the accidental quilt

Do you remember the quilt I accidentally started?  {those innocent looking layer cakes just hanging around the sewing room are like WIP list landmines waiting to explode!}



It all started with a layer cake I won last year, and now have 168 HSTs.



It was surprising just how many episodes of Arrested Development it took to get them all trimmed up! {season 4 starting in 6 days! whoo-hoo!}

This fabric is not my usual color/style preference {although I do find them quite lovely}, but they go great in my living room.  I'm not sure what that says about me?  :)

Linking up to Design Wall Monday! Because Monday is just so Monday, and we could all use a party to liven things up a bit, right? :)

ugly quilt progress

just popping in to show you a peek at how my ugly string quilt is coming



I wrote more about my plans for this quilt {here} if you missed it :)

I've made nine blocks, this is the only one I have trimmed up so far.

considering my options

what do you think?
linking up with Show & Tell Tuesday and WIP Wednesday

X, X, and more Xes {quilt blocks, that is}

18 out of 41 X blocks are done, most of the others are near complete.  This quilt is taking many more hours to sew than I thought.  I've estimated that I have sixty more hours of sewing time to finish this quilt - yikes! 

Lesson learned here, don't try to estimate how long it will take to finish a quilt.  It is daunting to say the least, and if anything has slowed down my progress.

Do you see the red & white cherry print in the center of this block?  I love that print :)  It has been in my stash a long time, it makes me so happy to be using it!  The fabric below it is garlic bulbs, and is a scrap from a long-standing WIP.  Why garlic bulbs on fabric makes me smile, I don't know, but it does!  :)

This block alone has scraps from a quilt I made for myself {the garlic}, a quilt made for my oldest son, one for a SIL, and a quilt made for my best friend's baby, as well as a couple reds that were stashed for just the right use.  I love a good scrap quilt! :)

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced and WOW at Ester's Blog

PS - my email isn't working.  I can recieve and read your mail & comments but I can't reply :(   I'm trying to fix this, but in the meantime I appreciate your comments even if I can't answer them.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Cowboy Up!

Whoo Hoo for Friday! I started my day with a homemade pumpkin spice latte, because today just needed it.  How about you?  What gets you going in the morning?

If you are here as part of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, welcome!  The quilt I have to show you all hasn't been on my blog before, so this is new for my regular readers, too {I heart my followers!}

I am a huge enthusiast of The Deerfield Fair.  I went to my first one when I was 2 weeks old, and have only missed it once in my life.  {I had sick Little People, and it was cold & raining that year.  O, the depths of a Mother's love, right?}  ;)

Anyway, since my kids share my love of the Fair, Son #2 would really love it if I entered the quilt I made for him.  The only problem is, he would have to give it up for about a week, and that just isn't something he is willing to do.  He is thrilled to have it entered in the Festival - this way his quilt can be shown off and he doesn't have to part with it; and that is why I'm showing you a Golden Oldie today  {He asked me to make sure you know this is his quilt, all for him.  It makes me so happy that my kids appreciate handmade} :)

Son #2 wanted a cowboy quilt; a red cowboy quilt.  At that time, cowboy prints were not the 'in' thing, and the ones I did find were not red.  I can't remember how many years ago I made this quilt {4 or 5? more?} but it was before I discovered Etsy, or online fabric shopping.  It took months to chase down suitable fabrics.  I went to shops all over NH, ME, and even one or two in MA.  My mother brought two or three prints home from Florida.

I fussy-cut squares of large scale cowboy prints on point, then put delectable mountain blocks on each side of the squares.  I love the secondary pattern that gives the look of flying geese units when the blocks are put together.  I did use a pattern - I can't remember the name or designer, but I wouldn't recommend it anyway because it had a couple significant errors.  Like listing yardage and cutting directions for half of the background pieces really needed.  Not a fun thing to notice months after you have already bought the fabric :(  {this experience is a big reason why I always over buy}

My Mom quilted this on a longarm.

Can you see the different patterns she used in each section of the design?

The binding is extra wide, which I think is a great complement to the 'rustic' theme.  If you want to make your binding wider, after quilting just don't trim your batting and backing fabric to the edge of your top.  Stitch your binding strips a 1/4" away from the top's edge a usual, fold around to the back and stitch down as usual.  Don't forget to cut your binding wide enough to accommodate the extra width.

I hunted all over for a red bandanna fabric for the binding; this paisley was the closest I could find.  Don't you just know, once this quilt was done cowboy fabrics apparently 'came back'.  Red ones, too.  And bandanna fabrics.  :)

The backing is a flannel buffalo print - I was so excited to find that fabric :)
Even though I pre-washed everything, with all the reds, this quilt bled like a stuck pig in the wash.  I was heartbroken, because I had put so much into this quilt and was so proud of it and it was for my son.  Son #2 couldn't have cared less - it's all about perspective, right? :)

This quilt lives on my son's bed, no matter what the weather.  So much so, that his older brother just looked at the photos and said  'wow, I didn't know it looked like that!'  lol

This quilt has been snuggled with, dragged around the house, used to build bunkers for various war re-enactments, thrown up on, washed a ton, and generally loved hard continuously since the last stitch was made.  And it has just gotten softer and better with use. {I use cotton batting, either Warm & Natural or Warm & White in all my quilts, if you wanted to know}

The leaves were deliberately left on the ground in the backyard to add character to the pictures. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  {cough}

Thank-you Kris for coming over just to hold up a quilt!

The important details:
measurements - 66" x 82"
quilted by - my mother, a professional long-armer  :)
best category - Favorite bed quilt or Favorite professionally quilted quilt

 

I'm taking son #2's quilt over to the Blogger's Quilt Festival to show it off & check out the other fabulous quilts.  You should head over there, too. :)

penguins

So far, this is what I have for my son's penguin quilt.  Top left are two log cabin blocks.  There are two more partial blocks I didn't put in the photo.  I've given up on the log cabin blocks, for a bunch of mundane reasons I won't bore you with, but now that I see these two again, I really like them a lot.  Maybe they will become pillows.  Because I need to add to my WIP list, it is far too short.  Yeah.

On the top right is part of the panel that started it all.  It was one of those quick kits - just cut in two, back & bind for two small and cute wall hangings.  That was the plan.  Until my son had a conniption at the thought of putting a hanging sleeve on his penguins. {what was I thinking!}  He wanted to snuggle his penguins.  I really should have seen that coming, he has always been my snuggler :)

I've got a ton of strips, in all different sizes and shades of blue.  There are snowflakes, stripes, plaids, solids, and others.  This isn't all of them.  Plus larger pieces of penguin fabrics. 

All my cutting is done; I just need to sit down and sew.  Except for one thing.  I'm not sure what I want to make out of all this chaos.  Suggestions?

I'm bringing the penguins over to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday to check out what everyone else is doing :)

just a little bit more...

Hi! Happy Friday! {I am sooo glad its Friday!!!}

Ok, now that I've got that out of the way,  I have just a couple more pictures to show you from my retreat.

On the last day, they have a show & tell

Pardon the table in the way, but this is a quilt top my Mom made at the retreat.  Isn't it pretty?  I kept dropping hints that this quilt would like living with me, but my Mom did a good job of ignoring me :)   That boarder fabric is soooo much prettier in person than in the photo.  Apparently it is also prettier when it is on Mom's sewing table {where I first fell in love with it} than on the bolt, too, because Mom claims she bought it with me standing next to her, and I never paid it any attention at all.  She is probably right. {just don't tell her I said so}

My crabby zig zags are so long, they took up a table and a half! The blocks aren't sewn together, though, so seam allowances will shrink it up some.  I'm making my quilt bigger than Amanda Jean's directions call for.  That's my basic philosophy on quilts.  Always make it bigger.  :)

 A sweet older lady stopped to admire my crabs and asked how big my quilt is going to be.  I said I don't know.  Because I don't.  {Why do people find that strange?}  I'm making a zig zag for each fabric in the line, plus some repeats of the bottle caps, plaid, and orange crabs.  Wouldn't it be funny if it ended up wider than long?  :) 

There is a small quilt shop set up at the retreat, also.  They stock all sorts of notions, patterns, books, fabric by the yard or FQ.  I was determined to resist. 

The perle cotton was my downfall :)

Two shades of grey, orange, and yellow came home with me - I want to try hand quilting with them.
I also came home with free fabric, but I haven't taken pictures yet, so I'll show you that later.  Have a fabulous, stitchy, weekend!!!

I'm back!

Did you miss me?  hehe, I didn't make a fuss about when I was leaving for quilt retreat, because it just didn't seem wise to advertise that my house would be empty.  I left Thursday morning and returned Sunday afternoon, and I've been running around playing catch-up ever since :) 

Oh, I almost forgot, Happy Mother's Day! {ok, so I'm a little late...}

So, about that retreat :)  I went to Purity Spring Resort in NH. My Mom and two of my Aunts stayed for the full week {I'm so jealous!} and I joined them Thursday.  They saved me a good seat by the windows, so I gave them some pink penguin fabric baskets to help keep the tables organised :)

There are directions for a couple mystery quilts made available to attendees, but I just sewed on my own projects. 'Cause I need another WIP like I need a hole in the head. {some of you know what I'm talking about, right?}

(If you aren't familiar with mystery quilts, basically you get fabric requirements in advance and follow the directions without knowing what the finished design will be until you are done - I'm too much of a control freak to find that fun :) }

The views were spectacular

There were Canadian Geese with babies, beaver, heron, and Loons in the lake.  At night we could hear the loons calling if we left our windows open.  There is a small flower garden by the dining room windows that attracts butterflies and a feeder for the hummingbirds, which is a nice treat for me because I can kill any plant in record time.  Anything in my yard has to be a hardy survivor :)

There were canoes & kayaks, a swimming pool, a massage therapist...

and so much food I don't think I ate for two days after I got home!  Between fabulous meals they keep you well supplied with coffee, tea, and pastries etc.

{do I sound like an infomercial yet? I promise I'm not being paid to promote this place - they really are just awesome}

And yeah, some quilting happened, too :)

I cut into my Going Coastal {love love love this fabric!} using Amanda Jean's Zigzag quilt pattern

I've got more to show & tell, but I'll save it for another post.  Meanwhile, my crabs and I are heading over to WIP Wednesday to see what everyone else is doing...

WIP Wednesday

Awhile ago I joined this QAL - The Skill Builder Sampler - see, the button is still over there on my sidebar.  I had alot of fun making each block and learning lots of great quilty stuff, until I fell behind. 

Have you read this post by The Happy Zombie?  It's about sewing what makes you happy.  When I read it, I had one of those 'Ah-ha!' moments.  And I realized it was ok with me not to finish the Skill Builder QAL, even though I had been enjoying it and I still read each new post, because I don't enjoy that behind-the-eight-ball feeling of trying to catch up.  (if you don't mind playing catch up, I do recomend you check it out - you will learn tons!)

So what to do with the blocks I had already made?  Well, I put them together with setting blocks and a small boarder to add some size.

{i'm sorry for the bad rainy day inside pictures, but that sun just refuses to shine}

I needed one more block, so I made this pinwheel.  It is based on one I found in a Thimbleberries book of my Mom's {and can I just say it is awesome to have a Mom who quilts - I get to raid her stash of fabrics & books & thread!}   The block in the book (I can't remember which book) finished 4" too small, so I drafted it the size I needed.

I had just enough of this pretty pink on blue floral to squeek out a boarder, and I'm so glad I did because it makes the top.  Really, I didn't like this top at all until the boarder was put on.

If you want to see more about the other blocks, click on 'skill builder sampler' in the label cloud in my sidebar, and you should be able to see those posts.

This quilt is the one I will be donating for Hands2Help.  Blocks I already had being made into a quilt instead of collecting dust, and that quilt going to a good cause - I think that's a win-win :)
almost forgot - i'm linking up to WIP Wednesday, because who doesn't love a good linky party?

making my family album

Ok, so April ended awhile ago, and I haven't gone back to my sewing list to see how I did.  I'm not going to do a full rundown today either, but I'll show you a little of what I've been sewing. {mostly I've been doing a little here & a little there, and none of it is very photo worthy yet}

I made the three album blocks that I put on my list.  Yes, I know there is only one in the picture, but I mailed the other two to my Grandparents for signing before I remembered to take pictures of them, so you are just going to have to take my word for it that I did make them :)

I decided to make a family album quilt after reading a book from my local library about antique album quilts, so it seemed appropriate to make mine in reproduction fabrics.  Here is a close up of the block's main fabric:

I sent my boys to a quilt shop with their Dad to pick out the fabric I will be using for the sashing on this quilt.  Even though my sons completely shocked me with the fabric they chose, I love that they played such an important part in making this quilt {all the main block fabrics are now being chosen to coordinate with the sashing fabric they chose - so really, they chose my color palate or me}

I had expected them to chose a navy blue or red, something that appealed to a little boy, but they really tried to find something I would like.  And since in their minds all girls like pink, they chose this mauve-ish fabric.

happy sewing, everybody! :)

one little block

I do like how this block has turned out.  It is block 10, Ohio Star, of the We Can Do It! Sampler.  It was my intention to get caught up with the QAL this week, but this is the only block I finished. 

You see, a few days ago I managed to poke myself in the eye with one of those plastic-coated wire twist ties.  Nothing too serious, just bothersome enough to keep me from doing much sewing or blog reading.

The weather here is supposed to be beautiful the next 2 or 3 days, so I'll be doing some furniture refinishing.  If I get that done, I'm hoping to get some quality time in with my sewing machine. 

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Still Samplering Along

The block on the right is block #7 of the We Can Do It! Sampler.   The block on the left is my own challenge block for July.  See, in June the fourth week of the Sampler was a catch-up week, but Leila gave us some info on 'quilt math' and a challenge to use our new knowledge to design a block of our own. 

In July, the fourth week was again 'quilt math', but there wasn't a challenge.  So I decided to make a challenge block anyway.  I've always liked Indian Hatchet blocks, but have never made any.  The 'Corner to Corner' math Leila shared was just what I needed to make my own, but I really didn't want a 12 inch Indian Hatchet, so I made two 6 inch blocks and alternated them with two four patches. 

I ended up with what looks like a giant scrappy bowtie, which wasn't what I wanted, but I'm keeping it as is.  Lesson learned: more carefully consider if secondary patterns will be created once your units are joined together.

I've learned so much from this quilt-a-long already, I really am so grateful to Leila for hosting it :)
I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday - head on over to see everyone's unfinished stuff!  :)

Playing Catch-Up

Well, the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler started in June, but I had a lot on my plate, so I didn't start until July.  So I'm trying to sew June's blocks while still keeping up with July's.  Its sort of working :)

Here is block #2:

It was a bit challenging choosing fabrics to suit the requirments, but I'm happy with how my block turned out.

and here is block #3:

I only have block #1 & #5 to go, and I'll be caught up on the required blocks.  I'll probably make last month's challenge block when I make July's. 

This quilt is coming out very sweet and girly, so I will probably give it to my goddaughter when it is done.  If I can let it go ;)

I'm really enjoying this sampler and the chance to try new-to-me blocks without committing to a whole quilt of them.  One of my favorite parts of making a quilt is planning and choosing fabrics, and a scrappy sampler means I get to do that for every block.  Yup, this is the perfect quilt for my miniscule attention span  :)

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday, head on over to see what everyone is working on.  :)

Stitching Again

Hello!  Wow, I can't believe how long its been since I had anything to share with you.  I haven't touched my quilting for a couple weeks, just too busy with life, you know?

Well, today I did something I don't normally like to do: I let the boys play Nintendo for recess so I could sew uninterupted.  Hey, desperate times and all that :)

Hopefully I'll have more to share with you later this week. 
Happy Springtime!