitchalot is a fantastic retreat hosted by Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics and Rossie of Fresh Modern Quilts.  It's held at a great location here in the Midwest with a giant sewing space! Meals are included so once you're there, you have no reason to leave! All you have to worry about is what you're going to sew!

Pillow Talk Swap 7 - Finished, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I'm thrilled to be teaching alongside two of my friends, Anna Graham of Noodlehead and Debbie Grifka of Esch House Quilts. How fun is that going to be?! Such talented ladies!

Kaleidoscope Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I'll be teaching a special (mystery!) pillow pattern and sharing my favorite techniques for finishing them up! I love making pillows (lots of pillows!), and who doesn't need another pillow for their couch/bed/favorite chair?  They make such great gifts too, especially since the holidays will be right around the corner! Anna is going to be teaching her 241 tote and we'll be making hot pads and casserole pads with Debbie!

Beyond that the best part about this retreat is just being able to hang out and sew together! I had such a great time last year meeting new people and working together on projects.  We'll be there to help and guide you through whatever you're working on!

Kaleidoscope Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I hope you'll join us December 5th-8th! For more information about Camp Stitchalot see here.  For information and sign ups for the December camp, see here. You can read about my experience last year here!

You can find my current teaching schedule on the Teaching Page in the toolbar above!

Weekend Bag Making

Featherweight Travel Bags, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Monday! The past few days I've been working on finishing up a few bag projects.  Since I started using my featherweight more often, I wanted to make a bag to travel with it.  I have the original carrying case, but it's a little heavy, and plain. So, I set out to make the ultimate travel set for my machine: a tote bag, drawstring bag for the pedal and a sleeve for the extension table!

Featherweight Travel Bags, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Everything fits inside the tote bag, with plenty of room left for projects and supplies.

Featherweight Travel Tote Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I drafted the tote bag to fit the dimensions of the machine, using my favorite tote pattern as a starting point.  I used the black tulip vines print from Nordika and quilted it with Aurifil #2605 50wt thread.  The exterior also has a layer of batting and cotton duck canvas.  I interfaced the lining with Pellon Shape-Flex, I wanted it to be extra strong! For the straps I top stitched fabric on top of cotton webbing! Finally it's finished off with a thick particle board insert for the bottom.

Featherweight Foot Pedal Drawstring Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I made a lined drawstring bag (tutorial/pattern) for the foot pedal and cord.  It fits nicely in the throat of the machine without scratching it up!

Featherweight Extension Table Sleeve, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

The last thing I made was a quilted sleeve for the extension table.  There is a screw on the head of the machine that can scratch up the table, so this keeps it protected!

Overall I'm really happy with how this set turned out! I'm looking forward to traveling with my machine soon! I've published this set as a pattern, it can be found here: Sew Portable Travel Set

Color Me Retro Aeroplane Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I also finished up my Color Me Retro Aeroplane Bag this weekend! I made the larger size from Sara Lawson's Aeroplane Bag Pattern!

Color Me Retro Aeroplane Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

It came together really easily! It was so nice to get through a bag like this without any hiccups! I even used all the recommended interfacing, including Pellon Peltex and new-to-me Annie's Soft and Stable! I'm glad I gave it a good try, the results were great! And my machine sewed through them just fine.

Color Me Retro Aeroplane Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Color Me Retro Aeroplane Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Now I just need to travel so I can put my new bags to use! :)

Favorites & Flickr Group Favorites

Favorites, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

1. Much Used Irish Chain Quilt, 2. Diamond (5), 3. Chickopee Irish Chain, 4. Hour glass quilt - WIP / Play fair and let me know when you use my photo. Thanks, 5. Trip to Rome Blocks Tote, 6. Single-Girl-Quilt-whole, 7. MSMS - Round 3 Finished!, 8. PTS 10 Received, 9. Untitled

Thought it was high time I shared a few projects from the In Color Order Flickr Group! I love seeing all your beautiful creations! Please continue adding them to the group.  It was really hard to narrow it down to 16!
 

In Color Order Group Favorites, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

1. Side Braid Quilt Baby Size, 2. sampler, 3. Vintage 9 Patch in progress....., 4. Salt Water Pouch, 5. simply color patchwork chevron, 6. Yay! All done ! This template fits will definitely fit the paper cups. Love it! I do have to enlarge the pattern to fit my ceramic travel Starbucks mug, so off to figure the measurements for that! #coffeecozy #incolororder by @jenib320, 7. key fob / Schlüsselanhänger, 8. Baby Girl Arithmetic - Front, 9. Giant Constellation Star, 10. Quilted Plastic bag holder, 11. Spring Wrapped Wreath, 12. P1020295, 13. Rose Fun Fun Bunting, 14. warm cool quilt, 15. pattern weights + pouch, 16. fab envelope

Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!
 
Happy Friday!

Winner + Nordika Giveaway!

Nordika, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Tuesday! Just popping in quickly before sitting down at my machine for the day! The winner of last week's Nordika fat quarter bundle giveaway is #190 Anita! Congrats!

Now never fear, you all still have a few more chances to win a bundle! This week I'm having another Nordika giveaway over on my Facebook page! So head on over there to enter!

Catching Up!

Block of Boston, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Monday! Now that we've finally made it through all things quilt market related, we can get caught up on a few other things I've been waiting to share with you! You'd think that considering it's been over a month since we've chatted about anything else, that I'd have loads of other projects to share, but things have been busy behind the scenes here.  I turned in my third fabric collection last week, so there hasn't been much sewing going on! I'm excited to get back to my machine this week and maybe even start a few new things!

I did manage to whip up a (late!) block to send to quilts for Boston a few weeks back! It felt good to be at the sewing machine and also to contribute something to their cause!

Nordika Launch Party, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Before we dive too far into this post, I want to invite you all to a party! If you're local, join us July 12th from 6-8pm at The Sewcial Lounge for a Nordika Launch Party! There will be treats and refreshments and we will be giving away some fabric too! There is a Facebook event for the party here. A big thanks to Sara for hosting this event and for her support! Hope to see you there!

Quilty - May/June Issue, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Offset Quilt, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I have a few fun magazine features to share with you! I made this Offset Quilt featuring Color Me Retro early this year for the May/June Issue of Quilty! You can find the full pattern in this issue along with lots of other great quilts! The folks at Quilty also have a kit available for this pattern on their website! You can find it here.  You can find a copy of this issue on newsstands and on their website, here.

Quilt Magazine - August/September Issue, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Quilt Magazine - August/September Issue, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

In the August/September issue of Quilt magazine, you can find this fantastic Blueberry Parfait quilt designed by the Art Gallery Fabrics team! They were kind enough to feature Color Me Retro in this fun quilt! Fat Quarter Shop has put together a kit for this quilt pattern, which you can find here! You can find this issue on newsstands.

Sew-it... Today - Issue 5, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Sew-it... Today - Issue 5, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Finally, you can find a quick and easy Coffee Cozy pattern featuring Nordika in Issue 5 of Sew-it... Today! The extra cool thing about this feature, is that I took the photo! It was a little nerve wracking but fun to be involved in that part of the process! Plus, it was an excuse to buy fancy muffins!  You can find this issue on newsstands soon!

Droste's Cocoa Tin, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

In other non-sewing news, I had some fun mail arrive last week! Last year I spotted a vintage Droste's Cocoa tin at a local antique mall.  Unfortunately it was really pricey. I love tins though, so I searched Etsy a few times looking for one.  They were either not in good enough condition or too expensive.  Finally last week the stars aligned!  It's in nearly perfect condition and was about a third of the price of the first one I saw.  Isn't it pretty? I actually use this brand of cocoa too, cool!

George, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

George! He's shedding right now.  It almost makes it look like he has gray fur on his head, haha!

Today I love the..
Smell of: New conditioner
Sound of: Mad Men
Taste of: Trail mix cookies
Sight of: Sunshine
Feel of: Cool breeze

Good Things about Today:
- Michael stayed home from work!
- Happy mail!
- Hung up a few new quilts!
- Trying out one pan pasta tonight!

Favorites

Favorites, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

1. Luxe in Bloom Lone Star, 2. My Potholder Collection, 3. Shadow and Light, 4. dgs flying geese quilt, 5. Bigger! #pineapplequilt, 6. All DONE ... label or no label, 7. I really should be doing other things. #tula100 #citysampler, 8. Pastel Kaffe Quilt, 9. BROKEN STAR PURPLE

Every week I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!

Happy Friday!

Nordika Giveaway!

Nordika, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Wednesday! As a little treat for surviving through all those long Nordika project posts, how about a fun giveaway!

Nordika, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

One lucky winner will receive a fat quarter bundle of the entire Nordika collection! It doesn't hit stores until July, so you'll be getting it a little early!

To enter just leave a comment telling me what you're currently working on! Giveaway ends Saturday, June 15th at 5pm CST. One entry per person, all are welcome to enter!

Good luck!

Giveaway Winners

Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Time for some giveaway winners! Since the Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe giveaway was over a month ago (oops!) I've picked FOUR winners! The winners are: #58 Mindingmomma, #228 SpartanBabe, #103 Chris S, and #195 Jessica! You've all been emailed!


The winner of the Precision Piecing Craftsy Class is lag110! There is an email waiting for you!

Thanks to everyone who entered these giveaways!  Make sure to stop by later for a new giveaway that you won't want to miss! :)

Quilt Market - Garments

Nordika Staple Dress, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Tuesday! It's finally time for the last of the Nordika Quilt Market projects! Last but not least, the garments! I have slowly but surely fallen in love with sewing my own clothes, so I was happy to stitch some up for the booth! Thanks to the wonderful hand and drape of Art Gallery Fabrics, it was a no-brainer to use Nordika for clothing as well as quilts!

Nordika Staple Dress, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

To show off the Whimsicöl panel in Tide, I knew I wanted to make a dress.  April Rhodes' Staple Dress Pattern was the perfect pattern for the job! It comes together so quickly and the results are just lovely.  I cut the pieces out selvedge to selvedge to use landscape on the skirt hem! I love how it turned out!

You can find The Staple Dress Pattern here.

Nordika Wiksten Tank Dress, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Next up, it was finally time to make a Wiksten Tank Dress.  I've made lots (and lots) of Wiksten Tanks and shirts, but never the full dress! I ended up ending a little extra length to it and it turned out so cute! It came together super quick too!

Nordika Wiksten Tank, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Of course I had to make the tank version too! :)

You can find the Wiksten Tank Pattern (by Jenny Gordy) here.

Nordika Pajama Pants, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I love wearing homemade pajama pants, so I had to make some with Nordika! My favorite pattern is in Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.  I've made quite a few pairs.  For this pair, I added a contrast hem.  It gives it some extra interest and I think the extra weight will make them hang better!

Nordika Skirt, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

All of these pieces really ended up being a catalog of my favorite garment patterns! This skirt was made using Karyn's awesome Enchanted Bow Skirt Tutorial.  This is the third one I've made! You can see the first two here and here. I love this skirt!

Nordika Scarf, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Finally, I made a simple scarf with the Whimsicöl panel! Quick and easy sew!

Well, there you have it! That's all the projects from the booth! I'll be linking to all of these posts under the "Fabric" tab above if you'd like to see them later!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Quilt Market - Bags

Nordika Frame Purses, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Monday!  Let's get through the rest of those Nordika Quilt Market projects, shall we?  It's almost been a month ago now, time to move on to other things!  Today I'm sharing the bags and tomorrow I'll come back and share the garments! So, let's go!

I do love bags, so I made quite a few for the booth.  I found these beyond adorable purse frames on Etsy (from this shop), and had to have them for Nordika.  They're sew-in frames but I still used a little glue before stitching for extra strength. I have two more left in white and black, can't wait to stitch those up, perhaps in another shape!  I drafted by own pattern with the help of this tutorial.

Nordika Drawstring Bags, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Of course I had to make some drawstring bags! I made the Everything size (same size as the tutorial), as well as the Artist and Project sizes, both of which are in the pattern. I love stitching up these bags, they are such a fun way to show off prints.  They're each topped with Oval Elements and lined with Pure Elements. They're all finished with twill tape for the drawstrings.

Nordika Zipper Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

This bag was a fun way to use up some of the scraps that were piling up! I pair them with Licorice Oval Elements. It's closed at the top with a zipper.  So it's basically a giant zipper pouch with handles!  I found the leather strapping for the handles from this shop.

Nordika Whimsicöl Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Nordika Whimsicöl Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I was so happy with the way this bag turned out! It's another rather tall tote bag, this time featuring the Whimsicöl panel! It's cut out of a half-yard of the panel, with the landscape on one side and the meadow on the other! Again, I used leather strapping for the handles from this shop.

Nordika Tote Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I knew the plaid print needed to shine in another bag, so I drew up a simple beach style tote bag! I love the way this one turned out! I used Holly's Market Tote Tutorial as a starting point for the proportions, but ended up altering the measurements and construction because of the limited amount of fabric I had! The accents are all Pure Elements!

Nordika Duffle Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Finally, I whipped up a duffle bag at the last minute, not only for the booth, but to use as my carry on! I used a simplified version of this pattern by Studio Cherie. I've made it before (see here), so it was easy enough to make at the last minute.  I just left off the side pocket to make it go a little faster!

Phew! There we have it for the bags! For more photos of all the bags, and other Nordika projects see here.  I'll be back with the garments tomorrow!