Teal We Meet Again - Again

Last Sunday, I actually had a chance to take my Teal We Meet Again quilt outside and take some more pictures.  I'm clearly not a great photographer, and I wish I could rig a way to hang my quilts so they weren't so disproportional, but this photo will have to do.  It's better than the ones taken in the living room - at least I've got a little room to move around.

This quilt has several really fun blocks, and I thought I would show them off a bit.  They make me smile.  Maybe they'll make you smile also?

This Amy Butler block is super fun.  I love the anchors paired with the blue.  Reminds me of the ocean.

And I really love the shoes.  This one is from the swap, and I don't know who made it, but it's totally fun!

And a little Bliss is always nice, don't you think?

And aren't these dress forms just totally appropriate?  (And that's a little lantern bloom for the cross.)

And I have no idea who made this block, but the fabric in the center just pops.  Love it!

And here's a little Tufted Tweets mixed with Central Park for your viewing enjoyment...

And finally, I really liked this diagonal plaid from Ready, Set, Snow.  In fact, I liked it so well, I used it as my binding fabric.

 This style quilt is a great way to showcase fave fabrics, don't you think?  I never thought I would be so jazzed by modern-style quilting, but I have to say that while I still like traditional blocks, they are often just so boring.  Nothing boring about this baby!

And now, I'm really getting cold.  I think I'll go cuddle up in a nice warm quilt.

SUTK Swap Package

My package for the Spicing Up the Kitchen swap is finally done.  After several abortive ideas and much frustration, my package is COMPLETE!  I am so glad.  It seems like I have been working on it forever.

I started with the idea of a reversible place mat.  My original color choices were based on a piece of Amy Butler fabric that was lovely, but the only fabrics I could find that coordinated were pink, and that received a resounding thumbs down from the SUTK Flickr group.

Then, I thought I would do little birdies in green.  It was maybe just a little too green.  Note the Amy Butler fabric in the picture below.

 Then I fell in love with Kumari Gardens and wanted to showcase the butterflies.  Sadly, they did not want to be showcased as badly as I wanted to showcase them.  This is where most of the frustration came in.  I took them apart and put them back together too many times to count.  And then, when I finally did finish them, they were bigger than their partner and wouldn't work for reversible place mats at all.  I may finish them for a wedding gift or something.  They really are pretty.

And so, I did what any self-respecting quilter would do who was running desperately short of time - I took what was to have been the other side of the double-sided placemats and went full steam ahead.  I don't think I have a scrap much bigger than a charm square left of any of these fabrics.

There are 4 placemats, each with a different applique.  The applique patterns are from Sandi Henderson's Bits and Pieces book.


Note that I am too short to get a really good picture of these.  This was taken standing on the couch.

I made a decorative dish towel.  I pieced a decorative border for the bottom of the towel.  I was amazed that I had a towel the perfect color in my stash.  Such forethought (NOT - purely accidental!)

Each of the fabrics is "quilted" onto the towel.

I made a double sided pot holder from a tutorial I found here.  It was super easy and fun to make.

I did discover that my sewing machine, which does not really like to FMQ at all, REALLY does not like to FMQ on Insulbrite - especially two layers of insulbrite.

This is the outside.  

And this, of course, is the inside, with two little pockets for your hands and a little loop to hang it up.
















 Finally, I made a modified fat quarter apron.  I used the same border idea on the apron as on the dish towel.    I thought it turned out pretty cute.

I really hope my partner likes it.

Spicing up the Kitchen

So I've had a month to get my act together for my swaps, and I am really struggling.  I am starting to feel the pinch of time, since this swap is due at the end of the month.

My partner asked for placemats and said she liked the usual fabric designers.  From the beginning, I wanted to make a double sided placemat in fun, bright colors, which is what she said she liked.

This was my first idea, but when I posted it, the general consensus was that pink in the kitchen was a no-go.  I guess I was stuck on the Amy Butler fabric, though, because I just couldn't get that print out of my mind, until I made this:

Easy Reusable Grocery Bag by Keika Lou

Somehow, that seemed to help, and I could move on.  Then I came up with this

Then I came up with this:

which I think was entirely too green, and not very exciting.

My next idea was a little better.

although I should learn not to take photos late at night because the color just doesn't do it justice.  This is a beautiful robin's egg blue Kona matched with Moda's Bliss by Bonnie and Camille.  This one turned out OK, and I think I will like it when I get it quilted.  The appliques are from Sandi Henderson's Bits and Pieces book, which BD#1 got me a couple of weeks ago.   Each placemat has a different applique. 

I lightened this photo and the colors are better, but it lost a lot of the detail in the process.  

For the other side, I picked Kumari Gardens by Dena Designs as my fabric inspiration.  I just loved the butterflies.  Somehow, the design just doesn't pop like I wanted it too, so I pulled it all apart and started over.  Here was the first try:

And here is the detail:

Well, I'm a little frustrated, but as they say, it's a work in progress.