Really Random Thursday

I have to admit that I'm pretty spoiled.  Especially this week.

I came home from work Monday to find this waiting for me in my sewing room.

I sometimes steal the heater out of the bathroom because my room gets cold so now I have my very own.  No more sharing (although I think this actually benefits the Husband as much as it does me)!  And my favorite popcorn.  Wal-Mart has been out of it every time I have looked the 4 months so he bought me a bag when he saw it.

And today at work I got a gift card for Valentine's Day from one of the other assistants.  And she brought cookies! 

The Hubby and I are waiting until this weekend to celebrate but there will be good food involved when it does happen.

No sewing news to report but I have gotten more of my Scrappy Swoon and Isosceles Triangle Quilts cut and I'm ready to get started on them as soon as I have a free minute.

Linking up to Really Random Thursday.

WIP of the Week

Earlier this month when listing what I hoped to accomplish, I threw in my long neglected Pervalong top.  Monday night I actually dragged it out and started working on it.  I will admit that more than once I almost threw it away.  I like the design (even though I put my borders on the wrong sides) and I like my colors but the fabric I used was cheap and you could tell.  It does not lay flat and the mini was definitely not squared up.  It was so badly warped after I ironed it that there was no way it could be basted without puckering on the front.  I minimized it as much as possible and sat down to quilt.  I have been wanting to try something new but since I wasn't enthusiastic about this project I just didn't have it in me.  I started quilting on the outer edge (black) then realized after a couple of inches that I had white thread in the machine. 
 

 

Since I was already at my breaking point I decided to keep going with wavy overlapping lines down the length of the quilt.  The quilting is done -- and is admittedly terrible.  Please remember when looking at it that my priority was to just get it done.  I'm in the process of attaching the binding and will hopefully be able to cross it off of my UFO list tomorrow. 

Joining in at WIP Wednesday.

Fabric-y Goodness!

I came home from the monthly guild meeting with all kinds of goodies. 

We had our fat quarter solids swap:

 

I am a bit ashamed to admit that I do not have any quilt shop quality solids in my stash so this is a very welcome addition!  So many bright beautiful colors!

And one of the girls had a bag full of scraps for everyone to dig through.  I pulled out one piece that I really liked then let everyone else have a turn before I looked at all of the left overs.  Lucky for me there was still a LOT left and my oversized bag was stuffed by the time I left :).  Now I just need to get my creative juices back (they have been very lacking lately) and find time to get to work...

Progress

A few things to share today:

 I finished my Valentine Reverse Applique Pillow for the Threadbias Pretty in Patchwork Sew Along.  Last week I showed you my Christmas version of this pillow.  At the time I was okay with the way that it looked but after seeing how this one turned out I'm not quite as happy with it.

 

Another small finish was my pincushion for the swap at QuiltCon.  Sadly I will not be going so one of the members of our guild will swap on behalf of those not able to attend.  It's not exactly how I pictured it in my head but I did get to try hand quilting for the first time.  Hopefully someone will love it :).  I am also thinking of using these fabrics for my Pantone Challenge item.  The center fabric was the closest I could find to their version of Emerald.

 

And I started sewing on my Scrappy Swoon Quilt.  I have had the background pieces cut for some time now but was having trouble committing to my other fabric choices.  A not so quick trip to the LQS solved that problem.  I did run out of most of my grays so I will have to pick up a little more of those today.
  I've also cut the next three sections and hope to work on them tonight.

 

Another Triple Zip Pouch is ready.

And my UFO project of the week--I originally cut this wine tote as a Christmas present but changed my mind at the last minute and went with different fabrics.  Since the exterior was already cut and quilted I just needed to cut the lining and put it all together.

 

In other UFO news, I did tear all of the paper off of the Pervalong top (which took about an hour) and I hope to quilt it this week and get it off of my to do list :)

Art Student Tote & B-Day Prep

One of the blogs that I regularly read asked everyone to leave a comment telling their favorite project they have ever done.  I had to think about it a bit and realized it was probably my Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote.  It was made before I ever started blogging therefore I have never had an excuse to show it off.  And since it is a pretty large tote I don't carry it often.  I plan to use to use it as part of a "luggage set" that I have in mind to make for my trip this summer.  I think that it, a duffel of some type (Bari J. maybe?) and a Weekender Bag (for some reason I cannot get her website to open so no link today) as well as some small assorted pouches, would be perfect for our vacation.  I made it using Sweetwater's Reunion line. 

 

Not my normal style, but I love it anyway!  I have already been picking up a few of fat quarters locally when I find them in preparation for the next bag in the set.  I have no official plan yet but I'm thinking there will be paper piecing and patchwork involved :).  The pattern is great but next time I make this bag there are some definite changes I would make.  I would stitch the handles up further, add interior pockets, a false bottom for more stability, and possibly even a recessed zipper.  The zippered pockets on the front were easy enough to put together but there was a LOT of measuring and pinning in order to get everything evenly spaced.

 

I realized yesterday that I have less than a month to get everything ready for Squeak's birthday!  We are having his one year photo session on his actual birthday and his party the following Sunday.  So much to do--decorations, photo props and outfits, cakes to order, balloons and invitations...I'm sure there's something important I'm forgetting.  Oh yeah, PRESENTS!!!  His favorite thing to play with right now is Penny and as long as he's not trying to bite her tail she's a good sport :)

 

Does this kid look like he needs more toys?!

 

We're off to the LQS tonight to stock up on cute little boy fabric.  I'm thinking a monster theme is in order with lots of orange, yellow, green, blue and white!  And if the items turn out as well as I'm hoping there might be a tutorial or two if anyone is interested ;)

Joining the fun at Really Random Thursday!

February Goals

I know I already posted today but I feel that if I don't write these all down immediately they are never going to happen!

1. Sugar Club February Block
2. Lucky Stars February Block
3. And Sew On February Block
4. Pretty in Patchwork Christmas Pillow
5. Pretty in Patchwork Valentine Pillow --I'm to the quilting stage on this one.
6. MQG Pincushion Swap--I have decided on the layout and fabrics but no actual sewing yet.
7. Madrona Road Mini Quilt
8. Super Penguin Blocks--Set #3--most of the individual sections have been pieced but not sewed together into actual blocks yet.
9. Woodland Sampler February Block--Almost done!
10. 10 Triple Zip Pouches--I have seven done, three more to go.  All three are already cut and just need to be put together.
11. 3 Sea of Stars Blocks
12. Finish cutting Isosceles Triangle Quilt fabrics-prints are cut just need to do solids.
13. Cut fabrics for Scrappy Swoon Quilt-background is done, need to pick my colored fabrics.
14. Cut fat quarters for Solids Swap
15. Make Mystery Round Robin block
16. Add borders to Mystery Round Robin block for S.
17. Zippered Pouch for A Little Birdie told me swap--I spent yesterday working on the design and I'm ready to get started.
18. Riley Blake February Block
19. Finally quilt and bind my Pervalong Quilt
20. Pick fabrics for Starburst Quilt

Twenty seems like a good round number don't you think?  I've already got a pretty good start on the list so keep your fingers crossed for me that I can keep up the momentum :)

Madrona Road Mini

I finished applying the binding last night and I love it! It is currently on top of our washing machine acting as a scratch guard. The colors don't work with my decor at all but it is the perfect size and it will stay there until I find another use for it :)

 

I did put little hanging corners on it, just in case.

 

My other finish from earlier this week was my Reverse Applique Christmas Tree Pillow.  I made it as part of the Threadbias Sew Along.  I have the Valentine version ready to quilt just as soon as I have a free minute.  I did change this quite a bit from the way it was in the book.  I didn't use binding around the edges or muslin inside, which is probably why it puckered a little.  On the next one I plan on following the instructions to see what happens.  I'm still pretty happy with this one though.