Holy Y-seams Batman!!

So, I'm a member of a small swap within my local quilt guild.  Back in May, a few of us went up into Gold Country for a weekend of sewing, eating and fabric shopping (not necessarily in that order).  And, while we were there, Ruth, Kathleen, Sheetal and I decided that we would start a round robin.  That we decided was also a bee.  And that it would be named after Kathleen's dog.  Thus, the Round Boo Bee was born (did I mention that this idea and name came to us at about 11 PM after a day of sewing and shopping?).

I started off with Kathleen's center block.  After finishing my Mendocino herringbone, I decided that I wanted to do that with Kathleen's quilt.  In fact, her center reminded me of a compass center, so I liked that the herringbone would add additional arrows to her quilt.  I even intended to add 60 degree triangles as cornerstones, so that the arrow affect would be pronounced.  So, I started sewing lines of parallelograms together.  Once I had two lines as long as I was tall (which I figured was more than enough), I decided to start adding on.  Well, then, I decided that I didn't like the cornerstone idea. I had planned the herringbone to be just enough to go around the edges of the original block.  SOOOOOOOOOOOOO... Long story short, I did my first (and second) Y-seams to fix as much as I could to make the block look as close to right as I could make it.  That, and I screamed obscenities at my sewing machine for not cooperating (thus the title of the post--it was the cleanest thing I said to my machine all day).  Here is the final result:

Now that I have it finished (and the y-seams are done for the day), I think I need a glass of wine and some downtime sewing.

Kathleen, I hope you like it!  Because, if you don't, the hubby has stated that he will take it.  ;)

Finished improv chevron (featuring Heather Ross's Mendocino)

Hey everyone!  Just dropping by to show off my latest finish.  I took today off from work (I had some doctor's appointments to take care of) and spent some free time finishing up the one project on my plate that does not have a timeline (figures, huh?).  Here it is:

 It finished about 32 x 32.  I decided that the best way to show off the sparse Mendocino was to stitch in the ditch for the quilting.  It was my first try at herringbone quilting and I think it went well.  Here's the back:

The quilting shows up really well against the solids.  I decided not to go with a stark white thread, and instead picked up some Gutterman in a pale pink (it matched the pink in the quilt).  I think it turned out really well with the triangle stripe across the back.

This quilt with be shown off at the next quilt guild meeting (because, let's face, I want to show it off) and then tucked away for the future  The hubby and I decided that this would be for our little-one-of-the-future.  So, we'll hang on to it for our first daughter (or effeminate son--points to anyone who gets the show reference).  I think we've also decided that if, for some reason, we don't have a little girl, then we'll definitely keep it in the family (I'm thinking my brother or my brother-in-law and his wife).  I love it too much to not get visiting rights!

Linked up to Kelly's My Precious QAL

Baby quilt madness!

Remember the wonky plus blocks from last week???

Just finished a baby quilt top from those about 20 minutes ago.  This one is about 32 x 32 (and some of the pieces on the ends are all flippy, despite vigorous ironing... Hmmm).  The fabric is Wonderland by Momo, generously 'donated' by Ruth.  This one is (hopefully) going to a local NICU, via my quilt guild charity girls.  I loved my first venture into wonky piecing, but I'm also glad that this top will be going to a good cause.

I've also finished one more baby quilt top.  This one isn't for charity--It's for my cousin's daughter, born on the last day of July

Her name is AddiKate and she is ADORABLE. Her nursery is pink and lime green, so I'm thinking that the Plume will fit right in.  Made from a charm pack, it's a disappearing 9-patch block.  I love the secondary windmill pattern from the square placement, and may have to revisit this for a few more charity quilts for my quilt guild.

Now back to piecing the back for my Mendocino herringbone quilt!

Edit:

Back is finished.  The one thing I didn't like about the herringbone quilt was that there were spare triangles from changing directions.  I decided that I would piece them together and see if I could use them all.  Here's the result

The first thing that the hubby said was that it was off-center.  My poor physicist hubby couldn't see that it was EXACTLY as I had wanted it.  One day, he will understand.  Maybe. :P

Updated...

I think I will call this quilt "Adrienne, this is your fault!"

It's 35 x 33 before borders (which I think it needs, as it is really busy).  I've already explained to the hubby that this one stays here for our future little ones.  He told me he was glad it was unisex.  Silly hubby...

Busy times

Hey everyone!  I've been busy these past couple of weeks, just trying to enjoy new quilting experiences and *gasp* cut into precious fabrics that I've been hoarding.  Aka, the little bits of Mendocino that I've been gathering from here and there.  And Wonderland.

But, before I show what I'm working on there, here's what I finished the past couple of weeks...

This beauty is called London Lattice.  Yes, it's more Parisville, but I named it London Lattice for two reasons.  One, I was watching the Olympics (and the qualifiers) while this quilt top was coming together.  Two, it will be going to London to live with my aunt and uncle.  They have generously offered their home to my hubby and I for a week to see England (and Scotland!) and we wanted a good hostess gift for them, since they will be giving up their week to us.  Next stop is Sarah in NY to quilt it up for us.

This top is proof that I just can't leave my new fabrics alone.  This is a plus quilt a la Jeni's plus quilt tutorial.  I used my half-yard stack of Tula Pink The Birds and the Bees in the Mist palate to make this top (plus an extra half-yard from the green colorway).  I'm still debating on the quilting of this one (straight-line to emphasize the fabric?  FMQ to practice my skills?)

This is a bee block made for the lovely Kelly in my Gone Quiltin' Bee.  My hubby loved it so much that it became a project for me to make one for him...

Meet our birdhouse.  And, before you question his tastes, his favorite color is purple.  Yes, purple.  So, he loves this pillow.  And me?  I love that I got to try some new quilting techniques from Angela Walter's new book.  Aside--This is an AMAZING book.  I feel like I have learned so much from her techniques and tips that I have to recommend it to any quilter who feels like their FMQ is in a rut.

So, now what?  I'm working with some new fabrics and techniques that I learned yesterday at my quilt guild meeting.  We had a... workshop, for lack of a better word, on improv piecing.  Before I go any further, understand that improv is my nemesis.  Seriously.  I am the product of two engineers.  I fully subscribe to the model that tab A and slot B should go together seamlessly.  But, I digress.  I went to the improv workshop with an open mind and a huge bag of scraps (why waste good fabric?).  And, I had a great time.  I went slightly wonky.  Which was a huge step for me.  Case in point...

My blocks from the workshop.  Before I go any further, I have to mention Ruth.  She is the most wonderfully evil person ever.  When we were setting up our machines for the workshop, she noticed me looking through her scraps and offered to let me play (in my defense, I offered the same to her).  BAD MISTAKE.  She had about 1/2 of a jelly roll of Wonderland in her scrap basket.  So, I took it to play with.  I figured Wonderland and wonky went together.  I don't quite know what I'm going to do with these blocks, but I'm having fun playing.

The other interesting (and useful) thing that I took from the workshop came from Adrienne.  She demo-ed improv herringbone blocks.  I've been debating doing some herringbone and hearing her technique (for people who don't like improv) really opened my mind.  To do her herringbone, she put all of her quilt pieces in a bag and randomly drew them out.  As long as they didn't have a same fabric, she just sewed them up.  Very liberating.  Here's what I have so far:

Originally, I was thinking of a pillow, but, looking at it now, I may have been thinking too big.  So, now it's looking like either a wall hanging or a baby blanket.  TBD...

I better get back to it before I'm pulled away to make dinner for the hubby.  :D

Tula Troops, or how I became a fabric hoarder

I have a small confession to make.  I was really quite uninterested in fabric beyond the basics at Joann and Hancocks for about the first year or so of my quilting.  Really.  I mean, I would go online and look, but the prices were more than I wanted to pay for fabric.  So, my thoughts became, "Well, what's the point?"

That was true until I discovered the lovely fabric that was/is/shall be TULA PINK.  I was browsing on Fat Quarter Shop looking at the sale fabric when I noticed a fat quarter bundle of Parisville on clearance.  I kept looking at it and thinking how the colors were just very me.  I spoke to my hubby and asked if he would mind if I splurged and he told me that I could, but only if I made something for us... Thus, Parisville Pinwheels was started in motion...

I picked up a block idea for fat quarters from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.  She cut her fat quarters into 9 inch blocks and made half-square triangles from her fabric.  I thought about it and felt that I could take it one step further and make pinwheel blocks.  So, I did!

It took about 1 year for all of the blocks to come together, with stopping and starting of the project, picking up other projects and, generally just neglecting the fabric.  I got inspired by Kelly to join her My Precious QAL and finish up my top.  Within one month, the blocks were together with sashing and made into a 93 x93 top for mine and my husband's bed.  Then came the difficult part...

Quilting!  With a quilt so large, I had no choice but to send out the quilt for quilting.  A sweet person on Flickr (Sarah Russett) and I started talking and, before I knew it, my quilt was on its way to NY for quilting. I was worried that I wouldn't like the quilt as much because I didn't do all of the work to put it together, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Sarah did an AMAZING job quilting feathers on my quilt top and getting it back to me quickly (within 2 weeks, including ship time!). In fact, she inspired me to create something new to go with the quilt:

 After binding and washing, here's the finished product:

I LOVE this quilt.  Seriously.  It is the culmination of a lot of work, and quite a few major changes in my world (including learning to live with my husband, death, love, new jobs and travels).  And, it has found a new place in our store-bought world.

Now, the bigger problem... After discovering Tula Pink's fabric, I may have gone a little nuts:

Tula Pink Plume.  I found this at Seams Like Home in Anchorage while vacationing last month with my husband.  I have every print except the pink swans and one of the pink Key Trees.  BTW, if you go to Alaska, go to this shop.  The people are amazingly helpful and very nice!  I think this might make its way into a Sparkling Cider quilt.

Tula Pink The Birds and the Bees.  Just released two weeks ago.  I'm thinking a gradient rainbow quilt with these.  These came from my buddy Julie at Intrepid Thread

And... Because it was my favorite colorway:

This might become a plus quilt.  These were from Stash Modern Fabrics on Etsy.

That's not even all of the Tula love at my house.  I also have a little Nightshade, Hushabye, and a bit of Full Moon Forest (her first line--sent to me by a sweet quilter on Flickr).  Sigh... I better get to sewing up my beautiful fabric!

Linked up to the My Precious QAL

OVERCOMMITTED

So, I think I may have officially overcommitted myself during the past few weeks.  :(  Over the last couple of months, I have joined new bees like crazy, in the hopes of increasing my skills on the sewing machine.  Due to a trip to Alaska last month and general laziness, suddenly my commitments have snuck up on me.  After I returned from Alaska, I had (get this) 17 bee blocks to finish by July 15th.  Oh, and I had to get packages (11) together to send out for another bee.  Can you say "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"?

So, without further ado, here is my work for the past two weekends (and a couple of weeknights)

Modern Minx Bee:

For Miss Laura, who requested the Three Wishes block from Modern Blocks in non-bright colors.  I picked some Amy Butler fabrics from my stash for this (Daisy Chain and Midwest Modern, I think)

3x6 Bee (Hive 3):

For the solids bee, with each person requesting different solids for their blocks.  I'm actually in BOTH solids hives, so I'm currently finishing blocks 5 & 6 for Hive 2.  More pictures to come of those later

Gone Quiltin' Bee:

For Mary, who sent out Kaffe Fausset fabrics for Granny Squares.  I also finished 2 additional blocks for Jessica (wonky stars out of Nicey Jane fabric), but some how forgot to take photos of them before I mailed them!

In the midst of all of my bee block sewing, I did manage to finish the back of this quilt:

And, as my buddy Kathleen puts it, I have sent it off to be quilted by checkbook.  I can't wait to see what my quilter does with it.

As far as other things I'm working on, I would love to have time to quilt up my stormy night quilt:

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Maybe once I finish all of these crazy bee blocks!