The BIG Finish of 2012! (...so far...)

(I hope there are more finishes in 2012!)

Even though Tucker (Kelly's son) was born on time, my baby quilt for him was not. I have loads of excuses...

But what matters most is that it. is. FINISHED!!

For the front, I used the Traveler Quilt pattern from the Oliver+S Little Things to Sew book. It is a very simple pattern, although I would like to announce to the world that I believe the fabric suggestions are grossly over estimated. With that said, though, I am making this pattern again. :)

I stepped out of my quilting cotton comfort zone, and used Essex Linen in white, because Kelly loves linen. Kelly also loves blues and greens, so I used solids and prints from my stash (actually, the abandoned "Bottled Rainbows" quilt provided most of them!). I spent a little time in limbo because I didn't order enough of the Essex Linen, and you would think I was asking for fabric made from moon dust the way the fabric stores in Colorado acted when I asked if they carried it! Sheesh!

Once I got the rest of the linen, I commenced to spending hours upon hours with my brow furrowed as I tried to figure out how to piece the back. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use the bits and pieces to make something truly modern, and I settled on the "Confetti" pattern from Block Party. I felt like I was Alexander the Great trying to solve the Gordian Knot! (here's an in-progress picture)

Oy. Good thing I love the back so much. It would really stink if didn't! I bet I spent at least 3 times as much time on the back as I did on the front. Here's the finished back:

(I took the quilt to the park the other day to take pictures, and as my oldest was holding it up, a friend surprised us all by sliding under it. I really love this shot!)

I was inspired to quilt it in waves thanks to the early doorstep arrival of Modern Minimal, by Alissa Haight Carlton. It was perfect for a lot of reasons, and I'm so glad I did the waves!

I used variegated green thread for one wave, and variegated blue thread for the echoing wave, and finished the quilting at the Front Range MQG (fantabulously awesome) retreat in late February. Unfortunately, I had some tension issues with the quilting that caused some tension issues with my attitude, and so the quilt sat.

And it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat and it sat. (who can tell me what that's from?)  :o)

I had to rip out and redo quite a few sections of the blue quilting, and I didn't like the way I was having to bury the thread tails. Finally, oh finally, I found this YouTube video showing a stinkin' brilliant way to hide thread tails, and I do believe my life has been forever changed. Amen.

I (machine) bound it in Maude Asbury's Calypso Ovals in Cool, which I am completely in love with and want to wallpaper my whole house with. Even though it's an oval, if you cut it right, it reads, and thus binds, as a stripe.

It was really challenging for me to not share pictures as I blogged about the process of the quilt. I'm fairly sure Kelly knew the quilt was coming to her, but I didn't want her to know what it looked like until she got it in her hot little hands.

But in her hands it is, even though not-so-little Tucker Man is (oh my goodness, Kelly!) 8 weeks old already. It isn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but Kelly knows to apply my "friend" rule when it comes to hand-made projects.  (My "friend" rule is that a real friend doesn't notice the imperfections, and if she does, she doesn't ever mention them to anyone!)

Kelly, I'm glad you love it. That's all that matters. It was made for you. I mean Tucker. :o)

(I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for "finish it up Friday" and I will remove it forever from my "{WiP} Wednesdays" posts! Hallelujah!)


(I'm also linking up with Canoe Ridge Creations for "Sew Modern Monday". It's nice to finish something!)

Tangled in The Web

So, yes. I cleaned off my workstation.  Yes, I've been productive. The whole "everyone off the Internet for a whole day" thing helped on Wednesday. Thank you, lawmakers. :o)

Unfortunately, I've been productive doing things that I can't post about!!

What's the point in having a creative blog to show everyone what you're secretly creating when the people you're secretly creating for are reading same said blog?? :-(  Such is the life in this interconnected interwebby world, eh?

So, anyways, here's a picture of the mostly stuck on the design wall Happy Quilt for you:

I've got to cut some background fabric for it, and I can start piecing it, but I had to order a very small amount of fabric to complete it. I'm hoping to break out of this odd habit I have where I canNOT begin a project until I have all the parts for it. Even if I'm waiting on something miniscule to be used at the end. It's just wrong for me to behave and create that way! It's an incredible waste of precious time...so, yeah. I want to stop that silliness. :o)

I also got the binding ready for the quilt I have to bind. The binding reminds me of Fruit Stripe gum. Remember that? It was good. Except the flavor lasted exactly 9.4 seconds.

I think I'll probably bind The Happy Quilt with the Fruit Stripe binding also, and change the name of the quilt to Fruit Stripe. :o)

I worked on a frustrating bee block that I can't show you (see interwebbyness above), and didn't get it done. First of all, I'm following a tutorial that isn't written quite as accurately and explicitly as I need. Second, this one isn't a mindless block, if that makes sense. There's a lot of attention required. And maybe a lot more patience and confidence than I have. I'm very tempted to throw it away and just start over. I just don't have the time or the energy to attempt to take something that is a failure and make it look fabulous, when, in the end, it's going to look like a failure anyways. I've already spent more time on it than I care to admit, and I'm just not sure that spending more time will make a difference. I'm ready to cut my losses and start over.

In a Truth Project update, I'm finding it really hard to live within the limits I set for myself. Some things are easier than others, of course, but some of them are just really hard! Last week we did really well with not eating out, but this week, we've eaten out twice. I did buy fabric, but I only bought fabric for projects that I have in mind, and are already in progress, so that's okay.  I did buy a sewing tool I could possibly borrow, but I'm not sure if I know anyone who actually has said tool, so I haven't used it yet, and I'm still holding onto the receipt. :o)  And I did have to buy an office supply item. I had to buy a new printer because our old one was possessed by evil spirits. And it was on super sale. And I know I'll be infinitely happier (right??). That printer was what blew my budget, though. And our trash can broke, so I need to buy a new one of those. Sweet little, angel-faced, Sprout loves to get stuff out of the trash can, so we need a robust one. With a lid. ;o)

Aww, just look at that sweet little face.

It's strange, though. Sorta. Yes and no. That in my attempt to cut out the "spirit of poverty", I'm feeling more strapped than ever!

The Truth is depressing, isn't it!

{WiP} Wednesday ~ Week 20!

(I'm linking with Lee at Freshly Pieced for {WiP} Wednesday)

I have less to report this week than I was hoping for (and no pictures! How depressing!), but I am very proud to report that my sewing table has been cleared of myriad junk that had taken up residence on it. So now I feel like I have no excuse I can sew like the wind! :)

Here. I'll show you a picture of that:

Oh, and I have so much to DO!!  It's pretty ridiculous, really.

I'm really glad I made my calendar last week, so now I feel like I can focus on what I need to finish first, and then can have some free brain cells to work on what I really want to work on. What a novel concept, eh? :)

Done
Well, I wouldn't call them finished, per se, but I sure got a lot further than I was on the Harrison quilts. All the quilts for the kids are bound, and 3 of the 4 have the hand quilting completed.  Now I just need to tie up the loose threads, hand quilt that 4th, and get a binding on the quilt for the mother. It will feel so good to get those done! I know this. I know this.

I tried to work on some bee blocks on Saturday at our guild sew. I promise I tried!! Audrey even tried to help me, but the tutorial I was using wasn't very clear, and so I didn't bring enough fabric. Boo, hiss.

Cooking

1. The Harrison Quilts -- still here in this list, but I'm closer! Go me!
2. Christmas Cards -- Oh, I crack myself up. I sent out 2 today. Progress? Meh. 
3. Bee Blocks -- I have the fabric in my hands, now, to make 2 blocks for Janice. I also need to work on that one from above that didn't start off so well... :-(
4. A Happy Quilt -- kinda secretive, but I've pulled fabrics and started cutting to make a happy quilt for someone. :) See the picture above? I found some cool, meaningful, inspirational fabric last week, and now I'm ready to go! (Oh, but I left out the meaningful fabric.)

On the Back Burner

1. Mod Mosaic Blocks -- I have at least 3 that must be done for other people, and 24 that have to be done for me. (Stalled) 
2. Puppet Theater Backdrop -- I moved the fabric a little. Does that count? :) 
3. MQG Showcase Quilt --  I'm waiting till I get some other must-do projects finished before I start on this. It's all designed, though! 
4. Secret Projects -- I made a list on my laptop of these gazillion secret projects... 
5. Kelly's Baby Gifts -- I have a pattern! I have some fabric! I should be cutting it up!! Seriously, though. I'm a bit scared of following a pattern. I kinda believe that most pattern writers either (a) don't have a clue how poorly written the pattern is copy editors or proof-readers because they are TOO confusing and redundant and waste fabric like crazy, or (b) they do it that way on purpose so you have to buy the pattern. This, and flannel blankets. :) She knows that. (Hi, Kelly!)
6. Maternity Skirts -- too cold to wear skirts!
7. Quilt-alongs -- 
1. I'm still on the fence about the Swoon one. I've changed my mind on the quilt I'm going to make for my uncle, and I'm MUCH more excited about this design!(see #11 below) It's not necessarily easier? But maybe? Anyways, I was inspired by THIS ridackulously gorgeous quilt by Jennifer.
2. I'm still planning on doing Amy's Block of the Month at Craftsy, I just can't commit to any fabric, yet! Not inspired...YET! :)
8. My Baby's Quilt -- no change. I've got the fabric, and the plan, but there are other things ahead of it.
9. T-shirt quilts -- no change. Joann's has interfacing on sale this week, so I'll get some of that, and I need to wash and prep the shirts, but there's no urgency on this one, so it languishes.
10. Sprout's Goodnight Moon Quilt -- I hope to finish it for her birthday in May.
11. Uncle Phil's Quilt -- here's the fabric I get to use (so excited!)

 

And in other news, if you're still with me. I L<3VE Vistaprint products. Today's LivingSocial deal is for $50 worth of their products for $10. I love it when they do that!!!  Click HERE for the link if you want to get the deal.

That's all for now! Have a great week - good luck getting your WiPs into your DuNs pile. :)

If You Fail To Plan...

Yes, I am aware that my WiP list is long and intimidating and kind of ridiculous. :-)

Sometime between yesterday and today, I realized that as I jumped from one project to another to another I need to come up with a PLAN. I need to figure out which projects need to be done and when. What fabric needs to be bought for each project, and when. Who is having what kind of baby, and when. So I printed out a calendar, got out a lovely pack of pens, and I'm ready to

Plan!!
 

I really think this will help me stay true to my fabric-buying restriction and not get caught at the end of the month with a bunch of fabric, and no diapers!! :-)

I'm actually pretty excited about one (probably two) quilts on the horizon. I've decided to admit to the world that I'm not ever going to even start my Bottled Rainbows quilt, and use the solids for these two quilts rather than buying more identical fabric. You know I love me some rainbows, so I'll be using the solids to make a couple of new, oh-so-lovely quilts. And actually working within my stash rather than buying new fabric. Win!

And so far, I've done better this week about eating out. Yay me! The added benefit is that the girls seem to have better days in the digestional department when we eat at home more than we eat out. :)

We have a FRMQG guild sew tomorrow, and I'm taking two things: the Harrison quilts to bind, and some mod mosaic blocks to work on. I hope to have something good to report next week!

Have a great weekend!

{WiP} Wednesday #12

(I've been doing this for 12 weeks? How is that even possible?!)

I'm here again, linking up with Lee, to report to y'all how I've done this week getting stuff OFF my to-do list.

Finishes this week:

I finished my quilt for Craft Hope (to be sent to Alabama) and sent it off. I miss it already. :) You can read about what that quilt taught me here.

I've finished prepping 2 more of my Birdie Stitches block-a-month blocks. I need to trace the embroidery on the center blocks, and then they're ready to be stitched. It'll be nice to only be 3 months behind instead of 4. :)

I also finished that ding-dang camera strap cover I promised my friend at Christmas. (Slacker!) I really hope she likes it. It's a bit scrappy, and I don't know if she'll like that part of it, but the other side is solid, so that's good. I like it, and if she doesn't, well, no harm done. (I used THIS tutorial again.)

In looking at my blog post when I made my own last year, I realized that I had fully intended to make another one for myself. Then when I took it off the camera strap to try Jamie's I realized that it's stained, and it shrank, and it's just...elementary. I totally need a new one! I can not, however, make a new one for myself right now. WAY too much to do. Maybe next week. :)

Still needing some lovin'

1. Robert Kaufman Solids Challenge -- (sigh). I still haven't started piecing it. I'm SUCH a bad role model. I hope to get piecing on it this week. I HAVE TO get piecing on it this week! Dang.
2. do. Good Stitches Bee {Faith Circle} -- lollipop blocks, still unstarted. I haven't even pulled fabrics. I will, though!
3. Katie's Bee Happy bee blocks -- Christmas tree and Rainbow tree. I had hoped to finish these Tuesday, but dadgum "life" just got the best of me. I hope to get to them today or tonight.
4. Birdie Stitches BOM blocks -- even though I got some prepped, I'm still shamefully behind. I hope to make some good progress this week as I will be away from my electric sewing machine and will have to rely solely on the sewing machine attached to the end of my wrist.
5. Jen's purse -- right. I need to start this one on the back burner so maybe it'll simmer enough to actually create an idea I can go on! :)
6. Bottled Rainbows QAL -- unstarted. I'm collecting scraps for it, though. Does that count? :)
7. Secretive Get Better Quilt -- unstarted, I could at least start it so when the time comes to need it, I won't have to panic. Hmmm....
8. Secretive P&P Quilt -- unstarted, must buy fabric and set this on the back burner as well.
9. Fabric Hutch-- the doors are open and airing out the cigar smell.
10. Mug Rugs -- I unearthed a couple of mug rugs I started in January, I think? I'm going to work on them this week. They're for a very sweet couple who could use some cheering up.

New This Week
 Hmmm...I don't think anything! I've certainly got enough on my plate! But I will add "camera strap cover" here, so that next week, when I look back and maybe have a bit of time (hahaha!), I'll remember that I wanted to make one. I'm thinking yellow and aqua this time. I'm SO loving that combination. :)  Or rainbow. Always love the rainbow.

Have a great week, and I hope you get a lot done! And if you've got some extra time, you should see what others are working on this week. Click here to go to Lee's link-up.

{WiP} Wednesday #9

Look! It's Wednesday again! And I'm posting again! (I'm such a broken record!)

But I've really had my nose to the grindstone this week trying to get my quilt for Craft Hope/Alabama done. Well, and having a joint birthday party on Saturday (and having to super-clean because my grandma came down!) and guests coming to stay from Sunday till tomorrow.

The birthday girls. Scrumptious!

Nose to the grindstone. I haven't sewn anything else.

The blocks in pile. Not nearly as impressive as I thought they would be.

I had to clean up my crap craft area a bit so I could hang my design wall again. Storage will come one of these days...but I'd rather be sewing than spending the time organizing. What's that? You don't know what I'm talking about? Whatever.

The blocks all rolled up. There was a tiny patch of sun, and I the colors were brilliant

This is 80 blocks, and the back will have some pieces/scraps from the fat quarters I used for the front. I HAVE TO get the top and back done by Friday morning because I've reserved time on the long arm, and that's really the only time I can do it.

I'm using the Flowerbeds pattern from the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of McCall's Quilting. BUT, I will warn you...if you do this pattern on your own, you will not need as much of the border/sashing/white fabric as the pattern calls for.  If you follow the pattern exactly, then you're good, but if you're a pattern-deviant like me, then you'll have a lot more than you really need.

I wasn't sure if I would dig the colors once I got the blocks together up on the wall, but I still do. They're definitely not my first choice of colors, but I wanted this quilt to be something that a man wouldn't mind having in his home. I mean, really. These people are rebuilding their lives from nothing. From the ground up, so I wanted to have it be a color combination that either a man or woman would be pleased to have decorating their new space.

Hopefully I will get to show you finished pictures next week, as well as other finishes!!

Recap of WiPs:

1. Robert Kaufman Kona Solids Challenge - unfinished, but I'm stoked about my design!
2. Kelly's Bee Happy door and window blocks - unfinished, but halfway done.
3. do.Good Stitches Bee - unfinished, but 5% done. :)
4. Camera Strap - unstarted, but I need to move this up on the must-do list!
5. Jen's Purse - unstarted.
6. Birdie Stitches - some unfinished, some unstarted. I'm going to a retreat in June, and I plan to take these along to work on there. I'll have lots of handwork time on my hands. :)
7. Bottled Rainbows Quilt-along - unstarted.

New this week (or more like "remembered" this week!)

1. Secretive Get Better quilt - unstarted, but I'll put everything aside when the time comes to make this.
2. Secretive P-n-P quilt - unstarted, must buy the fabric and then figure out a pattern.

{WiP} Wednesday

That's my to-sew list. That I can remember, at least!

Let's review:

1.  RK Kona Solids Challenge - I decided to buy green background. I can't remember what it is, but I didn't want to use white, and I wanted it to be bright and happy, so I went with green. I think it's Kona Celery. (It's not on that list, but it totally should be!)
2. Mug Rugs for Japan - the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild has decided to try to sell mug rugs at the Monument Art Hop (Monument is a small town here, and the Art Hop is a summer series, and different shops host local artists). We are going to donate any money to the Japanese Red Cross. The Art Hop is May 19th, so I need to get busy!
3. Kelly's Bee Happy blocks - Kelly took on the first month in Round 2 of the Bee Happy virtual quilting bee. She gave us solids and some of Dena Designs fabrics and asked us to make one window block and one door block. I don't know what I'm going to do, quite yet, but I need to start drafting my ideas. I'm administrating this round, and it's not cool for the administrator to be late! Especially the first month! Hah!
4. May "Faith" do.Good Stitches blocks - For May, Kelsey asked us to make string blocks for two quilts she is making for a couple of boys in her church. 
5. Sew the April and May Birdie Stitches blocks, and then, of course, embroider them! I'm falling further and further behind!
6. Alabama Quilt - Craft Hope has designated Project 13 to be security blankets for tornado survivors (of Alabaman). Since I spent some of the best years of my 20s in that lovely state, I can't very well make a quilt for Japan, and NOT make one for Alabama! I think I've got a line on some 108" wide fabric (not muslin, I'm going to see how the two are different), and I am either going to do something similar to my Japan design (with the hexies appliqued to the top), or I'm going to do something SIMPLE, but different. I think the deadline is June 15th, so I gotta get my boottackal region in gear! They are accepting ALL blankets, though, so if you know how to make a blanket (of any kind), head on over there and sign yourself up. Fleece, flannel, crocheted, knit, quilted, whatever. Blankets. To people whose entirely livelihood has literally been wiped off the map.
7. Pouch for April do.Good.Stitches recipient. I asked Rachel if I could send anything extra with the quilt for the lady who we made the rainbow blocks for, and she said sure! So I'm going to jump on the pouch bandwagon and make her a rainbow pouch. And include a little something inside, too. :o)
8. Camera Strap for a friend - oh my goodness. At Christmas, a friend made a comment on my camera strap, and I told her I'd make her one. It's now May. I suck.
9. Quilted bag for my step-mom - Jen said she wanted to have something that I made, and she loves purses, so I'm going to make her a purse. After I make Jamie's camera strap. 
10. Embroider March's Birdie Stitches block - sigh.
11. Bottled Rainbows quilt - holy cow. I love the Bottle Rainbows quilts that everyone seems to be finishing, and I haven't even started, but this is at the bottom of my list for a reason...it's NOT a priority!

And here are my finishes go from the last week or two:

1. I finished Audrey's mug rug (and didn't take any pictures, but I'll add them if I can!).  She and I both went to Auburn University (in Alabama) (War Eagle!), so I made her a mug rug with the AU logo on it. Audrey is also kinda notorious for loving scraps, so made the AU and the stripe down the side out of scraps. I've never used a satin stitch for applique, and I wasn't really pleased with how it shifted on the fabric, but I had a few near-catastrophic mug rug events the day I was finishing it, and I just couldn't bring myself to cut out the AU and piece it in. I was lucky to get out the door with my inside clothes on the inside that day!
2. I finished Janice's Wonky Log Cabin house blocks for Round 1 of the Bee Happy VQG. She sent all the fabric we needed, but designated some special fabric she really wanted us to use. She said she wanted them super-scrappy (which is super-hard for me!), and that was pretty much it! Here are my two blocks together, and you can just click on the picture and go to my photostream to see them individually.

I believe that is all I've got to share? There's a whole heckuva lot more on the to-sew list than on the done-sewed list. But maybe that will change this week.

I hope you all are having a great, and crafty, week!

{WIP} Wednesday

You know? I love traveling to see family and friends, but MAN, is re-entry hard!

We spent a fabulous spring break week in LA seeing old friends and just really enjoying being back. Really. Sprout and I went to a LAMQG weekend sew, and got to see our buddies there. We went to Sew Modern and bought loads of yummy scrummy fabrics from Lauren. I bought some prints for stash and for swaps. (and, let us just be real, here...I bought them just to pet and admire).

I bought a lovely, rainbow array of Kona solids. Some for Stitched in Color's Bottled Rainbows Ticker Tape Quilt-along, and some for the next round of the Hexagon Swap on Flickr.

We went to Momen+ and bought too many fat quarters.

We ate at In-and-Out Burgers, and the Omelette and Waffle Shop. We went to the Aquarium. We spent time with people we love. Good, good times. I miss my LA friends and my LA life. People often ask if I'm glad to be back in Colorado, and I always feel bad for saying "Not really", even though it's true. Colorado is wonderful and beautiful and has lots of wonderful and beautiful things and people, but it's just not the life that we had created in LA.

Then the girls and I traveled to Phoenix to spend a few days with my brother and his wife. There's a whole lot of mutual idolizing going on between Uncle Robbie and Mookie. I took pictures, but they're on the other computer, so I'll try to upload some later to my other blog.

Because we were gone, I don't have much in the way of finished works. Really only one. I finished my February block for the Birdie Stitches Block of the Month. March is ready to be stitched. And the April design comes out Friday. Oh how I love to be behind.

I am doing each month in a different color, so January was pink, February was red, March was orange, April will be yellow, etc. And I decided to use embroidery thread to match the block color, for the most part. I was really surprised to see the stark difference between the pink January stitching and the red February stitching. Hopefully in the end, it will all be cool and I'll love the finished quilt. :o)

But while I was gone, I received two gigantic and bountiful packages of scraps. I participated in Sew Sara's scrap swap, and Mariliz and Jessica both sent WAY too many scraps. :o)

And check out this rogue, super cool scrap from Mariliz! I'm desperate to know what it is, and where I can find loads more of it. I don't drink coffee or tea, really, but I just LOVE this design!

Eventually, I'll be using those scraps to make my own Bottled Rainbows Ticker Tape quilt.  I have all the supplies now, so I can get started on it whenever I want, but I've got a zillion other projects that MUST get done, and that one would be just for fun, and just for me, so I'm going to wait.

Speaking of other projects, I decided to use some of my hexies from the Hexagon Swap to start a quilt to send to a survivor of the earthquake in Japan.  I am taking a class on how to use a long arm machine at a LQS, and we're supposed to bring a quilt to practice on, so I decided to hustle up and get this one finished so I can quilt it there at the shop.  Here's the quilt top so far.

I used 52 hexagons (cut using the Accuquilt Go! die), and I'm so glad that I participated in so many rounds of the Hexie Swap so that I would have enough to sort through and have enough of each color to really use. Needless to say, I totally love it. It's symmetrical, it's rainbow-ey, and it's modern. My kind of quilt. My next task is to applique the hexies to the top. THAT, my friends, is what's going to take me a while. :o)

And, I've still got Libby's bee blocks, Yolanda's bee blocks, Janice's bee blocks, Audrey's mug rug, mug rugs for other friends, a camera strap, a quilted purse, squares to cut for the next round of the hexie swap and more to cut for the Around the Circle swap. Oh, duh. And my Kona Solids Challenge quilt.

Ugh.  You know I loved that trip to LA and Phoenix, but it was hard to be away from my sewing machine for so long! There is just SO much to do!

But that, my friends, is what's on my {WIP} list this week. I hope you have a great, and productive week!

Wanna Swap Some Scraps?

I'm kinda bored with the scraps I have, so I've actually been on the lookout for some kind of friendly scrap swap. I think I've found it!

The idea is simple: sign up to send between 1 and 5 envelopes stuffed with scraps. Sara will give you the addresses of the people you'll send to. Wait not so patiently to get your envelopes back!

The sign-ups end at midnight March 4th, so if you're interested, head on over there.

I'm going to use mine for the Stitched in Color Bottled Rainbows quilt-along.

I probably won't be able to do it on her timeline, but I want to make a rainbow quilt, and I want to make a ticker tape quilt, so why not blend the two ideas, right?