Little Pink Hexden Project

In my travels around town this last week I stopped by a couple of local shops and picked up some lovely pink fat quarters to help add that scrappy feeling to my pink hexden project.  I've been feeling like it's needing a little more variety.




I love that there’s so many great pinks out there right now! 



I’ve been making good progress on my little hexdens – I have 36 flowers made and they’re ready to be appliqued onto a background square.

So I’ve been on the hunt for a good background print to applique each hexden flower to.  This week I found this print and I think it’s perfect!  Like, perfect to the point where I'm excited to start working on it NOW.  We're talking Christmas-morning excitement here.  Weird, right?



The print is from the new Modern Background- Paper line by Zen Chic for Moda.  There are some really great low volume prints in that collection.  Click on the link and scroll through the page and you’ll see what I mean.



In addition to working on this fun paper piecing project, I’ve also been putting the finishing touches on two new quilt patterns!  Stay tuned for sneak peeks of those :)

Rainbow Dash Quilt Top + Fabric Stack Friday

Remember back in January when I talked about this rainbow project?  I'm sharing it again today for my Fabric Stack Friday post - but also because...



I finally have the quilt top done!  The pattern is called Dashing and it’s from the Vintage Vibe book by Amber Johnson (I first talked about the book and pattern here and you can buy your own copy of it here.)  Here is a photo of the top before I added the border-



I finished this top at a quilting retreat with friends in January.  You know the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”?  Well, it took a whole room full of quilters to help me lay out this quilt top!  I was so grateful for the help, and I love the result. 

I’m not sure you can tell in this photo, but the appliqued little circles go from a light  gray on the top left of the quilt, and grow darker down to the black circles on the bottom right.  I love the effect. 



I used my favorite black and white swiss dot print for the border.  Now I just need to decide how to quilt it.  I have to admit, I’m kind of stumped.  Any suggestions? 

Creating

 Hey friends.  I’ve been spending some quality time (meaning late nights) with this lovely stack of fat quarters.  It turns out, they're pretty good company.  

These are from the Moda line Chance of Flowers.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  I’m using this stack of fabrics to test a new pattern that’s mostly written.  It’s tough to force myself to sit at the computer and work when it’s so pretty outside! 

Lucky for me (or unlucky?) it turns out I'm super low on vitamin D so I'm under doctor's orders to spend more time outside!  Hope you all have a fantastic (sun-filled) weekend!

Thinking of Snowflakes

I’ve been thinking about snowflakes lately.  It doesn’t help that we have a decent sized snow storm headed our way in the next couple of days.  It’s just that I get these ideas in my head and I let them rattle around for a few days as I try to come up with the easiest way to do it. 

This afternoon I pulled out a stack of snowflakeyish (what? That’s not a real word??)  looking fabrics to play with-

Out of this stack this one is hands down my favorite:

This is “Dotted Swirl” – a lovely silver metallic print.  It’s from the Hip Holiday line from Blend (designed by Josephine Kimberling).  I’m on the fence about some of the metallic fabrics out there but this one caught my eye immediately.  It just hits the spot I think.  Those silvery swirls are just perfect!  Aaaaaaand I think I should have bought more of it. 

Happy Sewing everyone!


edited to add:  After I had my stack of fabrics pulled I saw Ali’s blog post about this month’s Stash Flash.  Her theme this month is “Winter.”  My stack certainly fits the category doesn’t it?  You can join in the Stash Flash too – she gives you two ways to participate (love the IG option!)  It will be fun to see what everyone’s interpretation of the theme will be!

Sewing Just Because + Fabric Stack Friday

There hasn’t been much sewing around here for the past few days.  My sister is visiting from Oregon and we’ve been helping another sis get ready for a few Holiday Boutiques / Craft Fairs / Whatever-it-is-they-are-called-where-you-live (what ARE they called where you live??)

I will show you what I was working on earlier this week though -

First of all I cut into this fat eighth bundle of Wrens & Friends that I got last spring from quilt market (this is where Fabric Stack Friday comes in!)

I’ve been flipping through this delightful book, trying to decide what to make first:

I settled on one of the table runners – mostly because I need a nice fall-ish one for my table.  In a short time I had my fabrics for the blocks all cut and half square triangles made.

By that evening the three star blocks were finished

And now I’m just deciding on what to use for the border and binding.  I’m not convinced my fat eighth bundle has what I need for the border so a trip to my local shop is most likely inevitable. 

I’m hoping to find maybe a light green for the border and a brown for the binding?  What would you choose?

Have a delightful Friday!

Fabric Stack Friday

I realized the other day that I haven’t done a Fabric Stack Friday in awhile.  To make up for it, I have two for you today! 

First is a stack of half yard cuts from Art Gallery Fabrics.  I added in a few Kona solids so I’d have enough for a throw size quilt top.  (The solids are cactus, iron, and caribbean).  I’ll be working on this quilt this weekend at the Sewing Summit.  The line is called Urban Mod and you can find bundles here and here.

My second stack is a bundle of fat eighth cuts of Florence by Denyse Schmidt.  I had a “love at first sight” moment when I first saw this line at spring market.  I got this bundle from a new friend of mine.  Amanda’s shop is Westwood Acres and she always has the most lovely bundles of fabric.

Hope you have a great weekend!  

Ginghams

I’m working with some of the new Riley Blake ginghams today.  Have you seen these?  The ones pictured here are the small gingham.  They also have medium and large available.  I got these in a fat quarter bundle from the Fat Quarter Shop (I had a gift certificate wahooo!) But the small and medium ginghams can also be found at the Fabric Fly shop (love this shop!)

The solids I have in the photo above are Kona Solids.  I had my preschooler with me yesterday at my local quilt shop and I enlisted his help in finding the solids to match each of the ginghams.  He had a blast – and he did a great job! 

Warming Up + Fabric Stack Friday

It is SO.VERY.COLD here.  My youngest son asks me daily if summer will be here soon.  I’m running out of things to tell him.  I suppose I could make a paper chain type of thing to help him visually understand just how many more cold days we have left, but I’m afraid that it will make me cry to see how long that chain will be. 

I bought this stack of Noteworthy fat quarters last week with no particular use in mind.  They were just so happy and warm looking.  They sit on my sewing table and cheer me up each time I go in there. 

I’m considering using the FQ and this block pattern to make myself a “you can make it through February” quilt! 

November + Fabric Stack Friday

Remember how I was complaining about snow a week ago?  Well now my calendar tells me it’s November, but the thermometer outside tells me it’s August.  The kids are outside playing 4-square in shorts and t-shirts.  And I love it! 

I had a free hour this afternoon while my son was napping so I thought I would get a jump start on my November bee blocks. 

This month Amanda asked for some 8.5” square-in-square blocks using black, navy, teal, gray and white.  Here’s what I found in my scrap bins:

And here are my two finished blocks:

It’s nice to have something on my to-do list crossed off so early in the month!

Have a nice (sunny?) weekend everyone!

Fabric Stack Friday: Blues and Greens

I know that lately I’m showing a lot of fabric stacks and not a lot of finished projects.  I promise I have several finished quilts to show (wanna see one?  It’s already posted here.)  But for today all I have for you is this stack of blues and greens. 

Last year one of my online quilting bees created these blocks for me (the color is a little off, but you get the idea!):

Since then I’ve added about 10 more blocks of my own and some white sashing to make it a queen size.  Yup.  This one is for me.  The quilt top has been done for several months and I’m just now getting around to making the back.  That’s what the stack of fabrics above is for.  Gorgeous, aren’t they? 

Have a great weekend!  Do you have any big plans?  As for me I’ll be working on this quilt back and two eye-spy quilts!

Fabric Stack Friday: Late Bloomer

Just a hint of fall is in the air today.  We have finally gotten some rain, the first of the college football games began (yay Cougars!) and I can hear the elementary school kids playing out at recess.  Time for a change of colors in my sewing room. 

I have had this Late Bloomers charm pack in my closet all summer but just didn’t feel like sewing with browns.  I do today though!  This morning I sketched up an idea for a quilt that uses two charm packs and just under 2 yards of solid fabric.  I can’t wait to get started!

What are you working on this weekend?

Oh and don't forget -you still have three days to enter the giveaway!

Fabric Stack Friday

This vibrant stack is for my August bee blocks for IMAGINE at do. Good Stitches group.  Not my normal colors, are they? 


Jessica has created a fun block for us this month.  If you go here you can see a sketch of what the finished quilt will look like (as well as her block tutorial.)  It’s going to be gorgeous!

Fabric Stack Friday: Halloween Sewing

I’m doing a bit of Halloween sewing this week. 

I was talking with a friend yesterday and we were both so glad that these pretty purples and greens have been added to the Halloween fabrics.  One can only do so much with just orange and black, you know?

One more note – This Halloween project involves some ric rac.  I don’t really ever sew with ric rac.  Apparently I don’t talk about ric rac either because when I mentioned it yesterday my family busted up laughing.  They thought that I had made up that name. 

Fabric Stack Friday

Lately I’ve been on the hunt for some great gray fabrics.  I needed some gray to finish a project a couple of weeks ago and all I had in my closet was one small piece – less than a FQ.  I was surprised – I feel like I’ve been sewing a lot with gray lately – but when I thought about it I realized that I mostly just use solid gray (Kona Ash.)


We did some travelling last week and I had the chance to visit a few quilt shops in one town.  I kept my eyes peeled for anything gray.  This is the stack that I walked away with – not bad, eh?



Fabrics are (Left to Right): 
Georgette Christmas by Anna Griffin for Windham found here and here
Definitions – Scattered Seeds by Faye Burgos for Marcus Brothers found here
Urbanicity Scribbles Grey White by Michele D’Amore for Benartex found here
Tuxedo Floral Gray by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake found here and here
Tuxedo Gray Scatter by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake found here and here
Gray Color Weave by P&B Textiles (I couldn’t find it anywhere online!)
Carnival Light Gray Stripes by Red Rooster Studio found here, here and here

Fabric Stack Friday (and two bee blocks)

I love these colors – so pretty!  These were the colors we were asked to use for our bee blocks in June for IMAGINE at do.  Good Stitches.

We used this as our color inspiration:



…and this was our tutorial to follow:  Improv Chevrons 

…and here are my two blocks:






These were a lot of fun to make.  I was able to make both blocks in about 90 minutes or so, and that includes choosing the fabrics.  I can’t wait to see how the finished quilt turns out!

Fabric Stack Friday

Sick of seeing yellows yet?  Not me.  It’s gray and rainy here today so a stack of happy yellow fabrics is just what I needed.

I wanted to add three more fabrics to my stack for this project.  I had to visit three different shops to gather this many yellows – no one shop had enough!  But this is the final stack.  The cutting may begin!

So far this is shaping up to be a nice, productive weekend.  I’ve made 1/2 years worth of strawberry jelly, I’ll be quilting two twin size quilts for two sweet nieces, and hopefully getting a good start on this yellow/gray quilt.

Fabric Stack Friday

A few more yellows for this project-

And for this stack of prints from the Apple of My Eye line, I was imagining a table topper with a few raw-edge appliqued apples.  Then I saw this, and my plans might have changed.