WIP Wednesday: xplus quilt progress

Since it takes 30 days to form a new habit, I started my New Year's Resolutions now so that they are already ingrained by Jan 1. Two of those resolutions are going to be be: spend at least 30 minutes every day sewing something, and start taking blog pictures on the weekends when I actually have sunlight (haha!).  My biggest obstacle to blogging lately has been lack of time, space and light to take quality pictures.  I would really like to start blogging more regularly :) 

That's me, sewing at work!

Despite my absence from blogging, I have been sewing quite a bit.  In November, my department at the library started a program called "Hand Maker-space" where all crafters are welcome to join us every-other Friday for snacks, fellowship, and of course, crafting time!  It's been great to have an excuse to make during work hours, since I help facilitate the program, I can bring my sewing and play along.

The nice thing about my slow speed of quilting is that I can use new lines when they are released!

The majority of my sewing room is still packed in boxes (this will be changing soon!), so I've had limited access to WIP's.  I could dig them out, if I really wanted to, but I'd rather just work on things that are handy at the moment.  Since we moved back in August, I've been working on my Japanese X and Plus quilt. 

This project has been languishing for a while because the blocks are pretty time consuming (since I sew one block at a time), but it's one project that has been easy to get to, and bonus: the majority of the pieces were already cut which allows me to just sit down and sew a few pieces together here and there.

I've been plugging away at sewing these blocks together, I have 33 sewn so far, and need 56 for a queen-sized quilt.  Ryan says he wants the quilt finished for Christmas... Will I finish it?  Probably not.  But I'm going to try :)

Linking up at WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday: 100 Quilts for Kids Edition

Happy hump day friends!  Welcome to my stop on the DC Modern Quilt Guild 100 Quilts for Kids blog hop.  Last Saturday member from the DCMQG met in Alexandria, VA to sew up some quilts that will be donated to a shelter in the Alexandria area.  100 Quilts for Kids was started several years ago by Katie Blakesley, the 2014 drive runs through September 30, so you still have time to donate a quilt!  If you're interested, you can find details on Heather's blog.  I would also encourage you to check out the other stops on the blog hop:

Lynne @ Tinkingalong

Meli @ Munchkin Quilts

Alyson @ The Hasty Quilter

Carla @ Modernbias

Susan @ Fuller by Design

Katie @ SwimBikeQuilt

About a year ago, I received a giveaway prize from Erica at Kitchen Table Quilting.  The medium flat rate box was generously stuffed with tons of fabric, including several large scrap cuts of Erin Michael's 5 Funky Monkeys for Moda.

Not being a novelty print kind of girl, I wasn't really sure what to do with these cute little monkeys, but when I received the email about the 100 Quilts for Kids drive these seemed like the perfect fabrics to use.  For those who are regular readers of my blog, you all know I quilt at a glacial pace, so I wanted something quick and easy but not just basic patchwork.  So I did a couple Google searches and came up with this adorable jigsaw puzzle block pattern.

 

Here's the layout as of the Sewing Day last Saturday, I forgot some fabric so I had to fill up the blank spaces when I got home.  I certainly got a lot more accomplished than I would have at home though, and managed to complete more than half of the quilt top at the sewing day!

Since the complete stash is still not unpacked, I had to resort to chopping up the scraps of sock monkeys along with other scraps to have enough for the entire quilt.  I threw in some red, lime, and yellow solids and was able to come up with enough for a lap sized quilt.  I decided to go with the 9" block so I had less sewing to do :)

As is my normal fashion, I finished the quilt top last night.  Despite the fabrics not being my taste, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I just noticed taking the pictures that I sewed one of the strips on upside down (can you spot it?) so I'll have to fix that!  I have a larger cut of the white banana fabric to use for backing, and I was thinking of picking up a few yards of a DS Quilts Fancy Free plaid to complete the back (its on clearance for $7/yard!).  Hopefully I can get it quilted and bound in the next week or so!  I really need to start quilting on a deadline more often ::wink::

I also participated in making a few blocks for the group quilt.  DS Quilts donated a bunch of fabric for the Charity Drive.  Heather had us turn the fabrics into hourglass blocks. 

They turned out so cute, don't you think!  Keep and eye on the DC Modern Flickr Pool, and blog to see our finished quilts!

WIP Wednesday

It's been a while since I've done a WIP Wednesday post... sadly there hasn't really been much in-progress until this month.  My main project goal for Mid-Atlantic Mod was to work on my Briar Rose Sawtooth Stars quilt for my niece.  She will be 3 in June so I want to have it finished for her birthday.

--apologies I always seem to start off with crappy IG pics!--

I tried to get the majority of my fabrics cut so that I would be able to sew, sew, sew at the retreat, but at 2am on Wednesday before I left for lancaster I realized that wasn't going to happen.  As I was cutting I realized I was going to need more solids as well.

Since I knew I needed 4 flying geese per star, I sewed up a few test blocks using the no-waste-flying-geese method.  The about.com article even had cutting instructions for common block sizes, so I didn't even have to do quilt math for a 6 inch finished geese!

pretty stacks of solids :)

Between more cutting, and socializing, I only managed to get a few blocks done on the first day of the retreat.  I got down to business and sewed more Friday and Saturday and ended up with 18 blocks by the end of the retreat.... not too shabby considering all the other things I got up to :)

I've been sewing them piecemeal here and there as I have time.  I need 35 blocks total and plan to do a skinny border of Essex Linen in Flax to bring it up to twin size.  I'm not sure how I want to quilt it, but maybe I can get up the guts to try a loopy FMQ meander...

Linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.  What is on your sewing table?

WIP Wednesday -- Scrap Attack edition

I've been terribly remiss in my blogging lately.  Things are finally calming down at the library, but with the Holidays things are busy at home... a girl can't win.  This post should really be all about the holiday sewing that I'm doing, but I haven't even started it yet.

Instead I've been playing with my prolific scrap pile.  I posted this pic on Instagram last week (play along with #scrapbagofshame).  I really don't know how I generate so many scraps considering I have yet to finish a quilt... but i do, so I'm turning them into useful things.

Have you looked at Sunday Morning Quilts?  They have so many beautiful scrap projects in the book that I thought it would be a good starting point to try to tame this pile.



I started with the Scrapper's Delight quilt  because I have lots of strips and strings and I was thinking it would be a good charity quilt and opportunity to practice FMQ.  I have three blocks complete, and many in progress blocks (yay chain piecing!)  I'm loving how they're turning out so far :)



I got so tired of sorting through the huge scrap pile that I decided to try another project from the book -- scrap storage baskets.  They're coming together really quickly from my larger scraps.  I've been using the Quilt as you Go method to make the panels instead of sewing a slab then quilting. 

Since this was spur of the moment, I just need to get the correct interfacing for the lining and then I'll have the red complete.

 I didn't plan the orange slab as well, so it has some random scraggly bits that I'm hoping get lost in the seam allowance.

In other QAYG scrappy news, I finished my Modern Scrappy Bits item.  It's Jeni Baker's Half-Square Triangle Pouch tutorial but made with QAYG panels.  Didn't it turn out so cute?!

My partner asked for low volume and aqua.  Surprisingly I didn't have that many aqua scraps, so I'm happy I was able to come up with enough to add some color.

I'll probably table these projects for the week because I'm hoping to catch up on the rest of my commitments for the month (bee blocks, swaps), then get my Christmas stockings sewed up :)  What have you been working on?

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday: Dogwood Petals

Greetings all!  Gosh it has been a hectic week around here.  We started moving to our new library building on Monday... I'm exhausted, and it's only Wednesday!!!  The first thing to be moved was our server... so the internet went with the server to the new building on Monday, and I have no daytime internet connection since (hence my lack of blog reading).  Despite the chaos, I have found some time to sew.

I've mentioned before that I am taking Rachel @ Stitched in Color's Penny Sampler class.  I am a little ashamed to say that I haven't even started the Penny Sampler blocks yet (yup, slacker, I know).  Our first applique practice project is the Dogwood Blossoms quilt.  Since I've had Madrona Road sitting (...languishing...) in my stash since I became interested in quilting, I decided that it would be the perfect line to use for this project

I chose 16 of the more colorful prints from the line and cut up all my 6" squares.  I decided that I wanted to do sew and turn applique (it looked like a lot less hassle than dealing with starch and pressing) so I cut up some muslin too.

Clockwise from Top: Cotton Couture Peony,  CC Apricot, CC Canary, Kona Perriwinkle, CC Denim, CC Watermelon 

To supplement the prints, I decided to fill out the rest of the blossoms with solids.  These were actually just delivered today... my stash is very low on solids so when I need some I have to order online.

Here are my completed petals.  I still have yet to sew the rest of the pinks and oranges (6 prints).  And I have to cut and sew my solids as well.  The chevron fabric is my favorite.  I had to cut the squares on the bias to get them going the proper direction.

Now I need your help deciding on a background print.  I got the spots at the expensive LQS in my area.  It's hard to see but it's more of a warm gray.  The solid on the right is Kona Iron.  I'm leaning toward the print, but if I use the print I have no idea what I will use for sashing.  If I use the Kona Iron, I can use one of the gray prints from the Madrona Road line as sashing...  What do you think?

Linking up to WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced :)

WIP Wednesday: DS charms

A few months ago, I received this beautiful pile of Denyse Schmidt Charms.  Finally this weekend, I started sewing them together :)

Sorry the pic is a little blurry, I cropped it out of another picture because I forgot to take on of the charms themselves...  I really need to remember to snap pictures BEFORE I start sewing :)  Anyway, you get the idea.

 I sewed all the charms up into 9-patch blocks, trying to alternate higher volume and lower volume prints.  This was also good practice getting the hang of my 1/4" seam!

See where I'm going here?

I sewed my whole stack of charms (minus the duplicates) and now I'm just waiting for Round 2 charms to get here.  Both rounds should give me a completed lap quilt at the very least.

 Since I had all of the blocks arranged on the floor between the couch and TV I kept looking at them during commercials.  Ryan asked me why I kept staring at my fabric, lol.  I told him I had to make sure there weren't too many "like" pieces of fabric together :)

In other news, the Penny Sampler class has officially begun!  Right now Rachel has only introduced the practice projects, but I am so excited to get started!  I think I may try my hand at the dogwood blossoms quilt practice project that way I can keep busy between making my Penny Sampler blocks :)

Linking up with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced :)

WIP Wednesday: Swaps

Hiyas!  Seriously hellacious week around here /sigh...  I wanted to write this during a lull in my desk shift today, but it was so freakin busy.  Oh well, I'm home now and can knock a post out pretty quickly.

I know I've mentioned this a lot, but I love swaps.  Right now I'm in two sewing swaps over at Flickr.  Both of my partners (or maybe it's just one partner  ::wink::) mentioned they like bright rainbow colors.  Both swaps are scrappy swaps.  So I dug through my scrap packs from Hawthorne threads and my overflowing scrap bins and came up with some great rainbow prints to use for each swap. 

First off, I've been waiting for my chance to participate in the Modern Scrappy Bits swap.  When I joined the group, a round was already in progress, so I had to wait until this round to join in.  The assignment is to make a mugrug, coasters or cup cozy for our partner.  Here are the fabrics I chose: 

I honestly can't tell you what all the fabrics are since some are from swaps, and others are from scrap packs.  I know the Magenta is Metro Living rings, Pink is FMF seeds, Green is FMF leaves, Navy is AMH feathers from field study, and the teal is an Art Gallery elements.  The gray is Bella of course :)

I had a vague idea of what I wanted to make, here's what it has turned into:

I have a leftover piece of the Bella to use for backing, but it's not quite big enough so I'm going to have to do a scrappy pieced back I think.  I haven't decided how I'm going to tackle the binding yet.

The next swap I'm working on is the Simple & Sweet Scrappy swap.  For this swap we have to make a pouch for our partner, and send 50 charm squares.  I decided to go with Jeni Baker's Half Square Triangle Pouch.  Again, I pulled a pile of rainbow scraps out of the scrap bins.  I wanted each HST to be a different color, so I had to choose 12 scraps for this one.

Since this swap isn't due until Aug. 30, I have some time to work on it.  So far I have one panel done.  I'm a little intimidated since this will be my first zipper pouch, so wish me luck :)

So what have you been working on?  I have some exciting (to me) news to share later this week :)  Thanks for stopping by!

WIP Wednesday: FMF tablerunner Quilting!

Welcome to the late edition of WIP Wednesday.  We had a dreary morning here in Western MD, but when I got home from work it had cleared up enough that I had some light to take some pictures.  I decided to strip piece the back of my FMF table runner in random widths from 1-4 inches.  I was able to get at least one strip of each print (and a few duplicates) on the back this way :)

After finishing sewing the back on Sunday, we watched "Call of the Wildman" (hilarious and awesome show!) and I basted this sucker together.  It's 76.5"x14"... If basting just a table runner was this much of a pain, I'm not looking forward to a full quilt!  Maybe I went overboard on the pins?

That blue stripe is painters tape so I can get my stitch lines relatively straight in the middle of the blocks where I can't just follow the seam to quilt.  Someone on the New Bloggers Blog hop mentioned using it to quilt (Sorry I can't remember who now!) and it works great :)

I'm just doing straight line stitching at random widths along the quilt.  It looks pretty, but I realized that my back isn't quite parallel with the front because the stitch lines run in a shallow diagonal along my back strips, whoops!  I was going to use red thread to quilt, but I am so glad I changed my mind and stuck with basic white... red probably isn't the color a beginner quilter wants to use to show all her quilting mistakes ::wink::

 I also love how the white looks across the darker fabrics :)

I hope to have the quilting done by tomorrow, then I need to run to Joann's and get some red thread to attach my binding.  Hopefully I'll have it finished up by the weekend!  What are you working on this week?  Linking up with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced :)

WIP Wednesday: Bee Blocks

At the end of May I got an invitation from Rachel at Stitched in Color to join the Grace Circle of do.Good.Stitches.  I was really excited to be asked to take part in such a special project.  Quilts made in the Grace circle benefit My Very Own Blanket.  Unfortunately the circle decided to take a break from making a June quilt so I've been waiting impatiently to get started.

Our block for July is called Asterisk Flying Geese.  I've been slowly working on the blocks over the past week, and have had to spend a lot of quality time with my seam ripper trying to get everything on point.

I had a lovely stack of HST's but I'm terrible at taking in-process pictures!  They are made almost entirely of scraps, except for the neutrals which I had to cut from my stash.

I ended up finishing them right before bed last night.  I love the scrappy colorful-ness of the blocks and I think they are going to look fabulous all stitched together :)

I'm so excited for a day off tomorrow, hopefully I can get more xplus blocks sewn up now that my bee blocks for July are finished :)  What are you working on this week?

Linking up with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday

I mentioned a few posts back that Pat Bravo's Indie was on my cutting mat.  Well Indie is all chopped up and ready for my #xplusalong quilt.  I am still in the process of cutting up my neutrals (I got really sick of cutting!  So I'm just cutting the background and plus ends as I go.)

I chose 16 fabrics from the line, I left out most of the "low volume" ones since I'm going for a look similar to Holly's finished quilt.  My Low volumes, and blacks consist of a wide variety of prints that I just chose willy nilly.  Some are from my stash, some I purchased.  I wanted a pretty good variety to add more texture to the background.

The cut fabric looks so pretty on the table doesn't it?  :)

And here are my finished blocks -- 10 down, 46 more to go for a queen sized quilt, I'm sure you'll be seeing my blocks in future WIP Wednesday posts!


 

I've also been working on my Swap Primer Post -- maybe by the end of the week?  I know people are looking forward to it, but things with this house are pretty complicated at the moment so we have been spending a lot of time dealing with that... why can't Real Estate just be easy????

Linking up with WIP Wednesday!