sequintastic!

Today is the big day for the Sequintastic September Blog Hop! (Can I hear a woop woop?) Also, my apologies for my lateness! I set this to auto-publish while I slept, and alas, technology failed me! BOO!

This should not have been that hard of a project, but it really was. I waffled like mad on the design, went back and forth between different fabric lines and ideas, perused sequin shopping sites like no girl's business, and got really flustered over the whole affair! I finally sat back and focused on things I really really like, and after a bit of perusal on flickr, I stumbled across this table runner and found myself mesmerized. I'm kinda obsessed with pinwheels, and I loved the sharp white against the green. My initial thought was, how do I get me one of these, and like yesterday? Except that white on my table was not gonna happen in my house. Not with my oldest kidlet's newfound love of peanut butter.

But! I happen to be working on this quilt for my bed...and I had some leftover fabric...and I thought to myself, why not a pillow to match? Of course, I should probably finish the quilt first, but this seemed like an excellent opportunity, and I can't turn my back on that! So, I went with it and came up with this:

 

Oh yes, Friends. Those are pink sequins in the corners. I probably could've gone all out and sewn the entire border, but as this was my first time working with any sort of quilt embellishment, I thought I'd take it slow. 

I was surprised by how easy the sequins were to work with! Yes, I spent 3-4 hours on these two small patches, but it was my first time, and I definitely picked up speed as I moved along. I also didn't draw out the design entirely in advance, so I would sew up a small section, then draw a bit more, and so on. I tried a few different stop techniques, including the Stop Bead Method and the Two Loop Method. I also did a bit of experimentation with layering smaller sequins on top of larger sequins, but my camera isn't known for its magnificent close-up photographs, so you'll have to take my word on it. 

I used an envelope back closure--a standard Audrey move--but I pieced the back panels because I ran out of fabric for some added interest. The fabrics are Kona in Snow, Bella Solids in Jade, Kona in Pomegranate, a few prints from Tula Pink's Parisville line, and I picked up the peacock feathers at Joann Fabrics. The pillow measures 20" square.

 

And because I'm kinda nuts and learning to embroider with sequins wasn't enough of a challenge, I decided that now was the time to try my hand at handquilting. I handquilted the white portion of the pinwheels and 1/4" around the perimeter of the teal square. And oh my goodness. I had so much fun! While I can definitely see the advantage time-wise in machine quilting, I really enjoyed the process, and I love the way it looks. I can see more of this (small-scale) in my future. (I followed this tutorial from Susan, FYI, and it was quite informative.)

Thanks for stopping by my humble abode! And super big thanks to Sarah for hosting this blog hop. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, as I hope everyone else did! If you're not stopping by from the hop, and you'd like to see more of this sequin business, check out Saturday Sequins for a full list of participants.

WIP: small project edition

Having finished my black and batiks quilt, I had a serious moment of indecision over what to work on next! That lasted about five minutes, then I got over it, and got to sewing! As much as I love the amazing feeling that comes with finishing a large (read: throw) quilt, there is also something gratifying about finishing smaller projects, especially from my to-do list.

I finished my first block for A Very Merry HST BOF, and I'm halfway through piecing triangles for the second.

I'm partway through quilting a table-runner from my wonky star practice blocks. I'm really excited about this one. Since we're not staying very long in this apartment, we haven't hung anything on the walls, and the place seriously lacks cheer. I think this runner will add some color POW to the place.

And I finished piecing my Sequintastic September project, which you can't see photos of yet, and I'm sad for you because it looks fierce!! The Blog Hop is later this month, so photos will be coming soon. Now, to get brave and start adding actual sequins from this mix:

Pretty, right? They were a birthday gift from my friend, S. (Thank you, S!)

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced! Check out the Wednesday offerings! :) 

HSTs of awesome!

Happy Sunday, Friends! I hope y'all are having a lovely weekend!

I have big sewing plans for today, including cutting into lots and lots of fabrics. Today's theme is HSTs. HST BOM, HST BOF, HSTs for my sequin project...HSTs!

I picked out this stack of lovelies for my HST BOF mini quilt. I'm not usually much for holiday fabric, so I had a hard time picking out some prints from the very limited selection at my LQS. The only "holiday" fabric I picked was that creamy patterned print, which has some lovely metallic details and some blue and red and even some pink! Then, I abandoned the holiday section to search out some coordinating fabrics. For background, I'm using a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton (Thunder, I think?) which I'm very excited about because I love the look of shot cottons and have been wanting to try some out. As always, I'm a little nervous looking at this stack of fabrics. I always seem to be nervous when I pick out a stack, but I almost always like the end result. Why is that? And please tell me I'm not the only one.

More stacks of HSTs! (Squeal!) After lots and lots of waffling in regards to my sequintastic september blog hop project, I decided that adding sequins to the mix was enough of a challenge, so I was going to go with something simple and manageable, but still awesome at the same time. Enter, HSTs. Specifically, that front stack will go into pinwheel formations because I seem to be a one-trick pony when it comes to my original creations. (What can I say? I love me a good pinwheel.) And if you've been reading awhile, you may recognize the fabrics from another WIP, and yes, that's on purpose....

The back stack of fabric will be part of my September block for the HST BOM. Which I still haven't done. But you can believe it will be awesome when it's done.

Alright, I'm off to spend time with my boys! Have a great weekend! :)

sequintastic september.

 
Hi Friends!

(Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop post here.)

I have decided to participate in a most interesting blog hop--a sequin blog hop, in fact. I know that might sound a little silly since I'm a quilter, and we primarily work with textiles, but I thought it would be an interesting way to push myself to learn something new--mainly, bead and sequin embroidery skillz. My amazing friend Sarah is hosting the hop, and I'm really excited to get to work on my project! I'm planning to use my stack of Summerlove FQs to make a mini, then add in some sequins to really spice it up! I even know exactly what kind of blocks I want to piece and where I plan to hang it in my house when I'm done, so really, the only hard thing (besides cutting into my stack of Summerlove) is to pick out what kind of sequins I want to use!

And, if the idea of working with sequins puts a buzz in your bonnet, by all means, sign up! Sarah is taking sign ups until August 20th. Sounds fun, right? I do understand if you've got much too much on your plate. In that case, go ogle Sarah's work because she's really quite good, and sometimes I hate her a little for being too awesome, know what I mean? But since we're friends, of course I would NEVER tell her that. (Hi Sarah!)

C'mon! This will be fun!