Star Surround Quilt

I have a finish to show off this week!  It's actually been done for awhile but a quick trip to the park with Squeak was the opportunity I had been waiting for to get some decent photos of it.

This is my Star Surround Quilt.  I have to say a big thanks to Melissa for hosting the QAL and for all of the encouragement.  HSTs and Flying Geese are not my favorite things and this quilt had a LOT of them.  If she hadn't been there encouraging and pushing me to finish this might have gone in the WIP pile for a long time.

The top was made from a fat quarter bundle of Rock n' Romance that I purchased on a whim when Carnaby Street came out.  It is definitely not as bright and colorful as my normal fabric choices but I love it non the less and it will be our main living room snuggle quilt and the center of the redecorating that will be going on in there.  Thankfully I still have enough of the fabric left for another quilt and maybe a pillow or two.

For the back I used a purple varegated pearl cotton.  I simply hand wound it onto the bobbin and left it loose in the case instead of threading it through the tension.  It worked wonderfully!!!

Squeak has gotten over his fear of slides and now goes down it on a loop when we're at the park.  Maybe he'll like swings before too long...

I have a craft show in a couple of weeks and decided I need a new banner since I've changed the name of my shop.  It's now done and waiting for another trip to the park :)

I not only finished up my Halloween Sampler frames before the next part was released but I also finished up the frames for the Autumn Sampler and got started on the July block of the Woodland Sampler (no photo of this one).

 I've also been pattern testing for Sew Sweetness again.  I have one of the bags done and the other in the works.  Although I can't show off the finished one yet, this is the exterior of the second one.  The lines are a little rough, but I'm really liking this guy!  A trip to the store on my lunch break to pick up fabric for the handles should get me back to work on this tonight.

And last but not least, someone seems to like my new quilt :)

Reader's Choice

Alright, it's a couple of days later than I planned but I'm ready to give this thing a try.  The first ever Reader's Choice (dun, dun, dun).

And I've decided to go ahead and jump right into the deep end instead of easing in.  Today I have for you 11 fat quarters of Mama Said Sew that I bought with another project in mind.  Sadly that project never got off the ground so they've been in my stash for quite a while.

So, let's go over the rules:

1. At the first of every month I will post a photo of some fabrics that have been in my stash for quite awhile or that I just can't figure out what to do with.
2. Take a look at the fabrics I have pictured above (keeping in mind the amount of fabric available) and leave a comment recommending a specific project that YOU would like to see me make from them.  I am willing to add a background fabric or a fat quarter here or there if necessary but the whole point of this is to work from stash as much as possible.
3. Be sure to be specific about the project.  Don't just tell me you want me to make a quilt.  Tell me WHICH quilt.
4. Be nice :).  Try not to give me something that is impossible to complete.
5. At the end of the week I will pick one comment via a random number generator and that will be the project I tackle.
6. Not all projects will get finished in one month's time but I will do my best to get as far as possible without neglecting previous commitments.
7. Link up and join in the fun if you feel up to the challenge.
8. Link up again at the end of the month to show off your progress.
9. There may even be a small prize for one random, lucky person that joins in ;).
10. HAVE FUN!!!

Alright here we go...

Linking up with Really Random Thursday and Thursday Threads.

PS this is my first time hosting a link up so sorry for any kinks.  Anyone know why it automatically linked up my own post?!

Hand Sewing Holiday

I did spend a little time at the machine but it seems like the majority of it was spent in a chair, needle in hand.  I have a few deadlines I'm trying to make.  First is the parade of quilts for the Star Surround QAL.  I have the quilting done and about 1/4 of the binding sewed on.  Second is the frame of the Halloween Sampler from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery which is about 2/5 of the way done.  And third, is the frame of the Autumn Sampler from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery which is about 4/5 of the way done.

As for machine sewing:

I finally tackled the custom order wallet.  The customer picked this print from an ad on Etsy and when I received it I realized that the scale of the print listed in the ad was WAY off.  I did my best to make it work but I'm sending her pictures today to see what she thinks.

The inside has two envelope pockets, an accordion pocket, a zip pocket and six card slots.  It was my first attempt at doing the zippered pocket using this pattern and the pattern left a lot to be desired.  I had to "jimmy rig" it in a couple of spots due to faulty cutting directions.  But you'd never know unless I told you ;)

Next up on my list was one of the newest patterns I've signed up to test for Sew Sweetness.  She asked for testers for two new patterns last week and I managed to get them both!  I'm waiting on supplies for one but in the meantime I figured I'd get started on the other one.  This is the quilted main exterior panel.  I had originally planned to do a quilt as you go style exterior for this bag but when I saw this cute print at JoAnn's Friday I couldn't resist (and it is for a diaper bag...).  The bag is now only waiting for me to bind the exposed interior seams (ugh, more hand sewing!!!).

And last but definitely not least, a new pouch for ME!  This pouch was made using the Noodlehead tutorial and was inspired by this one over at Missy Mac Creations.  When I left a comment asking where she had come up with her templates she was nice enough to e-mail me the pdf so I could make my own.  I can't decide which I like better, hers or mine.  But I definitely see myself making more of these in the future so THANK YOU Erin for the template and inspiration!!!

Be sure and check back tomorrow to see my first Readers Choice post where I show you a stack of fabric (or scraps) and YOU pick the project I should make with them :)

Linking up with Free Motion Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday, and Sew Cute Tuesday.

Really Random Ridiculousness

The amount of fabric I have bought over the summer is ridiculous!  I'm looking to my readers to hold me accountable...no more fabric/supplies until October.  Now I do have a couple of patterns that I have committed to testing that I will have to buy a little bit of hardware for and I do need a new bobbin case so I will purchase those just so I can not let anyone down but after that if I run out of fabric or need more to add borders it will have to go in the On Hold Pile.  I have lots of fusible fleece, interfacing and applique materials so I can always focus on stocking up my shop (which I really need to do anyway!).  Batting will probably be the first thing that I run out of but none of my quilts have deadlines at the moment so it won't be the end of the world.

The thing that brought me to this realization?

THIS...stuffed to the brim with all kinds of fabricy goodness.

And on a side note, we've been dealing with a very sickly little boy this week so he's been getting all kinds of goodies that he normally doesn't get...like milkshakes and gatorade :).  I guess there are some perks to being sick.

Enough rambling from me.  Linking up with Really Random Thursday!

My Main WIP

of the moment is my Star Surround Quilt.  I've had lots of questions about whether I should add another row of stars to the bottom to make it a little bigger, whether to add a border to finish it off, what quilting design to use, thread color, etc.

I think I've finally decided that I'm happy with it the way that it is.  I'm going to Target in a little bit to see if I can find a sheet that I like for the backing then I will baste it and quilt it with stitch in the ditch around each block and each star (in my mind this makes a really neat design on the back so we'll see).  The top thread will be a cream and the bobbin thread will be decided after I get my sheet. :)

Sorry for the super blurry photo.  I am actually considering getting a real camera.  It just seems like one more thing I have to keep track of though (sigh!).

 A more in focus photo so you can see some of the fabulous colors.

And a finish from a couple of weeks ago.  I've been making all of my samplers from the Frosted Pumpkin patterns into pillows with envelope style closures on the back.  Although I didn't get a photo of the back of this pillow I used the green Noteworthy print with birds.  I'm still not sure if I like the light aqua as the border.  I had my eye on something much brighter but while at a sew day I was greatly outnumbered when we voted and decided to go with the majority.  It's pretty, I'm just not sure it's summery enough for me.  Another problem I have with it is that I didn't do any quilting around the edges and I'm regretting it now.  Don't get me wrong, I still like this pillow I just should have though it out better and gone with my gut instinct.

A new WIP (no photo, sorry) is my Road 15 Quilt.  I'm using a pattern from Simply Retro-can't remember the name of the pattern.  I have almost all of my pieces cut -due to bad planning and deciding to make it bigger than the pattern called for I ran out of fabric-and have started piecing it together.  It has no intended recipient but I've wanted to make it for a couple of months so instead of working on my August goals or special orders from the Etsy shop, that is what I will be doing today :)

Linking up to Happy Quilting.

What To Do?

About the quilting on this one...

Sorry about the bad indoor photo.  By the time I got this far it was already getting dark outside.  I did my best to get it back to its original colors using Picasa.

I got lucky and was happy with the first layout I tried so I just went with it instead of second guessing myself and messing it up.  I think the lights and darks are pretty balance.

Now that it's almost completely put together (I need 20 minutes tonight, is that too much to ask?!) I'm looking for quilting inspiration.  How would you quilt it?  I love the way free motion quilting looks, but not how time consuming it is.  Plus, I'm not that great at it but I wouldn't entirely rule it out.  And what color of thread would you use?  A variety, gray all over?

Please let me know your opinions since I'm kind of stumped on this one but hope to get it basted this evening and start the quilting tomorrow.  Thanks in advance :)!

Oh, one more question...I'm not really a fan of square quilts.  Soooo, what would you suggest?  Make four more stars and add another row?  Add a thin border on two of the sides and a thicker border on the other two?  Or just get over it and have a square quilt?

Ok, that's it ;P

Linking up to Fabric Tuesday.

Homework Complete!

I'm all caught up and ready for next week!  At least on the Star Surround Quilt (a little secret...I've actually put together my blocks already which will leave me free to work on some custom orders all next week).  Can't wait to play with the layout for these!

Linking up with Happy Quilting.