Maine socks and stash organization

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I managed to finish another pair of socks! I bought this yarn in August when my husband and I went to Maine to celebrate our 20th anniversary. As much as I LOVE colorful socks, this black and white self-striping yarn caught my eye because it's so practical. These socks will match 90% of my closet. :) I'm pretty pleased with how well those stripes lines up. Not exactly perfect, but pretty darn close. Hurray!

 

This is my 23rd pair of hand knit socks that I've made to date. You can find the free pattern here.

 

The other BIG project this week was to organize my stash. It was in quite a state of disarray, so I spent quite a bit of time folding, organizing and rearranging. It felt AMAZING to get this all in order.

I've used the same folding technique for my stash for years and I can't recommend it enough. (See this post.) If the fabric is not large enough to wrap around a 6" ruler, it goes into the scrap bin. Having a consistent folding technique helps maintain the organization long term.

Lest you think that everything is perfectly perfect over here, this is was hanging out just out of the frame of the previous photo. (See? I AM a normal quilter and a real person. Hahahaha!)

I shuffled the piles a little farther out so I could get a decent picture of the whole corner. I have a bunch of scraps that I need to get in order next, but one step at a time....right? It feels good to have the stash neat and tidy, at least.

 

Ok, that's it for me today! Now it's your turn to link up your finishes. Thanks, as always for joining me for finish it up Friday!

 

 

Emma & Myrtle fabric

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week was a big one!!! My second fabric collection with Connecting Threads was released and my oldest son got his driver's license! My first line of fabric was released the day he started high school, so apparently fabric release dates coincide with big milestones in my house. Might as well deal with all of the emotions at once, huh? 

Anyway...back to the fabric! This is a vintage inspired collection that was named after two of my great aunts, Emma & Myrtle. There are 19 different fabrics in the line, but not a polka dot in the bunch. (Can you believe that?!?! I'm not sure how that happened! Ha!) Don't get me wrong....even with the absence of polka dots, I'm thrilled with how the collection turned out! I had a lot of fun sewing with it already and I'm looking forward to seeing how others use it. Emma & Myrtle is sold exclusively at Connecting Threads. They have kits, bundles and yardage, all available here. I plan to share more projects, more about the fabric design process and all that at a later date, but I wanted to share the big news with you today! (Eeeek! This is nerve wracking!)

I've been using some of the scraps to make pincushions! (Shocker, right?!?!)

 These are the ones from day 26 of my pincushion-a-day challenge....

and this is day 27! I was thrilled to use some previously interfaced scraps from bag making on this one. It made my frugal side very happy. :)

Alright, I think that's it for me today! Now it's your turn to link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

effective fabric selection

Happy November! It's my month for the mighty lucky quilting club! My challenge is all about effective fabric selection. (Try saying that 5 times fast!) To me, one of the best parts about quilting is playing with beautiful fabric! Wouldn't you agree?

This fabric stack is something that I pulled together for the challenge....now I'm ready to chop it up into a bunch of pieces and turn it into a quilt. This is a bit out of my normal color range, so I'm anxious to see how it comes together and how much editing will need to happen along the way. It's always an adventure!

For those of you participating in the club, I can't wait to see what you come up with for the challenge! 

A few weeks ago, Sandi and I chatted all about scraps, fabric design, blogging and my mighty lucky challenge. You can listen to the podcast here, if you care to. Sandi is lovely and I really enjoyed visiting with her. I actually listened to the podcast myself, and it was by far the most scary part of my Halloween. (It's not scary at all, I'm just extremely self-conscious. Hahaha!)

Because it's always fun to hear from you, do you love picking out fabrics or do you dread that part? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the subject!

Also, tomorrow is my 10 year blog birthday. Craziness! I'm not sure how to celebrate it, but I've been thinking about how things have changed and how it's grown into something I never would have dreamed of. I'm so thankful to you for reading!!!

the beginning of an epic quilt

I need (no, really, I do!) a new quilt for my king size bed. The problem is, I have the hardest time picking out patterns/fabrics for bed quilts. It is quite the commitment!

I decided to pull out the good stuff from my stash. I have quite a nice collection of Denyse Schmidt fabric, so it makes sense to use it. Right?

It took me a few weeks to figure out a plan for the fabric, and on Monday, I started cutting. I had to laugh when I saw the year on the selvage. It's only 7 years old. Ha! At least it has aged well!

It took me ALL day to cut out the fabric. Thankfully, Mary was here for a sew day, so I had someone to visit with while I cut. I definitely needed the moral support! 

I cut each square at 12 1/4", then cut each square on the diagonal twice to make quarter square triangles. The blocks should finish at 11''. It's going to look soooo good on my bed!!!

This photo better conveys the scale. I only need 90 blocks, which means I'm already 10% done piecing the blocks. That's pretty exciting!

 

I have another quilt pattern picked out to use up some of the scraps. It's such a fun, vicious cycle!

thoughts on a 6 month fabric fast

Last Friday, after 6 months (and 5 days) of not buying fabric by the yard, I broke my fast. Very intentionally, I might add. My friend Brianne and I met at SR Harris (which is something like Disney world for a fabric junkie) and we had a little party. It was great!

This is the tower of fabric I came home with. Yes, it was polka dot day! (Isn't every day???)

This all started last July, when my husband challenged me to go 2 months without buying fabric. I'm usually up for a personal challenge of that sort, so I agreed to it. If you think about it, 60 days is a long time to not buy fabric...especially when you sew almost every day! Well, 2 months came and went and I thought, why not go 3 months? Then 4 months. Shoot, why not try for a full 6 months? I was on a roll and it felt good!

Well, about 3 days short of the 6 month mark hit, and I really, really wanted to buy fabric! (Can you imagine?) But I resisted. I'm so glad I did. It would have been silly to cave at that point.

Overall, it was a good exercise in self-control. In some ways, not having the option of purchasing fabric is almost easier. It takes the decision making out of the equation and you just don't buy. The end.

I completed 9 quilts during my fast. I did purchase one queen size sheet set during that time, which was used to back two quilts: Aunt Janet's memory quilt (which was the reason for the purchase) and my mustard mishap quilt.

I can almost hear some of you asking, "so, why would you want to go on a fabric fast anyway?"

It wasn't about the money, really. It was more about using the fabric I have while I still love it. I have fabrics that I bought a year ago that aren't even close to being close to being at the top of the queue.

I love the challenge of using what I have on hand and trying to make it work. (To a point!) For example, for my plenty of pineapples quilt, I had to get creative with backing options. It took awhile to come up with the solution, but it's one of my favorite quilt backs to date!

I saw a significant dent in my stash. That felt GREAT! I found that I was running low on the basics. (Light gray prints, various solids, etc.) It really helped me see what fabrics not to buy, too. (Novelty prints!) In some ways, I wish I would have used up even more of my stash...but I figured 6 months was long enough!

I'm so glad that I took the challenge! I'm glad I stretched it out to 6 months. I am amazed at how much fabric I really don't *need* to buy. And I'm really happy to be back to buying fabric. :)

Have you ever gone on a fabric fast or a fabric diet? I'd love to hear about your experiences, if you care to share.

Happy Monday to you!

Liberty giveaway

I've been on-line friends with Anna for years and years. We met in real life way back in 2010 (!!!) at Quilt Market in Minneapolis. She is a gem and she takes gorgeous photos. Today, I'm happy to team up with her to bring you a really fun giveaway! A giveaway that will cheer up any cold, dark, dreary January day. At least that's the hope! :)

Anna recently started carrying Liberty of London fabrics in her shop. If you are unfamiliar with Liberty tana lawn, it is fabric of the highest quality. If I had only one word to describe it, it would be "fine". It's really, really lovely! I've worked with Liberty fabrics in the past, and even though they are fine, they are easy to work with. I made a cute little mini HST quilt that currently hangs in my hallway. I also made this little mini (tutorial included) that now lives at Mary's house. It's the kind of fabric that you use every last bit. Oh wait, I do that with most fabrics. Ha!

Anna's goal is to make Liberty more affordable for everyone. Thank you, Anna! If you are in the market for Liberty fabric, be sure to check out her shop. You can buy it by the yard (starting with a 1/4 yard) or in bundles.

Now...for the giveaway! If you would like a chance to win a 10 piece bundle (each piece is 9" x 13") of Liberty of London tana lawn fabrics, please leave a comment on this post. In your comment, I'd love to hear what you are working on today. I will pick a giveaway winner in a few days!

As for me, I'm working on writing a pattern for my WIP bags...and the zipper measurements are kind of kicking my tail at the moment. :P Here's hoping for a break through soon!

Happy Wednesday!

quilting, quilting and more quilting

Last Saturday night I started cutting out a new quilt! I can't remember the last time I made a stash quilt...usually it's "all scraps, all the time" around here. (Which is fun, don't get me wrong!) The original idea was to make it from low volume fabrics (light values only) and call it "Quiet Christmas". I'm sticking with the name, because I love it, but I decided to use medium values as well, so I wouldn't have to go buy a bunch of new fabric. (I'm still on my fabric fast...139 days strong!)

I've got most of it cut out and I love the mix so far. LOTS of polka dots! The squares are cut at 5", which seems HUGE to me. :) I'm finally seeing a dent in my stash, which feels fantastic! I'm not sure if I will get this done before Christmas, but like my daughter says, "it don't matter." :)

I basted my pineapple quilt over the weekend--mostly because I didn't want to have to iron the top again. Hahaha! (I'm actually completely serious.)

The quilting is going well so far, for which I'm thankful! I'm doing simple loop-de-loops and they are disappearing into the scrappy chaos. Perfectly imperfect.

And then, in my down time, I've been hand quilting my "oh my stars" quilt. Actually, my friend Nancy, who taught me how to quilt, is recovering from knee surgery. She is in short stay care, so I've been hand quilting this while I visit her. It feels so "full circle" and it makes my sappy heart so happy.

baggy pouch

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I ventured into uncharted territory this week. I managed to use new fabric (while it is still new!) and a new pattern...all in one fell swoop! It was fun to actually use the new stuff rather than to add it to a mile long "to do" list, you know? I need to do that more often!

The fabric is Fresh Cut by Basic Grey for Moda.
The pattern is Aneela's adorable baggy pouch.

This is the small pouch. It was a fun and fairly quick project. Of course making the patchwork and quilting it takes a little extra time, but it's totally worth it! I'm excited to sew up the larger size next.

I wish I would have used a longer zipper or added fabric tab ends, but now I know for next time. This project is just imperfect enough that I wouldn't give it to someone, so I guess I'm going to have to suffer and keep it for myself. Darn. :) I really love the sweetness and the colors of this fabric line.

It finishes at about 8" x 5".

I think that this is one of the best ways I've found to use a mini charm pack to date! All my kids want (at least) one of these pouches and I could use at least a dozen myself. Ha! It's a good thing I have a stock pile of mini charms and zippers on hand. I have a feeling I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend!

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

I survived quilt market

I had the chance to attend quilt market in Houston over the weekend. I was gone for nearly 5 days, which is a LONG time for this homebody! Despite the drama-filled trip home, I made it back in one piece. My suitcase got lost (eep!) but it finally arrived on my doorstep (37 hours later) thanks to the UPS guy. I wasn't so worried about my clothes inside, but the fabric....THAT would have been hard to live without. Ha!

The highlight of quilt market is always the people! I got to meet/see people in real life that I've known on-line for years and years. It was so, so great!

Other things that I loved:

This stunning display of red and white quilts. I wish I would have spent more time looking at them. They were truly amazing.

I made this mini quilt for a friend, who was also at market, so I got to hand deliver it. I didn't know that it would fit into the market/show theme so well, but it just goes to show you that red and white is ALWAYS a good idea! :) The mini measures about 8 1/2" x 11 1/2". Each of those little blocks are about 1/2" finished. "About" being the key word. I am NOT a precision piecer.

I got to see my wonderful friend Tara and meet her adorable baby! He is the sweetest! I made him a little bib out of scraps that were originally Tara's, but they have been in my possession for the last few years. It was delightful to sew them up into a bib for her little guy. (I used this tutorial for the bib, but I tweaked the shape just a little bit to make it larger toward the bottom.)

(The bib is scrap project # 92/101!)

I roomed with and helped the ever-so-cute Vanessa of V and Co. with her booth set up. It was SO fun to hang out with her! The behind the scenes glimpse of what it takes to put on quilt market was a little bit staggering. It was certainly impressive and eye opening. Everyone works so hard!!!

Out of all the new fabric that I saw, this is the stuff that I am most excited about. The amazing Jen Kingwell has designed a line of fabric called Gardenvale for Moda. I absolutely love her scrappy style and her new fabric is sooooo good! I didn't get a photo of her whole booth (total oversight) but I did snap a photo of this quilt made from her new fabric line.

I absolutely love it! Layers and layers of scrappy quilts made by Jen were a sight to behold. I am going to try my best not to hoard the new fabric, but actually use it! We will see how that goes. :)

 

I could go on and on, but it's time to get back to the sewing machine! It's so good to be home.

Quilt Top Assembly and Quilting Ideas

Welcome to week 4 of the scrap basket quilt along! I think it's a good thing I'm hosting a quilt along this month, or I don't know if I'd be doing much quilting at all! :)

Today we will be talking about assembling quilt tops and I'll share a few quilting ideas, too.

Take the 99 blocks you made last week and arrange them into rows 9 across by 11 down.

Alternate the direction of the blocks to form a rail fence layout. I take photos as I go along....just to keep tabs on how things are progressing.

At one point as I was arranging blocks I realized that my blocks looked quite similar to the state of Minnesota....

...so I added one more block to the top to finish it off. It made my kids (and me) chuckle. My husband said I should sew it up just like this! Ha! Maybe next time...

This was my initial layout. Nearly all the gray diamond fabrics were in the top half of the quilt, so I did a little bit of shuffling. I try not to mess with the layout TOO much, because you can get in over your head and end up rearranging ALL day long. I've done that once or twice!

This is my final layout. Sometimes a few simple tweaks help a lot!

In each row, I pressed my seams in the direction of least resistance. (See arrows above.) You could press the seams in rows 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. to the right and press the seams in rows 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. to the left. It doesn't really matter how you press, as long as the seams that are meeting nest.

When I sew the rows together, I like to work from the bottom up. I press the horizontal seams toward the top. I've found that this is the easiest way to manage the bulk of the quilt as it grows in size.

This quilt top came together quickly! Once all the rows are together, press the quilt top well. Take a photo (or twelve) if you like! :)

To quilt, I'd recommend a simple wavy line grid. No marking required, just eyeball the quilting line in the center of the patchwork. This can be done with a walking foot OR you can free motion quilt the lines. (I prefer to FMQ...less puckering where the lines of quilting intersect.)

The wavy grid produces a nice texture and it is just the right amount of quilting. Again, it goes QUICK! Gotta love that!

On the rockets and robots quilt I did an all over stipple. Or you could do loop-de-loops, which would be quick and fun, too! I used colored threads on both the quilts...these quilts will be going to kids, so the way I see it, the more color the better! Don't be afraid to branch out with different thread colors. It's fun!

Alright! That's all I've got for today! Next week I will have a little link up party so you can show your progress-or your finished quilt! Thanks to all of you who are joining me to make quilts for charity. I really appreciate it!

Happy Monday to you!

Block Construction

Welcome to week 3 of the Scrap Basket Quilt Along! It's finally cutting and sewing time!

I apologize that I'm posting so late in the day. I was away on a quilt retreat all weekend (yay!) and I spent most of the day driving home. The good news is I had time to make my blocks for the quilt along over the weekend. It was FUN! (AND the perfect retreat project.)

For today's installment of the quilt along, I will show you two simple ways to make a rail fence block.

First, gather your fabrics based on the color scheme you chose last week. I've added a few more navy fabrics to my stack and I'm much happier with it. Sometimes you need to tweak as you go along...and that's ok!

Fabric requirements and cutting:

If you are using yardage, you will need 3.75 yards. Or 15 fat quarters. Cut 99 strips 2.5" x 21" from various colors, prints and solids.

If you are using scraps, cut 297 pieces that measure 2.5" x 6.5".

To construct a block from scraps:

 Layout 3 scraps that measure 2.5" x 6.5" each.

Sew strips together with a 1/4" seam allowance. Press seams toward the dark fabrics. The block should measure 6.5" square. Make 99 blocks.

To make blocks from yardage:

Layout 3 strips 21" x 2.5".

 Sew the strips together with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Tip:

Make sure that your stitch length is dialed down, so your stitches are on the short side. All sewing machines are different, but on my JUKI I have it set on one click less than #2 stitch length. You will be cutting the strip sets apart and if your stitches are too large, the pieces will start to separate during layout and construction. That is the number one reason why I hated strip piecing for years. Split seams are a huge pain in the hinder, and they should be avoided at all costs! :) A short stitch length helps a LOT.

Press the strip set well. They are prone to curving, so I find it best to hold the strip down on one end (with the iron) and gently tug with the other hand, pulling the strip set taut. Press from left to right. Use a bit of spray starch if desired.

Trim the strip set into 3 6.5" squares. Set the scraps aside or discard.

Make 33 strip sets. Cut into 99 blocks.

I did a combination of both techniques for my blocks, because I used some yardage and some scraps.

Next week we will lay out the quilt and talk about construction and quilting. If you are on a roll and you want to work ahead, the layout is 9 blocks across by 11 blocks down.

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments. Otherwise, have fun making your quilt blocks! (I had so much fun making these, I'm kind of considering making another!!!)

Happy Monday to you!