WIP Wednesday

This is my very first go at paper piecing. It is the botm for my guild. While I don't anticipate using much of this method anytime soon, it was nice to try it out. Tommy held my hand through it and told me that according to physics I was using imaginary numbers. Mhmm. 

Here are the first six blocks all together. 

Another project I'm working on is a kaleidoscope quilt. So far I've been doing lots of cutting. Over 500 pieces so far and another 300+ to go! A few years ago that would have freaked me out but now I am so excited to be working on it. Last week my friend Julie picked up this kaleidoRuler for me; it is a must for cutting these blocks!

I considered going for an ombré effect in the quilt but after seeing these fabrics in black and white I realized that there's not nearly enough contrast in their values to do that. So I'll just sew at random and save ombré for another day. 

Stash Starting Resources

I have a friend who has expressed an interest in learning to quilt. I must admit I am a little hesitant, because, what if she's better than me; or what if she realizes that it's not always all *that* hard, or what if I feel the need to do some sympathy fabric shopping?

Regardless, I thought it would be nice to share some good resources, and a couple favorite blogs. There are tons and tons of great quilting blogs, but I limit myself or else I would get nothing done because I'd spend all day scouring the internet.

Stash Building:

One of the first blogs I remember reading was Crazy Mom Quilts. In this post she shows how she folds her fabric, and also shares her criteria for scraps.

I love Connecting Threads, and their fabric. They come out with new lines often and are very affordable. 

They sell their fabric collections in precuts as well. And they don't charge for it! Buying a charm pack pretty much anywhere else will cost you 30% more or even more than that! For reference, a yard is 36"xWOF (width of fabric, which is usually 42-44").

For more thoughts on fat quarters, read Don't Call Me Betsy's post Dear Fat Quarters. She discusses what size cut she prefers and why.

Another blog I love is Cluck Cluck Sew. It's full of fresh colors and clean lines. She shares a post on how to start a fabric stash here. And I love her bottom line: the bottom line is, whether you have a big stash or a small stash..buy what you love.  If you love it, you’ll use it and be more happy with what you have. 

In Color Order has a whole blog series discussing fabric and color. She covers topics like: storage, organizing and buying as well as color schemes, tones, etc. This girl is thorough!

If you know of any other great resources on starting a stash or organizing or fabric, please share in the comments.

Hoping

Here's to hoping this:

becomse this:

And this:

becomes this:

Mini Finishes!

I am always in the middle of several things at once! Here are a few finishes from the past few months.

A little mug rug using some scraps and a verse from a sweet song/scripture.

Another mug rug featuring part of my favorite Bible verse, 1 Peter 1:6 (&7)

I made this for my sister-in-law. She cried when she opened it. She gets the award for consistently best reaction.

This was made for my niece. 

A crinkly, lovey Steggy for Eli.

My completed mini for the FWMQG wonky paint chip challenge.

A couple more mug rugs. Practicing some free motion quilting. Click to enlarge.

I regret not getting better pictures of this before sending it off. It's a pillow I made for a friend's soon expected baby!

Wordless Wednesday WIP

Finish: Merry Christmas!

This quilt was actually completed last fall, but posting about it had taken the backseat for too long! 

I love using embroidery for the labels. I printed off what I wanted to embroider in a fun font, then traced over it on the fabric with pencil. 100x better than using my own handwriting!

I made this as a door prize for my church's ladies retreat. Each woman had two slips of paper with her name and she got to place them a box out front of any two door prizes she was interested in. We drew one name from the box and awarded the winner. I was so flattered at how many women put their names in the box for this quilt, I wish I could have given each one their own!

I did a simple meander with a few little loops, always a classic.

I received this fabric courtesy of the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day almost two years ago at Diary of a Quilter. 

For the back I used some larger scraps leftover from my own Christmas quilt.

I now realize that I am behind on blogging about Daniel and Eli's quilts too! Daniel has been enjoying his for a few months now, and Eli's is finished except for sewing the label on the back!

Yolanda's Quilt

This is my second finish of 2013, as well as the second completed quilt made from the blocks received from my grandmom. It's hard to see from these pictures, but several of the prints in the quilt have an oriental motif. This is now at home with my Uncle David and Aunt Yolanda.

This was my first time putting blocks on point.  I adore how it came out, and think the cornerstones are absolutely perfect.

For quilting I did concentric circles which was surprisingly easy, a technique I'm sure to repeat in the future. 

(top) original layout (second) revised layout balancing colors and weight (third) finished top (bottom) quilting (large) the quilt made a sort of birds nest as I twisted it through the machine

Patriotic Sampler

You may remember over 18 months ago when my grandmom passed along a bundle of quilt blocks to me. This patriotic sampler is the first set of blocks to become a finished quilt, and my first finish of 2013!

I had the opportunity to photograph it while visiting my grandmom and my Aunt Beth whom I gave it to.

I set these 12 blocks in a traditional setting with a fun polka dot sashing. I still have another 12 blocks that may one day become a quilt for my house!

I so enjoyed photographing these in such a special place. It's nice to see something other than the clothesline in my backyard! I may have to continue exploring new locations in the future.

She Still Sews

Despite what it may appear on my blog, I do in fact, still sew. I have 3 mostly finished (only lacking labels) quilts to show and one that I forgot to show months ago. The 3  need to be photographed better, and two need to be gifted before I can show them here. I also made a few other items as gifts that I plan on showing here soon.

My first attempt at concentric circle quilting

a sampler

I finally finished these blocks for the HST sampler and have plans for finishing it.

a poloroid block

I made this giant zipper pouch for a friend's birthday. There wasn't a significant amount of forethought in this one, I just kinda made it as I went along. The back is my favorite part. 

I am so glad to be back at it! My fabric baskets are overflowing (as is my whole sewing space really). Hopefully I will make a few dents in my stash soon!

A Little Catch Up

Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, this post ought to catch you up to speed! 

A couple weeks ago some very wonderful friends threw me a sweet baby shower. We had a great time celebrating the upcoming arrival of our new baby!

Me and my best friend Tiffani

Some sweet booties my friend Rachel knitted, with a matching hat

My long time friend Martha, who is also expecting, in May!

I made this zippered pillowcase as a thank you for Martha.

I would love to make a whole quilt with this pattern, it came together easily and I love the jewel tones.

For Tiffani I made this little mug rug. (her husband's name is Marc, hence M+T)

I included one of my favorite mugs that she has been eyeing for a long time now.

At care group last night, Tommy told the Christmas story to the kids using Daniel's Little People set. I was surprised how well they listened, because he didn't give the abbreviated version. 

We let the kids make trees from waffle cones, green icing and candy. Tommy scooped some icing on each kid's plate, and gave them a knife to ice their cones. Daniel however, went right after that icing with his hands like it was playdough! 

Yesterday I had some maternity pictures taken, and I can't wait to see them and share them here. We are looking forward to meeting our new little guy in two weeks or so, and are excited for everyone to meet him!!