Serenade for Matilda

I recently finished up another commissioned project - for the same coworker that got the last one! She asked for something girly with butterflies for her granddaughter, Matilda. Kate Spain's Serenade line seemed to fit the bill quite well, so I paired it with one of the gray Konas and went to town! I had a good time with this one - small and quick but very satisfying!

Before I get to photos - Fresh Squeezed Fabrics is having a contest where, if you get enough people to repin your favorite fabric bundle on Pinterest, you can WIN the bundle! I aimed low and went with a $15 bundle of Bella, so I need 15 repins - help! :) Check out my pin here, and repin to help me win! Check out the details to win your own bundle here.

On to photos!

There's my attempts at artsy quilt photography. Except that last one, where my leg got in the way. Whoops.

The pattern for the quilt is from the Moda Bake Shop - very fun/easy way to use charm packs, particularly ones with prints that you'd really like to feature. I think I might use this for a couple more charm packs I have, especially those where I have some yardage from the line too (like Little Apples or Guising, where I got matching solids).

Sold!

I'm a very happy gal right now. I just sold another one of my quilts to a coworker. Now, I'm no fabulous Etsy salesperson, making a ton of money on each quilt or anything like that, but I figure as long as I cover the cost of materials, I'd probably make the quilts anyway for fun, so my time doesn't really need to be paid for at this time.

Anyway, the latest finish that I've sold is this one, which I last blogged about on my big fat WIP post.

Here it is, all finished and on our bed for scale (it's a futon, which is roughly full-size - and sorry they're Instagram photos, it's the only way I can make myself take any these days!):

I called this one my cross-hatch quilt. I started it similar to a jelly-roll-race quilt, but cut it into pieces and used those as "blocks," which I sashed together in alternating directions.

This also marked my first attempt at free-motion quilting! The results weren't fantastic, but the whole thing definitely seems more feasible now, and with practice, I'm sure I could become okay at it. I mostly did straight-line, stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, but used these little swirlies across the big berry-colored, otherwise-plain section in the middle. 

And a close-up of the fabrics. They were mostly Joann red tag or remnant choices. The back is flannel, mostly teal with a stripe of barely-polka-dotted-pink across the center.

Overall I'm really pleased with the result, happy to have another quilt finished and out into the world, and excited to have a little more fabric money in my pocket!

Traveling Stash Giveaway!

So I love getting mail. Who doesn't!? I've been in a TON of swaps lately, whether in big groups for charm squares or in smaller diads (love that word) for FQ/charm pack swaps - I swapped some Heather Ross Mendocino that I knew would be more appreciated elsewhere for a charm pack of Hullabaloo, and sent a Pezzy FQ all the way to England (Hi Cheraldine!) in exchange for a different FQ (for what it's worth, when you're doing the customs form, a FQ of fabric in an envelope weighs 2.1 oz. I guessed 2 ounces, so that was pretty darn good!

When I'm not bothering my local postal workers, I HAVE been sewing, honest! I've finished up all 18 granny squares I had cut, and now they live in a nice stack that looks something like this:

Someday Instagram really needs to release an iPad version so my quick photos turn out better! Anyway...who makes 18 blocks for a quilt? What the heck, right? I'll need to find a couple more fabrics that go along with the theme so that I can get to an even 20 for a 4x5 layout. My squares started at 3.5", so the squares are huge! I'm excited to get this one finished. I think it might end up for sale someplace - probably at my office. I have a coworker with some college-aged daughters, maybe she'll buy it for them. ;)

Now, onto some bigger, potentially more-comment-generating news? I won a traveling stash! Are you familiar with that? Basically it's a medium flat rate box stuffed full of things that other quilters/sewists didn't want anymore - patterns, orphan blocks, templates, notions, and, of course, fabric!

Admittedly the fabric in this box isn't the best - it's Joann quality, including what I added. But on the plus side, there is a variety of sizes - what was in it was yardage, and I added a bunch of FQs and FQ-ish pieces - and there are a ton of patterns! This is a great box if you're into appliqued patterns, books, and the like.

Here's what was in it that I took out:

Some yardage in basic colors, a book, and a magazine. It was interesting to look through the book - of Mennonite Quilts -  and see ones that look awful familiar - there's a photo in there of a quilt that looks similar to the Made in Cherry QAL. Nothing new under the sun, I suppose! ;)

So after I took out my bits, here's what was left:

Like I said, a TON of patterns - this box is HEAVY with books! All those big pieces are pretty good sized chunks of yardage. There are also some orphan blocks, charm squares, a package of labels, and a wrist pincushion thingermabob.

 And this last one is what I added - a whole smattering of various fat quarters, a couple orphan blocks of my own, a dresden plate template (still in packaging, I think it came in a set of FQs I picked up someplace...?). I'll probably also throw in a couple MORE patterns!

Sooooo....wanna win the stash?

The rules are as follows:

RULES:
-Be an active blogger.
-Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
-You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable items equal to the amount taken.
-Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
-Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.
-Add your name/blog address to the log so we can keep track of where it's been - and find some fun new blogs to follow in the process!

So, that's it! Leave me a comment and I'll draw a name on Friday morning. Unfortunately, this is US-only - sorry. :( If you could comment about suggestions for what to do when you don't plan a project, um, at all, and end up with a weird number of blocks (18, maybe??), that'd be even better.

Good luck, everyone! :)

All sorts of happenings

I've been sewing, don't worry! As I mentioned a few posts ago, lately I've been in love with all kinds of squares, which I'd been turning into four patches. Well, the day before yesterday, when browsing through one of my books of blocks...I realised granny squares are made of blocks....!

I've been in love with the pattern since it first hit the blogosphere, so I figured it was time to dive in! I've got six done so far. Here are five of them. (Sorry for the Instagram-quality photos, I've been lazy on that front lately!)

 Along the way, I've of course gotten some more shopping done...because I need to expand my stash like I need a hole in the head! Anyway, the FQ bundles from Pink Castle Fabrics are addictive like crazy, because they're so awesome! My favorite two from this bundle - some Hello Pilgrim and my favorite of the Flea Market Fancy prints. How do they know!?!?!? Amazing.

 Anyway, there have been some other events. Unfortunately, I've got a bit of a problem:

I seem to have, at least possibly, chipped a teensy sliver off of my cuboid bone in my right foot. It hurts to walk, though the foot itself doesn't look bad. I'm stuck in this walking boot thing until at least Saturday, at which point I have to go back to the clinic to see what happens next. The physician's assistant said the radiologist will look at it and decide if it is an actual break or just a Little bit of extra bone that's always been there. We will see. All I know is that while it hurts like crazy, I'm perfectly capable of using my sewing machine pedal with my left foot, haha!

This didn't stop me from going to the Eve 6 concert in Sacramento on Sunday night, though, believe me! I saw them in '03 and was SUPER excited to see they were gonna be so close to us so close to my birthday. This is a photo the band took of the crowd at the end of the show - I'm the person behind and to the left of the girl in the black-and-white-striped shirt in the front row. That's right - second row, dead center, for the whole show!! Rock onnnnnn!!!! ;) 

Too busy to photograph?

I was SO productive on Saturday, I'm mega-proud of myself. Of course, I didn't stop to take any photographs with my digital camera, just my iPad through Instagram. If you use it, too, my username is StephMabry. Lots of cute photos of cats, some of my hubby, and plenty of quilts, too. ;)

Now, what was I so busy with? I was busy working on all kinds of things on my Q2 Follow-Along list!

Status of those projects:

1 - K's quilt - no change. Oops.

2 - Crosshatch quilt - top is finished! back is pieced - it will be a yummy teal flannel that I think goes pretty darn well with the front. Sweet.

3 - Giant star - oh, wait, nothing here either. Maybe I wasn't as productive as I thought??

4 - 16 patch quilt - yes! Top is finished being put together, and so is the back (which will be brown flannel. SO creative, right? Not).

5 - baby quilts - Yes, more progress! Backing put together for all three, and two of them are basted - not all three because I was running out of pins and patience.

6 - Half Moon Modern - wait, nothing here, again? I can't decide if the coordinating solid that I have really coordinates as well as I want it to. Further contemplation needed.

7 - Baby clothes quilt - sorry, Rebecca, nothing done on this, but please don't think I've forgotten about it. Because I definitely haven't.

I did work on other things - see, I told you I got stuff done! I worked some more on one of the random squares quilts, so now they're sets of squares sewn into rectangles and then pinned, waiting to be made into 4-patch blocks. I haven't decided if I'm going to make them four patches or 16 patches.

I also have joined up with the My Precious QAL that's running on Flickr. The idea is that you cut into special fabric that you've been saving up and FINALLY make something with it. From the look of the Flickr group, no one's been able to use their precious Heather Ross fabric - there's lots of swapping of Mendocino going on over there! I, however, have hacked up my Outfoxed:

To turn them into squares:

Which I will use for a variation on this quilt, from Moda Bake Shop:

So the weekend tally? Two quilt tops finished, five backs put together, two quilts basted, a bunch of squares sewn into rectangles, and more fabric cut up into squares. Oh, and I finished finding fabric for the Spectrum Charm Swap: BRIGHTS, also on Flickr. There are still spaces available, if you want to join up! :)

Q2 FAL Pre-Quarter Linky Party

Most of my WIPs are on that top shelf. Note my bolts of flannel? I'm pretty ambitious. At least with my wallet, when things are on sale. (This might be the longest caption ever for a blog photo??)

What a complicated title that is if you see it without reading the post, huh? This is my post for Rhonda and Quilter in the Gap's Finish-a-Long - pre-quarter 2 goal list, let's call it. Maybe that's better. Goals. Easy peasy.

Anyway.

This is what I'm hoping to get done!

Project 1: K's quilt: Yes, the same project that was first on the list LAST quarter... but I've at least made SOME progress - all I have to do is bind it. I think I've been putting it off for so long because part of me knows it's not very good at all - it was the first quilt I put together, so the back is horribly bunched, it's not pieced very well... but I think she'll still like it, all the same.

See? Almost there.

Project 2: One of the "crosshatch" quilts: It's currently in three strips, awaiting more of the white to sash the rows together and the solid raspberry color that I can't remember the proper name of in order to add borders. I think this might be for my good friend T's little girl, who's adorable and who I know will enjoy it, if she doesn't drown in it, as she's three and this quilt seems ginormous.

Project 3: Giant star quilt number two: As I posted about previously, I finished Sara's Wedding Quilt but managed to have almost an entire quilt top left over, so I'm hoping to finish it for another friend of mine. I think I'll do similar quilting on it after I add yellow borders at the top and bottom. Note to self, buy a yard of yellow fabric.

My shoe got in the photo? Weird.

Project 4: 16 patch quilt: Made from squares from a not-so-great swap that I joined (it was my first, and I've quickly come to agree that swaps involving Joann-quality fabric aren't the greatest, even though I freely use their fabrics through my own projects). I think I might finish this up for my parents. I've got all the blocks put together, and the fabric that I've chosen for sashing has arrived. Hopefully I've got enough. I'm not entirely sure, because I'm lazy.

Project five: Baby quilts: As I mentioned above, I freely use Joann-quality fabrics, because it's cheap and nearby and there's something satisfying about having things in hand immediately instead of ordering them. Most of these fabrics are from their red tag racks. I just grouped it all together, cut it up into squares...and lo and behold, I had enough for THREE baby quilts out of it. Since this photo I've got them all made into quilt tops. My goal's to finish one this quarter.

Three quilts stacked up here, but my goal's just to finish one. Set my sights nice and low, I will.

Project six: Half Moon Modern quilt: I've got four-patch blocks made out of my two Half Moon Modern charm packs, and I'm hoping to finish it up. I want to sash it with something but I'm not entirely sure which color to use. Any suggestions???

Project 7: This is the big 'u - clothes quilt: My friend Rebecca, who I've only met online but have known that way for years (the internet is pretty awesome, huh?) has commissioned me to make a quilt from her daughter's baby clothes. I've watched Autumn grow up, thanks to the joys of Livejournal and Facebook, so I was definitely interested in taking on the project! Even more fun is that some of the clothes were Rebecca's when SHE was little, so it's a multi-generational thing.

So far I've got all the clothes cut into "cloth," so to speak. I was surprised at how much fabric comes out of a single shirt or dress!

Also, check out Rebecca's photography website or her blog, because she's pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to her move to California so I can have photos taken of Jeff and I. We skipped a pro photographer for our wedding, and it's my one regret about that day. :)

Anyway, here's a sampling of the clothes...

Love these colors!

I plan on using applique for details like the little pockets and belt on this dress, and the other cute embroidery and such on other items. (Another epic comment? Yes).

I was SO nervous to cut into these cute dresses! They weren't handmade, but looked like they could have been.

Alrighty, there we go! Seven projects for three months. Totally can handle this. Or at least half of this. Until all the swap fabrics come in and I get distracted, anyway!

Overboard? NEVER!

So it's quite possible that I've gone a little overboard with squares. I'm LOVING squares right now. From some WIPs that I've posted to some that I haven't gotten to show you yet, to the... FIVE charm square swaps that I'm in, to fabric that I'm buying and cutting up... it's a bit ridiculous.

(Oh, FYI? If you're looking to join fabric swaps, or you know about some, please check out the Flickr group Fabric Swap Finder - help facilitate our addictions! ;)

Anyway, last week Fabric Shoppe posted on their Facebook page that they were offering up four free fat quarters with any order over a certain amount, so of course I had to get in on that. Of course. I snagged one of their "A Surprise in My Mailbox" remnant bundles, and was SUPER pleased with the results!

Between the "surprise" and the four FQs, this is what I got - plus a bit of Pezzy Prints, which I included for my giveaway winner since I was bad and hadn't sent it yet! Oops!

The bundle split itself pretty nicely into two sets of fabrics. I usually ask my husband for input, and he said he dislikes them both because they're too busy. Too bad.

 I added some fabric from my stash (the pinky-red print at the top) but otherwise, it was all from the bundle.

And here's the other set. The blue/yellow print with birds on it was from my stash for this grouping. I don't remember what it is but I got it as a remnant (I think?) from Sew, Mama, Sew!'s clearance section. The only fabric I wasn't sure about was the gold-with-white-dots-and-red-and-gray-roses-on-it, but I think it will work out okay!

I definitely recommend Fabric Shoppe for all your fabric hoarding needs. Quick shipping, great selection...and make sure to check out their FB page for specials. :)

I think I'll probably end up doing more four-patch blocks with these. Any thoughts on what solid to pair them with? I like plain ol' white for the top set but I'm not sure about the bottom. Input is appreciated!

(and now I'm off to order another set. Because I need fabric for the last swap, and it's my first payday since my raise, so I have to keep celebrating. Because the iPad wasn't enough...)

Final FInish for Q1

I don't want to say too much about this one right now, other than it was for the Q1 Finish-a-Long at Quilter in The Gap, I said that I wanted to finish it, I've finished it, and here are photos to show you that I have. ;)

What I can say is that it makes a great lap quilt (as that's what I've been using it for!), the quilting is stitch-in-the-ditch, and it is backed with a very snuggly light blue flannel that matches the medallions in the fabric that runs across the middle of the last photograph.

Hooray for finishes! ;)

Non-sewing WIP - Project House

The last time I posted anything about our house project was after we bought the shed on Veteran's Day last November. I promise we've been making progress since then, and I even have photographic evidence of such! ;)

We've been a bit scatter-brained about it - our back bathroom is partially painted, but it also needs more drywall work. Our guest bedroom has had the carpet torn out (good riddance!) and had the window replaced, and today Jeff spent the day smoothing out the awful texture. Over the last month, our electrician-contractor-fellow has been out a few times to fix some light switches and to install these lovelies:

A new mirror, new light over the mirror, and new bathroom sink / sink cabinet! Hooray! The old crap was SO ugly, and the sink was covered in stains from all the paint projects, they definitely needed to go.

We also managed to pick a color for the bathroom - a mint green color, chosen only because the gallon of paint was $3 on the clearance rack at Lowe's, haha! For the back bathroom, we picked a light blue color that for some reason looks green, so I'm not-so-secretly hoping that this mint green will look blue when it gets on the wall! We're hoping to have the shower tiled (with white tiles) sometime in April, and the floor as well (though we haven't picked a color for that yet - we'll probably wait to see how the paint looks once it's on the wall).

I also have plants! They look so great. The sunflower in the back is mostly dead now, though, unfortunately. The thing on the left was a clearance plant from Lowe's; the jade plant in the middle was a gift from Jeff's grandmother (so I *definitely* can't let it die! - it's gotten a ton bigger than when she gave it to me, though) and the plant on the right was some other random thing from Lowe's. It's added a bunch of new leaf-things since I got it, so I must be doing something right. I love succulents!

Any home improvement projects going on at your place? Or pretty flowers? I'll try to post some more flowers in the next few days, as I'm hoping to work in the garden a bunch this weekend if the weather holds out!

Update on Paper Piecing

English paper piecing, which I have started recently as something to do while wasting away in front of watching television, has been pretty darn successful so far! I've decided that the first thing I'm going to turn my hexies into is a pretty cover for my sewing machine (I currently use the hard shell case it came in).

I've started piecing them together, mostly hoping that I've done it right because I lost interest in reading / following the directions (which really ends up being the problem with most of my sewing projects-gone-awry).

First they turned into this clump. As usual, Molly MUST be involved with every project I take on. (Side note, I'm currently reading Jeanne Walls's Half-Broke Horses and it is just as good as The Glass Castle was!)

And then they turned into this! I've added a bunch more since I took this photo, so imagine it a little bigger, but I'm really enjoying it! I love having something simple to work on while sitting around with hubs, and I look forward to making myself a cute little pouch so that I can take them with me! Hooray!

Have you tried English Paper Piecing? What did you make with yours? It seems like they'd also make good coasters... Hmm....

WIP - A bunch of new projects

If you haven't yet entered my Pezzy Prints giveaway, check it out here! 

Winner will be chosen on 3/23. 

I finished up Sara's Star quilt, so what was the next logical step? Starting a few more projects, of course. At the rate I start projects, I'm going to have 4,302 WIPs by the end of the year but only 12 finishes. Oops.

Anyway, at some point a few weeks ago I put together a bundle of girly prints - flowery things that are all manner of pinks, and some stripes, and that sort of thing - and decided to cut squares from them. It then came to me to make sort-of-4-patch blocks out of them. This is what I've got so far:

There are definitely way more than enough to make two (if not three!) children's sized quilts out of, as I'm planning on putting white sashing between the blocks. I think these would all end up for sale.

I then decided it would be a good idea to do the same thing with my two charm packs of Half Moon Modern and two packs of white Bella Solids:

(Pardon my terrible photography skills! I tend to take photos before work, with the intention of blogging at lunch time...and then I don't. Aww.). Anyway, I think I'm going to pick one of the solid colors (possibly the teal?) from the line to use for sashing, and use all the blocks in the same quilt. Not sure where this one will end up, either.

Then I've started ANOTHER project, out of slightly-smaller-than-charm-square sized squares that I got from a couple of swaps I participated in. It was my first swap, and as much as I appreciate the bargains I can find at Joann for fabrics for myself, I also very much understand why swap mammas say NO to those for their swaps. Anyway, I'm making 16-patches out of them:

 14 out of the 22 blocks have turned out properly, like this (they're still in two sets of eight squares each)

While the other eight have turned out like this! I have no idea where or how they went wrong; I just know I have a bunch of seam ripping to do! Boo! Since my parents are now coming for Christmas, I think these blocks, combined with a cream-colored sashing (tentatively, anyway) will end up being their Christmas present. I think I can handle that sort of schedule!

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In other news - WOW. I joined up with the St. Patty's day giveaway blog hop and have been amazed at the results. 174 comments SO FAR, *and* I now have 100 followers! Whoa! Thank you, all of you, for all the comments. I've defintely read every one, even though I've been overwhelmed and haven't replied to them all. I'll definitely do another giveaway sometime soon for hitting that milestone, probably at the end of April, for my birthday.

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Lastly, if you're as addicted to charm swaps as I've become, there's another one going on over at Adventures in obsessive crafting. Deanna's looking for folks interested in swapping rainbow charms, and she (and I!) would love if it you joined up!

Finish - Sara's Wedding Quilt

If you haven't entered my giveaway, please click here - win some Pezzy charms for yourself (ends 3/23). 

Alrightyroo, I finished another quilt! Hooray!? Isn't it a great feeling?

It's a big giant star, with some red borders added on either end to make it a bit less square. Sara, its recipient, got married at the beginning of February and said that she and her hubs like dark colors. I'm terrible with surprises, so she's already seen it on Facebook and likes it. Yay!

 I quilted it on diagonal lines and really like the way it turned out. I look forward to doing pretty much the exact same thing with the other quilt top that came out of the project, except maybe with yellow instead of red. Any thoughts?

 Clearly I'm not the best quilt model...

As my arms get tired quickly. Thanks to hubby, though, for being my photographer!