New quilt!

 

I need to start a new quilt like I need another hole in the head, but here we are! I took lights and darks, cut them 4.5" long (so it's 4.5" square) and then am sewing them in a stair step type pattern. Not sure what to call this one! (I know it's a rail fence)

Scrappy Quilt contest

If you click this image (which is a link) you can be entered to vote for the quilt contest of the week.  This one is scrappy, and I had the perfect quilt to submit!!

My favorite scrappy project I have made thus far!  A log cabin, with all the fabrics I have used in others quilts.  Every time I use it I can think about quilts that I have made for all the people I love :)  Of course for the contest I could only post one picture, but here I have a few others ;)

This is one layout I tried out (there are a lot of ways to lay it out!!)

Here is Pepé helping me decide on a layout

Here is the finished quit with the back.  It has some purple minky on it.

And the top on it's own.

Strings strings so many strings!

 I have a lot of fabric, and I swear it's reproducing!! Especially my strings/crumbs.  So I posted on stashbuster (a yahoo group, it's GREAT! you should check it out!) asking about ideas for strings, which is something I have made before (ie my mini thread spools and my string quilt) but let me tell you, even after making those projects, my strings just keep on growing!!

 I got some good suggestions.  One of the ones that really spoke to me was doing a "wonky" log cabin.  I love log cabin after making my first one this year.  So I separated my strings out by color (again! why did I put them back in the box again?!)

And this is what I have so far!

And here are my spools! I have about three of each of them so far!

So that is what I am working on.  I have a lot of going on projects and nothing finished.  But hopefully I will get some finished either this weekend or next.  this weekend is iffy since my husband will be home this weekend :)

What do you do with your strings? Do you save them? do you pitch them?

It's no longer a mystery!

 Well it's no longer a mystery. . .I will give it away!

String Spool Tutorial

So here is my brown block with the sides added. . .I chose purple a) because I LOVE purple and this is for *my* sewing room! b) because I got a GREAT deal on the fabric at Hobby Lobby!

And here are some of the finished blocks.  I wanted a white for the spools, but I didn't find a white I liked, so I went with a light brown. . .I am also going to do them a little different than hers, I am going to make them look like there are on a "shelf" with dark brown fabric between the rows of spools!

From making the spools I had some triangles, so I made some pinwheels!  they are pretty small as you can see by the mat! Barely 2"! I might incorporate these into it some how.

It's a mystery PART deux!

So Jan was the only one that commented. . .So I am going to tease some more!

Here is what I got done tonight. . .

 Here is what the strips/strings ended up looking like once I sewed them on the foundation paper (in this case not only was I reusing old fabric, I was reusing an old phone book! and then some val*pak coupons ;) )

 Then I cut them down.  4"x6 inches. . .Getting any ideas of what I am making?

And just in case you heard foundation and strings and thought I was making a string quilt, I am here to tell you I am not. . .But I did make one last fall. . .and here ^^ is a picture of it.  It was all made of scraps or fabric that I already had and needed to do something with!

Of course it's not finished :p It's just a top, that needs a bottom. . .it will get there some day ;)

Well I need to get to bed!! It's getting late for me!

It's a mystery!

So I WANTED to post this last night. . .But my internet was being SLOOOOW, it's still being kind of slow with Netflix this afternoon too :/ I might have to pop in a DVD instead for the time being!

But my post!

We just moved, and I was unpacking my "sewing area".  I no longer have a room, but half of the living room.  NOT that I am complaining! It's MUCH MUCH bigger than my last sewing room, and maybe bigger than my first sewing room?  But it's not a room, it's more an area. . .I do have a view of our big screen from my sewing area.

I unpacked a few things, my sewing room has always been the first thing that has been unpacked! It's the most important right?!

So I wanted to work on something but not everything is unpacked, so I couldn't just pull out one of my projects. . .

So I decided to start something, and you get some "hints" of what it is.  When I have some more done I will post the link, but I am going to be a tease for now!

On to the important stuff!! PICTURES!!

So here are two pictures of my sewing area ^^ on one side you can see my machine, computer, and some other random stuff (bottom pic) on the other you can see boxes and boxes and boxes, and my desk, which is where I will probably put our printer.  I am not 100% sure how I am going to do the rest of it (as is evident by the machine in the middle of the room :p)

And here is the mystery stuff ;) Any ideas on what you think it is?  I will tell you they are strips from my strip scrap box (that sounds weird!) But that is all I am saying ;)

Busy. . .

Well our internet went out yesterday, so that finally gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get some work done! Well that and the fact that I am going back to Iowa next week, and some of this NEEDED to be done before I go!The first thing is Becca's quilt. Becca is my best friends' 10 year old daughter, but Becca & I are also good buddies. I have known her since she was 2 months old! We share a love of Shrek, or well we used to. When I babysat for her we used to watch Shrek. I have taken her to see each of the sequels in theatres!
I let her go through all my fabric (which actually isn't as much as it used to be, I have been using a lot of it!) and pick out whatever fabrics she wanted. . .She ended up picking out about 20 fabrics, and I helped her slim it down, and showed her which ones went together and such.
Then we talked about size, and pattern, and I cut up the squares and she sewed it. It was her first time sewing! She didn't sew all of it, but did quite a bit.She chose this nice velour type fabric for her backing. I did the binding with a fabric that she REALLY liked and had originally wanted as a border, but changed her mind. (you can see that Minnie approves of the quilt!)It's not actually THAT big :/ So someday I will make her one that is bigger! I don't know why I haven't made her a quilt. . .probably because I haven't had a design that has just POPPED yet. . .I am not a machine :p I am bound by my imagination :pNow this quilt was a block exchange I was involved in. The swirly pieces (which are called snail's trail) I actually made randomly, and then thought they would fit nicely. I think they do work well! I have one more block I have to make to even them up.These are blocks that I use as enders and leaders (when I chain stitch). I have already made one top with some of them. We will see what these turn into :pThis is a pile of 4" squares made from the left overs of Becca's quilt back and my log cabin backing. I am thinking about sticking them with a flannel and making a little blanket.The colors in the picture didn't actually turn out that great. It's a pinkish/purple. And I think it compliments the blue and purple nicely.Now this is a pile of cloth wipes that I started. . .and then my serger broke :/ I have started doing the turn and stitch, but it takes so much more time! So we shall see how much longer I stick with that :p

I went to a sewing center here in town today, and they do serger repairs. It would be probably $80, which we won't be able to swing for a bit, but it's good to know, and to have it so close!

So what are you working on?

Summer vacation!

So I signed up for a fabric exchange, basically you put as much fabric as possible into a gallon size ziplock bag. Here is the fabric that I received. I decided to do it as a pinwheel sampler, especially since I have already done these blocks for my own quilt sampler. I must say, I REALLY like the way this is coming together. The fabric I added (we could add up to 1 yard of our own fabric)
Here is my artsy fartsy attempt while sewing HSTs (half square triangles).This is a stack of 4" squares I have had for YEARS. Some of them were going to be a baby blanket, others were scraps, others were just random fabrics. I have started sewing them into light & dark HSTs.

I am still working on the pinwheel stuff, and a quilt top for Scott's grandma.