Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Along?

This quilt-along is being organized over at Ms. McPorkchop Quilts and Fussy Cut, mostly as a motivational tool for this long-term project.  The idea is to finish two blocks (out of a total of 111 blocks) per week.  Will this get me going?

Block 1 - Attic Window

Block 2 - Autumn Tints

At Last, A Finished Quilt!

I started this quilt exactly one year ago, and it languished for quite a while before I picked it up again to start the quilting process. I do like it, but it turned out to be longer and narrower than I would have liked. It fits on a twin sized bed, but with not much overhang on the sides. Oh, well. Next time.

I quilted a simple rectangular grid following the block outline.  Here's a picture of the back, which shows the quilting a little better.  As I was adding the binding, I was thinking that the backing didn't quite match the main fabrics.  I wonder now if I goofed and accidentally picked a fabric from a different design group, because that turquoise is quite different than all the other blues.

For the binding, though, I was able to find one more print in the same collection on a recent trip to my local fabric store.  It was a lucky find, because there were really no other prints from this collection left, at least in this particular colorway.

I also added a big tag.  No. 2 knows how to read and write his name, as well as "mom" so I thought it would be fun for him to see.

Just one last close-up!

Some Progress

Slowly but surely...Summer vacation has started for my littlest one, so I've been sewing in mostly 5 to 10 minute spurts, sometimes just a few stitches at a time even.

So what's left? One-hundred thirty-eight flying geese for a middle border, followed by one final border.

Bliss Sampler Blocks 1 -5

Five of 12 blocks done. These blocks are huge -- 14 inches! With additional sashing and a flying geese border, the quilt itself will also be big.  More to come.

Busy quilting...

I've been quilting #2's pinwheel quilt that I finished piecing almost a year ago now.  It's actually going pretty well, given that I've never quilted anything bigger than a baby quilt.  I forgot how much I like the actual quilting -- I think putting the quilt sandwich together is the real impediment for me.

In the meantime, I'll post some FOs for the week.  The purse below is the retro purse by ithinksew.com, which I've made a couple of times before.

I narrowed the strap and made it adjustable so that it can be worn both short (as below) or cross-body.  The fabric, BTW is Amy Butler's Temple Tulip from the Soul Blossoms line.  The lining is Amy Butler's Full Moon Dots from the Lotus collection.

On the inside, I added a zippered pocket, as well as a slip pocket with dividers for a cell phone and sunglasses.  Finally, I added a pen loop and key chain clip.  I love these details!

Then because I had some extra fabric, I made these two card cases.  I was experimenting with a magnetic clasp versus the velcro strip.  I don't know, something about a magnetic clasp gives it a little more oomph.

This one on top was the second one I made.  The tab is a little bit wider and longer.  The one below has a shorter, narrow strap.  The next one I make, I think I'll combine the two and make the tab longer but narrower. :)

Charm Pack Quilt Along

I'm very late to the game, close to a year late, actually, but that's beside the point.  I started this quilt last fall, after finding the pattern as part of a quilt-along at Freckled Whimsy. 

I was about half-way in when I stopped to start my holiday sewing.  I only recently started working on this quilt top again, after a major reorganization of my sewing space.  Well, it's still not done, but I thought I would post my progress.

The quilt-along calls for two charm packs and some yardage, so I chose Lila Tueller's Spirit collection for Moda. The colors are pretty bright, which I think works well with the solid white Kona to make it not so screamingly bright. Now, I have to add the border, make the quilt sandwich, quilt, and bind. Wow, I still have a ways to go.

I wished I were close enough to being done to post it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. Have you seen some of the quilts? They are truly amazing.

Happy Mother's Day!

I was informed by #1 a few days ago that he was in the process of making me a very nice card for Mother's Day.  Mr. Elvy confirmed that #1 has been working on a card at bedtime -- the rule is that he can stay up so long as he 's in his room doing something quiet.  First thing this morning, #1 came down and gave me the card.  It said something like, "Happy Mother's Day.  Please give me a kiss."  That was very sweet, in addition to the gifts I'd already received earlier in the week, because my boys CANNOT keep a secret!

On to sewing, this is my Mother's Day top, which Mr. Elvy called my summer mu-mu (spelling?).  I love this top, it's so comfy and turned out just as I pictured it mentally.

The pattern is from the Lisette collection (Simplicity 2245), as is the cotton voile fabric.  Both were purchased at my local JoAnn's. I made View B, which I think is actually supposed to be a (very mini) dress.  I shortened the bodice by two inches, which raised the pockets to a manageable location for me (cause I'm short). 

The fabric was a little difficult to work with at first, mainly because I could not get it to straighten out and line up. I finally cut off quite a bit from both selvedges to get everything to line up without the wavy edge. From there on in, the fabric behaved beautifully for me.

The picture above is the front placket detail, which I thought was a cool little detail. The bottom picture is the button loop closure in the back. I was going to use these shiny red dome buttons at first, but I thought it might be a little uncomfortable to lean back on, so I opted for these oval wood buttons instead.

By far my favorite detail, though, are the pockets. I love these pockets!

If I have time, I'll try to enter it into the Spring Top Week Sewalong over at Made by Rae. It's a pretty neat feature on her blog and a good motivator for spring sewing!