Stitching With Lorelei: Gilmore Girls are Coming

Are you as obsessed with Gilmore Girls as I am?

Just to give you the low down, I own all of the Gilmore Girls seasons on DVD. That's DVD, people! Quite a commitment. My old roommate answered the Craigslist ad to look at the house and later told me that when she saw my Gilmore Girls DVDs she knew we would be perfect for each other. She was right, we are still great friends.

These shows are my comfort watch, when I have a bad day I can put on a some select episodes.

Just because it has been a tough month I give you this (PS - I watched this again tonight and it still makes me laugh).



The Gilmore Girls are famous for talking fast and a freakishly close mother daughter relationship. This spawned multiple inside joke/catch phrases. You know you can find a Gilmore fanatic when you can pick out the Gilmorisms. It's how we identify our people.

Gilmore Girls is doing a revival on Netflix and this epic event prompted Lee from May Chappell to host a little Gilmore Girls inspired stitch-along.

I picked Copper Boom to stitch up. This phrase means, "quickening your pace or getting down to business/work" (thanks Urban Dictionary). In case you needed Rory and Lorelei to explain it to you, see below...



This basically sums up my life.

This embroidery design uses only the satin stitch and back stitch (for a great explanation of basic stitches head here). I stitched mine up in an afternoon while re-watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix.

Download the free pattern here (a million thanks to Lee for helping me make my vision a reality, you all may not know this but she is a genius graphic designer). I used back stitch for the Copper, the circle of the sun, and the lines. I used satin stitch for the Boom, and a single stitch for each ray.

My colors:
DMC 351 - Coral - All of the letters and the inside of the suns rays.
DMC 726 - Topaz LT - The sun rays and the circle
DMC 744 - Yellow - Pale - The straight lines

Details:

This is a SUPER casual stitchalong! Basically, all the designs are free. We’d love for you to stitch them up while binge watching your favorite episodes or even during the second viewing of the revival. The first viewing will require focus. We are having a little giveaway on Instagram. Every time you use the hashtag #stitchingwithlorelai, you get an entry. You can post anything from choosing your floss to your finished product. Unlimited entries. On December 1, we will randomly choose a winner who will receive a SewLux gift card for $50! Special thanks to Chrissy & Linda for donating this awesome prize! You can enter so many times, no excuse to not share your photos!

I know I can't wait to snuggle in and stitch these fun projects. 
Monday, November 14: Lee Chappell Monroe of May ChappellTuesday, November 15: Corey Yoder of Coriander QuiltsWednesday, November 16: Tessa Walker of The Sewing ChickThursday, November 17: Sarah Lowry of Stitching & BaconFriday, November 18: Elizabeth Dackson of Don’t Call Me BetsySaturday, November 19: Lee Chappell Monroe of May Chappell

Copper Boom my friends!

May. It's ON.

Hi friends!

There is still time to enter my giveaway here. I am loving reading everyone's homemade gift ideas.

I am back from Tennessee/Alabama early this week because the water levels were so high we could not get into the project area. At least I get to sew a few more evenings this week!

I did really well on my April list, I mean really well.

I decided the list really worked for me. I am putting together a May list.

May List:

1.) Voile Infinity Scarf. This is going to be a late (?) mother's day gift. I am proud to say I finished the hand quilting on my trip. Done. Sorry for the crappy phone photos from my hotel room.

2.) Embroidery Project. Done and received. I think she loved it. Nailed it.

3.) Whitewashed Quilt. No progress. To be honest, it is not a priority.

4.) Bee Blocks. Started, expected completion this weekend.

5.) Baby Quilt. Done and gifted. They loved it. I will share finished pictures in another post.  Spoiler alert... it was is a boss level good.

6.) Graduation Quilt. A friend is getting his PhD this weekend and Derek and I decided that I would make him a quilt full of inside jokes. We had so much fun picking the centers of these log cabins! He is moving to Arkansas in a couple of months and we wanted him to have a little piece of Chapel Hill to take with him. I decided to keep it simple, but he is sort of a big dude, so a lap quilt for him has to be a little larger than it would be for most people... I am happy that I used pretty much all scraps.

7.) Solids Bee Quilt. I have received all the blocks from the Gamboge group from April and now I am gunning to put this quilt together. Rainbows!

8.) Lucky Star Block. Must keep up with May's block. Must not fall behind.

9.) Drunkard's Medallion Along. I need to add a border to Chrissy's medallion when it gets to me. This is a priority, as the next person needs it by the end of May.

10.) Pillow for Guild Swap. I know what I am going to do for my partner. I just need to go for it. Maybe soon? This is also a priority as it has to be there for June's meeting, I can't let someone down. That is not my style.

That's nothing right? I only have to be in Tennessee most of the rest of the month, so right... this might trickle into June just a smidgen. Ha! Let's see how I do!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced's WiP Wednesday.

Work in Progress: My List

I have been sewing so much these past weeks friends. I think Sew South totally got my creative juices flowing.

One problem.

I may have bitten off a titch more that I could handle. Put another way, my commitments are threatening to make me crazy. Earlier this month, on Instagram (follow me @stitchingandbacon, I am hilarious) my friend Susannah Kate expressed a similar overwhelmed sentiment and suggested the folks on IG informally commit to using April to get works in progress done (check out #aprilwip). I interpreted this to mean that I needed to tackle my list.

By the way, I had not actually written this list down. Now, I am putting fingers to key board and keeping myself honest letting you know how my list is going.

Projects:

1.) April Blocks for Make it Modern. Done. Going in the mail tomorrow.

2.) Pouch for Paula. I made my father-in-laws girlfriend a pouch for Christmas that I thought would be easy for her to use for her rheumatoid arthritis (easy to carry and open and close). She loved it, told me it was ideal and that she has trouble finding things that work (um, I almost cried from happiness). Then she offered to pay me to make her another. Ha! As if I would let her pay me, she is totally family. Her birthday is this month though, so I made her another (terrible picture alert). Done. Going in the mail tomorrow.

3.) I accidentally (totally on purpose) signed up for a post-Sew South swap. Got to extend the experience, right? I made this little purse for my secret partner (Noodlehead pattern, which I totally recommend). I am so excited for her to get this! Done.

4.) We started a little medallion thingy. More on this later, but I had to make the center of my medallion and I like bears. I know it is a little hard to see what direction this is headed in, but trust me, it is going to be, wait for it.... legendary.

5.) I am doing a little swap with Susannah Kate and I need to finish my end of the deal. She already sent me this awesome ring. I am doing embroidery, which takes me forever. Slow and steady.

6.) My white washed quilt, which is an experiment in minimalism for me. Slow progress here.

7.) I told my mom I would make her a voile infinity scarf. A 10 minute project that I have all of the supplies for and have not even started. Unlikely to work on this for a bit.

8.) My coworker and his wife are having a much anticipated first baby and I need to make them a little quilt before the shower on May 4th. Pulled fabric.

9.) May is my month for Make it Modern. I need to demo the block for the group before May. Unlikely to work on this for a bit.

That's enough right? Oh, btw, I am going out of town for 10 days starting next Monday. Mwhahaha. I may have to let some things go my friends.

Final note. I am going to the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild meeting this Sunday. At least, I am going to try. Schedule cleared. I am building up my courage.... (I am pretty shy in real life).

Magical Weekend at Home! Embroidery!

After nine days in Atlanta, I am finally home. Woot!

Coming home after a work trip always feels like a party. My husband usually has one of my favorite beers and a special dinner waiting for me. The cat runs circles around the house (I think of this as a greeting of sorts). Our bed seems extra comfy. 

This time it was extra awesome to come home because I had happy fabric mail waiting for me!

This is (from right to left) Heather Ross's Playing with Horses and Nursery Versery, two Liberty Lifestyle Bloomsburry Collection prints (don't ask me which prints...), and oh deer by MoMo for Moda. These may have been my black friday splurges. Can you believe those Heather Ross prints were on sale?

I also got some more Kona grays. Lately I have been using gray for everything... My stash was really looking depleted. I feel like gray really allows bright colors to pop without showing the dirt like white. This is great for babies and purses... Lately, I have been finding myself using more and more solids. I have aspirations of making an entirely solid quilt top soonish (After Christmas for sure though). 

Speaking of Christmas, has everybody else been buried under present making this year? I sort of over committed myself to handmade presents and I have been going a bit nuts.  Speaking of me going nuts...  um, normally I sew way more quilts. All of my little embroidery projects, pouches, purses, etc. are totally a product of the Christmas season. I miss you quilts! I will come back to you soon! I promise!

I finished this embroidery project in Atlanta and got it mounted and pretty today! I am not going to talk about the line at A.C. Moore to get the canvas. I am still traumatized.

It is even stamped on the back. Right on.

This is for our friend Julie to put next to her desk while she works on her dissertation (I do not think Julie reads this blog, if you are reading this Julie, sorry). I hope it makes her smile (and she does not feel like she has to hide it from polite company).

It has to travel to Germany now, so travel like the wind cheeky embroidery!