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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Fresh Stacks

After a whirlwind week of basketball practices, games, karate, and of course schoolwork, my wild thing is off at his very first overnight church retreat, which gave me some uninterrupted sewing time this morning.  I put together my newest stacked squares quilt top, and I am loving the fresh color palette.  By the way, the original Moda Bake Shop pattern uses a layer cake and jelly rolls, but I have adjusted the measurements to use yardage rather than precuts, and if you're interested, you can find it HERE.


After I finished my last quilt, I wasn't really feeling any inspiration for another project.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely wanted to sew, I just didn't know what I wanted to do.  Even with the marvel of pinterest and the blogging universe, nothing was grabbing me as something I just had to try for myself.  I found myself scrolling through past quilts and just trying to decide on one that I might like to make again.  I don't repeat designs very often, but I'm glad I settled on this one.  I really do love the way the colors play together, and the 3D illusion of the pattern is really cool.

I've learned that just sitting and mulling things over doesn't really work for me.  I'm much more of a snap decision girl, and apparently pushing through with a repeat design was exactly the inspiration kick I needed because I have also sketched and planned out my next quilt.  Got to love it when creativity strikes!


Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Party Time!

Welcome to Thursday, y'all!  For those of you on the east coast, I hope you're at home out of the snow, and getting plenty of sewing time!  Here in west TN, we almost hit 60 degrees today.  It didn't give me a day at home, but I'll take it!  After giving it some thought, I decided to make another Stacked Squares quilt.  I have another fun pattern in the works, but I wanted to make this one first.  All of the blocks are put together, just waiting to be sliced, shuffled and sewn into a top.  Here are just a few of my favorite blocks, so you can get an idea of the colors I'm using.


Last week's party was filled with awesome inspiration.  I always love browsing through the links, and it is so tough to choose just three features, but here goes-

Leigh Laurel Studios linked up this gorgeous double wedding ring quilt.  I love all of the bright color!


Twiggy and Opal's postage stamp quilt is so awesome (and so time consuming!)


and this Sugar Stars quilt by Tanya Quilts in CO looks amazing with the navy background!


Seriously, y'all rock!  Time to bring it for this week's party!

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!
2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.
3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  
4. Spread the comment love far and wide!
5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!


Wednesday, January 21, 2015

NTT...Let's Party!

Good evening, y'all!  Welcome to another NTT!  I don't know about you, but when I've worked on an especially large or tedious project, it feels so good to follow it up with something fast.  I've got to admit, I'm done with triangles for awhile after finishing Take Two.  A quick little preemie quilt was just what the doctor ordered after that one!  I just sewed the scraps from cutting out the triangles for this one.


I had a poppy red/pink polkadot fabric in my stash that looks right at home on the back, and finished it off with a Kona Coal binding.  With so much busy print, I like the way the binding just disappears.  Whoop whoop for fast quilting!

Last week's party did not disappoint!  Tons of spectacular sewing was shared!  Like this beauty from Thread Everywhere-


or this fabulous quilt from Angela at Better'n Dog Biscuits-


and even this Happy Go Lucky quilt by Tessa, The Sewing Chick.  So. much. Bonnie and Camille awesomeness.

I honestly have no idea what quilt I'm going to make next, so I'm especially looking forward to checking out the links this week!  Let's party,. friends!

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!
2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.
3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  
4. Spread the comment love far and wide!
5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!




Monday, January 19, 2015

Take Two

I don't know what the weather has been like in your neck of the woods, but we've had a reprieve from the bitter winter temps here lately.  I'll take a beautiful, breezy sixty degrees any day!  I'm sure winter isn't over yet, but the spring-like weather made the photo shoot for this quilt much more fun that the last few.


I was finally able to get the quilting done over the weekend, but even then I worked on it in short bursts, no more than 30 minutes at a time.  This quilt measures 72 x 90, and a quilt this size takes me about four hours to stipple.  I usually enjoy my marathon quilting sessions, but to my surprise, the shorter sessions were just as enjoyable, even though it really felt like doing it that way made it take longer.



Other than the triangle bits that are part of the little preemie quilt I'm working on, I used every available scrap in the backing, and I love the way this warm yellow fabric makes the colors pop.


The binding is a beautiful, rich shade of red that I feel like I have been seeing a lot lately, and I realized after I chose it that Marsala is the Pantone 2015 Color of the Year.  So that may explain things a bit.

This quilt is for my mom, and I can't wait for her to see it.  Perhaps you remember the Anna Maria Horner Dowry quilt that I made for her over the summer?  Well, she is redoing the guest room in her house and wanted a quilt with AMH fabrics.  She really loved the LouLouThi line (these fabrics), but since it is an older line I couldn't find enough of it, so I made the quilt with the Dowry fabrics instead.  

Although she really likes the Dowry quilt, it turned out to be too dark for the room.  The Dowry line is much more jewel-toned, and these fabrics are more earthy.  Since I knew she had her heart set on LouLouThi, I kept my eyes peeled.  I found a bundle of it on Etsy last fall and snatched it up.  Clearly, the rest is history.  All of this goes to explain the twofold meaning of the name of the quilt- Take Two.


Not only is this quilt "Take Two" for the intended room, I also think that Anna Maria Horner fabrics have such a great vintage feel.  The prints feel like a wonderful hodgepodge of fabrics you might find in a thrift shop, and the bold mix of colors really give a treasured, aged quality to the quilt.  I'm certain that Take Two will be exactly what my mom had in mind!


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Let's Link Up!

Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  I am happy to report that my procedure went well on Monday and thank you all for your well wishes and good thoughts sent my way.  I'm still not up to hefting my diamond quilt to get it quilted, but I haven't been completely down and out.


These skinny little triangles are actually the ends of the strips from cutting out the triangles for my diamond quilt.  In the past, I have always just thrown those away (which kills me), but I like these fabrics so much that I just couldn't bear it.  I sewed them into rectangles before my surgery, and yesterday, I pieced them together.  I figured that sitting in one place and sewing them would be okay since they are so little and don't weigh anything, but truth be told, I did overdo it a little bit.  It's just tough for me to stay idle for too long.

That being said, I really LOVE this little quilt.  It is only a preemie size quilt (right at 35 inches square), but I don't know if I'm going to be able to part with it.  I might keep it as a wall hanging or table topper.  My activities yesterday sent me a message loud and clear that it will be a few more days until I can do any more sewing though.  I guess taking it easy in yoga pants with a good book is just what I need to recover fully.

So much awesomeness was linked up last week!  Check out some of my favorites-

Elise at Lovelea Designs showed off her Atlantic Currents quilt, and her echo quilting on this one just rocks!


Southern Gal Thoughts shared the journey of creating her first large quilt finish- a Scrumptious quilt with prairie points!


and Karen at Quilts...etc. linked up this hand pieced, hand quilted Dear Jane masterpiece- WOW!  Red and white quilts are just timeless, don't you think?


What an amazing bunch of links!  I love browsing through all of them each and every week.  You are all such amazing sources of inspiration!  So, it's time to show off what you're working on this week.

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!
2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.
3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  
4. Spread the comment love far and wide!
5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!


Saturday, January 10, 2015

LouLouThi Diamonds

I've been working for the last several days to finish my latest quilt top made with Anna Maria Horner's LouLouThi collection, plus ten other prints from my stash.  Can I just say that this is a LOT of triangles?  330 of them to be precise.  I have mastered the art of sewing triangles while preserving the points and without stretching them out of shape, but I must say that I still find it a bit tedious to do so many.  It's all good though.  This one is for my mom, and she will love it!


AMH collections are always a mix of prints and colors that are really fun and unexpected, but are so harmonious when put together.  Because her fabrics have a certain vintage feel, it can be tough to mix other fabrics with them, but I think the ones I chose fit in well.  If you look closely, you might just spot some Amy Butler Cameo in there!

The backing is all finished, and the torturous task of basting will commence tomorrow.  I'm having an outpatient procedure on Monday morning, so I'm not sure when I'll get this one quilted, but I'm hoping I'll feel up to some short quilting sessions by the end of the week!


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Welcome, 2015!

Welcome to the first Needle and Thread Thursday of 2015!  As much as I truly love the holiday season, it does feel great to get back into some semblance of normal around here.  I reclaimed my house from the Christmas explosion (that seems to grow every year) before heading back to school on Monday, though I must admit that I still smile when I see stubborn bits of glitter here and there.  Everyone needs a little more sparkle year-round, so it's all good to me!

I've been filling my time with a couple of little projects since finishing Chapel Glass (and the pattern).  I had nice, uniform scraps from my Chapel Glass quilt, and I thought they would make a perfect little preemie charity quilt.  It's nothing fancy, but I think it shows off the gorgeous fabrics beautifully.  I had some sweet green tiny polkadots in my stash, and finished it off with a scrappy binding.  It always makes me happy when every bit of fabric gets used up!  The finished quilt measures 41" x 45." (Please forgive me for not braving the frigid temperature and howling wind for an outdoor photo)


I also buckled down and made myself a fabric name tag for guild meetings and events.  You would be shocked to know how much I procrastinated in making this little thing.  You know I despise hand sewing, and I'm a little ashamed to admit that less than an hour of hand work almost prevented me from making it.  All in all, I'm pleased with the way it turned out though, and I have to say that the hand sewing wasn't too onerous.


I have also started a new quilt, and it will be a large twin size.  I've made a little bit of progress on it, but not really enough to show yet, so you'll have to settle for seeing the fabric pull.  This is a bundle of Anna Maria Horner's LouLouThi, along with several Amy Butler prints and a few others.  I love the colors in this bundle and can't wait to show you how the quilt is taking shape.


It seems like forever ago that we partied last, so I'm super thrilled to share the highlights with you to refresh your memory!

Veni Vidi Vicki linked up this Ice Needles hexie table runner.  It is so lovely, and very appropriate for the arctic weather that many of us are experiencing right now!


Porch Swing Quilts shared this beautiful Make it Do Maxi Quilt!


and Modern Material Girl showed off this fun scrappy quilt.


I can't wait to see what you've been up to in your sewing space these last couple of weeks.  I hope you've had a little time out of the chilly weather with a warm beverage in hand, playing with fabric!


1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!
2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.
3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  
4. Spread the comment love far and wide!
5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!



Saturday, January 3, 2015

Success!

I've been working like mad to finish up my Chapel Glass quilt pattern before I head back to school on Monday.  Checking and rechecking math, diagrams, fabric yardage, and the text for typos, etc. takes lots of time, and my wonderful husband let me be in my own little world with my computer today so that I could get it all done.


I rendered a computer drawing of the pattern with a dark background and bright fabrics, just for a different perspective, and I must admit that it intrigues me.  I might just have to make another one!


This quilt is fat quarter friendly, and the large (17 inch blocks) are pretty quick to put together!  I hope you'll check it out in my Craftsy and Etsy shops.  Now that this is finished, I'm planning on spending my very last day of Winter Break relaxing!


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