Monday, January 30, 2012

Design Wall Monday - Skorca!

The good thing about moving the design wall - again - is that as the pieces fall off, they get put back on in a more random way. Saves me the trouble of mixing up the blue blocks.
Getting pretty close to the end... But someone remind me that there's a  column of blue/red needed for the right side before I start sewing this whole thing together.

Check out more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Sunday Stash Report - Week 5

This week was Krafty Kids at my LQS, so about a half yard in and out for the Dude's pillow.
He's doing pretty well!
My helping payment was the scraps again.
Man, I love a bag full of scraps.

Used this Week: 0.5
Used Year to Date: 2.25
Added this Week: 1.5
Added Year to Date: 1.25
Net Used for 2012: 1.0 yards

Check out more reports at Patchwork Times!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Felt Food Friday - Carrots

I told you I was going to force a veggie pick this week. Carrots are the Dude's favorite.
Dude: "What's that green stuff on top?"
Me: "The stem. You use that to pull it out of the ground."
Dude: "Why are they pointy?"
Me: "Seriously, have you never seen a real carrot before?"
Baby carrots are the same price as regular carrots here, so I go for the convenience of pre-cleaned and peeled. So, yeah....he's hasn't seen a real carrot in a while. Oops.


I added lines to make it more carrot-y, but they're a bit too subtle in the same color thread.

And now the Dude is walking around doing his best Bugs Bunny impression. Which isn't that great, since he didn't get his two front teeth for Christmas.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

WiP/FMC - First Rows of Hunter's Star

I like this quilt, but man, does it involve a lot of trimming. Strip piece the star point, trim; strip piece the other star point, trim; square that piece, add the triangle, add the other (trimmed) side, trim...
But hey - two rows! (And 72 blocks to trim.)

For my Fifteen Minute Challenge, I'm still waiting on my mom to make a decision on sashing for Frolicking Pinwheels, so Sew Starry became my FMC this week.
I pieced each section in fifteen minutes every day - two halves of the center on Wednesday and Thursday, star side pieces on Friday-Tuesday. I'm on track to finish the star pieces before the next set of instructions come out - yay for 15 minutes of daily dedicated work!

This website was on the Quilting Gallery yesterday, so I started making a couple four-patches with the whites I'm using in Skorca! and the leftovers from Sew Starry. 

Quilt-Alongs:
Fat Quarter Stars - 4/9 blocks - #4 finished this week
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 3/36 (caught up so far)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - 10/12 blocks
Quiltville Orca Bay {Skorca!} - slowly adding pieces to Ohio Stars...slowly...
Made in Cherry - see above :)
Swoon A Little, Swoon A Lot - not only did I work on a layout on Monday, but I finished a block for the first time since November!


Linked:

Monday, January 23, 2012

Design Wall Monday - Skorca! & Sew Starry

Hmm. Not sure I'm going to keep the name Sew Starry. But it's okay for now.
Skorca! is moving along. I like it better the more blues I get up there.
The bottom is part of the star for the Made in Cherry Quilt Along. I decided on a uniform layout instead of random, because it's mine and I'm anal like that. It means I have to plan the half-pieces a little more - lots of the pinks, not as much of the others.
I also plopped Swoon down in the walkway (briefly) to get an idea of how many 8" blocks I still need and what color combinations. I think I need about six more. My plan is to cut the necessary pieces in advance so I don't run out. (Weird. I know.)

Check out more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sunday Stash Report - Week 4

I don't really have much to add - nothing finished, nothing really purchased.
I did buy this at an estate sale. My great-grandmother's quilt has a few pieces that are shredded, so I've been on the lookout for replacements. These might not quite fit the era, but I think they'll blend pretty well. Plus since it's only one block, I don't feel guilty tearing apart an antique.
The piece came in a bag with this...
There are a few flowers that need to be added, and I'm sure the birds are looking at something... Anyone embroider and want it? There's enough fabric for the front and back of a small pillow.
And this cute little apron. I'm not sure if the bunnies are supposed to have been embroidered? They seem a little out of place in black. I might play around with them before sending this to my younger niece.

Used this Week: 0
Used Year to Date: 1.75
Added this Week: 0
Added Year to Date: 0.25
Net Used for 2012: 1.5 yards

Check out more reports at Patchwork Times!
 
Also linked:

Friday, January 20, 2012

Felt Food Friday - Pizza

This was an easy, yet satisfying one - much like pizza in real life!
There's several good tutorials online, but I liked this one the best. I used foam instead of stuffing, and it's perfect for pizza slices.
I put velcro on my cheese so that you could have your slice with or without pepperoni. Yes, I know felt sticks to felt, but "not well enough" says the Dude.

I have got to get off the junk food kick. Next week, I'm forcing the pick of a fruit or veggie!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

WiP/FMC - Not Very Much Progress

Very little progress on my Fifteen Minute Challenge, especially. I moved the blocks around a couple times, and that's about it. Saturday-Monday I didn't even sew, since I was in Texas. My husband and I talked a lot about future plans on the car ride, including my sewing, so does that count?

A friend asked to see it with and without sashing. Any one have opinions?

Hunter's Star, round two - 78/90 dark half-blocks - and 50/90 blocks -one more strip of the dark blues and I'm done! With, you know, the initial piecing.
 
 i *heart* this wallhanging - started and finished last week!

Quilt-Alongs:
Fat Quarter Stars - 3/9 blocks - #3 finished this week
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 - 3/36 (caught up so far)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 - 10/12 blocks
Quiltville Orca Bay {Skorca!} - the wall hasn't changed since Monday, but I made a huge pile of the QSTs needed for the Ohio Stars.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

i *heart* this wall hanging

This was a spur of the moment project - I gave a presentation on quilts last Friday and decided on Wednesday to make something in wall hanging/table runner size.
 I thought about just doing a heart out of scraps and HSTs - similar to the star in the Made in Cherry Quilt Along.
While Googling, though, I found this on eQuilters, and decided to go for it.
Oh.My.Goodness. I'm now addicted to log cabins. I just let loose and cut anything from neutral or pink/red scraps. I'm very much a matchy-matchy (anal) person, so letting clashing fabrics in was a bit terrifying. 
For a while, I couldn't "see" the heart at all - I posted a picture on Facebook and it wasn't until I looked at it on the computer instead of the wall that it looked right.
Now I want to go buy a huge pile of fabric so I can make it EVEN SCRAPPIER.
I'm not thrilled with the quilting - some swirly free-motion would have been better. But I can't do free-motion, and Paula was busy with the OKC quilt show, so this is what it got.

My blocks are 8.5" unfinished, with 2.5" centers and 1.5" logs. I put the same red in the center of each cabin, even the all-neutral blocks, because it's cute heart fabric.
It finishes at 24x32" and is backed in muslin.

Oh, and the emus I mentioned on Sunday?
Sticking its head inside the white truck. It managed to get two bags of food out of the cars in front of us. We rolled up the windows.
Up close and way too personal with a llama.
Feeding zebras.
{At the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch outside of San Antonio}

Monday, January 16, 2012

Design Wall Monday - Skorca!

Still Skorca!
Still will be for a while, as it's a leader/ender for my sister's Hunter's Star.
Hmm, I'm lacking in black Ohio Stars. Should probably work on that this week. And red. I really need to get moving on the reds.

Check out more design walls at Patchwork Times!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Sunday Stash Report - Week 3

There would be more here, but DH convinced me to join him in Texas for a conference instead of going to the Oklahoma City Quilt Show.
So yay for family time, boo for buying lots of yummy fabrics I don't need. I guess. The family time has been a LOT of fun - we got to see an emu attack a car!
And before we left, I made this.

It's a heart made out of log cabins, and oh my goodness, I am addicted to making these now. More details when I get home - it was done entirely from scraps and stash.

Used this Week: 1.75
Used Year to Date: 1.75
Added this Week: 0
Added Year to Date: 0.25
Net Used for 2012: 1.5 yards

I'm in the BLACK!

Check out more reports at Patchwork Times!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Felt Food Friday - Popcorn

This...was not the greatest idea.
I used this tutorial, and freehanded several in a row, stuffing as I went.
Except I can't freehand, so my shapes... Well, whatever - real popcorn comes in many shapes, right?
Stuffing while sewing is also quite difficult, despite how easy it looks in tutorials.
So the Dude only got six oddly-shaped pieces of popcorn. I told him popcorn is a choking hazard, anyway. (He didn't buy that excuse.)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Rest of My Christmas Sewing

Last Christmas post! Let's just all agree not to look at the date.
I made a little drawstring bag for my niece's ballet and tap shoes. She wanted to wear it as a backpack, so I made buttonholes in the bottom and threaded the ribbon through. Faster than buying grommets, though less sturdy.

And, the present of the year...
Oh yes - we NEEDED an Angry Bird. It's a recent phenomenon for the Dude, as we just put Chrome on our computers. No one tell him it's on Dad's Kindle Fire or we'll never see that thing again.
{The Dude's rendition of an Angry Bird scene}
{I was told I need to make a golden egg}

The fabulous tutorial is at Obsessively Stitching - and yes, I'll be making all of them over the next couple of months.
One note, though. Make sure you use "anti-pill" fleece. As you can see, my red guy is already pretty pilled up from excessive handling in the last couple of weeks.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

WiP/FMC - of Boys, Fabric & Permanent Markers

I used my Fifteen Minute Challenge this week to finish Frolicking Pinwheels.
It hasn't really been touched since I sliced off part of my finger while working on it. Mostly for that reason, but also because I dislike squaring HSTs bigger than my 6" ruler. So over the past week, I fixed and cut the last two strip sets, and sewed the last four pinwheels, no more than one per day.
Now I just need to decide on a layout - sashing or not?

Regular Quilts:
Hunter's Star, round two - 56/90 dark half-blocks - and 30/90 blocks(!!)
This is the only time you'll see it on the design wall. It doesn't need to be laid out, and at 9x10 10" blocks, it won't fit anyway.

Quilt-Alongs:
Fat Quarter Stars - 2/7 blocks - #2 finished this week
Quiltville Orca Bay {Skorca!} - slowly filling in the gaps. This is where the aforementioned boy, fabric and permanent marker comes in. One of the issues I have with my quilt is not all of the black pieces are black enough.
The cow print being the primary offender. This makes the black Ohio Stars not stand out as much. Solution? Tape off the irritating QST and hand the Dude a black marker.
These are clouds, so I'm told. And see how the cow print on the left needs the same treatment?
Made in Cherry - my new sewing room has a big open wall, and I'm going to fill it with a big scrappy star made of these. Actually, a small one - I'm cutting my squares to 2.5" and should end up with about a 40x40" wall hanging.

Linked:

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Grinch Quilt - Finished!

My other Christmas Quilt. :)
This was my niece's Christmas present, using the panel from the Grinch collection.  Which, like Rudolph, was not printed straight or easily trim-able. I managed to get the blocks to an even 11.75" tall unfinished, and did some fancy math to lay them out.
I used almost every little bit in the sashings, borders and backing. To the point that my quilt teacher would have yelled at me, had she known how close the top and backing were in size.
I love the quilting - single crosshatch diamonds, with every other line then tripled. I'm glad I had enough time to go back and add the extra lines, even though I had some trouble with the quilting.
First, the snap-in spot for my walking foot broke, so I had to tape it together.
Then, well, that problem on the left kept happening.

The binding is the same candy cane stripe as Rudolph. I wish I had more!

Finished size: 50x60"
{maybe...I'll update after I have my sister measure!}