Sew Much to Tell You!

It was a whirlwind of a weekend!

It started off with Sew Day with my MQG on Saturday.  Due to poor planning on my part I didn't have nearly as much done by the end of the day as I would have liked.

 

I finished another Triple Zip Pouch.  I would have finished three more but after I started this one I realized I had forgotten to iron on the interfacing before I left the house and it was still sitting at my work table.  I actually think it came out okay with out it.  I may try using fusible woven interfacing on the next one and see what happens...

 

 

Again poor planning got the best of me.  I put together all of my blocks for my Reverse Applique Christmas Tree Pillow for the Threadbias Pretty in Patchwork Sew Along but forgot to print and enlarge my templates.

 

 

I'm doing the Valentine version too!

 

 

I did get my Sugar Club BOM done.  The pieces don't quite line up but if you don't look too closely you won't notice (I hope!).

 

 

And my Lucky Stars BOM is finished.

 

On Sunday my dad made a trip down to see us.  He always comes prepared to do handyman work around the house :).  And as always it was greatly appreciated.  The tv is now mounted on the wall well out of Squeak's reach.

 

 

Squeak though he was helping :).  We've also added risers to the bottoms of the couches to keep him from crawling onto them.

 

Besides bringing his tools, Dad also brought me this lovely new machine.  It came in a beautiful cabinet designed specially for it.

 

 

And all of these disks and feet!  This machine has more features than mine could ever dream of!  And its 50 years old!!!  I will still be using my singer for most of my piecing but this one will come in handy for quilting!  I haven't gotten to play around with it very much but I will definitely be setting some time aside to do just that.  Would you believe the whole package only cost $25?!

 

He also brought me some new shelves for my stash since mine collapsed.  Yes, a bookcase collapsed because the weight of the fabric was too much.  Maybe that should tell me something.  And I hope to soon have my new laminate counter that runs the length of the wall and has tons of storage built into the supports.

 

Then came the Super Bowl Sale at one of the LQSs.  I picked up (clockwise from top left) precuts of Chicopee and Simply Color as well as quarter yard cuts of some Bunny Hill, random stash prints, Type, and Reunion and coordinates.

 

Most of these are just fabrics that I have been admiring for awhile.  But a couple I have plans for.  I purchased the Tea for Two pattern from Blossom Heart Quilts (such a sad story, btw) and it will be the perfect pattern for the Chicopee.  And the Reunion prints will be used to make a travel set for our trip this summer.  I made Anna Maria Horner's Art Student Tote out of these last year and if I can add a Weekender Bag and maybe a Bari J. Duffel along with some small pouches it will be perfect.

 

 I got an e-mail Saturday reminding me that our original block for the 2013 Mystery Round Robin was supposed to be in the mail (whoops!)  So I sat down last night and got to work 

 

 

I have to thank Pink Chalk Fabric for the block.  The fabric was my first month's package of goodies from their Charming Solids Club.  The prints are Kate Spain's Honey Honey and the solid is ______________ (?).  The pattern I used for the block was featured in one of their e-mails earlier this month.

 

And last but not least...

 

I tested out a great heart pattern for Juliette of Tartan Kiwi.  I figured instead of having yet another orphaned block I would try to make a complete project for once.  I put together two of her hearts, designed a LOVE pattern using Quilt Assistant, put them together, quilted them and came out with this!

 

I even love the back!

 

Well that is enough from me for today :P.

 

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

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.