I love the fabric line I used in this quilt. It's called Neptune and no longer available. I finally have got around to quilting this top - it's small enough for me to manage on my machine.

I started out with 1" apart straight lines following the larger/overall diamond shape that the rounds of triangles make. But, when I looked at my progress, I realized they just didn't add enough interesting texture. So, I'm going back and filling in with 1/2" apart lines. It's going to take longer, but it's going to look so much better.

Stay tuned for the final product. I should finish by the end of the weekend (I hope). My back is already killing me :)

Back in the summer, my niece Alicia requested a quilt for her new baby Penny and toddler daughter, Ayve. The color scheme was (fortunately) one of my favorites: gray, yellow and white. The first quilt out of the gate was the baby-sized quilt for Penny. I loved making the big graphic zig zag in one of my favorite lines, Aviary2 by Joel Dewberry.

Next up was a twin-size bed quilt for Ayve. This quilt is a simple, modern square design using the same fabric line. I finished that quilt top very quickly, but since it is somewhat large - quilting it in my usual way at home just wasn't an option. I love to quilt baby and toddler sized quilts, but anything larger becomes a nightmare of shoulder-wrenching wrestling between me, the quilt, the machine and the dining room table. The quilt pattern, should you need one, is from Elizabeth Hartmann's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and the quilt is called "Small Plates". I'm pretty sure I adjusted it because I always do, but that's the basis.

I had this quilt quilted by Shelley Cannon, my aunt Mary's friend who lives in Oklahoma (thus providing a necessary connection to my quilting heritage since I learned how to quilt there). It's just lovely.

Today I am binding the quilt. This is one of my favorite steps in the process because despite all the tools and progress in modern quilting, binding is still done the old fashioned way by most quilters. That is, you stitch down strips of fabric to the top of the quilt and then handstitch to the reverse side. The process is very therapeutic - all that hand stitching - and gives it a satisfying homemade finish.

More photos when the project is complete!

And - COMPLETE! mailed off today!

I love the varied scale of this fabric as well as color way. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. A quilt, of course, and clearly girly.

The first thing I thought when I saw these lovely prints was "linens!"  Tanya has them worked up in pillow cases on the banner of her site, here. 

Just visiting that site, I am reminded that one of the things that brought me back to quilting avidly was designers like Tanya who were creating modern interpretations and uses of traditional fabrics and patterns. She, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey and a host of others made it fun again! I have always had an ongoing need to sew and quilt, but it used to wane for a year at a time. These days, I can't wait to work with the fantastic fabrics that are available every week it seems. (My favorite online fabric shops are Fabricworm, which puts together great bundles of coordinates; hawthorne threads, which has a lovely newsletter; and Quilthome which provides great coupons.

A fun mosaic maker on the web let's you pull all your flickr set photos together to make a grid. So thus are my quilt projects; this collection spans several years.

My goal in 2012 is a quilt a month. Let's see how I do! (right now I have a commission from a friend so that's the first order of business after organizing my sewing and crafting areas.)

xo, d.

Yes, the requisite house cleaning frenzy hit me on New Year's Eve. Thus, I've begun a closet clearing project that should make finding things a lot easier (I have that bad habit of rebuying little notions and such because I can't find them from the last time I bought them). 

The photos are "befores". In the next few weeks I should have my "afters". I am not doing much but adding shelves and organization. The paint is in good shape on the walls and nice and white. I like that. The little built in desk is definitely from the original building of the building which means I won't change it. I am going to buy some fancy knobs though. 

Stay tuned! 

Next week I am attending the Gilded French holiday workshop at French General which will be great - making three things: a rhinestone ornament, tree, and bracelet. Can't wait. The workshops at French General are always fantastic

I am also going to work on some really cute stockings that I found in the november/december issue of McCall's Quilting magazine. Here they are - they are adorable!! http://www.mccallsquilting.com/mccallsquilting/articles/Twinkle_Toes

 

Well, I don't think I have too many readers anyway, but if you were missing me, I have been busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest for months. (I love that saying...very busy, indeed).

This weekend I finally got around to sewing: i caught up on my Neptune Bee blocks, a virtual sewing bee that I started on flickr using Tula Pink's Neptune fabric. I also pinned up a holiday quilt and am now 1/2 way finished quilting! yay!

My bee blocks are super cute. here they are. The pattern is Dresden Plate by Elizabeth Hartman and you can make your own with this nifty tutorial. :)

xoxoxo

d.

Fabric: Neptune by Tula Pink (one of my all time favorites)

Pattern: just your basic half square triangle

What am  I working on, you ask? well, I'm working on another quilt and making party hats in anticipation of New Years. I really loathe ugly shiny cardboard New Year's hats. there's no reason anyone should look unstylish or ugly for New Year's Eve. This past weekend, I made the following things:

I have joined a virtual quilting group who is proceeding to torture itself with 111 very tiny complex quilting blocks. :)

The Farmer's Wife Quiltalong can be found at this website, or through this group on flickr.

Making these little blocks has become very addictive. I needed a distraction this week (tough week emotionally), and this quilt-a-long is providing amusement and, I have to admit, frustration. These are some tiny-assed pieces and blocks! Some are easier than others, you learn to do an easy one after a really tough one to give yourself a break from the intensity. I suppose that's a little metaphor for what I'm doing life-wise with my quilting.

My choice of fabrics is the same as the fabrics used in the Summer Splash quilt below (that's my name for it - it's just a simple little Rail Fence quilt). I love the Silent Cinema line of fabric - it's my favorite of the moment.

Here's my progress thus far - we're supposed to make 2 blocks per week and we're on week 5. I had to play catch up this weekend.