testing

I have had a bit of a change of plans with my projects.  I found out this week that my sister-in-law (who we have for Christmas this year) would like a queen size quilt.  At first I was worried because she asked for lots of blues, but then I looked in my closet and realized I have a TON of blue fabrics in my stash. I have been wanting to try to make a wonky cross quilt after seeing this quilt and this quilt .  I like this block because on it's own, it's not something that I would normally make, but I love the way a bunch of them look together. I finished a stack of blocks last night.  Only about a hundred more to go :) I also finished another Jane market bag earlier this week.  My daughter picked the fabrics for this one.  My goals for this week . . . get my Groove quilt basted and start quilting make some more wonky cross blocks.  Christmas is still a while away, but I know the next few months are going to be busy so I don't want to run out of time....

Thank you everyone who entered the giveaway.  I just love reading the comments that people post.  The winner is: Congratulations Heather!  I will be sending you an email to get your address. I spent some time this weekend making some Jane Market Bags with my daughter while my son was napping.  I made a few of these bags in the spring for my Mom and Mother-in-law , but I thought it would be nice to have some around the house.  Los Angeles recently decided to ban plastic grocery bags and the ban goes into effect soon, so I need some bags that I can actually remember to bring to the grocery store with me! I did one with this cute Echino birds print that I love.  The blue fabric is essex in navy and it is lined with a Hope Valley print. And one with some Cat in the Hat prints.   I attached the handles to the inside of the bag this time because I forgot to finish the short ends of the handles when I was making them (oops).  I think I prefer them on th...

My husband has fond memories of his Mom sewing some of the clothes that he wore to elementary school.  In honor of that, I thought it might be a fun tradition to make the outfit that my kids wear to the first day of school each year.  My daughter starts pre-k on Monday (through part of the wonderful LAUSD SRLDP program) so I spent the last few days working on this little dress. I let her pick out the fabric and I made sure to pick out a pattern ( Oliver + s family reunion dress ) that wasn't too hard so I didn't totally screw it up.  While I enjoy quilting, I do not enjoy sewing clothes, but it was a fun activity for my daughter and I to do together.  We spent an hour or so for the past few days while my 2 year old was napping and she sat at the kitchen table with me while we worked on the dress. I had Harper try the dress on today to make sure that it fit.  She was excited to also try on her new school shoes. Harper picked the fabric, which is a Lise...

I finished putting together my Groove quilt top during my kids naps today. Now I have tons of little pink, orange, brown, and white pieces of fabric all over my dining room floor. This is one of the only times that I don't mind the look of a messy house :) I am not sure how I am going to quilt this yet, so I will probably put this aside for a week or two while I work on some smaller projects.   I opened my blog the other day and was very excited to see this: I have passed the 100 followers mark!  I started this blog a few months ago because I love the online quilting community and I wanted to find a way to become more a part of it.  It has been very fulfilling to be able to talk about quilting in a forum where people have the same interests (my husband will listen, but he does not share my love of quilting!).   To celebrate passing the 100 follower mark, I wanted to do a little giveaway.  I have been holding onto this beautiful Echo charm pack and I want to shar...

When I first bought my Quilting Modern book, I saw the Supernova Quilt and knew I had to make it.  And I knew that I would be using my stash of Washi to make it for my sister Kara .  She has seemed a little down lately and her birthday is coming up, so I got to work.  A few months ago I asked Kara what kind of quilt she would like and she said "black and white."  Um, I didn't go that direction ;) so hopefully she still likes this. I LOVED making this quilt.  Washi is so gorgeous and I love it even more after making this quilt.  I had a really hard time putting this in the mail to Denver.  It almost didn't happen. For the back I used a couple of Washi prints with some solids. I added a little fussy cut piece of Echino because it reminded me of Kara and I thought she would like it. I quilted it with random straight lines.  The essex linen has such a great texture with dense quilting. Lately I have been trying something new with each quilt I make, ...

I had a chance to get started on my Groove quilt yesterday.  I have decided to go with a choose-your-own-adventure approach to the pattern so that I don't have to cut so many pieces and have so many seams in my finished quilt ( Amanda wrote up a little tutorial on how to do it this way, I am doing something similar to that). So far it is coming together quickly.  I am using Michael Miller Cotton Couture solids and they are absolutely WONDERFUL.  I love Kona solids and I have recently become a big fan of Freespirit solids, but the Konas aren't as soft and the Freespirit solids have a nice sheen but they seem to fray a lot.  I am definitely going to be getting some more Cotton Couture. A few weeks ago I ordered Emily Cier's (she is the one that wrote the Groove pattern) book Pixel Play   and I just got a notification from Amazon that it is shipping a month earlier that expected.  I am looking forward to getting some mail this week!

I have several projects planned for the next few months.  While I like having the freedom to work on new projects, I can't help but mentally pile up projects a couple of months in advance. I am currently working on a super secret project that I can't reveal until it has been gifted so here is a sneak peak.  I just started working on the binding so it should be finished in a couple of days. My other planned projects: I am planning on pretty much following along with the Totally Groovy QAL.  I am making it for someone pretty far in advance so there's no hurry.  I have my fabrics picked out and I am hoping to start cutting fabric this weekend. Quilt for my sister Kelly (and Kelly if you are reading this blog you better stop so your surprise isn't ruined!).  Last year my sister Carly graduated from high school and I made her this hopscotch quilt.  Kelly is graduating this year and I am planning on making one for her too.   Quilt for my bed.  I am pla...

I seriously almost cried when I opened my front door this morning and saw package from my do good stitches partner.  I am the worst waiter ever and I was so happy that it finally got here!  It made the long journey all the way across town (we just live a few miles from each other). Hollie sent me a beautiful sewing machine cover. it even has a pocket on each side. and some other assorted goodies. Thank you so much Hollie!  You made my day!

I mentioned this quilt a few weeks ago  and then it got folded up into a drawer and forgotten about.  So while I was thinking that I had all current projects finished last week, I found this one hiding in a drawer.  That had to be remedied. My husband loves video games.  And while it drives me a little bit crazy sometimes, I am glad that he has a hobby that he enjoys.  This quilt top was really quick to put together, but it was my first time doing machine applique so I was a little nervous (it was fine).  The pattern wasn't super detailed about how to get everything to line up, but it all worked out in the end.  For the backing and binding I used this Monaluna print which I bought on clearance a few months ago.   I generally use a very low loft cotton batting and Tom wanted something a little fluffier so I used a wool batting for the first time.  I would probably use it again, but I think I will stick with cotton most fo the time.  ...

I have been waiting and waiting to post an update about the DGS swap, but I still haven't received anything from my swap partner.  I have been so excited to get something in the mail and it is agonizing because our mail doesn't show up until 6pm or later.  It has made for a few long days.  But I am sure that it will be worth the wait! I sent my package off to Rachel  last week.  I ended up including the sewing machine cover I made: And a boxy zip pouch made with an Echo charm pack and some solids. I really hope that she likes them, it is hard to choose what to make for someone else! I did receive a little treat in the mail today (that I had totally forgotten that I had ordered, oops).

Since I finished up all of my ongoing projects yesterday, I thought I would go ahead and make my do good stitches blocks for August.   Caitlin chose this cute tutorial  for the month.  We are supposed to use primary colors so I did a yellow and a red block.  This seemed like the perfect use for Castle Peeps! It is so much fun to see which blocks and which colors we will be using for the month.  I think this quilt is going to turn out really cute!