WIP Wednesday {2.29.2012}

Happy Leap Day everyone!  This week has been quite the productive one, with a few finishes to share!  It feels nice to get a few things accomplished, and start to think about fresh new projects to start.  Here's what I've been up to:

Completed Projects

Swoon

Eeek, no words necessary, but its finished!  More on this big guy here.

Sparkle Punch Mini

It will be sad to see this little  guy go, but I think this is right up my partners alley, hopefully she likes!

February Bee Blocks

I have to admit, I had been putting these off all month,  hoping that maybe these triangles would just make themselves, but alas, no such luck.  So I put on my brave "I'm not scared of you" triangle face and got busy. And I have to say these turned out much better than anticipated!  I am usually not a spray starcher, but it helped immensely with keeping those biased edges under control.  These are for Smithiness in the Imagine circle of do. Good Stitches, using this Sew Mama Sew Modern Block of the Month tutorial from Alissa of Handmade by Alissa.

New Projects

Japanese x and + blocks

Speaking of do. Good Stitches, my month to be the quilter is March, and I am requesting these Japanese x and + blocks to make a bright fun scrappy quilt.  I've gotten started making the extra 12 blocks I'll need to finish off the quilt, and these things are so stinkin' addicting to make!  

This Weeks Stats

Completed Projects: 3

New Projects: 1

In Progress: 6

Swoon
HST pillows
Sparkle Punch mini
Ripple Afghan
February Bee Blocks
4x5 Bee Blocks
Farmers Wife QAL (this is getting dangerously close to UFO territory...)
Retro Flowers baby quilt
Japanese x and + blocks

Be sure to head over to Freshly Pieced and add your WIPs!

Mini Sparkle Punch: Complete

My mini sparkle punch is complete!  This little mini will be off to a new home shortly, and is for my partner in the Fab Little Quilt Swap.  This was really fun to work on, as my partner and I seem to have very similar tastes and color preferences, so it was almost like working on something for myself!

I used Oh Fransson's sparkle punch QAL as my guide for this, and shrunk the blocks down, so that each finished block measured 1.5" square.  My partner seemed to like blues and greens, so I had fun digging through my blue and green scraps to put this mini together.

I hand quilted using size 5 pearl cotton thread in coordinating colors just on the inside of each star, and then using the green just along the edge of the white portions to highlight the wonky little pinwheels that developed from piecing the stars.  

As for the binding, I used a royal blue Timeless Treasures crosshatch print that I picked up at my LQS.  I had thought about doing the binding in grey since there was so much blue already, but I'm really glad I went with the blue, I think it sort of ties everything together nicely.  

I just love this pattern so much, I am definitely keeping it in mind for an upcoming baby quilt, possibly in this exact color scheme!  

Quilt Stats:

Name: Sparkle Punch Mini

Pattern:  Sparkle Punch QAL by Oh Fransson

Size:  15" x 18"

Fabrics:  Assorted blue and green prints from my stash and Kona White

Binding:  Timeless Treasures Royal Blue Crosshatch Sketch in Royal

Quilting:  Hand Quilting done by me in blue and green pearl cotton #5 thread

WIP Wednesday {2.9.2012}

This week seems to have completely flown by without much to show for it.  The hubs and I took a weekend trip to visit out of town friends which was a blast, but has left me feeling sort of in catch up mode since then.  Here's what I have managed to accomplish down in the sewing room this weekend:

Sparkle Punch Mini Quilt

The long car ride led to lots of time spent hand quilting this little guy.  Its about 3/4 of the way quilted, so I'm thinking after one more Big Bang Theory marathon it should be completed!

Swoon 

I have the pieces cut for my last three swoon blocks and the half square triangles pieced.  After seeing all the completed Swoons popping up in the group pool, I'm itching to get mine pieced!

Hopefully this week will leave me a little more sewing time, however I'm super pumped for my quilt shop hop with Leona on Saturday!

Be sure to head on over to Freshly Pieced and add your WIP!

stitchin'

My sparkle punch mini and pretty perle cotton thread took the trip with us this past weekend across the state, and made for a wonderful distraction from the 4 hour drive!

I have about half of the stars to quilt in the blue threads, and this little guy will be complete!

seeing stars

I had a hot date planned with this little mini tonight, and I'm happy to report the top is complete!  I won't turn it over and show you the back, those tiny 1.5" blocks and scant 1/4" seams made for not the neatest pressing experience, but that's our little secret.

This mini is for my partner in the Fab Little Quilt Swap, which has been organized by the mamas of the Doll Quilt Swap over on Flickr.  After sufficient stalking, I discovered that my partner seems to have similar tastes as me, and blues and greens are colors he/she is fond of, so lucky for me being that my stash of blues/greens is overflowing!  

I used the Sparkle Punch Quilt Along hosted by Oh Fransson! as my inspiration for this, and just shrunk the dimensions, so that this completed top measures approximately 15"x18".

I already have an idea for quilting this little guy, and I'm thinking of using these pearle cotton colors to accentuate both the stars and the little wonky pinwheels the white negative space creates.  Now just to get a back created and get quilting!

Whats on your sewing agenda this weekend??

WIP Wednesday {1.25.2012}

This week has been full of lots of sewing.  We had a nice quiet relaxing weekend, without much to do, and you know what that means...time to sew!  I'm honestly just waiting to get sick again, it always seems to happen with big changes in weather, and seeing that we had very cold weather with snow and ice on Friday and Saturday, and then by Sunday and Monday it was in the high 40's, nearing 50 degrees.  In Pittsburgh.  In January.  Just crazy I tell you.  Anyway's here whats new in the sewing room:

New Projects

FLiQS

I have been asked to participate in the Fab Little Quilt Swap, which is smaller subdivision of the widely known Doll Quilt Swap over on Flickr, and you all know how I'm a sucker for a swap, so of course I said sign me up!  I have my partner information, and I am so so excited because his/her tastes seem to be right up my alley, and I instantly had an idea I had to try out.

I am using Oh Fransson's sparkle punch quilt along as my inspiration, and doing it mini style!  Each square measures 2" unfinished, with the finished blocks measuring 1.5" finished.  I just had to sew a little square together, to see how it was going to look, and I am just loving this and all its mini-ness!  That little top block of 16 squares measures 6.5" as is.  

Completed Projects

Citrus Berry Punch baby quilt

4x5 Blocks: Received

In Progress

Swoon

I'm still swooning along, and loving this quilt more and more as each block comes together.  A few people have asked if these blocks are difficult to put together.  While I definitely recommend reading over the instructions a few times to see how things are cut (so you don't make my mistake) and to get a feel for how the blocks go together, each block is made up of a large center square, a few rectangles and a whole lotta HSTs and flying geese, so accurate and consistent 1/4" seams are the key!  So in short, no I am not finding it difficult, time consuming, yes, and a trial of patience to line up all those points, yes, but difficult?  No.  Go ahead!  Give it a try!  You can get yourself a copy of the downloadable pattern here, and join in the swoon along fun!  

Crochet Ripple Afghan- Still crocheting away on this!  I ran out of my first color of yarn, so there wasn't a ton of progress this past week until I could get to the store for more yarn, but I am loving snuggling with my partial afghan as I crochet away.

This Weeks Stats

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 2

In Progress:  4

Swoon quilt

Crochet Afghan

FLiQS doll quilt

Farmers Wife QAL

January Bee Blocks

Citrus Berry Punch Baby Quilt

What are you working on this week??  Head on over to freshly pieced and link up!

it's the holiday season

I am officially in full on holiday mode here, and checking my to do's off my list one thing at a time.  You all know how much of a sucker I am for a good swap, so when Amy organized the Secret Santa swap over on twitter, I just couldn't resist.  

I put together this lined drawstring bag using Jeni's tutorial, and am absolutely in love with this pattern.  I'm thinking there will be many a Christmas gifts "wrapped" in one of these drawstring bags.  Jeni also has a pattern for this drawstring bag for 7 different sizes as well, I'm thinking I'll need to purchase that pattern!  

Secret intel tells me my partner digs this Merry Main Street Alexander Henry print, so I paired it with some Ready Set Snow by Me and My Sister designs for Moda.  The outer accent red fabric is another Christmas Moda print as well.

Here is my swap package ready to be shipped off tomorrow, hopefully my partner likes!  I used some more Merry Main Street to "wrap" a quilting/sewing book for my partner (which would totally give it away if I showed what it is!) and added a few fat quarters from my stash and 2 holiday pin toppers.

How is your holiday sewing coming along??

pillow swapping-international style

Remember this sneaky peek?  Well my secret project is now safe and sound in its new home, and its safe to share.  It was killing me having quilty projects that I couldn't show {I may or may not be one of the worlds worse secret keepers...} I suppose that the anticipation is half the fun of swapping, and the wait for my swap package to arrive from over seas certainly wasn't a disappointment!

I was stitching away on these pillows for Ann!  I met Ann through this blog, she was a newish quilter and had emailed me for some tips and suggestions (I was uber flattered) and we quickly became email pals.  Ann lives in Italy right now with her hubby and her adorable two puppies, and we decided to swap quilty projects and settled on pillow covers.  

Ann requested pillow covers in bright warm colors, and these pillows came to light.  I used my Accuquilt Go! Baby and circle die and appliqued these two pillows in a scallop pattern and circle pattern.  I grew quite attached to these, and really want to make a scalloped pillow for myself now.  

I used invisible zippers, which are quickly becoming my favorite way to seal up a pretty pillow, and used this Parisville print for the pillow back.  I really liked the print, and it was the inspiration for the scalloped pillow design.  I also like that if Ann isn't feeling in a piece-y kind of mood, she can flip the pillows around for a fun pretty print.  

Hopefully Ann digs them as much as I do!

In return I received these amazingly beautiful Terrain AND linen quilted pillows!  I was so incredibly excited, Terrain...AND linen??  I couldn't be so lucky.  

They are already snuggled on my couch and look quite content to be there.  I think these pillows are a sign that I most definitely need to keep my Tangled Windows quilt once its finished, now that I have matching pillows!!

Thanks again Ann, its been so fun swapping!

little quilt swap-sent

I entered into another round of the Little Quilt-Sew, Vote, Swap group over on Flickr, and this was the mini that I entered into the swap.  I am completely smitten with this mini, and had a very hard time packaging it up and shipping it off to its new home!  It should be arriving any day now, hopefully its well received!

This little mini is made entirely of scraps from my scrap bin and measures 14" x 17".  The solid is Kona white, and I'm completely blanking on the binding!  I know its a Moda print (like that helps!) I wanna say from Me and My Sister Designs, but don't quote me on that.  

I have plans to turn this mini into a full size quilt in the near future, I just need to decide if I should control the color palate a little, or go full out scrappy.  Decisions, decisions.

Hopefully this little mini enjoys its new home, and its new owner is just as taken with it as I am!

WIP Wednesday {9.28.2011}

After a brief delay in our regularly scheduled programming last week, WIP Wednesday is back!  I'd like to give a shout out to our host Lee, who is in the middle of designing her fabric line for the Connecting Threads contest, can you believe it?? Designing her own fabric line!!  Good luck Lee, can't wait to see what you have come up with, I know it will be just fabulous!!

Completed Projects

Weekender Bag

I am so thrilled with this bag, I can't bring myself to put it away just yet...for now its sitting on our dining room table, and I have to admit I just walk in there and look at it, because I can't believe I actually finished it!  More on this finish here.

Secret Pillow Project

Remember this sneaky peek?  Well my two pillows are completed and will be on their way to their new home, with Ann in Italy on Friday!  As soon as she receives them, I'll share them with everyone!

New Projects

Baby Boy Quilt

Just as I was thinking I wanted to start something new, a friend of mine commissioned me to make a baby quilt for her.  I always immediately go looking to buy new fabric, but I stopped myself, and pulled this selection from my stash.  I need a little more of the solid brown Kona, but I am super proud of myself, I even have fabric for the quilt back {{quilts made from stash fabrics}} more to come on this soon, I'm just itching to  cut into these fabrics!

In Progress

Farmers Wife QAL

No new blocks this week.  Block #35 is one of those darn baskets.  I'm still deciding if I should skip the stupid basket and make two of another block, or just suck it up and make the darn thing.  Part of me feels like I'm cheating (yes, I know this is ridiculous) if I skip the basket, but I just plain don't like them.  One basket is enough.  Argh.  More of these to come soon.

This Weeks Stats

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 2

In Progress: 7

FWQAL

Birdie Stitches QAL

Solid Spiderweb quilt

Weekender Bag

September Bee Blocks

Pillow Swap

Baby boy quilt

UFO Quilt tops (maybe, one day...)

Postage Stamp quilt top

Central Park quilt top

Be sure to pop over and wish Lee good luck on her fabric line, and add your WIP!

WIP Wednesday {9.14.2011}

A mildly delayed WIP Wednesday post, but a post none the less!  Here's whats new:

Completed Projects

FTLOS

I managed to finish up my mini quilt and extras this weekend, and this package is on its way to its new home as we speak!  More about this here.

In Progress

Secret Pillow Swap

My lips are pretty sealed with this project here.  My new quilty email friend Ann and I have decided to do a secret pillow swap just between the two of us.  I'm having so much fun playing with the colors she is using in her new living room, above is a sneaky peek of pillow #1.  You'll have to wait a few more weeks to see anything else, but I am super excited about them!

Birdie Stitches

I finished up April's block for the Birdie Stitches QAL, and added a little something extra to the design.  I just love these blocks, and am quickly becoming addicted to embroidery!  Such a great take along project, and perfect for vegging on the couch with!

FWQAL

I only got around  to making one more block this week, and thought it silly to post about just one block.  I'll lump it in with next weeks post, but here's what I have so far!  Blocks 1-31.

AB Weekender Bag

No new progress to report.  Unless you count cutting out the pattern pieces from the templates.  I suppose that's technically step one of the directions...hopefully more progress this week!

This Weeks Stats

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 8

For the Love of Solids {a modern swap}

FWQAL

Birdie Stitches QAL

Solid Spiderweb quilt

Weekender Bag

September Bee Blocks

Pillow Swap

UFO Quilt tops (maybe, one day...)

Postage Stamp quilt top

Central Park quilt top