this weekend.

Hi friends! Did you have a lovely weekend? I know I did. Our good friends D & K were in town, and we took the train to San Francisco and roamed around Chinatown and Fishermen's Wharf. It was awesomeness, especially when D got chewed out and threatened by this tea shop owner we encountered.

D was kind enough to fit into his suitcase the awesome quilt that K made for my Lito Bean.

 

Isn't it glorious? I'm in serious love, and unfortunately thankfully, it's for my son. 

I got to work on some new blocks--one patchwork and some wonky stars. Love! 

I cut charms into four pieces, and it was quite a bit of cutting work. But totally worth it. I love the patchwork block I made! And the star...well, what can I say? It's hot pink and totally fierce. 

What did you work on this weekend?

WIP: The Orange Edition

Hi Friends!

Welcome to another edition of Works in Progress. I've titled this one the "orange" edition due to the large amount of orange I used this week. Orange isn't my favorite of colors, but it is my oldest son's current favorite, so I'm guessing I'll be working with it on a more intimate basis if this orange trend continues.

First, the work in progress.

I started working on this mini-quilt before we made our move to the west coast. Since we only took a small amount of stuff with us, I was looking for art for the walls that wouldn't break on the car ride and wouldn't take up much space. I didn't get this one done before we left, but I should have the binding finished this week. I think it will look fierce in Banzo's room.

I struggled with picking a binding material, but I finally decided on this solid orange from my stash. I really like the look of it.

Now, to the finishes!

 

I finished my tote bags (more orange!) and I like the way they turned out. The French seams were surprisingly easy, though I had to read the instructions about eight times to make sure that I had read them correctly and that they weren't crazy! I may not be a sewing pro, but wrong sides together first? That sounds like crazy talk to me! But they look really nice. I understood the tutorial I used, but a pal recommended this tutorial, and I thought it was easier to understand.

I also finished my June BOM. The diamonds didn't do much for me initially, but I like the fabric combinations, and I think it will make a nice addition to my BOM quilt. Halfway done! I can't believe it! 

And now, I can begin on quilt #4! Oh, Reunion charm pack. I am SO excited to use you!

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced's WIP. If you haven't already, check out that page. I love Wednesdays!

 

reunited.

Agatha and I have been reunited.

Since I've done next to no sewing for nearly a month, I was eager to delve right in, but courtesy demanded that I pay attention to my mama, and Agatha had to wait. (My mama's visit was lovely, thanks for asking!)

My mama left this afternoon, and while I was very very sad, I only sniffled a little bit, then I called my sissy, who informed me that I had my husband now, so why was I whining? I adore her tough love speeches. They are just what I need. In fact, I often call her looking for her tough love because it keeps me in order. After the phone call, I enjoyed a visit to Trader Joe's--oh, how I missed you, TJ's!--then came home and surrounded myself with fabric. There was also some kidlet maintenance and feeding in there somewhere, but my oh my, the fabric!

First up on the to-do list are two drawstring bags I volunteered to make for Danny at Mommy for Reals. I thought the project was pretty much awesome, and I love me a drawstring bag. I wasn't bold enough to try the zipper pouch, but that is on my to-do list. The bags are for teenage boys, and let me tell you, it is NOT easy to find fabric for teenage boys. I found one FQ of the flames fabric, and I picked up an orange for the second pouch.

Speaking of a zippered pouch, all of these tutorials I keep finding say that I need a zipper foot. Well, punkins, Agatha does not have a zipper foot. She also doesn't have a walking foot. Am I able to do it with my regular foot?

Next up is my June BOM from In Color Order. The design is diamonds. Hurrah!

Upon completion of these two projects, and only upon their completion, will I resume work on quilt #4. That will involve visiting my local quilt shop and also deciding if I want to work my charm packet into 3x3 patchwork squares or cut those bad boys into 4 pieces and work them into 6x6 patchwork squares. The 6x6 will obviously be more work, but it means I can use the fabrics in multiple spots as opposed to only one location. I think the deciding point will be how I think it looks with the yardage I need to purchase. I should lay it out before cutting/sewing, but I so want to bust out that beautiful fabric and get to work!

Alright. I've got HSTs to tackle and French seams to navigate. Also, there is some Sherlock, Season 2 to watch! But tell me, what are you working on?

quilt #4.

I had intended to wait until I got to the west coast to start purchasing fabric for quilt #4, but I couldn't help myself when I stopped by a quilt store back home. I was very good and behaved myself when it came to the new bolts of Tula Pink's latest collection, but when I caught sight of a charm pack of Reunion by Sweetwater, I couldn't help myself. To be honest, the photos I'd seen online hadn't really excited me all that much, but actually seeing the fabric in person changed my mind, especially when I realized that it was the perfect kind of baby quilt fabric for me, and it would match the colors in this particular baby's room.

Of course, purchasing a charm pack meant I had to rework my entire quilt design. I've yet to buy the accompanying fabric--I really am going to try and wait until I get to our new "home"--but I'm excited to get started. I miss Agatha something fierce.

Eight days until we're reunited!

(Don't worry, I miss my husband too.)

And when I get there and have my for realz laptop, I'll post some pictures of the design, etc.

Blog Hop--Week One

I'm really excited to be included in the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop hosted by Plum and June. My turn isn't for awhile--thankfully, I have too much moving shenanigans to attend to--but this week, you have the opportunity to check out four awesome tutorials!


Nik from Bold Goods
Alyssa from Pile O' Fabrics
Kelsey from Kelsey Sews
Erin from Billy Button Designs

Go check them out!

As Agatha is in California and I am not, I've gotten no sewing in for two weeks. Not that I would have the time, but it still saddens my heart. I am hoping to visit a sewing lounge this next week, but as I tried very hard this week and was unable to get there, well, my hopes may be dashed. Here's hoping fora visit soon. There was some Alexander Henry fabric featured on their website that I may have to pick up.

WIP: The Should Be Packing Edition

Sooooooo...this week, I should have been packing for our big summer move. (We leave tomorrow.)

Instead, I found myself sitting in front of my trusty sewing machine, Agatha, and putting together a quiltlet for the boys' room. I also should not be blogging right now, but a girl needs a break from packing her kitchen, right? Right.

I had intended to make a quiltlet to hang by my front door, and I wanted to fussy cut some fabric.  (I haven't been quilting that long, and I'd never fussy cut.) When I perused my stash, I didn't have any fabric that would particularly work. However, I did find the elephant in the top left, already perfectly cut to 3x3 inches. And I had a yard of the fabric leftover from the quilt I made for a friend's baby--who was born on Monday *squee*--so I fussy cut a few more squares, easy peasy style.

A few more fabrics were chosen to log-cabin my jungle animals, and I sashed it in white.

The fabric, in case you're curious, is called Jungle Gym, and I love it to pieces, especially this monkey sliding down a rainbow. So random. So awesome. (That square is my favorite.)

I actually finished the quilting using wavy vertical lines, and all that's left is the binding, which I'm planning to do in black with tiny white polka dots. I'm not sure when Agatha and I will be reunited, so I'm not sure when I'll get to finish.

 

I also finished my May block for the HST BOM at In Color Order. It's not my favorite, but I do like the juxtaposition of fabrics. And I love me a good houndstooth fabric! 

In other quilty bloggy news, I'll be participating in the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop at Plum and June. Doesn't it sound like super fun? I'll keep you posted on that!

And, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced! Yay! 

WIP: Pinwheel Edition

I have a finish! My pinwheel quilt, Polka Dot Attack Pinwheel! is complete, and with our summer move looming in the very near future, it's none too soon! This is my second big finish of the year.

I started this quilt in late December or early January, I can't remember, and I finished piecing the quilt top in February, but it sat unloved in a closet because I had numerous problems with it. First, the fabric I had picked out for a border didn't work with the pieced top. I decided to forgo a border, but I didn't like the quilt's size sans border, so I pieced together another strip of log cabins (thank goodness for over-purchasing fabric) and attached that, which meant I had to also add a strip of fabric to the backing material because it wasn't wide enough. And with the extra row of log cabins, suddenly my original quilting idea wasn't going to work, and that's when it went into the closet. It was too stressful to think about. 

In April, I pulled it out again and got to work. With the excellent advice of my quilting sensei, K, we devised a new quilting strategy. The lines are spread out, but I think this will lead to a very snuggly quilt.

I LOVE the backing fabric. I was crazy about the black and white print from the moment I laid eyes on it, but adding a long strip of polka dot material with pops of colors from the front made me go gaga. I think my favorite part of this quilt is that it's staying with me! I've already enjoyed snuggling with it on my couch.

I'm also working on the May block for the HST QAL, but at this point, I've only cut my triangles and squared them up.

I'll sadly have to take a break from quilting to get packed up and on the road, but know that I'll be thinking about my sewing machine longingly. I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced.