WiP Wednesday #11

It's Wednesday so you know what that means...

I am loving working on the Summer Sampler quilt.  I don't like the feeling of being behind though.  I want to get caught up on these this week.  I've made 5 blocks so far and the 8th pattern is coming out today so I'm really not that far behind.  I just have the feeling that I'm getting too stretched out.  I'm not going to start anything else until I finish the sampler and my other 2 WiPs. Melinda and I were talking this week and I was telling her that I don't really think I'm the kind of person that can have 5 projects going on at one time.  I really feel like I accomplish more when I start and finish one quilt before I move on to another.

Finished:

-Blocks #3 & #4 for the Summer Sampler Quilt.  These blocks are so fun to make!

and the 4 together...

-Red/White Wonky Star - I've entered this one in the Gen X Summer Fair.  So thrilled this is completed!

-Batman/Superman - yeah!  I love a finished quilt.

In Progress:

-Compassion Quilt for my friend - I didn't work on this one this week.  I'm still mad at myself for not switching some of the fabrics around so I guess I'm pouting. ha!  I've decided to leave it the way it is so I need to just sew it together and move on.
-Purple Quilt for The Grandmomma - poor little quilt is still sitting there.

Begging for a Backing:

-Single Girl - tired of seeing this one listed on here.

-Loulouthi - maybe this week?

Begging for a Binding:

Baby Hooty - still waiting, I think I need a reason to finish it. 

On the Bubble:

Rubik's Crush - I look at this fabric every day and hope to start it soon.

Fifi & Fido - 100 Quilts for Kids - still thinking...

On the lookout - I've got my eye out for the perfect fabric to make:

Swoon - auditioning fabric on a daily basis - still looking.

Chopsticks

See you next week!

Summer Fair - Red & White Wonky Stars

I'm so happy to finally show this quilt.  It is my favorite quilt (so far).  It is me.  I love how it is so simple without being boring.  I saw a very small quilt made with these wonky stars on Flickr that I just couldn't get out of my mind so I used that as my inspiration. I couldn't stop with just the one square, I had to make it bigger and bigger and bigger.  It's about 103" x 103" now.  It's a monster!

The two colors are Kona white and Kona tomato. A tremendous amount of Kona tomato actually.  The woman I ordered the fabric from probably thought I was a nut.  At first I was just going to make a small square so I only ordered 1 yard.  Then I decided to increase the size so I ordered another 4 yards.  Then, I decided to go all the way with it and ordered another 9 yards.  Geez-e-petes.  I ordered all the fabric from the same source so I could fool myself into believing it all came from the same bolt.  If it didn't, I don't want to know about it.

The Grandmomma (aka my mother-in-law) quilted it for me.  She couldn't have done a better job on it.  I love it!  Thank you so much Grandmomma.  You are awesome!  That woman is amazingly talented.  She would rather be boiled in hot grease than quilt using a pantogram on her long arm machine so she custom quilts everything she does.  I don't know how she does it, but she does.  I need to show you some of her creations one day.  I left the quilting design all up to her imagination and she totally rocked it.

Look, she even stitched my name and the year on it as a surprise for me.

The backing fabric is from the Poppy Lane by Alice Kennedy fabric line.  It took forever and a day for me to decide what to put on the back of this quilt but I'm so happy with my choice.  This one is going on my bed.  I'm planning to paint our bedroom a wonderful shade of aqua to go with it.  yum!

Linking up to Summer Fair over on Gen X Quilters.  I'm looking forward to perusing all the different entries over there.  Now if I had a funnel cake, some cotton candy and a corn dog to eat while I'm looking it might feel like I was really at a fair.

Resisting Temptation

I am trying so hard to stay on my fabric diet.  I was doing so good until I saw this...

http://www.sarahjanestudios.com/blog/2011/05/09/introducing-children-at-play/

Oh geez!  Could that be any cuter?  My girls are too old for this fabric but I have a cousin that is pregnant and I sure hope she has a little girl so I can use this fabric in a quilt for her.....drool drool.

And if that wasn't enough, I can't quit thinking about this fabric stack.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78406375/heirloom-fat-quarter-bundle-sapphire

It's the 5th fabric from the top that gets me - the Rose Bouquet in Sky.  I just adore how it pops in the middle of all those other fabrics.  It's got the rolodex in my brain spinning around and around and where it stops will be the perfect quilt pattern for these. ha!

Batman or Superman?

What kind of hero do you feel like being today?  Superman?

or Batman?

It's reversible...see?

The Batman side of the quilt is the Just Can't Cut It pattern which is always a go-to pattern for me and is great for fabric that you don't want to cut up too small.  It also goes together pretty fast and that's is always a plus, especially on a full size bed quilt like this one.

The Superman side was largely based on Faith's Echino Squared quilt.  She always has the best ideas and her blog is fabulous.  She's a very creative and talented woman who always has something great that she's working on.

This quilt is going to make one little 4 year old boy very happy.  Cameron LOVES superheros so I was especially happy to get to make this quilt for him.  The quilt is reversible so he can switch it around any way he wants depending on who he's pretending to be for that minute/hour/day.  It changes so frequently, you know.  I hope he gets a lot of use out of this and keeps it forever!  It was made with love, that's for sure.

A big thanks goes out to The Grandmomma for doing such a wonderful job on the quilting.  She wasn't too thrilled about it being reversible but she made it work and it looks fantastic!  Thank you! 

Have a good weekend everybody!

My kind of Fair

I remember being a little girl and going to the fair in the 1970s.  I believe that my mom use to make jams and jellies to enter in the fair but I might just be making that up.  I remember being dragged through the hot, sticky building where all the canned goods, prize winning flowers, needlework, and quilts were on exhibition.  My mom would always look at all the quilts because her mother was an avid quilter and we had to check out what other people were making.  I would always stare extra long at the quilts that won a blue ribbon.  Wow!  Getting the blue ribbon is a big deal.  You know what?  For some strange reason I don't have any recollection of riding any rides though.  What's up with that?

Anyway, there's going to be a County Fair that I think I can actually participate in and I can do it from the comfort of my living room in the air conditioning. Yeah!



So, come on out to the fair!  Each participant can link up 1 recipe and 1 quilt.  Twice the goodness.  See ya there.

edited to add:  I asked my mom if she entered her jam in the fair and her face lit up and she said her blackberry jam won a ribbon!  She also said there weren't rides at the fair back then, mainly just agricultural stuff.

WiP Wednesday

Hello Wednesday!  I sewed a lot this week but I don't feel like I have very much to show for it.

Finished:
Block #2, the Greek Cross,  for the Summer Sampler Quilt.  I'm enjoying working with these solids for the Summer Sampler Series.  I'm going to catch up on my other blocks this week.

In Progress:

Compassion Quilt for my friend - I'm using the Potpourri Palette from Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush fabric line and the Urban Cabin pattern by Atkinson Designs for this quilt.  I actually goofed up on the pattern and I'm pretty bummed about it.  The pattern says to use two different fabrics in each of the blocks but I was not paying attention and sewed all mine up with the same fabric in each block.  My husband thinks I should take them all apart and redo it but I just can't imagine doing that.  I have a love/hate relationship with my seam ripper and the thought of ripping out all those seams makes me crazy.  What a waste of time.  Do you think it looks ok?  It would look so much better if the fabrics were more mixed up like the pattern calls for.  You know, I may have just talked myself into taking them apart and rearranging them.  I'm never going to be happy with this quilt if I don't and I won't feel 100% happy when I give it to my friend if I know I goofed up on it.

Purple for The Grandmomma - haven't made any further progress on this one.

New Project:

Optical Illusion block - I just have to try this.  Inspiredbyfelix made a gorgeous block out of red and white and I'm so intrigued by it.  She was kind enough to send me her instructions and now I'm dying to try it out.  I hope mine turns out as beautiful as hers is. 

Begging for a Backing:

Single Girl

Loulouthi - I decided what I'm going to do on the back of this.

Begging for a Binding:

Red/White Wonky Star - I have the quilt squared up and the binding made, now I just have to attach it.  I can't WAIT to have this one finished and on my bed. It's 103" x 103" - yikes!  Wonder how long it will take to get the binding on that one.  

Superman/Batman - binding is made but that's it.

Baby Hooty - still waiting.

On the Bubble:

Rubik's Crush - getting closer to starting this one! yeah!

Fifi & Fido - 100 Quilts for Kids - thinking...

On the lookout - I've got my eye out for the perfect fabric to make:

Swoon - auditioning fabric on a daily basis - still looking.

Chopsticks

As always, linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced.  Isn't she just the best hostess?

I'm a Winner!

I've been a long time reader of Randi's blog and now I've won her latest giveaway of 4 fat quarters of any Kona solids that she carries.  Yeah!  I love love love solids so this will be a great addition to my little stash.  Thanks so much, Randi!

She also has a wonderful Etsy shop that is worth checking out!

WiP Wednesday

It's Wednesday!  This is the long and the short of it for today.

Finished:
Loulouthi top
Ironing Board Cover - so happy to have this complete.  What a difference it makes in my dining sewing room.

In Progress:

Purple for The Grandmomma - started cutting this one out and have sewn a little bit but I got distracted by a compassion quilt that I want to make for a friend of mine.  I think this one is going to go together fairly quickly.

why can't I get this picture to rotate and stay rotated?

Summer Sampler Series - I'm going to LOVE making this quilt.  I made the first block on Monday and there are more to come this week. This one is called the Star of Virginia.

Begging for a Backing:

Single Girl

Loulouthi - still deciding what to put on the back of this one.

Begging for a Binding:

Red/White Wonky Star - got this one back from the quilter!  Perfect!  I couldn't be happier with this one.
Superman/Batman - got this one back from the quilter, too!  I know one little boy that is going to be so happy with this quilt on his bed.
Baby Hooty

New Projects:

Compassion Quilt for a friend of mine with pancreatic cancer.  Please say a prayer that she will feel loved and comforted at this time in her life.  God bless her and her family.

Try not to get a crick in your neck from all my sideways pictures - sorry.

On the Bubble:

Rubik's Crush - getting closer to starting this one! yeah!

Fifi & Fido - 100 Quilts for Kids - getting closer to making a decision on this one!

Bottled Rainbows - collecting scraps for this. 

On the lookout - I've got my eye out for the perfect fabric to make:

Swoon - auditioning fabric on a daily basis.

Chopsticks

Linking up to Lee, of course!  Lots of great creations going on over there today.

Look what I made!

Well, I finally did it.  I branched out and made something besides a quilt.  I really only enjoy sewing quilts.  That is all I want to sew.  I don't want to sew a button on my shorts.  I don't want to hem my pants.  I don't want to make doll clothes or stuffed animals.  I wish I wanted to make a bag or two but I don't.  I only want to sew quilts.  However, the ugliness of my ironing board cover was really irritating me.  See?  Isn't it gross?

I read several great online tutorials for making an ironing board cover and I had full intentions of following one of those but once it came down to it I just kind of did my own thing.  I flipped that sucker over on it's top (much like I use to flip my bicycle over on the handle bars and pretend I was servicing it) and inspected the underside.  The cover itself is not old or shabby, just stained with water marks so I decided to sew my new fabric right onto the existing cover so I wouldn't have to bother with the cord or elastic or anything of that sort.  I added an extra layer of padding by putting a towel in between the old cover and the new fabric.  Then I pinned the fabric onto the cover and cut out a pattern of sorts.  Once I had that pinned I went to the sewing machine and with my walking foot on I just sewed around the edge of the cover right beside the existing cord.  It wasn't all that easy to do and I don't know if I would do it that way again, but, it's done.  In my head I thought it would take me about 20 minutes {insert huge laugh} but 3 hours later I ended up with this.

The fabric is some Anna Maria Horner I got on sale at Intown Quilters back at the shop hop in March. It's from her Drawing Room home dec collection and the print is called Trellis.

Now I just can't find enough things to iron and even my iron looks happier.  Better get started on that next quilt, goodness knows that will be a good way to get some use out of this new cover.

Loulouthi - meaning: flower, origin: Greek

Can you see me?  I'm doing the happy dance.  And yes, I do dance like Elaine on Seinfeld.  Bless my heart.  Anyway, I finished my Loulouthi quilt top last night. It is such a good feeling to finish a quilt top.  But, on the other hand, I am so enamored with this fabric line that I am kind of sad to be finished.  I feel like I need some more time to touch and feel this fabric.

I used a pattern by Carolina Patchworks called Modern Rose Garden.  It took what seemed like forever to cut out the pattern but once I started sewing it was a piece of cake.  I chose to fussy cut a lot of the squares and I had to stack my rulers against each other to get some of the sizes right for the squares and all that just adds time to cutting.  I felt like I was putting a puzzle together and that made it a little challenging but still fun.

I paired the Loulouthi with Kona Ash and I feel like it was a good choice.  I almost always have white in my quilts lately and I thought about using it here but the ash just seemed to add more warmth to the quilt and that's the feel I was going for.

Thank you to my sweet husband for helping me with the photo shoot.  I love pictures of quilts where the poor little quilt holder's feet are sticking out - like the quilt has legs and can walk or something.

Now I just have to find something else to make with this fabric and send this baby off to the quilter.  I'll let you know when she's all quilted and bound.  Happy Friday to you all.

Diet?

So, I've been thinking. Should I go on a diet?  A fabric diet.  I have so much fabric that I've bought with the intentions of making a quilt and haven't gotten around to using yet.  Poor fabric is just sitting in the bin waiting to be cut and sewn into something wonderful.  I get distracted easily so when some new fabric I love comes out I buy it and whip up a quilt top and the "old" fabric gets pushed further back on my WiP list.  It's hard to resist the new fabric when I read so many wonderful blogs and everyone is making such gorgeous quilts with the current lines, I don't want to be left out. ha!

So, what if I don't buy any new fabric until I've used up my stash of previously purchased fabric?  Think I can do it?  I don't know if I can.  Just the thought of not buying any fabric makes me a little panicky, makes my palms a little sweaty, too.  I might have to work out a compromise.  For every 2 sets of fabric I use I could buy 1 new bundle of fabric.  I'll think about that.  hmmm...how far into my stash would that get me?

I'm just afraid that the longer the fabric sits around without being made up into something then the chances it will NEVER be made into something are greatly increased.  I don't want to open the bin and look in there and think "This stuff is not my style anymore" and end up giving it all away.  yikes!

What do you think?

WiP Wednesday - Loulouthi edition

I'm so happy to have some WiPs to report this week.  All is right with the world when I have a quilt (or 4) in progress.

Finished:
The paisley Color Splash quilt.  This one is going to a recent high school graduate.  I hope she loves it! (fingers crossed)

In Progress:
Loulouthi Garden quilt.  I spent all day Monday (which just so happened to be my birthday) cutting this one out.  I love to cut quilt patterns but I don't think I've ever spent as much time cutting a top as I did this one.  Whew!  I fussy cut a lot of the squares and then the sizes were odd so I would have to stack rulers together to get the size I needed...and well, that ate up a lot of time. It's going to be so worth it.  I'm so glad I have the design walls.  I don't know what I ever did without them.  Well, I do know - I made a million trips from my sewing machine in the dining room to my bedroom where I used my bed as the design wall.

Begging for a Backing:
Single Girl

Begging for a Binding:
Baby Hooty

At the Quilter:
Red/white Wonky star - can't wait to see this one all quilted up!
Superman/Batman

New Projects:
Summer Sampler Series - couldn't resist this one.
Bottled Rainbows - hoping to introduce this ticker tape style to my quilt guild and hope they like it as much as I do.  Should be fun!

On the Bubble:
Rubik's Crush

Purple for The Grandmomma

Fifi & Fido - 100 Quilts for Kids
Ironing board cover - I need a new one!  I want to make it myself out of fabric I love.  Why am I so scared to tackle this?  I just need to do it and quit stalling.

On the lookout - I've got my eye out for the perfect fabric to make:
Swoon
Chopsticks

And most importantly, Happy Birthday to my precious little 8 year old girl!  I love you Josie!  I thank God for you every day.  I would live every day of your life all over again.  You are awesome!  I can't wait to see what 8 has in store for us.

And of course, linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced. If you have time please go check out all the fabulous links over there.

Friday Flickr Favs - Loulouthi edition

Boy, this has been a busy week, good - but busy.  This weekend just can't get here soon enough!  My mail lady delivered a gorgeous stack of Loulouthi to me this week and I'm just chomping at the bit to cut into it. I'm still waiting on a couple more pieces of fabric to complete my set but I'm sure they will arrive today.  I just know they will.  They better!

1. Loulouthi ~ Beach Huts Quilt, 2. Loulouthi Tote Bag - front, 3. handquilted.pillow, 4. lots of little triangles=lots of funky seams, 5. swoon quilt 1, 6. Juliana Palette, 7. finished.juliana.throw, 8. eleni.palette.quilt, 9. isabela.crib.quilt

I had such big plans to work on some other quilts that I've been planning, but I can't get this fabric off my mind so I'm going to have to push everything else to the back burner and start right on this.  Fun!  That's what this whole quilting thing is all about anyway, right?  Doing what is fun and what feels good.

Have a great weekend!