Tree Block

Lee is going to make an awesome quilt of trees - and she asked our bee to make blocks for it.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do, then totally changed my mind when I pulled out her fabrics.  I'm in the middle of planning a Ninja Training party for Becket's birthday party this weekend - so I ended up making a kind of paper pieced Bonsai tree.



Or maybe it's a tall rain forest canopy tree - perhaps Dr. Seuss.  Not sure.  But it was fun!

.

Lemon Lime - Quilt parade...

Float one in the quilt parade.

I have a ton of finished quilts that just haven't had the chance to be photographed and blogged. Lemon Lime gets to kick off the parade.

One huge shoo fly - it's about 40" square. Not sure what it is about the shoo fly, but it's a favorite block of mine.



I went with a yellow binding and am quite happy with it.



There was much debate in my head for how to quilt this one. I've wanted to do more pebbles for a while, but they take so much thread and time that I wanted a smaller space. The lemons seemed like the perfect spot for them. So then the middle got a square spiral and I just did parallel lines along each corner. Overall, so much time with pebbles and lines, but I love the way it turned out.



Finished off with some fun, random stripes in green - hence the lime half of Lemon Lime!



Go visit all the other fun completed over Thanksgiving!


.

Even MORE WIPs.....

It's getting a little NUTS. I have so many things going....but that's the benefit of having a hard deadline sometimes.

Stuff I've been wanting to do as well as lingering WIPs make their way to the finish line.



I have a couple quilts nearing the end of their binding.



And I was able to quilt up two more yesterday - ready to hand stitch tomorrow as we watch football and eat all day.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday I think.



I also have a stack of covered notebooks nearing completion and a bunch of lanyards ready to stitch.

It will all have to sit for a bit as I cook and clean today! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

.

Two Quilt Tops Done

A ton has been getting done around here.

Including this red and blue Greek Cross baby quilt top.



And the Churn Dash I started just a bit ago.



Quick photos of the two tops, as this is the kind of help I usually get around here.



Off to make backs and quilt these up! Hopefully I can get that done before Thursday. Busy hands stitching binding can't eat TOO many yummy appetizers.


.

Four Pillows Plumping.....

Finished up my four Christmas Tree Pillows.



I was really happy with how my zippers turned out.

And then stuffed with down pillow forms from Crate and Barrel. At only $12 for the 20" inserts, they're a great deal - and very nice!



I try to stay out of the Crate and Barrel Outlet so close to my house. I can't always resist the treasures one can find there.



Amazingly, I didn't buy one thing off that wall of Marimekko.  But I know where I'm going to my next quilt back!

W.I.P. Big Time!

I'm actually going to link up - first time. 

Because I have a TON of W.I.P.s going right now. Getting ready for a little craft fair.



Making Coloring Wallets - fabulous pattern by JCasa.



And ran out to Target today to find some hair bands and came across this huge Ball-o-Bands.

Almost too pretty to unwind!




.

I Knew I was Doing the Right Thing!

At mass yesterday my ears perked up during the first reading.

It said that a wife should buy yarn and fabric and sew lots of awesome stuff!  I knew it - and I already have a ton of yarn!



My husband wasn't so sure my understanding was correct....and even if I insisted in taking only small snippets here and there of the passage, that the 'finding' refers specifically to FREE yarn and fabric you happen to find. 

A good wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels.
She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
   her husband also, and he praises her.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:10, 13, 28, 31

Pebbles

I love pebble quilting's texture.

And I have a project that is small enough that I won't need 17 bobbins of thread to complete.



But, I may need to revisit the spray baste thing.  After much testing I never did find any differences between the Dritz and the 505.

But I'm not so sure I like it as well as I had hoped.  The basting part is MUCH more pleasant.  And nary a wrinkle or pucker is to be found. 

But the quilting - with a spray basted quilt - is not that great.  And I LOVE the quilting part.  The problem is that the basting makes the quilt a little stiff.  And am finding that the quilting process is much more difficult without any drape to your quilt.  I have to wrestle it and stop to pull/move as much as if I was stopping to undo a pin.

Maybe I'll try spraying on the back and pinning the front? 

.

Sew to Swap : Blog Hop Book Tour

What a ton of fun!  I am so thankful that Chrissie invited me to join this group of quilting rock stars as we helped her create Sew to Swap.

Hey, that's my hexie on the front! 

I couldn't believe she assigned me purple - I was not a fan.  But I think this was the start of my appreciation of it.  I actually enjoy using purple every so often, now.  One of those great swap benefits.

Chrissie planned and wrote the book - we helped by being actual swap partners and also offering some personal thoughts on everything from favorite quilting tools to your mid-sewing munchies.

This is one of my favorites, from Melanie.

Chrissie gives all kinds of awesome info about swaps - what to make, how to do them, guideline suggestions.  Then there are a bunch of fun projects, from small pillows to large quilts, to make yourself or use for a group swap.

But here's what totally makes this book for me.  She tells REALLY how to do it.

For the Curvy Block Swap she tells you exactly how to do it from start to end - suggesting instructions for your bee mates when it's your month down to how she decided to finish off the quilt once the blocks made it back to her.

Best Part!!!  The Curvy Block Swap Kit.

And she has one of these for each of the projects.  A list of exactly what to send out to everybody.  Isn't that the hardest thing to figure out when it's your month?!

Look, it's me!  I was excited that they chose to feature this specific quote.  Because it is a big part of why I like to participate in bees and swaps.  The fun friends you make while doing it and the awesome sense of
accomplishment you get after tackling a super tricky request from those new quilty friends.

I wrote a step-by-step tutorial for the Ringed Double Circle block that I made for Chrissie - both how to draft your ringed pattern, as well as tips on assembly.

The publisher has offered a discount during the blog hop:

Get Sew to Swap now for just $14.99 ($10 off the retail price!). Visit the Martha Pullen Online Store and use promo code SEW2SWAP to get your exclusive discount.
{Offer expires Nov 30, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. Special Price in US Dollars, for items that are “in stock” only. Martha Pullen Company reserves the right to correct pricing errors.}

Ok, can you tell I had fun?

Here's the list of all the cool people I got to hang out with while making the book.  Check them out!

November 7 Lovely Little Handmades

November 8 Stitches & Scissors

November 9 Cluck Cluck Sew

November 10 My Three Sons

November 11 Twin Fibers

November 12 Stitchy Quilt Stuff

November 13 The Creative Juices of Ariel

November 14 Texas Freckles

November 15 Quilt Dad

November 16 Artsy-Craftsy Babe

November 17 Little Miss Shabby

November 18 A Cuppa and a Catch Up

November 19 A Quilt is Nice

November 20 A Little Sweetness

November 21 House of A La Mode

November 22 I’m Just a Guy Who Quilts

November 23 Little Bit Funky

November 27 In His Grace

.  

Two Done : now the super scary part!

Two are done!



I usually prefer to hand stitch the back of the binding down, but I machine stitch on pillows. It just seems like they need to be stronger - with fluffing and lounging pulling on the edges so much.

I stitch from the back side, with white or whatever matches in the bobbin. This is what the front ends up looking like. A line - but nice and neat.



I'm going to give them all a light soak before stuffing and gifting. See all that red?! Hopefully you don't hear screaming when they get dunked. I'm using for-darks Woolite, cold water, and a color catcher in a big bowl.

Wish me luck!

edit:  Hurray!!  Thank you Kona, you're awesome!  Not a drip of red came off that huge red back - the water was clear and the color catcher totally white.  That Kona red held up perfectly!


.

Quilt Math Gone Wrong

I was so happy.

The Christmas Tree pillows are nearly done. Just the binding for each. And as I cut the fabric strips, I was so pleased that they would only need one cut WOF for each pillow.

How nice it was to not be joining long strips of binding. No extra seams along the way. I was even going to post about how awesome pillows are to make, as they only need one little strip of binding.



I seriously sat down and stitched to the first corner, turned, and was confused as to why my tail was so short.

Doh! A 20" pillow will not be covered by 42" of binding. I CAN NOT believe I got that far before realizing my ridiculous math error.  And math is my Thing!!

Don't you hate it when you're so sure of the plan, and then it's completely wrong!

.

Churn Start

 Amy's new pattern is wonderful.



Half way done with the top already.

.