Soooo Exciting!

I just heard from my dad and he is bringing my new-to-me sewing machine to me this weekend!  And tomorrow is the first of the month which means new BOMs will be coming out!  I can't wait to get started on them!

I also received my prize from the How Far Will You Go QAL. Thanks so much to Jess at Scrappy n' Happy for pulling fabrics from her own stash to send to me!!!

 

Squeak had his first play date with his little girlfriend, J.  She's a cutie and although they didn't actually play together very much, they seemed to get along pretty well.  She did hit him once when she got a little excited and he did actually steal food out of her mouth (gonna have to teach him how to treat a woman!) but he had no problem sharing his space or toys and we're looking forward to next time!

January Round Up

My too do list is still massive but after making this collage I can say that I did accomplish quite a bit this month even if very few are finished projects. 

 

And I have managed to cut all of the fabric for my swaps, the background for my Scrappy Swoon Quilt, and some of the fabrics for my Isosceles Triangle Quilt and Dancing Stars Quilt.

 

Let's see if I can do even better next month!

Quilting For A Cause

I wanted to share a little bit of information and a photo from the blog of a girl in our local Modern Quilt Guild.  Since I joined this wonderful group too late to be of any help with the actual sewing of the quilt, the least I can do is help them promote!

This quilt is absolutely beautiful and a lot of hard work went into it.

 

You can be entered into the drawing by donating as little as $10 to one of two charities.  For more details please click on the picture above.

A Lot Going on!

A lot has been happening lately.  First, unfortunate circumstances led to me taking a vacation day yesterday, which led to a few finished projects (yay!).  Squeak had his first BIG baby go boom (yes, this IS what we say when he falls).  Lets just say there was blood involved but no trip to the ER was necessary.  Scared both of us pretty bad though :(. 

Let's start with Friday:

Friday Night Sew In was a much needed chance to get caught up on a few things.  At the end of the night I had no new finished projects but there was definite progress.

 

A pile of trimmed paper pieced sections ready to be sewed together.

 

My Madrona Road Mini, which now has the binding machine sewed onto the front and is just waiting to be hand finished.

 

My newest paper pieced pattern (I modified the pattern after making this block) that has now been quilted and turned into a nearly completed project.  Just needs the binding to be hand sewed on.

Sunday I was able to work on my Super Penguin Blocks that I've been redoing.  Again I must say I am so much happier with this set.

 

Again I must say I am so much happier with this set.

 

A few new Dancing Stars blocks.

 

Another Sea of Stars block.

 

And fabric, beautiful fabric. I took a break yesterday and went to my LQS.

 

A new Riley Blake line featuring the cutest owls!  I am in the process of cutting the Monsterz fabric to make Squeak a quilt but I may have to make another one using these.  And Washi---I have heard soooo much about it and finally saw it in person.  I only picked up 1/8 yard cuts of all of these so there will be lots of solids mixed in or lots of small projects.

 

And look!  I probably would have bought the fabrics just to have these!

 

A few fabrics for new earbud pouches.  I noticed that my shop is looking pretty neglected and that I have run out of the fabric for my most popular items so it's time to restock.  I thought these little owls would be perfect and who doesn't love a little Flea Market Fancy and Simply Color?!

 

This was waiting for me when I got home.  I signed up for Pink Castle's Monthly Club-Charming Solids.  Every month you get two charm packs and 6 coordinating fat eights.  How awesome is that?!

 

I threw together a few Triple Zip Pouches for the Sew Along that is happening.  I have several more that I have already cut and will be putting together throughout the week.

 

Linking up to Let's Get Acquainted, BOMs Away Monday, Sunday Stash, Friday Night Sew In, and Free Motion by the River :)

New Pattern

My newest pattern in the On the Road series has been tested and is now available in my Craftsy shop.

 

I also had time to redo the first three blocks of my Super Penguin Quilt---much better!!!

 

 

I have two complete blocks done for the Dancing With Stars Quilt.

 

The January Block of the Riley Blake Mystery BOM.  I have to admit I was on the fence about whether or not to join in on this one.  And I wasn't too excited about my fabric choices either.  I bought them at a great price from Etsy quite awhile back but hadn't found the right project for them.  Since I'm trying to work from my stash I pulled them out and got to work.  I am LOVING the way this block looks!  If the others come out looking as good as this one, it may make a great quilt for a baby girl.

 

I picked up the rest of my Madrona Road fabrics for the challenge.  I couldn't find any solids that I liked so I picked up the Sprouts in Graphite and Haystack in Brown and Farmstead in Robins Egg for the backing.  It will have a scrappy binding to finish it off.  It is now all sewed together and ready for quilting.

 

I am always reading on people's blogs about how terrible JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, and Hancock's are.  I have to say that I disagree.  I picked up 25 fat quarters of Denise Schmidt fabrics from various lines for less than $40 this weekend.  And 15 yards of the warm and natural batting (90" wide) for less than $80.  JoAnn's also carries Kona solids, Alexander Henry, and Legacy Studios.  And I have gotten a great deal on some Alexander Henry fabrics at Hobby Lobby.  I can't say that I actually shop at Hancock's much so I'm not sure what they have :).  I am not a paid representative for any of these stores, I just think they may have gotten a bad rap because of the quality of the fabrics that they have carried in the past but I will continue to shop at these stores buying designer and non-designer (blenders basically) fabrics at a wonderful discount.

 

Linking up to BOMS Away Monday and Let's Get Acquainted.

 

Prep Work

I moved my cutting board and stack of to be cut fabrics into the dining room last night in hopes of actually getting something accomplished.  Squeak cooperated and played in his little area while I sat at the table and chopped away :)  I guess that since he could still see me he was okay with the arrangement.

The first stack of fabric I tackled was my Madrona Road bundle.  I was given the bundle of fabrics at the OKC MQG meeting that I attended Monday (on a side note--really nice ladies and I look forward to spending more time with crafty people!) for the Madrona Road Mini Quilt Challenge.  From what I understand you can make any mini quilt that you like as long as you use the provided fabrics and solids, if you want/need to. 

I was only going to use the provided fabrics to use make a baby size version of In Color Order's Arithmetic Quilt but somehow I didn't have enough fabric. 

Her pattern calls for 7 fat quarters (which is exactly what I had) but I still have blanks to be filled in.  And the fat quarters weren't exactly straight so I had to use 4" squares instead of the 4.5" ones that the pattern calls for.

 

Oh well, off to the LQS I go.  I think there definitely needs to be more definition between the colors so I will be picking up some Sprout Graphite, a couple of solids, and a little bit more of some of the fabrics I already have as well as Farmstead in Robin Egg Blue for the backing.

I also managed to cut all of the print squares for the Dancing Stars QAL.  I still need to pick up the background fabric and get that cut but that will have to wait.  I'm thrilled that I still have most of my Noteworthy layer cake after cutting all of this.  I'm thinking a dark (maybe even charcoal gray background would make the fun colors really pop...what do you think?

I started cutting the strips for the Scrappy Tripalong Fabric Swap.  I decided to dig into my Amy Butler stash.  I have several different prints (I think I counted 32?) but they are from all different lines and I haven't found a use for them yet.  And by only cutting off a 2.5" strip from each fabric I will still have PLENTY left over for future projects AND I won't have to buy any fabric (yay!).  I didn't make it very far in my cutting though since Squeak decided he had had enough.  Maybe tonight :)


Linking up to Really Random Thursday.

How Far Will You Go?

All the way apparently! It's finally finished.

 

I had a little bit of trouble finishing up the binding.  I'm sure you can see why...

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that she likes the quilt :)

 

 

It was hard to get a good photo of this especially since it was night and our house has TERRIBLE lighting even in the day.  I had to stand on a chair try and get the whole quilt in the picture.  Next time my MIL is over I might have her help me get some better ones.

 

 

The back.

 

 

And the next Evil Knievil :)

 

Linking up to The Elven Garden.

What a Weekend!

I got some unexpected mail on Saturday...Francine is back home! And she brought presents!

 

April at Sew to Speak sent a few goodies back with my little fox softie that I entered into her competition.  Francine didn't win but I still got come cute fabric, a neat pattern and even some ribbon that I can put to use!

And I FINALLY got started on my Sea of Stars Quilt.  I'm not sure where the Quilt Along is at but I do know that I'm way behind.  This quilt is supposed to be a present and needs to be finished pretty quick!  And why did I not realize how much difference pressing seams open can make?!?!  My blocks look so much better now.  You can tell that the one "light" block that I've done (top, right corner) does not have the seams pressed open and all of the others do.  I also plan on using the quilt as you go method since I haven't gotten my vintage singer yet.

 

I had another chance to test a paper pieced pattern for Kristy at Quiet Play.  As usual, the pattern is great (although I did goof it up a little.  I swapped the two middle leg pieces, whoops!)  Not sure what I'm going to make with it yet but I'll come up with something :)

 

And a few Triple Zip Pouches.  For some reason I had a really hard time with the directions on this pattern.  I'm pretty sure it was me and not the actual pattern...either way they turned out really cute!  I'm still trying to figure out the correct sizes to cut the main exterior piece if it is a directional fabric.  I tried on the little crab pouch and the seam is about 1/2 an inch toward the back.  I have plans to make many, many more of these, especially since there is a Triple Zip Along starting soon!

 

I'm planning on attending my first meeting at the Oklahoma City Modern Quilt Guild tonight.  Let's just hope my anxiety doesn't get the best of me.  If almost feels like kindergarten again...will they like me?, will they think my sewing skills are sub par?, etc.  Does anyone else suffer from terrible social anxiety?  If so, how do you calm yourself?

 

I'm linking up at BOMs Away Monday and Let's Get Acquainted.

Happy Dance!

I'm not usually the kind of person that gets overly excited about things but I think I may have actually done a little dance yesterday when I saw that my package from Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy.  So many beautiful fabrics!

 

I cannot wait to find the perfect project and dig into them!

 

And while we're on the subject of Don't Call Me Betsy, I thought it would be a good time to show you the progress I've made on my first block for the Sea of Stars QAL. 

 

 

 I have fallen desperately behind and now the deadline for my quilt is coming up.  It is going to be a gift this spring so it really needs some attention.  It doesn't help that I am making it extremely complicated by using 2 pinks, 3 blues, and 4 browns to make the stars.  And of course I do not want any two stars to be the same so I had to sit and figure out the combos and layout that I wanted and now I have to cut each block as I go so that I don't confuse myself too bad...but I think the finished quilt will be worth the it.  And I happen to know that the person it is going to LOVES homemade items and can really appreciate the love and effort put into them.

 

And I couldn't resist sharing this photo :)

 

Better Late Than Never

I forgot to take a photo of my completed Rooster Project so here is a shot from Christmas.

 

And a close up.

 

I think she liked it :)

Linking up to Really Random Thursday Friday.

WIPs: UFO Priorities

I don't know if I've ever mentioned before that I am VERY new to quilting.  I only started quilting after I started my blog and started following a lot of other wonderful ladies (and a couple of guys) and saw their amazing creations.  My focus had always been on purses and accessories with a few kids things and random things thrown in. 

 

Once I discovered the wonders of quilting everything else got put on the back burner.  BUT since I am in the process of signing up for the craft shows that I want to participate in this year, its time to get back to the business end of things :(.  I will still be working on my quilts, but they will not be my priority.

 

I had previously cut a LOT of earbud pouches and keyring clutches with the intention of getting them ready and listing them in my Etsy shop.  Somehow they got put into the closet and forgotten about.  With everyone posting about UFOs the last couple of weeks I decided to dig them out.

 

BTW, is anyone else having problems uploading photos?!

 

This is my stack of precut projects earbud pouches and keyring clutches.  The first step is to order zippers...yay shopping!  (Yes, I even get excited about shopping for zippers.)  There are several other purse that I have already cut but those will have to wait...

 

Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

January BOMs

 I'm happy to report that I am caught up on my January BOMs. There are a couple more that I'm contemplating signing up for but I haven't made up my mind just yet.

First is the And Sew On BOM:

 

Such a cute block!  I will admit that I took the easy way out and drew the lines on my ruler with a fabric marker instead of embroidering them on...what can I say, I was in a hurry to get to the next block :)

 

Super Penguin QAL: 

 

 

This block is actually from last year but it is from the latest set that has been released.  I WOULD be caught up on this QAL now if it wasn't for the fact that I have decided that although I like my blocks individually, I HATE them together.  Therefore, I will be starting over using a white background on all blocks to make it have at least a somewhat unified look. 

 

Sugar Club BOM:

 

I'm digging into my Denise Schmidt stash for this one (gulp!)  I'm extremely happy with the way it came out and cannot wait for next month's pattern!

 

Lucky Stars BOM:

 

I have decided on this BOM I will be using black and gray as my background fabrics- alternating every other block.  When using black as the background I will use gray and one other color and when using gray as the background I will use black and one other color in the design (hopefully that makes sense).  Again, I'm really happy with this block!

 

Threadbias Pretty in Patchwork Holidays Sew Along: 

 

January's project is the cute little paper pieced polar bear.  I did make a smaller version of him along with is little penguin friends as a wall hanging to give to my dad for Christmas but this one is for my family.  The first Christmas item I have been able to make for our family-better late than never :)  I did change up the back and made it an envelope back instead of one with a zip closure.  The back is red with light green polka dots--LOVE IT!

 

 

OKC Modern Quilt Guild BOM:

 

 

These are the fabrics that I chose to use.  I did finish this block but the lighting was bad so the picture will have to wait.

 

Frosted Pumpkin Woodland Sampler:

 

 

Almost done!  Soooo cute!

 

Frosted Pumpkin Winter Wonderland Sampler:

 

 

Not much progress on this.  I'm kind of working on it in my spare time since there's nearly 11 months before it needs to be done.

 

And I finally got my fabrics from The Connecting Thread.  I went a little crazy with their end of year clearance.  The bottom left shows all of the fabrics together and the other pictures have them broken down into categories/collections - clockwise from top left:

 

Manly fabrics (brother approved) :P, Parlor Pets, Bookish, Soaked, nautical fabrics, and the whole order.

 

 

And I am extremely proud that I went to JoAnn's and came out with exactly what I needed, no more, no less.  I now have the white for the background of the new Super Penguin blocks, the black fabric for the backing of the Pervalong Wall Hanging (yes, I have finally decided !!!), the binding for the How Far Will You Go Quilt, the binding for the Pervalong, and some super cute fabric for a pair of pj pants for Squeak :)

 

 

Linking up to Let's Get Acquainted and BOMs Away Monday.