October 28, 2012

Blogger's Quilt Festival

For those of us who couldn't go to Quilt Festival in Houston, there's a Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side!
Amy's Creative Side

I've decided to enter my Polka Dot Pinwheels quilt:

I made this quilt using polka dot charm squares from the very first charm swap I participated in--the beginning of my fabric swap addiction! The pinwheels are made with half square triangles. I free motion quilted just in the white areas of the quilt which gave it an interesting look on the back.  I like how you can see the outline of the pinwheels:


The back is Kona cotton medium gray and the binding is a red and white polka dot I had in my stash.

I didn't make this quilt for any particular reason other than I love polka dots and I wanted to experiment with HSTs. I think it would make a wonderful quilt for a baby girl so I'm going to hold onto it just in case. :) 
  
Finished Quilt Measures:  35.5" x 43.5"
Quilted By:  me!
Best Categories:  baby quilt, home machine quilted

Thanks for stopping by!

October 24, 2012

wip Wednesday {10/24/12}

What does one do when one has a very long sewing to-do list? Why start a new project, of course!

I am in love with the Riley Blake line of chevron fabrics. (And the polka dots, too.) I picked up a bunch of prints for my coworker's baby blanket and decided to get a few yards of the large chevron prints. The large chevrons are perfect for a whole cloth baby quilt. The chevron is printed the length of the fabric which is parallel to the selvage. I purchased one yard, flipped it on it's side (I'm sure that broke so many quilting rules), and trimmed it up to a piece approximately 35 inches wide by 42 inches long. I backed it with some crazy bright orange Kona and am quilting the chevron pattern at various intervals in the white spaces. (Yet another bonus of using high-quality designer fabric is the pattern is actually printed evenly. I can follow the chevron print and my lines are straight!) The original plan was to also quilt in the gray areas but I could not find gray thread that was anywhere close to the right color. I think I'll bind it in a navy blue polka dot then it's off to my brother who needs a gift for his neighbor's new baby boy. (I always find it funny when family members ask me if I have any extra quilts I'd be willing to sell. I never have any extra finished quilts. But if you're looking for an unfinished quilt top or quilts in various stages of done-ness then I'm your go-to person!)

After not getting a chance to do any sewing this past weekend it feels good to sit down at the sewing machine again. For now it's time to put the quilts away and sew a Halloween costume--I've got a 5-year-old son who wants to be a Lego Ninjago. (The red one in case you were wondering.) Happy sewing!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

And unrelated to sewing, I volunteered to provide a trunk for my son's school Trunk or Treat. (I really have to stop volunteering for stuff!) If you have any suggestions for a creative way to decorate a trunk, please share!

October 10, 2012

wip Wednesday {10/10/12}

I managed to get some sewing in this last week. I'm still plugging away on the converging corners quilt blocks for my coworker's baby quilt.


I've almost finished up the little quilted pouch for my partner in the WISH do. Good Stitches swap--it just needs drawstrings. I used this patchwork drawstring bag tutorial but I just used a patchwork strip instead of making the whole thing patchwork. I also quilted it and made boxed corners on the bottom to give it some depth.  So I pretty much didn't follow the tutorial at all except for the size and making the casings for the drawstrings. :)



The pouch turned out kind of small and I don't think it's enough of a gift for my partner so I'm also making her a small reversible grocery bag from this Michelle Pattern.  The outside is linen and the inside and handles are purple Kona.  I added a fun little raw-edge applique leaf on the outside. I should be able to finish this up pretty quickly and get her gifts mailed off to her this week.  I hope she likes them!


I made my November do. Good Stitches blocks.


We used this herringbone block tutorial.  I love the bright colors and can't wait to see the resulting quilt. I really hate wasting fabric and I didn't have enough 11 inch strips but (I think) I figured out a way to use charm squares or scraps for the small end pieces.  Everything seemed to match up correctly and my blocks measured the correct size when completed so hopefully they match up with the rest of the blocks.  (And after going through my scraps looking for fabric for these blocks it's pretty evident I really like polka dots.)

Now back to the sewing room to get a little more work done before my son is out of school for the day.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

October 3, 2012

wip Wendesday {10/3/12}

I almost forgot about wip Wednesday this week! It would have been a shame since I actually have progress to share on some of my projects.

I have 4 converging corners blocks finished for my coworker's baby shower. Only 16 more blocks to go!
I think I might change the dark gray/orange polka dot strips on the upper left block, though. It just doesn't seem to "go" with the rest of the fabrics.  It "pops"--but in a bad way. :)

I finished 2 quilts this past weekend--my Polka Dot Pinwheels and a random fat quarter baby blanket.



I made some progress on the item I'm making for my WISH do. Good Stitches swap partner. It's going to be a little quilted drawstring pouch. I just need to find a cute fabric for the inside and buy something to use for the drawstrings.

My brother needs a baby boy quilt for a gift so I pulled this out of my pile of completed quilt tops. It just needs a backing, some wavy quilting and a binding.  I told him I could have it done in a few weeks (I'm a slow quilter) so I'd better get going.  At least there will be one less item in my wip pile!


WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced