I wasn’t supposed to buy any new fabric this year.  Well, I did really well for a while and then I guess I quit doing really well because I just bought this pretty little stack of fabric.  It’s called Vintage Summer by Little Yellow Bicycle for Blend Fabrics.  It’s kind of my style and yet it’s not, but I like it.  I’ve learned that I like a lot of large scale prints but then I struggle to cut into them and actually use them because I feel like I need to do the perfect thing with that large print.  I don’t know if I’m just getting smarter or if more fabric designs are getting smaller, but I’m trying to avoid the larger prints (because I still have plenty of them) and watch for the smaller ones that look great when they’re cut into small pieces.

I also shouldn’t start another quilt top until I’ve dealt with all my projects that need finishing, but for some reason I started reading about string quilts the other day and I got the idea in my head that I NEED to try it.  If I’m ever going to make that selvage quilt I’ve been saving strips for then I’ll have to learn paper piecing anyway.  Then I poked around and found this one  over at Film In the Fridge and I was sold.  Just enough order in that quilt for me to jump in.

So in the only quiet 30 minutes of my Mother’s Day, I went to my sewing machine and made my first ever paper pieced string quilt block.  My kids were shocked that I was sewing fabric to a piece of paper, but I was excited.  Learning something new beats a nap any day!

So the Vintage Summer prints were immediately cut into (big deal for me!) instead of waiting around for the “perfect project” and here’s my first block:

The fabric is the perfect scale for a quilt like this and I’m happy with my decision.  Paper piecing has always sounded tedious but I quite enjoyed this experiment.    I love the white with the prints, and I’m following Ashley’s pdf  chart  for it.

I really love those little strips of white in there.  They look so cool and they’re something I’ve always been intimidated by.

Honestly, I might not touch my sewing machine again until June, but it sure was fun to experiment for a little while!

HH

I love the way it turned out.  I have a vintage sheet I’ve saved for years, purchased long ago still in the original package, which I used for the backing.  It wasn’t quite wide enough so a pink strip of an old Anna Griffin fabric  which used to be bed skirts in this room was added to finish it off.

I took this quilt in and had the owner of a nearby shop quilt it for me.  I couldn’t be happier.  I love the pattern she quilted it with!

For the binding I used the only yardage I had (and my favorite print) of the Ava Rose line, the deep aqua with dark pink roses on it.  I think it looks great with both the quilt top and the back.

So here it is, the whole thing:

From the other side:

Yay!  I love it.  This one is going to my bedroom for those nights when it’s a bit cooler.   Just looking at it makes me happy.

My little squares of cheery fabric have become a finished quilt top.  I used the instructions found at Pins and Bobbins for the Made in Cherry Quilt Along.    I made the smaller 60 inch size, which actually made this a super fast project.  Once I got all the squares lined up on the bed, I broke it into small sections and was able to work at it in 10-15 minute segments until I had it all pieced together.

For this project I cut into a small stack of prints from the Tweet collection by Timeless Treasures.  (You can find some of them here.)  The turquoise solid I had in my drawer just happened to match and I thought it was good for me to use a solid other than white for a change.    I’m proud of myself for cutting into relatively new fabric instead of fretting about having the perfect project for it.

This is the fourth project I’ve finished in 2012 that is still waiting to be quilted and finished.  I did baste the Little Man quilt top and made a couple of passes for quilting, but am unhappy with it and need to pull it out and start again.  Ugh!  I wonder if I’ll get it done in time for the baby to still use it!  (I know, I know… it would certainly get done if I worked on nothing else in those stolen 10 minutes each day.)

Sooo, I’m off to clean bathrooms so I can perhaps find a few minutes to spend with my seam ripper later tonight.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

Isn’t this a great stack of fabric?

My daughter and a close friend of hers are working on value projects for their Personal Progress achievement (a goal-setting and personal development program for girls age 12-18 for the LDS Church).  For one project they each want to make a quilt and we’ve decided to make them in the colors of the Young Women’s values.  We spent some time Saturday going through my stash and making piles of fabrics for 7 of the 8 colors.  The colors are (starting at 12:00):  orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gold, red.  The 8th color is white, but they’re both using lots of white in the quilts.

Do I have time for this project?  Not at all.  But it’s one of those things I’m not going to miss.  It’s a chance to spend time with my daughter and her friend, a chance to mentor another girl, a chance to teach them a skill that is useful.  A chance to help them make something beautiful.  Their excitement is infectious and I’m looking forward to the process.

Now I have a bunch of math to do before we start cutting!  Wish me luck…

Hopeful Homemaker

On my recent trip to Loganf I worked on a project I started in February.  I took an online class for sewing curves.  I started this table runner for that class.  Instead of using solid fabrics, I opted to use two charm packs I had sitting around.  One was from the Verna collection by Kate Spain and the other (I think) was called Swell.  I’d had the latter for a few years and didn’t know what to do with it.  You’ll see a few pieces from American Jane’s Punctuation collection also.

I worried that I’d hate this project because it would be too busy.  While it is certainly a riot of color, I like it more than I thought I would.   This was a good introduction to improvised curves and I enjoyed experimenting with it.    It took me a few hours to piece this together and two weeks to get around to adding a simple white border!  I think the wide border (3 inch) gives the eye a chance to rest.

My one concern is that it doesn’t want to lay flat due to the curves.  You can see that easily in the photo below.  I’m hoping I can find a way to minimize this when I’m quilting it, which will mean very careful basting.   Hmmm….

Even so, it’s nice to have the top finished.  I learned a lot while piecing this, which was the whole point.

HH

Too much rain and gray skies can do this to me.  Somehow the blah outside makes me feel blah inside too, and something new is in order to bring a bit of cheer.  I should have been basting and quilting the Little Man quilt top, but instead I cut lots of 3.5 inch squares and had fun laying them out.  I’d been looking at this yummy stack of fabric long enough.

More soon!

Hopeful Homemaker

I had so much fun on my mini-trip to Logan!  I hadn’t seen my sister’s new house since she and her husband moved in and began a massive overhaul to update it.   I love her adorable living room.

And the kitchen ceiling (overlooking the living room) they painted an awesome blue.  It’s fabulous.

We spent most of the day in her sewing room.  I loved the way they used the framing in the basement to make a natural decorating statement using paint.  She also re-purposed a wine cabinet to use for her quilting fabric.

We had so much fun talking about fabric and what we’d like to do with it, talking about life, munching on popcorn, eating a delicious lunch, and generally just enjoying being together.  Kristen cut into her stack of Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane fabrics and started making her own Swoon quilt!  Hooray!  It’s going to look so awesome.

She finished the first block and it looks great.  We were both excited.  The pictures of that block are on her camera or I’d share it with you.  I think the Swoon pattern is one of my all-time favorites.

For my sewing I took an unfinished project from the Curves sewing class I was supposed to work on in February.  I made a long table runner using improv curves.  It was good for me to force myself to do this and I like it better than I thought I would.  It’s all pieced and I just need to decide if I want a white border or not.  I’ll share it soon.

Now I’m back home with my awesome family and a kitchen full of dishes to do.  I’m so happy that it worked out for me to run away for a day and have so much fun with my sister.  We definitely need to do this again soon!

Jennifer

It’s time for another baby quilt.  I really hope that someday I get these done before the babies are born!  After the sparkle punch baby quilt I made in February, I really needed to find something that would come together quickly.  I thumbed through Camille Roskelley’s book, Simplify, and settled on the Little Man pattern.

The pattern calls for just 4 fat quarters and a neutral, making it a simple and inexpensive quilt.  I already had a small stack of fabric chosen and I used 7 different fabrics instead of four, using one fabric twice to make the pattern work. I also added a white border around the entire quilt instead of borders at just the top and bottom, making it a square quilt.  The project came together in just a few hours and the bright happy colors are making me smile!

Most of the fabrics I used are from Sarah Jane’s Children at Play collection.  I especially love the little boys building rockets.  I also used my all-time favorite plaid from Emily Herrick’s Going Coastal collection (wish I had an entire bolt of that plaid) and a navy polka dot print from my stash.  I’m very happy with the depth and contrast the plaid and the polka dot add to the composition of the quilt.  I feel like they prevent it from being too soft, making the quilt better for this new little boy who is the youngest of seven children.  Now I need to settle on a backing and get quilting!

I must say that this pattern was delightfully simple and fast, which means I will be revisiting it for future baby projects, both girl and boy.  I highly recommend it.

HH

My Swoon quilt is back from the quilter and I couldn’t be happier with it!

I saw this quilting pattern on a quilt hanging in a local quilt shop and decided it was the perfect thing for my project.  I love looking at it and feel it’s a great compliment to the quilt.

The binding has been chosen, made and sewn onto the quilt.  I’ve decided to hand finish the binding, which is in progress.  It may take me a while but I’ll get it done!  I can’t wait to wrap up in this quilt.

A little peek at the backing:

I’ll be back soon with the finished quilt.

Tonight I’m driving up to Logan to visit my sister.  We’re going to spend tomorrow sewing at her house and I’m sooo excited!

Hopeful Homemaker

Well, after finishing the Swoon quilt I decided I wasn’t allowed to do anything else until I also finished the sashing for these blocks.  I’m tired of having the stack of squares sitting on the table reminding me that I’m not done.

So, here it is:

I am grateful that the white pulls the squares together and makes it all work.  What an interesting quilt this is… I love it and hate it at the same time.

I have someone in mind for this quilt, but first I have to decide how to quilt it, which seems to be another puzzle for me.  I wish I was better at this….

Hopeful Homemaker