I'm doing my best to keep my priorities intact.  I miss this space and thought a quilt finish was just the excuse to get back here.

I had to go back through my instagram feed to see how long this quilt top sat finished before I had it quilted.  It was almost a year.  I can't believe I let it sit for that long.

It was long arm quilted with swirls in a turquoise thread.  I love everything about this quilt.  The fabric is Jeni's Dreaming Vintage line.  I'm generally not one to go for warm colors but I love how all of these colors look together.  It's such a happy group of prints.  The pattern is Golden Afternoon, also by Jeni.  I bound the quilt with two shades of green and backed it with a sewing machine print that coordinates in the very best way.

I'm keeping this quilt for myself.  I'm greedy like that.

I think the main reason my projects don't find there way here is that I just don't stop and take pictures like I used to.  In May, I made a fabric basket for a friend's birthday.  The pattern was from Anna's book, Handmade Style.  I was so happy with how it turned out that I snapped a quick pic with my phone and delivered it right away.  Later, I thought I would write a little post about it and then realized that all I had to share was this. One lonely photo.  With this in mind, I took some time to photograph a couple of quilts I made last fall.

I could make log cabin quilts for days.  This one is a baby size quilt made from one giant log cabin block.

One half is a light weight chambray, the other half is a split of ice dyed cottons in greens and purples.

The back is a print with indigo stripes on a off-white background.

The pattern for this quilt is Vast from Jeni's book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle.

It's made with some of my favorite ice dyed cottons and a mid-weight chambray.  The back is a gold and black print.

I think this quilt looks brilliant with all the lichen on the wall.

I finished this larger than life quilt last spring. It was a commission project and it tested the limits of my small house.  By the time I stitched the last border on I couldn't lay it flat on the floor anymore.  Needless to say, it was quilted on a long arm.

I love the swoopy spiral quilting.

I used Jeni's Giant Vintage Star Quilt tutorial for the center and then added borders to bump it out to a king size.  The eight small corner blocks in the borders were foundation pieced.  I used a half size version of Faith's Summer Sampler Star tutorial.  The front is a mix of cotton + steel fabrics and a super girly pink was requested for the back.

I don't know that it can really get much more girly pink than that!

I have never been a part of a traveling quilt project before, so when Jacey invited me to be a part of her fantastic quilt voyage project I was mixed with fear and excitement.  The idea is you make one block to start your own quilt and then it's shipped around to one of the other participants, who in turn make a block and send it on to the next quilter.  Once everyone has made a block it comes home and you can put together a quilt top.  Most of us are on pinterest and we've been busy pinning all sorts of inspiration for our quilts.  Using pinterest has been a great way to really focus on what you are hoping for your own quilt and also get a feel for what would work for someone else.

Some of us are also sending along a journal/blank book of some sort for all of us to write in as we work on a block.  I ended up making a sort of a journal pack with mini copies of the pins I found for inspiration and punched ovals from paint chips for color palette matching.  There are also some fabric scraps along with a clip to hold the journal cards that people put together as they work on the project.

I used a box from Fat Quarter Shop for shipping (they always use such sturdy boxes) but I thought I should do something to make sure people knew it wasn't being sent from Fat Quarter Shop.  I didn't want anyone to walk out to the mailbox and think "did I order a big box of fabric and completely forget about it?"  It could happen, right?!  So I doodled all around the box in the hopes no one has a panic attack on their front step.

Even though it's months away, I'm already looking forward to putting together my quilt!

It's that time of year when winter starts to drag on a bit.  I thought I would brighten things up a bit with a sale.

During the month of February you can get 20% off your purchases in my etsy shop.  Just use the coupon code BIRTHDAY20.

thanks!

Last year I set myself up with a long project list.  By mid-year I had started several quilts but hadn't finished most of them so by December I was determined to cross some off the list.   

The idea for sky blue geese came from a doodle in my notebook.  It has blue and ivory cross-hatch print flying geese blocks surrounded by text prints.  I sent it as a surprise to a friend I haven't seen in years.

The back is mix of prints.  The blue and white plumes were a favorite of mine.  They've been in my stash for years so it's great to see them in a project.

I made a couple of Christmas quilts in December.  I used a scaled down version of Jeni's Giant Vintage Star Tutorial. They were also given to friends.

One was a large silver star, the other gold.

Florette turned out to be one of my favorite quilts to date.  The pattern is by Jeni Baker.

Anna, Jeni, and I took a screen printing class ages ago and while they were here they helped me pull fabrics for future projects.  It was a blast to spend hours happily geeking out over fabric with friends.  I used one of the stacks we put together for this quilt.   Then I finished the top while we were on a sewing retreat together.

The back is one part, grey and white paisley and one part, floral.  Truth be told...the floral was our old shower curtain.  I made the curtain a few years ago and saved the fabric when I made a new one.  I had intended to sell this quilt, but in the end, I surprised lulu by putting it on her bed while she was in school.  She nearly fell down the steps to thank me because she was so happy.  (that would have been an awkward ER visit!)

Golden geese was another quilt I intended to sell.  It was also a stack that Anna and Jeni helped pull together.  The pattern is of my own design. I love the fabrics, so much print on print on print.  I just couldn't part with it.  I have greedily kept it for myself.  (that's how i roll)

It's backed with some fabric from my stash.  It felt great to check all of these of my project list.

I'm looking forward to sharing more about this year's list.

I finished a bunch of quilts last month.  It was an effort to work through a good chunk of my 2014 project list before I started my 2015 list.

This quilt went together extra quick.  It's made with a pre-cut layer cake and then some yardage for the back.  The prints on the front are all for Aneela Hoey's little apples line.  I love the trees and little hedgehogs.  The wardrobe print is one of my all-time favorite fabrics.   I machine quilted it with a pale grey thread with organic matchstick lines along the diagonals.

I added some coordinating cardinals to the back.  They just looked so cute with the rest of the prints.

I've listed in my etsy shop and I'm hoping it finds a nice new home with someone who loves it as much as I do.

In January, Dana started a scrappy bear paw quilt-along on Instagram.  I love making bear paws blocks and had a stack of fabric that I had set aside for myself ages ago.  It was a mix of old fabrics that I had been saving just for me, along with new prints that caught my eye.  Once I saw Dana's quilt a-long, I knew I had to get started right away.

I gave one paw in each block an accent paw.  In the end, it turned out to be a sampler quilt hidden in a bear paw quilt and I absolutely love it.  As soon as it was finished I had it on the bed.

The border is the Paris map print by three sisters for Moda.  It's from years ago but I squirreled away yards of it because it is one of my most favorite prints.  It was my jumping off point for the prints for the rest of the quilt.  Basically, all my favorite colors, which are mostly sort of non-colors.

One of my favorite bits is the binding.  In with one of my favorite text prints, I added sections of a black print from the first fat quarter bundle I ever purchased back in 1997.  It is a Moda print and I still love it today as much as I did back then.

The back of the quilt is a lovely black print on double wide fabric with some grey around the edges.

A friend quilted it for me on her long arm.  The quilting pattern was called bayside.  I'm sure they were going for waves, but to me it looked like thick curly bear fur so I had to try it.

She did an amazing job and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

This was one of the those quick projects that took me ages to finish.  The colors are not ones I usually work with so I had a difficult time deciding how the blocks should work together.  I shuffled them around so many times.  I kind of hated it and then I loved it.

The heart of each log cabin block was part of a panel that I cut up and then edged with wonky bands of tone on tone orange, green, blue, and gold.  The orange is a cross hatch print, while the others are silhouettes of leaves.

The extra spaces around the blocks and the binding are a coordinating brown print that I think looks like little bees buzzing around, but is actually tiny airplanes.  I quilted it with gold thread in vertical straight lines.

The back is big, wide bands of the coordinating colors that I used on the front. 

I think it makes for a great baby quilt.  I'm happy that in the end I powered through and kept working on this one.  It would have been a shame to let it sit on a shelf unfinished simply because it was bit frustrating in the middle of making it.

It will be listed soon.

black and color block of the month quilt

I started writing this post in my head this morning while I was taking these pictures in the back yard.  It was sort of a sad post, dwelling on how disappointed I was with how the color transferred in the dryer.  I'm still bummed about it, but in between then and now, I had a visit with my new massage therapist.  When she heard I did a lot of sewing she did some extra work on my arms.  As someone who spends a lot of time holding projects and stitching with my hands, I shouldn't be surprised to feel how much tension she worked out of my forearms, but I was.  Turns out I don't just hold my tension in my neck and upper back.  Needless to say, I'm feeling relaxed and much more at peace with this project.

It's the Craftsy Block of the Month from 2012.  YES, 2012.  I started working on Amy's class in January of 2012 and just finished it this week.  More proof of how far behind I am on my works in progress list. I used Gee's Bend Solids for the entire quilt top. It's a group of cottons with the softest hand.  They are hand dyed solids, which, while it creates a gorgeous variation in color, also creates a less stable one. I treated a stack of the fabrics with Retayne and Synthrapol to help them hold their color. Unfortunately, because I took so long to finish the blocks some untreated black ended up in a couple of the blocks. (note to self...treat fabric as soon as it enters the house)

I was nervous to wash it knowing there were some rogue untreated pieces of the black fabric in the mix so I threw in 3 color catchers and crossed my fingers. I ran down to the washer when I heard the end of cycle buzz and was thrilled to see all the bright colors were still holding their own. Woohoo! I tossed it in the dryer and away I went.  Then the dryer buzzed and I ran down.  I was crushed.  When I pulled it out of the dryer I found the yellows and pinks where now smudged with black. As the quilt tumbled, the black spread itself all over. I had this happen with another quilt, and with washings it diminished, so I tossed this one in with 3 three more color catchers and here's where it stands.

Still smudged.

From a distance it looks great. It's like a fellow student once said of my work during a critique in a university drawing class, "if you step back and half close your eyes, it is perfect". (I wasn't insulted, he was British so his accent allowed him to get away with even the most thinly veiled insults.  Plus, he said it was "perfect", right?!)

So it is our new family quilt. You know the one that gets thrown in the back of the car and used to for anything and everything.   And it will be the coolest car quilt around!  I love the feel of the fabric, so soft and smooth.  Plus aside from the smudges, it's a pretty awesome set of blocks!  It's backed with a black and blue print so grass stains won't  a problem.

Bring on the picnics!  We are ready!

Way back when in January 2011, lulu and I went shopping for fabric for a quilt for her bed.  She chose a fun mix of pinks with a bit of green mixed in.  We set them aside until we came up with a pattern.

That fall, while I was on the Sewing Summit shop hop I picked up the Swoon pattern and started cutting into the stacks.  By sometime in 2012, I had finished two of the blocks and she had decided she didn't love pink the way she used to.

She loved blue and green and I was so happy I had not made any more than two of those giant blocks at this point.

We sorted through my stash and came up with a new stack.  I spent some more time cutting, stitching, quilting and finally last fall (just before the Thanksgiving deadline she gave me) her quilt was finished.

At some point in this whole process, she asked me to hand quilt it.  Since she's on the short list of people I have a more difficult time saying no to, I agreed.  I machine quilted the sashing with some quick matchstick quilting not only because it looks cool, but also to hold the quilt together nicely while I spent the hours it took to hand quilt the blocks.

I took advantage of the left over blocks to fill some space in the back along with a mix of prints.

I also took a huge sigh of relief when I finally finished it and she loved it.

It's the season of late starts at school, kids home with sniffles and coughs, snow days, and yet another blizzard so I'm stealing some time to show you my Parks quilt.

This whole quilt was put together a bit spur of the moment.  I loved the national parks print (by Wilmington) the moment I saw it and thought it would be fun to try something different.  I pulled together a quick stack of fabric, stitched and slashed and built up two log cabin blocks.  One for the front and one for the back.

Once it was pieced, I started in with the quilting.  I ran one zig zag line down the middle and followed those angles out to the edges.

Someone I know is working on visiting every national park.  She's also someone who lives life a bit spur of the moment so I'm thinking this might be a perfect treat for her.

No camping today, though, it's raining, there's thunder and hail, closely followed by freezing rain, it's supposed to start snowing later today with 50mph winds tonight.  All those precipitation types in one day.  Iowa is totally overachieving today.

Most of this week's sewing focused on my bear paw.  I stitched together all the accent blocks so now I can assembly line the blocks together.  

Here they are along with the log cabin accent I already put into a block.

It turned into a fun sampler project.  I pulled most of the blocks from Barbara Brackman's, Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  

Here's a block I'm working on today.

My center square, along with the claws are 2 1/2" unfinished.  The accent block and 4 square scrappy blocks are 4 1/2" unfinished.  In the end, I have a block the will be 14" finished.  

Here's another block I shared on Instagram yesterday.

A bear paw quilt has to have bear, doesn't it?

This was another one of those unfinished projects that has been hanging around waiting so patiently for me to finish it.

My starting point for this quilt was the grey background print.  I loved the concrete look of the speckled grey print and wanted to let it shine.  I was hoping that adding just a hint of vibrant color would let that happen.

And did it ever!  I love how they bring out the best in each other.

The speckled concrete grey print was something that I found at JoAnn.  The brights are from Amy Butler's line Lark.  The whites are a mix of low volumes from my stash.

I quilted it along the white diagonals in white for a subtle emphasis on the chain pattern.

I pieced the back with a mix of prints.

Mostly grey and white, but I couldn't resist adding some more color with the firework print.

It was a chilly day for a photo shoot, but thankfully my helper was able to keep warm.

p.s. this quilt is listed for sale in my shop

A downside of quilting is at a certain point you have more quilts than you can use in one house.

I give lots away each year, as gifts and also if there is a charity auction in need of items, but they still pile up.

I have posted several for sale in my shop, along with a bunch of tooth fairy pockets I found in with the quilts when I was cleaning.  (You can also click to my shop on the link over on the right sidebar where you see my cool new logo)

Happy Weekend!!

I cannot wait to tell you about this quilt, but first I have to do that thing that we all do at the start of a new year.  I used to do resolutions and lists and words an all that but then I got lazy.  Powerful lazy.  Not moving all day kind of lazy.  Long story short, I started stacks of projects in 2012 that are still hanging around today.  My sloth went to  such extremes I finally talked to my doctor about it and this Spring we found out two things...I need to avoid eating things with lots of fructose and it turned out I wasn't lazy, but my thyroid is. I've spent the past year trying different doses and I've learned a lot.  I'm thrilled to not feel miserable.  I've been tackling many of those works in progress and started a few exciting new projects along the way.  So, as for the new year, my goal is to build on what I started gaining last fall...MOMENTUM.  No more excuses. I'm hoping to keep things moving, more finished quilts, more homemade cookies, more laughs, more fun!

Now for the quilt, making a quilt as a gift is always a bit stressful for me.  Finding the right fabrics, the right design, does the recipient even know she wants a quilt.  This one was for my niece who loves camouflage and I'm so happy to share that she loves it!  I used Realtree and Mossy Oak prints from JoAnn along with all sorts of hushed tone prints from my stash.

These tiny maple leaves are just 1 1/2".  A few more tiny leaves are scattered around the front of the quilt.

The brown along the edge of the star in the shot below was dyed naturally with walnut hulls from my dad's vat of walnut dye.

I used my highly scientific method of laying pieces of fabric out on the floor and then shuffling them around for ages to decide on placement.

I also did my best to use up even the tiniest bits of fabric that were left after making all those flying geese.  I used the larger pieces of camo to make the backing.  Along with a star that was going to go on the front, but once I started placing, I just couldn't find the right home for it.

One of my favorite things about this quilt is where the Realtree and Mossy Oak logos pop up.

My other favorite part was the smile on her face when she opened it.

Happy New Year everyone, I'm looking forward to sharing lots of good things with you this year.

I made this quilt for my cousin who was married this past Saturday. It's the New York Beauty from Peggy Martin's Craftsy class, Quick Strip Paper Piecing.  It's a fun class.  I whole heartedly recommend it.  I made the pinwheel quilt from this class too. I love using Craftsy because you always have the videos to refer to if you get mixed up on a technique.

The fabrics are from Pat Bravo's Summerlove line. These colors remind me of the bride so I'm hoping she loves them too.

The back is a jumble of leftover summerlove yardage.

With all the sharp points in the piecing, I wanted to try to use the quilting to soften the look a bit.  I went with a scallopy (yes autocorrect that is the word I want to use) stitching line and randomly spaced them an inch to three inches apart in a pale blue thread.

Don't worry, I don't have another cousin getting married next weekend so I won't be showing up next Monday with another wedding gift.  But the kids will be starting school mid week so I am hoping I'm back soon with lots of finished projects.

I made this quilt for my cousin who was married this past Saturday.

The orange print is from Denyse Schmidt's Daisy Mae line for Joanns. I was lucky enough to get a several yards on super clearance when my local Joann store was in the process of moving. The background fabric, Kona pepper, blends in perfectly with the background in the print.

I wanted to hang on to the minimalist feel, so it's channel quilted with black thread spaced 1 inch apart.

It's backed with Kona oyster so while the quilting lines blend into the front, they stand out on the back.

I love the bold pattern on the front mixed with the bold quilting on the back.

I finished this quilt in April, but I'm just getting around to looking at the photos I took just after it was bound and washed.

Can you tell it was a windy spring around here?

The inspiration for the pattern came from Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  The four large blocks in the center are #713 basket of chips.  When I mentioned the blocks name to the spouse he immediately pointed out that Cj's favorite potato chips are orange, green, and yellow.

Boom, we had a color palette!

Those blocks were so full of triangles that I continued the idea with different triangles in the borders and added a sawtooth block to each corner with a row of teeth around the edge.

Here's the back.  It's a mix of coordinating prints.

Again, the wind.

This will be going into my shop once, I complete a little shop redo sometime this summer.

About a year ago, Lulu came to me with this drawing she had just finished.  She thought it would make a great design for a quilt.

I agreed and shortly after that we pulled the fabrics we needed.  I took care of the rotary cutting and she took care of the stitching.

Last June she finished the quilt top.

Then like most of us, she was distracted by something else, likely swimming lessons, then the start of school, then tumbling classes, and the next thing you know it's 2013 and her quilt top still didn't have a quilt back.  She chose a great blue print from a local designer and now it's done.

From sketch to reality...

her first finished quilt.