Friday, March 8, 2013

February Bee Blocks

This month I had fun playing with purple!


Rachel requested shades of purple for her block. {She also has the cutest little daughter, go check out her blog!}



Nanette requested purple & green. It seemed like the perfect chance to use some of my new Lizzy House pearl bracelets prints as I recently purchased this yummy 1/2 yard bundle on Etsy. {My favorite prints are the blues!}

Awful iphone pic!
March's blocks should be fun - raspberry & lime and blues & greens (like sea glass).

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Woodland Sampler - Cross Stitch

When I was alot younger, my mom used to do cross stitch.  We were on vacation at the shore and one of my aunts came over and taught her.  I remember it so vividly because I wanted so badly to learn at that time.  My mom made so many cross stitch patterns when I was growing up...Christmas stockings, Christmas tree ornaments, and numerous wall hangings.  If you had a baby during my mom's cross stitch days, sure enough you would receive a framed cross stitch with the baby's name & birth date.  Each time she finished a design, we would take it to get framed.  You know, the kind of place where you pick out a frame and a mat, you pay an arm and a leg, and they would frame it for you.  They always looked so beautiful and still do some 20+ years later.

When I was old enough, my mom finally taught me how to do cross stitch.  I would start one and she would finish it.  I never had the attention span to finish a design.  The only one I ever finished was for a friend who was getting married....and well, that marriage did not last.

When I saw the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's cross stitch patterns I knew it was time to pick up the hobby again.  Their patterns are super adorable.  Have you seen their winter wonderland countdown sampler??  It's on my wishlist.  I signed up right away when I saw they were releasing a Woodland Sampler starting in January.  Each pattern/design is released around the 1st of the month and so far I'm loving it!

January - Snowy Deer Couple
I stitched up January's pattern while I was recovering from a minor surgery.  It kept my hands busy while I was stuck laying in bed for a few days.


February - Midnight Raccoon Bandit

February's block isn't completed yet.  I think I'm going to outline around the raccoon's eyes a little more and fill in the moon.  Probably filling the moon in with the dark blue so that the "e" in February is visible.

March - Marchy McMushroom
March's block only took part of an afternoon.  I might still add a teeny-tiny shamrock in front of the "M" but I'm not sure there's enough space.

I had always intended to make a cross stitch for Emma's birth, but was too worried I would lose interest and never finish.  Since April 1st is so far away, I'll probably purchase another Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery pattern and add Emma's birth stats to it because the poor girl has next to nothing hanging on her walls!

Emma (in January)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Simply Modern Bee

The simply modern bee on Flickr is over halfway through! It seems like everyone is keeping up {YAY!} and I've seen some great blocks in the pool. For the bee, we are working from stash and are using the Garden Fence Tutorial. Each month the queen bee(s) get blocks sent to them in their colors.

November - Orange & Aqua for Micchia

November - Purple & green for sewneatbycaryn

December - Blues for vbobro

December - Yellow & Gray for fresh raspberry quilts

January - Red & aqua for me

January - Red & aqua for k9toywear


I've received almost all of my blocks from January and should have an update with how my red & aqua Garden Fence quilt is coming together soon.

Monday, March 4, 2013

A pin cushion a day....

keeps the doctor away?  Errr, maybe not ;-). Lots of pin cushion making going on over here.

Cathedral window pincushion
It started with one....
Cathedral window pincushion #1
And then there were 2.
Plus another in Central Park {Moda} fabric....

Equals a cute pile of pin cushions!

Tutorial for pin cushions by Kim @ My go go life.


These pin cushions are so cute and fun to make AND they make great gifts!  I think I'll be making a few more of these really soon.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Last Quilt of 2012

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Julie Herman's patterns and when I saw a sample of her Wonton pattern hanging in The Village Quilter, it was love at first sight!  

My mom had requested a quilt for a friend of friend's daughter who was having a baby.  The baby (a little girl) is a miracle baby.  The couple had tried for years to conceive and were unsuccessful.  They decided to give fertility treatment a try without telling their family as to not disappoint anyone if it failed.  It worked and their beautiful baby girl was born in December.

I started this quilt at the Philly Modern Quilt Guild retreat back in November and had the quilt top cut and pieced in an afternoon.  The pieces were cut using Jaybirdquilt's Hex N More ruler.  For the backing, I picked up a soft cuddle fabric in red and quilted with an allover stipple pattern.  The cuddle fabric was surprisingly easy to quilt with and was very forgiving in terms of tension issues.  I think it will be my go to backing for baby quilts because it's so soft and comfy!

Wonton Baby Quilt

Backed with soft, comfy, snuggle fabric :)


Quilt Stats: 
Pattern:  Wonton by Jaybirdquilts
Pieced & Quilted by Me.
Started on November 10, 2012.  Completed on December 18, 2012.
Fabric: ??  Some pulled from stash, Riley Blake, and Bungle Jungle by Tim and Beck for Moda.

Friday, March 1, 2013

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee - Winter

I was so excited to participate in the winter round of the 4x5 modern quilt bee on Flickr that I even set a calendar reminder for the sign ups....yep, I'm a nerd!  But seriously, it was worth it!

This time I picked my block right away, got my fabric pulled, and then stalled out.  I picked a block from In Color Orders HST Block of the Month {who, by the way, has the CUTEST fabric line currently in stores} but the block just didn't feel right so I started the process over.  I ended up with a simple Broken Wheel pattern.  I was worried the size wouldn't come out right so I made the test block in my colors {purple & gray}.  The block came out a little small....for the rest of the blocks I used a scant 1/4" seam and a little creative pressing.  Most of the blocks came out exactly 12.5" unfinished with a few just slightly under that.

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee Blocks - Winter Round
Test block 
4x5 Modern Quilt Bee Blocks - Winter Round
4x5 block for marci (our hive's caretaker)

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee Blocks - Winter Round
4x5 block for AmieJDesigns
4x5 Modern Quilt Bee Blocks - Winter Round
4x5 block for drkornea2010

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee - Winter Round
4x5 block for Oh, Fransson!
4x5 Modern Quilt Bee Blocks - Winter Round
4x5 block for Momma Thomps.
Sign ups for the next round are supposed to begin very soon so if you're interested in joining keep your eye on the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee flickr group!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee - Fall


The block I chose for the fall 4x5 modern quilt bee was from the Fresh Lemon Quilts Solstice Star Series. It was a fun, scrappy block to make.  I loved choosing fabric for these blocks and it was so fun to see them come together.  I think my least favorite of the bunch was mine!  I had a great time participating in the 4x5 bee and even signed up for the winter round.  

Photos of the blocks sent to my hive members {blocks are so wrinkled because they were almost sent out without taking photos of them first!}

Bee block for mochawildchild
4x5 block for mochawildchild

Bee block for creativesun
4x5 block for creativesun

Bee block for jenniffer
4x5 block for jenniffer

Bee block for sewswithcharlie
4x5 block for sewswithcharlie

Bee block for don'tcallmebetsy
4x5 block for don'tcallmebetsy

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Bee Mistaken

I was so happy to have finished all of my blocks for the Simple Bee....and then I saw it.

I was addressing the label on the envelope and saw purple, aqua, & maroon as Mermaid Sews's color choice.  This is certainly not purple, aqua, & maroon.

I remember thinking to myself while making this block, who requests purple & red?!?  I did my best to choose  purple & red fabric that went together {is that possible?} and was OK with the result.  After I realized my mistake, I was never so happy to take apart a block.  Yes, I could have just made another block, but the purple & red block just felt wrong.  Now that they are separate....I'll use the red center for my aqua & red blocks, and re-use the purple to make the correct color block!

At least my other block for August was right!
Simple Bee Block for SewtoBed
I made my test block for the 4x5 modern quilt bee.  I made it in my colors (purple & gray) using this tutorial, although I wish I would have went a little heavier on the purple.  The block is very easy to construct.  The fabric selection & cutting are the most time intensive.  The block is perfect for scraps as well.  I've started pulling fabric for my hive and can't wait to get sewing!