City Sampler Blocks 7-9

Next set of City Sampler blocks --- check!

Block #7

Block #8

Block #9

Blocks 1 - 9

And just off camera, Emma waiting patiently to play with my blocks.

City Sampler Sew Along - Blocks #1 - 6

Have you joined in the City Sampler sew along yet?? 

It's a quilt along using Tula Pink's new book, City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.

It's a lot of fun & all the cool kids are doing it :)

I missed out on the Farmer's Wife QAL so I knew I had to get my act together to not miss this one.

I'm using Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille for my blocks.  The blocks finish at 6" so a lot of the pieces are super small.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5 - not as wonky as it appears in photo

Block 6

Fabric for blocks 7, 8, 9 is already cut and ready to be sewn.  If you haven't joined in, there is still plenty of time.  Don't forget & join the flickr group too!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - {truly} smitten

Well hello there!  If you are visiting from the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy, Welcome to my little space!

My entry into the spring quilt festival, is my {truly} smitten quilt.

I started this one awhile back...sometime last year.  I wanted to make a lap/toddler bed sized quilt for Emma.  The Hunky Dory line (Chez Moi for Moda) was perfect for her quilt.  The pastel pinks, blues, and greens --- so sweet!

After seeing Anna's Smitten quilt during a PMQG event, I fell in love with the pattern (by Rachel Griffith).  The quilt came together so quickly and then I got stuck.  I really wanted to try something different with this quilt --- a different style of free motion quilting.  At the PMQG retreat in November, a few guild members offered some suggestions for quilting and an idea was born.

I stippled in the white space, out-lined the prints with straight line quilting, and added a flower in each square.    I can see the progression of the free motion flowers from ehhhhh to ok, good enough.  What I was going for and what I ended up with were 2 different things but I love the result.

This is one of the "better" flowers!

I backed the quilt with a pink Kona solid and used the same for the binding.

Emma's still in a crib (YAAAY!) so for now we use this quilt to cuddle with on the couch.

Hi Paigey-dog!

Thanks for visiting!

More about Potholders - Potholder Pass 13

I participated in the spring round of Potholder Pass (Round 13) which doesn't seem to be my lucky round.  I over committed myself this spring and sent my potholders a week way late.  I was little overwhelmed by my partner's request and mosaic but in the end I like what I came up with.

This one is my favorite of the two.  I love this bird fabric (Oh, Deer by Momo for Moda).  My partner, Sabie sews, requested woodland crittery, modern, and bright!  I did random straight line quilting on this one.

For the second one, I fussy cut a deer from one of the fabric panels and framed it with a few narrow strips.  The quilting on this one was primarily stitch in the ditch with a little free motion outlining some of the details of the grass and tree.

I included a few extras: some of the Oh, Deer fat eighths and a quilt pattern.

Sabie sews received this last week & I think she liked them but, the package from my swap partner appears to be lost :-(.  I'll be waiting patiently.

Mother's Day, Potholders, & Dishtowels, Oh My!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there :)  I had a relatively low key day myself which was perfect.  We spent the day gardening and Hubby made us a really lovely dinner.

For Mother's Day this year I was inspired by Rita @ Red Pepper Quilts to make my mom new potholders.  Knowing that my mom's potholders were in rough shape, they seemed like the perfect gift.  I used one of those mini charm packs which was enough for 2 potholders with a few squares left over. 

I layered the potholder top with a layer of Warm & Natural Batting and a layer of the Insul-Bright and did a little straight line quilting.  

Just finishing the binding.

 

 To add a little something to the potholders, I "made" mom a dishtowel.  I followed this wonderful tutorial by Kleio's Belly.  My pleat came out slightly off center {totally my fault} but, oh well, it's functional!  You can get two of these hanging dishtowels out of one full sized (15x24") kitchen towel.

Mom's second towel is still in progress but these literally take only a few minutes to make.  The most time consuming part for me was the button hole.  Well really procrastinating doing it.  I've done them in the past ----you know, on the old machine.  I was so intimidated by the new machine, with it's special button hole foot.  It was soooo darn easy.  You just pick the stitch number (#49 on my Babylock), attach the foot, line up the starting point, and press go.  Sew easy! (HA!)

Happy May!!

The spring round of the 4 x 5 modern bee is over!  I chose the Arkansas Traveler block using a tutorial and templates by Freshly Pieced for my hive.  It was my first experience with paper piecing and worked out fairly well.  It was fairly time consuming and messy which was not good for my OCD tendencies, but I pushed through and I love these blocks.

For Allison - black, gray, white, pop of aqua

For Emily - yellow orange, turquoise, & gray

For Allison - pink, purple, & aqua

For Lisa - aqua & tangerine

For Ellie - red, navy, & yellow

And unfortunately I was a day late sending 4 of my blocks....I procrastinated until the day before the mailing deadline {because I was a scaredy-cat wimp about paper piecing} and then finally got my cookies together.  Yes, I said cookies....that's the toddler talk coming through!  Made 4 in one night after work...exhausting but worth it.  

Next up:  Blocks received from the spring 4x5 modern quilt bee....

PMQG Spring Retreat

The Philly Modern Quilt Guild is having a retreat this weekend.  This will only be the second time I've ever spent the night away from Emma.  The first time was the fall PMQG retreat!  I'm taking off Friday and spending the entire weekend sewing with friends.  It is going to be glorious!

There is so much I need to do to get ready ---- I have to pack clothes & toiletries, quilting/sewing projects, knitting(??), fabric (you know, just in case), and goodies.  To bake or to buy delicious treats?  And wine/beverages?  You better believe it!  I should go make my lists.  You know, it's the only way I get anything accomplished and not forget anything!  It should be a fun weekend and I'm sure you can join in on the fun on Instagram :)

Bee Wrap Up

The Simply Modern bee ends in April. I've done 2 rounds of a Garden Fence block bee and have enough aqua and red blocks for a quilt now!   I ended up with almost an even number of blocks with red borders and aqua borders --which is fantastic.

I completed both my March and April blocks this week and got them out the door.  I'm so glad to have these off of my plate!

March Simply Modern Bee Block for QuiltyGirl2

March Simply Modern Bee Block for fushigi88

April Simply Modern Bee Block for Quilty McQuilterton

April Simply Modern Bee Block for Quilting&Cussing

Fabric used in the blocks are a variety of Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets, Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow, Momo It's a Hoot and Oh Deer, and Violet Craft Madrona Road --all from stash

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).

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.

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!

New Bee(s)

I don't know if I'm crazy but I joined a new (to me) bee and started another one - Simply Modern Bee.  Simply Modern is a continuation of the Simple Bee which uses the Garden Fence Tutorial.  Sandy, the Simple Bee Mama, was not running another round of Simple Bee & said I was free to run my own.  Yay!
(There are still a few spots left if you are interested.)

Here are my July blocks for the Simple Bee:

July Simple Bee Block for craftycamel - red & gray

July Simple Bee Block for kritta22 - pink & red

The other bee that I joined is the 4 x 5 Modern Quilt Bee --thanks for the heads up Becky!  I'm really excited about this one!  I need to make 5 blocks (+1 for me) total, one in each member's color scheme using my stash.  I've already picked my block for the group and plan on making a test block this weekend.  The bee runs until November so I better get busy making my 5 blocks!  For my blocks I chose shades of purple, gray, and white for my background.

Scrap Bee Complete

So my first and only bee is wrapping up.  I have to say it worked out perfectly.  We’re finishing up 2 months early as we had 2 participants drop out…who just happened to have the months of November and December.  Perfect for me since who knows how much time I’ll have to sew with a newborn…who’s arrival is late!

For August. our bee mama asked for a block to make Mona W’s European Stories Quilt.  A very easy block to make…I was really hoping to send Corley an appliqued block but nothing came out quite right so I fussy cut a MoMo print.  I dove into the scrap basket for the border and love the scrappy outcome. 

I was slightly confused about September’s block…Christine requested a Scrappy Depression Block, basically sewing a bunch of half square triangles together any way we wanted.  I might have taken it a bit too literally, because my block looks nothing like anyone else’s….

Pam requested a monochromatic, crazy, scrappy block using Aneela Hoey's tutorial.  We each picked a different color to send and although my pink scraps/stash far out weigh any other color I chose red to challenge myself.  I like how it came out but I don’t think I could make more than 2 of these blocks ever.  It’s good to try new things though.

I’m currently on maternity leave from work…baby girl is a little late arriving….5 days past so far!  Here’s my 34 week belly at my last Phil’s game of the season!

Here’s hoping she comes soon!!