something new for 2012

Jan 5th, 2012 by

I know I should be digging into to all those wips.  But I always knew my very first project of 2012 was going to be cutting into this:

lotta lovely

my precious Lotta Jansdotter Echo stack!  Most of this bundle came from the wonderful Julie over at The Intrepid Thread.  It came with coordinating Free Spirit solids in Slate, Saffron and Dogwood.  I added Kona solids in Navy, Pond, Espresso, Violet and Amber (a new favorite!).

slice, slice, slice

After a couple of days of cutting and arranging, here’s what’s developing:

bento box love

I’m following Sonnet of the Moon’s Bento Box tutorial, and the blocks have turned out even better than I hoped!  They come together very fast, and the larger sections really show off the beauty of these modern prints.

block arranging

I can’t wait for this top to come together!

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the end of the year

Dec 31st, 2011 by

I’ve been such a bad blogger!  Lots of things have gotten in the way the past couple of months, but I did manage to put together a little look-back mosaic of most of what I made in 2011.  There are quite a few things I made that I never even blogged, and a few I managed to just finish in the last 2 months. I promise they’ll get their own posts soon!

from top: whiz bang socks, baby girl quilt for a friend, oktoberfest pillow, supernova, variance cowl, buttercup bag for my cousin, time pillow, a special rubik's quilt, lightweight pullover, the longest scarf, first box bag!, bottled rainbows, cooper cowl, a little voile fun, the path to fall quilt

  I’m happy to say I accomplished more than I thought!  6 finished quilts in all, and a lot more I really need to get cracking on.

the quilt rack of shame, a.k.a. those pesky WIPs

Happy New Year everyone!  See you next year!!

time for a nap

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oktoberfest

Oct 24th, 2011 by

I can’t believe it’s almost Halloween already!  The next few weeks are going to be filled with lots of finishing up stuff (I hope), and getting into gear on some gift projects I’ve got planned.  But I certainly didn’t forget about Celebrate Color either, and I did manage to get a little project ready just in time.

oktoberfest pillow

Oktoberfest reversible pillow – scrappy bento/string block
size: about 16″ x 16″
materials: almost all scraps, yay!
quilting: straight lines

We’ve been seriously in need fun pillows for our sofa for a while, so I thought it would be a good time to finally put together a little case and try out some new-to-me techniques.

block detail

black corner

I went for a sort of Bento Box style construction on the front.  I wanted a richer palette for fall this time, jewel tones in teal, cerise, black and golds.

tiny paper piecing!
tiny strings!

I knew I wanted white strips through the center of the block, but on a whim I decided to do this little medallion in the center.  It echoes the flipside and was so cute but so small!  I used little 2 inch squares of paper for these mini strings.

reversible style
reversible style

For the big string blocks on the “back” I used the same colors but threw in some green scraps as well.  I did all straight line quilting for this which you can really see in the above pic.  It was a little hard to keep the lines perfectly spaced, but overall I’m happy with how it turned out.

invisible (sort of) zipper
invisible (sort of) zipper

This pillow was also my first zipper attempt, and it’s invisible!  It was a bit tricky but thanks to a wonderful tutorial on Rachel’s blog, I think it looks okay.  The only little quirk is that I accidentally inserted it into what I had decided was the top.  Oh well.

ready for the couch
ready for the couch

Linking up with Celebrate Color once again!

CCsimple

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Posted in pillows, sewing | 6 Comments »

time for a finish

Sep 25th, 2011 by

Here’s my new fall quilt fresh from the dryer!

leavespath1
a visit to the park

The Path to Fall – friendship braid/herringbone quilt
size: about 40″ x 56″
materials: various fabrics, linen border, Modern Meadow & Kona Coal backing
binding: scrappy!
quilting: FMQ

leavespath3

I’ve been wanting to try this sort of quilt for a while, and when I read about Celebrate Color on Rachel‘s blog the idea for this quilt immediately started brewing.  I thought the herringbone pattern was very reminiscent of the veining found in leaves, and also sort of like a stone path through the woods.

Joel Dewberry back!
Joel Dewberry back!

A look at the back.  I really wanted to use those wonderful trees from Joel Dewberry’s Modern Meadow line, and paired it with other prints from the same line and Kona Coal.

leavespath3
lounging around the bedrocks

The pattern looked complicated but comes together pretty easily and quickly.  I referenced this great tutorial for the size of the strips, and followed along with the excellent instructions from Lee in Fat Quarterly‘s Issue 5 (I did each column in one continuous strip though).

leavespath2
climbing up

The planning stage on the design wall was the most time consuming.  I wanted each color to sort of flow into one another like cascading leaves.

leavespath6
leftover strips for the binding

I knew I wanted use neutral linen as the border, but had to have that scrappy binding for snippets of color along the edge.
leavespath8

Linking up with Celebrate Color!

CCsimple

Go check out all the amazing projects being made by everyone!  Thanks for checking out my latest creation!

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Posted in quilts, sewing | 19 Comments »

that fall feeling

Sep 19th, 2011 by

fallcolor2

I’ve been busy working on a little something for Celebrate Color, stay tuned!

CCsimple

Haven’t heard about Celebrate Color?  Check out all the details here, lots of fun things going on with tutorials and prizes for sewing, knitting and more!

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in living color

Aug 1st, 2011 by

Lots of color!  Here’s my finished Bottled Rainbows quilt.

huge!

seems huge!

Bottled Rainbows – designed by Rachel
size: about 76″ x 60″
materials: kona Bone centers, various kona solids, lots of scraps
binding: Alexander Henry – Heath in Chocolate
quilting: QAYG/straight lines around seams

had to use some heather ross

had to use some heather ross

This quilt was such a great experience for me!  I didn’t really use just scraps, but fussy cut lots of favorite fabrics I’ve been collecting for a while.  In the end, I really love that this quilt has sort of an I spy feel, and is a great collection of all the wonderful things I bought during my first real year of quilting.

pretty bird

pretty cerise bird

I jumped into this quiltalong immediately, before all the directions were posted, and I actually screwed up and only have 2″ finished borders.  Luckily my error didn’t detract from how well the finished blocks came together.

cute ruby star rising shoes

cute ruby star rising shoes

owls, momo and more!

owls, momo and more!

The back is almost a full 2yds of Anna Maria Horner’s Woodcut in Passion, centered into some Kona Espresso.

a look at the back

a look at the back

I auditioned a LOT of fabrics for the backing, and in the end I’m so happy with the simplicity.

loving this amh print

this fabric combination is pefect!

This quilt taught me so much about solids too, and has opened me up to so many more colors that never would have caught my eye before.

I knew I wanted a brown binding for a bit of neutrality

I knew I wanted a brown binding for a bit of neutrality

I’m so glad that I dove into this QAL, and huge thanks to Rachel for such a fun time!  We’re all set for a cold winter now, cuz this will be keeping us warm on the sofa each night!

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snip snip sew

Jul 27th, 2011 by

Even though I’ve been a terrible blogger lately, a whole lot of progress has been made on all the QALs I crazily joined.  First are the strips that are still being sewn for the A Zig and a Zag-along.

strips all cut, waiting for their solid

strips before joining their solid

I’ve also gotten most of the cutting/sewing done for my Tula Kaleidoscope pieces, now working on layout options.

frog prince!

frog prince

The major projects that were completed these past weeks are two new tops! Presenting Tiles:

anna maria horner's loulouthi

anna maria horner's loulouthi

This baby came together quickly once I figured out how to shrink the blocks a bit to compensate for my half yards.  Huge thanks to Rachel for giving such precise directions on the blocks and sashing, it helped SO much (even with my total lack of math skills)!  Now I have a wonderful, slightly smaller version of her largest layout.

tiles!

tiles!

I’ll have better photos soon, but I’m already loving the way the large cuts showcase this line.

And my Warm-Cool top is also complete!

went for the off-center vibe

went for the off-center vibe

This ended up around 55″ x 72″ after a massive stash-busting HST marathon.

There’s a bunch more sewing to do for all these QALs (and believe it or not, a couple new QALs too!), but I’ll leave you with a sneak peek of a FINISHED QUILT, more on that soon.

looks like a rainbow

is that a rainbow?

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Posted in quiltalong, quilts, sewing | 6 Comments »

Come on -along

Jun 28th, 2011 by

So many quilt-alongs have been popping up all over blogland, I couldn’t resist jumping in on a few of them.

WarmCoolQuiltAlong

As soon as I heard about Jeni‘s Warm-Cool QAL, I dove right into my stash.  I’ve already finished a TON of HST’s and working on layouts, but here’s a sneak peek at some of the fabrics I pulled for it.

warm-cool qal fabrics
warm-cool qal fabrics

Next up is a wonderful Kaleidoscope QAL over at Don’t Call Me Betsy.  Cutting instructions have just come out, and I really NEEDED to dive into my new Prince Charming collection by Tula Pink for this one.

kaleidoscope

Tula Pink's Prince Charming and Kona Salmon
Tula Pink’s Prince Charming and Kona Salmon

I thought these two projects would keep me nice and busy, but then I found the A Zig and a Zag-along at Cut to Pieces, how could I resist?

azigandazag

Just starting to think on fabrics for this one, it’s a rainbow based design which I love but instead of the bold colors I thought it might be nice this time to choose a more muted palette.

still making decisions...perhaps orange would be nicer at the top?
still deciding…perhaps a deeper orange would be nicer at the top?

And finally, I’ve been following along with Rachel’s progress on her Loulouthi tiles quilt which if you haven’t seen it, is beautiful!  Her layouts are just perfect for showcasing this line, and there’s great options for different sizes (love the little baby size!)

anna maria horner's loulouthi
anna maria horner’s loulouthi

I only purchased half yards of these prints, so I’d have to work the numbers a bit but I may just be cutting into this stack really soon.

As you can imagine I’ll have progress pics of lots of things next time!  And Bottled Rainbows is finally getting it’s backside this week. :)

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Posted in quiltalong, quilts, sewing | 1 Comment »

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