Quilt tops!

Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been sewing. School started at the end of August and well... it's been a constant mad house around here! I'll spare you boring details and go straight for the pictures.


Here's the KJR quilt top I put together a while ago. I was going to make the top completely lattice but decided an inner white border would frame the whole thing up nice. I originally wanted to do a pieced binding, but I think that might be a bit much now. I don't have enough of one color to do an entire binding, maybe just do a pieced binding of few prints of the same color?


And the yellow bow tie baby quilt. I worked on this top on-and-off over the course of 3 days.

My idea's for both quilt backs are fairly simple, but for some reason I can't motivate myself to finish them!

I promised my youngest brother a Halloween quilt after getting a Pumpkins Gone Wild fat quarter pack at an amazing price. Rachel's Scruffily Quilt pattern will be perfect for this, and now that I have some time again, that's exactly what I'll be doing.

There was progress...

The squares were cut.

They were laid out.

Then...

Interruption.

There actually has been progress in the zig-zag quilt along ish type thing. Most of the squares have been put together, and then the top just needs to be pieced. It has been set aside, though, for this was an idea I couldn't just write down and then come back to later. These were some of my most favorite fabrics, and at one point I thought I was getting that syndrome. You know which one I'm talking about. My therapy started with a few painful rotary cuts that became easier as I saw a quilt unfold. My goal is to have much more to show you tomorrow and Saturday.

Oh, and some good news! My neighbor and friend, Bree, will be joining me with the Old Red Barn Co quilt along no. 1! She's waiting on her fabrics to arrive in the mail, then we start. Can't wait!!

We have a winner!

As dictated by Random Number Generator:
Commenter number 21, Sue, wins the County Fair scrappy bundle!

Congratulations Sue!

Some giveaway goodness.

Rachel over at p.s. i quilt is having another giveaway! A $50 gift certificate to celebrate The Quilt Shoppe's 2 year anniversary. But hurry hurry hurry, the winner is announced tomorrow! Also, if you check out that link there's a coupon code for 25% everything in the store, today's the last day for that too.

Also, I'm having a little bit of a giveaway here. I have a bit of County Fair left over from the zig-zag quilt, and I was thinking maybe you want some.


Enter to win this bundle of goodness! The smaller scraps are about 3 by 27 inches, the larger pieces about 8+ by 27 inches.

To enter, comment to this post. Tell me what your all-time favorite fabric print is!

Giveaway ends Tuesday, August 25th at 5 PM Central.

Anniversary.

I’m so lucky to have such an awesome and supportive husband. Last night I made a beef and barley stew, served homemade bread, and for dessert we had homemade cinnamon rolls. We had white wine with our meal, and there were lavender daises on the table. Everything was perfect. I said “This is great! I haven’t cooked like a newlywed in a while” (meaning I haven’t ruined anything). He smiled “We’re not newlyweds anymore”.

One year today. Here's to many many more. Love you, babe.

More quilt-alongs?

More?! Two more. Which puts me to FOUR quilt-alongs at once.

1. I've jumped in on round two for crazy mom's 9-patch quilt along.
2. Freshcut will soon be arriving in the mail for Old Red Barn Co's "Round One" quilt along.
3. The amazing team of Heather and Kerri put together a Munki Munki quilt along, one block a month, for 12 months. This should be fairly easy to keep up with. One month to complete a whole block!
4. After thinking about the giant stack of Denyse Schmidt's County Fair that's sitting in my sewing closet, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with a bit of it: Old Red Barn Co's "Round Two" quilt along- a zig-zag quilt, organized by Amy of Park City Girl.

The latter two mentioned above are set up through flickr. Old Red Barn Co is actually starting their "Round Three" fairly soon, organized by John of Quilt Dad. Wonky log cabins! Go check it out!

Finding the discussion threads that have the actual quilt-along instructions can be a wild goose chase, but it's doable. Here's a chronological list of the Zig-Zag quilt instructions, just to make things easier for you. But mostly to maximize the time I'm at the sewing machine rather than the computer.

Fabric Requirements
Press, Cut, and Design
Mark, Sew, Cut, and Press Part 1
Mark, Sew, Cut, and Press Part 2
Quilt Top Assembly
Baste and Quilt
Binding Tips


P.S. The KJR quilt top is done! It makes me think of a crayola crayon box. I'll show you once it's quilted and bound =)

Fall Freshcut and quilt-along.

photo from heather bailey's blog

This bundle of goodness should be in my mailbox in a week (or three)! I was lucky enough to find a fabric shop that offered all of the prints from Heather Bailey's Freshcut Fall line. There's not a print that I don't love. Okay, I don't absolutely love the stripe, but still. If you want to get a bunch of Freshcut all at the same place, check out Joggles.

The plans for this fabric? You may be familiar with it's tentative schedule.

My new machine, the Viking Huskystar, has been treating me wonderfully. It does have one quirk though: on a normal straight stitch the needle is over to the left side, giving me a 3/8 inch seam allowance. I don't quite know how to fix it, but it is definitely something I can deal with for the time being.

Hopefully I'll have a KJR quilt, or at least a top, to show you soon =)

Sunday Stash.

Heather Ross, Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries. Dandelions! I'd seen the orange ones before, but hadn't even heard about the pink or red dandelions until I was part of the Designer Fabric Swappy Poo swap group on Flickr. I admit I succumbed to a price of $17 per yard on the red dandelions, but they're my favorite print from the Lightning Bugs line.

Sunday Stash.

Heather Ross, Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries. Wildflowers!

Sunday Stash.

It seemed like a good time to start back up again.
For your enjoyment: Lightning Bugs and other Mysteries. Dogs in gold, orange, and blue by Heather Ross.

Hope you had a great weekend!