When I found out my guild was swapping minis, I was nervous! I've never made a quilt for a quilter before, let alone a famous-ish quilter like Sukie or From The Blue Chair. There's some heavy hitters in the SLMQG!
***EDIT- I 'm entering this in the blogger's quilt festival, just for fun! I feel so excited and proud that my skills have improved enough that I feel like I have something to contribute. (Even if the back is a mess, haha!) Check out all the other entries at Amy's Creative Side.
I really stretched myself while making this mini. I'm not sure I did the process the "right" way, I'm not even sure there is a "right" way! I've never appliquéd before, so I was making it up as I went along. For example, when and how do I applique this thing? I opted to quilt, then applique, which resulted in an ugly back:
And also am I ever, EVER, E . V . E . R . going to get the hang of machine binding?
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.
One of these good lookin' men is my husband, the other one is his brother. They think they are so cool in their Ray-Bans. They took this pic on the train to work one morning. They've been working on a campaign that launched today, it's about encouraging people to be their best selves and to make positive changes. Check it out:
Here's a link where you can get this video to share.
I don't generally get real churchy on the blog, but I've been thinking about something.
As you know, I have been pretty active on #thegreatfabricdestash over on Instagram. I've really enjoyed connecting with all you good people in the quilting community! So much generosity happens, and I want to be a part of it. I want to give back to all the people who have been generous with me.
I was inspired by the people going on a fabric fast for Lent. I tried to imagine not buying fabric for 40 days and it seemed IMPOSSIBLE! That's when it occurred to me that I might have a *slight* addiction to fabric. I realize it sort of comes with the quilting territory, but I think it's safe to say that I have more fabric than I will ever use in my lifetime. There's an old notion that the commandment "Thou shalt not covet" should include the things you already own. It includes ideas about greed, false idols and worldliness. Followers of Jesus should give freely of what they have. So in an effort to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ...
#StartingToday I will give more and greed less
And I want you to join me.
I want you to giveaway a fat quarter to someone who is looking for it, or who will really love it, free of charge, no strings attached, just for fun! It only costs about $0.81 to ship an FQ in a 6x9 envelope. And the feeling you get when you make someone's day is totally worth every penny! Who knows, maybe that last piece of Tula you've been hunting, or the illusive FMF blue seeds will show up in your mailbox!
Pledge to do so and you will be entered to win one of two fabulous
bundles of 13 hard to find and out of print fat quarters from my stash (there may be a piece or two that is a bit shy of a true FQ. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.) One bundle will go to a blog commenter and the other will go to an Instagram poster.
Need help finding someone to give to? Check these feeds on Instagram: #isofabric #thegreatfabricdestashiso #thefabrictrade. Check #thegreatfabricdestash and find a pic of fabric you have, see if anyone asked to be back-up on that piece. Also, check the comments on my post about a magic lamp on my feed pinspots_destashes. (My regular account is pinspots) Check the ISO fabric group on flickr.
To Enter:
Leave a comment here pledging to #payitFQrward or tell me what you are going to do #StartingToday
For a second entry, post a photo of the FQ you are giving away on Instagram with #payitFQrward. You can also post the graphic I have above.
I know I've been a little MIA on the blog. No biggie, right? I know you're all waiting with baited breath for my quilty news! ha ha. I've neglected bloglovin', too and there are 342 blog posts to read. Ugh!
I do have a few finishes to report. (since Christmas!)
I love this pattern from Charise Creates. These darling hot pads made great teacher gifts. They were so much fun to whip up! I also became obsessed with finding the vine flower print from Sweet Broderie because of her sample. Isn't it fab? No luck in finding it yet.
I finished Amelia's dolly quilt and cradle pad a few days before Christmas. I measured the pad to be the same size as the cradle, but I should have made it an inch larger. I didn't think about the batting 'shrinking' it, whoops!
Two baby showers last month required two baby quilts. The boy one is a copy cat of something I saw somewhere on the interwebs. If you know where, tell me so I can give credit! I looooove how it turned out.
The turquoise strips were from one piece of fabric that was divided into six sections from selvage to selvage. Each section was printed a darker turquoise than the last. I bought it a few years ago and now I can't remember who made it, dang it! I also added a strip of a textured Moda turquoise (the tweed from Mod Century) just for visual interest.
The girl quilt is from the pennant pieces I cut out ages
ago. It uses a favorite Alexander Henry print on the back, from Monkey
Bizness. The binding is a sweet Benartex floral I got in the bargain
basement of a craft store in Rexburg with Jenni. Jenni, did you get any
of it?
Currently I am working on that Lotta Confetti Quilt, playing around with a layout and trying to decide what I like best. Off Center? Bordered on all sides? Or just one or two? Any suggestions?
Soon I'll be starting a quilt for Jenni's new grandson! He's coming to stay next month and I can't wait to kiss all over that sweet baby neck!
Got this layer cake on sale at Green Fairy quilts, and it arrived today. I am in love! Jenn, I know you are not a fan, but this line is fabulous. I was a little unsure because of the two greens. But you need them both and I see why they decided to use them. The medicine green isn't leafy enough for florals. I think they work well together.
This line has so many basics. Polka dots, bias stripes AND gingham. Plus the raindrop print and the cherry dot squares.
The red is a nice cherry red, and not the orangey red that seems to be in vogue right now.
Only two florals, a medium and a small. That's unusual for B&C. The small foral is sweet as pie. The medium floral is the only print I'm not on love with. It looks a little Christmassy to me.
I can't recall them doing a novelty print before, but essentially that's what the umbrellas are.
I think I'm going to regret not getting an FQ bundle! I'll hoping my LQS that takes coupons gets yardage, cause I'm definitely buying up the basics of this line.
I posted a pic on Instagram a while ago of an economy block I made out of Japanese fabric. My dear friend piped up and mentioned she had some japanese fabric she'd be willing to give me, if I 'helped' her make a memory quilt. She lost her mother, Fae, to cancer this year, a few months before she gave birth to her fifth(!) boy. I loved her mom, so working on this quilt will be an honor and a pleasure.
She and her husband lived in Japan for a few years with the military, and even though she doesn't really sew she couldn't resist picking up a few cuts of fabric. Can you blame her? Now she lives back home in So Cal, and we met up while I was visiting the folks (and Jenni!)
Thought you'd like to see my hand-me-downs:
These pieces are all Shinzi Katoh on canvas. The top piece says, "a big balloon alone the little monkey twins." The middle pieces say, "Maybe, you can listen to voice of flower."
This is a light weight cotton with no info on the selvage. The background is actually pale pink. Don't you love the little hedgehogs?
The top piece is unmarked, but it's glittery so my girls will love it. The bottom piece is practically the cutest boy fabric on the planet. I believe it's called zoo scatter.
And then there's this- the piece de resistance:
Isn't it wonderful? The selvage is in japanese, but I'm guessing it's Atsuko Matsuyama. Does anyone recognize it? I only have a fat quarter, so I must savor every piece.
So that was a pretty good exchange! Actually, I think I got the better end of the deal. We worked together on a design for the memory quilt, and I think I'll be able to make something really special for her newest baby boy. He's a darling baby and Fae would have treasured him, just as she did the other boys. My friend recently wrote a sweet post about questions she wished she asked her mom. It's a tender little post, so bring a hankie.
I got a Quilty Box as a gift from my be/fri. Does she know me well or what?!? I literally squealed when I saw the logo on the box.
Here are the contents:
Two Andover charm packs. I believe the lines are Clover Sunshine from Alison Glass and Hothouse Flowers from Mo Bodell.
This book and pattern. At first I thought the charm packs were meant to go with the pattern, but after sorting I realized charm squares are too small to use. That was a bummer.
Not sure what this stuff is, but that's part of the fun!
This art print by Sarah Watts. Yes I'm holding it with my knees. They rolled it up for the package, and it got smooshed. It could use some TLC and a frame.
Wasn't that a fun gift? I'm not sure I'd ever subscribe, because I generally ignore all non-fabric quilty things. But I wouldn't mind it as a gift every once in a while.
