May AYOS Finish!

My little man has decided lately that napping is for weenies ... so I don't have a finished AYOS to share!  Fortunately, I was able to finish piecing the top and barely managed to sneak outside for a few pictures this afternoon during one of his little cat naps.

This month's Schnibbles pattern was Doc.  I made my version using Pure by Sweetwater for Moda.  I'm so happy that I've been able to make all five of my AYOS projects {mostly} using stashed fabrics, but since I only had a partial layer cake left for this month's project, I was a little limited in my color placement.  I'm happy with the way everything worked out, though!

Since this quilt is intended for a little boy, I did away with the white sashing in between the Card Trick blocks (to me, it made the quilt look more feminine), and opted for dark brown corners instead.  I really love how they came together to form a secondary design in the middle!!

My plan is to finish the whole thing up with some basic straight line quilting to echo the block outlines, and use the same dark brown polka dot fabric for the binding!

Be sure to stop by A Quilting Life and Pink Pincushion tomorrow to see the parade of quilt finishes!

PS - Luigi couldn't be budged from his nap in the shade in order to have his picture taken ...

... but Lily, diva that she is, was happy to pose.  Happy Sewing!

Stash Update

Yikes!  I just realized that I haven't done my weekly Stash Update at all for 2011!

Stash Update: January 1 - January 31, 2011

• Purchased:  10.75 yards for a new pattern, a shower gift, and a great sale on my favorite polka dot background fabric.  
• Used: 6.25 yards on my "Lemon Taffy" quilt

YTD: + 4.5 yards

* * * * * * * * * *

Project photos are coming soon, and I'll post my 5 Boxes update as soon as I find out what the February Le Petite project for February will be ... and mange to clean up my work space to actually find the boxes ...

... In the meantime, as no blog post should be picture-less, I leave you with photos of my babies enjoying their favorite treats.  Happy sewing!!

Luigi chomping down ...

Lily, practicing her best "Disney Princess" eyes - tink, tink

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2010

Amy's Creative Side is hosting a fantastic Blogger's Quilt Festival showcasing the many talents of our fellow quilty bloggers.  I was so inspired after looking at all the beautiful quilts that I decided to add my latest finish to the parade.

If you're interested in participating as well, Amy is accepting submission through Friday, November 5th.  All the details are here!

Our family and friends have been blessed with an abundance of babies lately!  Last count, we have 7 babies who are happily on the way or who have just been born.  As my absolute favorite gifts to give at baby showers are baby quilts, there have been a number that have left my sewing room over the past couple of months.  While I've loved them all ... this latest quilt is turning out to be my absolutely favorite!

This quilt is for a little guy who should be making his debut in just a couple of weeks.  I knew that the mommy-to-be was planning her nursery in shades of blue and brown, so I seized the opportunity to get my hands on that Pure layer cake and matching brown polka dot yardage I'd had my eye on for awhile.  I had been finishing up my Cherish quilt when I ordered the fabric online, so it wasn't until I actually had it in hand that I began to get an idea in my head of what I actually wanted to do with it.

I've really had a thing for quilts with a crisp, white background as of late, so I knew that I wanted to use my favorite white-on-white polka dot print behind some sort of a pinwheel-ish block.  After seeing all the 10" blocks laid out side-by-side in their colorways, I decided to pair up the blue/white prints and the brown/cream prints into two-tone double pinwheels.  With a little bit of chain piecing, the blocks for this quilt really flew together!!

One new-to-me technique that I used while piecing the blocks was directional seam pressing, as opposed to my normally favored method of just pressing the seams open.  I know that there is a lot of debate out there over these two methods and that there are pros and cons to both.  I've always personally just pressed my seams open because I felt like it gave me more control over precisely aligning my seams.  After having given the "other" method a shot, though, I have to say that I was very happy with the results and will probably (occasionally) use the method again.

In my mind, I had originally planned to set the blocks with white polka dot sashing and only use the brown polka dot print for the interesting squares at the corners.  Once I had all the blocks finished and laid out, the white was a bit over powering and almost made the quilt a bit feminine.  I set the blocks against the brown polka dot sashing instead and that was it - I was in love!

I've named this quilt Puppy Dog Tails, not only because "... that's what boys are made of ..." but also because when my little pups are happy, their tails wag a-mile-a-minute, kinda like pinwheels.

Luigi 

Lily

Thanks so much for stopping by on your Blogger's Quilt Festival parade!

If you're interested in making your own version of Puppy Dog Tails, please visit my etsy shop or my bigcartel shop to purchase the pattern.  Right now, it's on sale for $4.49!

Crafting ADD ...

Hello!  My name is Shelley ... and I have crafting ADD.

Truth be told, I've had the majority of this post written for about a week and a half; however, I've been procrastinating on the posting because I was desperately hoping to have so pictures of finished projects and to be able to claim some yardage as busted.  Alas, I haven't been able to focus on a single project for more than 45 minutes before I lose interest and flit on to something else.

So ... let's get the painful part over with - remember, I'm not counting fabric as busted until the project is finished ... so don't judge me on my small numbers!

Weeks 6 & 7: 1/31 - 2/16/10
Used: .6 yards ... yes, that's "point six"
Purchased: 9.3 yards
YTD: +16.29 yards


Not doing so hot!  The "point six" yards were two finished potholders that accompanied a bread baking book for my sister-in-law's birthday, and this table runner made from more of my Northern Solitudes stash.

(picture courtesy of MC -- thank you!!)

Ok ... on to the WIP's.

First up, is the Valentine's Day project with Mom! We used charm packs from Sandy Gervais's L'Amour line, and the Four Corners Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  I'll be sure to post pictures from Mom's quilt as soon as she can send them, but here's the body of mine:

PS -- Did I mention that the pattern was purchased at Hancock's of Paducah, in Paducah, KY?  When Dad & I were back east, we drove through Paducah on the way to visit my aunt in Owensboro, KY.  I'm sure Dad wasn't totally thrilled with the stop, but he definitely was a good sport -- if you look closely you can see our reflections in the door! :)

 Let me tell you -- that place is the "Quilter's Mecca."  They have sooooo many bolts of fabric!  I swear, if I lived within 5 hours of that place, I'd be there at least once a month!  I'm sure my hubby is very thankful I haven't found a similar place here in California ... or Nevada, Idaho, or Oregon ...

I've been spending a lot of time, lately, working on patterns.  I have several table runner patterns that are just about ready to be listed, so keep your eyes peeled for kits and patterns coming soon.  I'm also getting ready to test three baby blanket patterns, tentatively named, "Surf Birds," "Spring Has Sprung," and "Sweet Lily" ... after my baby girl, of course!

(Lily-Bug cuddling with her doxie chew toy)

If you're interested in testing one of the patterns for me, please send me an email at: Poplun(at)gmail(dot)com and I will send you a free copy of the pattern, in return for your feedback.  More coming on these patterns soon!

I did sneak away from the studio for awhile this weekend.  Rob and I decided that we wanted to mix things up a little for Valentines, so instead of going out to dinner, we went snowshoeing at Sierra At Tahoe!  We had a blast, but it was hard work!  It definitely might become a new tradition!  We never managed to get a picture together on our adventure, so here's my "photoshopped" edition!  Gee ... it almost looks like we're holding hands!

Happy Furlough Friday!

Happy Furlough Friday to all you California state workers enjoying a day off.  To those of you unfortunate enough to have to work today, my condolences, and may the rest of the afternoon fly by!!

Lily and Luigi have spent the morning either napping in the sunshine or staring out the front window, like a pair of mini-busy-bodies, barking at anything that happens to be moving at the moment.

I've spent the morning working Valentine's Day projects, putting together a few kits, and writing patterns.

My Dad and I just got back from visiting his mom -- who lives in south-eastern Missouri -- for the week of her 94th birthday!  Grandma absolutely loved her birthday quilt.  It's now happily living on the back of her favorite chair.

Using fabric from Moda's Northern Solitude line, I just sewed some simple blocks together, trying to throw the colors together as randomly as possible.  This was a bit of a hard thing for me to do, since I usually a bit, shall we say ... "particular" ... in the way the colors, patterns, and blocks are combined.  I really wanted a happy, random, "patch-worky" quilt, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I have two Gypsy Rose Layer Cakes waiting to be played with and a partially finished Aviary baby quilt for a friend waiting in the wings ...

... but have spent the morning playing with Valentines Day fabric instead.  Mom and I are patiently awaiting a shipment of Sandy Gervais' L'Amour, due from the Fat Quarter Shop early next week, so in the meantime, I've been playing with some browns, pinks, and reds from my stash!

This morning, I just finished a "disappearing 9-patch block" tablerunner, inspired by Rachel's Christmas Table Topper Tutorial at Moda's Bake Shop.  The runner is available for sale in my etsy shop.  

I'm so happy with how it turned out, that I'm also listing several kits in the store as well, in case you'd like to make one yourself!

Finally, here is my stash-busting update!

Weeks 4 & 5: 1/17/10 - 1/23/10 & 1/24/10 - 1/30/10

Used: 1.27 yards

Purchased: 7.68 yards (yikes!)

YTD: +7.59 yards

... better get back to work!  Have a great weekend!