Mixed Tape Side B

Making quilt backs is usually my least favorite part of the quilting process.  I take that back.  It might sit just behind basting as my least favorite part.  I think its because once I have the top pieced, I just want to get quilting!  Quilting, particularly free motion quilting, is hands down my favorite favorite part of seeing a quilt through from fabric selection to stitching down that last inch of binding, and any step in between (I'm looking at you quilt-back making and basting) is just standing in my way.



This quilt back is different.  Possibly because I'm looking at is more of an alternate quilt front.  When I opened Pandora's box of quilt bee blocks I have stashed away to work on Side A, I knew I wanted to incorporate as many blocks as possible into one quilt.  Consider it an epic bee quilt of sorts.  When I planned this quilt, and found these 12 blocks, I instantly knew I wanted those to be the back.  And I wanted them to have a border of white, with a small color border, and then lots of white negative space.  And offset to the bottom left.  Yes this quilt back vision was quite specific.



Now that this quilt back is pieced I am itching to get this basted and get quilting!  Unfortunately it will probably have to sit for a little while, but hopefully soon it will see its turn at my machine!

Mixed Tape Side A quilt top

I cannot believe how long it has taken me to actually turn these blocks into a quilt top.  I received all of these blocks as part of the 4x5 modern quilt bee, from various hives, and I'm embarrassed to say that these blocks started rolling in in October of 2011 that's almost 3 years ago!  Yikes, well I suppose better late than never, but I'm really kicking myself that  I didn't do it sooner, because I am LOVING this quilt top!  The colors are just so calm and serene.



This quilt top came together completely on a whim.  I finally had the urge to sew something, and instead of pulling fabrics and starting something new, I just wanted to sew NOW.  Enter entire closet full of WIP projects in various stages of completeness.  I actually have about 6 bins of various bee blocks that are in need of sewing together, and these ones were speaking to me.  So I literally just threw them up on my design wall and started sewing the blocks together.



If I wanted to be picky, I probably should have spent a little time nit picking over the layout, making sure the more dense color blocks were interspersed better with the blocks with more negative space, but I sort of love the randomness and how all the blocks really play nice with one another regardless.



Nora totally gives this two thumbs up, or at least a quick wave hello while she's practicing her mad crawling skills.



I have grand plans to turn this eventual quilt into a mad quilt bee block extravaganza, so we'll see how that turns out.  I dug into another bee block bin and started throwing blocks up on my design wall to get sewing for a quilt back (hint hint, for Side B).  Nothing better than a reversible quilt, and one made from more than 30 quilty friends?  Just awesome.



Yes Nora, I agree that this quilt top rocks.  Girls got good taste at 9 months old, I tell you!

playing catch up

Now that I seem to be back in the sewing "groove," and while I was #notgoingtoquiltmarket this weekend, I figured it was good as time as any to catch up on long overdue commitments that I had totally dropped the ball on.  

I fell completely behind with my Stash Bee blocks (to the tune of 6 blocks behind, yikes!) and felt completely guilty working on anything else until these puppies were taken care of.  I can now proudly report that I am 100% caught up, and my blocks will be in the mail this week!  

for Pauline

This block is my absolute favorite of the 6 I had to tackle, and I am typically not a wonky gal, for some reason it just doesn't agree with me, my wonky, ends up just looking messy.  Enter EQ7.  I played around with my new toy and was able to mock up a paper piecing wonky house block that I absolutely love.  I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of how EQ7 works, and am figuring out ways around the quirks I'm not such a fan of.

This block finished at 10" x 10" for the simple fact that that was the size templates I could get to fit on standard computer paper for printing.  I'm in the process of reformatting the templates to print for a 12" block, and will make them available for free download when I do!


for Cecilia

I love not only the colors but how this mod mosaic quilt is going to come together for Cecilia.  The blocks came together very easily and quickly, but when put together for a quilt will make such an impact.  The tutorial used for these can be found here.


for Deb

So right behind my comfort level of wonky, is my comfort level of applique.  I find that most of the applique ideas I think of in my head don't exactly translate to fabric all that well, and it ends up looking like a kindergartners project.  I was pleasantly surprised with how Deb's applique owl block came out though, quite cute if I don't say so myself!  I found a color page online of a cute chunky owl I liked, and free hand drew a tree branch with a few leaves for extra color and applied it to fabric using Steam a Seam.


for Candace

These bright pretty log cabin blocks have me wanting to start a log cabin project like now.  I love how quickly  these blocks come together by using a little portable ironing station that I set up next to my sewing machine to cut down on the constant up and down to my main ironing board.  After each ring is complete, I then trim to make sure each ring is the correct size.  These log cabin blocks were made using Rita's tutorial.





These two ginormous blocks were for Kelsey and Carol.  These monsters finish at 19" square, and will make a great giant size quilt!  The tutorial for these CrackerJack blocks can be found here.

It feels so nice to be all caught up, sorry again these are so late, hopefully they can still be used!! 

hexing around

I've been hesitant to join any bees this year, for obvious reasons, but I can never resist joining in with the 4x5  bee gang!  I can't even count how many rounds I've participated in (maybe this is the 6th?) and I can say I have never once been disappointed with the blocks I've received.

This round, I decided to jump in with the hexy hive, meaning just as it sounds, each block must incorporate hexagons in some form.  I had initially planned on machine piecing small hexagons cut with my Accuquilt GO!  but ultimately decided against it.  After some pinterest-ing for inspiration, I started doodling, and came up with this star in a hexagon shape that I was able to turn into a paper piecing pattern.  I finally bit the bullet and ordered EQ 7, so I'm hoping to be able to turn this into a computer generated paper piecing pattern, instead of my chicken scratch on the backs of old pieces of scrapbook paper.  Anyone that has tips for EQ 7, they would be much appreciated!

For Becky

I had to dig deep, as Becky requested navy blue, kelly green and aqua.  The aqua, I have covered.  There is so much aqua in my stash its almost a little ridiculous, the same goes for lime-y greens, but kelly green?  and navy?  Those are few and far between.  I dug out my pearl bracelets though, and found just the colors I was looking for.


for Cathy

I love these colors to pieces, I dug through and pulled out some Oval Elements and Pearl Bracelets for this blue, blue, and more blue block.


for Michelle

Michelle requested purple, black and grey.  The grey I've got covered, but purple and black are also colors I'm lacking in my stash.  I did come up with a black Comma barcode print, and a purple print from Bespoken by Pat Bravo for AGF.


for Caryn

So I don't like to play quilty favorites, but its going to take all my will power to not hoard this block and keep it all for myself.  Caryn asked for rainbow colors in spectrum order and white.  And really, what is better than purdy rainbow prints, and text prints??


for Sarah

Sarah asked for lime green, aqua and grey.  I played with all sorts of prints, but when I saw how well Color Me Retro and Simply Color played together, I was sold.  Paired with some fun paper clips, and I called these blocks finished.

Hopefully my bee mates are as happy as I am with these blocks, and be on the lookout for the paper piecing templates, if I can figure out how to do it!

nothing like the last minute

In true procrastinators fashion, I've waited till the last possible minute to tackle these 4x5 bee blocks, but have snuck them in under the wire!

1. for debtrail, 2. for watch meesh run, 3. test block, 4. for bellsbellsjo, 5. for jennaappleton, 6. for adeepi4life

I went a little more traditional than usual for my block design, and used this Road to Tennessee block tutorial, and couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out.  It really is cool that such a traditional block can look so fresh and modern by just using bright and modern fabrics.

I love when everyone's colors are so diverse, it really let me dig through my scrap bins and pull out some of my favorite prints to incorporate into each block.



My mind has started churning, and I think this block would be a great way to use up some charm packs I have laying around and whip up a baby quilt or two for an expecting friend!  

WIP Wednesday {11.28.2012}

I hope everyone had a great turkey day last week, aside from some minor turkey issues, ours was fantastic.  I didn't brave any of the black friday craziness in the stores, but did manage to score quite a few online deals on fabric, that I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of!  In addition to buying fabric, I've also been making good on my pre-new years resolution to finish up as many old WIPs as I humanly can before the end of the year.  

Completed Projects

DaisyChain ABC Sampler

4x5 Bee Blocks

You can see all 6 of these little guys here.

In Progress

Kawaii Winter Sampler

Since finishing my Daisy Chain sampler, I was looking for a new handwork project to get started on, to keep my hands busy while vegging on the the couch in the evenings watching TV.  After seeing all the awesome Kawaii Winter Sampler projects all over Instragram, I couldn't resist joining in the fun.  I am using Cosmo floss, that I picked up from the workroom and its heaven to stitch with!  I'm not sure that I'll actually finish this before Christmas, but its very fun to sit and work on and see each little square come to life.  You can find the Sampler from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, and Cosmo floss kits here.

Chicoppe quilt

Pardon the terrible horrible cell phone pic here, but my Chicopee quilt has invaded my design wall!  I'm quite happy with how this quilt (and pattern!) is coming together, and hopefully will have a quilt top to show soon. I am planning on giving this quilt away as a Christmas gift, so I really need to get hopping, this is at the top of my list to finish!



On an aside, incase you are looking for a little Holday stitching, my Festive Tree skirt tutorial is being featured over at SewCanShe today!

a little bee block stitching

If you happen to follow me on instagram, you probably noticed that over the holiday weekend, I had a one track mind, and that was all things bee blocks.  More specifically, my 4x5 bee blocks.  Yes, yes, this is because I waited until the absolute last minute, and the shipping deadline was Saturday, but really that's besides the point.  

I used Six White Horses Sharp Chevrons paper piecing templates and tutorial, and just love how these blocks turned out.  I'm super happy I made a test block in my colors, so I have one to keep!  After this round, I should have about 24 blocks from the three previous rounds I've participated in, plus the test blocks I've made.  We'll see how many quilts I can finish up before 2013!

Hopefully the lovely ladies of Hive 3 dig these blocks as much as I do.


For Jemillia


For Eva Marie 

For Shelley

For Wendy


For Danielle

That wrapped up my bee commitments for 2012, and it felt nice heading to the post office one last time, with an arm full of manila envelopes on their way to their new homes!

bee block round up

These past few days I think my sewing room has been freaking out...crazy things have been happening down there, in that I've actually been using it!  I've had a one track mind set to bee blocks the past few days, and it feels great to be not only caught up, but ahead, as November's blocks are done and in the books as well!

This block is for Jennie in the Stash Bee.  She asked for these awesome String X blocks, inspired by Becky's quilt in pinks and purples.  I may have made a funny face when I saw she wanted purple, as it's just not a color I seem to be drawn too when fabric buying, but  I managed to dig through my scraps and find more than enough purple buried in there.  Jennie asked that  we not sew the four sections together so she can mix and match them.  I cannot wait to see this quilt come together, its sure to be deliciously scrappy!  Jennie has a tutorial for her block here, if you are interested.

I get the month of November off from the Stash Bee, because its my month!  As usual, I scoured flickr and pinterest to find the perfect bee block for my bee mates, and settled on a block inspired by this one Erin made.



I knew I wanted something scrappy, and something that would avoid needing a universal solid for everyone to use, and this block fit the bill perfectly!  I doctored the tutorial slightly to make a 12.5" block, and have a mini tutorial posted here, about half way down the page, if you are interested.  I've asked for oranges, yellows and aquas, and am planning on this being a Christmas gift.  Can't wait to see what everyone makes!



For October in the our Do. Good Stitches circle, Toni asked for flying geese.  She planning a quilt like this one by Ashley of Film in the Fridge using fall colors: oranges, yellows, reds, browns, and purples.  This has me inspired to make a quilt using these fun geese units, I'm racking my brain of people I haven't made quilts for yet!



Like I said, not only am I caught up on my bee blocks, I'm actually ahead of the game!  While I was on my bee block kick, I decided to throw in Amanda's November blocks as well.  She asked for Square in square blocks using aquas, greys, navy blues, and black.  While I don't have much black in my stash, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to snip off a corner of my Madrona Road Memoir print that I just love to pieces.  I love working with improv-y blocks like this one, so much fun to dig through the scrap bin and sew and snip until I like what I see!

 On an aside from bee blocks, I've also been working on finishing up this little guy:



Yep!  Thats my finished scrappy weekender, complete with lining and all!  Now that the sun has set by the time I get home from work, pictures will have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday, but I'm completely smitten, I need a trip to take ASAP to take this guy out on the town!  While the blog has been a bit slow as of late, Instagram is my new favorite thing!  Its great for posting quick pics of what I'm stitching, you can now follow along on your computers web browser, here's my profile: @sewcraftyjess

WIP Wednesday {10.10.12}

Ahhh it feels so good to be back.  I really want to commit to posting WIP Wednesday updates every week again, even when there's not much sewing going on, its like the one constant that keeps all the crazy out of control WIPs in check.  Kind of like stitchy inventory of sorts!

This week I've had a few quilty set backs, Bertha (my large and in charge sewing machine) and I almost came to blows on Saturday afternoon.   You see I was quilting away, happy as a clam, and all of a sudden, she decided that she wanted to break my needles!  I tried everything.  Threading my machine.  Rethreading my machine.  Changing the bobbin.  Rethreading the bobbin.  Changing needle size.  Changing machine settings.  Changing free motion feet. I even busted out my mini vaccuum attachment setting and cleaned out the bobbin case (helloooo lint.)  Alas, this was all to no avail.  That bitch my trusted stitchy side kick continued to break a needle about every 5 minutes.  Not only that, but she decided she didn't like the automatic needle threader, and that pulled stitches would be fun.  This was where I just. had. to. walk. away.  Bertha is now at the sewing machine doctor, so hopefully they can get her all straightened out and back to her quilty awesome-ness, and soon.  I'm missing her.  Terribly.

I've resorted to pulling out my back up machine to try and finish the quilting, but I realize I've been spoiled.  I sat behind my now seemingly mini machine, and it has absolutely no "get up and go."  How did I sew on this thing for so long??  Anyways, I'm not sure how much quilting I'll be able to finish on this quilt, as its pretty large (a generous twin size).  It feels a little bit like David and Goliath.  We'll see how it goes, I'm pulling for you David!!

In other news, the newest round of the 4x5 bee has officially kicked off.  I'm super excited, this bee always draws such awesome quilty peeps, amazing blocks are guaranteed!  In the midst of all the sewing machine drama  this weekend, I decided I'd work up a test block for my hive, that my little mini machine can handle.



I used Six White Horses Sharp Chevrons tutorial and I'm in love.  This block is paper pieced, I love the tiny detail and precision that paper piecing lends to quilt blocks.  So sharp crisp and clean.  I'll be pulling fabrics for the rest of my hive mates in case the quilting on mr. {mini} machine doesn't work out, I think he can at least handle a little paper piecing :-)

What have you been up to this week??  I'm hoping to keep myself nice and busy for the next few days to distract myself from the fact that I'm missing out on Sewing Summit this year.  Rest assured I'll be stalking/vicariously living through those attending via twitter and instragram!  Be sure to head over to Freshly Pieced and add your WIPs!

bee block catch up

I fell a little behind on bee blocks the last month or two, I always assume "I can work on those tomorrow" and then tomorrow turns into the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and before you know it, I'm frantically playing catch up.  Anyways, in the midst of repainting and "face lifting" our living room (pics to come soon), I did sneak a little sewing time to get caught up!

First off I have to share what has been pouring through my mailbox the last few weeks!  I'm in love with these blocks that the fine ladies of the Inspire circle of do. Good Stitches has made for me using my Techicolor Twist block tutorial.  I am so digging this quilt, the colors are just great, I'm waiting on one more block and have to make one more block, and then I can put together the quilt top!

This is my super late block, Amber requested these fun churn dash blocks for August in the Stash Bee using black, purple and white.  Working on this block made me realized how little purple and black I have in my stash!  I used some Pat Bravo Oval Elements in licorice, and is about as black as I could get.  Hopefully this works for Amber and it fits with her other blocks.

Also for the Stash Bee, Caroline requested fun scrappy log cabin blocks, and asked for fun bright fabrics.  Fun bright fabrics I can do!  I always enjoy digging through my scrap bins for blocks like this, hopefully she likes the fun text-y prints as well!

These blocks were for Andy in the Inspire circle of do. Good Stitches.  She requested two blocks in aqua and orange (colors I certainly am NOT lacking for in my stash!) using her very own Jumble quilt block pattern.  These blocks were so fun and quick to put together, I can't wait to see her finished quilt, it will make for a very cool pattern!