Finished Tula Pink Patina Quilt

FRIENDS. I am so incredibly pleased to let you know this quilt is DONE. I need only drag it down to the post office and send it to my niece, woo! (And when I say drag, I mean drag. This thing is heavy!)

This is the Patina Quilt from Tula Pink and Angela Walters' book, Quilting with Tula and Angela. I had originally intended to echo quilt around each colored bit, but the turning was wreaking absolute havoc on my shoulders, and I wasn't going to be able to finish it! So, I just did the center row, and then I stippled the two ends.

For the back, I used a tie-dye flannel because these are my niece's fave colors, and she loves tie-dye! So it was meant to be. However, using this flannel is part of why the quilt was so heavy! It should be nice and comfy for snuggling though. Worth it!

For the binding, I used Cotton + Steel's Sprinkles print in navy, plus a hint of lime (Kona Chartreuse, probably). This is my second finish from my Q1 FAL list, and I am SO excited that it's done! Definitely a win in my book. It will most likely be my last finish from that list, but two is better than none!

Now, if I can manage to get a few more quilt tops basted, we'll be in business!

Tula Pink Patina Quilt Top

Friend, last time we chatted about this Patina Quilt project from the book Quilt with Tula and Angela, I had just begun piecing all of the strips. There was piecing, then more piecing, then more piecing! All.The.Piecing. By the time I finished piecing, I was thoroughly OVER IT, but then I sat back and looked at it and ooohed at the prettiness of it all.

I took this photo back in SEPTEMBER. I basted it in October. I started quilting it in November. And then I'd work on it between holiday gift-making and holiday prep, and then, just when I thought I could start working on it again with some serious dedication, I wrenched my shoulder somehow, and wrestling with this lovely and my sewing machine, Stella, seemed like a terrible idea. (And I found out it was because I'm stubborn and didn't want to be inconvenienced by hurt shoulders so I sewed anyway, and after ten inches, my shoulders were a world of pain, so I stopped and crashed on my couch with a heat pad.)

My shoulders are feeling (mostly) better now, though I'll admit that I'm hesitant to pick this quilt up again just yet as I don't want to re-injure them! But hopefully I'll be able to get er' done soon. As of right now, I'd say I'm about 1/3 done with the quilting, which I'm calling a MAJOR success.

This bomb cyclone thing and its terrible weather rendered us housebound for a few days, and while that was super lame, I *did* manage to get another quilt not only basted, but quilted! The binding is even picked out--though not prepared--so hopefully I'll be sharing that with you soon.

Patina Quilt Start

My oldest niece just had her Bat Mitzvah. (And if I may say so, she totally rocked it.) In the eyes of the Jewish community, she is now a woman. Cue Audrey freaking out. How do I have a niece that old?

And just how am I going to celebrate such a momentous occasion? You can probably guess, but just in case you're still waking up because it's Monday morning--oh it's Monday morning over here all right--I'm making her a quilt! Because it's one of those "go big or go home" kind of moments, I've chosen to make her a twin-size beauty of a quilt, the Patina quilt from Tula Pink and Angela Walter's book, Quilt with Tula and Angela.

I sent my niece 5-6 different quilt patterns that I thought she might like, and I was so excited when she chose the Patina quilt because it's the one I thought she might pick.

I have already used my seam ripper more than I would like to admit. I keep sewing the wrong colors to the wrong colors! But when you're dealing with 13 different fabrics and something between 500 and 600 rectangles, well, it's understandable that mistakes do occur.

I've chosen to use Kona solids for this quilt project, and I have this soft tie-dye flannel to back it with. (I actually bought the flannel before I bought the solids.) We're going with a color scheme very close to the original as my niece really liked it. I've finished sewing up my strip As and my strip Bs and I'm almost through my strip Cs. I hope to have a finished quilt top soon.

Happy Monday, friends!

SS: Responsible Purchasing.

Oh Friends. I have been SO good lately. I've been buying stuff only when I've absolutely had to, and I've been using my stash, even bits I wanted to hoard instead! But seriously, when you use your stash, you use it. WHO KNEW? And I've depleted a handful of colors. So, when I had the opportunity to visit a super awesome quilt shop after a super awesome brunch with the super awesome Alison of Little Bunny Quilts, I jumped at it!

I have a healthy stash of green, but everything else is starting to run low, so I added this bunch of yum. From left to right: red polka dot from Sevenberry, orange something from Bear Essentials 3 by P&B Textiles, yellow dot without selvage information, Alison Glass Overgrown in Bluebonnet, some purple dot by Windham Fabrics, Timeless Treasures Sketch in Lipstick--had to replenish, I love this fabric!, Alison Glass Overgrown in Amaranth, C+S Add it Up, and the black is Imagine from Another Point of View fabrics.

But I wasn't completely good, though you could argue it would be irresponsible to leave these cuts of Tula Pink's Tabby Road behind. I'm totally in love with the center print, but I picked up some cats and 'Tula' cans--that name makes me laugh out loud EVERY TIME--because they were fun too.

What have you been stashing lately? I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles' Sunday Stash!

Changing Plans.

As y'all probably know, I have a daughter on the way. (Have I talked about this enough? Can you tell I'm extremely excited?) Of course, I will be making Vanilla a quilt. It will feature what is probably a more-than-healthy amount of hot pink because OMG, I can, so I will. I've gone through multiple ideas. It seems like all of the baby quilts I've made this year have started with one idea and come out as something much different. And while that's more than a little frustrating at times--especially when I've already cut fabric!--each change was the right change.

Yesterday, I started cutting dresden wedges for Vanilla's quilt. I'd decided to use my ginormous Tula Pink stash, and I'd planned to use Tula's True Colors collection for the background fabrics. (I was undecided on the center circles, but I figured I'd have a bit of time to figure that out.) I had a sixteen FQ bundle of True Colors, was going to make 16 - 12.5" blocks, and the quilt was going to be epic.

Except, I knew it was the wrong idea about thirty seconds into the cutting. I had cut maybe six wedges before I realized this was not the quilt I wanted to make AT ALL. Not even a little bit. I cut a few more wedges. My OOP Tula Pink waste grew. I cringed at the thought of how much unusable OOP Tula this quilt would involve. And if it was the proper fit, I would do it in a heartbeat. But it's not. So I stopped cutting.

I used my wedges from yesterday, cut a few more from my scrap bins, and I pieced this dresden plate, which I'm more than a little in love with. When I get a spare moment, aka, never because I have three kids, I'll finish this up as a table runner for a spot in my front entryway that's been begging for some color. (I think this fits the bill, right?)

And as for Miss Vanilla, well, I can't get this quilt I started out of my head. This is the quilt I want to finish for Vanilla. I enjoyed making Fava's medallion quilt so very very much, and just the thought of sketching out future borders for this lovely fills me with glee. I'll most likely have to restart it from scratch--that's a long story I won't get into--so it won't look quite like this, but dare I imagine...it will be better? OH, I THINK SO.

So that's where I stand on Vanilla's quilt. I reserve the right to change my mind again, if it's the right call. But I wonder--I can't be the only one that waffles between ideas. Are you the type that picks a plan and sticks to it? Or do you make decisions as you go?

I hope y'all have the MOST LOVELIEST of weekends.

Popping In.

I'm hoping to get a quick post in before an inevitable interruption claims my time. True story: with few exceptions, someone in my family has been ill at all times since just before Christmas. If I knew that that first round of flu would turn into this...well, I'm not sure what I would have done. Actually, it's probably better that I didn't know. As it is, all three of my kidlets are recovering from a nasty stomach bug, and I'm earnestly praying that I don't catch it.

There has been a bit of sewing. (This block is for Stash Bee, woo.) I've even managed a few tiny finishes. What I haven't managed is to blog about them. (OR celebrate my third blogiversary, which I fully intend to do. SOON.)

I like to finish one quilt per month, but that just might not be realistic for March. But I'd really like to have this one done. Actually, can I tell you my dream? I'd like to finish this one over the weekend. Top is done, backing is partially pieced, and I'm planning for really simple quilting. My mom will be in town. It's possible. It's a special quilt, or rather, it's a quilt that's headed to a special person, and it needs to be done pronto. But it might not happen, and I'm trying to be okay with that.

In the meantime, I've been handquilting this beast. As you can see, my lines aren't always very straight, as I'm not planning to mark it. But you know what, I think of all the quilts in the world, a gypsy wife quilt made of crazy saturated AMH fabrics will survive crooked lines and uneven stitches. I think it might even *add* to it. Is that completely crazy? I had hoped to finish this one too--the entry date for my local quilt show is looming at the end of March--but it would probably be a miracle.

And I've indulged in a bit of retail therapy. This is my favorite Tula line since Acacia, and I have plans that I'm pretty excited about.

And because spring equals kidlet birthdays in this house, I really really really need to finish up my oldest's new quilt. Because, you know, it was for those cold days in the car. And today will be over 60 (woo!) so he probably won't get any use out of it this winter, but at least it will be done. Thankfully, I finally managed to pick up some fabric to finish it.

The baby calls! I hope y'all are well. (And healthy!)

This Week.

Happy Saturday, Friends. I hope y'all are having a lovely week! My husband was on deadline all week, so I didn't see that much of him. It meant loads of quality time with my kidlets. And snow! Oh, you know how much I despise snow, and it had the audacity to make an appearance on Thursday. Seriously! Can you believe how rude? But today is Saturday, and the high is in the low 30s, which makes me grumbly, but there is no snow, so I'm embracing the goodness and trying to keep my spirits high.

I haven't had a chance yet to share this awesome new purse my friend Kim sewed up for me. She was sad because the raccoons are a different colorway from my raccoon dress, but I assured her I would wear them together anyway because how can you ignore the awesomeness? (To all of you who think these raccoons are creepy: I'm sorry. I love them so. We can still be friends, right?)

I spent what was possibly the last "warm" day of the year at a local apple orchard with my boys and a couple of friends. It was practically empty, possibly because it was Monday, right when it opened, and it was very very windy outside. Because that place is usually hopping with people, I had never actually made it inside the restaurant before, but we ventured in on this trip, and I spotted this super awesome diamond quilt hanging high on the wall. All those diamonds. Eep!

Both of my boys are in love with pattern blocks, so that's been happening this week, plus fort building, painting, playdough sessions, castle building, and train play. It has been a good week.

There has been a bit of sewing this week. I should be piecing the back of my improv quilt, but instead, I've been piecing cross blocks out of Autumn Woods and Bluebird Park. I have high hopes they'll play together well when all is said and done. I need to get this baby quilt and the improv quilt out of my life, and soon! I have ramped up work on my Tula Pink CS blocks, and I also need to start cutting and piecing another baby quilt together, and fast.

But first, I need to make a birthday present for my bestie. Out come the pink and purple scraps! 

Hope y'all have a lovely weekend! 

Tula CS Block 76-80.

I've finished another round of Tula City Sampler blocks. I am so close to finishing the blocks, I can taste it! This specific group came about because I had twelve other things I should be sewing...but I didn't want to. My CS project came to my rescue!

Block 76. Salt Water, Birds and the Bees, and some Cotton + Steel Basics. This is very much out of my regular color zone, but I really really like this block.

Block 77. It goes without saying that I LOVE this block. There's some Acacia here, as well as two older lines of Tula's that I'm too lazy to look up right now.

Block 78. Near identical to Tula's version, but I liked Tula's version, so why not?

Block 79=some Prince Charming, Modkid (Heavens to Helsinki line, I think?) and some Kona Aqua. My raindrops piece was the perfect width but was a 1/4" too short, so I made the center stripe 1/4" longer to accommodate that.

Block 80. And this is probably my least favorite because brown and yellow? Hello. So not awesome. Also similar to Tula's. This one looks kinda wonky, but I promise, it's the photo.

I think I numbered all of those correctly, but I could be wrong. I do know they are 76-80. I'm auditioning potential background fabrics because I just don't think I can do white. Any suggestions? I'm making the rainbow Gridlock version, and it's going on my bed, so it has to be fabulous.

Cupcakes and Birthday Gifts

Birthday week is almost over, and I'll be sad to see it go. It's been a lovely week. It also had stressful moments, like yesterday afternoon, when I'm confident all three of my children conspired to drive me out of my brain. Thankfully, I had already planned to have a Thai food dinner with my write group, and they brought me awesome presents (see below) and chocolate cupcakes, and when the evening was over, my stress had dissolved.

I think this was the best chocolate cupcake I've EVER had. Since I'm kinda obsessed with cupcakes, this is a very serious statement. The chocolate mousse on top was chocolate-cinnamon, and the cupcake itself was moist and was the perfect level of chocolately, and best of all, it was birthday dessert from the lovely Sarah. Don't be too jealous. Also, don't lick your computer screen because that's kind of gross.

Photo used courtesy of W. John MacMullen

This is the awesome pillow that my friend John made for me using Tula Pink's Nightshade line. (I was recently perusing ebay and saw this fabric selling for $100/yd. Eep!) It has a metal zipper of awesome, and it has already found a home on my bed with my Marie quilt. Because he's a true pal (and a way better photographer than I am) John also took a picture of my pillow so I don't have to. (Seriously, it's much appreciated.)

My friend Kim got me a Kona color card since I've wanted one for forever, and my mama got me the Hex N More ruler. Next time I make a Northern Lights quilt, I'll be all prepared. I was seriously spoiled this birthday, and I'm feeling all kinds of loved.

I have been doing a bit of quilting. I managed to get my ikat quilt basted this week. I seriously hate basting, but I love the look of a basted quilt. So smooth and delicious.

And I'm working on my September Stash Bee block. Amanda requested an improv block in a color of the rainbow, and of course we all know what color I chose.

I realized last night that September is the last month to get my Q3 FAL goals completed, so I need to get a move on. I KNOW I can finish at least three of them. I just need to sit down and actually, you know, finish them. Someone tell me I'm not alone in this!

Hope y'all have a lovely Friday, and an even better weekend!

TT: Blocks 72-75.

Woo! I'm on a roll! Four more blocks this week! (Of course, this is because I was totally procrastinating doing a bunch of other stuff I should've been doing, but shhhhhhh.)

This means I'm officially three-quarters of the way finished piecing the blocks! Woo!

Block 72 features Tula's Nest and Flutterby collections with a bit of Kona Corn Yellow.

More Nest for block 73, plus Kona Chartreuse. I hunted and hunted and hunted for one of the Prince Charming frogs, knowing I had to have it in at least one colorway, only to be disappointed. After making this block, I found them. (Of course.) And I had them in two colorways! I'm trying not to grumble too much.

Parisville and Bella Navy. Yes, this is pretty much an exact copy of Tula's block.

Salt Water, Nest, and Plume.

I managed to fit five of Tula's collections into this set, though I'll admit, I went a bit heavy on the Nest, which is, oddly enough, my least favorite collection of Tula's. It's partly the colors, partly the prints...I dunno. We're not BFFs, I'll say that.

I'm linking up today with Tula Tuesday at Diary of a Madfabriholic. How are your CS blocks coming along? And if you're already done, lie to me and tell me you're not, okay? (Thanks for being a peach.)

TT: Blocks 70 and 71.

Two. Weeks. In a row.

I know. I'm just as surprised as you are. Apparently my Tula Pink City Sampler sabbatical took a brief...break. (Can you take a break from sabbatical?)

Block 70. Birds and the Bees, and for the life of me, I can't remember what fabric line that pink print is from. A quick Tula website search would yield the answer, but I'm lazy. It's old. Let's just say that. And more 1/2" strips. I'm trying not to take it personally and think that Tula just hates me.

Block 71. Acacia and Salt Water. I love me that Acacia print. And yay! I graduated to the squares section! And being in the seventies, even the low seventies, makes my heart happy. Perhaps there is hope yet?

Linking up with Samantha (Diary of a Madfabriholic) for the Tula Linky. Woo!

TT: Blocks 67-69

This week, I was determined to get some more Tula CS blocks under my belt. I can practically smell the finish--okay, maybe I'm not that close, but close enough to see it in the distance--and I would love to have this top done before year end. Might not happen, but a girl can dream, right? Right.

Block 67. As you can see, I took Tula's example to heart. The raindrops are one of my fave prints, and I pulled some coordinating solids to match.

Block 68. Acacia hummingbirds, plus a Kaffe shot cotton and a purple metallic paisley print my friend John gave me.

Block 69. Parisville. I am super proud of this freakin' block. I thought it would kill me. All of those stripes, finishing at 1/2" wide? What is Tula trying to do to me? (The obvious answer is prove that I am worthy to continue perusing her book. Oh, Tula. Please deem my efforts worthy!)

But it wasn't as bad as I thought. See that above? Near perfection when it came to matching the stripes.

Once again, I'm reminded that the longest part of making these blocks is picking out the fabric and cutting it. When that's done, cake. Except for #69. Stupid 1/2" stripes.

I'm linking up with the Tula Tuesday Linky hosted by the super cool Samantha of Diary of a Madfabriholic!

Finished Diane Kimono Dress.

I finished a dress. And just under the wire as I plan to wear it this evening for my anniversary dinner. (Eight years, woop woop!)

I used AMH's Social Climber in Gold from her Hand Drawn Garden collection. I bought 1.5 yards at Crimson Tate almost a year ago, originally intending to make a skirt. (But this is so much better.) When I bought the AMH, I also picked up some Tula diamonds from her Acacia line. I just really liked them and wanted a bit in my stash, but when the two fabrics were cut and stacked on top of each other, I knew they were supposed to be BFFs.

I made the Diane Kimono dress from Sew Serendipity. As you can see, the pattern comfortably fits my third trimester belly, and I have a bit of room to grow. In hind's sight, I wish I had gone with a longer contrasting hem--I used the 1.5" option because that's all I had fabric for, but I think I would like the 3" or even the 5" a bit better. I used the fuller skirt option because, as you can see, I need a fuller skirt to accommodate Mr. Fava.

Kay, the designer behind Sew Serendipity, is super nice and awesome. My raccoon dress was made using her Naomi pattern, but I can't wear it comfortably right now, and I really wanted a fun dress to wear until I've returned to pre-Fava goodness. And since the Naomi was fairly easy to make for an inexperienced dressmaker, I emailed Kay to see if she thought any of her patterns could fit a preggo like me. Kay wrote me back ASAP and recommended this number. Thank you, Kay! Added bonus: this dress is actually the same size as my Naomi dress, so I should be able to wear it post-Fava as well.

Another bonus? This dress matches perfectly with my favoritest shoes ever. Of course, the four inch heels aren't anything I'm up to tackling for long periods of time in my unbalanced state, so I'll be wearing flats tonight, but later, you best be believing I'll be wearing these glorious shoes with this dress.

The worst part of sewing this was turning the drawstring tube right side out. (Seriously.) This dress doesn't take all that long to make, but that part took me FOREVER. (There is probably a faster way to do it, but I did what I could.) Thankfully, I had a friend over for tea yesterday, and I spent the bulk of our visit trying to pry the narrow bit of fabric out into proper fashion. Next time I make this dress, I will make the drawstring differently. But yes. There will be a next time. Though not any time soon. Oy. I have a lot of quilts to finish first.

On Sunday, I have an appointment with my very first quilting student. (I'm squeeing with excitement!) We're going to plot the project she wants to make and calculate fabric requirements with the goal of going fabric shopping on Monday. I might be more excited than she is. Okay, I'm not, but I think our excitement levels are pretty equal.

Have a happy weekend, y'all!