boomerang!!!

trying a little something.... it was a scarf, but i frogged it on saturday.  now, whenever i have a few moments, i'm working on a boomerang shawl.  testing it out to see what i want to do later for a friend.

this alpaca blend is super soft.  i love the silkiness and the texture so far.  i cannot wait to wear it later!

it's kinda nice having something relaxing for the moment.  my "all anew" has been received by the show hosts and now i just have to wait until the summer to hear back on it.  they did post a sneak peek on their FB page of it, so that made me incredibly happy.  oh!  and i'm back to making my black and white circles for the quilt.  decided to make it another row wider, so i made more work for myself.  plus, there's a little something fun added to the new blocks.

hooray for fun projects!

getting back to my something new

i had finally started working on that great little quilt design that i posted about here and then i ran into a snag.  the dimensions i was working towards was bigger than it was supposed to be.  when you go from 48 x 48 to 40 x 40....big difference.  and i was a smidgen on the large side to begin with, knowing i'd have to lose a little on the outer work.  i was ok with that.  and then the 8 inch difference.  yikes!

so i started over.

see the little on the left and the big on the right?

and i made awesome progress thanks to my parents who helped print out my drawing full size and i worked from that instead of guessing.  accuracy is so much easier than guessing when you're restricted.

all those bias edges are a bit tricky.  and they don't always lay perfectly flat after you've sewn them and pressed them.  turned out the top corner was a bit short, but that was easy.  i just added in a mid-section and love it more.  happy accident!

i got it sandwiched and basted.  seemed like i was on a good roll for time.  i even picked up a thick crochet thread to use on the handquilting that matched the aqua perfectly (while i forgot my fabric sample at home even!).  quilting commenced....the bobbin tension started to be a pest.  it was a little wonky and i adjusted.  i frogged a few sections.  then it caused birds nests on the back and wouldn't hold even straight-line stitch tension.  at that point, i knew i couldn't delay the servicing any longer.

a month.  4 long weeks of my baby in the shop and i did a tiny bit of handquilting while i impatiently waited.  and i knit and awful lot of pink i-cord for a squishy brain.

and voila!  

my lovely hubby and son ran up to town and picked up my machine friday afternoon so i could start working again.  and she's been running ever since.  a little adjustment here and there and some more frogging getting it back where i need, but i almost have it quilted up.  my plans are by the end of the week, she's got all the hand and maching quilting finished and i'm working on the binding or the hanger sleeve.

progress on something all anew

months ago, i started a sketch for a wallhanging quilt.  it's for a show i want to try this year - gave me inspiration and that's part of the idea of the show.  a few weeks ago, i set out to actually start the piecing process.  i had all the fabrics gathered and it was time.

you can see the start...it was a great start...  i completed several sections and was loving the expanse.  the flow of fabrics.  the variety of prints.

until the size was updated.  smaller.

(insert freak out here)

well.... some ideas were tossed around and my parents came to my rescue.  they helped print out my design on a large format, and i was able to make an exact template instead of free-handing it to make sure i fit it *just* right. 

oh look... some of those same section.  MUCH smaller. (and i realized much later that i reversed that top piece, throwing off a bit of my design.  sigh)

i spent the entire weekend standing over my dining room table, taken over by a massive pile of fabric and my cutting mats.  i got in my daily steps going to my studio and back, and repeat.  my back and shoulders sore.  but oh so worth it!

i am so in love with this quilt.

postage stamps in blue.... so much blue!

it's nearly complete.... and it's so much blue!

my redhead turned 14 a few weeks ago and he has been asking for a new quilt for his bed.  specifically, a postage stamp quilt like i have on my bed.  originally, i was collecting various cool "boy" fabrics - you know.... dr who, marvel superheros, game stuff, scout fabrics, bacon.  and then he asked for all blue.  hmm....

so, blue it was.  and i added in some of those fun fabrics to the quilt.  the non-blue ones became larger blocks to break up the postage stamps (he approved).

but man.  i tell you, blue is not as easy as you think!  especially since his room is a bright bright shade of blue he picked out a few years back.  "little boy blue" was the paint color.  i had to mix in darks and lights just to get enough.  i've been piecing this thing together for a while and it's past his birthday unfortunately.

bacon!!

but i think it has all worked out in the end.  he was surprised happily with his bacon block, which i managed to keep secret until it was together and in the quilting process.  he could eat bacon every day, every meal.  along with peanut butter, but not at the same time.

now all that's left is the binding, also a blue in stripes.  i can finally get to more of my welding cap orders and get them out the door.  and back to my circle blocks, which have not made any progress since august.  :(  and then - the wall hanging quilt for the show!!  i cannot wait to work on that one.

happy friday everyone.  do something fun!

start of something new

this on the drawing table.... but soon to be on the cutting table.

postage stamps and circles galore

many years ago, ok - nearly a decade ago, i started collecting black and white fabrics before black and white quilts were as common and popular as they are now.  i remember how difficult it was to find nice quilting cottons in these combinations without other colors.  my quilting friend out of state posted on FB that she was participating in the quilt 365 challenge - all circles, all year.  i thought.... this would be a good way to get started after all these years.  i had the squares cut in two sizes and the pattern from the magazine still open to the appropriate page, along with scraps of the fabrics AND premade black print quilt binding.  oy vey.  not going to use that one now.

so, i started cutting my circles for the inside and outside, two at a time with freezer paper templates.  and i attempted curved circle piecing for the very first time.  i will admit i am now officially over my fear of curved piecing!!

if it were today, there would be a few prints i wouldn't include.  but i still love how this is turning out.  while the others playing along are doing one smaller sized block each day, i'm not exactly getting 30 in a month.  this picture was all of my blocks for july.  august is sad at four finished and two cut...

BUT, i have a good reason i've fallen behind:

i've been playing with 1,728 2 1/2 inch squares to form into a postage stamp quilt for my redhead's upcoming birthday.  i had planned one for him since he's asked for a postage stamp quilt like mine (but not so girly).  i was going to do bold colors and fun teen boy/geekery prints, but he requested all blue.  i do have five blocks of other patterns using some of those fun prints mixed with the blue backgrounds to break up the sea of blue.  his birthday is 18 days.  i can do it, right?  yikes.

the redhead got braces today.  a quilt is a nice thing to say sorry for all the pain while we make you more beautiful.  i mean, handsome.

a modern back.... finally!

for a couple years, on and off, i've been working on a free-pieced GIANT quilt for my mom.  all white kona and kaffe fasset super fun fabrics.  bright and bold.  it's awesome.  the top was finished last year and the backing has been put on hold for a little while.  life and health got in the way.

well....i started piecing it with vigor this summer.  and i finished it two weeks ago.

my living room wasn't big enough for this larger-than-king quilt back without moving furniture.  but you can get the idea.  she wanted bold and big expanses of color with the leftover fabrics.  i think i nailed it, and gave her a reversible quilt.

even the cat had to have her say and crazy-cat moments on the back when i stepped away long enough to eat dinner.  (i really need to organize all my books better... they've overflowed to boxes on the floor)