Goodness Me

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! The funny thing is that I have been accumulating a whole list of things to post about, too! This last month and a half has been a sewing adventure for me. Not to mention after 2 months of Fabric Fast, I finally bought some new things. It was beautiful. I remember it like it was yesterday--even though it was 2 weeks ago. It was beautiful and everything I imagined, and more.

And yes, I am being romantic over a stack of fabric. Beautiful. Lovely. Delicious fabric. Though, my longing is giving me flash backs to when I was pregnant and wanted to eat lots and lots of pie.

First, I spent a good bit of February making my Mother's birthday present.

I made it with 9 layer cake slices from Fig & Plum which was designed by Fig Tree & Co for Moda a couple of years back. I love this range, and so does my mom. It has her colors. This was my first time using the Cathedral Window blocks. I would DEFINITELY use starch the next time around to keep the corners crisp. They have a tendency to spread otherwise. Irregardless on how *I* feel I did with the project, my Mom loved it, which made me happy.

Second: OMGOSH there is the best giveaway to celebrate Churchill's 100th blog post! It's a rare and coveted bird--the Neptune jelly roll. I made my bro-in-law a quilt for his birthday last year from the charm packs. I absolutely LOVE this range. I'm excited. You should be excited, too. There are THREE ways to enter the giveaway. That's just awesome :) You should probably go over there now.

That wraps it up for now. I promise to have several catch up posts in the days to come~

Yuck.

Today was just one of those days ;D Not bad, but not great. We had a few errands to run, but they weren't straight forward. First we had to go to the health dept to drop off a tick we'd found on my daughter this last Friday. They do free testing for Lyme if they find human blood in the ugly thing (and I do mean ugly! We had it in a ziploc and could admire it's...unique appearance). The other errands were just tedious. It didn't help that it was hot, or that I'm worried about my girl having Lyme.

I was glad to have some neato stuff in the mail when it was all over--even more Tula~!I wish I could find more of the bunnies. I'm not a huge fan of the owls, so I don't mind that I only have the purple ones (well after my swap with Lucia). I actually really like the salmon, so I am looking forward to purchasing the last 3 colors of that (blue, pink, & aqua).

In other news, I received my partner info for one of the swaps I'm in! I'm so excited. Our tastes are incredibly similar :D I hope this rocks as much as I think it's going to. I'm still waiting for my partner assignment from the other swap. I'll probably get it tomorrow. Until then, I keep going through my stash trying to figure out what I can be separated with. I'm sure you all sympathize with how hard that is ;D

Long Long Day

I went to the dentist today. A new dentist. I had not one appointment, but two. One at 11 to get a full set of films, and another at 3 for the actual work (byebye wisdom teeth!). My mouth kills right now, but I guess there was only so long I could escape that particular torture. Knowing I had to go to the dentist today sort of soured my morning in a twist of anticipation and frustration. I'm just glad this stage is over. I still have to go back in two weeks for a cleaning--which luckily is nothing like getting my teeth yanked out ;D

I had two packages that needed to hit the mail this morning, which meant I had to finish Rosemarie's block, and stuff my envelope for my swap with Jen. I need more hours in my morning ;D My little girl wasn't being too helpful with all I had planned. While I got them packed up, they wont mail until Monday. Boo.I don't know how sold I am on the block I made. I like it, but there are things I wish I'd done differently (like pay attention more to crucial details!). I wish I'd rotated the orientation of the top right block. I hope Rosemarie likes it, since that's what really matters. And while I wasn't able to get this into the mail, mail on the other hand, managed to reach me just fine.More Tula! It's enough to make anyone's heart sing. Though, with the arrival of this package, I know there is only one left coming. It will probably be here Monday (well outside of swaps, that is ;D) My Full Moon Forest collection is nearly complete. I have 21 prints from the range, with another 13 that I need to purchase (if I want something from every print). I've been going after it pretty single minded for the last month and a half. There are only 8 more prints that I can actually buy right now. The harder prints will be just that--harder to find! If I'm lucky I'll be able to swap for them.

Adventure Day!

Today was one of those rare days that we decided to do something...different. Ya know, live a little. We decided to visit the aquarium! I hadn't been to this particular one before, and neither had my daughter, so it was the perfect summer adventure. I wish it hadn't been so hot, though. I was sorely tempted to jump in with the sea lions to cool off ;D Dulcie had a fine time, too. She was only too eager to show me that she was a big girl, and walked up and down the steps by herself. Any time I tried to help, she would wave me off with a, "I do it, Mama. I do it." That didn't stop me from hovering encase she did, in fact, need me!
When I came home it was to find a lovely gift from my mail carrier :D More Tula and a splash of Amy Butler. I'm actually not a huge fan of Amy Butler. I have a few pieces of Midwestern Modern (1 & 2), but I can never figure out what to do with them. I have seen some remarkable things made with her designs, though. I guess her stuff isn't completely my style, but not *not* my style either (considering I keep buying things by her!).
I also started (and nearly finished) my block for Rosemarie's quilt. I rummaged through my fabric and found that most of my larger pieces of pink and purple were dog-eared for other projects, but I did have some 1/8 yard cuts of pink. Then a light went off--Hey! Didn't I buy an Eden charm pack? And yes! I did. Eden has pink and purple together. Eureka. The blocks needed to be 9 inches square unfinished. Since I was working with such small pieces, one large block wasn't really possible. I mean I could have made multiple cuts and sewn it together to make one large coherent piece, but I didn't (it didn't even occur to me until just this moment! This is what makes process pieces fun.) So I decided to do multiple small blocks, kind of what I did for Trudy's quilt, but larger.
I wanted to fussy cut one of the Eden birds, but a moment of inattention on my behalf when I was resizing the center block led me to trimming the wrong side of the square so that the bird's beak was lost in a seam. I waffled back and forth between ripping my seams or not, but I didn't have another square with the same bird, and I was already using the the other piece in the second half of my block. So it stayed. The second half of the block is a patchwork plus block. I originally was going to use more of the pastel polka dot for the plus/cross, but it made the block look too washed out. I then opted for the punch of some pink Soiree that I had lying around. I had some trouble with the top plus/cross block. Originally, it was dark pink and more of that pink Soiree. It just didn't look right with the other fabric choices. It was too bold, I think.
I just need to finish the block up, and off into the mail it goes!

Airplane--ZOOM!

My daughter's new favorite game is to pretend she is an airplane. She puts her arms out and ZOOMS around (saying zoom, naturally.) But midway through, she changes gears and yells BUTTERFLY, and starts flapping her arms and skipping (well, as well as she can. She's not even two yet). Or she likes to put her arm up and yell, 'ready, set, GO!' which means Mommy needs to run around zooming like an airplane. Fun stuff, and it keeps my heartrate up ;D

I can't help but cherish all these little things. I think what makes it more poignant right now is the new collaborative quilting project I joined today. It was inspired by the Trudy quilt (which so far is completely awesome, btw. Lucia et al did a wonderful job), but is benefiting a 4 year old girl. It's being called Rosemarie's Cancer Killin' Quilt. The colors are purple and pink, so I need to rummage through my stash. I *know* I have these colors. Maybe not a bunch of purple, but the pink doth overflow. The group coordinator has two block styles, cross/plus and box-in-box. I think I'm going to make one of each (ideally, anyway).

The mail never fails to disappoint, though I fear I have 3 more packages and then no more for a while. I went CRAZY insane with my buying this last month :x Darn those sales and my little budget.

A Few More Packages

So a few more packages arrived today. They were waiting for me when we returned from Rhode Island this afternoon. There were SIX envelopes which earned me a look from my guy. I usually get them before he notices them. Oops XD. It was more Tula, which made me happy :D I'm really coming along on my Full Moon Forest collection. There are 11 prints that I can still buy, and another 3-4 that I can swap for (I have one pending as we speak for some purple drops and owls).
I also picked up some charm packs from an OOP line called Eclectic. It's a range I had been considering for a while and I finally just took the plunge and bought a few packs. I really like the prints! I can't wait to use them. I think I will buy some more (and some yardage) once I buy a few other prints I really want first.

Fabric Fairy Pays a Visit

Today I received some bits and pieces from a friend I made on Flickr. I'm so lucky :D These little bits have really helped me decided on a fabric or two (both which ones to leave out and which ones to leave in).
I really wish I had a local quilt shop. The nearest one to me is over an hour away, which might as well be on the moon. I can't tell you how many times I buy fabric and it isn't quite what I wanted, but I have to live with the choice. I was very surprised to see that the brown in the Plume range was more of a chocolate brown (a noticeable reddish tint to the brown). When paired with the light lime/grass green it's completely mint chocolate. I wish I would have gotten this mailer BEFORE I ordered a half yard each of the green, brown, and green/brown keys (there was an awesome sale and I didn't want to risk it). I am still going to order the green swan print, though.

So far the green/brown colorway matches from the Flutterby range works really well with the Full Moon Forest range. I tried some Neptune in it, and the Algae is okay. I did like the Plume print with the pink feathers. It adds some nice interest and pops beautifully. I think I might purchase some droplets in olive from FMF to continue the effect.

Bunnies!

Today was as awesome as I dreamt it would be--at least when it came to the mail delivery! I had to be especially careful when cutting open my packages, since I was shaking with anticipation. The whole time I was opening them (once I realized who they were from) that old song by X:The Band kept coming into my head:

Full Moon on a Friday (Monday)/ Watch out for the werewol...er..bunnies?

,
Maybe were-squirrels would be better?


I know were-trees! (Would that make it a Dryad?)


I'm so happy! And the thing is, I have MORE yardage coming for Full Moon Forest. That's just something that makes a person want to jump for joy. At least it makes me want to jump for joy ;D The blue and purple bunnies are courtesy of a swap with Lucia, and the rest were from random online quilt shops. I'm walking on sunshine right now :D But now I can't wait to get the rest

This Week Has Been Awesome

I received 3 more packages today! By my calculations (and checking emails) I have 3 left. I also have one package going out for a swap for more Full Moon Forest by Tula Pink for Moda. I'm trying to plan a quilt composed of various green/brown prints from her various lines (and trying to make a twirly patchwork skirt for my daughter in the purple/pink). Thus far I have cuts from Full Moon Forest and Flutterby. I need to buy some Plume, but I am waiting for it to go on sale (well, better sale). I am totally excited for her new line Parisville for Freespirit. There's a little mouse image in the selvage. I wonder if that is going to translate to a Cinderella type feeling to her line (Cinderella is a French tale). I can hope! Though, I admit, the first thing that came to my mind was that Pixar movie, Ratatouille. Like I said, I hope. But I'm sure it will be fantastic either way.

More!

Yay. This is why I love my birthday! I received another package today (a few more to go!)


The top is yardage from Soiree to pair with the jelly roll I received the other day (it was a steal at 2.98 a yard). The bottom one is just a few prints I thought were cute (nest by Valori Wells, So St. Croix, Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow, and some Kaufman print--Toyland I think).

I've already had to stop myself FIVE time from spending my remaining gift certificate. Reminding myself that the fabrics I was *going* to buy aren't necessarily...well...necessary. I tried to make a list and this is what I have so far:

Cuts in green/brown by Tula Pink from the following lines:

• Plume, Flutterby, Full Moon Forest & possibly Nest or Neptune

The remaining Henna Garden colors I do *not* have:

• pink, raspberry, brown, speckle, green plus extra pumpkin, citrus, & blue

Misc Yardage to Accompany JRs

• Zippity Do Dah & Martinique

I need to think about it some more, though this is a good start.

Rain Nor Sleet Nor Snow!

My birthday was earlier this month. My presents this year were all FABRIC! Which made me undeniably happy. I've never spent so much on fabric. Ever. I was lucky enough to get electronic giftcards so I could pick out what I wanted. I discovered something, though. I am easily overwhelmed, and throw what I *need* to the wayside in favor of XOMG A SALE! I need to make a list so I stop losing focus, but it's so easy to do! Especially since 98% of my shopping is online, I try and keep shipping costs low by trying to buy as much as possible from one shop.

Almost everything I bought is a new project, instead of buying things for existing projects. I'm sure this happens to everyone ;D But I need to buy a new storage bin for my Someday Stash (cause I'm gonna use it--Someday). I even told myself that I would take a break from buying to regain focus. That didn't work, naturally, because I got an email about a huge blowout sale! Well, while I lament my state-of-affairs, let me share what came in the mail :D


The second picture is from South Hampton from Henry Glass, third is an assortment, and the last are from Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet. I still have 4-5 packages coming (YAY). I can hardly wait. I still have 1 giftcard left. I'm trying not to waste it.

We'll see how that goes!

Here I am--Again

I'm not sure I mentioned it, but I was gone for the month of April, and when I got home; I was plum tuckered out on quilting. I just wanted to relax after jamming two quilts into one month. I decided, instead, to try and make my girl some clothes! And that's what I did (sort of) for May, June, and this lovely month of July (a dress a month). I'm a complete novice at clothing construction, but I had fun anyway ;D

This latest dress was made with Flutterby by Tula Pink for Moda (the other two feature Marie Webster's reproductions from Windham and Whimsy by Fig tree for Moda) with some Kona cotton in Earth for accent (it actually matched really well). I *really* like this line. The range is fun, but then most of Tula Pink's designs are fun, imo. I was lucky and found these prints for only 2.98 a yard. The Kona cotton came from my stash (I used it to bind my Nana's quilt).


The pattern I used was Analise by Sandi Henderson (I also bought her book, and another pattern, Claire). Let me start by saying the instructions are clear, as are the pictures, which make this pattern easy for a beginner (like me :D) And even though this was the third time I'd made this dress, it didn't stop me from making some rookie mistakes--like sewing the strap into the seam for the armpit. Nothing a seamripper and patience couldn't fix, though.


I love that this dress is so easy (usually) to construct. It takes me 2-3 days (or sometimes more) to complete only because I have a small child. Anyone else would probably complete it in a day (if the fabric was already prepped and ready), or a weekend, easy. I love how it turned out, too. I added some flare and tacked on a ruffle to the hem. My girl is tall for her age (she isn't even 2 yet and she's a little over half my height) so it was a nice way to add some length to the skirt. I already have my fabric prepped for the next dress, now I just need to find the time! I want to finish it before August, though. It's always nice to have a deadline to work with ;D

Puttering Along

March=Quilting Madness for me. I know I've mentioned it. To try and make it all work I knew I'd have to get some serious work done these last few days of February. I'm happy to say that I managed to finish the blocks for Lyra's quilt today! I also managed to start Jason's quilt. I decided against the stacked coin and went with a disappearing 9-patch.

I'm using some of the left over yardage from Lyra's quilt and 5 Neptune charm packs as well as a yard from Neptune. I think it was the storm damask. Not sure. Well, I will use 5 charm packs. Right now I've only broken into 1 ;) The one thing that is going to hurt my progress is that I'm waiting on an order of more Kona cotton! In order to keep things moving, I'll need to stitch up Lyra's quilt--which wasn't the plan originally. Initially, I was going to do all the blocks for both quilts first, and then put each quilt together, and then quilt and bind. It won't hurt to get Lyra's done all the way first. It just wasn't the plan. As long as I keep working, it will be okay ;)

Lyra's 1st Birthday Quilt

I originally was going to use a different fabric selection for this quilt. First, it was going to be Hopscotch by Chloe's Closet for Moda. Then it was going to be a scrappy quilt from my stash. Finally, I fell in love with Blush by Basic Grey for Moda. I bought 3 charm packs, even tough I had NO clue what I was going to do. Smart, huh? Luckily, I had some white solid yardage!

Anyway, I decided on a 9-patch & box-in-box combo (only after my first design choice was plagued by my horrible quilt-math skills) I separated 2 charm packs into pairs (there were duplicates in each pack, too). I further separated the fabric into 1 pair set and 1 individual coordinating square.

Next I cut each of the 3 squares into 2.5x5 rectangles. From there the rectangles became:
main fabric: (3) - 2.5x5 rectangles
main fabric: (2) - 2.5x2.5 squares
second fab: (1) - 2.5x5 rectangle
second fab: (2) - 2.5x2.5 squares
1 of the main fabric 2.5x5 rectangles, and one of the main fabric's 2.5 squares were put aside for later.

The remaining 2.5x5 rectangles were sewn together in an alternating fashion, and then cut in half down the middle to make 2 strips roughly 2.5x6.5. This made the top and bottom of my 9-patch.


The remaining 2.5 squares were sewn together in a similar fashion, but the pattern of fabrics in reverse to make the middle of my 9-patch.

This was such a nice, easy way to make the 9-patch with charm squares! I, initially, was prepared to cut every square down to 2.5x2.5 and sew it piece by piece. I only ended up doing that with 1 patch, thank goodness ;)

Remember the 'extra' 2.5x2.5 square from earlier? Not to mention, the white yardage I mentioned ;) Well, the yardage was cut down to 2.5xWOF strips and then subcut multiple times to produce the following per-block:
(2) - 2.5x2.5 squares
(2) - 2.5x6.5 rectangles
I think each strip made like 4 - 2.5x2.5 & 4 - 2.5x6.5 with an extra piece left over around 7-ish inches in length.


These pieces were paired with the 'extra' 2.5 square of fabric from the 9-patch to make the box-in-box-y patch.

I'm going to use the remaining 2.5x5 rectangle on the back of the quilt. I'm so excited :) This is going to be my first project with applique (but more on that later ;)

Wish me luck!

Let's Catch Up

Wow, I've had a really busy last 10 days! I finished my Nana's quilt to start (detail to the side), and mailed it off. I really like how it turned out :) I hope she likes it. Her birthday is today, and (according to USPS tracking) she should receive the quilt this afternoon. I talked to her this morning, and she isn't feeling well. I hope this cheers her up :) My daughter was completely in love with it. I couldn't have it out without her attacking it, so to speak.


This last week and a half I have been knitting like crazy. My Mother's birthday is today, too! Boy, my hands ache! I'm not finished, either :x I will finish today. No matter how I pushed myself, I just couldn't finish it. Well, that's not exactly true. I was nearly finished, but I tore it down a few days ago and started over. I just didn't like how the first version's color scheme was turning out. I'll take a picture later tonight :)

I also started on Lyra's quilt. I have a few pictures, but I'll make that a new post. Oh, and I finished all the pillowcases for the Million pillowcase challenge and mailed those off as well. Like I said, I was busy!

Nearly Done!

I am roughly 18 inches away from completing my Nana's Quilt! My fingers are so sore! I applied the binding the other day, and have been sewing it on practically every moment of the day. It always seems like it will be fast and easy, but I enter a time warp and it ends up taking days. The end of the second day is drawing neigh ;) I really like how this, my first blanket sized project turned out. I am looking forward to washing it (with my fingers crossed that all the stitches don't unravel, LOL.)

My Year in Advance - Continued

April/May - State Fair Schnibbles (Hopscotch/Moda)

Even though I didn't use this range for Lyra's quilt, I am determined to use it. I have a strong attraction to the 30's reproduction fabrics floating around. On top of that, I love the schnibbles patterns from Miss Rosie Co. There are several that I want to try <3


May/June - Tom & Caroline's Gift (Hello Betty Retro/Moda)

I don't know how I'm going to use these jelly rolls--yet. This is another line that has a great retro 30's feel. I like the teal, rust, chocolate, gray colors. I might buy some of the bright pastel part of the range later, though.




June/July - Unknown (Blossom/Moda)

OMG. I LOVE this line. It's OOP, which is a good and bad thing. I can find the fabrics reasonably priced BUT on the flip-side of that; I can only find some of the fabrics. I purchased some more pieces that aren't pictured--namely 3 charm packs that I found for 5.50 each! Yay for me <3 I know that I have a lot. Hopefully it's not too much. :x

My Year in Advance - in part.

Like I said before, this blog is to keep my projects straight (and to share my progress). So far, with only a one change (but it's only February!) here is my line up:

January/February - Nana's Quilt (Nostalgia/Moda)

This quilt is nearly finished. I ran out of thread while quilting. I should have switched thread colors after the second time I ripped out my stitches, but I (for some misguided reason) thought I had enough to finish a 58x58 quilt top. I was wrong ;) I did get about 1/3 done, though. Of course, I still need to do the binding, too. Yay.


February/March - Lyra's 1st Birthday (Blush/Moda)

This quilt was originally going to be in a different Moda line, Hopscotch by Chloe's Closet. I was all set to go, but then I turned my eyes on Basic Gray's range for Blush. I loved the scrapbook paper, naturally, I adored the fabric. I need this project done by early April. I started cutting today since I don't have the thread I need for my Nana's quilt.



March/April - Jason's Belated Birthday (Neptune/Moda)

I was originally doing something else for his birthday, but the day of I heard he would like a quilt. So I changed gears, canceled his other present, and added this to the queue. I'm aiming to have this done in April. Preferably, around the same time as Lyra's quilt. I'm not sure how possible that is. We'll see.