Swappy Stuff - Pouches and Baskets and Blocks, Oh My!

After my swapping hiatus earlier in the  year, I have finally decided that a bit of judicious swapping would be fun. One of the first swaps I signed up for this year was the 4S Swap.  Originally titled the Sweet and Simple Scrappy Swap, 4S just seems easier, you know?  This round was baskets following the Birch Fabrics tutorial.  Anyway, I was gifted with this lovely package from Amber_Crawley.  So, so fun!  The paper pieced balloon is just awesome.  And being that I have just reorganized my sewing space, fabric baskets are especially welcome.

And while the front of the basket is just spectacular, the back is just as cute.  Love that eyeglasses fabric.  And all the dots.  I'm always in love with dots.

My little basket turned out well, I think.  While cleaning my room, I found a half yard of Hello Petal Jump Rope that I had no idea I had.  It made a great focal square in the middle of my QAYG panel, and a fun lining too.  The rest of the QAYG is just out of the scrap bin.  I love creating projects from scraps - it makes me feel so thrifty.

I used a different fussy cut square on the back.  

Last month, our ECMQG swap was Friendship Baskets using the psiquilt tutorial.  I received this fun little bag from Elaine.

Apparently I neglected to take a picture of the one I made, but it was similar to this one I made last summer from some AMH Loulouthi selvages my daughter sent me.  I love using selvages - especially pretty ones.

I've been playing along in the Sewing With Friends swap for a couple of years now, and this time I am swapping with my good friend Leona.  We met for dinner the other night, so I had a chance to take her her pouch for this round.  I used a fussy cut from the Heather Ross Crafty Chloe line she did for Hancock Fabrics a couple of years ago, and quilted it with the Bernina zigzag stitch #4.

On the back, I just used a scrap of Denyse Schmidt fabric from JoAnn's.  In fact, this whole project - with the exception of the fussy cut square on the front, was directly out of the scrap bin.

I used a piece of pink I found in my recent housecleaning for the lining.

One of the fun swaps I'm in this year is the Handmade Birthday Swap.  I've been making these little pouches for the birthday girls, filling them with a few fun sewing goodies.  This is my latest one, made from Hothouse Flowers, by Mo Bedell.  I just love these colors.  They make my heart sing!  This is from a FQ bundle I bought from Westwood Acres when I visited a couple of months ago.

The ECMQG does a block lottery each month.  Everyone who contributes a block also contributes a dollar, and one (or sometimes two or three) lucky winners take home enough blocks to make a quilt.  This month we are doing a 12-1/2 inch carpenters square (swoon) block.  These blocks are 1/4 the size of Camille Roskelly's Swoon pattern, but they still have a big impact.

We're also doing a wonky star charity quilt made from Moda's Sphere fabric by Zen Chic.  This is the block I made. Can't wait to see the quilt when it's finished.

Last of all, I'm working on a quilt for my friend Leona.  Once I got the blocks for the Block of the Month nearly done, she decided she really didn't want the quilt after all, as it held difficult memories for her.  I've been feeling guilty for almost a year, so when she said she wanted this Lazy Sunday (pattern by Lee Chappel) quilt out of AMH fabric (Dowry and True Colors), I jumped at the chance to make it for her.  I've got the blocks done (all 112 of them!), and now just have to put the top together.  I think this quilt is going to be fabulous - all those rich colors will just take your breath away, I think.

So, that's what's been going on in the sewing room this week.  What fun things have you been working on?

Mini Quilts

So, have you caught the "make everything tiny" bug???  No it's nothing like the bronchitis I had last month (thank goodness!)

Everyone seems to want to make everything smaller.  Including quilt blocks.

Have you seen the crazy small quilt blocks my lovely daughter has been making??  Oh my gosh, they're adorable!  (But maybe just a mite too small for me, really.)

But I did need a mini quilt for a swap recently and decided to try my hand at one of Camille's adorable little patterns.  This one is the mini Rain Check, and it's free on her blog right now.  And remarkably, I even had an April Showers charm pack sitting around. 

And being as I'm from Seattle originally, I've always been just a little crazy about umbrellas.  And teeny tiny umbrellas are even better.

You know what they say about those of us from Seattle, right?  We don't tan in the summer - we rust!  Bwahahah!  (Sorry.)

These little umbrellas are just adorable, and totally fun to make.  I did have a bit of an issue with the handles, however.  I've always said I have a love/hate relationship with fusible web, and this time was no different.  It just didn't want to bond as well as I thought it should, particularly on these super-tiny pieces.  Next time I may try embroidering the handles, instead of the fusible web.

These little umbrellas are super fun!

Which cute little mini quilt shall I do next?

Snow Days (Yes! in Florida!)

We've had some weird weather here in Northwest Florida the past few days...  the kind that drives you into the house and you don't leave.  Living in this house for almost 25 years, I can't remember ever seeing icicles on the roof before.

Or seeing a forecast like this very often.  (Notice how it will be back to normal by the weekend!  Sheesh, if we don't all have pneumonia, it will be a miracle!)

And while we've had snow before, I don't recall ever seeing snow on top of a layer of ice like this.  Or having it stick around for more than a few hours.

It was kind of pretty, though.

And since my husband was stuck in all the madness that was snow in Atlanta over the last several days, I had the house all to myself.  (Thankfully, he was warm and dry and out of this mess!  But certainly not trying to head home - especially with both airports closed.)

It was the perfect opportunity to stay indoors and sew, and I'm happy to say that I've made some progress.

Hoping for two 14 in 2014 finishes in January, I worked on the circles quilt.  Officially called Spot On, the pattern is from Camille Roskelly's Simplify book, and is part of my goal to make every quilt in the book.  I think I only have a couple more to go.

As you can see, I quilted a large spiral in the center to outline the circle, then swirls in the borders.  I used the Bernina 4 stitch for the sashing.

I wanted something with rounded edges in the borders, and I thought I would try something new, so I quilted hearts in the inner border.  Or at least an approximation of hearts.  I never did get them down perfectly, but I am satisfied with them as a first try.

I decided I wanted to try feathers in the outer border, but I didn't want to just go for it.  I had this quilt (which was one of the first ones I made when I got back into quilting after my long working-mommy-hiatus) which had no quilting in the borders, and was just screaming for something - anything.  So I practiced my feathering skills around the borders of this disappearing 9-patch quilt.

After some helpful critiquing via text message from my friend Krista, I revised my technique a bit, and while not perfect, they are much better.  I'm not displeased with them for a first try.  (It seems like every quilt I make is a practice quilt.)

And so this one is finished and bound, thanks to mother nature, and since the sun is {finally} out today, maybe I'll get a chance to take some real pictures.

Photo courtesy of Riley Blake

Because I was stuck indoors, I finally started work on my project for the Riley Blake MQG challenge. I've been staring at these 6 fabrics on my design wall for months (literally!) without a clue what I was going to do.  But the deadline for our guild is a week from Saturday, so it was time to dive in.  I honestly had no idea what I was going to do until I did it.  This is certainly a great example of being led along, one step at a time.  Or as my mother would have said, I work better out of desperation than inspiration.

I decided I wanted to do something Dresden-style, so I started with that.  I cut the wedges (some of which I had to piece because of the way I wanted the design to go).  Then I decided that narrow black strips between would unify these disparate pieces.  The rules said you could use any solids with these Riley Blake prints, and since I was stuck inside, what I had on hand was Kona black.  I used the gray/brown (I never could decide which it was, but the gray thread looked best) as the quarter circles in the corners.

I had only two bolts of fabric on hand for the background - yellow and white.  I decided I liked these wedges better on the yellow.

I appliqued the circles into blocks, then spent about an hour on Pinterest searching Dresden blocks.  Finally, I decided on this block arrangement.  (I apologize for the clutter in the photo, but my sewing room is small, but it was the warmest room in the house during this crazy weather.)

I found a white sheet in the stash that I bought on sale at Target several (maybe 4) years ago to use as the backing, and I just bought a 25-yard bolt of batting on sale at Joann's which was delivered last week, so I had batting on hand also, which was a good thing, because all the stores were closed for two days.  I might have made a trek to the fabric store to find backing if I hadn't been trapped in the house, so this is a case where having things in your stash was a big plus!

I tried my new spray basting skills, and had a bit of a disaster.   Notice how alike these two cans are?  Yup, yours truly picked up a can without looking and sprayed blue stencil marking spray all over her quilt batting.  Omgh!  But, I figured that since it was meant to wash out, maybe it would wash out of the batting, so before I sandwiched the quilt, I took my batting-and-backing sandwich, which had already been bonded with adhesive, to the kitchen sink and scrubbed.  I'm glad to say the stencil marking spray washed right out.  (Yup, the painters tape on the bottom of the stencil spray is so I don't make that mistake again!)

Note to self:  put on your glasses and pay attention.

I sewed, and I quilted and just had a great time in my nice warm room...

And I ended up with this.  I'm in the process of binding, and it should be finished in time.  Whew!

And while I was in my toasty sewing room, I decided to finish the pillows that I started months ago and never finished for my daughter to go with her Wallflowers quilt.  I made the blocks a long time ago, and they have just been sitting there neglected on my design wall.

So I bordered and quilted and zippered and backed and am now in the binding phase with these too.  

All in all, it was a pretty productive couple of days.  And today the sun is out and the ice is melting and the husband is coming home, so it will be back to normal very soon.

WIP Wednesday... Um... Thursday

Well, as is often the case around here, I am a day late and a dollar short.  I woke up yesterday morning determined to take some decent pictures of all of the quilty stuff that's been going on around here and get a blog post written, but I made the mistake of taking a detour into the sewing room to gather everything and got... um... distracted.  I barely made it out alive!  Well, not really, but by the time I finished up in there and gathered my stuff and went out to find a suitable location for my photo "shoot", it was 4:30 in the afternoon.  Whew!

As you might have guessed from the photo above, I finally got the edge pieces and borders sewn onto the Starflower quilt from Amanda's Starflower QAL.  I had been putting it off, but I'm not sure why.  This looks like a difficult and intricate quilt, doesn't it?  If you try it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.  Amanda's instructions are superb, well written, and very easy to follow.  Even better, the results are fantastic!  Would you look at those points???  And they're not a fluke.  Every.  Single.  Point.  Matches.  Perfectly.  It's so nice to create something that turns out so well.  And it was easy.  Really.  I am truly amazed and excited by this quilt.  Now to find the perfect backing!

I finished up the top of the Spot-On quilt late last week.  Spot On is another of the patterns in Camille Roskelly's Simplify book, so this is one more toward my goal of making all the quilts in the book.  I ordered fabric from someone other than my favorite shop, and I must have gotten spoiled by the same-day shipping because it seemed to take forever.  I ordered this on Thursday, but it didn't ship until Monday, and so it was Thursday before it arrived.  A whole week!  I admit that was a bit impatient and frustrated.  I will say, however, that when it arrived the fabric was perfectly cut and nicely wrapped, which was very pleasant.

I had the leftovers of the layer cake, plus a charm pack, some scraps, and the leftover yardage, so I created a really scrappy back for it.  It's kind of fun.  Notice anything unusual.  Yup.  Totally outside my norm, I used tons of gray.  Still, I have to admit that it works really well with Juggling Summer and really makes the colors pop.  I thought it was ironic that the front is all circles and the back is mostly squares...

I took my Modern Maples quilt along on my photo shoot...

Because I made a back for it as well.  I was going to do just the one big leaf, but then the charm pack called to me, and I couldn't resist doing this "falling leaves" motif.  Seemed appropriate for autumn, don't you think?  And I don't think there has ever been a time in my life I've bought 4  yards of Kona Coal in a two week period.   Don't worry though.  There's plenty left at the store!

I'm glad to finally get some decent pictures of the Quilts of Valor.  I have to admit that I really like this one.  The process of creating this quilt was really interesting to me.  I usually either use a pattern or have a really good idea of what the quilt will look like before I begin.  This one just kind of *grew*.  I started out with the flag idea from some scraps that were left from the star QOV, and it built itself, row by row.  And after all is said and done, I really like it.

I had a pretty good idea of what this one would look like when I started.  I wanted to do a large wonky star as a Quilt of Valor after being inspired by this quilt.  And I wanted the color scheme to be somewhat less traditional than red, white and blue.  The khaki in this quilt reminds me of the desert fatigues that so many of our troops wear now.  I'm pretty happy with this one as well.

Finally, I made a back for the bookshelf quilt I started last July when I was moving my sewing space and needed a quick sewing fix.  My friend had given me a few Santorini layer cake squares and some yardage so I decided to use what I had, and this was what I came up with. I honestly really like it.

The layer cake squares remind me a bit of cubbies, where you might place  your belongings at school or even stuff books into, and the pinwheels are sort of symbolic of the excitement and surprises one might find in books.  (I love to read, can you tell?)  Anyway, this was what distracted me so much yesterday.   It was a really fun quilt back to create.

So, even though there are no finishes to report this week either, I am making progress.   I love the idea of using what I had on hand to create an original quilt back to go with the quilt.  I'm sure I won't do that every time, but it was a fun challenge. 

Now, to get these sandwiched!  Let the quilting begin!

Lots of activity (finally!) Not. One. Finish.

I have been in a bit of a creative funk lately.  For a couple of weeks I've been having trouble getting anything done.  I am here to say that I think my little funk was an aberration and I'm back in the groove.  Maybe.

Last week I posted photos of all the stuff in my to-be-quilted pile.  It is all still there.  Every last bit of it.  But it's funny how I got back on track...

A few months ago, my friend gave me this Juggling Summer Layer Cake to go along with the Juggling Summer FE bundle she gave me for my birthday.  (I have very generous friends, don't I?) 

So, last Friday, I was sitting here feeling all guilty about the stack of quilts that only needed backs so they could be sandwiched and quilted, and inspiration struck.  Finally.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the back of my Modern Maples quilt.

I dug into the back of that layer cake and pulled out 5 black squares and made this giant modern maples block.  It measures 27-1/2 inches.  It's gonna be the focal point on the back of that Modern Maples quilt.  I ordered some yardage to go along with it.  I think it's gonna be awesome.

And while I was digging around in that layer cake, I remembered a quilt pattern I've been wanting to make for-ev-er as part of my goal to make every quilt in Camille Roskelly's Simplify book at least once (there are several I've made more than that), and the rest of this Juggling Summer layer cake seemed like the perfect fabric choice.

So I grabbed the Wonder Under and started drawing circles.  And by Saturday afternoon, the layout was done...

all the circles were fused and appliqued onto the layer cake squares....

And by Monday afternoon, I had an almost-finished quilt top.  I'm still trying to decide what to do about the borders.  I used Kona Coal for the sashing (totally out of character, I know) because it really made the colors pop.  Yes, I admit it.  Gray has it's place.  (Speaking of gray, I'm sorry for the weird glary inside pictures, but it's been gray and gloomy here most of this week.  The weather seems to be more agreeable today, so maybe I'll try to get out and take some pictures later.)

I was catching up on my blog reading the other night and I noticed this quilt and it occurred to me that a giant wonky star would make a wonderful Quilt of Valor.  Our MQG has had an urgent request for Quilts of Valor  recently, and I've been planning to join in.  Yesterday, I dug into my newly purchased stack of fabrics and came up with this.  The problem is that the QOV Foundation has very specific rules for quilts to be accepted as Quilts of Valor.  They need to be a minimum of 50" x 70".  I wasn't there yet, and I was determined to work from my stash and not to buy any more fabric.

So, after some strategic fabric additions, here is the quilt I came up with.  It measures 60" x 75".  Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although I'm not sure I don't regret using Kona Putty instead of Kona White for the background fabric.  The putty has the advantage of matching the background of the light colored prints, so it won out over white.  Hopefully I will like it more once it's quilted.

The original center of the star quilt was supposed to be this bright blue square, but it just didn't work.  It was way too bright for the rest of the fabrics in the quilt.  But that fail gave me another idea.  The inspiration for this quilt seemed to come just one piece at a time.  It isn't finished yet, and I still don't know exactly what it will look like. 

I added a Kona snow panel (I had the Kona in my stash) with cornerstones.  (Here I was auditioning this red floral fabric for another row.  Nope!)

Next I added a row of red and then a row of 6" squares with nine patch cornerstones....  It's coming.  It measures 48" x 54" right now.  But I think I'm going to have to break my rule and go buy some fabric for the outside rows.

So now I have 8 (count them! E.I.G.H.T.) unquilted quilts, all needing backs, all needing batting (sounds expensive!), all needing sandwiching (yuck), and all needing quilting and binding.

Guess I had better get busy!