Do Your Own Sampler Quilt-A-Long

You know that I love a good QAL and Sarah's DYO Sampler QAL has been on my mind ever since it was announced on Sew Mama Sew.  Deciding what fabrics/color scheme was my only barrier to finally begin.  I almost went super-novelty, by diving into my Halloween fabrics.  I debated finally cutting into my stack of Briar Rose.  I finally decided that using the autumn inspired colors of these two fabrics would be a fun jumping off point, I like that they have both light and dark colors:

So far, the blocks I have made are creations from patterns in my small sewing book library.  The first block I made was a big dresden plate (of course!).  I used the directions from Pillow Pop!

I've been very intrigued by the cute Modern Maple quilts out there and enjoyed making this leaf block, a pattern from Pretty in Patchwork Holidays:

 
I made a "Kitchen Window" block from the Practical Guide to Patchwork:

I finally used a little book called "Quick and Easy Block Tool" to make the classic Churn Dash:

 A log cabin, via Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me:

 Two selections from Tula Pink's City Sampler:

And finally, here they all are together (sorry for the poor photo!):

I am going to continue to take the opportunity to try out those random blocks I've wanted to make from my books, magazines, and online tutorials.  Just making one block feels so liberating!

Filling in the quilt top and piecing it all together will be a challenge but I am not going to worry too much about it yet. I am sticking to even numbers for block size, so that will hopefully simplify the process.

More soon!  Thanks for reading.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Sunflowers

I am entering my Sunflowers quilt into the "Original Design" category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  This quilt is made from a giant cut of fabric I bought in Uganda when my husband and I volunteered there several years ago.  I created these "crazy quilt" block strips to run down both sides of the sunflower panels with the goal of creating visual interest without interfering with the scale and drama of the African fabric.  

Be sure to check out the other quilts at the festival this year!

P.S.  This weekend I am off to Ft. Collins to visit a long lost friend: a Gammill quilting machine (to rent!).  The giant  Penny Patch will be completed quite soon.  I am so excited!

WIP Wednesday: Teacher Gifts

I have finally entered the phase of needing to make gifts for my children's teachers.  Gregory was only in preschool for about six weeks but I felt the desire to make something nice for his kind teachers anyway.  Having him in preschool has been the most effective tool in easing my adjustment to this move from MA to CO: preschool has helped to improve his behavior, increased his self confidence and personal happiness, allowed me some "down time," and enabled me to accomplish important household duties that might have otherwise been left undone.  (I have found grocery shopping around here to be positively miserable- especially with a child who is too big for the cart !).  

Anyway, Gregory will return to the same preschool with the same teachers in the fall and I am grateful he can continue to learn from them.  I decided to make them some simple patchwork zipped bags out of stash fabrics and other materials I had on hand.  I only had to buy a little interfacing to make these.  

These fabrics are definitely not my style but I think they look cute anyway.  I used some yard sale pre-quilted material as "interlining" and it made them super sturdy: just the way I like it!

On another note:  I usually try not to get too concerned with out-of-print and hard to find fabrics but I am desperately seeking at least a fat quarter of the pink version of the Alexander Henry print: 2D Zoo.  It looks like this: (please note that it's not the "tiny" version).

If you know of where to buy some or have some you'd like to trade or sell, please let me know!  A friend wants me to make them a baby quilt and has requested "girl," "animals," "yellow," "modern," and "not too girly."  I really think this fabric fits the bill!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Spring Blogger's Quilt Festival: Sherbet Pips Bird Bath

I decided to share an "old" favorite for my first Blogger's Quilt Festival entry.  I made this twin-sized Birth Bath quilt in 2011.  The pattern is from Elizabeth Hartman's "Practical Guide to Patchwork" book.  I remember being so psyched about Aneela Hooey's debut fabric collection: Sherbet Pips.  A friend and I pre-ordered half yards of the whole collection and it wasn't long before I cut it all up, along with a lot of stash fabrics and scraps, to make this quilt.  

This is one of my favorite quilts I've made because it is very scrappy with a limited color scheme- I love that look.  It is a simple pattern, but it wasn't exactly a quick quilt for me.  I also found it challenging to quilt it at the longarm rental place because I was 7+ months pregnant with my daughter.  I chose to stipple because my main goal was to simply get the three layers together before the baby came!

 Make sure to take some time to check out all of the other quilts in the festival.  Thanks for reading.

Giveaway Winner and Progress

Life has been crazy lately with lots of family visiting, a bad stomach bug making the rounds, and the normal chaos of raising young children.  I did, however, manage to choose a giveaway winner (via the random number generator) and Karen of Indiana, won the pillow cover.  It's already in the mail to her.  Thanks to all of those who entered and started following this blog.  I wanted to share how I came up with that unique color combination: I love this Alexander Henry fabric (pictured below right) and grabbed fabrics from my stash that matched the palette:

 

This weekend, with Cassie and my sister visiting, we pulled a few late-nighters and I worked on my Jacob's Ladder quilt, I am a 1/4 of the way there!

I know that it was a while ago now, but I wanted to share a picture of the flowers I received for Mother's Day.  This lovely color combination needs to be put into a quilt asap!

I actually have my husband trained pretty well, as he also gave me these "flowers" for the occasion as well:

Next up, I will be participating in the bi-annual Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Thanks for reading!

Le Challenge Entry: Hexie Flower Pillow

Welcome to all of my new followers.  Wow!  I hope you enjoy this space and gain some crafty inspiration here.  There's still time to enter my SMS giveaway if you feel interested in doing so.  

The latest theme at Le Challenge is "Nature."  A flower motif is such an easy  response to the theme, but I will say this was definitely a time intensive project with lots of hand sewing.  The pillow is 24" square- I bought a brand new 24" pillow form at a yard sale for $1 a while ago and wanted to finally put it to use.  

I chose one of my favorite pieces from my stash, a Summersville print to be the background of the pillow - such cozy little houses!  

I did a zippered back with a Comma dot to cover the zipper.  I always use this tutorial, from Sew Mama Sew, to do a zippered pillow.  By using washable 1/4" tape instead of pins, I find installing zippers in these types of projects to be a breeze.

Don't my patchwork pillows look good together?  Time to make another I think.  (Thanks again to Jen for adding to my collection.)  I am loving making pillow lately because they allow me to try out a new technique without committing to a HUGE project.  I also finally have the space to enjoy a few decorative pillows in my home- they don't feel like clutter- as they may have in our former home.

Linking up to Le Challenge and Finish it up Friday.

SMS Giveaway: Patchwork Pillow Cover

It's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!  I am excited to finally participate by offering this pillow cover to giveaway entrants.  It is a 20" sqaure pillow cover made from fabrics from my stash.  (To save on shipping, I will not be including a pillow form- sorry!)

The back is a rose pink dot print with a zippered closure.

If you are new to this blog, here's a little mosaic of some of the items I have made for myself and friends within the past year:

To enter my giveaway, please leave a comment answering the question, "What is the one sewing project you MUST do before you die?"  If you are a follower, let me know in a second comment, to receive a second entry.  I will ship internationally.  The winner will be chosen at random.  Please leave me your email address if you are a "no reply" commenter.  This giveaway closes on May 15, 5 P.M. PST.  Be sure to check out the many other giveaways at sewmamasew.com

Finish it up Friday: Gifts

Life is good here- I've been very busy.  Lots of fun finishes to share:

I had to get a picture of Charlotte finally wearing my favorite Rollerskate Dress that I made.  She really prefers the novelty prints but conceded after having a bathroom issue just as we got to church (we came home and changed).  I am sending the other floral version to a former college roommate who has a three year old that still wears 2T.  

I have another baby shower this weekend to attend and I made some cute quilted bibs:

A little while ago, I won a giveaway at Sew Giving- the funny thing was that I didn't realize I was entering a giveaway (I didn't read the post carefully) and before I knew it, this little bundle of Terra Australis came in the mail, all the way from Australia.  I received the fabric on Wednesday:

And I made this quilted pillow on Thursday.  I was a little obsessed and really had fun making this.  I also had a deadline: my in-laws are coming for a visit and with them arriving on Mother's Day, shortly after my mother in-law's (Julie) birthday - I knew I wanted to make her a few things.

I did some diagonal straight line quilting, using 1/4" quilters masking tape as a guide (something I got at a yard sale ages ago).  This was a very fun project!

I used a stash fabric I've had for ages to make a zippered back.  I also made my own pillow form.

Finally, I also made Julie a divided basket, using more stash fabrics- a few prints from the Art Gallery collection, Floressence.  I decided to do the pocket version this time and it came together pretty quickly.

I have also added more fabrics to my Etsy destash.  Here's another coupon code, good through May 19, for 10% off: MOTHER.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Happy Mother's Day!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday and Sewjo Saturday.

Finish it up Friday: Baby Shower Gift

I attended a baby shower this evening for a new mom.  Last night, I did a fabric pull- basing my choices off the AH cupcake fabric.  Such a unique color combination - I don't think I would've done this on my own- but it really works.  The funny thing is, I actually don't have a ton of girly novelty fabrics but I have SO much boy ones.  I guess I really let myself go wild when I had my son first.  

About 5 minutes after I was supposed to leave my house, these were done!  I was in such a rush- it's a miracle I took a picture.  I really need to make a few sets of these types of things to have in reserve for such occasions.

I used cute fabrics for the back - which I usually don't do.  But now they're reversible, which is a fun element to the project.  I also finally tried out some of my decorative stitches, stitched around two of the bibs.

These bibs are made via this tutorial on Sew She Sews, I make them a little differently by using a different template and slightly different measurements for the fabric pieces.  Linking up with Finish it up Friday and Sewjo Saturday.

Etsy Destash

I have begun the task of de-stashing some fabric at my little shop on Etsy.  I will continue to add more fabric as time allows, hopefully within this next week. I have tried to price most fat quarters at $1.75 each and discounted other items.  A few pieces are more, due to being quite rare.  Use the coupon code "READER" for 10% off your purchase- good through 5/9/14.  Thanks!

Jacob's Ladder Progress

On Monday, I went ahead and put together four blocks before I return to all of the strip piecing for my Jacob's Ladder quilt.  I am really happy with the results!  This is probably one of the most time consuming quilts I have ever attempted, but I think it will be worth it.  I am making this from all stash fabrics but I am not noticing any discernible dent in the stash because I am just taking small pieces off all sorts of fabrics.  Linking up with WIP Wednesday:

Weekend Productivity in Fort Collins

I went up to Fort Collins for the weekend to spend time with my sister and Cassie.  I wanted a break and needed a reminder that I didn't move away from all of my family.  Fort Collins is a cool town- it feels much less "intense" than Colorado Springs and feels more green and has more trees.  (I should've brought my camera!)

Since I knew I would have the chance to sew with Cassie, I came prepared with tons of sewn strip sets for my Jacob's Ladder quilt.  I almost had a major crisis when I found that all of the strip sets were almost a 1/4" too small.  I had ironed all of the seams to the side, in hopes of "locking" the seams together when I made the nine patches.  I decided to try ironing the seams open and it made the strip sets much more accurate.  Accuracy in my quilting is not my strongest skill, so we shall see how this all ends up.  I am questioning my sanity in attempting to make a quilt that has 53 pieces per block.  This has helped me decide to not go queen-size this time.

After I ironed all of the seams open- I did the tedious task of cutting them into 1.5" strip sets.  I am so glad I got this completed among friends- it lessened the drudgery.  (Unfortunately, I still need to make a lot more though!)

I also started stitching the Once Upon a Time sampler.  It's so intimidating to start a big cross-stitch project, but once I get going- I really enjoy it.

Cassie and I visited two quilt shops: Mama Said Sew and Fig Leaf Quilts (which also doubles as a furniture store- surely it's a husband/wife team that came up with the concept?).  I was pretty conservative in only choosing a few 1/4 yd cuts but then went for a large cut of some old AMH that was on sale for next to nothing.  It will be a great backing for the Constellations queen-sized quilt that is next on my to-do list.

When I came home to my family last night, there was a mysterious package waiting for me.  My amazing friend Jen, made me the most adorable pillow.  I can't think of a more thoughtful gift that I have received.  Hand sewn detail?!  Adorable fabrics?!  Thoughtful sentiment?!  Way to make a girl cry!!!!  (But seriously, it is perfect and it's a very creative idea!)

P.S. I discovered a quilt shop that rents Gammill's in Ft Collins at an affordable price without requiring the extra cost of an expensive class!  I think I will be returning to Ft. Collins quite soon!

WIP Wednesday: Jacob's Ladder and Cross-Stitch

I am starting work on a Jacob's Ladder quilt, following this tutorial from Blue Elephant Stitches.  It is a project I began, rather weakly, in February, and now I am ready to return to it.  I went to a FRMQG meeting on Saturday and stayed after the sew-in.  I was pretty productive in being able to cut and pair all of the Thangles I needed as well as lots of skinny strips for the 9 patches:

I am also dying to start the FPS pattern, Once Upon a Time (OUAT) sampler, I am just waiting for 2 skeins of the border/outline floss from an online order to arrive in the mail.

At the FRMQG meeting, there was a great presentation on quilt photography.  It was inspiring and I had to try the idea of using foam-core posterboard to create a white background for craft pictures.  This is a picture of the OUAT supplies I gathered:

Not bad, right?  I am also intrigued to try this "free course" about shooting in manual mode with a DSLR.  I will let you know how it goes.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday: