Weekly Update: Paper Piecing Success

If you missed the comedy act that was my first try at paper piecing last week, you might not understand why this little block makes me so happy:

 

And with this new skill, I can confidently start working on the paper pieced star from Fresh Lemons Quilts that was chosen for the block of the month by Elvy Crafts for the Simply Solids bee.

 

Moving on to more solids!   The wall-hanging blocks are complete and waiting to be sewn together.  I’m looking forward to quilting this one.

 

And on the horizon, I’ve been pulling and buying these fabrics…

 

What are you working on this week?

Happy quilting!

 

 

 

Weekly Update: WIP’s, finishes, and mishaps

I’m so excited because I finally get to share with you the mini quilt I made for my friend, Diane.  First off, I want to give credit for the inspiration to A Crafty Fox.  She made this design into a pillow for a swap, and I knew I had to make one, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also want to give credit to the Y-Seams Tutorial at Fresh Lemons Quilts — great explanation on how to get these pieces to work together!

After the purse finish last week, I decided to make a small zippered envelope to hold grocery store cash.  I based this loosely on the Open Wide Zippered Pouch Tutorial at Noodlehead — I have made quite a few of these and love the super easy instructions.  But I made mine much smaller and did not box the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I needed a place for coins, so I added a small zippered pocket inside.  By the way, I am totally not an orange person but those stripes grabbed my attention and that orange just matched.  And fortunately, the two zippers I used were from a huge pack of vintage zippers that I bought at Goodwill a while back, so this entire project came out of my stash!

Ok, I should share some actual works-in-progress…

This is a block that is part of a wall hanging I am making for our master bedroom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The layout is a careful balance of random and planned — fits us perfectly!  More to come on this…

 

And lastly, I have to share some mishaps.  Paper piecing mishaps, to be exact.  I want this blog to be an accurate and true portrayal of all my quilting, and my quilting is never perfect.  In fact, it is sometimes just really messed up.  After four tries, I gave up on my first foray into paper piecing, to come back to it on a better day.  Here are my blocks, based on the very simple beginners block at Quilter’s Cache: (don’t laugh too much!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to get this right.  I have a Simply Solids Bee block due at the end of the month.  I’d love some tips…

 

Happy Quilting!

 

 

 

Two Zip Hipster — Done!

Aside from working on the taxes, creativity has taken a backseat this week.  Haha, just kidding, IRS!

But, before starting the taxes, I finally finished my Two Zip Hipster from Dog Under My Desk.  This pattern was easy to follow and it’s purely my own fault that I messed up some of the cutting.  Luckily, the mistakes weren’t anything too major.  Seriously, there was a lot of attention to detail in the pattern, and I recommend it.

Here is the finished product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms. Dog Under My Desk wisely advises against choosing directional fabric for this project, but did I listen to her?  Nope, and I think the different directions of the front pocket and main part of the bag just make it even more unique!  Just kidding… I seriously would have made it the right way if I were paying attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the inside, which is a different color and has a pocket that you can personalize.  I also chose a different color for this zipper.  As I was putting it together, I was worried that it wouldn’t be big enough for my daily use, but I am pleasantly surprised with how much unnecessary stuff I can cram into here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for this week, although I do have one more finished project to share soon.  It is a belated birthday gift to a very good friend who reads this blog, but it is finally in the mail.  I’ll post pictures when it has been received.

 

 

 

 

Covert Robin Mystery Gift Exchange

Way back in March (you know, ages ago!), I participated in the Covert Robin Mystery Gift Exchange.  I was assigned a partner for whom I would make a gift, who was different from the one who would be gifting me.  My partner was Jenn from A Jennuine Life.  She is quite a seamstress and makes super sweet kids clothes, in addition to lots of other crafting.

I had a hard time deciding what to make Jenn because she has done so many sewing projects!  In the end, I decided to make a mini quilt of a Swoon block.  The Swoon block was one I had not attempted yet, and was pleased to realize how quick and easy it is to put together.  I bought the pattern from Camille Roskelley‘s shop although I’m told you can figure it out if you look up patterns for Carpenter’s Star.  But Camille did the math for me, and that’s worth the $8!

Here’s the finished mini quilt:

Covert Robin Mystery Gift Exchange (and more)

Don’t you hate it when blogs start out with an apology for not posting lately?  There’s no need to apologize!  We know, we have lives, too!  So, no apology, just lovely pictures of what I’ve been working on despite being too busy to blog!

My biggest finish (and just in the nick of time) was a Swoon mini quilt for my Covert Robin Mystery Gift Exchange partner.  The Swoon block was one I had not attempted yet, and was pleased to realize how quick and easy it is to put together.  I bought the pattern from Camille Roskelley‘s shop although I’m told you can figure it out if you look up patterns for Carpenter’s Star.  But Camille did the math for me, and that’s worth the $8!

Here’s the finished mini quilt:

 

I also finished and shipped the March block for the Simply Solids Bee:

 

And last, but not least because it was for me and I’m in love with it, is this little pin cushion I made:

 

Happy Quilting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Wednesday Update 3.6.13

Here’s what has kept me busy this week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A trip to Portland this week required a stop at Cool Cottons of course.  I finally got my hands on some Pearl Bracelet!  And I met Linda, who blogs at Surrounded By Scraps.  She’s so lucky to work at Cool Cottons!

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Linking up at Freshly Pieced, hope to see you there too!

 

Weekly Wednesday Update

All you quilters out there are probably familiar with that point in a quilt project where you can see the finish line, you can feel the satisfaction of having it completed, it’s just so close to being done… but you have no desire to even look at it any more!

Andrew’s quilt is at this point.  I pushed through and completed the quilting, but I’m not happy with how it turned out.  I could not figure out why the tension was so off — I’d move the dial one way and it would get too tight, I’d move it the other and it would be too loose, but there was no happy middle.  So I pushed through, hoping it will all look lovely after a nice trip through the wash.  Or at least less like it was drunken sewn.  I try to keep that to a minimum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My other work-in-progress this week is my purple-themed scrappy trip around the world.  I finished almost all the squares, but one just did not lay out right (must have been drinking with that one!), so I’m short one.  But I love how it’s turning out!  There is always that moment of doubt (after I’ve cut up scads of fabric, of course) where I question my choices.  I’m the only one who does this, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for me this week!  I’m off to drool over the QuiltCon pictures posted by the lucky attendees.  How about Portland next year, Modern Quilt Guild?  A girl can dream, can’t she?

Oh!  I’m linking up at Freshly Pieced!