Trunk Show - Ahh, Memories!

I've been wanting to blog, but haven't been sewing! I am nearly done quilting up the baby quilt commission that I wrote about previously, but I just haven't been making any headway into my WiPs or my wish list. I just bought The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood, and would love to jump into it, alas it'll have to wait.

In the meantime I thought I'd reminisce about quilts and other projects that I actually did have time to finish. How I miss those days. And while I'm at it, I'm linking up to the Trunk Show at Whims and Fancies.

Broken Umbrellas Mini Quilt

This is probably my favorite project. I love the texture from the hand quilting, and the way the umbrella prints fabrics blends and jumps from the background. It finished pretty small, about 18" square. 

Instagram Quilt

This is my first quilt. Entirely hand pieced and hand quilted. I didn't even own a sewing machine, or an ironing board! I just ironed everything on a towel on the dining table. Those were the days...

Liberty Trip

I had a growing collection of Liberty of London prints, so I decided the best way to showcase them was with a Round the World strip pieced quilt. So simple, and so effective! It was one of my quicker finishes, and it's such a luxuriously simple quilt. 

Night Music in the Desert

This is my favorite 'normal' sized quilt. It finishes at a small twin, and is currently what I'm sleeping under. I loved the fabric play and the color choice, and that I made the whole thing myself, from drafting the pattern to quilting it. Just wish I had taken a better photo to do it justice!

Pineapple Pillow

Gotta share the love with the non-quilts. I'm a big fan of pineapple blocks and throw pillows. I made this one au naturale (no paper piecing!), and quilted it up. It is living with my parents now, I believe. 

Computer Case

A more recent finish. This computer case fits my MacBook like a glove. I love the Cotton + Steel fabrics I used, and am so happy I get to look at it every day!

Eyeglass Cases

Last, but not least, I have my sunglasses cases. I drafted them myself, and really like the feather one a lot. The only issue is I keep losing my sunglasses, and now I need more to put in these cases!

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I did. Don't forget to check out the other links at the trunk show, everyone's got some good things to share!

HST Sampler for Rose

I haven't been blogging much because I haven't been sewing much. I come home from teaching and the gym, have to walk the dog, and have to make sure I know what to do the next day and by the time that's all done I'm beat and need to hit the hay. Well, this weekend I finally made the time for some sewing.

Some HSTs. 

I agreed to make a quilt or pillow for an auction that benefited my friend's doula co-op. The winner was a woman named Rose, who likes samplers and modern fabrics in primary colors. I decided that I would make a HST sampler using a scrappy low volume background. And it's all completely from my stash. I had fun using some of the fabrics that I bought because they jumped out at me, but I've never had a reason to use before. 

Some warmer colors. 

So glad I finally found a project for these elephants!

I made nine 12-inch blocks for the sampler. I was definitely happy that I had the block loc ruler to help with all the HSTs. I'm so sick of making them! I was a little hesitant about the cohesiveness of my background, and if the fabrics I chose as the feature for each block would work out ok. Seeing them together and from farther away I'm happy with it, and I hope Rose likes it. 

I decided to arrange the blocks in a sort of rainbow layout, which I haven't tried before. 

The final layout. 

Now I just need to figure out how to quilt it!!

Star Cakes Shortcut Quilt with the FQS!

Today I'm sharing my finished flimsy that I made following the Fat Quarter Shop's Star Cakes shortcut pattern. I'll admit that I did it slightly differently, but that's mostly because I didn't have all the notions that they had. It was still a pretty easy way to make a twin sized quilt! They've even got a YouTube video to show you their shortcuts!

Here's the whole thing laid out in the back yard. 

I made this quilt using a layer cake of Kona solids in Citrus Burst, and for the background I actually bought some yardage. I knew I wanted the main background to be the Kona Bluegrass, but I wanted to add some interest so instead of a layer cake of Bluegrass I purchased 3 yards of that plus half yard cuts of Glacier, Asparagus, and Celadon. The Celadon wasn't as different from the asparagus as I had thought it would be, but I just stuck with both of them. I feel it keeps the variation subtle, which works because some of the yellows and oranges are only slightly different. 

Since I am a trimmer, I tried using the amazingly simple FQS method for making 8 HSTs at a time, but mine kept coming out wonky. My solution was to simply keep the starting squares at 10 inches, follow the same methods and trim down at the end using my creative grids bloc-loc ruler. It may have been an additional step, but at least everything came out the right size and shape in the end!

So many half square triangles!

My method regarding color selection was to randomly pair the colors, and with each progressive step I maintained that randomness. I never pre-planned any placements, or laid out any of my blocks. I just crossed my fingers and hoped the ratios of the colors I had chosen worked out!

My favorite part is this darker plus!

I'm pretty happy with it. I went on a photo shoot around my yard, though still using the iPod camera. Someday I'll get a new DSLR. It's hard adjusting to the Texas landscape, and getting whole quilt shots without so many fences or fire escapes to hang the quilt off of. I tried though!

Hanging off the grapefruit tree. Fits right in with the citrus theme. 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to bind this in leftover scraps, but I'm not sure what I'll back it in. I was thinking maybe some Freefall by Tula Pink, because you can't go wrong with a double wide fabric for backing. No piecing involved! Though, I just saw there's Meteor Shower available, and I do love that print - just not sure if it would fit in as well. Oddly enough, I'm not even a super huge Tula fan. Though I love her fabrics they tend to not fit into my piecing style, so I don't usually buy them. Or, if I do they languish in my stash. They do make excellent backings though, because you really get to appreciate her artistic viewpoint when you don't break up the fabrics.

Enough of that sidetracking. I enjoyed making this quilt and participating in the blog hop. I hope that I was able to show a unique take on this simple pattern, and that you try your hand at it as well! To make it more affordable to start working on this, for 3 days only (through Sept 9, 2015), Fat Quarter Shop is offering 20% off all layer cakes.

All rolled up - just waiting for quilting inspiration to hit!

Thanks for visiting!