Buried in Girl Stuff

I have been working on a custom queen quilt for an 8yr old girl.  Her dad is awesome, and I think he would be a quilter if he had lots of spare time!  He and I get along well, talking quilt math and design.

The little girl has definite ideas regarding colors and pattern, being a HUGE fan of purple tie dye.  They were unable to find anything commercially made for her new bedroom set, so went looking for somebody to make her a custom set.  We met a few times and zeroed in on an exact quilt plan, as well as main fabric choices.  It was so funny when I finally met her over Christmas break - she came in wearing a pink/purple tie dye outfit.  I said that we certainly had the right fabrics for her, and couldn't wait to make her new bedroom set!

So, now I'm buried in pink, purple, rainbow yardage and trimmings!  Kind of like a tween girl and her unicorn exploded in my sewing room.  I never work with batiks, as I prefer more  modern quilting cotton prints.  But I am LOVING the minimal amount of fraying.  I assume that is the way batiks normally are?  One of my major pet peeves is all the little stray thread that end up all over the back of your quilt by the time it's ready to baste.



This photo is pretty true to the real colors.

I spent a decent amount of time thinking about and then squaring up the main blocks.  They are 24" finished - which is larger than my largest ruler, and half an inch wider than my cutting mat width.  Not only did I want the block to end up the right size, with four 90 degree corners, but it was important to have that middle perfectly centered as well.

Any of you out there, who have been making those big  swoon blocks, come up with a good way to square them up?  I was thinking about doing a quick photo tutorial of what I came up with for mine.



In  my own girly world.....Thank You so much for all your congratulations and kind wishes!  I have loved looking up your suggestions and links.  If you think of any more, feel free to add them on.  I have a pinterest board going with other sewing ideas, too.

My first fabric bought just for a girl baby - the pink colorway of Monaluna's silky organic Fox Hollow.  I've been stalking this adorable print for a while.  I bough half a yard and plan on using some to make a sweet, soft burp cloth. 



I also came home with a couple things from my Costco trip - a cute 3mo sundress, and a snuggly pj in 6mo size.

Had to laugh at the fact that they look mostly like the boy stuff I usually buy, in lime green and blue, just dress-shaped!

Want Fabric...{Stash 2013}

'Want' is exactly correct.

For sure I don't NEED any :)

Messy Stash

I've been tracking my stash for three years.  Nothing better than a good spreadsheet.

So, how did 2012 go?  Glad you asked.



Things were going pretty well until I started my shopping for the perfect ocean blues in June/July.

(About 62 yards showed up at my door....blues and a few others fell into my online carts....ooops)

I ended the year only 33 yards up, and I didn't even make a stop at The Fabric Shack while in Ohio over the holidays. I really do like trying to use the fabulous fabrics I have, before I don't like them anymore.  Overall, I say 2012 was pretty good stash-wise.



Last week, a couple of great tonal prints were in the clearance section at the shop.  I always seem to need a good orange or yellow, so I grabbed these at half off.   Besides, nothing had been added to the stash since early November!

Blue if it's a Boy....

Here's the real question, though.  Will I be making a little girl quilt or a little boy quilt?!

Ok, I don't actually need a single scrap of blue, and I'm pretty good with pink/purple as well.  But I have deemed a new baby a valid reason to buy fabric.

I'm looking forward to poking a few buttons, once I know.  Just have to control the fun and avoid shipping 50+ yards to the house.

Pink if it's a Girl....

Friday is the day for my ultrasound. Can. Not. Wait.

.

Dear Fabric Store Worker....

So true, so true!

I've been super busy - Instagram Update

Things have been nuts, with the summer wrapping up.

I only need to survive 24 more hours, only 24 more hours....the older two start school on Wednesday.




I've been waiting on this pretty little Organic bundle.

Ok, I only needed the bottom two Storyboek II prints...but I couldn't pass adding in the adorable Scamper.



I got a few blue and then green hexagons joined during the Olympics.



So Fast!

In my wait for the organic prints for my custom order, I started and finished piecing a Sparkling Cider 64x64 quilt top.



Our blackberry bush is WAY overflowing. Becket and I picked over 10 cups of berries Saturday night!!!

I made freezer jam, a cobbler, and froze the last couple cups for smoothies.



A non-instagram photo...I got the borders added to this quilt my sister in-law asked me to make.

I am super happy with how flat and square it all seems.



And finally, a fun new adventure for me. My first paying job since I left Motorola when Kenton was born in 1998.   (Not counting commission quilts I guess....I actually had to fill out a form for Homeland Security and an application.  Boy has it been a long time!)

I'm working at a super cute local quilt shop called Gentler Times Stitching in Naperville (by the Fox Valley mall for any local people). You can read a little about Brenda, the owner, if you click my link.

They have a fun collection of fabrics AND yarn, plus a good selection of other fiber crafty stuff, and they are a Bernina dealer. Right now I'm learning the store - eventually my official position will be an in-house Bernina tech.  I'll get to learn all the machines really well, along with going to an official Bernina tech training class.  Not sure how it all will go, but it's going to be fun!

Fabric Stash

Addition

Well, addition seems a little bit of an understatement. I gained a wonderful rainbow.



Some more low volume blues.



A few more.



Grays for my Ghastlies quilt.



Neutral prints and Essex.



Some random fun stuff!



Especially this fun one - not sure what I'll do with it but I love it!

And finally, 8 yards of Kona snow to go with this awesome Munki Munki print.



I have a custom order for two awesome, ocean blue, full size bed quilts.

This is the stack I've gathered for them so far! See, I needed a lot of fabric :)

IKEA cinnamon rolls and MDF - mmmmm!

The smell in the furniture pull warehouse, before you check out at IKEA - their cinnamon rolls mixed with MDF.  It just makes me happy for some reason.

They have some really pretty new fabrics in the textile section.  The colors are a little harsh here, as the display was shaded, outside.  But this soft, happy floral is only 3.99/yd, and would make great table runners and napkins.



And I somehow kept myself from buying all the napkins, plates, and trays in this new line.



Had to tour around the mini apartments.  Becket took off his shoes and wanted to move into the bunk house.



He loved the fabric panels and chair in the bathroom and wanted his picture taken with them :)

It's always a happy day at IKEA.

Fun Quilty Mail

Nothing better than happy mail arriving! Found this pair of really fun prints.

My pre-order of Angela Walter's book arrived last week.



Summer Flight!

Instagram Summer

Pulling fabrics for a blue/turquoise/ocean feeling quilt.



Jumping off the diving boards at swim lessons.



War. WAR. Is on against the critters that have been stealing my tomatoes and have escalated in braking the top half of the plant!



Summer fun breakfast - ripe strawberries and whipped cream on waffles. MMmmm!

Nature, Nurture, or OCD?

So funny!

I noticed that I had a few blog posts still in draft mode and clicked to see what they were. I had to laugh at this from TWO years ago.

I had just received my Kona color card and was what seemed like abnormally excited about it. I could identify, sort and stack my kona pieces.


Then Becket asked for lunch. No normal ham sandwich for him!

He wanted his lunch "Sorted Please".

.

Stash Deficit Celebration

I have been tracking my stash since 2010 - this was my first post

Started at zero - even with lots of fabric filling my china cabinet.  I never would have started if I had to try and get a starting number.

My method of fabric in/out has ended up staying the same since those first weekly reports.  Although, now I just group things by month in my spreadsheet, instead of weekly.  I carry over the balance at the end of the year into the beginning of the next.

After the quilt for Becket's teacher I went negative!!

-2.178yds!!!

The first time since the start of 2010!  Seriously - I was dancing around.

But then, I Ordered fabric - And I'm going to say that it's all Amanda Jean's fault.  Or something like that. The envelope arrived, literally bursting at the seams.

One of the women from the retreat was asking about favorite online fabric sites, so I wanted to send her a link for The Fabric Shack - that's when I saw they had the new Ghastlies.

I already have several of the prints and have a quilt planned with them for this summer.

The new flowery bramble and wall of portraits couldn't be passed up.

Look at that beloved Matriarch.

And did you realize that Sebastian is their son?  Is he a warlock?

His Errant Wife, Daria, is just fabulous. 

I ordered a full yard - be sure to get at least 20" for the full repeat.

You wouldn't want to miss a single family member!

But then, some other stuff fell into my cart.

And this lot is TOTALLY Amanda Jean's fault - I found some fabrics that I thought would be super fun for a second FMQ - QAYG sampler.

Let's see if I can get back to zero in less than 2 1/2 years this time!

.

My Precious - Hawaii

I'm using some of my very favorite fabrics - My Precious!



Almost two years ago we were in Hawaii and I brought back some very important souvenirs.

Fabric.

I'm finally going to use it and my bee friends are going to help.

i spy......

I have a fun little giveaway planned and want to try out Rafflecopter.

It seems to easy and cute - and they have an adorable little helicopter mascot that needs naming right now. There's a link below to enter to give him a name - a free Kindle Fire if they pick it! Seemed like a fun thing to do this evening.

I have a couple more bits to gather before I do my giveaway. But it goes along with a WHOLE bunch of modern i-spy fabric I've been pulling from my stash.



(HELP Leigh........ I already bought more fabric this month!)

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!