Pin Problem

I've been prodding myself to put in 15 minutes a day on my maple quilt.  I'm not sure why I'm dragging my feet so hard on this quilt but it needs to be done, so I'm going to have to make myself work on it.

Since the last time I posted, I decided on a layout, I cut out all the pieces for the remaining blocks, and marked up all my triangles.

Time for some sewing!

So sew I did.

But I was tired and I got sloppy about pulling my pins out.  And wouldn't you know it...  Bam!  As usual, less than an inch from the end.

And apparently I had no new machine needles handy.  The one I did find had obviously been used; it had a burr on the end.  Who knows why it was still lying around and not in the garbage... but now I'm hung up until I find another pack of needles.  I think there might be one hiding in my sewing room, somewhere.  But I'll likely be getting out to the store to buy more this weekend.  We'll see how my fabric diet goes when faced with a store-full of pretty temptation!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

My Quilt Bucket

The past few weeks have been a bit crazy, between being out of town and dealing with some dental issues (which are never a good thing), so instead of sewing, I've been enjoying all the Quilty Bucket Lists being shared over at the Tilted Quilt and thinking about my current wish list quilts and the techniques I want to try.  The list is long and ever changing, but here are a few of the highlights...

1. A Sampler Quilt

This is a bit outside my comfort zone; I like working on coordinated quilts.  For my first attempt I have chosen 20 different star blocks, but I'm only going to use 4 fabrics.  Baby steps!  I can't go from coordinated to super scrappy sampler in one fell swoop!  I was able to pick 3 colors from my stash but ended up having to purchase 3 yards of white for the background.  (Apparently my stash isn't set up well to actually use.)

2. Paper piecing

I'm planning to tackle this as part of my sampler quilt.  Somewhere around 4-5 of my stars are paper pieced patterns.  Hopefully I get the hang of it quickly!

Additionally, I want to make something with this circle of geese block.  It didn't fit into my sampler, but I'm considering how it might look as the center of a medallion.... Or maybe it will just be a pillow.  Who knows how ambitious I will be.

Tutorial by Christina Lane

By April Rosenthal for the Moda Bake Shop

3. Positively Perfect Nap Quilt (for me!)

A simple pattern, which surprised me because I tend to choose the path of most resistance, but I like the positive vibes.  Now I just need to pick some fabric.  There's too much pretty fabric to choose from!

By Turid Bakken of Norway

4. Holiday decorations.  I'd like to start with a tree skirt and a "hang the ornament on the tree" advent calendar.  I have also started gathering fabric to make a table runner for each season. So there's no lack of inspiration here!

5. Learn how to applique.

6. Make a piece using fussy cut fabrics.  I love the way fussy cutting highlights a fabric, but I still need to psych myself up a bit for making a scrappy quilt.

And last but certainly not least is a quilt for my husband.  The poor man has had to watch all my quilts walk out the door.  Someday it will happen.  That's a promise!

Linking up with A Tilted Quilt and Let's Bee Social.

Woodland Sampler - February

After not one but two fabric cutting mishaps, I hung up my rotary cutter for the weekend and worked on some cross stitch instead.

Ta Da!!

Even though I technically didn't finish in February, I did finish before my first March post so that counts for something, right?  He's peeking!  I love this sampler so much.

Original white on the right.  Test subjects on the left.

My family has assured me that the original white (on January's snowflakes) isn't as bad as I think it is and, depending on the light, they might be right.  But I still made some test stitches with my various white alternatives. 

Light Grey, Light Effects White, Winter White (L-R)

Winter white is right out.  I want more contrast, not less!  The Light Effects floss is cool, but has the downside of being metallic floss.  And after all of February's stars, I'm looking to use as little metallic floss as possible!  It frays like mad and goes every which way but the way I need it to go.  What a pain in the rear!

I'd love to hear what you think...  Which floss would you choose?

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and WiP Wednesday.

Halfway To Fall

Three more blocks accomplished.  That makes me halfway done with full blocks.  I'm going to need to find somewhere bigger to lay it out the next time I photograph it!

 

There was also another fabric acquisition road trip this week!  I'm sure it doesn't look like I'm being good, but this fabric was guilt free!

I have one of the best friends ever.  For my birthday she offered to take me on a guilt free fabric trip, and we finally got out!  (We both run a little on the late side but, since we end up synced up anyway, it all works out!)



I got three yards of white on white for the background of a sampler project I'll be starting up soon.  I tried to get a decent picture of it; don't know if I was successful.  The pattern is uneven circles.

I also grabbed some winter fabrics to make my husband and me a table runner.  I like how it's wintery but not too Christmas-y.  Eventually I'd like to make one for each season.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and Fabric Frenzy Friday.

Last Minute Medly

I'm lucky this set of blocks had two snowballs, because I may or may not have been assembling a leaf and a snowball block this morning before heading to work.

Last minute or not, I did manage to get three blocks made this week and that's what counts.  It's finally starting to look like a quilt and not just a random collection of blocks!

I had the opportunity to wander around a new quilt store and, despite all the tempting fabric, I only came home with this metallic and green Stonehenge.  How was I supposed to turn down a sale like that?  But I have a Christmas wall-hanging on the to do list this year, so it should be used shortly.

Last but not least I picked out some new floss to try in my cross-stitch sampler; there's a very light grey, a shimmery white, a silver metallic, and a softer white (winter white).  Snow white didn't show up on my Aida too well, so hopefully one of these options will do the trick.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

50th Post!

I finally made a little more progress on my maple quilt.  Slow and steady and all that.  Except if I keep up at this pace I won't be finished piecing until after the wedding!  So I'll have to pick up the pace a bit.

I'm also still trying to finalize the layout.  The pattern called for 35 blocks (using a 5x7 layout), but the proportions were odd for a queen sized quilt.

I'm planning to make my quilt shorter by using only 30 blocks and the last row will be split between the top and the bottom so that all the corners are still the same.  The only thing I have left to do is to figure out which half block I want to use in the corners; a decision that shouldn't be as difficult as it's proving to be.

Woodland Sampler - January

After my flurry of productivity last year, I've been rather unmotivated about making headway on my quilt projects.  Instead, I've started the Woodland Sampler from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery that everyone else was making last year.

I haven't finished my January block yet because I'm worried about how poorly the white floss is showing up on my oatmeal Aida.  I'm trying to decide whether to continue on with the white floss or choose an almost white color that might show up better.  Some months will be getting a color substitution, but maybe the snowflakes are okay being very very subtle...

In the meantime, I started the border for February.  I'm not too far off the timeline yet!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.