Quilt in a day

A very good friend of mine just had a baby, so of course a baby quilt was in order!  She didn't find out what she was having ahead of time, and instead of just making a gender neutral quilt, I decided to live life on the edge and wait till the baby was born to begin the quilt.

As the title of this post implies, this quilt was fully constructed in one day!  I have to say that is certainly a record for me, I headed down to my sewing room on Saturday morning, and started cutting, then piecing, and before I knew it, I had a quilt top!  Not that I don't love spending time with my husband, but the weekends he works are sometimes nice, as I get the entire day to do what I like, and Saturday that meant a quilty marathon.

As for the fabrics I used, I picked out my favorite baby friendly charms I received in an I Spy charm swap that Kati organized a few months ago, and paired them with turquoise, orange, green and grey prints I had in my stash, and added a ring of white to each block to give the eye a place to rest.  The blocks came together incredibly quick, thanks to chain piecing.

I used a random piece of Kona Grass I found in my solids stash for the backing, and while at first I thought it was a pretty boring choice, it actually shows off the quilting quite nicely!

I decided to step a tiny bit outside of my comfort zone and try a new (to me) FMQ design.  It actually reminds me alot of the quilting I did on my Scrappy Rainbow quilt last year so I guess its not that new, but I added intersecting lines for a sort of boxy robot feel.  I'm totally digging it, and think it really fits the design of this quilt great.




As for the binding, I used this fun stripey Riley Blake print I found in my stash, and its the icing on the cake.  I'm a sucker for stripey bindings, and this one is certainly no exception.



This little guy will be off to its new home tomorrow, hopefully little Tommy enjoys it as much as I do!

Quilt Stats

Quilt Name:  Modern I Spy

Quilt Pattern:  Charm squares in square in square layout

Quilt Size:  39" x 39"

Fabrics Used:  Assorted charms and prints in turquoise, greens, oranges and greys from stash with Kona White

Binding:  Zoofari by Doodlebug Designs for Riley Blake

Quilting:  Boxy free motion quilting done by me on my home machine

Craft Book Month: Grocery Totes

When Lindsay asked if I would take part in Craft Buds Craft Book Month, I just had to say yes.  I just love flipping through sewing/quilty books and admiring all the projects.  Very rarely do I copy a project exactly as it is in a book, but it always serves as awesome inspiration and gets the creative juices flowing.  

I've had reusable grocery totes on my list to make for myself for some time now, and it just seems to get shoved to the bottom of the list.  Thanks to Craft Book Month, it was just the kick in the pants I needed to get sewing some for myself!  I found a pattern in my One Yard Wonders book that was actually one of the very first sewing books I purchased way back before I discovered quilting.



I dug through my stash and pulled out some of my favorite prints and went to town stitching.  These bags came together so quickly, and were incredibly easy to put together.  They very much remind me of the Jane Market Totes I have made in the past, minus the front pocket.









While nothing can make grocery shopping enjoyable, these fun bags do certainly make the task slightly more enjoyable!

Here they are on their maiden voyage to the store this weekend.  These bags got double thumbs up from the grocery baggers at Giant Eagle, and well, who would know grocery bagging better than them!



In case you are looking for a little more Craft Book inspiration, check out these fun posts from some awesome bloggers:

Week One

Sunday 9/2: Hopeful Threads / The Jolly JabberMonday 9/3: Stitchery Dickory Dock / Me Sew CrazyTuesday 9/4: Olive & Ollie / Sew SweetnessWednesday 9/5: Fabric Seeds / The Busy BeanThursday 9/6: CraftFoxes / Stitched In ColorFriday 9/7: Katie's Korner / A Prairie Sunrise

Week TwoSunday 9/9: Sweet Diesel Designs / missknitta's studioMonday 9/10: Sew Tara / Clover and VioletTuesday 9/11: Sew Fantastic / amylouwhoWednesday 9/12: Projektownia Jednoiglec / Two More SecondsThursday 9/13: Ellison Lane Quilts / Don't Call Me BetsyFriday 9/14: Live a Colorful Life / LRstitched

Week Three
Sunday 9/16: Fairy Face Designs / Canoe Ridge CreationsMonday 9/17: Inspire Me Grey / Freshly PiecedTuesday 9/18: Lindsay Sews / The Cute LifeWednesday 9/19: The Littlest Thistle / Sew Crafty JessThursday 9/20: Urban Stitches / imagine gnatsFriday 9/21: Sew Bittersweet Designs / The Plaid Scottie

Week Four

Link up your craft book project at Craft Buds from Sept 23-30 from your blog or Flickr account, and enter to win prizes. Winners will be announced on Monday, October, 1!

{{crickets}}

chirp chirp.  chirp chirp.  I feel like I should go to blogging confession or something...dear blogging gods, it has been 2 weeks since my last blog post.  I really have no good excuse.  No things haven't been super crazy in life, no I haven't been working on a million behind the scenes projects that I can't share.  I just haven't been sewing all that much.  Admittedly I have been doing my fair share of fabric shopping, I walk past, give the pretty stacks an occasionally pat, and continue on my way.  

I think I have lost my sewing mojo.  No, I won't say lost, maybe misplaced is a better word.  I've been dabbling a little here and a little there, but I'd really like to get back in my groove.  And soon.  

Luckily Lindsay from CraftBuds asked if I would take part in the Craft Book Month Blog hop a while back, and my post is coming up soon.  Have you heard about Craft Book month?  If not you should totally check it out.  The idea is simple, to celebrate September being Craft Book month, find a project in a craft book...and make it!  

I've been perusing my stack of stitchy books (pardon the explosion of zippers which seem to be taking over) in search of the perfect project to get back into my sewing groove.  I'm thinking something quick and easy is just the ticket.  Perhaps something like some reusable grocery totes in the One Yard Wonders book.  I tend to make tote bags for the purpose of giving them away as gifts or to friends, and never for myself, so this is the perfect opportunity to whip up a few grocery totes just for me.

I started digging through my stash last night, and pulled out a few fun prints which would make great grocery totes.  Heck maybe this would even get me excited to grocery shop!  Ok lets not get carried away there...anyways, I'm super excited to go home today and get stitching.  Stay tuned, I promise it won't take me two weeks to put together my next post!

  

2d Zoo Dream Garden

One of my absolute most favorite sizes of quilts to make are baby quilts.  Its really a great way to try out patterns on a smaller scale, and because they  are so small, they come together super fast!  This baby quilt was no exception, and it was a good thing, as my it was a last minute request from my mom.  I made quick work of turning this stack of fabric into a baby quilt, in just about a weeks time.  

I must say, when my mom showed me the Jungle Jill baby bedding she wanted the quilt to coordinate with, I did a small internal groan.  Those pale muted greens, pinks and browns just are not colors I tend to use now a days, but I dug through my stash, and came up with a few prints that would coordinate well, and surprisingly I was excited about the stack I came up with, mostly centering around the Alexander Henry 2d Zoo in sage I've had stashed for a while now.

I followed the Dream Garden pattern in the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop book, and really love how the pattern came together.  I have to admit my oops though, I thought I was being all quilt-saavy by cutting those center focus squares on the bias thinking "since its diamonds, then my prints will be straight and square!" of course I hadn't read through the directions, and after piecing the focus diamond units, I should have just left well enough alone and cut the squares like normal, because of the way they are pieced, I ended up with diagonal animals anyways.  Oh well, I'm ok with it, it adds character, right??

As for the binding, I stuck with Crosshatch Sketch in Coral, that went with the color scheme just perfectly.  If I could, I would order yards and yards of every Sketch color they make, I just can't get enough!  Anyways, this little guy is off to its new home, hopefully it blends in with the Jungle Jill nursery!

Quilt Stats

Quilt Name:  2d Zoo Dream Garden

Quilt Pattern:  Dream Garden from The Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for quilters

Quilt Size:  40" x 40"

Fabrics Used:  Alexander Henry 2d Zoo in Sage and coordinating prints, Kona White

Binding:  Timeless Treasures Crosshatch Sketch in Coral

Quilting:  Overall meandering loops done by me on my home machine

Extra Extra Read All About It

Eeek!  I have quite exciting news to share, in that one of my very own quilts is featured in the October/November issue of Quilt Magazine!  I may or may not have done a small happy dance when I got the mail the other day and there was an manilla envelope containing two copies of the magazine, but I am over the moon beyond excited!

This quilt may look familiar, as it was my Starburst Cross quilt I made for quilt market using Camille by Melissa White.  Not only was it super thrilling to have one of my quilts on display at market this year, but when the editor of Quilt Magazine contacted me shortly after market to let me know they wanted to print my quilt and pattern in their magazine, my jaw about hit the floor.

I'm still in mild shock that my face is in a magazine, but its super exciting.  Hawthorne Threads has put together a quilt kit which is available for purchase currently sold out back in stock. but there is a place to list your email to be notified when the kits become available again.  Be sure to check out the issue, available on newsstands now, there are lots of great quilts featured!

WIP Wednesday {8.22.2012}

Its been a few weeks since I've taken part in WIP Wednesday, and mostly its been because I just either haven't been working on much, or have been working on things that aren't quite ready to share yet.  I decided no time like the present to get back in the saddle, I find myself sort of feeling a little lost/overwhelmed with the scattered projects in various states of completion strewn about my sewing room, and WIP Wednesday is a nice anchor of sorts to take inventory of what exactly I have going in.  Without further ado, here is what's going on:

New Projects

2d Zoo Dream Garden

I posted about this yesterday, but this stack of fabrics is quickly turning itself into a baby quilt.  I'm using a pattern out of the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop book, and am super happy with how its coming together.  I should have a quilt to share in the next few days!

In Progress

Birds and the Bees Snowglobes

After I finished petting and drooling over this beautiful fabric, I decided no time like the present to dig in and make something with it.  I have a tendency to buy fabric collections, and then am almost afraid to use them.  Its like I'm searching for this elusive "perfect project," and I need to stop this madness and use the fabric that I buy, that's what its for, right??  I think I did find the perfect project, and therefore didn't have the usual amount of apprehension when cutting in to the fabric like usual.

Before leaving for vacation, I dug out my Tula Pink Snowglobes pattern, and got to work cutting and sewing.  I had a hard time settling on the background fabric, and ultimately went with Crosshatch Sketch in Cream.

 

I am loving how this pattern shows off the larger scale prints of Birds and the Bees so well.  I'll be working my way back to this one soon, but for now its keeping my design wall fun and bright, and I'm enjoying looking at it every day.

Not Your Grandma's Charm Quilt

Well, in this case it is my grandma's charm quilt.  My grandma recently had to be placed in an assisted living center, and I thought she might like a handmade quilt to put on her bed.  She is 96, and has been living with family members for too many years to count, and has never lived on her own, so this transition hasn't been the easiest for her or my family.  She really is such a special lady, and you would never guess her age by looking at her, we all hope we inherited her genes for aging!  

I'm in the middle of quilting this simple charm quilt using various prints from Denyse Schmidt's fabrics that are found at Joann's that I have accumulated in my stash.  I really love the way the patchwork has come together, and I'm quilting it with my walking foot in a large zig zag pattern.  I'm thinking of adding some hand quilting as well, but we'll see.  

Ripple Afghan

This is an oldie but a goodie.  I have a tendency to start hand projects, and just never finish them.  They sit around my sewing room sort of taunting me to work on them, and I usually just turn a blind eye.  I thought our 8 hour drive to the beach last week would be a great opportunity to pull out my ripple afghan that I started back in January and get to work.  

I'm aiming to really work on this to get it finished for the upcoming winter, as it will make a great snuggle blanket!

Whew!  It feels nice to get that out there, I really must get back into the WIP Wednesday swing of things.  Now that summer is just about over, life should be settling down and I can find my routine again.  Be sure to head over to Freshly Pieced and say hi to Rebecca who is guest hosting WIP Wednesday this week!

back at it

Pardon my absence for the past week or so, but we've been lounging by the beach!  The week went by entirely too quickly, but it was nice to get away.  Me and my newly found tan are back to the real world after a week of surf, sun and sand with good friends.  

We got back into town yesterday afternoon, and I had this stack of happy mail waiting for me at my doorstep.  

I've had The Bag Making Bible and Elizabeth Hartman's two quilting books, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and Modern Patchwork on my Amazon Wishlist for what seems like eons, and before leaving for vacation, I decided it was time these books came to live with me.  I added the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters for good measure, and am super thrilled with my purchases.

While I was away, my mom asked if I would be able to whip up a baby quilt for a friend of hers, and of course I said yes.  I spent a bit of yesterday flipping through these glossy pages to find a quick and easy baby quilt idea, and settled on this from the Fat Quarterly book:



I'm altering the size to a baby quilt size, and am only using the fussy cut center squares on point and x's.  My mom gave me free reign on the design, but asked that it would coordinate with this Jungle Jill baby bedding:


source link

Now admittedly, browns are a color that I have really gotten away from using, and instead tend to use grey as a neutral, but I rummaged through my stash, and came up with this stack that I think will coordinate well:



I've had the 2d Zoo in Sage in my stash for a long long time, and finally have found just the project to use it for.  I picked out a few coordinating fabrics in a light limey green, pink and lighter brown, which, while out of my normal go to color selection, I'm really excited to work with.  Not to mention the total satisfaction that this came completely from stash!  I spent a little time today cutting everything, and its sitting waiting to be sewn soon.

I have a few projects in various stages of completed-ness scattered across my sewing room, but it feels nice to have an immediate project to jump back into the swing of things with.  I think I need to get back to WIP Wednesday, as I'm feeling a bit in disarray, hopefully this week I'll get my act together!