the happy quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!!!!

On the first day of spring, I finished my happy quilt. What perfect timing! I absolutely love this quilt, which means I took a ton of photos to share with you. I'm going to let the photos do most the talking today, with details about the quilt at the end of the post.

 

 

 

I fussy cut the text block to highlight the year 1997, which happens to be the year that I married my husband. Awww. :)

Pattern: Waiting, which is available for purchase here. It is newly updated, to include 3 sizes!
Technique: Fusible applique with blanket stitch, which was done on my Janome Horizon.
Finished size: 74" x 74"
Quilting: free motion loops, quilted on my domestic machine-my beloved Juki
Thread: Aurifil 50 weight in white
Backing fabric: 104" wide Picnic Gingham by Connecting Threads (it's on sale at the moment...)
Binding fabric: Ta Dots by Michael Miller
Completion time: 3 years and 3 months (I've had worse. Ha!)

That's it for me today! Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

finish it up Friday, 3-31-17

1.	Eva.Bambi,Johansson	74.	GeminiJen NZ Petit Ami
2.	Piano Runner @ QuiltOrDare	75.	Adaliza
3.	Finally finished quilt @ knit1make2	76.	Татьяна
4.	Mari @The Academic Quilter	77.	Kim @Lily Patch Quilts
5.	Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs	78.	Wendy's quilts and more
6.	Shauna T	79.	SusansQuiltCreations
7.	Quilting In My Life	80.	Caryl @ cinnamon holiday workshop
8.	Kat & Cat Quilts	81.	maidenhairfern
9.	Melissa @ Happy Quilting	82.	Ruth@Stitching Impressions
10.	Sampler quilt	83.	Frankie Baldwin
11.	Free Fall Finish	84.	Sew Preeti Quilts
12.	Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty	85.	Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
13.	Handwrought Quilts	86.	Romany Quilting Table Runner
14.	Katy @ KatyQuilts	87.	Gail at the Cozy Quilter
15.	Vicki in MN	88.	Jayne's Quilting Room
16.	Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing	89.	Nancy
17.	Sew Fresh Quilts - Bikini Quilt	90.	The Inside Stori
18.	I dream of Spring	91.	Sew Many Colors @ Slice of Pi Quilts
19.	Sew Fresh Quilts - Giraffe Family	92.	Summer in the Park - PINK
20.	Boxes and Ladders Table Runner	93.	Lisa Schmidt
21.	Dare To Be @ Savor Every Stitch	94.	Shannon @ White Cloud Stitchery
22.	My New Sewing Room - Busy Hands Quilts	95.	Jen @ Jennifer Under The Juniper Tree
23.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle	96.	Kim @PersimonDreams
24.	Kathy @ AlliKat Quilts	97.	Elena - Cosiendo Sueños
25.	something rosemade	98.	Finished scrap charity quilt - Karen
26.	Debbie @ A Quilter's Table	99.	helen
27.	Molly Howsden	100.	Karen
28.	Kathy @ AlliKat Quilts	101.	Granny Square Patch Quilt
29.	Susie's Sunroom Cat and Bird in Tree block	102.	Navy and Gray Gingham Baby
30.	Em	103.	Sew Jess Handmade - Cotton+Steel Quilt
31.	baby TOMs(ish)	104.	Lucy ~ Charm About You
32.	flowering snowball top @ pursuing joy	105.	Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts
33.	FQM workshop & books list	106.	Magnolia Large Print Quilt
34.	Quilting is more fun than Housework	107.	curved piecing QAL
35.	Małgorzata	108.	gretchen @snugharbor quilts
36.	Marianne	109.	Quilting Gail
37.	Exploring Florida - The Quilt Place	110.	Alison@thechainpiecer
38.	Marmite + Vegemite - Which Camp Are You?	111.	fern
39.	Improv: Strips and Squares	112.	Improv string diamonds - the lilac cat
40.	Improv: The Fastest Way To Cut Wedges	113.	Heidi @ Buttons and Butterflies
41.	Smiles fron Kate	114.	DonnaleeQ
42.	Sharp Teeth @ Yellow Bird Stitches	115.	Kathy@KayakQuilting
43.	Sunshine Kwilts	116.	Anja @ Anja Quilts
44.	Gretchen - Nearly Insane, Block 18	117.	Bernie @ Needle & Foot
45.	Gretchen - Row Two Quilted	118.	Bernie @ Needle & Foot #2
46.	Brooke@SillyMamaQuilts	119.	Every Direction
47.	Broken X	120.	Terri Faust Quilts
48.	Luna Lovequilts - Wallet	121.	Two quilts
49.	Baby quilt finish	122.	Sew Me Something Good
50.	kate @ katiemaequilts	123.	Arabesque Scissors - Happy Flower QAL
51.	Urban Improv	124.	Cathy Tomm Tulip quilt
52.	Log cabin bee blocks - peachy	125.	Emily- Candy Coated
53.	Jan Altomare	126.	Mary Marcotte
54.	Tea Time table runner	127.	beth@lovelaughquilt
55.	Lounging at the Beach	128.	Allison: thumbs up to the quilting community
56.	Busy Busy Busy	129.	Easter Heart Block Mug Rug
57.	My Imperfect Life	130.	steffis hobbys: Kreise
58.	Patty from Elm Street Quilts	131.	Małgorzata/Portrait
59.	Harley T-Shirt Quilt for Dad	132.	CJ's Sewing Room
60.	tubakk Norway	133.	maggie f
61.	Sandra Croley	134.	Bee @buzzing around
62.	Two rag quilts	135.	Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
63.	Snowcatcher	136.	One Tablerunner = 6
64.	Miss Alissa	137.	Suzy Webster
65.	Sylvia	138.	Kay Sorensen's Quilt Journey
66.	ABC Ribbon Letter block pattern (free!)	139.	Sun Birds free pattern for Sun Sand and Sea BOM
67.	Vera @negligentstyle	140.	Sapphire Stitching Stanza
68.	Jayne :: Twiggy & Opal	141.	Quilting Limbo:Finishes, Frolic&Free Thinking PDox
69.	Cutting Fabric with Silhouette Cameo	142.	Treadlestitches Lost in the Scraps
70.	Terry Aske Art Quilts	143.	Jane in KS
71.	Mystery Quilt and More	144.	PB&J Lap Quilt in Layers of Charm Busy Hands Quilt
72.	GeminiJen NZ Au Point	145.	My New Quilting Studio
73.	GeminiJen NZ Diamants

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

my new old quilt

Hello, hello! My kids went back to school today, so it's time to get back into a routine. We had a lovely spring break, but after 10 days I'm ready to get back to a normal schedule again. Phew!
Our family went on a little road trip south, in search of warmer weather. I'm happy to say that we were successful. :) I found a gem of a quilt at an antique store in Missouri. It's quite the souvenir!

I debated whether to buy it on not, because I certainly do not need another quilt...ahem....but the price was too good to pass up, especially for the condition it is in.

The binding is all worn and frayed, but the rest of the quilt is in pretty good shape. After thinking it over, I am going to try to repair the quilt to the best of my ability. I haven't done any quilt repair to speak of, but I think this is a good one to try it on. It will be an adventure, for sure.

I can imagine that trying to apply binding to all those curves will be challenging. (Yikes!)

Most of the hexagons are in tact, but there are a few missing that I will have to fill in. Just a handful, I think, which is pretty remarkable! I love looking at the variety of fabrics. There are many interesting ones!

I haven't fully studied the quilt at this point, but this is my favorite block so far. I love the red and white polka dots, naturally, but what I really love is that each one of the hexagons are pieced before they were stitched together. What a charming detail!

I'm so glad that I stumbled across this quilt. I have no buyer's remorse whatsoever. :)

Before we left on the trip, I attached the binding on my happy quilt, so it is now completely finished. (More pictures to come.) It was great to have a quilt to bind on the road!

Since I finished a quilt, I spent the past few nights cutting out a new project. It felt good to start something new, finally! Our guild (the Minneapolis MQG) is doing a crayon challenge, which I'm excited about! I have to say, I feel fortunate to have randomly picked such a cohesive group of colors. Cerise is dangerously close to purple, but I think I can handle it. (hahaha!) I managed to find enough of it in my stash and scrap bins for my project, which is a very good thing!

On the way home, I had the opportunity to meet up with my long-time blog friend, Suzanne. She has been such a good friend and a constant source of encouragement to me over the past several years. It was an absolute delight to finally meet her in real life and have a visit over a cup of tea. It was the best.

 

I hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks for reading. xo

spring break

My kids are on spring break this week, so I decided that it's a great time to take a little bit of time away from the blog. I'm going to try something new and actually try to relax. Hahaha! I'll let you know how that goes. See you in a week!

Happy Monday to you! :)

dot your i's-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm extremely thrilled... my "dot your i's" quilt is complete! I have a bunch of photos to share, then I'll recap the details of the quilt at the end of the post.

Started: July 20, 2015

Finished: March 12, 2017

 

Inspired by: Carolyn Friedlander's Aerial Grove Quilts. Squircles technique from her book Savor Each Stitch. (Each one was hand appliqued.)

 

Background block size: 4" cut, 3 1/2" finished.

 

Squares used for the squircles: 2 1/2" cut

 

Quilting: I hand quilted in the ditch with gray perle cotton, then each squircle was hand quilted with white 25 weight thread.

 

Fabrics used: mostly out of print Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Flea Market Fancy, Katie Jump Rope and Hope Valley. (I used a little bit of my good neighbors fabric in it, too! That was super fun to add in! There are a few other random prints mixed in as well.)

 

Backing: Tiger Lily by Heather Ross for Windham fabrics

 

Binding: Citrus by Another Point of View for Windham fabrics

 

Finished size: 63" x 77".

 



As soon as I finished the quilt, I spread it out on the floor and my daughter immediately rolled up in it. Her grin pretty much sums up how I feel about this quilt, too!

A big shout out and thank you to my lovely neighbor, Mrs. Gohmann, for helping me out on my quilt photo field trip!

Since this quilt is finished, I'm about to jump into my next long term quilt project. I can hardly wait to get started! Woohoo!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

finish it up Friday, 3/17/17

1.	Eva.Bambi,Johansson	51.	Gretchen's Little Corner - Scrappy Star
2.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle	52.	Gretchen's Little Corner - More Hand Quilting
3.	Carie @ Space for the Butterflies	53.	Snowcatcher
4.	Jo's Country Junction	54.	Quilting Gail
5.	Pretty in Pink	55.	Summer Lee Quilts
6.	Em	56.	Belle Baby Bag Finished!
7.	Shauna's World	57.	Judy - Church Lady Aprongs
8.	Sapphire's Stitching Stanza	58.	GeminiJen NZ Dr Seuss
9.	Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts	59.	Alison@thechainpiecer
10.	Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty	60.	Q-Bits - Selvage Quilt
11.	DonnaleeQ	61.	Sweet Bunny @ Elm Street Quilts
12.	My Imperfect Life	62.	Karen @ runsewfun
13.	Slice of Pi Quilts: Mini madness!	63.	Economy(ish) Block Quilt
14.	Katy @ KatyQuilts	64.	something rosemade
15.	Heidi @ Buttons and Butterflies	65.	Jess @ Quilty Habit
16.	The Fleming's Nine	66.	Fabric Button Push Pin Art Tutorial
17.	Spellbound	67.	Susan's Quilt Creations
18.	End of times	68.	Gail at the Cozy Quilter
19.	Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting	69.	Kind of weird - the lilac cat
20.	Kathy @ AlliKat Quilts	70.	Ruth@Stitching Impressions
21.	Lavender Neck Wrap	71.	Random Jeanius-Tudor Bag
22.	Exploring Japan - Tokyo Fabrics	72.	Kay Sorensen asks: Have You Seen It
23.	Sashiko Snowflakes	73.	Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting
24.	Crochet Baby Gifts	74.	Inch-Art.de: Ayubowan Summer
25.	Improv Piecing: Brights	75.	tubakk Norway
26.	Improv Piecing: Greens	76.	Tubaville Tattoo Quilt
27.	Sunnyside of Charms | Smiles Too Loudly	77.	Janice@singreadsew
28.	Heide D	78.	Skeleton Quilt @ Dresden Lane
29.	Karen	79.	Terri Faust Quilts
30.	svetlana sotak	80.	kate @ katiemaequilts
31.	Bernie @ Needle & Foot	81.	Miss Alissa
32.	Brooke@SillyMamaQuilts	82.	Allison scrap vortex start
33.	Treadlestitches Electric Joy Tutorial	83.	Arabesque Scissors - Happy Flower QAL
34.	Carley Biblin	84.	Open Studio Day & Giveaway Pink Doxies
35.	Montreal Map	85.	JulieBagamaryArt-AYearIn Stitches
36.	Celtic Thistle Stitches	86.	Kathy@KayakQuilting
37.	Johnna @ Yellow Bird Stitches	87.	Lisa Schmidt
38.	Kitty @ Night Quilter	88.	Marianne
39.	green Jacket - Quilting Stories	89.	First Grandma Quilt @ LoGoQuilts
40.	Quilting is more fun than Housework	90.	Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts
41.	Pack Rat With A Plan	91.	Kathy S., Denim Tumbler Rug
42.	Frankie Baldwin	92.	Mary @ Fleur de Lis Quilts
43.	Cynthia Brunz Designs	93.	Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts
44.	Gretchen @ snugharbor quilts	94.	busy week - anette*fredagspigen
45.	Laura	95.	Elaine from Emily's Cupboard
46.	Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts	96.	Luna Lovequilts - Mini Log Cabin quilt
47.	Shannon @ White Cloud Stitchery	97.	Quilts in the 'hood. . .
48.	Ice Tapestries Show Closing Soon	98.	Plinko Patchwork at Dittencraft
49.	Cathy Tomm- Follow KFC	99.	Stacey @SLOstudio - Traveling Quilt
50.	Kat & Cat Quilts	100.	Eagle Medallion Quilt

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

teach 'em young

Yesterday I had a few friends over for a sew day, so when my kids got home, my sewing machine was set up on the dining room table. My daughter said she wanted to quilt, so I said, "ok, let's get some scraps and sew them together." She said, "No, I want to quilt." So I asked her if I should put the walking foot on the Juki. No, it turns out she wanted to QUILT, as in free motion quilt. I was a little surprised, honestly, but I decided to let try. Why not? We picked out a scrap of batting and she picked out some blue thread. I offered her fabric, too, so we could make a quilt sandwich, but she didn't think that was necessary. Hahaha!

The first two swirls on the top left were done by me, just to get things going. As soon as she sat down, she got to work. It was amazing to watch her jump in and just do it. It was really, really inspiring! I took a quick video (it's like 11 seconds) and posted it on Instagram here. You can see how much fun she had by the grin on her face. I love that!



After she got started, I let her go for it and walked away. (That's the best thing to do, as a control freak, I've learned!) I loved looking at her attempts.

She even attempted the alphabet! She had a lot of fun, but admitted that it was harder than she expected it to be. I can't wait to see her try it again.

My friend brianne came to the sew day bearing gifts. She made me this sweet liberty log cabin pincushion. Isn't that precious? I love it so! Thanks, brianne!

And.... I finished my happy quilt top! A few people asked in the last post if it was appliqued, and the answer to that is YES! 

One more thing! I am giving a trunk show at the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild meeting tomorrow evening, March 16, 2017 at the Textile Center. If you are local (or local-ish!) you are invited to attend.

That's all for me today. I hope you are having a great week!

the happy quilt-a work in progress

This quilt has been called by a few different names in the past few years (waiting, still waiting, waiting for spring) but over the weekend I decided that it needs to be called "the happy quilt". Isn't that a fitting name?

Last week, the plan was to make 30 blocks for a lap size quilt, which would give me a finished quilt that would measure 62" x 74". I made the remaining 8 blocks and I thought I was done. But then....

I was rummaging around in my stash for possible backings and I came across this gem. It is an extra wide backing (it's called picnic gingham from Connecting Threads) that would work perfectly for the back. The thing is, I didn't want to "waste" a 2 yard cut of extra wide backing on a smaller sized lap quilt. I knew that I would use the leftovers.... not problem there... but it still seemed silly. After MUCH deliberation and consulting with a few friends, I decided to make the top a little bit bigger. I added 6 more blocks, so I will end up with a 74" square quilt. (The backing was generously cut, so I could get away with it. Hurray!) I did think about going all the way to a king size and ordering more backing, but the math for the quilt top didn't quite work out. Square quilts aren't my all time favorite, but I think that it was the best option for this one. Technically, I don't think I lost sleep over the decision of how big to make the quilt, but I was pretty darn close. :)

This quilt has sashing and cornerstones, so it is going to take awhile to assemble....

...but at least I got the first row together. I'm sure that this quilt is going to be a favorite! I love how this one is turning out! (Because I know someone will ask, the pattern is here.)

 Also... over the weekend I finished another quilt, so I'm down to 4 WIPs! It was a very happy day! I will say, that it is NOT my goal to get down to zero WIPs. I did that once, right before my daughter was born, so I don't feel the need to do that again. Haha! But, being down to 4 (however short-lived that will be!) feels pretty amazing! I'm very excited to start a mess (quite literally, hahaha!) of new projects, too.

Happy Monday to you!

bright birch trees 3-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last evening, just before 10 pm, I put the final stitches on the binding of my third bright birch tree quilt! (You can see the first one here. The second one is here. The pattern is available here.)

This pattern proves that every scrap deserves a chance! The blocks in this version finish a touch larger than 12" square.

I paired strips of scraps with a variety of solids from my stash. There are so many tiny details in this quilt. One could sit and look at it for hours. I love quilts like that!

For the quilting, I did a simple stipple all over with Aurifil thread, color 2615.

Did you notice the heart detail? I love little bits like that! The lattice print makes such a great binding! It's an old Denyse Schmidt print from JoAnn's. The polka dot backing was a gift from my friend Tara. I had just enough, so I figured it was meant to be.

The quilt measures about 48" x 60". This is my 5th quilt finish for the year. AND.... it brings my WIP total down to 5! I'm extremely excited about that!

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

finish it up Friday, 3-10-17

1.	Carie @ Space for the Butterflies	56.	Pink Doxies Jen & Jan's Laundry Day QAL
2.	KatyQuilts	57.	Wendy's quilts and more
3.	Yoyogi Park @ Savor Every Stitch	58.	My Imperfect Life
4.	Kitty Wilkin | Night Quilter	59.	Quick and Easy Recycled Book Bag
5.	Eva-Bambi	60.	Just Another Quilter
6.	Kathy@KayakQuilting	61.	Kat & Cat Quilts
7.	Mari @ The Academic Quilter	62.	Snowcatcher
8.	A Quilted Passion	63.	Stacey @SLOstudio - Dog sweater :)
9.	Luna Lovequilts - Quilted coasters	64.	Janeen@Quilt Art Designs
10.	Brooke@SillyMamaQuilts	65.	Kathy @ AlliKat Quilts
11.	Green Jacket - Quilting Stories	66.	Chris @ The Art of Making Blog
12.	Smiles from Kate	67.	Swoon Blocks
13.	Tami @ Thrift Shop Commando	68.	Bernie @ Needle & Foot
14.	Sapphire's Stitching Stanza	69.	Hexagon Horror Story
15.	Slice of Pi Quilts: Spring Hexie Table Runner	70.	Pack Rat With A Plan
16.	something rosemade	71.	Treadlestitches Kid Quilts Done
17.	Kay Sorensen & friends - Reflections of ....	72.	Quilts & Such
18.	Sew Preeti Quilts	73.	Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
19.	LIndasquiltmania Purebred	74.	tubakk Norway
20.	Janice@singreadsew	75.	Kathy @ AlliKat Quilts
21.	Alidiza	76.	Lobservb - butterfly pillow
22.	Emily Bailey	77.	Garden Flag St. Patrick's Day
23.	It's nearly time....	78.	Ann@FretNotYourself
24.	The Colorful Fabriholic	79.	Rachel S.B.
25.	Adaliza	80.	Amanda @ fabric engineer
26.	Tanya Quilts in CO	81.	Pretty in Pink Quilts Finish - Crafty Ashley B
27.	Dwell quilt blocks	82.	Gretchen @ snugharbor quilts
28.	Janice Holton	83.	Mary @ Fleur de Lis Quilts
29.	Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting	84.	Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
30.	Yanicka Hachez	85.	Quilts in the 'hood. . .
31.	Heidi @ Buttons & Butterflies	86.	Sweet Little Boy Quilt
32.	DIY Pressing Table Tutorial	87.	DonnaleeQ
33.	Mind blown: Chain Piecing while Paper Piecing	88.	A Dream and A Stitch - Quilter's Laundry Day
34.	Alison@thechainpiecer	89.	Suzy Webster
35.	Gretchen's Little Corner - Hand Quilting	90.	Sew Incredibly Crazy
36.	AngelaA @ betterndogbiscuits itty bitty	91.	My Solo Snow is Winding Down - 9 more days
37.	Gretchen's Little Corner - Rainbow Scraps	92.	Terri Faust Quilts
38.	Square Dance + Finished or Not Friday Linky!	93.	Sandra @ mmm! quilts
39.	Sylvia	94.	Little Black Cat Quilting
40.	Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty	95.	Sewing Room Minis - Sew Jess Handmade
41.	Scrap busting @ Creatin' in the Sticks	96.	Millennium Falcon Mini - Sew Jess Handmade
42.	Johnna @ Yellow Bird Stitches	97.	upcyled chairs with chalk paint and refurnishing
43.	Quilting is more fun than Housework	98.	Walkers Road Quilts
44.	SOLID IMPROV QUILT	99.	dj
45.	APPLE Core QUILT	100.	Kim@Lily Patch Quilts
46.	Drunkard's PATH SewKindOfWONDERFUL	101.	Nancy
47.	Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts	102.	steffis hobbys
48.	Jane in KS	103.	Barbara - Quilters Laundry Day Blog Hop
49.	QFTLH: Hexie Finish	104.	jann
50.	Karen	105.	Susan's Quilt Creations
51.	Pomada	106.	Mary @ Fleur de Lis Quilts
52.	Małgorzata	107.	Spooky House Mini Quilt!
53.	Square Dance Quilt	108.	Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting
54.	Debbie @ A Quilter's Table	109.	Tammy at Travelinsewl
55.	Diamond mini - the lilac cat

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

WIP Wednesday-only 6 to go!

I don't know about you, but I keep a close eye on my WIPs (works in progress). For awhile I went without a list, but that drove me absolutely crazy, so I went back to my list-making ways. I have been sitting at only 6 WIPs (!!!) the past few weeks. Since there are so few, I thought it would be fun to round them up and show them all today.

1. This quilt, called "dot your i's" is soooooo close to being finished....I have less than 2 rows of squircles to go! Hand quilting this has been a lovely way to recuperate from all of the busyness, deadlines and traveling that I've done in the past few weeks. (The details of the quilt can be found here.) I added the binding to the quilt after I quilted the background, but before I quilted the squircles, in order to prevent the edges from fraying as I worked on it. The beautiful thing is that once I'm done quilting that last squircle, I'm DONE! It will be a happy day!

2. My kaleidoscope quilt has been a WIP off and on (mostly off) for the past few years. I'm excited to get back to it, though. I LOVE the scrappiness and the bright colors. Many thanks to my friends in my Sew Sisters quilting bee for making me such beautiful blocks! (The free templates are available here and here.) I have a long way to go on this one.

3. I'm calling this one "need more coffee" and it will be a lap size quilt... someday. I think I only have 34 blocks to go! I'm glad that I kept the colors mainly red and white, although a full on scrappy version of this would be lots of fun, too! (The pattern is the same as my mini coffee cups, I'm just making 100+ blocks!)

4. This log cabin quilt is only 25% done. I'm itching to get back at it! I've considered challenging myself to make one block a day, to motivate me to jump back in. Maybe I'll start that next week. Ha! I want this to be a KING size quilt for my bed. It would be nice to get it finished in time for summer, although that doesn't seem too likely. (The measurements for this block can be found here.)

5. These are my waiting blocks. I only have 8 more to go to make a lap size quilt. (Pattern is here.)  I'm pretty sure that this is my oldest WIP. I still love them quite a lot, which is a good thing after 2+ years!

6. And this one....I'm in the process of quilting my BBT 3! I hope to finish it SOON! (The pattern is available here.)

My plan is to finish up one or two of the projects shown above, then I believe that I will let loose and start ALL THE THINGS. I can't wait! :)

miscellaneous Monday

Last Thursday & Friday I had the chance to visit Stitch Supply Co. in Altoona, Wisconsin. The store has been open for just over a year and this was my first visit. (For shame!) While I was there, I had the chance to take part in a retreat with a few good friends. The retreat space is AMAZING!!! (I failed to take photos, but you can see some here.) The store is quite lovely, too! Lots of amazing fabric, which made it overwhelming....but in a good way!

The first thing that you see when you walk in the front door is this amazing paper pieced elephant quilt that Ann made. Isn't it beautiful? (Pattern is by Violet Craft.)

There is a lot of gorgeous yarn at the shop, too. Everything is as cute as can be! The staff was wonderful and helpful! If you ever get a chance to stop by the shop, DO IT! :)

I took a bunch of tiny scraps to play with while I was there. They were literally flying. Hahaha! I did some tiny piecing.... I can't wait to get back to these scraps and do some more!

This mini is a brighter version of my remainders quilt (pattern is in No Scrap Left Behind). The mini measures about 10" x 12 1/2" and it took me all afternoon and evening to make it. It was totally worth it, though! I am planning on making a bright & white lap size version of this quilt sometime soon. Can't get enough of those tiny triangles!

I also made a 9 patch mini quilt, which took slightly less time. The squares in the 9 patch blocks finish at 1". That feels big to me....which is actually quite disturbing. Ha! The mini is about 15" square.

I immediately used the binding triangles from the mini above to make a little star pincushion. (Pattern for the pincushion can be found here.) The background fabric is a lovely chambray by Andover, which I also used in the mini. It's such a great fabric, so I bought a yard of it. It will be fun to incorporate into all kind of projects! I already gifted the pincushion. I LOVE giving them away!

On Saturday, I did my first trunk show and class from my new book at Gruber's Quilt Shop. Many thanks to the wonderful women who attended! It was a great day! It was awesome to finally show all the quilts that I worked on in secret in my basement for 6 months! It was also inspiring to see how the students dove into their scrap piles. Lots of fun, lots of progress!

I've been doing some stash enhancing lately.... these goodies below were purchased at quilt con, actually, from Cassie of Sew Stitching Happy. She makes the cutest bundles!

I finally broke down and bought an Uppercase fabric bundle while I was at Stitch Supply....such great colors. Such good blenders! My daughter squealed when she saw it. She wanted to claim it for her very own. I think we will be sharing it. Maybe.

I also purchased a quilt kit.... my first one ever! The fabric is Tag, by Cheryl Arkison for Connecting Threads. The pattern is Arithmetic by Jeni Baker. I'm super excited about this quilt!

One last thing for the day....

While I was at quilt con, I was on a panel about stash management, which was a lot of fun! When they showed this photo (above), there were several audible groans from the audience. Well, just to set the record straight, here's the rest of the story....

 ...this is the other side of the room. It needs a good cleaning!

And here's the reality of my cutting table today. See, I'm a normal quilter, after all!

Happy Monday to you!