Rookie!

I was so happy to have finally finished my t-shirt quilt top over the weekend and was actually excited to sit down yesterday to start the actual quilting - usually my least favorite part of the whole process.  Unfortunately, little did I know, that a series of seriously rookie mistakes were headed my way!  Don't get me wrong, I don't consider myself a quilting master, or anything, but really ... really ... I know better!!

• Rookie Mistake #1 - thinking that quilting a 65" x 80" quilt on my cute little machine with a 6" throat would be no problem ...  piece of cake, right?
• Rookie Mistake #2 - thinking that I could  free motion stipple the entire quilt top ... Yeah right.  This quilt is so flippin' heavy that I could barely move maneuver the bottom corner around. But believe me ... I gave it my best shot.  Cue hour #1 of unpicking threads.  Sigh.
• Rookie Mistake #3 - sitting down for an hour to quilt some straight lines without a plan, in a pissy mood because of mistake #2 ... and not noticing until this morning that my thread tension was completely off.  Cue hours #2 and #3 of unpicking threads.  Double Sigh.

• Rookie Mistake #4 - spending another hour pouring through the internet for tips on troubleshooting machine tensions ... when all I needed to do was change the needle.

{Channeling my best inner Chandler voice} - could I be wasting any more time?

I'm happy to report, however, that {with the help of a giant bag of red vines} I am happily back in business.  In the process of re-quilting my straight lines, I realized that I really didn't like my previous {unplanned} quilting scheme, and switched gears a little bit.  I'm really happy with the progress (and my tension looks beautiful, if I do say so) - hoping to have finished pictures to share in a day or two ... provided I can avoid any more rookie mistakes!

Hope your sewing is going a little more smoothly than mine has been!  If you're in need of a little sewing inspiration {or cheering up}, stop by Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story or WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced to check out some of the great projects out there in blog-land.

Fabric Tuesday

Well, my design wall didn't stay empty for long!  

This is the first block for my new quilt tentatively named, "Shiloh" - more on the name soon.  I can't wait to share, since it's a beautiful story!

This block is a traditional 1930's Dogtooth Violet block.  The historian in me really would like to know more about the pattern and how it originated, but there just doesn't seem to be any information out there on the web.  Does anyone know of any good sources?

I'm really enjoying working with Barbara Brackman's line, Lately Arrived from London.  As I mentioned yesterday, this is the first Civil War Reproduction fabric I've ever purchased.  Originally, I toyed around with making a quilt with a classic 19th century block to really showcase the fabric, but I just kept returning to this block.  I'm really pleased with how it's turning out!

When I originally mapped the pattern out in EQ6, I had planned on using two of the lighter background-ish type prints in the line for the sides of the setting triangles ... but then I spent all my fabric allowance for the month on a beautiful fat quarter stack ... so I decided to throw caution to the wind!  I used my go to white-on-white print that I already had on hand.   It's definitely not traditional, but so far I'm loving how the white just makes the dark, Victorian-ish colors pop! 

After struggling with all the triangular points on my Robot Roulette quilt, I decided to give foundation piecing a shot with the setting triangles, and boy, am I in love!  Granted, the fabric waste is much higher with this method of piecing, but man - absolutely perfectly pieced blocks are so worth the waste!!

Ummm ... quick tangent for a minute: has anyone else experienced difficulties with foundation patterns printing from EQ6 in the WRONG SIZE????  After making several test blocks, I just couldn't figure out why my block wasn't working out.  I checked my math several times, because surely the error was my fault ... and not the fancy computer program's fault.

Sure enough, my math was right, thank you very much ... and the foundation pattern printed directly from EQ6 was over 1/4" too small!  Unfortunately, I already printed the foundation pieces for the entire quilt already and had to reprint them in the correct size ... so this pattern will be responsible for the death of not one, but two small trees.  Won't be making that mistake again!

So, now that everything is all worked out - and little man and his Dad are happily enjoying some male bonding time this evening in the front room - I'm off to enjoy a glass of CG Di Arie's Primitivo Block 4 {YUM!}, watch some trash TV, and piece my little heart out!

Be sure to stop by Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story to see all the other awesome projects going on in blogland!

Introducing: Harvest Hearth Table Runner!

The weather here has been so weird lately!  Last week it was in the lows 60's when little man and I went out for our morning walk - we actually had to go back into the house for a blanket!  This week it's been hot, hot, hot, and two nights ago we had a crazy summer storm with amazing thunder and lightening.

Photo courtesy of  US National Weather Service Sacramento California.

For days, I've been feeling like we're in this weird place between summer and fall ... so I almost laughed when I came across this project while cleaning out my craft closet!

It was a wall-hanging that was almost complete - it just needed the binding stitched to the back! Perfect for my mood: warm fall colors and plaid {which always reminds me of a Scottish Harvest Festival ... too much Diana Gabaldon, I guess} with just enough sunny sunflower prints to keep a hint of summer around!  In the space of an afternoon nap, the binding was finished and it's now living happily on our kitchen table!

So, I'd like to introduce ...

... now available in the craftsy shop!

The pattern uses 5 Fat Quarters and some yardage, which gives you more than enough fabric for both the wall-hanging and a bonus table topper.

Well - I'm off to decide whether to brave the heat from the iron and the afternoon sun in my sewing room ... or to curl up on the couch under the fan with a good book.  I have a feeling the book might win ... happy sewing!

She's {finally} finished!

Thank you so much for all of the Southern Belle love over the last few weeks!  I'm happy to say that she's FINALLY finished - just have to finish up the binding tonight after bedtime!  Have you ever had one of those projects that you feel like you're constantly working on ... but not getting anywhere?  That is totally how this quilt has been!  I love it to pieces, though, and am so very happy with the finished project!!!

The thing that I think I love most about this quilt is how organically the pattern evolved ... but more on that in another post ...

I'm in the process of checking over my pattern and my construction notes, but I'm hoping to have the pattern in my etsy shop any day now ... provided that the weather cooperates a little more so that I can take some outdoor pictures.  We've had way too many stormy days in a row now!!  As a special thank you for all the cheerleading, if you're interested in purchasing the pattern, please email me at poplun{at}gmail{dot}com, and I'll send you a code for a 50% off discount for the pattern!

This week, I'm linking up with the following sites.  Please be sure to swing by to see all the creative peeps out there!

• Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times
• Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story
• WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Opinion Needed!!

Well, despite the gorgeous weather we're having today and having my hubby home for a three day weekend, I managed to make some progress on my Southern Belle quilt!

I just have a few borders to add and I need to tweak the instructions a bit, but the pattern should {hopefully} be ready in a few weeks.  I only bought enough fabric to make a wallhanging, but as I'm looking at the photo, I'm starting to see a gorgeous bedspread.  Might have to make another version soon!  I'm linking up with Patchwork Times' Design Wall Monday, Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday and Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday.  Be sure to visit and check out all the great WIPS!

I've spent most of my sewing time working on my English Paper Piecing - I'm loving how easily these Jewel Stars are going together, and California Girl is such a beautiful line!!!  Now that I have about ten blocks assembled though, I find myself with a dilemma: how should these be assembled?

I'm planning on using my favorite white polka dot fabric as the connecting fabric, but I can't decide whether to put the blocks together using small diamonds, or large hexagons!  Since I'm planning this as a summery throw blanket, right now I'm leaning towards using the larger hexies.  The small diamonds almost seem like they'd be better suited for a smaller project, like a wallhanging or tablerunner.  What do you think???

Adventures in English Paper Piecing

It's official - I think I'm addicted English paper piecing!  I spent yesterday's morning nap time pouring over pictures on the web, trying to find a couple of great handwork projects to use with some new fabric coming in the mail this week.

The first block I fell in love with was the Star Rose block.  There's even a group dedicated to these beauties on Flickr and one of the members made a handy-dandy printable template so that impatient people like me can sit right down and get started.  Here's my test block:

Fabric: Verna by Kate Spain

Once I got the hang of making the kite squares and the pentagons, this block went together really quickly.  I think that these blocks definitely require a bit of planning, however.  If I were to do this one over again, I would make the inner ring of pentagons all orange and the outer ring of pentagons all pink, rather thank alternating them.  I'm glad that I took the time to make a practice block.  Now I'm all ready for my Papillon fabric to get here!  To bad the mailman never comes until dinner time!

The second block, which I haven't had the chance to test yet, is a Star Flower or Jewel Flower.  I found this great picture on Flickr!  Check it out!  I'm still working on my own template, since I can't seem to find one on the web.  Has anyone seen one?  My plan is to use my California Girl charm packs and my favorite white polka dot for this one!

... And, because it's Tuesday, hop on over to Quilt Story to see some other fantastic fabricy projects.



Happy sewing!!

Well, despite my best efforts ...

... I didn't get any sewing OR organizing done yesterday.  I really have to blame it on all the wonderful blogs out there ... and pinterest.  Do you have the same problem I do?  Pinterest makes all the clocks in my house speed up 10x's!  I mean, I sit down for 10 minutes to browse when little man goes down for his morning nap ... and before I know it, two hours have gone by.  Holy cow!

I made a conscious effort to stay away from my computer (other than to flip on the newest Coldplay album for some groovy background music) and managed to complete five blocks for a new pattern I'm playing around with.

Sorry for the crummy picture - very cloudy out today and can't get my lighting right!

I've seen so many great Carpenter Star blocks out there in blog-land that I had to start playing around with my own.  My original intention was to use only a brown palette for this wallhanging.  Once I started cutting my fabrics, I decided that I needed a little bit of red thrown in, probably in the binding, to bring things together.  Now that I have four of these blocks made, I've decided that I definitely need some red stars thrown in for contrast.

I love it when quilts and patterns just kind of evolve while you sew them!  I'm hoping to have more progress to share soon.  And, I'm liking this fabric combination so much that I might just use it for February's Schnibbles pattern!

Today is Fabric Tuesday over at Quilt Story.  Hop on over and check out all the great projects!

Finishing up!

To be honest, I haven't touched my sewing machine since last Thursday!  We spent the whole weekend enjoying family visiting from out of town ... and then the little guy and I spent all day yesterday recuperating!

I did manage to sneak out Thursday afternoon and get some shots of Pretty in Pink since we had a beautifully sunny afternoon.

It's hard to tell up against the fence, but I decided to use a chocolately-brown fabric for the binding (and the backing!) to ground the quilt a bit.  I didn't want it to be overwhelmingly pink!  This is my first scrappy(-ish) quilt and I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  I tried really hard not to do any planning with my block placement so as to give the quilt a really random look.  I finally opted to do some straight-line quilting to frame the blocks in pink thread.

Just for fun, I'm linking up at Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday, to celebrate the finish!






Be sure to check out all of the other yummy projects, including Heather & Megan's latest Moda Bake Shop table runner tutorial!

If you're interested in making your own version of my Pretty in Pink quilt, the pattern is now available in my etsy shop.  You can still receive 50% off of all patterns by using the coupon code JAN2012 before the end of the day.

Fabric requirements are: 

• White-on-White Floral print: 2 yards
• Various Pink and White Fat Quarters: at least 7 (sample used 12), or scraps totaling 1 + 3/4 yards
• Brown and Pink Print (for Binding): 1/2 yards

The pattern includes step-by-step assembly instructions and color assembly diagrams!

I'm off to try and get some sewing done before my little one wakes up!  Happy Sewing!