Zig Zag

Well Christmas is over now and we're back home for a couple days of rest before we jet out to Long Beach. We spent Christmas with my husband's family up in Plano and even got a bonus white Christmas!  Who knew that you could have a white Christmas in  TX?  We had lots of great food, and exchanged a LOT of presents.  One of my favorites was the new enameled cast iron dutch oven I got - can't wait test it out.  My favorite gift to give was this quilt I made for my sister-in-law:

Here's the backside of the quilt:

So, all in all, it was another great Christmas.  I've got a couple of days to do some sewing before we head out to spend time with my husband's family in Long Beach.  Can't wait!

This Just In

That's right, I have official business cards now! And, the best part is that they were free (except for shipping).  After receiving these cards, I noticed that the font size was really tiny so I called them up and asked for a reprint with a larger font - they agreed and charged me nothing!  So, I should receive them sometime this week.  I'm going to use these as a tag on all my items as well and will put the washing instructions on the back side.  Much more professional than the pieces of paper I'm using now!

On the sewing front, I've been busy working on a few projects...I just finished up a special mystery project that can't be revealed until later this week (hint hint).  And, I've got a few baby blankets I need to get moving on since we'll be on vacation for the next couple of weeks.  Can't wait to spend time relaxing with family! We'll be up in the Plano area for Christmas and then fly out to Long Beach, CA to spend New Years.  With all that going on, I won't be getting much sewing done, so I'm getting a head start now.  I'll post some pics when I get a chance!

Back and Running

I'm back from my wonderful trip to Chicago.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and spent quality time with some of my closest and oldest friends.  I spent the first part of the week with my friends Cassie & Toby and got to meet my new "niece", baby Stella.  I also spent a few days with my friends Jeanne & Doug in their new swanky urban condo right in the heart of downtown Chicago.  Although I had planned on spending my vacation sewing-free, my sewing expertise was called into use as I helped Cassie make a few awesome recycled sweater stockings for her familiy.  While I was at it, I couldn't resist making a few extra booties for Stella and her friend Caleb:

My sewing nerdiness has been increasing each month since I started jslik designs....I think I reached a new level this week not just by sewing on vacation, but when my friend broke her machine's needle, I proceeded to produce a sewing machine needle from my purse....yes apparently I do carry around spare sewing machine needles in my purse.....and a tape measure.

As promised, here are some pictures of my latest blanket - a masterpiece!  I have to give credit to my friend Eddie for commissioning it and going fabric shopping with me.  We spent an hour or so combing through the fabric shop and finally came up with this:

Well it's gonna be a busy busy week for me! I've got a big project to finish up and it's gonna take me the better part of the week.  Plus, I've got to do my Christmas shopping...I've gone shopping TWICE now and managed to get nothing for anyone on my list except for myself! Whoops....:-P

Magic Pants

It's been quite a busy week as I've been trying to wrap up a few sewing projects in preparation for my trip to Chicago.  Earlier in the week, I accompanied my husband to Victoria (TX that is) and planned on spending my time in the hotel sewing, but unfortunately after packing up my entire sewing room and machine, I neglected to bring the power cord/foot pedal for the machine.....not one of my brighter moments...  After a few attempts at hand-crank sewing I gave up and spent my time watching Law & Order marathons instead.  So, that left me with a few short days to finish my projects. 

I'm excited to go to Chicago to visit my best friend and her 3 kids.  I decided to make what I have named "Magic Pants" for the two older girls.  They are "Magic Pants" because they're rolled and hemmed at three different lengths.  So, as the girls grow, you can take out the outermost seam and roll down the hem to make the pants longer.  Since I've pre-hemmed the pants at each length, you don't need to do any sewing, just rip out the seams and the pants unfold to a longer length. 

My best friend also just gave birth to a little girl 2 months ago.  I thought about making the baby some "Magic Pants", but decided flannel was not a good material for babies as it can't stretch to accomodate bulging diapers.  So, I decided to make a pillowcase dress instead.

Whew, got everything finished up just in time :-)  Well I'll be gone for a week, but I've got an awesome blanket to post about when I get back!

Thanksgiving Recap

Just sitting and chilling with the in-laws, working off the food coma from a wonderful weekend of gorging.  We had Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixin's and then some followed by a dessert spread of all sorts of pies and cakes.  Played some espn worthy rounds of six cubes...relaxed in the mornings on the porch....and spent the weekend listening to the constant snore of Beau the bulldog (regardless of whether he was awake or not).   But, after all that eating....this was how we all felt:

I actually ventured out on Black Friday....to the fabric shop.  Yes, I know, I'm turning into a real fabric nerd.   But Joann's had all their flannel on sale for 1.49 a yard.  In the end, I only did a little bit of damage....spent 26.94....saved 83.80!  Awesome.  I don't usually use fabric from Joann's for my products, but I'll be using this flannel to make som pj bottoms as Christmas gifts.  I just couldn't resist the sales....apparently, neither could hundreds of other women.  Joann's was a madhouse! But, I got out without a scratch and with this fat bundle of fabrics:

On the jslik designs front, finished a set of blankets this week!  They're for a set of twins.  I used the "Oh Boy" collection from Lakehouse Dry Goods again - I love this line!

Well that's it for now!  Going out to dinner with the family....trying the new Grimaldi's in The Woodlands.  I'm hoping that it's as good as the NYC pizza that I long for back home....we'll see :-)

Thankful

Today I'll start my Thanksgiving preparations....this is the first year we're hosting at our house, so the whole family is coming tonight.  I'm very excited.  My mother-in-law and I are doing a tag team effort so that both of us can enjoy a manageable amount of cooking.  Looks like the weather will be nice and cool (maybe I can even bust out a sweater!).

This year, I'm thankful for alot of things. My family, my friends, and my husband especially.  I'm thankful that I am able to stay home and start up my own business.  Despite it's small size and income potential, it really gives me a sense of accomplishment.  There's nothing quite like the feeling of enjoying something you've created.  So thanks everyone for helping me grow this business!

Speaking of growing, a friend of mine asked me to do a pillowcase dress and matching booties for her niece. After some research online and alot of measuring, this is what I came up with:

I might just have to start designing some baby apparel now!

Well, that's all for now, time to get started on my  Thanksgiving preparations.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Quilt Challenge Part II

It's a cold (when I say cold, I'm thinking 60 degrees....) evening in Houston and I've got a steaming crock of jambalaya in the slow cooker.  Mmmmm.......  Since I am no longer dog-sitting, I've been able to sew more and knock a few more items off my list.  And now, I'm unveiling the results of the Quilt Challenge!  To jog your memory, I started with this: 

 

The first blanket was for this special boy:

The second blanket is for his precious little sister:

 

With all traces of the scary woman removed, the fabrics actually made some nice blankets.  When I asked the little guy if he liked his blanket, he said "It's precious!"  That's pretty deep for a 3 year old!  To wrap it up, I leave you with the picture of the week:

Getting in the Spirit

I managed to finish one blanket this week so far, still working on a couple of others, but it seems that sometimes I always underestimate how long it will take to finish.  Time flies when I sew!

If you know me, you'll know that I love photography almost as much as I love sewing.  I got a chance to practice my skills at little photo shoot for some family friends for their Christmas photos.  It was a perfect day in Old Town Spring and with two cute kids, we really had a fun time.  Although, I do have to say, it can be tough getting good pictures of squirmy active kids!  Here's a peek at my favorites:

The Queue

Somehow, I've amassed a small queue of projects...I was putting off the blanket in my last post because I was dreading the applique, but now that I've gotten over that bump, I've got a few blanket orders and even an order for a dress.  I've got my work cut out for me this week!

I went shopping with my friend Eddie, who is commissioning a blanket for a friend.  I introduced Eddie to the fabulous world of fabrics at High Fashion Fabrics in downtown Houston.  It was fabric heaven!  After alot of searching and brainstorming, we came up with a fantastic design idea.  This time, I'm not leaking out any clues about the design, but I think if all goes well, it might be the coolest blanket yet!  Here's a peek at the fabrics:

Also, a friend of mine is asking me to make a pillowcase dress and matching shoes for her niece.  Here are the beautiful fabrics for that dress:

Conquering the Machine Applique Monster

::edit:: You might have noticed that I posted this post and then removed it and am now re-posting it.  Well, note to self, make sure to wait until after the blanket is given as a gift before posting it.  Don't want be the one to spoil the secrecy of a gift!

This week, it's just me and the dog again as my husband's out of town.  I've got a few orders lined up so I've been pretty busy sewing away.  I've been working hard on conquering the skill of machine applique.  This blanket sat on my sewing desk for a long time simply because I was waiting for some motivation to try and machine applique the letters on.  The thing about machine applique is that you only have one shot to get it right - you can't start and stop in the middle of a letter.  So if you get all the way to the very end and make a mistake, you have to take it out and start from scratch.  I've had some frustrating experiences with some trial appliques, and had been using hand applique for awhile.  The problem with hand applique is that it is very time intensive.  So, I was pushing it off till the last minute, but I needed to finish it today so I finally tackled the blanket.  I think it turned out pretty well and I'm very proud of it!

I had some left over fabric and decided to make a few extra gifts for my friend:

On the dog-sitting front, things have been getting better.  Last week was rough and the dog was very close to being banished from my house for "leaving her mark" several times on my brand new carpets.  In the last incident, we caught her in the act and gave her a good scolding....I think she got the point.  So, she's been on her best behavior the past few days.  Hopefully that will stay until her owners come to pick her up!  Thought you all might like to see a pic - she's really cute, but she sure has some attitude!

Getting Creative

This week I've been home dog sitting while my husband's been away on business.  So I've been able to spend some time sewing, although not as much as I'd like since I've got to spend time with the dog and keep her happy as well.  I've never been a really big dog person, but my husband is, so I'm working on warming up to the idea of having a dog.  Some days I make some progress....and some days I don't....we're watching the dog for 3 weeks so I've got plenty of time!

In the mean time, I've been working on some new items to sell and have come up with this bib and burp cloth set:

I had made a little blanket out of the doggie print for a friend and decided to go a little further and make a couple of burp cloths and a bib as a gift.  I like making smaller items because they are easier to maneuver and take less time to make.  I really like how they turned out, but it's funny to think that all these will do is catch spit up and spilled food...they're really just personalized designer rags.

I hand embroidered the baby's name on the set.  I've been reading up on hand embroidering and trying to improve my stitching and the variety of stitches I can do.  I really like the way hand embroidery looks.  Maybe one day I will invest in an embroidery machine, but for now, hand embroidery is the cheaper (although more time consuming) alternative.

And to top it all off, I just couldn't resist making these with some scraps of fabric to include in the gift.  They are just too cute!

To make these, I used a pattern from a fellow crafter's site and have made quite a few pairs since.  I can't sell them, but I sure do love making them as gifts for other people.  Perhaps one day I can spend some time developing my own pattern for little shoes and can start selling those.

While the husband's away the wife will....sew

Andy's been out of town for the past few days, so I'm glad I have a few projects to keep me busy.  This past month, I've traveled a couple times with him on business to Victoria, which is about 2.5 hours away.  I just pack up my sewing machine and set up shop at the hotel, it's really quite nice.  However, this time I wasn't able to go because we're dogsitting for some neighbors.  So, to occupy my lonely nights, I've been working on some new things.  I'm still working on my quilts, but sometimes, it's nice to have a little break from a project and work on something new.  I borrowed a bib from a neighbor, made myself a little pattern, and dug up some scraps from prior projects to make this:

It was pretty quick to make once I figured out all the sizing.  I think I might try making some more in different designs and in the future sell them on etsy.  It's a great way to use the smaller fabric scraps that are left over from the blankets.  I'm also working on some burp cloth patterns as well.  We'll see how those turn out!   I like making smaller things because they are quicker and use less fabric, which make them more profitable.  Stay tuned for some more designs!

The Quilt Challenge Part I (and a little bit of naming history)

Lately, many people have been asking me where "jslik" came from. Well, in college, I was dubbed "jLin" by my friends (with Lin being my maiden name).  I think the nickname stemmed from a pair of sunglasses I wore that were JLo worthy.  As I am now married, I can't really go by jLin anymore. So, taking the same naming convention and incorporating my new last name, Sokolik, I am now jslik (pronounced like j-slick). Well, there it is, that's how the name for my new business came about.

Anyway, on to my latest project. This one has been quite interesting. A friend approached me about doing a keepsake quilt for her two young children that would incorporate some fabrics from their father's old baby blanket (which is about 30+ years old and in ragged shape). She had originally asked her mother-in-law to do the blanket and her mother-in-law bought some fabric to add to the blanket, but passed away before she could make anything out of it. So, I was given the challenge to use these fabrics presented before me to make a cute blanket....

Not very inspiring, I thought...not to add that the darker blue fabric had a scary woman staring back at me and vicious coyotes that basically destroyed the "cute" factor I was striving for.  I'm not sure I know any child would want a blanket with that scary woman watching over them.

On top of that, the mother-in-law had already started cutting up ancient baby blanket....but none of us could make out exactly what purpose a couple of half moon shapes and a few shredded strips would have.  Her design ideas were lost to us.

So, this week, I've been working hard on making these quilts and once I'm done I will post the results for all to see....It's gonna be a challenge!  My goal is to create two crib-sized quilts out of these fabrics (with the help of a few extra fabrics).  One will be for a boy and one for a girl....stay tuned to see what happens!

Elephants

I've been working hard this week on a special blanket commissioned by my friend Erica. I found a great line of fabrics called Arcadia by Sanae for Moda fabrics. There were some awesome floral/bird/swirly prints, but we decided to stick with the leaf print since the baby's gender is not determined. To make this blanket extra special, I added a couple of cute elephant appliques. The elephants turned out to be a little more difficult than I thought (well actually alot more difficult) but I always enjoy a challenge. I really like how it turned out.

A few of my favorite things

I thought I'd dedicate this post to some of my past projects. I set up a link to the right where you can click to see My Design Album that has pictures of all of my projects.



This was a blanket I made for some friends whose last name is Bird. Hence, the appliqued birds:





This one I did for Baby Stella. Black and white toile print with a satin ruffle and bow:








Baby Stella, being my first "niece" got spoiled with a quilt in addition to her blanket:





I found this cute airplane fabric by Michael Miller and did a little extra embroidery on the flap:





A Loopy blanket:





A couple of my patchwork designs:







A close up of some of my embroidery work: