Hello Quilting Room!

I was going to do a WIP Wednesday post yesterday but didn't get my act together so I'll try again today with more of a PIP post - Plans In Progress - starting with my design wall.

Someone in the house has decided that this wall is great fun to jump up on. A furry little someone who looks rather angelic at the moment...

Elsa has had a big day so far. There were two rabbits dining on grass near our family room windows for about an hour this morning and she was going crazy hopping from window to futon to chair to the other window watching. Then my cleaning friend arrived and Elsa likes to supervise her work (except when the vacuum is running). She is so crashed that she gave a little "mewp" when she heard the camera click but that was it.

My cutting table is a big old mess and is item #1 on my To-Do List once this post is published. You can see the missing strips for Picnic in Serenade which will go back on the design wall and then I will get those strips assembled into a flimsy (item #2). 

I've pulled out the baggie containing my Faded Memories 4 patches and will be putting them up on the design wall to play around with layouts (item #3). I had forgotten the cute woven fabrics paired up with the regular cotton charms. Aren't they fun? I'm such a fan of 3 Sisters fabric lines.

Purple is the color for RSC15 in April so I'll pulled my purple scraps to make my bowtie blocks (item #4). Lots of busy prints here so I might need to cut into a few FQs this month. And, since I didn't get to my yellows in March I'll be doing those as well.

Somewhere along the line I read/heard about having books spiral bound for ease of use and I finally did it. And wow how I love it! I took these books to Office Max last week and paid just $4.29 a book... let's just say I've already started a stack of my most used quilt books for my next trip. The "Art Doodle Love" book was a birthday gift to myself but the binding was so tight I couldn't open it all the way to write in. They also add a clear protective sheet to protect the cover which you can't see in my picture and you can choose between white, black or clear for the coil. 

If you look back to the pic of my cutting table above you can see the acrylic recipe holder I use to hold my book for my current project open. It works fine, but if I leave it in there too long the book ends up getting bent out of shape. I'm one to forget the measurements or get a block sub unit flipped the wrong way so I'm constantly checking my books. Sometimes the simple things make me very happy!

See You In a Few...

Early this afternoon I'll head out on my road trip east to visit two of my favorite people:

Our daughter Megan and our son Micah. We had a family photo shoot in July before Moving Month started and our photographer did a fantastic job. I'll share more later on. And I can't forget a most welcome addition to our family - Megan's fiance Chris. They got engaged in June while looking for their apartment in Columbus, OH and are planning to get married in June 2016 after Chris finishes graduate school. It's so exciting!

Aren't they a striking couple? They simply belong together and we are crazy about him too (and that's no small feat for my husband who is VERY protective of his little girl!).

My coffee cozies are packed in my bag and I'll wait to attach the buttons so I can custom fit them to their Starbucks cups. I can see making LOTS more of these... maybe I'll work on small projects when I get back before tackling my UFO Collection.

Since I had this to contend with it was easy to pull out enough thread to go and leave the rest until I get back! LOL

I hope to post my September Bibliophiles and Q4 Finish A Long link ups while I'm on the road... fingers crossed. See you in a few weeks!

Coffee Cozies on a Blustery Day

Happy October everyone!

Normally I would be doing a Month in Review/Goal Setting post about now but I seem to be at least another month away from such a feat. I just can't figure out 1) where the time is going and 2) why it is so hard to get into a sewing habit again. Since I'm going to be gone for 12 days visiting the kids this month I'm not even going to bother with goals. Hmmph! But a big YEAH! to seeing my kids and getting to stay with family & a college roommate I haven't seen in years along the way.

I am actually doing some sewing today because our forecast is for a high of 40 degrees with wind, rain and maybe a little snow. Ugh to that, but a good reason for a sew day. I had seen these adorable coffee cozies on several blogs a while ago and thought they would be perfect for my daughter and her fiance. The apartment complex they live in has a free Starbucks machine in the lobby which is quite the yummy perk!

Image from The Fat Quarter Shop

So I downloaded the free pattern and watched the video HERE before ordering some new mini charm packs. Because we all know there is nothing more motivating than sewing with new fabrics right? Even though we have a few plenty on hand.

I had planned to use Elementary but when I flipped through the stack of Figures it won me over. It's a different color palette for me and I am loving the coral fabrics especially. So much so I decided I need one for myself too with some of the leftover charms.

I'll have another post before I head east on Sunday to show you the finished cozies. I can't tell you how much I am going to miss this furry girl while I'm on the road.

Elsa was watching over my extra papers this morning while I was drinking my coffee and making lists for the trip. Doesn't she have a look of reproach on her face? Or maybe it's just my guilty conscience.

I Sewed Something!

In mid July my Mom and I met her Minnesota siblings for lunch in a nearby town to celebrate my aunt's birthday. Afterwards we decided to shop our favorite places there - a perennial nursery and a quilt shop. This morning I decided I HAD to get into my quilting room and came across the package of goodies I snagged that day.

The Stash Baskets pattern was in the 50% section and caught my eye right away. Just imagine having some of those to use instead of boring plastic bins! The shop had the Bareroots pattern stitched up and also had some of the cute little bags sitting around. I thought they would be a great way to use up those mini charm packs that seem to find their way into my shopping cart often.

I have some precuts of both of these holiday fabric lines so was happy to add these from the clearance section and as I was drooling over a gorgeous table runner sample one of the sales women steered me to the kit for an easy sale. There is something to be said for REAL shopping vs. online shipping.

So, about 2 months later I have a few four patches...

and some soon to be four patches laying on my ironing board.

Perhaps this little kit of charms is just what I needed to awaken my Quilty MoJo. I'll be gone until Monday celebrating a cousin's wedding in Dallas so I'll share more next week.

And Then There Were 3

I couldn't resist creating one more seasonal version of the Everyday Table Topper from the book "Charmed and Dangerous" by Anka's Treasures. My Christmas/Winter topper is made from Basic Grey's gorgeous Blitzen collection. I so love the color palette of this line with the cool sage and mint prints against the deep reds.

The snowmen prints caught my eye right away so I featured them when I laid out the charms.

Simple walking foot quilting with white Auriful was my choice to show off the pretty fabrics and I had a fat quarter of the ornate grey & mint print which I used for the binding.

Had I made this when the line was current I would surely have invested in more of it! Maybe I will still be able to pick up a few of my favorite prints (like the snowmen on red above) online.

On a random note... I had no idea that the markings on a cat extend to their skin. Elsa gave full consent to this tasteful belly shot although she is definitely giving me a "just take one and make it quick" look. We have had 1 black female cat followed by 3 male Siamese so this is news to me.

She also has longer fur than we are used to and it is so soft and fluffy. Yesterday I couldn't grab my camera quick enough to take a picture of the 2.5" fabric square that was attached via static cling to her tail. She had no idea it was there!

A Fail and A Finish

I've been feeling pretty confident about my walking foot quilting for the last 6 months... well along comes this spoiler. Christmas Strings new name is Puffy Christmas Strings! My last ditch effort last night to add more diagonal lines of quilting across the blocks just made it worse. These photos actually look better than the quilt in real life - it's a bubbly mess.

My usual approach to string blocks on muslin foundation is to skip the batting and use fleece for one step batting and backing. I've done 6-8 kid sized quilts that way with no problem. I spray baste to keep the layers secure.

But this is obviously not working! This fleece is a little thinner than what I normally use and I wonder if that in combination with a larger top is the issue. I'll be unpicking this during the Olympics next month and will have ample time to contemplate plan B.

I wonder if using a thin cotton batting would stabilize it better or maybe I'll scrap the fleece (although I'll miss the cuddle factor) for a fabric backing. I happen to have a box or two of Christmas fabrics to choose from.  Thoughts or suggestions anyone?

On a happier note - this cute little table topper is ready to go on my table this weekend. This is the 1st finish for my Sewing for the Seasons theme for 2014. The pattern is Everyday Table Topper from the book "Charmed and Dangerous" by Anka's Treasures and the charms are from an older Sandy Gervais line called Flirtations.

I used a medium pink thread from Connecting Threads for the quilting and muslin for backing. I wish all fabric lines included a bias stripe for easy binding!

My favorite prints in this line are the candies and the small hearts with polka dots. I also love the use of brown... it adds a nice unexpected element.

I love this pattern so much I'm currently sewing down the binding on another one in Christmas/Winter fabrics. Maybe Spring will be next... I've got lots of charm packs to use.  

I'm linking up to Freemotion on the River.

Charmed Pinwheels

UFO Finish #1 of 2014 is Charmed Pinwheels... yes I have broken free from my piecing binge at last! Can you believe my last finish post was on December 13? A new kitten, the holidays and a LOT of piecing has happened since then. I'll be closing out January with a week of finish posts.

Charmed Pinwheels began with 2 charm packs of Chez Moi by Moda (their 1st line perhaps?) that I had paired up, sewn into HSTs and then pinwheels. I used some of my border yardage to make enough blocks for a 4 x 5 block layout.

These fabrics are really vibrant and fun. I love the contrast of the blocks with the mottled solids against the blended blocks of 2 prints. The sashing is Moda Bella bleached white. I quilted along the inner sashing lines and on both sides of the diagonal pinwheels using white Auriful - the borders are simply quilted with straight lines.

I used the remaining Chez Moi yardage on the backing and selected a green and an orange print from my stash to coordinate. I liked the pop of green polka dot so chose that for binding as well. It's interesting to look at the quilting on the backside.

This quilt will be donated to Project Linus... I have quite a stack accumulated waiting for a warmish day for a trip to my drop off spot. Our schools are closed again today due to extreme cold mixed with high winds. Guess what I will be doing after I fill the crockpot with mixings for pork stew?

And, this UFO was on my Q1 Finish-A-Long goal list HERE so I will be linking it up in April at The Littlest Thistle.

Scrappy Chevrons

Yet another HST quilt that falls into the Make Again category... Scrappy Chevrons was born from a Keepsake Quilting charm pack that I just couldn't resist starting a new UFO from shortly after opening it! I will say that it has aged very well with an updated chevron layout.

I liked the pretty fabrics so much that I wanted to keep them together instead of scattering them around the quilt so I put them side by side on the peaks of the chevron. The background fabric is a white on white print.

In this way I was also able to spread the attention getting fabrics easily on my design wall. There are so some not so pretties laying low too but they look great in mixed company. I quilted along both edges of the chevrons using my trusty white Aurifil... lots of pivoting but it was worth the effort.

I decided to add a skinny inner border from the background fabric I had left over, found the green geometric in my stash for the outer border and chose an aqua print for the binding.

On the back I used up two leftover fabrics and a length of polka dots to tie them together. I like seeing the chevrons zigging across the backing.

This quilt will be donated to Project Linus. If I would have had more background fabric to make it bigger it would be staying with me! My daughter wants one in her colors, I want one and I'm thinking about making rainbow chevrons for RSC14 so there should be plenty of chevrons in my future.

What I learned:

• I love chevrons!
• Have a good audio book ready to quilt them.
• Pin basting is going great - quilt #3 and no tucks yet.

Design Wall Monday

I have a new UFO up on my wall and am once again assembling the blocks as leader enders which has been working so well for me since late summer. This is an early Chez Moi line that I had a couple of charm packs of and somewhere along the way they became pinwheels. Right now they are just up on the wall randomly (I'll be scattering those solids around the top) but they are very pretty to look at on these seemingly endless grey days.

I'll have enough charms to make 20 blocks and then I'll add sashing in white with cornerstones and a border using the matching yardage in the top left corner. Did you notice how I managed to pull out yet another HST project? So much fun!

Thanks so much for everyone who weighed in on yesterday's post and cheered me on... I now have block 7 of 9 done and I'm thrilled with it! I've included my leftover material scrap just to show all those little zigs and zags that get snipped out along the way. The next block is called "Cut it Out" and it's going to have a spiffy teal rotary cutter in my version.

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times.

2 WIP Finishes

Getting my pincushions ready for Monday's Blog Hop post has also inspired me to finish 2 WIPs using Bonnie & Camille's beautiful fabric line "Marmalade" over the last week.

I followed this tutorial at Pink Penguin to make my fabric basket. I've had it pinned for months, started it as my June NewFO Project and finally it is ready to use. I used 2.5" mini charms instead of 2" so my basket is a bit bigger than Ayumi's.

I am kind of obsessed with this fabric line... it is just so darn cute! I used Moda Bella for the base and the handles just to mix in a bit of solid. Here is the backside.

And the inside! I used fusible fleece for the batting but I think I'd like something a little stiffer next time around. I'd welcome any ideas as to what to try from the experienced basket and/or bag makers in the comments. I do have some Peltex I bought for a future project - would that be too stiff?

WIP Finish #2 is my May Schnibble "Gentle Art" which was also a NewFO Project. It is going on my quilting room wall but I need a dowel to hang it with. I figure you have seen enough background close-ups of it so I'll just include one full pic here in good light!

Getting 2 of my WIPs completed is one of my September Goals... so I've given them the DONE! treatment on my sidebar.

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced and Needle and Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation.

Sewing Schnibbles

Today I'm working on my May Schnibbles "Gentle Art" using charm packs of Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade line. I'm feeling quite distracted so am making my blocks in groups of 5 to keep my attention from wandering off. Some days my mind seems to race with thoughts and I just need to slow it down - breaking a task in smaller tasks allows me to at least get something done in my quilting room. Do you have these kind of days too?

I need to decide which prints to buy some yardage of which is not easy in this pretty line. I just noticed that I have the cabbage rose prints on the top of each pile - can you tell I love big florals? The tangerine is calling my name!

The first batch of 5 are pressed and done. I was having too much trouble trying to pair up these fabrics so settled on one neutral background, I'm sure I'll find a good use for the lighter charms in another project.

Tucker was enjoying the view last night as the sun started to set. He is an inside cat and LOVES having the screen porch to watch the world from. If I can't find him in the house all I have to do is start unlocking the porch door and he suddenly appears.

Love how he is silhouetted by sunshine!