Finishing It Up

To WIN one of these fabulous bundles, go here!  THE DRAW IS TOMORROW!

I got to spend a day with Jenni this week and I met Baby Tucker!  My girls were wild for him, and so was I.  He is a fat-faced nugget of love.  

Today I'm hoping to finish up a quilt I made for him.  I'm hand sewing the binding, and I'm not quite done yet.

I used a paper pieced pattern from Kristy at Quiet Play.  It's in her Craftsy shop.  I'm no expert in paper-piecing, so this pattern stretched me. I made some glaring errors, but I love the results anyway.  I KNOW that the points don't match up, but you can only unpick and re-stitch so many times before you stop caring.  Blue rocket- I'm looking at you.

Which one of these is not like the others? (hint: it's the yellow one. Whoops!)  

I first saw this pattern at Snips Snippets.  She used the Rocket Launch Club in white to fussy cut little astronauts.  I loved the idea so much I blatantly copied it.  The prints are all from Sarah Jane's Children at Play.  

Linking up with Amanda Jean.

XOXO-Pinspots

Quilty Adventures in NYC

My traveling companions obliged me with a quick stop-in at Purl Soho in NYC.  I wanted to share a few snaps I took with my phone.  

It's a small, narrow shop with yarn up front and bolts in the back.  They don't carry a lot of fabric, mostly basics.  But they do have one glorious wall of Liberty lawns.  

That's where I bought my first piece of Liberty, as I mentioned before.  I chose that print because of the Art Deco design.  My favorite buildings in the city are Art Deco, so it will always remind me of the New York.  

 They had a pile of whole cloth quilts for sale under a table up front.  Whole cloth quilts can be wonderfully effective, as these were.  They were straight line quilted in a diagonal square.  I think the solids were linen.   Reminds me of the quilt Jenni just made.

Don't you want to make one?

Later, we stopped in at a wonderful kitchen store called Fishs Eddy in the Flatiron District.  It's just across from ABC Carpet & Home.  Both stores are worth a look-see.  

Fishs Eddy happened to have a line of serving pieces designed by Brooklynite Lotta Jansdotter.  I admit, I had a little fabric/dish geek-out moment.  If you know me, you know I love, collect and adore dishes almost as much as fabric.  Having these two worlds collide on a cake plate was a little unreal!  Throw in a 75% off sale and...!!!!   I felt like Karma was paying me back for every nice thing I've ever done.  

I came home with one of those cake plates. 

At ABC, I found the most luxurious, simple, romantic quilt.  

I couldn't get a good picture, in part because of the lighting. It is a pale pink silky fabric on one side, and dove gray velvet on the other.  The ties are about every two inches.  Isn't it gorgeous?

So now I have two more want-to-make quilts on my list.  But how would that fancy silk quilt wash up?  I should have looked at the tag.  *le sigh*  

That's one of the best things about NYC, you can find inspiration everywhere!  So many colors, and sights, and styles (and smells!) different from what I'm used to out west.  It always recharges my creative side.

XOXO- Pinspot

  

Inspiration

Here is the post in which I dump all the quilty inspiration photos I've been saving on my computer.  We're cleaning out iPhoto, and I've been meaning to blog about this anyway.
Do you see quilt patterns in unlikely places?
When we were in St. Petersburg last June, I was completely mesmerized by the Hermitage.  The building itself is so incredible that it actually upstages the astounding art collection it houses.  Here are a few pictures of the intricate floors.

 

Here's a pic of my photog friend's quilt.  She uses it in many of her family shoots.  It was made by her cousin's other grandma, and Wendy "stole" it, or so she says, when the grandma passed.  I think it is the loveliest use of purple in a quilt ever.  Great scrappy mix of HST's and squares. 

 

The other pics are ones I took out of a library book in the Denver area.  I don't know why I didn't bother to write down the name of the book.  And I'm not sure this is entirely legal. But I figure, if it's free to the public at the library, then I can make it free to myself on our little blog here.  

I'm kind of in love with the idea that the pattern is in the sashing.  

Flying geese blocks transform this oversize star block.  Very clean and modern for a quilt made in the 1850's.

 

Here's a cute little variation of a strip quilt that could be adapted to many patterns.  Applique-ing on top of the strip quilt is a great idea.  You could do flowers, or animals, or shapes, depending on the fabric you chose.  Kinda cutesy. 

XOXOXOX- Pinspot