Valentine in January

 

After working on several quilts (many I have yet to share here), it was nice to work on something a little smaller.  I used to sew bags, clothing, and toys and somewhere in there I got hooked on quilts.  This year I'd like to diversify my sewing a little bit.  Don't get me wrong, I still have several quilts in the queue and will probably keep adding to that list.

For this project, I used Canoe Ridge Creations' patchwork heart block tutorial.  I dived into my scrap bin and pulled out all the pink pieces I could find.  The block had to be pink because, did I mention, June loves pink?  Pink pink pink.  I plan to turn this into a pillow top and give it to her for Valentine's Day.  I'm still deciding how to quilt this.  Any suggestions?

Linking up at Quilt Story, Blossom Heart Quilts, and Freshly Pieced.

Sunday Stash: Wonderland

A few years ago I fell in love with Wonderland by Momo fabric.  You may recall I made a baby quilt with it and also a sewing machine cozy.  A few weeks ago I came across a listing for a layer cake of this now out-of-print and hard-to-find fabric.  The price reflected its rarity.  I decided to pass it up.

The next day, I looked it up and it was still available.  I still couldn't justify the purchase.  This same scene played out for a few days.

Then one night I had a dream.  In my dream, I woke up and decided to just bite the bullet and purchase the fabric.  However, when I looked it up it was already sold!  What a disappointment!  I literally woke up at 4 am and panicked.  I rolled over and checked my phone to see if it was still available.  It was!  (Sound huge sigh of relief.)  I clicked 'buy' without any hesitation.

One day I will make a big quilt for myself with this layer cake.  But until then, I can rest assured that I have some of this beautiful fabric in my possession.

My name is Stephanie and I literally dream of fabric.

(Linking up today at Sarah's Quilts.  Go over and justify your fabric stash!)

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites, a photo by CreativeReveries on Flickr.

Just a little eye candy this Friday morning.

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Planning

I cut into my flea market fancy fabric thinking I had a plan - large diamonds within diamonds. I cut, sewed, and cut again impressed at how quickly my giant half square triangles were coming together. Then I hit a road block. When I laid out all the blocks, something about it just wasn't working.  I almost panicked at this point (What have I done?  Have I wasted all this precious fabric?  etc etc).

Then I discovered something so many quilters have already discovered. Graph paper. Wow. How did I not use graph paper when planning my quilts before now? Not only is it efficient, it's fun!  I enjoyed sketching out all the possibilities.  By the way, this site has great, free printable graph paper. (Now you can't use the excuse that you have to wait for your Amazon order to arrive before you start planning that quilt.)

I abandoned my diamond layout for a carpenter star arrangement instead. I envision a big, scrappy, swoon-like block. Yes, I think this may just work out fabulous afterall.

The Three Year Quilt

How do you decide who receives a handmade gift?  Since my sewing time is limited, and my own sew-for-me list is long, I only give handmade gifts to very special people in my life.  My college roommate married in 2011.  I was very pregnant with the Bug at the time.  We lived together for four years, and we lived close by during the even more exciting post-college years.  She was there on my first date with my husband and I was there the weekend after she met her now husband.  Some people miss the college years.  I miss those years right after college.  

But I digress.  She's a special person in my life.  They wed on a beautiful winter night in their new hometown of Charleston, SC.  What a great town.  

I started this quilt with my friend in mind when I was on maternity leave with the Bug.  It was the first project I picked up after having a baby.  I needed something to do with my hands that didn't involve nursing or changing diapers.  I remember putting on nursery rhymes and placing June in her bouncer.  She was content to watch me sew in those early days.  Oh, only for a few minutes (what is this I hear about newborns liking sleep?  Mine never did.)  But still, those few minutes were therapeutic.   The quilt top is the stacked coins quilt in the book, Last Minute Patchwork and Gifts.  This is the second one I made (I wrote about the first one I made, also a wedding gift, here).  It's a quick quilt top to sew, and even with a small baby, I finished the top pretty quickly.  But then it sat for a year until I was motivated to baste it, and then it sat another year and a half waiting to be quilted; another baby later.  The Bee was sitting up at this point.  I sat him down on a quilt near my sewing machine and just quilted, line by line.  Three years later, this quilt is finally done and living with my friend.  

Pattern: Stacked Coins Quilt in Last Minute Patchwork and Gifts

Fabrics: Fabric scraps leftover from this quilt.  Sashing is Kona Cotton Aqua.  Green cotton for backing, with strip of fabrics from front. 

Sunday Stash: Fort Firefly

 When I look at this fabric, I hear a steady whisper.  Shhhh, listen.  

"Summer, summer, summer."  

Do you hear it too?  

Barefoot running in the grass, firefly catching, warm water splashing, s'mores eating, oh-I-look forward to you summer.  

Crud

Why am I such a sucker for sweet little girl fabric designs???

First there was Briar Rose by Heather Ross.  I bought a fat quarter bundle with the intention of making a quilt for the Bug.  With hope, she will like it and it will live on her bed (must include lots of pink for this to be successful).

Then I found, fell in love, and bought Fort Firefly.  Yes I did.  This will become a throw-size summer quilt.  This fabric screams to me, summer summer summer and takes me back to those barefoot, green, magical days.

And now.  Now I cannot get over Sarah Jane's new collection, Wee Wander.  I have fallen in love yet again.  Seriously people, I die over the cuteness.  I want it.  I *need* it.  But I'm not sure what to do with it!  Perhaps I should use this for the Bug's big girl bed, it does feature a lot of pink afterall.  But then what should I do with Briar Rose?

The question is, how many quilts does a little girl really need?  I need to start making things other than quilts, but in ways that I, I mean my children of course, can enjoy and treasure the fabrics.  Pillows? Bags?  Yes, but what else?

Weekending

This weekend I:

Caught up on some reading,

(If only I had time to make every single project in these books!)

Found more enjoyment rummaging through my scrap bin than I had anticipated,

And began to work on a little valentine present.

Overall, a very good weekend.

2014

Hiyo 2014!  Let's kick butt this year, ok?  To keep me on track, here's my 2014 creative to-do list, in no particular order:

1. Bind, wash, and enjoy my Good Folks HST quilt

2. Finish and gift the Uptown charm square quilt 

 

3. Make and gift another belated wedding quilt 

5. Paint the Bug's big girl bed pink (everything needs to be pink at her request)

 

6. Make a quilt for the Bug's big kid bed 

 

6. Paint and hang pictures for the Bug's room

 

7. Makeover the kid's bathroom -shower curtain, window shade, pictures

 

8. Make a baby quilt for a friend's spring baby

 

9. Finally make quilts from my wedding napkins

10. Make a queen-size Single Girl quilt (gasp!)

 

11. Make Olive and Archie dolls for the Bug's birthday

 

12. Finish this alphabet sampler

Let's do this!