Bow Tied

After reading something on someone's blog (I can't remember whose), I did something that seriously needed to be done. I gave myself permission to use fabric from my stash. My daughter is transitioning (hopefully) to her toddler bed, and I wanted to make it special (and therefore more likely to happen?) by making her a quilt and matching pillow or sham. At first, I started looking for new fabric. I have a modest stash: less than some, more than others. The thing is this: I rarely use the fabric I've already bought. That was one of the reasons I joined some block swap bees. One reason being that I could be more social that way. The other being I'd actually *have* to cut fabric.

It's funny really. Up until I joined the 3x6 bee, I only had ONE gallon ziploc of scraps. And it wasn't even full. In the last 6 months I have filled up THREE more bags. I finally understand why people have scrapbuster projects!

Anyhow, I've been wanting to make a bowtie quilt for a long time. I dug in my stash and found all my girly pinks and purples--since that's totally my girl's style.Initially, my planning was to make a scrappy pink background with scrappy purple bow ties. Then I started to worry that with all the patterns that the bow ties wouldn't stand out. I thought I had the perfect solution. I had previously bought 3 or so yards of Moda's Bella Solid in Hyacinth. It's a kind of blue-y pink-y purple. I would use *that* for the bow ties.

I figured I was all set, and I started to cut. I really wasn't sure what kind of bow tie quilt I wanted to make: did I want to turn the bows to be more like a lattice (which I love) or angle all the bows and keep them individual (not as fond of but still like)? I decided I'd make it simple by doing a step-by-step assembly line and just see what happened (not good planning, at all).

I spent 3 days (about 4-5 hours a day. I really want an Accucut cutter now) cutting squares. It wasn't without casualties. My poor 4.5 square. I hit it no less than 8 times--on each side! Needless to say, my blade was shot, too. I had forgotten how wonderful a sharp blade feels. For those who have forgotten, too: It's HEAVENLY and as effortless as a hot blade on butter.
I spent another 2 days chain stitching all the squares and pressing them.
And then I took a break and spent 2 more days stitching the remaining solid square to the print. And then I took another break. I don't think I've ever been so reluctant to sew, LOL. Usually, when I get a project, I try and slam it out as fast as possible. I think I made my Nana's quilt in 3 days from start to finish. Last night, I finally started making the actual bow tie blocks. I've made about 20 6.5" sq blocks. I have like 60 more to go. Only time will tell if I do any more tonight!

Lull and Other Things

Everything has gotten pretty calm on the home front. I finished my do.Good stitches blocks a few days (or so) ago. I have 2 blocks left from Hive #5 for 3x6 and all 6 left for Hive #21. I hope to finish Hive #5 today. It's very rainy today and it'll be cheery to play with my fabric. I still have no clue what I want to do for my Hive#21 block. Tomorrow the registration for the September round of NuBee Block Swap opens. I really love this swap. It's USA based (for the time being) and has a month-long duration (so you make 5 blocks in 30-31 days).

Speaking of things to do on a rainy day--Crafty Fox of West Wood Acres has a new tutorial and it looks really neat (and fun!). It's called Taffy Go Round, and it's a decorative pillow cover pattern. I haven't made nearly as many decorative covers, and this gives me an excuse to make one! She has it up on Leona's Quilting Adventure (who is also the host of the uber-fun Mug Rug Swap Adventure) and they are having a giveaway to go along with it! I highly encourage y'all to go over and give it a gander :)

Schedules

[do.Good] Hope Circle - August, a photo by woodbines creep on Flickr.

I readily admit that I put a whole lot on my plate for August. It isn't anything I can't handle. I really just wanted to keep busy. I started on my Hope Circle blocks for do.Good stitches the other night. I had to order some solids to go with my other 2 blocks (peach and blue) which is why they aren't pictured (yet).

I only attached the first round of triangles, and they all measure roughly 7.5". I'm hoping to have at least these 4 done by the end of this weekend. Hopefully, my fabric order will have arrived by then, too, so I can finish the other 2 blocks as well. If not, there is always the following week :D

I am making good time on my block swap Bees. I've already managed to get 3 blocks done for one Hive. I still need to decide on a block for the 2nd hive. I really don't know what I want to do. Part of me wants to do a Greek Cross because it's THE SAME as a churn dash, just the color values are in different locations(I'm using the churn dash for 2 other groups so I'm in that groove).

I know I'll be able to turn them out, and that is an attractive thought. Even so, I am on the fence. Maybe I'll have a better idea of what I want after I finish do.Good for the month! Then I can really focus on it.

Good Start

[3x6] 3rd Quarter - Hive 5, a photo by woodbines creep on Flickr.

In the last few days I have made 7 churn dash blocks and 2 pinwheel ones. Honestly, I'm only this productive for Bees and swaps. My Tula Pink quilt is still sitting in a bag on my window seat next to the 2 quilt tops that need quilting.

I have always admired the churn dash block. It was one of those blocks that were in my 'to-do-sometime-this-decade" list. Now that I've made half a dozen, I really want to make one now. Like now, now.

I think I am going to make a baby blanket for my soon to be niece or nephew. Then I can vent my churn dash desires without the obligation of making it large enough for an adult human to use. Not to mention not feeling guilty for skipping ahead of all my other in-progress projects.

My SIL doesn't want to know the gender, so I think I"m going to just do rainbow but only red,orange, yellow, green, and blue. That range of colors is gender neutral, but yet pretty enough, to satisfy the situation (in my opinion).

Now I just need to go shopping, again ;D Oh, darn.

NuBee: August

[NuBee] Hive 1 - August, a photo by woodbines creep on Flickr.

The first month of the NuBee is only days away. We received our hive assignments the other day, and it appears we will have our hive-mate's info either tonight or tomorrow. Even though I've been needing to sew (coughUFOcough) I haven't. Instead, I pulled fabric for the Bee ;) And then I spent the rest of the day contemplating what block I should choose.

Since this bee is month-to-month, I decided on something simple. I think I'll be doing a churn-dash block. I've been debating if I should do the same block for all my hives. I don't think I will. I think it will keep my interest (and therefore keep me sewing) to do at least 2 different blocks. So I might still do the churn dash block for one more hive in the 3x6.

I think I'm getting drawn into that: "I don't want to make a boring block" syndrome that seems to happen in bees. A churn dash block seems so...ordinary, but I really like the way it looks, especially after I made the tone-on-tone one for my do.Good strip earlier this month. I hope my hive-mates won't be disappointed (I'm sure they won't be, but you all know what I mean.).

Gearing Up!

My quiet July is winding down. I've done next-to-no sewing aside from my contribution to do.Good for the month. I wanted to quilt two of my WIPs (my Supah Fresh and Amelia quilts both have batting, backing, and binding. I just need to actually put it all together), but found I needed thread. As I have mentioned before, the DH abhors Joann's. I had one thing working in my favor--a card of 40% off coupons and a desperate need to upgrade my rotary mat (which I've mentioned before).

My poor, poor mat is in awful shape. It's done a good job--but it looks like some poor refugee that found a forgotten land mine. Frankly, it's embarrassing when I take pictures and forget to move it out of the way. My daughter colored all over it and there's all sorts of deep scars on it with fabric bits and batting stuck in the grooves. And it's also a half inch too small all-around for the standard virtual bee block size (12.5 unfinished).

And then there's my favorite ruler with one side all dinged up from my blades nicking it.

Generally speaking, I seriously needed new notions. And as you might guess, I finally convinced the DH to take me shopping! I replaced my mat with a nice 18x24" one that's roomy enough for all my day-to-day sewing needs. And a new 3x18" clear ruler. And thread.

But then I got home and forgot that I needed new shears since certain persons think that it doesn't matter what they use them on (*cough*even though I have fabric tied to one loop and have said they are ONLY for fabric *cough*). Even so, I think I'm ready for the next round of Bees (3x6 and NuBee are both starting on the 1st) plus do.Good. Just in case I am biting off more than I can chew (in 2 hives for the 3x6) I'm probably going to sit out of the ALFALC swap for August. It seems only sensible~ I don't want to disappoint anyone by being stretched too thin.

FFA 3

I finally received my preorder for Far Far Away III yesterday. It came in a small envelope and I was almost afraid to open it. Why afraid? I had preordered the Snow White print in yellow--a half yard of it. There has been some issue with the scale of this print. Namely due to the fact that you cannot get an honestly usable fat quarter (unless all you want is Dwarves). It has been said that to really enjoy the print you need a full yard. I did not order a full yard, but then I also preordered before this was a known issue. I also ordered the flower print in blue. I admit to holding my breath while I opened the envelope like it was some award show. It was honestly a surprise since i would not know what I got until I, well, looked.

You can imagine my joy when I saw all nice and whole in the center:
And then all around at the outlying areas:
There is another Tree house at the opposite side of the yardage, but it doesn't have the full clothes line (only about half) and the 2nd tree. Which I think is fine since it will still be a nice fussy cut since it does have the full house section. Though, there is a partial at the top of the yardage that I think is a loss except for being able to fussy cut the clothes line.

There's also another Snow White on the left hand selvedge BUT she's largely unusable because half her face is gone. It is a nice one to use to fussy cut the animals around her (the skunks mostly). Oh, and another group of Dwarves at the bottom of the cut that is also very usable. Overall, I'm very happy with my half yard! Oh! I can't forget my little favorites:
I love these guys! I have two owls, but only one squirrel. I love the weight of this fabric much more than FFA 2. FFA 2 was a medium weight canvas (which I understand some of FFA 3 is as well) that I find kind of unyielding. I didn't photograph the blue wildflowers, but they are also very lovely and are the same weight as the Snow White print.

Now I just need to get some of the other wildflower colors and possibly some girls with horses (on the fence on this). Maybe swap for some clotheslines. I wonder if it's worth it to buy another half yard of Snow White but in pink? I'll have to think on it!