Zoe's Quilt - a FINISH! {pic heavy}

Well.... it was a very productive weekend!  When I last left you, I had most of the rows of Zoe's onesie quilt sewn up.

This weekend - I FINISHED the quilt!

I sewed up the rest of the rows and the quilt top was done.  Then I pieced together the backing fabric - using an adorable mini flower fabric in greens & pinks - as well as a few "extra" squares that didn't make it into the front - and some pink & white polka dots, of course!

Then I made a "quilt sandwich" - - - backing, batting, top - - - and spray / pin basted it.

I had to move my sewing machine to the dining room table - to give me LOTS of room to work while quilting!  I used simple straight line quilting about 1/2" on either side of each horizontal seam.

When all the quilting was done, I basted around the whole quilt as close to the edge as I could - just so it didn't wiggle while I was trimming / binding.  This was my view for a few hours Saturday night after the kiddos went to bed {the hubby liked that I was busy - it meant video game time for him!}

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the dual-feed foot on my Janome Horizon 7700???  Love it.  

Next, I trimmed it up and it was ready for binding!  Isn't the back adorable?!

{don't mind the front-loader photobomb!}

Originally I had a different fabric in mind for the binding.... but then I realized I didn't have anywhere near as much as I needed.  So I auditioned a few fabrics - and even got the hubby's input.  I think he made a good choice, don't you!?

Then I got back behind the machine and stitched the binding on.  LOVE using the foot of my table extension to hold onto that pretty roll of binding - perfect!  (I learned that trick from Maureen Cracknell Handmade - - - and honestly I geek out a little each time I do it because I am SO in awe of her work and I can't help but think "I'm quilting like Maureen!" - yep.... now you know how much of a nerd I am!)

And soon enough...... the quilt was DONE!

{It measures about 50" x 60"}

A big thank-you to the hubby who helped take pictures - even though it was POURING down rain! :)

How fun are those stripes?!  And the flowers?  Polka dots?!  So much girly fun in one quilt!

Then there are all the fun little details that I just LOVE!

Like a First Christmas onesie, little puffs of tulle on some adorable flip-flops....

Bows, ruffles, fan gear....

A special 1st birthday onesie...

Pockets!  LOVE the little pockets (there are a few on the front AND back!)

Each time they wash this, it will get softer and softer.

I hope Zoe and her family LOVE snuggling up under this blanket - and reminiscing about all the memories created wearing all these adorable clothes!

Today I boxed it up and put it on the porch - - - it will be home with their family later this week!

I am so honored to have been asked to work on such a special project - it was truly a joy to make!

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Want to read more about Zoe's quilt {this one took a while, for sure!}

Sort & Design

Cutting & Piecing

March ALYOF goal

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Linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes - - as this was my March goal {finished well before the end of the month, SWEET!} - I'm entry #21 this month - can't wait to see what others have finished up!

Sharing on "Show Off Saturday" as well! :)

Etsy Feature Friday {AND giveaway!!!}

Happy Friday all!

This week I'm featuring one of the items I use every.single.day - - - yes, something I have actually, purposefully sewn for MYSELF!  {do I have your attention yet?!  If not.... maybe you're reading because you saw that word - giveaway - in the title of this blog post?!}

My hanging kitchen towels are a MUST in this house!

Yellow Utensils Kitchen Towels - Eggo in the Oven

Why do I love them so much?!  Well... with two kiddos who LOVE to "help" us cook / are always underfoot, these towels do.not.disappear!  They stay nice and secure - always there and ready to dry off my hands - or a small dish / cup.  They also don't fall off when I open the oven!

Brown and Blue Coffee Time Kitchen Towels - Eggo in the Oven

Yep.... LOVE!  There are just two sets left in my Etsy shop - guess it's time for me to sew up some more!

Oh... and they make awesome host / hostess gifts - or housewarming gifts.  They'll snap around anything - fridge handle, oven handle, cabinet pull.... I just can't say enough about how great they are!

Okay, okay - enough chitter chatter.  I know you are wondering how you can WIN a set of these oh-so-awesome creations?! :)

Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter yourself to win a CUSTOM set (yep, you choose the fabric!)

You have the opportunity to earn FOUR entries!

1. Comment on this blog post  - which in-stock fabric would you LOVE your towel set to be made from - in-stock fabric is pictured HERE {mandatory}

2. Like my Facebook business page {optional}

3. Follow Sew & Tell on Bloglovin {optional}

4. SHARE about this giveaway - pin, tweet, facebook, blog - however you'd like! {optional}

Wahoo!  Have fun - and good luck!

Giveaway will close at 12:00AM PST on Monday 3/17 - I will announce the winner here in this blog post, and contact them by email, on 3/17.  Giveaway is open to Residents of the US and Canada ONLY.

Congrats to Emma O. (Entry #4) - winner of the set of kitchen towels!  Thanks to all who entered!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WIP Wednesday

While I've mainly posted about my quilting adventures, I actually spend the majority of my sewing time making custom clothes and other items for my business, Eggo in the Oven.

This weekend I worked my way through some custom orders - finishing up a few dresses, pants, skirts, and onesies.  Included in that list is a sibling set - I always love working on these and having fun mixing & matching to create a great coordinated look.

I'm making a dress, tunic, and necktie for the three cuties.  I was able to get the dress and tunic sewn up - - - just finishing up the tie and a few more items and this order will ship out!

Ruffled Wrap Top - size 8/10

The tunic and dress are patterns I am sewing for the first time - - - and I LOVE how they turned out!

"Blondie" dress - size 4/5

Other items on my sewing list for this week / weekend:

Custom onesie

Birthday shirt

Zoe's keepsake quilt

Linking up with Work in Progress Wednesday with Freshly Pieced - can't wait to see what everyone else is sewing!

{and yes.... it's almost Thursday..... I spent all day with a 1.5 year old on my lap / in my arms - sick kiddos are NO fun!}

PQ Challenge 5 - coffee & chaos

This week's Project Quilting challenge had me drawing a blank.  It was a great challenge - - - and I am loving what everyone was inspired by during their trip to the grocery store.... but for whatever reason I struggled finding direction.

I went to a local produce stand and took some photos - apples with raindrops on them, satsuma oranges... but nope.  No design thoughts.

Then the boys and I took a trip to Walmart.  We currently live in a MUCH smaller town / community than we have ever lived in before.  The town we actually live in has one grocery store - and the selection / produce is........ terrible.  The "bigger" town about 10 minutes away has a couple grocery stores and a Walmart.  The Walmart is going through a major remodel that has made it much bigger - - - and it will include more than just the basic fruits / veggies / frozen foods / milk, eggs, & cheese it has carried up until this point.

To prepare all three of us for our adventure, we swung through the Starbucks drive-thru {a nonfat latte for me.... banana bread for the boys!} - thus, inspiration #1 - the {very necessary} latte.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a store that had DEFINITELY changed (again) since the last time we had visited.  Inspiration #2 - the relative chaos - construction, confused shoppers, empty shelves and random pallets of cereal boxes in the clothing department!  Oh... and the chaos of attempting to get everything on a shopping list with a 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old in tow! :)

We walked past a {really, really big} bin of rubber duckies at one point.  Colby squealed as he recognized a few of the ducks - we gave his Grandma & Grandpa (my mom & dad) a box of duckies for Christmas for the vacation / retirement home they are building - there is a creek near the house and they love sending rubber duckies down it to "race" with the boys!  Inspiration #3 - my mom & dad's home-in-progress that obviously NEEDS lots of handmade goodies ;-)

This week I did my first bit of foundation paper piecing - so I figured this would be a great opportunity to practice that!  I drew up a pattern for a travel coffee cup - inspired by a cup of lemonade block pattern I found on Sew Mama Sew.

Of course, I had to make sure it had a coffee sleeve on it - as I gave my parents a set of coffee sleeves {from the black & red fabric} and reusable cups for Christmas - for coffee dates on their porch!  I added a border, trimmed it up, then worked on the back.

To bring in the "chaos" I did some improv piecing using various red / black / grey / white fabrics for the back.  I used a layer of cotton batting, another layer of insul-brite, and the top / back.  I quilted it a bit - with some zig-zags and straight line quilting.  It is about 8.5" square - and we are back from vacation so I was working in my home studio {in between LOTS of custom order work, life with 2 active boys, and a couple rec basketball games for the hubby's work team!}  In the end - I had a fun little trivet / hot pad - ready for their new home!

I used a fun little loopy built-in quilting stitch on my Janome for the binding!

There will be more coordinating pieces in the future - I bought the red / black coffee print fabric (and a few coordinates) specifically for their house!

Adding my link to the Project Quilting finish post - - - which will open for voting Sunday afternoon!  I'm finished item #18! :)

Etsy Feature Friday

Well..... it's still Friday here on the West Coast {barely.... but... it is!}

One of my favorite applique designs is my Superbaby (or Superkiddo) onesie / shirt.  Personalized for each and every kiddo who wears it - choose your colors - and of course the letter!

I have made a BUNCH of these - and love sewing them up for baby shower gifts, etc.  I've done super girly pinks and purples.... classic red / yellow.... favorite football team colors - you name it!

Wouldn't the lil' superhero in your life look adorable wearing one???

{not quite my size.... but the right letter!} :)

Superbaby Onesie by Eggo in the Oven - sizes newborn through 24 months - find it HERE
Superkiddo Shirt by Eggo in the Oven - sizes 12month through 14/16 - find it HERE

Linking up with the "Friday Favs" party at Peekaboo Pattern Shop here! :)

Also working on a tester for her {more to come on that in the near future!}

Happy weekend everyone!

WIP Wednesday

Earlier this week, my friend and her mom came over so her mom could teach me about foundation paper piecing.  I had read about it, and looked at "how-to's" - but have never attempted it (mainly due to my lack of "free time" - but also because it was a little confusing).  Well, my friend's mom is an awesome quilter who has also written a sampling of FPP patterns - - - awesome!

I had seen their construction line and KNEW they would be the perfect designs for me to start with - as I know Colby would LOVE a construction-themed quilt!

So late last week they dropped by my house with a 3-ring binder full of every pattern printed out and stored safely in plastic sleeves - - - and a bunch of 4T boys clothes {double score!!!}.  Then on Monday, they came to my house, and my friend Kelly played with my boys (though Brendan, the 17 month old was being awfully clingy.... so I also did a bit of one-handed work!) while her mom showed me the basics - and walked me through my first FPP piece - a construction cone {used as a spacer for other construction vehicle blocks}

Isn't it fun?!  

I can't wait to work on the dump truck.... and front loader... and.......!!!!

And yes... I have been pinning other free FPP patterns ever since.....

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced - I'm link #167 - can't wait to see what everyone else is working on!

March Goals!

Why hello, March!  Funny how you snuck up on me!

I guess it's time to set some new goals - - - I'll check in on last month's goals soon!

Year-long goal: Do more sewing that is NOT paid orders:
I have decided on a "space" theme for little man #2's room / bedding - thanks to his love of my "Across the Universe" Project Quilting piece.  So I'm hoping to make a few things to go along with that - but that involves buying some fabric.... so I'll have to get through my 100 items first! (though the hubby says this one counts as a "custom order").

I also did my first foundation paper piecing today - thanks to some wonderful in-person, hands-on teaching from a friend's mom.  We did a small construction cone filler block.  She gave me patterns for LOTS of construction vehicles - - - so I hope to work on more blocks here and there to eventually put together a quilt, or wall hanging.... or????  For little man #1's room!

A Lovely Year of Finishes (ALYOF) March
Goal is to finish up Zoe's memory quilt!  Right now it is almost fully pieced - I plan on using a Quilt As You Go method - so I need to quilt the rows, then piece them together, choose (and piece together) backing, and bind!  Phew!  It's a nice big project - and I can't wait to get it finished up!

Project Quilting 
Challenge #5 - inspired by a trip to the grocery store - was posted yesterday (3/2)!  I've been mulling it over, and flopped between a few different pieces of inspiration - but I WILL be participating!  The last challenge will be posted on 3/16 - can't wait to hear what else we will be inspired by - and see everyone's completed projects!

100 item challenge
I made 54 of the 100 items during the month of January.  My goal for February was to get to 80.... I made it to 77!  But this weekend (the first weekend of March) - I made my way to 86!  Getting close!  I'm actually enjoying sewing through what I have and NOT spending as much time (and money) buying fabric.  The friend who roped me into this challenge (Alyssa from Keep Calm and Carrion) and I are considering allowing ourselves a little window to buy when we get to 100 items..... and then starting the challenge again! (are we crazy?!)

Vice Versa BOM
Can't wait to see what block we are working on this month!  Pattern / instructions will be emailed this Friday 3/7.

Wishes Quiltalong
This one posted early - and I've got it printed out!  Loving how the orange & black blocks are looking together so far!

Aurifil DOM sewalong
Another block, this time from Emily Herrick - looking forward to reading about her, drooling (I'm sure) over her quilts, and working on the block she has shared!

Blog Goals
I still have a few tutorials to share - and I need to fit in some time to share some of the sewing I do that ISN'T quilting!  Funny to me - I keep sharing all these quilting projects..... but I spend a good majority of my time sewing clothes! :)

Other Goals
Finish up my pattern organization (was a goal from February.... I got over halfway done with the patterns I already had printed.... but still want to print out more, and need to get tabs on pages, etc.) - I'm looking forward to this one as I KNOW there are sewing patterns (for clothes.... well, quilts too!) that I own and haven't sewn.... LOTS of them.  Time to dust them off!

Linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes - March Goal Setting!  I'm link #91