Paddington finished

On the Design Wall

Merry Madness

mug rug madness, that is....

mug rug tops completed so far...  each is roughly 9" square

"joy" mug rug design and tutorial found here by twin fibers
which got me started on the mug rug trend and was my justification for buying some of Moda's Countdown to Christmas.   that started my "need" for Christmas fabric...  found some Alexander Henry Merry Modern fabric on etsy, picked up various other fabrics at Quiltology and Joann's.  
It's kind of fun to make mini quilts but I need to make 48 before the end of the month....

Sea of Swoon

I've finished my second block of this amazing pattern.  (Swoon by Camille Roskelley, Thimble Blossoms)  So simple, yet so delicious.  You have to see these blocks in person to appreciate the size of them.  There aren't a lot of measurements to make in the cutting - some squares, some rectangles.  Some half triangles from those shapes.  and VOILA!

Of course, I've gone and complicated a simple pattern by adding fabrics with directional prints and then for these little swimmers having to figure out how to get parallelograms to fit in instead of the patterns clever use of half-square triangles.  And I'm still kind of working on how to deal with triangles.  So, hey, let's add some more bias to my piecing!!!

I think I've done fairly well.  Some of the points and corners are a little off and there's a little pull here and there, but nothing that won't work itself out when quilted.  I hope.  :-)  I love my Swimming Swoon.  It isn't one of those patterns that will sit in a box and send little buyer's remorse waves of guilt my way.  In fact - I've already dreamed of making some holiday quilts with the same pattern.  Wouldn't it be lovely as a Christmas quilt, or especially a Fourth of July quilt?!

Lili

Lili's Quilt Quilted

it's quilted!  next up - binding.  deciding on fabric for that...

the lines are a little more crooked than I'd like.  definitely was rushing here and there.  It's so hard to quilt these larger quilts!  I think I'll have to send my machine some flowers later to apologize for our "discussions" while wrangling this baby through a space which really wasn't meant for a large, bed-size quilt.

I find myself comparing my quilting to others (who's sewing I know nothing about!) when I'm at the machine.  I tend to stop and start and re-position all the quilt that's outside the needle space.  Then I imagine that other quilters can sew a line full speed without stopping and I try to match them.  mad dash of hands trying to keep tension and eliminate some mystery drag and keep the thread and needle going in some semblance of a "straight" line...

and here's the Philip Jacobs shell montage fabric on the backside -  

Mimi's Treat Bag

made a smaller version of the Mors bag I learned how to make at the CMQG meeting last weekend to create a little Trick-or-Treat bag for Lili's sister.  Whenever she comes to visit, she chases Scooby around the apartment and has little private conversations with her "meow meow" (SO cute).

I've been hoarding this fabric from Alexander Henry's Ghastly line and this seemed like a good use for it.  Sebastian, the Ghastly's cat is definitely more masculine than my Scooby (and, according to Lili, kind of scary) but I think Mimi will like him.  The inside is lined with a glittery Halloween fabric from Joann's - and every little girl loves glitter!  (There's glitter all over my ironing board now.)  I put a little cat to color and a stuffed kitty in the bag, too.

Happy Halloween Mimi!  (and, oh yeah, look at that beautiful label...)  :-)

Working on

the back of Lili's quilt (finally!)

using some of the technique from the Word Play Quilts book I got a few weeks ago from amazon and an awesome fabric from Philip Jacobs (for Kaffe) - Shell Montage.  This is the "beige" version.  Most of the back will be that fabric, but I've added a little love letter to my bean...  kind of like way back when I used to make lunches for her and put little notes in with her sandwich.

Also went to my first meeting of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild this weekend.  I'm still kind of overwhelmed - lots of ladies, noise of the machines and all the newness...  but it was really fun.  They seem like a very nice bunch of women - went out of their way to come say hi and talk to me.  and lend me whatever I forgot to bring.  I had to slam on my brakes for some traffic mishmosh on the way and my sewing machine crashed to the floor.  I think it's OK.  I hope it is - really don't have the time or the funds to be fixing it at the moment.  Yikes!  Then there was a slight moment of panic when I found the park district, but couldn't figure out where "building 4" was.  A nice officer pointed the way to "the knitting club".  I didn't correct the knitting thing because I was laughing at how helpful he was compared to a city cop.  We made these reusable shopping bags.

They went together fairly quickly and easily.  They are the first bags I've made, and they got me excited to try some others.  Of course, I've got to finish Lili's quilt first.  I promised her it'd be done before the cold weather hit - and the nights are definitely cooling down.

banners and labels

sorry for the early early morning photo (again)...  there isn't a fancy name for this font - most of the letters were made up by me and the rest by my daughter.  I just wanted something fun and carefree - that's how a birthday should be!  I've made a few of these banners for some people at work.  They are made with felt, Steam a Seam Lite, various fabrics for the letters (with a zigzag outline), and grosgrain ribbons. 

so... I joined the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild this week and I'm planning on going to this month's meeting on Sunday.  I'm excited to see what it's all about, but nervous too.  I've never been to anything like that, so not really sure what to expect.  I guess I'm going public with my quilting addiction.  :-)  next step will be to see if I remember how to get one of those blog buttons on my sidebar...

and - I received my labels in today's mail!!!  I love them and can't wait to see what they look like on a quilt.  I'm working on Lili's quilt and the Puddle Jumper this weekend - either one could be ready for a label by the end of the weekend, so maybe a finish (or almost finished?) post in the near future???  meanwhile - check this out:

I ordered these from mommiemadeit on etsy.  It's my first order from her, but I have to say communication was quick and clear and I got my labels 11 days after ordering. 

Still here....



just buried in felt

Puddle Jumper

(The moment I saw Tula Pink's Prince Charming, my dreams were haunted by that silly frog.  I simply could not go on without him...)



This morning we got in our sniffs, 
 saw some pretty flowers soaking up the morning sun,

checked out the trees as they morph from summer to fall,

and we jumped in the car for a Starbucks run.

 Then I turned my frog-inspired sketch into the top of the Puddle Jumper quilt.

I've used a couple of the prints from Tula Pink's Prince Charming collection and added some text from Tidings and Tales (J. Wecker-Frisch, Wilmington Prints) and Joel Dewberry's Herringbone from his Modern Meadow collection.  The solids are from my stash, most likely from Joann's.  All in all, a beautiful day! 

I hope you are enjoying your weekend, too! :-)

like watching a seed grow...

slow progress - maybe I'll be caught up after the long weekend so I can spend some of my sew time on other projects, too!  ;-)  have these three to add to the stack - up to 30 now.  almost had 31, but Century of Progress was a bust.  so here's:

(39) Friendship

(108) Windmill and

(69) Practical Orchard.  SO HAPPY to use those cute little turtles - hee hee. 

I got myself a little design wall this week (love those coupons at Joann's) and started to think of some layout ideas for this quilt. there's no thought to color on this, just an idea for some of the blocks being on point and some not.  sorry for the quickie post - a little under the weather today - just wanted to update.  I think I'm really going to like this quilt when it's done.  I'm enjoying this sampler business more than I thought I would - and I like having a little dictionary of blocks for possible future projects.  Hope your projects are going well! :-)  D. 

BOM September block

This is the first block of the first month of the BOM started by Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works.  This block was designed by Sherri at A Quilting Life.  The green background is Clover Dots by Brandon Mably for Kaffe Fassett Studio (Westminster Fibers).  The middle flower blocks are Delphinium in pastel by Phillip Jacobs.  The rest of the fabrics are Kaffe designed - Paperweight in paprika, Lotus Leaf in wine, and Serape in red.  BEAUTIFUL fabrics!  of course, it doesn't take long to figure out I'm one of those Kaffe fanatics... I want to live in this garden - so lush and colorful - what's not to love?!

Elisabeth Augusta in the flickr group for this quilt along had the idea to do 4 of these blocks, rather than just 1.  The blocks finish at 8 inches (or just shy if you're me) and 12 blocks makes for a smallish quilt, so I think I'll play around with that idea - maybe do 1 of some and more of others?  I think I'd like to end up with 24 blocks at the end.  I did the four this month because I like the star pattern that emerges in the middle when these four blocks are put together.  well, and I was so thrilled to get my fabric today and dive into it!  :-)  

and the farming continues...

(109) Windows

(77) Seasons

(97) Waste Not

I've taken to counting how many pieces go into each block - and then choosing the block for the night based on how much energy I have vs. how many pieces I'll have to cut and piece...  with ample consideration given to TRIANGLES, of course.  Am I going to be able to master the art of the triangle?  I think I'm getting better - I have to say - LOVE block 97, Waste Not.  not perfect, but better than what I would've produced just a few weeks ago.  and that my friends is part of the point of a sampler quilt - n'est-ce pas? 

Just got a fabricworm delivery, which included that beautiful deep pink floral from Children at Play by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller fabrics.  I hope they're going to produce it for awhile because I see this being a stash staple for me.

also got this adorable piece from Aneela Hoey's little apples for moda.  look at the turtles parading across the selvedge!!!  so cute.  there are turtles eating apples and making friends with happy little snails - this has to find it's way into the farmer's wife's quilt!