Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

another wiksten tova top

Monday, February 13, 2012 Posted in clothing

I absolutely love my flannel tova and have wanted to make another long sleeve version.  It also just so happens to be the perfect top for holding babies, since it’s snuggly soft and has no buttons or anything else to bother little faces.  This one came together just as easily as the rest!  To turn it into a long sleeve top I simply extended the sleeves straight down and excluded the cuff.  Next time I might try to shape them a little so they’re a big narrower at the wrist, but we’ll see.   I was too lazy to bring back the shoulder sizing on this one, but I swear I’m doing it next time (I’d increased the shoulder width by just a little too much with my original alteration but am too lazy to fix it on my pattern).  Please ignore my dirty mirror.  I’m sorry to say I actually cleaned it before taking this photo, too.  Just keepin’ it real over here I guess!  😛

Will gave me the best compliment on it when I asked him “do you like this shirt that I made while you were at school?”  “Oh!” he answered “I didn’t know you made it–I thought you bought it!”  Well played, young man, well played.

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beth lehman - lovely! i’ve only made one (my sizing was off) so i need to try again!

nicke - i love it, it looks great! and honestly, what an awesome compliment! 🙂

Monday, February 6, 2012 Posted in Uncategorized

You’re stoppable, Eloise! You can be stopped!

Will to Ellie, while they play jousted.

Ruby Patchwork- my first quilt finish of 2012!

Friday, February 3, 2012 Posted in quilts

Usually by the time I finish a quilt I have gotten my fill of that particular fabric line.  But I am still head over heels for Ruby!  I had a request for more ‘soft quilts’ after the fleece backed Halloween quilt came out in October, and I knew just what to do.  A charm patchwork quilt with one of the coordinating flannel prints on the back!

My Nana was visiting us this week, and she helped me sew on binding.  I’ve been joking about it because we watched The Bachelor while we worked, and you’d think that that would be the novel activity for my 88 year old grandma.  But no–watching The Bachelor is a normal Monday night activity for her…it’s quilting that isn’t!  It was so special to have her sew this with me, and with two pairs of hands we knocked it out in two nights!  Since I don’t have an extra thimble, though, I felt like a bit of a sweatshop owner…I need to remember to pick up an extra thimble for when I put my guests to work!

 We finished it the night before she left so I hurriedly washed and dried it so she could see it in all its crinkly glory before flying out!

Ooooh I absolutely adore a soft crinkly stippled patchwork quilt!

Ellie decided to wake up at 4am on this cold snowy morning, school is cancelled, and Nic’s attempt #1 to drive into work was thwarted by too deep snow, so this one is on the sofa this morning as we all snuggle beneath the flannel!

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Katie - I love Ruby! Your Nana looks pretty happy to be sitting there helping you work in the quilt 🙂

Leslie - I have a Ruby jelly roll I plan on working with today! I live in Monument. It is definately snowing up here today. The kiddos are happy!

Alli - Oh my goodness, if I had a quilt my grandma helped me finish, it would be my favorite quilt in the WORLD. Yay for your beautiful quilt! 🙂

Margery Daw - I really love the colours and patterns of the fabric. Maybe I will use it for my next quilt. It looks like we are due to have a little snow tomorrow over here in England, so the quilts will comig out!

Deb - Beautiful grandma, beautiful quilt! I’m glad your quilt is being put to good use so soon! How many charm packs/ charms did you use?

Sew Create It - Jane - Gorgeous quilt and even more special that you’ve had your Grandma help with the binding…what a treat.

Gorgeous photos too…your Gran looks fabulous in those pictures :o)

Sandra in WA - What is it about snow days that brings out the quilter in all of us? 3 weeks ago the PNW and Seattle area was covered in snow and ice. We were snowbound for 5 days, but thankfully our power never went out. I started and completed a quilt in 4 of those days. On the 5th day, it was cold and sunny, so my quilt got to pose for photos laying on the 9 inches of clean white snow and ice in the yard.

I made the “Jelly Roll Race” pattern, but cut my own 2.5 inch strips from random novelty prints in my stash. It looks marvelous!

debby - Holy Hannah!! The quilt is so pretty, I think I might have that fabric in my stash, I am sooo going to make this quilt. Your Grandmother looks way younger than her age!! How fun to be able to share this special quilt with her.

Susanne - so pretty!! It’ll be a classic for sure!!!

Audrey - It is beautiful! I love that line of fabric, too, and it was so sweet of your grandmother to help you finish!

Lori Ferguson - Your colors are gorgeous. I think your work is exceptional…especially for your first time. Please keep posting your beautiful results. Thank you for sharing.

Traci Denton - I absolute LOVE this quilt! Do you know the name of the fabric you used for the backing? (That light blue one)? I love the look of yours but don’t have an eye for colors so I was hoping to just find the one you used. 🙂

black tie cowgirl

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Posted in quilts, WIPs

I’ve had a week of completing the ‘should’ stuff–Ellie’s quiet book, cleaning, laundry, errands, starting my latest class–and I’m running out of steam.  After I cleaned up the mess from Ellie’s quiet book I thought I’d take a few minutes and test out my planned layout for my first new quilt of the year–a bow tie quilt from the Urban Cowgirl line.  I don’t normally name my quilts anything other than calling them by their fabric line or block pattern, but this one, a bow tie urban cowgirl quilt, just had to become my Black Tie Cowgirl.

The inspiration is from this quilt from Red Pepper quilts.  I absolutely adore it, and my first thought was to follow suit and do two solids (a cream and a deep pink) but I started feeling like I’d something more blendy (I like blendy busy quilts).  I was feeling good about that decision until about 30 seconds ago when I linked up that bow tie quilt and now I’m second guessing myself.  😛  That’s the problem with working with fabric you’re absolutely head over heels for.  Picking a pattern and layout are terrifying because you don’t want to let down your fabric stack!!!

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Jessica - I like your version! I don’t normally like blendy busy quilts, but I like what you did. 🙂

nicke - oh i love this so much! i love urban cowgirl, so pretty and feminine.

Dolores - So far I like your version. I don’t like the version with two solids, I’m half-way through making a bow tie quilt with 1 solid.

Sherry - I LOVE this fabric line! I just bought a charm pack so I could have the whole line. I am also trying to figure out what to make. None of my ideas seem right for the fabric. I do love your bow tie look!

Jacey - I’m so into this line. I have some marinating in the stash, and I agree; it’s hard to find the right design for a fabric you adore!

Becky - Hi Traci! I wanted to let you know that I’ve passed a Liebster Award your way:) Congrats!
http://belle-n-bee.blogspot.com/2012/01/liebster-award.html

ellie’s birthday present!

Monday, January 23, 2012 Posted in kids, quiet book

The problem with kids whose birthdays are right after Christmas is that you can always lolligag on a project that was intended to be for Christmas and use it for their birthday instead.  That’s what happened to this Quiet Book (yep–I’m the worst sew along leader ever.  To the two people who said they would participate–I suck and I’m sorry!)

Anyway, it’s done.  And my feelings about it were all over the map.  At first I loved it.  I had high hopes for it.  It was going to be the best ever.  It was going to have the crap pinned out of it.  We’re talking amazing details, great interactive sections, Creativity-a-go-go.  And then the pages started turing out pretty blah.  Or even blech.  And it turns out that sewing snaps is absolutely NOT something I’m willing to do 18 times (cough–tic-tac-toe page that was intended to be snaps but is now held together by the power of felt and gravity–cough).   And then it became something I hated, but was hell bent on finishing at any cost.

When it came time for the cover, I decided to rally.  To do something special, creative, and pretty.  And I am so glad I did.  Because now when I look at it I don’t see the uneven page borders or inner binding that was an inch too short or the awful crooked stitching holding it in place…I just see that pretty cover.  And with it I am well pleased.

So, without further ado, and finished with six days to spare…we have Ellie’s birthday present:

For the pages, many are based on ideas I saw online, though some are my own creations.  I’m particularly proud of the Rapunzel page, which came to me after many days of pondering how to incorporate a bow page without having to figure out how to set grommets for the popular shoe activity book page.  And then it hit me–use Ellie’s favorite movie Tangled as the inspiration!  I also like that this can be used when she’s older as a learning-how-to-braid activity, too (the ribbon is sewn onto the page so it doesn’t get lost).  The camera page (which I’ve used as a title page) came to me as an obvious must since Nic and I are wedding photographers!  I printed a recent family photo onto ink jet printer fabric.  The tent idea is also a favorite, but I wish I’d made the sleeping bag interactive.  When I showed that page to Ellie (I showed a lot of the pages to Ellie as I was working on them) she kept trying to make the pillow move.  I wish I’d made a little camper and a moveable pillow and sleeping bag that opened to store him in.  For now the purse holds the Xs and Os, but it will hold crayons and paper, too.

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Julia - Traci, this is just incredible! A fun play book now, but a keepsake for a lifetime!

erica - Traci – you are incredible! *I* want a book like this, lol…I could use some quiet contemplative time. I love all the pages but especially the tent. So good.

beth lehman - adorable!! way to go. that takes some dedication!

Heather - This is freaking unbelievable!! I will hang up on you if you ever tell me on the phone about anything that is wrong with it! It is beautiful and thoughtful and personalized exactly for Miss Ellie… the only thing I don’t understand is how she can possibly be two years old already! With love and amazement, Heather

Amanda - Great finish, glad you completed it! Liz’s is still just the backgrounds 🙂 so I didn’t get very far – my modivation for it dwindled also! I have till mid-March to get it done her birthday! [and I really would like to…]

Jolene - Wow wow just WOW! You set the bar incredibly high for yourself! (although I know all about hating your own stuff while your making it and then eventually you forget about those feelings and learn to like it)

But this little book is absolutely amazing! That tent is incredibly cute, and I’d like to make one of these books just so I could have a tent like that! and yes the Rapunzel braid is genius too!

Jennifer G - Well I think it turned out pretty ding-dang perfect if you ask me… AND it’s something she will cherish and keep FOREVER. Be proud! It’s a fantastic accomplishment to complete a project when you have kids and a family to look after ;o) I can relate to the emotional roller coaster of needing to finish a project you lost steam on, too.

Kristie at OCD - Wow. Wow! Such amazing details, and the cover is the cutest thing ever!

Alli - The cover is adorable! I think your quiet book is wonderful! I especially like the zippered tent flaps and the handles to carry the book. 🙂

Colleen S - I am so loving this. And you have inspired me to make my own!! Thank you. Would you mind sharing the size of your pages and how you assembled each individual page? I would so appreciate it. If you don’t want to do a whole post on it I understand maybe you could drop me an e-mail. Thanks and I seriously LOVE it!!!

Susie at ProsperityStuff - This. Is. Adorable. Love it! Nice work, very creative, and soooo cute!

Bruna - Hi! This book looks fantastic! I love each detail and the cover is so so cute 🙂

Kim - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! So beautiful and the cover is perfect!

I’m still working on my quiet book that was supposed to be a Christmas present… but my little one’s 3rd birthday is at the end of April, so I still have some time 🙂 haha.

Amie - I LOVE this! I’m contemplating a quiet book at the moment, trying to decide what materials I want to use. I love how you layered your pages. I’m new to sewing, but want to work those skills on this project. What material did you use for the foundation? It looks like a linen or a muslin maybe?

This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing! And thanks even more for your honesty about the process!! Makes me feel normal!! 🙂

Bekah - I love it! I’m wanting to make some for the children I babysit, I’m thinking of incorporating a matching game. Love your ideas!

Emmaline - This is incredible, Traci!! I am currently creating my own ‘Quiet Book’ for a Visual Communication and Design project, so I know first-hand how much work went into this!! Ellie’s book has given me so much inspiration, but one regret. I WISH I had seen this before I started on my own. Mine is made of plain old felt… now seeing this, I WISH I did it in gorgeous materials like you have!! ESPECIALLY love the front cover!! Amazingly crafted 🙂 Do you mind if I include some of these photo’s in my research folio?
GREAT JOB!!

teresafreeman - Love your book,stealing ideas! My granddaughter is Ellie Jayne and I wanted this for a Christmas present but it is going to end up for her Feb. birthday. Thanks for sharing,my favorite is the cover and the camera! Awesome!