February bee blocks

When my dining room table, which is my usual cutting space, is covered with this....

 ...my cutting space moves to the kitchen floor!

I wouldn't do a lot of cutting this way, but for my two bee blocks for February, which came together in about half an hour, it was manageable!  I'm thankful for young-ish healthy knees!  ;)

The tutorial used is the Butterfly Strands quilt block by Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts.

WIP Wednesday

My big project lately, as most of you know, is my Roller Rink quilt.  I worked so hard over the last few weeks to get the top finished and now I'm totally stalled out.  I even have it basted and ready to go but it has sit for 3 or 4 days now since basting and I haven't touched it.

I think I'm feeling nervous about the quilting.  My plan is to do a geometric overall design, like this practice piece....

....which actually wasn't too difficult but I'm nervous about starting in on it on such a large quilt.  This week....hopefully.

Also holding me back is that I was feeling like I should get my bee blocks for this month finished before I set the machine up for FMQ.  Jaclyn asked for two broken herringbone blocks, choosing one colour for each block and using different fabric strips of that colour to complete each, sashing with white.  I don't have much fabric stash at all, and my scraps aren't often conducive to cutting big enough pieces for projects such as this, so for this month I have had to make do with what I have and I hope that the blocks will be to Jaclyn's liking.  My pink block is finished:

And my light/medium aqua block is in the works (the fabric on the left is much more aqua than the photo shows....I think it was on the shadowy side of my picture...):

That's it for me this week.  Hope you are all doing well!

Really Random Thursday ~ 10/17/13

My poor neglected blog.  What better way to return than with a bit of random!  We had a really nice Canadian Thanksgiving with family this past weekend.....

On the ferry...

The fam

The trip home, overlooking beautiful Vancouver

Today is foggy, but this is what we had the other day.  Amazing.

And since we are a sewing blog.....

No progress on this, so you get an old pic!

October blocks for Joy circle of do.Good Stitches

That's the end of my random for now, and I'm hoping to get back in the groove and have some more to show soon.  I'm also in talks with my good friend about making a quilt for her oldest daughter so I'll probably have more to say about that soon too.

W.I.P. Wednesday

I've managed to whittle my pile of W.I.P.'s down to nothing, with a number of finishes this month and also finding a new home for some orphan blocks.  It's time to start something new!  I just finished unrolling and sorting my Comma jelly roll (incidentally, I just noticed on the tag that Moda Fabrics are on Facebook and Twitter before I am....and I'm okay with that. :)

I love this fabric line, but let's be honest - it's a bit crazy busy and doesn't really suit my decor, so this is what I'm thinking.  We often have to stand outside watching our oldest son play soccer in the winter - it can be cold, rainy, windy, foggy, etc.  The only thing it wouldn't be is snowy because then the fields close.  So I need a soccer quilt/car quilt/out-and-about quilt!!  :)  My plan for this jelly roll is a version of Elizabeth Hartman's Roller Rink quilt (see one of her versions here) from the book, Modern Patchwork, probably using shades of gray for the frames, maybe Kona Coal & Iron?

One more thing this week - yesterday I sewed my two bee blocks for September, for the do.Good Stitches 'Joy' circle.  Mary Catharine asked for low volume star blocks and this is what I came up with.  I haven't done low volume before so I hope I got it right.  The solid gray is Kona Ash, which is coming across a bit darker in the photos than it actually is in person.

Have a great week everyone.  We're enjoying some beautiful sunny fall weather so I absolutely can't complain!

Granny Square bee quilt ~ finished

I received the granny square blocks for this quilt from my bee mates in the Don't Worry {Bee} Happy group on flickr, plus one from Holly when she and I did a little swap, and two that I made myself.  My month was January, so these blocks have been sitting in a nice little pile for more than half a year.  Now was a good time to pull them out and the rest of the project came together quickly.  The quilt finished at approximately 33" x 44".

I found this super sweet backing fabric at my local Fabricland, and at $6/m on sale, I can't complain!  The binding fabric is comparable to Kona Grass, though the colour is not coming out true in the photos for some reason.

As you can see, I tried my hand at some free motion quilted spirals on this one.  I could easily be self-critical about how it turned out but I'm deciding not to go that route because overall I am SUPER happy with how it came together.  More about the free motion quilting a bit later (I'm going to be asking for some tips, so get your thinking caps on!.....)

The above photo captures the quilting fairly well, but I also really like the next one for showing the spirals and the texture of a newly washed quilt, taken in the light of the setting sun.

Okay, so back to the free motion quilting.  I hadn't done any FMQ in a long long time but I was happy to find when I was doing my practice piece that I could actually still do it.  My speed was good, my tension was good.  Check, and check!  

What I really struggle with still though, is figuring out the best way to do it so I can actually see where I've been and see where I still need to go.  This became an issue on this quilt, and it was manageable since it's a baby size and could easily be turned/pivoted as needed, but what about on a larger project???  What's the best strategy?

Also, the spiral motif required a LOT of 'traveling' (ie. stitching back over where you just stitched) and I found that to be so difficult.  Part of it is related to the above point, I couldn't see where I was going so sometimes I'd hit the mark and sometimes I'd really miss.  I'm thinking that a lot of it is practice practice practice, but if anyone has any tips for traveling stitches when FMQ, I'd greatly appreciate it!!

from the archives ~ Granny Squares

Since my Octagonal Orb quilt is on hold while I wait for fabric to arrive, and with nothing else new on the go, I decided to finally pull out my bee blocks from the beginning of the year.  I had my bee mates sew scrappy Granny Squares for me, using 3" squares of fabric.  Including the blocks that I made and one that was contributed by Holly, I ended up with 12.

I didn't have much of the solid background fabric left so opted to skip sashing the blocks, and as you can see I didn't even have enough to finish the borders (but don't worry, I'll still remedy that!).  Unfortunately all 12 were not equal in size so when trimming I had to almost chop off a few points and I seamed the blocks together using a slightly smaller than 1/4" allowance to minimize the number of points that were lost.  If you look closely you can tell, but in the grand scheme of things it is not obvious at all, especially with the scrappy fabrics.  This is a baby/crib size quilt so it should quilt up quickly.  I'm hoping to practice some of my FMQ on this one.

100% unrelated, I thought I'd share a few of the new recipes I've found on Pinterest and tried lately, if any of you happen to be in a cooking rut like I tend to be on a regular basis, especially in the summer:

Grilled Chicken Teriyaki Kebobs ~ delicious, so good in fact that we're having it again this week!

BLT Chopped Salad ~ I kept all of the ingredients separate so everyone could "build" their own

Cheeseburger Soft Tacos ~ a slight variation on your average cheeseburger, and the kids loved it

Taco Pasta ~ I made this tonight and it was super easy, very tasty, and was all made on the stovetop

Happy sewing and eating!

Octagonal Orb ~ top complete!

I sewed and cut and trimmed like crazy this week and am excited to finally have a finished top!  

The photo obviously doesn't show the whole thing but it gives you an idea.  I did a 3 x 4 block layout with 2.5" (2" finished) sashing and a 3.5" border.  It'll finish at a nice size of approximately 60" x 75".  I have quite a bit of Notting Hill leftover which I will incorporate into the back, which still needs to be pieced (and pieced backs are definitely not my forte!), so it will for sure be September before I get going on quilting.

And while I'm here, I'll show these two bee blocks that I made this week.  Kona Iron background and yellow/turquoise 'blades' with fabric from my scraps.  Super easy to make, the tutorial can be found here.

 

W.I.P. Wednesday

This week I've mostly been plugging away at my Octagonal Orb blocks.  I still don't have a background fabric chosen so I've only been working on the coloured sections.  So far I have 5 blocks worth pieced together.  These don't look very octagonal or orb-like yet, but to give you an idea....

Yesterday I received the last of my bee blocks in the mail, so I now have 12 granny square blocks to work with.  I had sent out a variety of scrappy fabrics and a natural solid and the resulting blocks are pretty fun I think!  Here's a look at a few of them, still untrimmed:

And finally for this week, a W.I.P. that is existing only in my mind so far - this duffel bag pattern.  I was lucky to win this during Sew Mama Sew giveaway day, and I'd love to give it a try.  The pattern is put out by Simplicity and is a Studio Cherie design.  She has TONS of great sewing patterns available in her Etsy shop.  Be sure to check them out.

Have a good week all.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of you have been up to!

Guess what? I SEWED!

Yes people, I actually switched on the sewing machine this week!  I have done very very little in recent weeks, with spring break and nicer weather and some work days here and there, but this week I sat down and put together these two blocks for the Joy circle of do.Good Stitches.

Rebecca asked that we each make 2 Interlocking Seasons blocks, using pink, purple, and peach. These are intricate blocks, and I'll be honest that it was quite a challenge, but in the end I am quite thrilled that I figured it out and I love the result.

This block is made in 4 sections, but see that little white square in the centre?  That little square is added at the end and is not part of any of the 4 sections, and this tiny little square is what caused me problems.  It took a bit of trial an error, but in the end here is what worked for me:  instead of pressing seams to the side as suggested in the pattern, I pressed all seams open.  I don't know if this matters really, as usual it is a matter of personal preference and how you feel you can achieve the most accurate results, BUT I did find that the only way I could easily accomplish the last bit was to press the seams open for the final steps (if you're looking at the pattern, this is steps 1-4 of the "Combine the 4 panels....." part).  Once I figured that out, the block was really able to come together.

The white setting triangles are added at the end to set the block on point, and the size of triangles used gives you an assembled block that has plenty of wiggle room for trimming to size, so even if the interlocking centre part ends up a bit off-kilter, which mine did, the finished block can still end up a perfect 12.5" square.

Give it a try if you're feeling up for a challenge!  You'll be glad you did.

Spring Break

Hey everyone - I'm still here, I just haven't been sewing at all.  We've been on spring break, and my husband has been away with a school group since March 15 (coming home tomorrow, YAY!), so it's been solo parent time plus a week away from home for me and the kids, which explains the no sewing!  BUT I did visit a sweet little quilt shop the other day, Hamels Fabric and Quilting, where I picked up these two teeny charm packs.  These are the "Moda Candy" packs, of 2.5" squares, and they were too cute to pass up.

We're on week 2 of Spring Break now so the sewing progress will continue to be minimal for a while.  Next up I hope to get back to the HST quilt, and I also would like to get started on a top using the scrappy granny square blocks which I have received from the bee I participated in this past year.  I don't think I've posted any photos of them so far, and I am still waiting on two blocks from bee members, but hopefully soon.

It's a new week

Time for some catch up!  First off, this weekend I made this month's bee blocks for the Joy circle of do.Good Stitches.

We were to make two double snowball blocks using blue rings with yellow outer corners, and a novelty print centre.  Blue and yellow are colours I don't often use, especially blue.  In fact, I went out and bought two FQs specifically to make these blocks because I couldn't find enough blue in my fabric bins.  I have quite a bit of aqua, but not blue.  I'll be looking forward to seeing how the quilt comes together.

Remember these???  My lovely stack of Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill.  My plan when purchasing these was to make a Supernova quilt, from 'Quilting Modern', but now I'm having second thoughts.  I do love the Supernova, but it's the thought of making an entire quilt using 'stitch & flip' triangles that has me second guessing.  It's the reason I stalled out on making a Sparkle Punch quilt earlier this winter, and also when making the above bee blocks which uses the same technique, I was glad that I only had to make two blocks!  So now I have this beautiful stack of fabric with no concrete plan, but I'm dying to start using it!  Might be time to start perusing my own Pinterest boards.

And finally for today, this I Spy baby quilt I showed last week is now listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

Have a lovely week everyone.

do.Good Stitches ~ Joy circle

I've recently become a member of the Joy circle of do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee}.  I'm quite excited about it!  I was in one bee this past year, which was pretty good but I have to say I enjoyed making the blocks for each of the other members SO much more than when it was my own month, and I had to choose a block and send out fabric, etc.  So now, I will be a stitcher, working out of my own fabric to make a block or two each month which will be made into quilts for charities.  I like this idea much better!

I was set to start in March, but also offered to make a couple of February blocks if they were short this month.  We were to use blue/red/white/gray in the design seen below.  Here are my two blocks:

Happy New Year!

I feel so out of touch people!  With Christmas, kids/husband home from school, my sewing machine in the shop again, and close to a week away from home, I feel like I've fallen off the face of the earth as far as sewing goes.  Re-capping the past year seems too overwhelming right now, so I think I'll just take a look into the near future and make a bit of a to-do list:

• it's my month in the bee I belong to and we've been doing granny square blocks using a whole variety of my scraps along with a natural shade solid - the blocks are starting to come in already and I don't want to leave them languishing!
• finish the library tote that I started before Christmas, using Michelle's pattern
• purchase backing and batting for my disappearing 9-patch Brrr! quilt.  I'd hoped to get this one finished by Christmas and it just didn't happen.  But I figure that since the fabric is more of a winter fabric than a Christmas fabric, I'm still good to go for a few more months!
• figure out what to do with my Etsy shop.  I haven't had any sales since around the time of Black Friday, and neither of the two Christmas-y items I had listed sold.  I honestly don't know how much effort I want to put into stocking the shop and promotion and all that stuff so my thought at the moment is to just put stuff in there when I have something to list, and if it sells great, if not, no big deal.  Which is kind of how I started off thinking about it anyways.

We just got back today from our week away visiting family, I'm marking my google reader as "read" and will carry on from here.  The family picture was taken by my Dad on Wednesday, our "snow day".  We had to drive 1.5hrs to find that snow, and it was coooooold, but it was worth it.  We had a ton of fun!

W.I.P. Wednesday ~ the bee edition

I know that many of you participate in online quilting bees.  I am in one bee currently - we have ten members and the bee is for ten months.  I was feeling pretty good knowing that my month to "host" wasn't until January.  Now I'm realizing that January is really just around the corner, considering that I have to have fabric packs shipped off in time (right over the Christmas rush, eek!) so that my bee mates can work on it during January.

Just today I finished an improv block for M-R.  Eeeek, improv!  This is not my strong suit, but she provided a good tutorial for us improv-challenged folks that I followed carefully and it was actually a lot of fun and kind of freeing.  The block finishes at about 16.5".  Maybe more improv in my future??  Hmmmm...

I thought it would be fun to look back at the blocks completed so far - all so different from each other, some were definitely a challenge, but all were fun and good accomplishments in and of themselves.

So, a question for those of you who participate in online bees ... what have been some of the bee blocks you have enjoyed making the most??  Do you have any blocks bookmarked that would be totally awesome bee blocks that you'd like to point me in the direction of?  Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  I have to decide soon and I tend to be the indecisive type.  ;)

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced.