Sea Glass Goose in the Corner Medallion Quilt

Is summer on its way? Looking at this lap-size quilt, which I finished last summer, is infusing my day with thoughts of boat rides, beach walks, and cocktails on the deck.  

Shockwave Squares Scrappy Baby Quilt

Gender-neutral, and "for boys" quilts as well, can really be a challenge for me. I have no problem using the whole gamut of colors for girls, so my stash is all over the place, but I tend to like floral prints too much for all of those same fabrics to also work for boys.

Flying Geese Baby Quilt

New year, new quilt!  Wishing everyone a wonderful year to come!

This little guy measures up at 35 x 58 inches, with 8 x 18 flying geese units!  I like the second method here, which makes four units at a time with truly minimal waste.

Holidays: Need a One-Day Wonder?

I always seem to approach handmade gifts for the holidays with the best intentions.  Oftentimes, though, the only way I'll give an entire quilt to someone for an occasion is by coincidence, since quilts often have their own timelines.

However, many things I've made take less than a day, and some even less than an hour. That's the kind of last-minute holiday sewing I can get behind.

One of these whiskers blocks (free pattern!) would be the cutest wall hanging!

Maybe your favorite stitcher needs a fancy new ironing board cover.

With just one block and some extra background fabric, you're on your way to a stunning little pillow.

Keeping it simple and choosing bold fabrics makes even the simplest pillow designs shine.

Zipper pouches? Yes, please!

The quickest yet: keep those eyeglasses safe (and looking bright!)

Reverse-Value Mod Mosaic Quilt

Another summer WIP finished!  It has been so stinkin' nice out up here recently, and I took it outside for some glamour sunshine shots.

Back in March 2012 (ouch!) I asked members of the New Bee on the Block quilting bee to make me Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic Blocks for my month. Instead of using white for my "tile grout" strips, though, I sent out Kona Cerise, and used Kona Snow and a pretty print from Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line as background. I love how the geometry becomes the focus, not the prints.

Scrappy Hexie Pillow

Hooray!  Another long-term WIP knocked out: some English paper-pieced hexagons.

Over two years ago, I (temporarily) caught the hexie bug-- it looked so simple, and people's inspirational results were so pretty.

I gathered together scraps, basted them to the paper templates during a massive tv binge session, and put them in a ziplock bag.  Whenever I needed some hand work, I could pull them out.

Paper-Piecing Tutorials: Do It Your Way

Over time, I've received many requests from people who want to learn paper-piecing, but aren't sure where to start. I've created a Paper-Piecing page on this blog that shows the basic steps I take, but I want to give credit to the amazing work others have done, and avoid reinventing the wheel!  

In addition, I urge you to find the method that looks the most normal and logical to you, since there are endless ways to achieve wonderful results.  

Star Seams: a New Paper-Pieced Star, If You Dare

One evening while perusing a catalogue, I found a shape that I wanted to try replicating in fabric: this mirror. I love the look of outlined stars (evidence: Lone Starburst), and immediately had visions of this new paper-pieced specimen. This new 12.5-inch (unfinished) block, which I call Star Seams, was born.

I tried it out first with some lovely scraps... 

And then twice again with more limited, deliberate selections.

The template looks quite neat on paper. However, this block is quite fussy to sew up! Warning!

Herringbone Baby Quilt

Even though I'm pretty sure winter is never going to end, I'm so pleased to share one last result of my Field Study mania: a little herringbone baby quilt!

Quilting Bee Spotlight: Neutral and Not II

It feels like time for a bee block post!  In 2012, we wrapped up Neutral and Not, a 12-month bee that I created after being inspired by the red and white quilt show in NYC a few years ago. I profiled our first six assignments earlier, and here are the rest:

June 2012:

Wayyy back in June, Tiffany sent out black, white, and splashes of color, requesting that we make anything we wanted using half-square triangles.  Just the kind of "guided freedom" that makes bees so much fun! I made a modified version of the star block in this tutorial.

Use it or Lose it: Field Study Strip Quilt

After a (basically Fall-long) break from sewing, I gave myself a treat: permission to use my recent stash favorites: some prints from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study line. 

After all, I figured, I can put them to better use by creating with them than they'll get from sitting in the cupboard. In this quilt, they're helped out by some gray solid and a print from her Innocent Crush line, too.

I've always appreciated the simplicity of the strip quilts at Film in the Fridge, and love how they allow fabrics to shine.

And, if there were ever any fabrics that can stand alone and just SHINE, they're these!

Quilted Zipper Pouch Mania

Now that the holidays are over and these have been gifted (and hopefully filled with whatever useful things the recipients like!) I'm happy to present the bulk of my handmade holiday gifts: Quilted Zipper Pouch Mania 2012!

I must admit that I kept this one for myself. 

To make these, I used various zippers and printed linen scraps to make pouches of various sizes, just determined by how big my scrap was.  I quilted the linen onto batting scraps, and used just fabric for the lining.  

I perused a few tutorials and this one pretty much sums it up and is quite clear.  

One tough spot is sewing over the zipper and figuring out how to incorporate topstitching, especially since I used one continuous piece of fabric for the exteriors. Doing it like this and cutting the linen into two pieces might have solved my topstitching challenges.

As usual, one of my favorite parts was picking out coordinating fabrics for the lining. And, of course, sharing the products for the holidays.  Happy New Year!

Holiday Questions

Right now, it seems like I'm being bombarded.

On the radio, on tv, in the grocery store, everywhere, it's the same question right now: "Are you getting ready for the holidays at the last minute?"

My answer? Yes. Absolutely.

What's more, I've convinced myself it's more fun that way. Have I made cookies? Heck no, I'm "saving" them.  Have I wrapped presents?  Nope, why would I want to spoil the fun of staying up real late on Christmas eve? Did I make my own spray painted ornaments that I saw on Pinterest?  Don't ask.

Time is not on my side this year.

To scrape together some handmade presents, which seemed quicker than going shopping, I decided to make a few glasses cases.  They're a hybrid of a zip pouch (without a zipper...) and these journal covers. You could make them scrappy or fancy, but I was going for speed and fun with these.  My favorite part was picking out a contrasting lining fabric.

 All you need is some scraps of fabric, batting, hair ties, and buttons. I cut 2 rectangles of outer fabric, and two of inner, at about 4.5 x 9 inches to accomodate larger glasses. I stitched the outer pieces to some batting, and put them all together as you would a zip pouch.

Some other secret (ahem, not finished yet) gifts to come!

Quilting Bee Spotlight: Quilting Under the Rainbow II

Year-long quilting bees are a tough commitment! I don't think I've been in one that survives the year with all members intact, but this one, Quilting Under the Rainbow, came pretty close. Finishing up this fall was very satisfying, and I'm excited to share more about this group.  I always love reading bee block blog posts, since it's a perfect way to browse and store away ideas for future quilts.

I've written about the first six months here, and showed off my finished quilt, as well.

Here are the rest of the blocks I made.

In March, Leah sent us stained glass-inspired fabrics to make blocks for Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Sampler.

For April,  Jackie requested some fun inserted strip blocks.

May rolled in, and with it came bright fabrics from Ellie for these starflower blocks from Ellison Lane.

In June, we made up granny squares for Karen.

And, last but not least, we worked our creative muscles to make all different and unique leaves for Aud's trees. My first time with fusible webbing!

I've been busy lately with new, exciting, and totally non-quilty things in my life, but recently bestowed myself with a day off to sew.  Pictures and a finish to come soon!

Adding: A "Plus" Quilt

Last Fall, a stack of plum, pink, aqua, orange, and red fabrics called out from the shelf.  I had been wanting to do one of these "plus" quilts for quite some time, and I based it off this tutorial, bumping the cut size of the squares up to 5.5 inches. 

A plus quilt is a fun alternative to the traditional patchwork, and comes together in much the same way:  lay it out, sew the rows together, and enjoy! (I had some some help.)

I decided that rounded corners would contrast nicely with the sharp geometric design of the quilt, and forged ahead with the necessary bias binding in Kona Aqua.

It's backed in an aqua and gray dot, and I quilted it in evenly spaced diagonal lines to form squat diamonds.

It measures about 60 x 70 inches and features so many of my favorite prints that I wish it was still around... 

but it warms my heart to imagine this one getting used all the time!!

It's also a who's who of the fabric design world: I threw some Dewberry, Schmidt, Wells, Butler, Whelan, Ross, Henderson, Paganelli,  Dena Designs and more all together and love how it turned out. The only one missing is some Anna Maria Horner (I have some of her most recent on the way, though...stay tuned)

Quilting Bee Spotlight: Neutral and Not

I love my quilting bees, as you can see here, here, and here.  After getting comfortable with their structure and rules, I wanted more, so I decided to start my own!  Neutral and Not was born out of my love of monochromatic quilts.  I'm so drawn to quilts that use limited colors and high contrast to create geometric impact, so I thought this would be a fun framework for a bee.  

(If you're interested, Rachel wrote a fantastic post about bee basics: what they are, how to find one, how to start one!)

The idea for this bee is that, each month, the queen bee can pick a one neutral tone, and one that is decidedly not. Red and white is such a classic, but what about red and bone? Gray and yellow? Aqua and sand? Coal and rose? Flame and stone? Before I got carried away, I also wanted bee members to be able to branch out to whatever colors/ideas they wanted, since I think getting what you want is an important part of a bee.

It can be a lot of work to lead a bee, wrangling 12 members all over the globe, tracking fabrics and blocks and missing members, but these lovely ladies have made it a breeze for me!  We're at a halfway point right now, so I thought I'd share what we've worked on so far.  

November 2011:

In November,  Esther assigned us Dresdens - any kind! - sent out a deep brown and some grassy prints, and changed my life.  I used this tutorial, modified to make the petals smaller.  No more Dresden fear!

January 2012:

After a holiday break, Stephanie asked for dark bird silhouettes on bright wonky tree branches.  I really loved seeing all the other members' blocks coming in for this one, since they were all so creative and different!

February 2012:

For February, Susan sent out some really lovely grays and aquas, requesting wonky log cabins.  This was actually the first time I'd ever made one!

March 2012:

Who doesn't love working with all solids??!  In March, Christina sent us some grays and a gorgeous array of purples, and requested star blocks.  I used this pattern for this little beauty. Christina's star inspiration mosaic is a terrific resource for star patterns, too!

April 2012: 

In April, Melisa took her inspiration from an improvised table runner made up of little strips.  I think this will make such a stunning quilt!

May 2012:

And, for May, Ella sent out grays and rosy tones to make these graphically bold wheel blocks.  Quick to sew up, with stunning results.

Can't wait for the fun to continue! To see the rest of our talented members' work, check out our Flickr photo pool!