Posted in give-away, quilting, sewing on April 23, 2013 | 27 Comments »
I had plans to make 3 Tunnel Vision pillows but didn’t plan very well when I purchased my supplies. I only had enough to barely make 2. I’m actually pretty glad it worked out this way. I am so happy with this next present. The colors and prints are so happy and cheerful. If I make pillows for my couch, mine will look like this.
Again, this pillow is 18×18 inches with a zipper in the back for easy cleaning.
I hope you love it.
Posted in give-away, quilting, sewing on April 22, 2013 | 32 Comments »
Hooray, I have finished presents to show you.
Pillows!
When I got my hands on my copy of the book Modern Quilting I fell in love right away with both the Tunnel Visions Quilt (you can see a pic on this post) and the pebble quilting on the cover. So glad I got to try them both out. I didn’t follow any specifics from the book but used it as inspiration. I love love love these. I think the family did too. Each voiced their disappointment when they realized that they wouldn’t be on our couch. I might have to make a couple for us.
But these are for you!
They both are 18×18 with a zipper in the back for easy cleaning.
I hope you like them.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 19, 2013 | 21 Comments »
It’s funny how things work out. I worry and worry about not being able to get any sewing in. I finally turn things over to God and what do you know? My time consuming 7 year old gets sick and only wants to take a nap or watch a movie and my baby sleeps for 3 hours.
As soon as chores were done, I got to work and started quilting. Pebble Quilting. Loving it.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 17, 2013 | 15 Comments »
I feel like I’m running in place. Working hard, sweating even. If your running like that, it’s not a waste. Your heart rate gets up, your burning calories, your taking care of that all important body of yours, but if you’re trying to do something completely different at the same time like paint a picture, something will have to give.
Don’t know if that makes any sense but what I’m trying to say is that it is hard to balance family life and sewing. Family is totally winning, and that’s the way it should be, but I really want to be sewing. I thought I had set things up so I would have plenty of sewing time but life keeps getting on the way.
So, I’ve decided to let things go and stop trying to steal time. I’m not super worried, and I bet I’ll still get some of the items on my list of projects finished this month. I even had a guilt free hour today and worked on my next project a bit.
Crossing my fingers that more time drops on my lap, but if not, I’ll make sure I’m still having a great month.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 16, 2013 | 33 Comments »
Hooray, I got this quilt photographed today. It took two tries since it was so windy. The top pic is still flapping a bit in the wind but at least you can see the whole front. So here you are. I hope you like it.
I haven’t measured this one but it is about the same size as the last one. Maybe a bit longer and more narrow. I am really happy with how the front came together. I was a little nervous about “just going for it” with the sashing. I just picked up either a cream, white or parsley color for each side of the blocks and crossed my fingers that it would all work out. I do wish however that I had chosen a different color for the back. When I chose this color I hadn’t chosen my sashing color(s) yet. That part just came together last minute.
Well, like all my gifts this month, if you would like this quilt for your very own, comment on any or all of my April 2013 blog posts and you’ll be entered into the drawing. One entry for each post commented on.
Posted in give-away, quilting, sewing, Uncategorized on April 15, 2013 | 23 Comments »
Happy Monday! We are halfway through the month. Crazy!
Hope you all had a good weekend. I spent Saturday cleaning and sewing. Sunday was church all day. Regular services in the morning, a session of General Conference in the afternoon, break the fast at 3:00 and then another session of conference from 5:00-7:00.
Since we were out of town last week we have been playing catch up with General Conference. Just two more sessions to go.
The second quilt is finished and is just awaiting a photo shoot. I also started my next project, a small version of this quilt.
I’m excited to get going on my other projects. Hopefully some time opens up in my scheduled week so I can work on them.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 10, 2013 | 21 Comments »
I just don’t like it. I never ever seem to.
I don’t know what it is about a finished quilt top, I find it so discouraging. I have learned over the years to just trust my initial instincts in my quilt planning and to just ignore this stage. I know that as soon as I start quilting and am seeing it come together I will love it again. But for now…grrr
I am a little torn. I really want to move along on with this quilt tomorrow and get the quilting going but I also have some other projects I want to get started on. This month already seems to be zipping past and I’m afraid that if I don’t start the next project soon, I may run out of time. We’ll see what I’m up for after a good nights sleep. Crossing my fingers that that gets accomplished.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 9, 2013 | 18 Comments »
After having a nice chunk of day to get some sewing in (the early start due to fire alarms going off at 4 in the morning sure helped), I think the next quilt for my Birthday Give Away is coming right along. For this second quilt I used up the rest of my stack and slash blocks and instead of squaring them off I added a border of bone, white or parsley or a mix of each and then squared them all off to 10 inches. Now, they are all ready to sew together into the top for my next quilt.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 4, 2013 | 35 Comments »
I’m so excited to show you this quilt that I wont wait until I get some better pictures.
I wish I wrote down all the colors of Kona solids I used. For the prints I used a layered cake (10×10 in squares) of Wonderland fabric by Momo. This is one of my favorite collections and I with it wasn’t out of print. I found my layered cake on Etsy. For the piecing I used the stack and slash method as demonstrated by s.o.t.a.k handmade. My squared were 10 x 10 inches and I used 3 solids and 3 prints with each of my stacks. When finished, I had 70 something blocks and I divided them in half and used one half to make this quilt. The other half will be used on the second quilt. For these blocks, I squared them each off to measure 7 inches and made an off center 5 x 5 square on the front and a line of the extra squares on the back.
So….
If you would like this quilt for your very own, comment on any of my April 2013 posts and you will be entered in my Birthday Give Away drawing.
I hope you like it.
****
Dave’s schedule opened up a bit and so we are going to take advantage of spring break and have a little family vacations. I don’t know if I’ll be able to but I do hope to bring an easy project with me, if I get organized. We shall see.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 3, 2013 | 14 Comments »
It’s spring break here. The kids and I are at a cabin with some friends. Everyone is in heaven.
This morning I got up early and finished sewing the quilt and brought it along to weave in all those loose ends.
I think I may just have this ready to show you tomorrow.
Posted in give-away, in the shop, quilting, sewing on March 5, 2013 | 4 Comments »
Hi everyone.
I’m happy to back here in this space and am getting very excited for this years, my very last, birthday give away.
Today I headed out to Gautier, MS to visit a new to me quilt shop, Block Therapy. After walking around a few minutes I came across a beautiful wall of colorful solids. After inquiry, I found out that this little gem of a shop carries the entire collection of Kona solids.
All of them!
Needless to say, I was thrilled. I may or may not have hugged the shop owner.
I picked out this pretty stack to coordinate with some of the prints I’ll be using this year. Isn’t it pretty?
So, don’t go too far, April is just around the corner. I’ll have my official announcement on April 1st about how things are going to work this year.
If your new to this blog check out last years April 1st post to see what this is all about.
P.S. Everything in the Etsy Shop is half off for the month of March and all income will be used to support this years birthday give away. On April 1st the shop will closed for a while and will reopen with a new project to support.
Posted in quilting on September 28, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Look at this, two posts in the same week. Thank goodness for delayed publishing. I wrote this post while Bron was in Art/PE. I wrote this post along with feeding Hollis, checking/reading/replying to emails, reading my book, and editing photos. I guess I can get quite a bit done in those two hours.
Back to the quilt.
In my last post, I talked about not sewing since May. Well this is one of those projects. This was made for my newest nephew. I had high hopes to make one for Hollis with a plus design as well but it didn’t get made and I’m not going to add it to my list of things to do. Maybe after our next move when Hollis enters a big bed, I’ll make matching quilts for Hollis and Magnus’ Room.
For this one I used prints and coordinating solids from Aneela Hoey’s line Little Apples. This is such a cute line and I love the colors. Red, turquoise and grey are one of my favorite combinations right now. The plusses came together just wonderfully. I opted to make them with two squares and a rectangle in the middle instead of 5 squares. I would definitely do it again with this method since it saved me some sewing. For the batting I used, my new favorite, a piece of flannel. I love how it folds/rolls up nicely and adds warmth without all the extra bulk.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 17, 2012 | 34 Comments »
Hurray! I am so happy to have this quilt done. I am really loving the back too.
Finished measurements are a touch bigger than 76 x 62 in.
Here is the front ( I love the blondie blue peeking out)
The Back ( oh look, I caught her back side on this one. And someone’s toes too. )
And a few more pics.
If you’d like to have this quilt for your own, leave a comment on this or any of my April 2012 posts. Both quilts are part of my random drawing this year.
I hope you like it.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 9, 2012 | 19 Comments »
by Kate Spain
I really appreciate all your thoughtful comments on my maternity pics. It means a lot to me, so thank you. I’ve also enjoyed all the love on my Chevron Quilt. I’m sad I only have one to give away.
But… I did start my next quilt.
Here is the finished top of the second quilt for my Birthday Give Away, all ready for quilting lines. It’s made from my February delivery of Pink Chalk’s Charming Solids Club, adding in more yardage of the solids and some gray and snow as well.
Nothing too exciting but I really do love patchwork these days. I’ve drawn on lines in a chevron pattern and think it will make it a little more interesting to look at. The back is pretty simple too but has more of a modern feel to it.
****
We are getting ready to head out of town for a few days. So, I’ll have to put things on hold for a bit as I get ready for and then enjoy a small vacation. See you soon.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 7, 2012 | 51 Comments »
The first quilt for my Birthday Give Away is complete. It was a bit of a hassle to work in those stripes of red. Even though they are not perfect I think they add so much and am glad I included them.
I don’t have any words in my head today so I’ll just get on with the pics.
This finished size is appox. 51 x 67 inches. The fabrics are Silver broadcloth, Kona Cotton in Red and Snow with a few triangles of Kona White that snuck in for the front. Kona Red for the back with Silver for the binding. The quilting was done following the Chevron pattern at about two inch intervals.
If you’d like to have this quilt for your own or any other of the items I showcase this month, comment on any of my April 2012 posts.
I hope you like it.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 6, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Today is too windy to get a proper shot of this finished quilt top for my Birthday Give Away. So, I just snapped this on my kitchen table before it got all marked up for quilting.
Posted in give-away, quilting on March 31, 2012 | 2 Comments »
This is a blankie for a baby boy due later this spring. For it, I used up one of the charm packs and the solids from my March Charmed Solid delivery. I love the colors and prints from this line of fabric. I think it works perfectly for this blanket. Again, I used muslin for the batting. I just love how light weight it is and think that this will help it to be used more frequently here in the hot south. It rolls up so nicely and will travel easily in a diaper bag or stroller basket. I need to remember to make a bigger one, like this, for my summer baby.
Knowing that I wouldn’t have time in April to work on this project, I squeezed it in just in time.
Tomorrow is April!!!
I am so excited about a couple of projects for my give away next month. A little hint for two of them is that you’ll be seeing more patchwork. In this line for one project and in another line for a quilt.
Be sure to stop by.
Posted in quilting on March 10, 2012 | 2 Comments »
I am so excited about this quilt. It is a bit wonky and I have a new respect for triangles but I love it. I knew I wanted a smallish quilt but didn’t know how small it would turn out. With the finished product at 23.5 by 27 inches it has so many possibilities and I couldn’t be happier. With no more batting than a single layer of muslin it will be just perfect for this summer babies stroller/car seat blankie or maybe even a changing pad. The absents of extra batting also makes it so easy to roll up and take with me where ever we may go.
This was my first try with this color scheme and I really love it and will be making a few more quilts for him with it. I think I’ll do another muslin batting one in a bit larger size of about 45 by 45 and than one with regular batting for the crib. These other quilts will have to wait until after April. I have a few more projects to finish up and then I will be birthday time again.
Yay! I can’t wait.
Posted in quilting on March 1, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Sewn into pairs.
This is the beginnings of my summer baby’s first quilt.
I have so many other projects already started and that need to get finished soon. So, its hard to justify why starting this one right now was a good idea. I wont even try. I just couldn’t resist.
Posted in quilting on February 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Knock on wood.
I posted about a month ago how sunny things usually are around here, but apparently I spoke a bit too soon. It seems we are not having a very sunny winter this year at all. Hopefully thing will change in that department soon. I am getting a little tired of all the gray. I want to enjoy the new spring blooms in the sunshine.
But I am grateful for the little bit we are getting this morning. Taking full advantage of the moment I snapped a few pics of some finished projects I’ve been working on.
Today I want to show you this quilt. There is another top with these exact same prints, solids and cuteness waiting to get quilted. I think I will wait until after April to finish it up though.
This was made from my first Charming Solid delivery adding a few of the backing solids in light pink and bone. For the binding I just so happened to have some of the exact same purple (plumish) color in my stash.
It’s a bit print heavy but I think the back helps to balance it out.
Now back to that sun.
Posted in quilting on January 26, 2012 | 6 Comments »
When cloudy was the weather,
I chanced to meet an old man
Clothed all in leather…
(Our favorite Mother Goose book.)
We have been having quite a few misty moisty mornings lately. Actually our last few days in this part have been quite reminiscent of home (seattle area). You know cloudy with a drizzle here and there. Today got exciting for the kids with a tornado warning at school. I can only imagine the chaos in the elementary school when they say that this isn’t a drill.
No complaints. I don’t need the sun everyday. However, I have been itching to show you a quilt I’ve finished.
You know what?
The skies cleared this afternoon and I got in a few photos prior to taking it to a mama awaiting patiently for her little boy to be born.
I love it. I love the colors. I love the simple patchwork. I love the quilting.
You may be seeing more patchwork in these parts in the future. I am so pleased with how easy this came together. I may change up the quilting a bit or do smaller blocks. (mine are 6 inches) I don’t love how the fabric moves around within the blocks.
Tomorrow’s forecast (and on as long as they are forecasting) sunny. I do love that we get so much sun here in the south.
Posted in quilting on September 6, 2011 | 4 Comments »
This is a little blanket for a special little girl.
Since she is the 6th baby to be born in her family, I suspect that she needs a quilt less than any of her siblings. However, I just couldn’t resist.
To hopefully increase the possibility of it being used, I used a piece of flannel as batting. This greatly decreased the bulk of the blanket so maybe her mama will fold or roll it up and take it with her when she goes out from time to time. I am very pleased with the nice drape that the blanket has as well.
For the quilt I cut into my Soul Blossoms stash and added some solids from my monthly solid club collection. The only shopping I did was for the sashing on the front and the flannel for the middle. I was hoping to find a nice soft pink but didn’t have any luck in the local stores and decided to go with some Kona Snow and use pink flannel for the batting. My hope was that the pink batting would show through the snow and give it a pink hue but… since the back is so blue that really didn’t work. I did quilt with a soft pink thread so the white sashing does seem a little softer.
I did learn a lesson about prewashing fabric in quilts.
If you are going to prewash you should do it for all fabrics.
I had already prewashed the Soul Blossoms prints and decided to prewash the flannel so it wouldn’t shrink up too much but didn’t prewash any of the solids. This resulted in the solids shrinking and the flannel a bit too but not the prints. This wouldn’t have been a problem if I had done more of an all over quilting pattern. As it is, I showcased each of the 5.5 inch blocks by stitching 1/4 inch inside and outside them making them look a little stretched out when they didn’t shrink with the rest of the quilt. It doesn’t look bad but I notice it.
Welcome to the world little Eva. I hope I get to meet you in person someday.
Posted in in the shop, quilting on August 17, 2011 | 7 Comments »
…and a finished quilt
This is our third week of school around here. I include me in that “our” as well. I am learning a ton about this new stage of life. You’d think that with the house quiet a peaceful all day long I’d have long hours to sew and sew. This is not reality, well not the reality I am choosing anyway. Instead I’m learning how to balance self and family.
“But no one is home, why do you worry about family?”
Well, I learned a while back that afternoons are the worst time of day for me. I am worn out and spent, ready for a nap and even cranky at times. (more times than I like to admit) Afternoon is also the time that all three of my kids come home.
I like to imagine happy kids skipping home ready to greet me with a smile and hugs. However, I don’t think this has happened once. Instead my kids are hot and sweaty (It’s nearly 100 deg. out of the house) tired and ready to fight.
Add this to my tired cranky self and it can be quite a mess, I assure you.
Now try to add in making dinner, helping with homework, reviewing notes from teachers, preparing for the evening….. The list could just go on.
So, I’ve been working on a routine that will help us ease into the evening.(one of my favorite times of day) Mostly I’m talking about cleaning, cooking, meditating, napping and finishing my duties as much as I can so that I can be rested and able to greet them, if they can not greet me, with a smile and a hug. Ready and in the right state of mind so that I can help them transition back home.
This of course has led to a change in my creating time. (or at least the creating time I thought I was going to get) Lets not even talk about blogging time. But through it all, I had some moments here and there to spend on this quilt and I’m even here talking about it.
I am loving it so very much. I did the same design as my last quilt and am thinking about putting directions together for it. Any one interested in hearing about it?
Anyway, here it is.
This one has been added to the shop.
Posted in family fun, quilting on August 4, 2011 | 1 Comment »
All three headed off to school today. (Thisbe snuck off without a pictures. sneaky sneaky) As a mom I think I held it together pretty well but my heart is still worrying a bit. Also, the house just feels more empty. hmmm
Anyway,
After finishing up my duties for the morning I put my self to work on my next quilt. Nothing like the hum of my machine to help the time pass by.
Posted in in the shop, quilting on July 27, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Gray or Grey which one refers to the color. I should look it up.
Anyway…
I am back. I guess I ended up taking a blogging vacation after all. We were out of town for five weeks on a family vacation but is that an excuse? Do I need one? Is this what I was planning on writing about? No, no and no.
So purple and gray…
In february I signed up for Pink Chalk Fabric’s Monthly Solids Club. I have loved every month so far. However, my very favorite so far was May’s Pocket Full of Posies. I had just finished my birthday give away and was reminded of the quilts I made and fell in love with the idea of making a baby quilt in this color scheme. Grays and purples.
I took my stack of fabric with me to the fabric store (hobby lobby) and found some colors to add in and then got to work.
I had both sides pieced and had started quilting before I left on vacation but just finished it up this week.
I just love it. I love love love it.
For one side I did a mini stacked coin block surrounded by a bunch of gray.
For the other side I did an all over stripy design and I just love how this side turned out.
A few more pics for good measure.
I quilted this one in an all over grid placed on the diagonal at varying intervals. I’m loving the grid on it. Not sure if I love it as much as I do having the grid horizontal/ vertical but its a pretty close race.
I’ve add it to the shop and am hoping it will find a home where someone will love it as much as I do.
Posted in quilting on May 25, 2011 | 3 Comments »
This is the quilt that I made for the baby shower on my birthday.
This quilt was so quick and refreshing to make. I knew well in advance that I had a baby shower that day but it wasn’t until just before I left for Hawaii that I received my monkey fabric. So, it would have to wait until I got back from Hawaii giving me only a couple of days to make it. Because I was so short on time I went with a very simple pattern. I just started cutting and went with it as far as my stripes go but if your interested in an informative tutorial on how to make a stripe quilt you can find it here. I’ve made them before so I just went with it.
The back stumped me a bit but in the end I made it similar to this quilt I had made a while back. I’m so glad I did, I love it.
For the quilting I did the same thing I had done on my Birthday Give Away quilt; Vertical lines at various widths apart and then stitching in the ditch of the horizontal stripes on the front. This is my new favorite quilting pattern. I’m sure you’ll see it again.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 30, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I just love my birthdays! So far I’ve enjoyed some warm wishes from my kids, a sweet visitor and a fun baby shower with some women I love.
Here is a sneak peek of the gift I made for the mama to be over the last couple of days.
Have I told you I love to make baby quilts? No? Well let me tell you again. I love to make baby quilts. They are my most satisfying gifts to make and give.
Well, I have closed comments (*** update – I’ve chosen winners and reopened commens) on posts for this April. As I did so I took the time to reread all the comments you have made this month. It is with tears in my eyes (the good kind) that I say thank you. Thank You! Thank you for all your kind words this month. You all have definitely made my day.
In the next bit of time, maybe an hour, maybe two I’ll work on getting winners chosen and will announce the winners.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 15, 2011 | 45 Comments »
They’re Done!!
Here they are.
Ok, lets start with the one on the left. (if you’re looking at the picture)
I’m calling this one Sassy Squares. It measures 53.5 x 61 inches and has four rows of nine inch pieced blocks. The back has randomly pieced stripes. For the quilting I did some random sized loopies with a double loop on the bottom corner and then bound it in an Amy Butler pink print.
Here are some close ups.
Now for the quilt on the right.
I’m calling this one Mini Stack. It measures 55 x 59.5 and features a 14.75 x 17.25 inch block of stacked coins surrounded by grey. The back, again, has randomly pieced stripes. For the quilting I did random vertical lines spaced between 2.5 inches and 1.4 inch with horizontal lines that stitch in the ditch of the back stripes. This one was bound in a stripy Heather Bailey print.
Here are a couple close ups.
Didn’t they turn out great?! I love them both.
Would you like one of these for your very own? I am giving away one of these quilt to a randomly chosen commenter on this post. She will choose which one she likes and I will be giving the other one to the my local woman’s shelter.
So, to be entered in this Birthday Quilt Give-Away please comment once on this post. Comments on all other April posts will be entered into my general 2011 Birthday Give Away.
Again, only one entry will be allowed for each person. Thanks
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 12, 2011 | 13 Comments »
While I love to make quilts, sometimes, especially if I’m in a hurry to get things done, I just have to push through and get it done.
Phew!
Now just to find some time to cut fabric for binding.
Posted in give-away, quilting on April 9, 2011 | 5 Comments »
That’s a word, right?
These quilts are coming along. I had a few hours today to dedicate to them and I got the backs finished, both quilts pinned, and 3/4 of one quilted.
For the backs I used all the extra fabric from the fronts. I didn’t have a real plan going when I started these quilts so I could have used a few extra yards of this color or that to do a more planned back. As it was I needed to use every bit of extra fabric.
I set a side a decent chunk for the binding and then cut all the rest of the fabric I used for the fronts into 3, 6, and 9 inch strips. I then sewed the strips together to make long 60 inch strips, laying them out as I went to make sure they covered the quilt tops. Finally I randomly sewed the 60 inch strips together.
Does that make sense?
I’ll show you the big picture soon.
