A Picture... a Moment

My Sewing Room

A corner in my sewing room. My happy place.

Over the past year I've been sharing with you a series of photos capturing a special moment in my life which I titled them A Picture... a Moment. Everyday is filled with special moments and I thought, why not make it into a weekly link up where we can share one special moment from our week. Plus it gives us another excuse to grab our cameras and practice our photography!

I hope you can join me next week, the link up starts next Friday February 7. Every week the link up will be open from Friday through Sunday.
Weekend Doings

XX
Martha.

New Sewing Adventures: Dressmaking

Garment Sewing Supplies
Fabric
On my Table
Japanese Sewing Book

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. So this is what I have been up to. At the beginning of the year I made a list of all my crafty goals for 2014 and one of them was to start  sewing my own clothes. I'm totally obsessed with Japanese sewing patterns and I finally acquired a couple of fabulous books by 

Yoshiko Tsukiori

. All the patterns are amazing so it is a bit hard to chose a favorite. However, as it turns out 

Nat

 and I have the same book and decided to sew the same pattern. We are going to show our finished project by February 15 for the February 

Le Challenge

. I'm so thrilled about this new sewing adventure. I hope I'm successful :)

Have a lovely week.

XX

Martha

Owl Project Bag and the Begining of My First Shawl

Owl Project Bag
Owl Project Bag
Owl Project Bag
Owl Project Bag
Boneyard Shawl

Happy Sunday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. My weekend was crazy busy, but I managed to fit in some crafting. If you follow my blog you might remember that I mentioned that my sewing machine was giving me some trouble while I was quilting my Feathers and Patchwork Quilt. Well, I had to take in for service and I finally got it back from the shop. I'm happy to report that it just needed some maintenance and now she sews again like new. So to celebrate the return of my sewing machine I decided to make a new project bag for my knitting. The fabric is a screen printed fabric that I got from fabric.com a while back. I think is very cute and whimsical, don't you agree? To make the bag more functional I added a zippered pocket inside to keep my knitting notions in place and to avoid loosing them in the bottom of the bag. 
Speaking of knitting, I also started to knit my first shawl. The pattern is called Boneyard Shawl and is available for free at Raverly. So far is going good and it doesn't seem too complicated, but I'll let you know how it goes...

XX
Martha.

Knitting Finish: Honey Cowl

Honey Cowl
Honey Cowl
Honey Cowl
Honey Cowl
Honey Cowl

I'm so excited to have finished my Honey Cowl. My first finish of the year, yay! You might remember that I started knitting it back in November. I'm totally surprised at how 'fast' it came together. I'm not a fast knitter and  I only knit a little bit everyday; usually in the car (when my husband is driving) or few rows in the evening while watching TV. But it goes super fast. It is not wonder why the Honey Cowl is so popular; the pattern is fantastic and such a joy to knit.  I'm sure this won't be the only one I make. I'm already planning my next one :)
For this one I used Cotton Ease by Lion Brand Yarn. The yarn is very soft and light weight perfect for the winter weather here in California. I think I will be wearing it all week. 

Have a lovely week!

*Linking up to Wool on Sundays at  Rainbow Hare Quilts*
XX
Martha

Feathers And Patchwork: My Christmas Quilt

Feathers & Patchwork Quilt
Feathers & Patchwork Quilt
Featahers & Patchwork Quilt
Feathers & Patchwork Quilt

Happy Sunday, I hope you are enjoying the holidays. I had a wonderful Christmas. As it is our tradition we spend Christmas Eve with our extended family. Then my husband and I spend Christmas day at home watching movies and relaxing. And this year was not the exception; we watched all the movies we had been 'saving up',  and ate way too much popcorn and candy. But this year I added something new to our tradition: a new quilt to snuggle under while watching our movies. As you might remember I started working on my Christmas quilt at the beginning of December (you can read more about it 

here

). I wasn't sure I was going to able to finish it. The piecing is very simple and the quilt top came together in no time, but the quilting is another story. I decided to quilt it with straight lines about 3/4" apart. The quilting was slowly progressing when my machine decided to act up (now I need to take it in for service). Luckily I have another machine: a

vintage Kenmore

that a friend gave a while back and I had never used. Well, the little machine came through: it sews beautifully and I finished my quilt in time. 

I'm so happy with how this quilt turned up. I love the random patchwork. If feels very homemade and the flannel backing feels so warm and cozy. It has quickly become a family favorite.

Have a wonderful week and see you next year!

XX

Martha.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Card 2

Thank you for all your support and lovely comments throughout the year. I wish you the best this holiday season.


XX

Martha