Quilt Stars: First Block

I complain about my LQS a lot, but I am truly glad that it is there. They don't have any modern fabrics, but they have a huge selection of Kona cottons.  I have taken a couple classes there, and I have enjoyed them all.

I also joined a group called Quilt Stars. I'm not sure if one would call it a Block of the Month club, or a Bee.  Every month, one of the 12 of us picks the fabric. Then all 12 of us get four fat eighths, and we can make any block we want, as long as it is a 12.5" block.

At the end of the 12 months, we will all get together and get our blocks. I'm excited to see how the quilts turn out! I'm planning to use all solids when it is my turn.

My first block is almost done. I'm not sure how to arrange my hsts yet though. Here are my options:

Which one looks best to you?

I did not fall off the face of the Earth

...but that probably would have been more fun that the real reason I've been missing. We just trudged through six weeks of being sick at our house. I haven't been that sick in a very, very long time. And unfortunately, I still haven't quite been able to shake the bronchitis. But everything seems on the up and up.

My during-nap and after-bedtime sewing time has been greatly reduced with the sickness (not because the boys have been sleeping less, but because when they sleep, I typically do too), but I have gotten some work done here and there. 

Today I was inspired by Sarah Fielke's newly posted Shamrock Block. I rummaged through my scrap bin and sewed for a few minutes, and came up with the Wonky Shamrock Block! I still have to sew it down to a background, but I'm pretty excited about how fun (and ridiculous) this block turned out.

(I used 4 1/2" squares, so this block will probably finish around 16")

My maiden name is Grady, my husband and I honeymooned in Ireland, and my favorite adult beverage is Guinness...so I definitely think we need a Shamrock quilt in our house.  And with the wonkiness, no one will know whether or not I was enjoying a pint or two!

Add it to the WIP list!

Block of the Month , here I come!

Last year, a lot of quilt a longs and block of the month groups came and went. I oohed and ahhed and considered joining, but I didn't feel my skill was at the right level yet. I didn't want to get too frustrated trying to enjoy myself!

I did decide to join the Farmer's Wife group last year. And I love the two blocks I made. But I haven't progressed past that point (YET!).

I joined the Swoon-along, and then without much thought, I joined the HST Block of the Month group hosted by Jeni at In Color Order.

I'm really happy with my first block! I'm looking forward to the directions for February's block!

Spoon Swoon

I had already planned to make a Swoon quilt this year, but I was thinking it would be a spring project, kind of a birthday present to myself.

However, Katy at Im a Ginger Monkey decided to do a low-pressure Swoon-along. And sewing with a group of people sounds like a lot of fun! Plus, I figure if I have any questions (which I already do), the Twitterverse will be a great place to turn.

I am using Lizzy House's first fabric line, Lizzy Dish to make my Swoon quilt, and I'm calling it my Spoon Swoon quilt.

The quilt calls for 18 fat quarters. Right now I have 11 of the Lizzy Dish fabrics collected, and I just ordered two more from ebay. There are at least three more I would like as well, and I'm hoping I can track those down somehow. I'm also going to add in a few jewels and pearl bracelets.

I'm a bit stumped about what to use as a background though. The pattern is done in white, and most of the quilts I've seen in blogs and on flickr are done with white. But that much white scares the crap out of me! Not only do I have two little boys, but I'm a bit of a slopass myself, unfortunately. So I have some cogitating to do on that front.

Here's my fabric stack as it is right now

What do you think?

Thread Bag - another wip finish!

I keep my thread in this bag a friend gave me when I'm at home

 And when I travel, I end up throwing it all in a grocery bag, so that I can tie the top shut

 

But another wip finish provides a nice ready-to-travel home for my thread!

Wet Bag Success!

I've been wanting to try making wet bags for six months, at least. Our older son swims as part of his preschool class, and our younger son is (should be) in cloth diapers.

My poor medium boy went through a whole semester of toting his undies/wet suit in a plastic bag. How uncool. How wasteful.

We already had the fabric, but getting invited to a fellow preschooler's birthday party was just the kick in the pants I needed to get the bags done. My kiddo helped me pick out zipper colors and straps for the handles, and I started the bags by doing some research during naptime.

A few tutorials that use PUL warned about it being very slippery to work with. A Lemon Squeezy Home recommends using baby powder to reduce the slippage, and I'm sure that would work great. However, I can't come near that stuff without getting it EVERYWHERE, so I opted to try my new glue stick. And it worked so well!

I ran a line of glue down the top of the PUL, then put the zipper on top. I could adjust the zipper, but the glue added just enough friction to keep things together.

One problem I have with installing zippers is the fabric seems to start "scootching" down as I sew, and by the end of the bag it's below where I started, and looks like an uneven mess. (Does this happen to anyone else? Is it because the zipper foot doesn't provide as much stability as a presser foot?)

To combat this, I usually pin the crap out of everything. But I didn't think pinning PUL would be a good idea, so I did this instead:

Oh yeah. I was so excited when I thought of it! And it worked pretty well.

I made my son's first, to work out any kinks. On his, I sewed all sides of the PUL, pulled the bag through, and sewed the outside bottom of his bag shut. On his friend's, I sewed the outer bag completely, pulled it through, and sewed the PUL together.

I liked the way the PUL lining finished better (and I usually pull through my linings), but I'm interested to see if either bag has wicking or leaking issues.

I'm really happy with how well these turned out, and I'm looking forward to making more in the future.

Of course when you give a little bag, you have to put something in it. DS1's friend had admired his Green Bay Packer zipper pulls, so when we were at the Christmas Day game, we picked up another set. A wet bag may not be super exciting to a four year old, but I know he will like the zipper pulls. GO PACK!

Sewing {S P A C E}

One of my hopes for the new year is to stay more organized. I like organization in all parts of my life, as I feel it is efficient, and I hope that it maximizes my time doing things I love with people I love, rather than dealing with stuff.

My sewing space is small, but has a lot of useable space. I just need to learn to use it.

Before I headed out for some end-of-year downtime, I spent some time cleaning and reorganizing my sewing area. I'm really happy with how things are now (and we won't discuss the fact that my spare bedroom is trashed with all the stuff I don't know what to do with or where to put!)

Here's hoping this space manages to stay clean and organized for most of 2012!

A bookcase full of wips/ufos

What is behind that magical door?

Diaper and wipe boxes may not be the best organizers, but they're already paid for!

And hopefully all of this organization will lead to an increase in fun times with these two goobers:

Drawstring bag addiction

If you spend any time reading quilting/sewing blogs, you have probably been seeing a lot of adorable drawstring bags popping up, like I have.

I think most of them are using the fabulous tutorial by Jeni of In Color Order. She previously posted a tutorial for this great bag, and now has made a pattern available with several different sizes.

I've only finished one so far, but I love it SO MUCH. Probably an inappropriate amount!

My favorite color, one of my favorite fabric designers, and a well written pattern. It's the sewing trifecta!

So, here's the one I've finished:

 

And here's what I have prepped:

It was almost painful to cut in to some of my favorite fabrics. But ooh, the new, scrappy possibilities!

More blogging ahead!

I think all slacker bloggers (like me) swear they're going to start blogging more. But I really am!

I even made a long list of ideas for blog posts.

Now if I could only find where DS1 left the list....

Sewing fun!

The last two days, I've been lucky enough to have a lot of sewing fun!

Monday morning I got a phone call from my new LQS. I won a $50 gift certificate at their open house last week! This will be perfect to pick up supplies for the embroidery class I'm taking in a couple of weeks.

Last night, I also got a lot of sewing time in after the boys were in bed. I got the binding on one quilt, the quilting done on a very mini, mini quilt, and removed and fixed and finished the binding on a small table runner. Yay!

I wish I had pictures, but the weather has been crap, and my three year old has been uncooperative in the quilt holding department.

I didn't get as much sewing done today, but I did pick up the new copy of Quilts & More, and take a few minutes to peruse it. I'm hoping to use the pattern by Julie and Jaybird Quilts to make a home birth themed quilt for a friend or two.

Our older son's birthday is at the end of the month, and today he told me he wants a Halloween themed birthday party. He really enjoyed Halloween this year, and somehow managed to dress up three times, twice with make up.

I didn't get his Halloween quilt completed, as hard as I tried, but this may be my second chance. I seriously almost have the whole top pieced, so tonight I sewed together all the pieces I had already pinned. I have a little unsewing and re-sewing to do tomorrow, but if bedtime goes well, I think I'll get the top put together!

Last, but definitely not least, tonight I participated in my first Talkin' Tuesday (#talknt) on Twitter. It was hilarious and sweet and warm, which was all very delightful. I'm looking forward to participating again in the future!

And because I don't have any quilt pics, here's a favorite from Halloween

Have a great day friends!

WiP Wednesday

If anyone knows where September and October went, please let me know.

I'm still having trouble sticking to one project, the evidence being that I didn't manage to complete a single Halloween quilt, despite having at least four in progress.

Oh but we will be warm and snuggly for next Halloween. I promised myself.

(Speaking of next Halloween, did you check out Tula Pink's Halloween reveal of her new line, Nightshade? It is gorgeous!)

Here's what I'm focusing on now. I'm hoping to get some sewing time in today!

Planning

Binding

More binding

A bit of stitching

Putting the pieces together

Today I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced

What have you been up to? Any big sewing plans for today?

Sew Spasms

I feel like I'm sewing in spasms these days. And unfortunately, I'm having trouble making myself stick to the projects I really should be working on.

Fortunately, progress in general has been moving a little quicker these days. I've been working quite consistently on a 5 1/2" HST project.

I'm using Kona Orange in combination with the black, purple, and orange fabrics from the Trick or Treat line by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake.

Our three year old has switched his color allegiance to orange lately, and I really want to get a Halloween/Autumn quilt made for every bed in the house, so this one will be his.

I was getting close to having all the squares sewn, cut, ironed, and trimmed (my husband even helped one night while we watched tv!). But I realized one night (while awake nursing the baby - does anyone else wake up to their brain cranking through quilt math?!) that I had miscalculated and needed to make almost as many more HSTs as I had already made.

Sigh.

So, I'm pushing myself even harder to finish up the squares I have. I want to do a rough lay out to help decide what additional fabric (if any) I will need to purchase.

I also want to make a matching pillowcase, and I had been trying to convince myself that a solid case with scraps decorating the side would be great. But if I'm going to have to order more fabric anyway...an extra yard of the black with the large print on it may end up in my online cart. :)

Baby Boy's Crib Quilt Part 2

Back in March I started a crib-sized quilt for the baby. I really thought it was going to be a quick and easy project, but somehow, that's not how it turned out.

In July, the boys and I spent time at our family's cabin on Lake Superior, and I took my sewing machine and some projects with me. All I had left with this quilt was to finish the binding. And I was able to complete it! Hooray!

But since I was already so close to the baby's birthday, I saved it a couple of weeks and gave it to him on his birthday. The boy's room is always stuffy and overly warm, despite two air conditioners running upstairs, so the quilt spends most of its time jammed in the end of the crib. Soon enough, it will be getting plenty of use!

Here's a pic of my big boy trying to help out by holding the quilt up (he took the job very seriously):

And he had to stand on the couch and stretch way up high for most of the quilt to be visible. Such a great little helper!

And just for fun, a pic of the baby (I suppose I should start calling him something else, now that he's one!) enjoying his birthday cake:

Baby Boy's Crib Quilt Part 1

First, a post I wrote back at the beginning of March, but somehow failed to actually post:

I love the idea of pre-cuts, and I love buying them, but I feel like I don't always use them as well as I could.

I finally purchased my first layer cake about a month ago, Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda. I haven't been able to find any of the fabric in nearby quilt shops (no LQS here), but I love the way it looks in the projects I see popping up online.

I was hoping to make a quick and easy, but cute and fun, baby quilt with it.  But what was in my head didn't jive with the fabric once it arrived.

Cue late-night pondering. I don't remember when this one came to me, but I decided to use some of it to make a crib quilt for my baby boy.

He's eight months old now, and has grown at a ridiculous rate. I made several small quilts for him before he was born, but nothing crib sized. Since he takes his naps in his crib, I think he deserves a special "made just for him" quilt. He's also starting to sleep in his crib for the first bit of the night. One night he slept in his crib for a whole night. I woke up to the boys giggling and laughing at each other. They were so excited to wake up in the same room together!

I didn't put a lot of thought in to this quilt ahead of time. I flew by the seat of my pants and had a lot of fun. Looking back, I think I was heavily influenced by some quilts Rita at Red Pepper Quilts was working on at the time.

Here are the fabrics I started out with:

(I eventually added two or three more)

I cut each 10 inch square in to 2-10 x 2.5 in strips, 5 x 2.5 in strips, and 1-5 x 5 square. I combined them with four Kona solids: bahama blue, school bus, white, and a very pale grey (not sure of the proper name, maybe ash?), one solid and one print in each square.

When it came time to lay out the quilt, three squares by five squares looked oddly narrow. I ordered a Central Park charm pack and added another eight blocks.

I really like how all the squares look, but I'm having some trouble getting a layout I like. I really want to get this done for my baby boy soon. Hopefully I will get some time to arrange and rearrange in the next few days.

WiP Wednesday

I have many different projects that could be considered works in progress. These include projects that I have already started to sew, have cut fabric for, or have purchased fabric for. Then there's a whole list of projects in my head that I'd like to do relatively soon. And of course the "someday" list, something like a quilting/sewing bucket list.

Right now I have three or four "main" wips.

Although I haven't blogged about it yet, the desire to make this quilt for my mother in law is what caused me to take my first/only quilt class, which led to me falling in love with sewing, making quilts, and collecting fabric.

The creation of this quilt left behind A LOT of scraps, to the point that I would probably refer to it more as "a surplus of remaining fabric." So quite a while ago I chopped most of the scraps in to 3 1/2" squares and planned to make a square that featured 3 1/2" squares around two sides of a 6 1/2" square.

My mother in law really likes lighthouses, and my inlaws have a cabin on Lake Superior, so I decided to make the 6 1/2" square a consistent lighthouse fabric. I did find and buy one fabric at Hancock Fabrics, but ultimately it looked so cheap that I couldn't force myself to include it in a quilt I'm going to put a lot of work in to.

For months I kept my eye out for lighthouse fabric, mostly online as there's no LQS here. I haven't found anything I could say I even like. Mostly just prints I don't hate. Hardly an endorsement.

Several weeks ago I started seeing more patriotic fabrics online and in a couple stores I was able to visit. Then while at The Fabric Patch in Ironwood, MI I was able to see some of the Red Rooster Quilts of Valor fabrics in person. Everything clicked! My surplus of scraps quilt shall not be lighthouses, but patriotic.

I got several prints there, and picked up a couple more yesterday at My Favorite Quilt Shop, including the Marcus Bros Quilts of Valor multi-colored stars fabric I've been lusting over online.

The original plan was to make four squares a day, and I did really well for the first three days, but I haven't made any since then. I'm hoping to get more things organized and really crack down on these next week. Maybe I'll even get some time in on Sunday.

The other project that has been taking me away from the fireworks quilt is this spooky Halloween tree, my interpretation of a pattern in Boo Davis' book, Dare to be Square.

I am using Boo to You by Riley Blake scraps that I have left over from making the boys' 13 Days of Halloween hanging pockets (also a blog post for another day). I really love how this is turning out. With a white tree and Laura Gunn Painters Canvas in Gray for a background, I think this one will look a bit spooky. This will be a great quilt for our spare bedroom, and it is also a test to see how well I can enlarge the pattern for another quilt I will be making this fall. I feel like progress has been really slow on this, but I have been consistently plugging along. Part of that feeling is probably my impatience to see this one done. I'm really excited!

My other wip is the The Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, hosted by Amanda and Angela. I thought I had several Anna Maria Horner Chocolate Drop fat quarters that I had picked up at a clearance/reduction sale at Herrschner's about a year ago. This fabric has been burning a hole in my brain, as I tried to figure what the heck to use it for. When I started seeing posts about the FWQAL, I saw that many people intended to use modern fabrics, mostly scraps. I haven't been quilting/sewing very long, and I don't have a deep enough scrap bin. But I do have a lot of fabric!

I dug out the Chocolate Lollipop fabric, and it turns out I have half yards. This is great! Considering the estimated 8-10 yards needed for this quilt, I should have plenty, especially since I plan to add solids in too (mostly white, a fabric I rarely use, but I think will calm down the wildness of some of these prints). An added bonus - the Herrschner's sale didn't have much left this year by the time I got to go - but they did have some Chocolate Lollipop fabric for $1/yd! I bought a bunch and now I have a great chunk of backing for this quilt.

I haven't sewed anything for the QAL yet, which puts me about four weeks behind. With two squares a week, that "only" puts me 8 behind, so I'm hoping that, if I haven't caught up by early July, that will be the time to do so. Someone, please inform my boys and get them to understand this.

I do have eight hsts that I made on the spur of a moment one night when I was learning to use Thangles. I'm planning to use those in one of my first squares for the QAL.

Well, that's my first post for WiP Wednesday.

Phew! I've been wanting to do that for awhile. I hope you enjoyed and stuck with my through all those words and pictures. I'll get better at writing more efficiently the more I do this (hopefully)!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced

(Okay, I want to...still trying to get the button to work...)

Road Trip "Out East"

This morning the boys and I jumped in our car and spent the day on the Eastern side of the state. We visited two of our favorite families, ate lots of good food, spent time outside on a beautiful day, and made it home safe (and only about three hours later than I had originally planned).

I even worked in a quick stop at a new (to me) quilt shop. My Favorite Quilt Shop is a cute little place tucked in a building with a few other shops.

The shop has a lot of great fabric, but I didn't have a lot of browsing time, or capability (I had the baby in my arms). Luckily, the fabric I wanted (patriotic) was right by the door. And while I was waiting for my turn to get my fabric cut, I found some more Origins fabric by Basic Grey for Moda. I have several yards already, and a specific pattern to make with that yardage.  The fabric was purchased for our spare room (and to be the winter quilt), so I want to make a quilt for the pack and play out of the same fabric, and maybe a little table runner/place mat or two for the dresser or credenza. But that may get to look a bit crazy.

As exciting as finally getting the rest of the patriotic fabric I need (fingers crossed, I may get this quilt done in time to use for our yearly excursion to the fireworks!), I found out that My Favorite Quilt Shop rents their long-arm, and for only $25/hour!

A few weeks ago I whipped together a simple quilt top out of my favorite purple fabrics (accidentally named "Put a Purple Bird on It" by a friend) in the hope that I would soon find a long-arm to rent. I'm planning to keep the quilt for myself , so it will be a good quilt to use for the first go at long-arm quilting.

Now I just have to find time in my schedule to get back there!

Celebrating a Cousin

My husband's cousin's baby shower was on Saturday.

The big boy got to go to a movie with Daddy, and baby boy and I enjoyed a nice afternoon with family.

Due to continued illness, I was running about a month behind (ha!), and I finished the quilt just before we had to walk out the door. I was hoping to get another little blanket, and a couple feeling blankets sewed as well, but those will just have to be sent later.

I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out.

 

I've been wanting to make a zig zag quilt for awhile now, so I added a single zip to the backing.  Ooh, it was exciting!

The baby's mom liked the quilt too, and promised to send me a picture with baby girl on the quilt when she arrives. Hooray for cousins!

Progress!

The baby quilt top is finished! I am equal parts excited and astounded.

The boys have managed to overlap their naps for the past two days. The first day, I'll be honest, I took a nap. I knew my mil would be in town that evening, and I am still worn out from the nasty cold/respiratory flu that took us out last week.

But today, I sewed like the wind, and managed to get most of the quilt top completed, before baby boy woke up.

Tonight, I finished the top, made samiches with the remaining charm squares, and sewed the samiches together. Now I'm all set to cut them apart in to half square triangles (hsts) tomorrow.

And it's nursing time again...sweet dreams all!

Far Far Away 3 and a Start

There have been a couple of blogosphere posts about Heather Ross' Far Far Away III today.

I haven't had the opportunity to see either of the other Far Far Away series in person yet. They look great in quilts, but seem a bit girly for me. However, I am very excited to see Snow White and the Hi Ho's (you may call them Dwarfs in your house) in FFA III!

My older son has loved Snow White since he first saw it, somewhere around two years old (I think?). He used to wake up in the middle of the night and play in his crib until he fell back asleep. I would doze on and off, keeping an ear on him. There was about a month last winter where I would inevitably be pulled back to awake by a hearty, "hi HOOOOOOOO."

Now I just have to figure out what to make for him.....

In other news, my mother in law came this afternoon because she has a work meeting to attend in town tomorrow. She took the boys out for quite a long stroll, and gave me time to start sewing a baby quilt that needs to be done very soon. Luckily, all the contemplating and agonizing over it I've done in the last few months seems to have helped, because it is coming together quickly.

I can't believe I have waited so long to begin the actual sewing, but I'm going to blame it on the unexpected sicknesses we have encountered most of the last month.

Here's to fewer germs and more sewing in the weeks to come!

Do or do not...

Zipper instruction youtube videos, here I come!