WIP Wednesday

We are having some computer issues, so I'm posting from my phone! Sorry the photo is not so great, but here is my progress for the past two weeks: City Weekend Picnic top pieced and waiting to be quilted!

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced!  I'm scheduled to do some fun quilt-y things over the next few days, so hopefully our new computer will be up and running by then so I can post.  More soon!

WIP Wednesday

After you finish a project, do you get that feeling of being completely deflated? I sorta feel like that now, after having finished my 100 Quilts for Kids project. It's probably because I pushed really hard to finish it, and now I don't know what to do with myself. I have a couple of ongoing projects, but I'm feeling a little blah about them right now. These are my blocks for "Picnic," from More Scrap Basket Sensations. I've got about 70 more of these blocks to make, and they're proceeding somewhat slowly. (Too much fall television on right now in the evenings!)  The fabric is City Weekend by Oliver + S.  There are also pinks and yellows in this collection, but I haven't quite gotten there yet!

My other project is actually a "leaders and enders" project.  I've got a tidy little pile of these bow tie blocks going but not quite enough to put together yet!



I'm linking up today to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday - Of Bindings, Bee Blocks, and More

Is it nerdy to gush about FMQ goddess Angela Walters and how awesome she is?   Her book, Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters, was the source of inspiration for the quilting on my Giant Vintage Modern Churndash Quilt.



Angela's philosophy struck well with me -- it seemed to be that you should go with the organic rhythm of the quilting and not stress so much about reaching perfection.  Despite repeating that mantra to myself, I did experience moments when I despaired that I could ever make a circle -- it's actually kinda tough to make a round circle.  At times, my circles/swirls felt more like squares with rounded corners.



Nevertheless, Angela was right.  At the end of the day, after I trimmed the excess backing and batting, I was immensely pleased with how this quilt turned out.

All this quilt needs now is the binding.  I was thinking that I would send it to my cousin who lives in Berlin, as a thank you gift for hosting us this summer.  I have to admit, however, that I'm so loving this top right now that it might be difficult to part with it.

I will post the finished quilt with binding later this week, hopefully.  I chose a cream and red striped binding WITH POLKA DOTS.  How awesome is that, stripes and polka dots in one print?  Pure genius, I think.

The next piece of news I have is that I finally joined a sewing bee, called the Stash Bee!  This is my first foray into any type of sewing bee.  This one happens to be virtual and seems to be relatively low key.  Each person is assigned a month where they are "Queen Bee."  The Queen Bee posts a tutorial of a block she wants the rest of the hive (20 participants in each hive) to make for her, using personal stash fabric.

This block is for Anneliese, who lives in Galway, Ireland. You can find her tutorial for this block called "converging corners" here.  The fabric is from a collection called "Just Wing It," by MoMa for Moda Fabrics.  Although the block looks relatively simple, it can be a little tricky.  I wasted some fabric and did some ripping until I finally figured out the dimensions.



Finally, here is my latest crush. This is Chicopee, by Denyse Schmidt. I love the mixture of modern and retro that is evoked by the prints and colors in this collection. You can get the entire collection (26 prints, 2 colorways) here.

I'm linking up to these blogs today! Have fun sewing, everyone!
 

Hometown Squares

I can't believe it's already Wednesday! It's been so crazy busy around here, I feel scattered in so many directions. I have also been between projects -- with my long list of things I want to make, I've had a difficult time choosing which one to tackle next. I have a lot of Sweetwater's Hometown in my stash, so I thought this would be a good place to start:

So far, I only have four of these arrow blocks made. Only another 44 to go! I do like the gray on cream much better than I thought I would. This one will be for my eldest, hopefully for his birthday in June when he turns 8 (yikes). Of course, he'd rather have a Nintendo DS, but it's not a birthday, in my opinion, unless it involves something handmade!

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced!

Some FMQ Practice Feathers

I've been doodling a long time to get these just right.  This is step two, practicing on a quilt sandwich.  I think I might be ready for the real thing.  But today, I'm in love with this little piece.

I bought a spool of Aurifil thread a while back, just to see what all the hype was about. Well, it lived up to the hype.  This thread is smooooth.  It also has a very nice sheen, which doesn't come across real well in these pictures.  I might have forgotten to mention, but I also used Aurifil to quilt this quilt, which was done on a longarm.  I think I'm a convert.

Here's an overall shot of the free-form feathers.  There were a couple of curves that got me, but overall, I can live with them!  I'm linking up today with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Don't forget, Elvy Crafts readers get 20% off at LiMa Sews with this coupon code: elvycrafts2012.