Officially Moved

Hope this finds you all well. I am so grateful to all of you who have read and commented!   Those of you who have followed!  I do hope you will follow me over and read and comment.

Thank you all so much.

I have officially moved my blog/website to WordPress.  Come on over and visit and comment!!  I do love comments!!

bumblebeeandsophie.com

Email is still:
bumblebeeandsophie@gmail.com

Etsy shop is:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BumblebeeandSophie?ref=si_shop

Thanks,
 Cindy

Moving

After much consideration I am moving this blog to Word Press.    A few weeks ago I went or tried to go to our website and it was closed, because we hosted via Mobile Me.  I already own the .com so will be transferring everything over this week.  Please be patient, my computer skills are limited and I hope I do everything correctly.

The plan is to have Bumblebeeandsophie.com be everything, the blog the website.  I hope it works!!

Cindy

Sophia's Quilt

Two years ago I began a quilt for my soon to be born granddaughter.  Sarah had picked out the color scheme and we went shopping.

When we went to Caroga Lake this year Sophia was sleeping in a "big girl" bed so Sarah brought her quilt.  I took a few pictures of the quilt and Sophia.

Toasty Toes is the pattern I used, the quilting done by my friend Sue who has a long-arm quilting business.

Some Amy Butler fabrics, some Michael Miller  

Every now and then Sophia will come to me and say, "Thank you for making my quilt, Grandma" 

Always make a label

I have started Baby Boy's quilt.  These are the fabrics.






The Pattern is Colorblock from Bijou Lovely.  The pattern is $8.  You can purchase it here.

Baby boy is due in 8 weeks, so I need to get sewing!!!  I will keep you up to date on progress.  


Have a great weekend.
Cindy




Have linked up to:


Sew Many Ways

My First Quilting Attempts

I have been sewing ever since Home Economics in the 7th grade.  My Mom sewed and so did my Grandmother.  I took Home Ec. all through Jr. and Sr. high.  I loved it.  Even contemplated becoming a Home Ec. teacher, would be out of a job for sure these days.

I had sewed some clothes, for myself, which were always a failure... and I sewed for my children, a little.

We are going through the house prepping for a yard sale.  We have so much stuff...20 years in this house.

I found these.  My first attempts at quilting.

Hand pieced, look at the size of those stitches...yikes

points kind of got lost over the edge

see those tiny little hand stitches 

After sewing machine, not too bad

Quilting stitches getting smaller!

a bit of my history.

Hope you have a great week.

Cindy

Saying Goodbye

My youngest daughter, Alissa and her husband Andy are moving to Tacoma, Washington.  She will be working in downtown Seattle, and Andy will be going to graduate school.  We are going to miss them sooooo much!

We had a going away party on Sunday afternoon.  As a going away gift a few of us from our church,  put together a quilt for them.  Sue Foster, had the idea to begin with, Sue owns a long-arm quilting business.  We needed to make it modern, Alissa is not a "country" lover.   We found the pattern Modern Chevron Baby Quilt, from You Had Me at Bonjour's blog.  It is a great pattern, easy to follow.

I had found a group of fabrics all in neutrals at Hawthorne Threads.  The collection is called Preeti, by Jessica Gonacha Swift, the nude palette.  We chose four Kona Cottons in nude colors to match for the background.

We had people in the church sign a solid square, which we placed around the top.

For the back I wanted to have some bold bright fabrics.  I found a this Kona Quiltcon fat quarter pack at the Fat Quarter Shop, choosing one blue and one green to make the pattern.

The design from the back was from a pin that I found on Pintrest.  I wish I could credit the original, but have looked and can't find the original creator.  Really a simple design, and easy to do.

Sue quilted it in straight lines about 1/2 inch apart, but stopping at the signature blocks.  This created a really cool pattern on the back.

There were a few signature blocks that did not come in time to put them in the top, so I incorporated them into the label.


They loved the quilt!

They leave Friday morning, and will have a great time driving across the country, seeing the sights along the way!!

Hope you are having a great week.

Cindy

Fabric Play

I am taking the next few weeks to "play" with fabric.  I have long admired many quilting blogs and am trying my hand at some "modern" patchwork.

Bumblebee and Sophie is still going, although it seems at a standstill, so I am not making too many children's clothes at the moment.  I will attend a couple of craft fairs in the late fall, leading up to Christmas, and will be making some more dresses then.    So right now I am playing!!

Some random scraps sewn together in a Crazy Patch sort of way.  

We are at the lake in the Adirondacks that we have been coming to for over 35 years, well the kids and I.  My husband has come here his whole life.  It is a place of peace and relaxation.

View from the porch, spending a lot of time looking!

We will be here two whole weeks!!  Love it!!

I brought my sewing machine and some fabric and plan to play some, maybe a few small quilts.  Also working on a quilt that I will show you in a couple of weeks.

I will also continue my training for the next Triathlon my husband and I are competing in, The Timberman Sprint.  We fill our days with open water swims, running and cycling.  You can read about it here.

Behind us is The Taftsville covered bridge in Vermont.  Washed away by hurricane Irene last year.  

Have a wonderful week,
Cindy

Happy 4th

We are relaxing at home...our BBQ will be here this afternoon.  We have 8 pounds of meat!  Everyone better come hungry!

Hopefully fireworks later, if the rain stays away!

Been doing a bit of sewing the last few days

Not a great picture, but, having some fun with Kona cottons!!

Have a Great 4th,

Cindy

Seam Ripper, My New Friend

My seam ripper and I are becoming better acquainted.  I am experimenting with some more modern/freestyle patchwork, and mini quilts.  I have TONS of scraps and it seems a shame to let them just sit idle when they could be something cute...

My new friend

I began by sewing a few pieces together, cutting so edges were even and I could add more.  then surrounded the patched piece with white Kona cotton.  I am falling in love with solids, slowly.  They have always seemed so plain, but, when you add the quilting lines it suddenly has dimension and texture.  Rather a fun exercise.

After taking off the first binding...

Really loved the quilting process

I got all the way to the binding...which is where the problems began.  I did not want to hand sew the binding.   I was trying to be smart and sew the binding on the back bring it around front and sew down with the machine.  Reading some tutorials I thought I would do a half (1/2) inch seam, which meant there was not really enough binding to bring around to the front.  Well,  my bright idea was to cut off a quarter of an inch and then there would be more to bring around...HELLO WHERE IS YOUR BRAIN????  This meant that I also cut the corners, rendering them useless...

The finished product

The squiggly line of quilting was another bright idea that I decided not to follow through on, but did not take it out

My inclination at that point was to throw the whole thing away.  But, after I calmed down I decided to take the binding off and start over.  This time I read carefully this tutorial on Red Pepper Quilts.  Luckily I had enough of the scraps to make a binding, this time using a quarter inch seam and sewing onto the front and then sewing with the machine.  It WORKED!!!!

The bits of binding I had left from what I had removed I sewed together with some added bits and I have another small quilt, or mug rug.

still needs a binding...will do it right the first time!!!!

Despite the issues it was a fun exercise.  I think I will list these in my Etsy Shop if you are interested.

Have a whole dryer full of fabric to fold.  Won't be ironing today...93 degrees.  Nice in my bedroom with the AC on!!!!  I suppose I could bring in the ironing board...hmmm

Have a great weekend!!

Cindy

Linked up at:



Canoe Ridge Creations

Not much sewing going on here

It seems ages since I have sewed.  We have traveled so much since the end of April, I  repainted the guest bathroom, am training for a Triathlon, taking care of a house, cooking...you know the list...

Progress is being made in the bathroom.  Going from this: the blue and green picked, years ago, by a middle-school aged daughter who shall remain nameless...

To this:  still a ways to go, light fixtures still to be hung, they can go either up or down and hubby was not sure what I wanted, and I was not home.

The color is a light gray that looks gray on some walls, and pinkish gray on the other walls...That is the way of paint and light I guess.

We celebrated Alissa's 25th birthday last Saturday!  My baby is a quarter of a century old, how did that happen??  I am not that old...

Today I made banana bread from a recipe that Sarah, my oldest daughter adapted, you can find the full recipe at her blog, Run Far Girl.  Turned out yummy.

I am headed to my sewing room to do some fun sewing!!  You should check out the Etsy shop if you have not lately.  I lowered some prices... and am thinking of having a sale...stay tuned.

I am also seriously considering moving this blog to Word Press.  I have my other blog, Trigrandmatry there and really like the format...so stay tuned.   I will let you know.

Have a fantastic weekend!
Cindy

Sewing Machine Covers

I have made quite a few Sewing machine covers lately.  Mostly custom orders.  I have had fun coming up with some new designs.  Can I make one for you?  Here is the  link to my Etsy shop.

The latest one I made for a friend.

My new label!!  CUTE!!  These came from Jennifer's Jewels

One customer sent me her fabric 

Customer fabric

Made from some scraps, with pin cushion and mug rug

This one is in my Etsy Shop

This was fun with the print with the giraffes



Have a great day!
Cindy

Busy But Quiet

Whew, where did May go...I have been traveling more in the last month than I have in a few years combined...

I am limping along here on the business side, with an always increasing To Do List and finding my way in the computer end of the business.... I will just keep plugging along.

On the sewing side, I have been busy.  I had some dresses that I cut out last summer and never sewed.  They were quick and I think they turned out very cute!!

They will be listed in my Etsy shop tomorrow.

I have also branched out a bit.  My daughter Rachel has a play mat/quilt that she uses for her daughter Cora.  Very good idea.  Here is my first attempt at a play mat.

folds up and is held together with velcro

 I sewed the three layers together and turned them right side out (birthed) turned out a bit wrinkled, next one will have a binding.   This will be in my Etsy Shop tomorrow as well.

There is more but I think I will save them for another post next week.
Have a great weekend.

Cindy