fancy block friday #4

I'm probably the LAST blogger in the world to make this block. In case I am wrong about that, you can find the template for this block here. ;) Christina has a great tutorial on how to make it here. I've seen so many beautiful versions of it around blogland and flickr, it was only a matter of time before I had to take a stab at it myself. You know what? It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Hurray! Maybe I'm finally getting the hang of paper piecing. :)

I used various solids in blues and greens from my scrap bin and Kona white for the background. When I printed out my templates, they didn't print at 100% (which I didn't realize at the time), so my block was just shy of 11". I decided to add a border to the outside and it's about 15" now. The borders are actually nice, because it encloses all the bias edges. It took almost a whole fat quarter just for the background (gasp!), and that's before I added the borders. Paper piecing sure eats fabric! But, I do love my block. I'm planning on turning it into a mini quilt. Someday.

Did you see the block Melinda made last week for the Fancy Block Friday challenge? I LOVE it! (ha!) I really do!

rebound

Have you ever rebound a quilt just because you found a better binding fabric in your stash?

 I may have done something like that last week. (On a KING size quilt!)

 Isn't it so much better?

I just LOVE red gingham bias binding. And I've found that I actually LIKE making bias binding. Doesn't sound quite right, does it? Oh, well, I guess I never claimed to be normal. :)

You can see the entire quilt here.

the ugly duckling quilt

This quilt top was made by my sister. She didn't like it, but I did. When she asked me if I wanted it, I said "sure." So you see, I rescue not only fabric, and quilt blocks, but you can add quilt tops to the list, too. Are you noticing that this issue runs deep? Really deep.

The quilt top came home with me and it sat in the "to be quilted" stack for awhile. When I finally got around to finishing it, it went quick. Love baby quilts for that reason. I did a simple stipple all over in neutral thread.

I backed it with a brown dot from JoAnn's from their nursery collection, which has GREAT dots, by the way.

The binding is David Walker robots. I LOVE that fabric! I love how the binding completes this quilt so nicely.

My husband was going to give it to a co-worker, but I love it so much that I might stash it and keep it for someone that I actually know. It never hurts to have an extra baby boy quilt on hand. It seems like a lot of my friends are pregnant and someone is bound to have a boy.

The quilt measures 40" x 50". I'm so happy to see this finished! So, Clair, what do you think?

Go! baby winner

And the winner of the GO! baby cutter is A Dilettante of Fruition. Thanks to everyone who played along. I loved reading your thankful lists.

Happy Monday to you!

fancy block friday

I've have been thinking of incorporating a ladder pattern into a quilt for years now. Since I wasn't quite sure what to piece this week for my fancy block Friday challenge, a ladder it is! This block could easily be pieced improvisationally, but I love the precise results that come from paper piecing. The block will finish at 8" square. I have a stack of blue/aqua/purple/green fat quarters (purchased from Connecting Threads) that I plan to use to make more of these lovely blocks. And so another WIP is born.....

On the flip side, I did finish this quilt top this week. It measures 44" x 53". I blogged a bit about the process here. I love how it came together! The red and white polka dots are a fun addition to the quilt. But then again, you really can not go wrong with red and white polka dots, if you ask me! Since I need another quilt like I need a hole in the head, I'm pretty sure that this top will be headed to MHC.

Happy Friday!

9 patches

Some friends of mine are getting married in August, and I'm making them a quilt. Rather than try to guess what they would want, I asked for their (her) preferences. She said "think fall". I LOVE fall, but fall colors aren't my normal go to colors for quilting. I spent a few days (weeks?) mulling over a pattern. I decided to make yet another 9 patch quilt. I'm using Kona jelly rolls in dusky and dark. It's been so fun mixing and matching the colors. So far, I'm loving it! I have 7 9 patches left to make, then I get to assemble the top. I am enjoying watching this one take shape!

If you haven't entered yet, the giveaway for the GO! Baby is still open. :)

GO! Baby giveaway

I'm sooooo excited to be hosting this giveaway today. The fine folks at AccuQuilt are allowing me to giveaway a GO! Baby cutting system and 3 dies (your choice!) to one of my readers. To enter, please leave ONE comment on this post. In your comment I'd like to include 3 things that you are thankful for.
Here's my list:
1. I'm thankful that my kids are playing reasonably well together today. That means mama gets some time to sew! Yipee!
2. I'm thankful for a great weekend with my husband, kids and good friends.
3. I'm thankful that we are already enjoying fresh veggies from the garden. What a treat!

Happy Monday to you! And good luck!

edited to add: the giveaway is now closed.

asterisk block

This block is for my dear friend, Tara, for the brand spankin' new Two's Company Quilting Bee. The red and white quilting bee was the brainchild of my friend Andrea, and I'm so happy to be a part of it! The block was actually designed by my friend Penny. This also doubles as my Fancy Block for the week, a paper piecing challenge that I am doing with my friend Melinda. I LOVE my quilting friends and I love quilting WITH my friends, even if it is virtually most of the time. :)

Hope you are having a happy Saturday!

progression

Last Saturday I was playing with my "uglies". (See this post for reference.) I sewed together a bunch of half square triangles that will finish at a measly 2". I knew better than to throw them in a WIP box. If I did, chances are I would never want to touch them again. So, up on the design wall they went.

Then, I thought, "hmmm, my reclaimed stars would look good with these". I added them in. I like it!

Just for kicks, I added some Kona 9 patches I had laying around for the outside border. Now I LOVE it!

So, 3 WIP's are now ONE! See, it's not about working harder, it's about working smarter. :) 

I love that this quilt is progressing nicely and all quite by accident, it seems. I love the traditional feel of it. The goal is to make it into a full size quilt for my brother in law.

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On a side note, this is my 777th post! It seems like a great time to say thank you for stopping by, reading and encouraging me through your comments. It really does mean so much. THANK YOU! xoxo

flirt skirts

I recently had the chance to review the book Flirt Skirts by Patti Gilstrap and Seryn Potter. I'm not normally a fan of sewing clothes, but if I were to sew anything for me, chances are it would be a skirt.

I loved this book! It has instructions for 3 basic skirt types: A-line, Pencil and Flare, in sizes 2-14. It takes you through how to determine your size & fit, it shows you how to draft a pattern in your size and how to alter it, if needed. It also shows you how to make each of those three basic skirts, step by step. Then, it shows you how to use those basic skirt skills and kick it up a notch. It has 20 different patterns for customized skirts. It also has a section at the back of the book about how to putting your look together. That was a neat addition, I thought.

The authors made it look easy enough, but I wanted to see if I could do actually do it! I'm a simple girl, so I tried sewing a basic A-Line skirt pattern. Overall, things went very well! I did a bit of seam ripping, but that's to be expected.

The fabric I used is Flora and Fauna by Patty Young for Michael Miller. I bought it with the sole intention of making a skirt. (7 months ago) :) I LOVE the border with the 2 toned dots. Anyway, back to the skirt construction. I made this skirt from start to finish today! I pre-washed and ironed my fabric. I drafted my pattern (not a big fan of the process, but it wasn't too bad), I sewed an invisible zipper for the first time ever in a garment (feeling pretty great about that one!), and also used single fold bias tape for the first time. The instructions were easy to follow and very accurate. I LOVE my new skirt. It fits very, very well and I'm sure I'll wear it a ton. I give the book 2 thumbs up!

Happy Monday to you!

use it or lose it

Since attending Penny's retreat back in April, I haven't really done much, or should I say any, paper piecing. It's a shame, since I learned some really cool things. It's amazing (and scary) how quickly I forget things. Melinda and I decided that we are going to try to keep up and hopefully expand our skills by making one fancy block a week. Tara, Audrey and Carmen may be joining in from time to time, too.

At the retreat, Penny had us make a sketch of something we wanted to make. She showed us how to number it, then paper piece it. I wanted to make a mini place mat, and I thought a bowl and spoon would be kind of cute.

This block was my first attempt. It turned out ok, but I wanted to remake it and see if I could do it again, without supervision. (Ha!) My goal was to make it less wonky this time. Some of the curves on this piece were intentional, but it was causing some unnecessary work, and more importantly, unnecessary seams.

I used blue Saral transfer paper when I reworked my pattern. I love how it looks like a blueprint! The transfer paper works so well for this. It sure beats tracing on a window. :)

I was working on this block yesterday, and man, oh, man, did I struggle! It was so frustrating! I did a ton of stitch ripping, to the point of my paper almost wore out completely. Thankfully, something clicked eventually and I remembered what I had to do. What a relief!

The second block turned out much, much better. It actually lays flat! I love the vintage floral fabric on the bottom, which came from my Grandma's house. She had a small fabric stash and I'm so happy to have the chance to use some of it. Won't this make a super cute mini mat? I'm excited to do more paper and improv piecing after this success. And before I forget, again! :)

You can see Melinda's fancy block here.

playing four square

I made this little quilt for a friend that is expecting her 3rd baby this summer. Having 3 kids myself, I know how fun it is to get something special for the younger ones. These so are "her" colors, and it just happens that I had plenty of them on hand in my stash. Sweet!

Most of the fabrics are from the Birchtree Lane collection from Connecting Threads. These fabrics are so perfect for a boy quilt! To round things out, I threw in a sweet little print from my LQS, a bit of David Walker robots and some Robert Kaufman mingle. My daughter actually cut these out for me using my GO! baby (can you say sweet???) and the 5" circle die. The GO! cutter made such quick work of the circles. I certainly will be making more circle quilts!

The backing is Denyse Schmidt dots from JoAnn's. LOVE this print! I really wanted to continue hoarding it for myself, but I'm glad I used it, because it was THE perfect match.

For construction of the circle blocks, I basically used this tutorial, but I used 6.5" squares rather than 6" for the background blocks. The circles frayed ever so gently after washing. I love the subtle texture that it adds-absolutely perfect for a baby quilt!

I rolled it up and tied a ribbon around for gifting, letting the label peek out. So simple and easy and sweet.

The quilt measures 42" square. I gave it to my friend yesterday and she loved it. Hurray!

This was SUCH a fun (and quick!) quilt to make. I think I need to make a girl version now. :)