 |
| Bella Solids Mustard |
Hello! Today is one of my favorite colors out of all the new ones! Mustard! Go see what Shruti has to say about it!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Pretty Pleats Tote
This weekend I've spent a bit of time playing around with fabric for myself. First I'll share my favorite - the Pretty Pleats Reversible Tote!
A few weeks ago I started seeing all my bloggy/flickr friends making these - they were pattern testing for Michelle. Let me tell you, I've only ever followed one purse pattern before, so it wasn't like I typically do this sort of thing... furthermore, I hate following patterns. This one was a breeze though!!
I can't tell you how impressed I am by this pattern!! I love that Michelle provided cutting instruction to make frugal use of your fabric (and to make cutting easy!). Most of the pattern pieces can be at least partially cut using a rotary cutter!
The directions were straight forward and precise. No surprise "try to figure it out yourself" moments. It was late-night-sewing friendly. No cussing even. :)
I'm so excited to use this tote! I think it's my new going to work bag!
Thanks Michelle for writing such a fabulous pattern! I see more of these in my future!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
WIP Weds...
 |
| Here are those WIP's hanging in my closet! |
Pretty pleats tote - it's fabulous. I want to make more.
Two random zip pouches which are also pretty awesome! - one is for my sister!
Mommy's Nap Time Flickr Group - (haha thus far unpopulated) created.
Swimming Suit for Allie - A random start and finish all in one day. :)
 |
| Bow Clutch and Pretty Pleats Tote |
In (immediate) progress:
Bella Bella Quilt (the round one) - finished piecing the next round, now to add it and continue...
My Precious QAL - no progress.
Super secret project - Homework is imminent... tomorrow? Soon!
FQS Bella Parade Season 2 I've got two more samples to quilt up. But I did get a big chunk of blog posts written and scheduled....
Zip pouches for my sister. Always. Oh and one for her best friend too.
No progress (none planned):
9 million random things. - no progress
{Modern} Robin - no progress
New projects:
RATZ swap june round is open now (sign up here- it's a quick and easy swap!)... I'll be making some magnets as soon as I get my partner assignment!
Linking up with fabric tuesday and WIP Weds!
FQS Bella Parade : Season 2 : Post # 7
 |
| Bella Cloud |
Head on over to Shruti's blog for today's installment of the Bella Parade! Go check out Cloud!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
FQS Bella Parade : Season 2 : Post # 6
 |
| Bella Solids Eggplant |
Hello everyone!! :) Are you still with us for the Bella Parade?! Just joining back after the long weekend? Head on over to Shruti's blog to read more about luscious Eggplant!!
Maquettes and why I love Jacquie.
 |
| How cool do those look? All rolled up in the back of the car! |
Oh dear blog readers, I'm so terrible. It's been more than a month since the fabulous Jacquie Gering presented at our Chicago Modern Quilt Guild, and I still haven't shared it with you.
 |
| I saw this quilt in person! This is one of my faves!! |
My little story starts last year just before Christmas - we had scheduled a sew-in for our CMQG meeting, but the park district had forgotten our extended time frame and didn't unlock the building for us early. We all ended up down the road at a diner hanging out and drinking coffee - there were a lot of us, and a lot of new faces. It just happened that I sat down next to Jacquie - of Tallgrass Prairie Studio - it was her first CMQG meeting after her recent move to the city. You know her, I know her, we're all immensely inspired by her -- but even after chatting with her for about an hour I didn't recognise her (it makes you think though - what do you bloggers look like?). lol. How embarrassing!
Back to the present - er - last month. Jacquie presented for us at our April guild meeting and it was spectacular. It really was one of the most inspiring meetings ever. You should have seen it - all those beautiful quilts, and she told us a bit about each one, and about herself, and her journey in quilting. She's really a fantastic person - truly inspiring.
 |
| If you have any idea how amazing this quilt is in real life? It's about 200x more amazing than it is on the computer screen! |
So the point of this post? Other than sharing with you about meeting Jacquie and how awesome her presentation was, and her book - let's not forget about that! (I keep getting side tracked). The point is, she had brought with her many smaller quilts "Maquettes" she called them. A smaller version or a test piece for a larger quilt. Genius!
 |
| Everyone needs a purse to match their fav. quilt right? |
I've had this idea floating around in my head - a quilt I want to make that involves giant strips of paper pieced parts as well as strips of free piecing and textured things etc. It's intense. I've barely even attempted to sketch it out since it's so involved. And I want to use my bits of Bohemian and other precious fabrics... but I haven't been able to decide how big I want to make it, so I haven't started. Just now it has occurred to me, what I really need to do is make a Maquette - it's manageable, not overwhelming, and will help me decide if I should make it into a big quilt or a small quilt.
 |
| Book signing! |
A maquette, thanks for the idea Jacquie! And thanks for the inspiration!
Of course I failed to get a single picture of a maquette ... but Ebony did, so go read her write up about them!
 |
| I still need to get a copy of this for myself! It's a great book though!!! |
Monday, May 28, 2012
FQS Bella Parade : Season 2 : Post # 5
 |
| Bella Solids: Off White |
Today's color of the day is Off White! It's a great neutral solid - for those times when you don't want the starkness of a true white. Off white is perfect for sashing and using as a base for all your beautiful colors. It really makes any color pop!
 |
| 1. keychain 6, 2. 57.365, 3. Nametag, 4. clamshell pillow, 5. Traveling Quilts!! :D, 6. Washi Pillow, 7.Baby Brown and Turquoise, 8. Crop Circle Quilt - WIP, 9. Finished PTS7 |
Here are some excellent examples of off white. In the top row it's paired with some sweet pinks for a soft look. Then adding in some bold colors like in Jeni's name tag and Elaine's pillow - perfection! It can be paired with any color of the rainbow and still look perfect! Oh and check out that quilti there! I love it so much I might have to give it a try!
Off white makes a perfect backdrop for bright and bold color, and it looks great with other neutrals.
Here is a delicious bundle of fabrics that would look great with off white. Notice that some of the fabrics have colors on a slightly off white background!
 |
|
Bohemian Lace Pink www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Heirloom Gold Marbled Stripe www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Heirloom Gold Opal www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Mirror Ball Dot Rice www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Bella Solids 30's Pink www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
|
I really love off white with a nice pink. I paired it with Bella 30's Pink (which is pretty fabulous on it's own), with a neutral off white dot, and a couple of the warm colored Heirloom prints by Joel Dewberry. I'm really loving this combination!
Here's our free motion quilt design of the day - I don't know what to call this, but I was going for a stretched out stipple effect, channeling the way that sand would collect along a beach. If you're already stippling give it a try! I love the variation here. I would use it for an overall effect on a whole quilt. It's so quick and easy too!
Now, are you ready to win a yard of off white?? Here are the rules:
1. Create a pinboard with the name "FQS Bella Parade : Season 2"
2. Pin at least one image with the "Color of the Day" onto the board. The image has to be sewing related. Notions, sewing rooms, finished products anything.
3. Leave a comment with a link to your board.
4. The winners will be selected randomly and announced in the weekend giveaway post.
5. All entries will qualify to win the Bella Solids 2012 Fat Quarter Bundle in the weekly giveaway.
6. Pin it! And you could win it!
Instructions for those receiving a handmade quilt:
1) Put baby on it.
2) Take a picture to send to me.
3) Repeat daily.
I can't say this enough - my quilts are made to be used! Thanks Ruthie for really letting Chloe get some use out of this one!
(more info about Chloe's bubble quilt here)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
FQS Bella Parade : Season 2 : Week 1 Winners!
Welcome to the highly anticipate moment of the week...
This is when I announce winners!
Ready for the news?
Winner # 1
Glacier
Winner # 2
Clementine
The winner is
Linda
Here's a link to her board
Winner # 4
Graphite
The winner is
Here's a link to her board
The winner is
Here's a link to her board
Winner # 3
Plum
Linda
Here's a link to her board
The winner is
Here's a link to her board
And now coming to the MOST exciting winner
Winner of the Bella Solids 2012 FQ Bundle is
Congratulations to all the winners!
Please email me/Shruti with your address so that your prizes can be on their way to you!
Ready for another week of fun?
From this week instead of you leaving comments to enter the draw... We'll be putting in forms for you to fill in the post itself... I hope it simplifies things...
Fill the following form to win another FQ Bundle of the 2012 Bella Solids!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Guess what I made today...
...Are you ready for it??!!
A bathing suit!
 |
Yep I winged it and it turned out fairly perfect!
I was a Joann's today and they had all their clearance fabrics 50% off the clearance price. So naturally I grabbed some super cute swimsuit fabric! I bought a yard and a half and used only about half a yard. It was $6/yd after the discount.
 |
| I used Emily's technique - bribery with lollipop. |
While Allie napped I scoured the house for one of her tank tops and underwear (clean thankfully). I roughly copied the racer-back tank - no lining, edged with fold over elastic (FOE). I happen to be allergic to elastic, but not to FOE - so I typically have some on hand.
The bottoms were a bit more tricky to figure out - because I wanted them fully lined - I traced the underwear but somewhere in the process of adding seam allowances I managed to have a front and back that were nearly the same. In the end it didn't matter too much - I actually like a fuller bottom - less wedgies. I didn't use any elastic in the bottoms and the stitches around the waist stretch just enough to get them on.
It's not perfect, but it'll work -- MIL's condo association's pool opens tomorrow! Here's hoping for nice weather!!
(ps - I'm working on figuring out how to restrict the pinning of certain pictures (such as Allie in her bathing suit) so please make a little effort with me - just pin the blog header and notate that it's a post about swimsuits.)
Graphite and a guest blogger!
|
| Graphite |
Today's color of the day is Graphite! Go on and check out Shruti's blog for more about it!
Do you want to win ONE YARD of graphite?
Here's how you can do it...
1. Create a pinboard with the name "FQS Bella Parade : Season 2"
2. Pin at least one image with the "Color of the Day" onto the board. The image has to be sewing related. Notions, sewing rooms, finished products anything.
3. Leave a comment with a link to your board.
4. The winners will be selected randomly and announced in the weekend giveaway post.
5. All entries will qualify to win the Bella Solids 2012 Fat Quarter Bundle in the weekly giveaway.
6. Pin it! And you could win it!
***
Also...
Today we have our first guest in the FQS Bella Parade: Jane Davidson / Quilt Jane!
Head on over and check out what she has to say about pairing this week's solids with some of our favorite fabrics!! Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Jane's tutorial! :)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The day that I decided to blog 4 times... You could win a FQ BUNDLE!
hehe.
So lots of posts here recently. With the FQS Bella Parade starting up Shruti and I forgot one thing -- the launch giveaway!
So if you'd like to win a fancy FQ Bundle of the new Bella Solids Leave us a comment here or on Shruti's blog! The official details are below, as copied from her blog! :) Each person has 4 chances to win this one!
***
Up for grabs is ONE FQ BUNDLE of the 2012 Bella Solids from the Fat Quarter Shop
Here's how you can win it?
1. Create a pinboard "FQS Bella Parade : Season 2" and leave a comment with the link.
2. Leave another comment with an invoice number if you have shopped at the Fat Quarter Shop in the past 3 months. If you make a purchase today, you will qualify for the draw too!
(You get 20% off on Bella Solids, dont forget that! Use the code BELLAP12 at checkout)
3. Blog about the Bella Parade, leave a link.
4. Be a follower of 13 Woodhouse Road and Mommy's Naptime and leave a comment.
WIP Wednesday - the real list.
I can't seem to handle actually re-listing all my projects each week. (there are a lot of them)
It's been a while since I did so I guess I should list them out again!
Let's see...
 |
| Modern Robins swapped for the last time!! |
Finished:
{Modern} Robin -- I finished my last border add to Emily's, and we swapped them at our guild meeting last weekend. They're so fabulous! I'm in love!
RATZ Swap - keychain has been finished for a while, mailing it out this week!
Snazzy covers for my neice's crutches (she had to have a bone aspiration, - with great results!!!! - but she'll be on crutches for a couple weeks while she heals).
{Sew} Beautiful Bee - May block for Angela.
Super Secret Project - finished sewing!
In (immediate) progress:
Bella Bella Quilt (the round one) - I hope to finish the next round/border this week.
My Precious QAL - If I happen to buy more Kona Coal I'll be finishing this up soon.
Super secret project - need to do some "homework" lol. typing is no fun. - needs to be finished by the end of the month!
FQS Bella Parade Season 2 I've got two more samples to quilt up. I'm hoping to do something spectacular, so I haven't gotten to it yet. Also I've got a ton of fabrics to pull, and blog posts to schedule! :)
Zip pouches for my sister. Always. Oh and one for her best friend too.
No progress (none planned):
9 million random things. Blocks hanging around waiting to be put together for my tiny scrappy fun quilt.
{Modern} Robin - yes it's on the list twice. I need to decide what colors to border it with and what size I want it. :)
New projects:
Pretty Pleats Tote - I'm going to buy fabric for this one and start it soon!
Linking up with fabric tuesday and WIP Weds!
{Sew} Beautiful Bee!
I've been a little lazy about sharing my finished bee blocks! So here they are!
The first one is a gradated Mod Mosaic block for Brooke. Don't worry - that bottom section is not sewn down without a white sashing piece - I just ran out of white fabric so it's ok! :)
Then this month we made wonky pineapple blocks for Angela. I really liked making this block - it came together so quickly!!
Oh and I have all my bee blocks, fabric for sashing, backing fabric, etc... waiting to be put together! Add it to the list right? :) It's gotta get done since my sweet Lindsey really needs a quilt to cuddle with!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
FQS Bella Parade : Season 2 : Post # 2
Head on over to Shruti's blog for day two of the parade, and for a chance to win one yard of Clementine!
|
| Clementine |
Monday, May 21, 2012
FQS Bella Parade 2: Day one Glacier
|
| Moda Bella Solids, Glacier |
Welcome to day one of the Fat Quarter Shop Bella Parade Season 2! This time around we'll be highlighting each of the new Moda Bella solids. Here's our first fabric of the day: Glacier!
Glacier is really excellent blueish grey, it's great to swap in where you might typically use a white or a light grey, and it'd be great for adding a soft cool effect to any project. Give it a try to change things up a bit!
Now for the fun part: playing with the fabric!!
Glacier would be fabulous in so many different projects, be sure to click through the links below the pictures to see the work on the original sites! This color is really dreamy. Could you imagine using it to add a cool cloudy blue color to just about everything!
Here are some fabrics that I think would be great to use in projects with Glacier.
 |
Heirloom Blush Blockade Blossom www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Bella Solids Plum www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Children at Play Cotton Aqua Dot to Dot www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Bella Solids Glaicer www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Pezzy Print Tonal Dusty Blue Magic Beans www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Quilt Blocks Shade Grey Ringlets www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Navy Medium Chevron www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
Bespoken Aqua Stitchery www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Detai...
|
Doesn't that look dreamy enough to order them all? I'm thinking a quilt with these would be great!
Throughout this season of the Bella Parade Shruti and I will be sharing a different design for free motion or straight line quilting each day. As the parade goes on we'll also have ideas about how you might use these samples. If you want to quilt along with us - growing more and more comfortable with free motion quilting on your home machine you can pick up a bundle of the new fabrics at the Fat Quarter Shop. Let me tell you they're all really dreamy colors! I used an 18" square of the bella solid for each one, using Warm & Natural batting and backed with premium unbleached cotton muslin - but feel free to give it a shot however you'd like!
Today's idea for quilting is the standard among many quilters, the free motion meandering stipple. There are tips all over the blogs to help you get started. I'm not an expert by any means, but you can find some tips and tutorials linked on my "Free Motion Quilting" pinterest board.
The meandering stipple is a wandering line of stitches that does not overlap or cross paths. This is a great place to start if you've never tried free motion quilting before. Practice practice practice (and you may want to give away the first quilt you free motion quilt, if you're the type to over examine your mistakes). Once you get the hang of a stipple it's not as hard to imagine trying out other styles of free motion! Go on! Try it!
***
So you'd like to try out these new colors of Bella Solids? Join our contest and you may just win an entire Bella Solids 2012 Fat Quarter Bundle!!! Fat Quarter Shop will send one of you home with the FQ bundle each week, and each day you'll have a chance to win a yard of the color of the day! Let me tell you - it's worth it! Go on and enter! Here's how:
1. Create a pinboard on Pinterest with the name "FQS Bella Parade : Season 2" (for tips go here)
2. Pin at least one image with the "Color of the Day" onto the board. The image has to be sewing related. Notions, sewing rooms, finished products anything. (Include the color's name and date into the description, for example: "Glacier 5/21")
3. Leave a comment on the Color of the Day post with a link to your Pinterest board for a chance to win!
4. The winners will be selected randomly and announced in the weekend giveaway post.
5. All entries will qualify to win the Bella Solids 2012 Fat Quarter Bundle in the weekly giveaway.
6. Pin it! And you could win it!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
AAQI Sold!!!!
My Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative quilt has sold!! I don't know who purchased it (it wasn't my mom), but I sure hope they really love it! I'd love to hear from them too - if it was one of you!
Feeling sad that you didn't swipe it up first? Go on over and check out the other quilts made by my guild. There are some fantastic quilts there! My favorite one has already sold --- to another guild member Sue! :)
Please, if you have the money to spare, find it in your heart to purchase one of these sweet little minis! The money goes to fund Alzheimer's research - which is much needed!
Thanks again to whoever bought my quilt!!
Happy Mother's Day ..er I'm I little behind in my blogging!
 |
| Mother's Day gift for my MIL. A pencil case and tissue holder. |
Yeah, I'm a bit late with my blog posting. I just realised I have pictures from my guild meeting from last month, mother's day gifts, and two month's of Bee blocks to share! That's a lot more backed up than I uaually get! So here is the Mother's day post - the others will follow (I promise, I'm writing them now and scheduling them for later in the week).
 |
| My mom's pouch. |
For mother's day I played around with some scraps and some pre-fused die-cut shapes. I'm really loving them. I made a pouch for my mom and one for my mother in law. They both feature fabrics (scraps) from their quilts that I made them! I think I like those black polka-dots the best!
I also attempted to get a good picture of the two of us. That didn't work out so well. I got some cute ones but I'm not very good at getting both of us smiling in the same picture!
This one just about sums up the day! What a cuddly girl!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Blogger's Quilt Festival
It's been a while since I've participated in the Blogger's Quilt Fest. It's always so inspirational to look around and see what everyone else has made!
I've chosen to share my Doll Quilt Swap 12 quilt. I made this quilt for the fabulous Mona who was my secret partner for the swap. It measures about 23" in diameter and was mostly paper pieced. Yes, there is some tiny piecing going on there... it's just my favorite most "me" quilt I've ever made. This was my first try at drafting paper piecing patterns by hand (those arcs of flying geese around the outside), and I happened to fall in love with hand drafting and paper piecing.
Another first on this quilt, was that I made use of very specific types of free motion quilting on different areas of the quilt. the movement between micro quilted pebbles to free motion zigzags, to radius' out to the points. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I gave it a try!
The final moment of excitement once I'd finished the quilt - was realizing that my detailed "hanging structure" using boning and plastic hoops tacked to the back actually supports the circular shape! I was so worried that it wouldn't be able to be hung! All the time I spent going over it in my head worked out well in the end!
 |
| You can really see all the quilting here! |
As I said before, this is the most "me" quilt I've made to date. It was hard to give it up and send it to my partner, but it was such a joy to make this quilt. Sometimes it's best to just let all the crazy ideas in my head out - and put them into a fantastic quilt. There's a very special place in my heart for the Doll Quilt Swap, and even though I knew I'd likely never see this quilt again, It still made sense to me to make it and send it to my partner. There's so much growing that happens when you're inspired during a swap. It's really important to me to be ok with letting go of the actual quilt.
There you have it. My ramblings about my precious Doll Quilt 12 quilt! If you'd like to hear the whole story this link will take you to the rest of the story!
Now go enjoy all the other quilts linked up for the blogger's Quilt Festival!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)