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.

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!

TT: Blocks 64-66.

I'm pretty sure it's a miracle, but I pieced three more Tula Pink City Sampler blocks this week. I say it's a miracle because we are entering Day 11 of Illness as my youngest has gotten a double ear infection. Which is FUN.

Block 64. Twelve pieces total. Not too bad. I used Tula's Nest, some Bonnie and Camille Happy Go Lucky, and a random green FQ that my BFF had purchased, but had been cut so poorly that we were unable to use it.

Block 65. Fourteen pieces. I used mostly Acacia, with an orange scrap leftover from BFF lined bag making.

Block 66. Eighteen pieces.  Some Parisville, Kona White, and Bella in Navy.

Blocks 64-66. Woo! It's getting warmer (and drier) outside, so I should be able to lay out my Tula blocks soon and see what they all look like together. I've made a few (20?) since I last did that, so it will be fun to see!

I'm linking up with Tula Tuesday at Diary of a Madfabriholic. See you over there!

Tula Tuesday #1.

Okay, by now y'all must know I'm a super huge Tula freak. And I had these big plans to finish my City Sampler right along with the rest of the super cool QAL kids who finished their quilts for the end of January reveal.

But I didn't make it. Folks, I got tired. At block #57. There was too much Christmas and holiday and craziness and other shenanigans. (That's only 1 through 51 up above.)

When I saw Samantha busting out some awesome TP City Sampler blocks, how could I resist opening up my book and seeing where I'd left off? For the record, block #58 is the easiest block I've tackled yet, and I'm a little embarrassed that it was my stopping point. I started making blocks. Slowly. But I'll get this bad boy done eventually, hopefully by next year's end of January. (And then I'll have my own reveal because WHY NOT.)

And Samantha is hosting a Tula Tuesday link party. Still my beating heart. You KNOW I have to participate in that. So here are blocks 58-63:

I told you. Easiest block ever.

And this is where I veered off and decided that not every block had to have Tula in it. And then I made three Tula-less blocks in a row, mostly because I just couldn't make my Tula stash work for me. At first, I started to get frustrated and put the book down again, but realized, if this project isn't making me happy, then honestly, what am I doing working on it? So Tula-less blocks it is, and I had fun making them, which is the most important.

And that's it for this link-up. When it gets warmer--which will probably be *never* knowing how this winter has treated me--I will get a shot with all of them together, but for now, this'll work.

WIP: Lots and lots of blocks.

This week, I have lots and lots and lots of blocks. (LOTS.) Between bee blocks and the Gypsy Wife QAL and trying to get back on board with my City Sampler blocks, whoa. I've been flitting from different fabric palettes like nobody's business, and my work area looks like an explosion of fabric--which in my opinion, is never a bad thing, but it does get in the way of forward motion on occasion. Today I need to regroup and clean off my table, otherwise I'll be adding the wrong fabrics to the wrong projects, which isn't the design strategy I'm going for.

I've finished my GW blocks for February. Yum, yum. AMH was the right choice for sure. (Linking up with the February GW QAL Link-up at Riddle and Whimsy!)

I've polished off blocks 58-60 for my Tula Pink City Sampler quilt, and I'm excited to do more.

This dresden is in the mail today for Stash Bee, and seriously, I think this block tried to break my spirit. (But I prevailed and conquered it! Ha!) Envision: two fabric store visits, a borrowed sewing machine, dirty fabric, and no previous applique experience. Woo! And my husband was precious and suggested I make an entire quilt of these bad boys. No, thank you. I'm good with the one.

And I've finished off some of my work on Anna's quilt and feel decently happy with these blocks to give more than just a peek. I'm only about halfway done (maybe) with my portion of the quilt, but I'm having a lot of fun putting it together.

Finally, here are the blocks I've received so far from my month in Stash Bee. I think this quilt is going to be really awesome when it's done! The plan is to sash it with funky colored cornerstones, then add 1-2 borders. I don't usually do a lot of borders, and I'd rather not sash the blocks because I love them side by side like this, but I need to get the quilt a bit bigger, and I'm not keen on making more blocks. So alternative plan it is!

Hooray for lots of blocks! I'm linking up today with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. As you can see, I've got a lot of work in progress! Happy Wednesday!

WIP: The Numbers Edition.

After looking at today's WIP list, I have a feeling I'm going to have a hefty Q4 FAL list!

54 Tula Pink City Sampler blocks.

20 Sisters' 10 BOM blocks. (Yes, I pieced October early. I'm too impatient!)

3 Baby Quilts in the works (one basted, one in the middle of quilting, one flimsy) and 1 more in the planning stages.

2 Cushion Covers patiently waiting. Just kidding. These are DONE. Thank goodness.

1 Queen-sized quilt being prepped for the long-armer.

1 Finish, which I'll be sharing more of on Friday.

And 1 Naomi Dress, which is my selfish sewing for this week!

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. You should too!

Tula Pink Blocks 1-51.

I tossed around the idea of weekly updates of my block progress in Tula Pink's City Sampler, but since I'm only making three a week, that seemed like a lot of posts of little blocks. However, today I hit the #51 mark, and it seemed a good a time as any to lay them all out and see all those pretties making friends with each other. As you can see, I've got a big stack, and it's only getting bigger!

I really don't know what to say, Friends. I've been working on these since May, and it's been a lot of work. I'm still totally excited to work on them, which is good, but 51 blocks is time consuming no matter how you slice it. (And I have 49 blocks left, eep!)

I am following the color progression in the book in hopes of getting a lovely rainbow. Some of my blocks use the fabrics Tula has utilized, and some do not. I wonder if it has to do with my mood on the day of creation? In addition to various solids, quilting cottons, shot cottons, and even a bit of linen blend, I have used ten of Tula's twelve collections. My Acacia shipped this morning--woop woop!--and I'm beginning to believe Neptune is a made up collection that doesn't really exist, so maybe I should say I've used 10 of Tula's eleven real collections? 

In other BOM/QAL news, I've cut the fabric for my final Sisters' 10 BOM blocks*, and I even have the HSTs pieced. I just need to find time to slap those bad boys together, and OMG, I will be done. I can't wait to have those blocks done, especially since I hope to have that quilt done for Mr. Audrey for Christmas.

How are your Tula/Sisters' 10 blocks progressing? 

*I may have skipped ahead, looked at the picture, and figured out how to piece it on my own. I'm really really impatient to have those blocks done!

WIP: Too Much Edition.

Hi Friends! How is your Wednesday? (Or Thursday.) June has meant the arrival of lots and lots of family members. And as one set leaves, another set arrives. (I'm not joking. One set leaves Monday, and my mom comes that evening!)

Remember this yummy stack? I'm about 2/3 of the way through piecing the 48 blocks for the top. 

I'm keeping up with my Tula Pink City Sampler blocks. I've got the first 12 done, though only the first 9 are pictured hanging from the improvised clothesline. (Blockline?) I'm really enjoying making these blocks as they're small, and they come together quickly. I've also enjoyed cutting into my Tula stash and using random bits and pieces to make up the blocks. So far, I have current Tula, old school Tula, quilting cottons, shot cottons, and some batiks. I'd like to use some linens before the project is out--I think I'll have a bit of time over the next 88 blocks--and maybe even some flannel and corduroy. Nuts? Yes. 

I've finished quilting my X+ quilt. I did some basic straight line quilting in the pluses, but I did attempt some FMQ in the X portions. While certainly not perfect, it is encouraging to see that I'm getting a little smoother with it, and my stitch length is getting more regular. I have lots and lots of threads to bury, and then some binding to get to sewing.

What are you up to this week? I'll have a finish to share on Friday--woo!--and I'm hoping to get those blocks finished up before next week.

I'm linking up this week with WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced!

 

This weekend...

Friends, this weekend was an explosion of awesomesauce. You think I'm joking? Try starting off Saturday morning with tater tots covered in homemade white cheddar cheese sauce and bacon, then hopping in the car for a quilt retreat thingiemabob! And if that wasn't enough, coming home to a clean house and folded laundry and my loving family. Yep! That's what I did this weekend!

K, my friend and quilty teacher came with me on the retreat, and we spent 10+ hours quilting between yesterday and today. It. Was. Awesome.

First, K's work:

Snails Quilt

Geometrics Quilt

Tons of Cutting for the Chili Peppers Quilt (Not sure if everyone calls it that or just me.)

And some FMQ practice.

 

The butterfly blocks were a team effort. (Isn't this block amazing? K's mom designed it!)

 

We relied on our friend, the chocolate Teddy Graham, to help us power into late night sewing territory. (And by late night, I mean 10pm.)

I made a few things too: 

Lots of cutting. R 6/7 for the 10" Tula swap and fabric for two kidlet quilt tops.

Block 5 from TP's City Sampler...

...and block 6.

Start of a new kidlet quilt. Three blocks down, six to go! These blocks finish at 16.5".

And a paper pieced lone star for Sarah from the Make It Modern Bee. 

This weekend was quite possibly the most awesomest weekend ever for me. It really was a lovely weekend, and it was so nice to get so much done. 

I know that was a lot of photos, but I wanted you all to share in my awesome weekend! I hope you had a lovely weekend as well! Tell me all about it in the comments, okay?