Friday Finishes

Not a lot of finishes this week.  I spent most of the week plugging away at my Jamestown Landing.  I posted the other day that I was all done my broken dishes blocks.  All 210 of them.  Well, I was wrong because I apparently miscounted along the way.  I only have 200.  I must have counted a group of ten twice.  Grrrr.  Now I need to cut enough different HST's to make it keep its scrappy look.  That should be fun.  Not.

Block 2

I did the block above for the quilt along at Quilting Gallery.  It was a pretty fun, quick block to do.  Its huge.  It's 16.5" x 16.5".  I have been pressing my seams open on this quilt and I am really starting to like it.  My blocks are coming out perfect.  If you are interested in checking out the quilt along and maybe join us, its never too late.  Just click on the banner below and it will bring you right where you need to be. 

Last weekend I needed a fun quick project to do to take a break from Jamestown Landing.  I had been wanting to make some pillow covers for our grungy pillows on the couch for a long time.  The picture above is what I came up with.  Pardon the wrinkles but I decided to take a nice little nap today on the couch before I remembered that I needed a picture of it. 

This is the back.  Just a simple cover that we can take off and wash when needed.  Next time I make one I am going to have it over lap just a tad more. 

I got the pattern for this pillow from Tula Pink's City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.  I have been eyeing this book since it came out.  Last week was my birthday and when I received an Amazon gift card, this was the first thing in my cart.  Blogs all over the internet are doing a quilt along with it and I have loved every block.   I am probably not going to join the quilt along as I have too many projects to do but this book is full of so much inspiration.  When I was trying to decide on a pattern for my pillow I grabbed this book and so many blocks would have been perfect.  I decided on No. 24.

One of the things I loved most about this book is that it has every block diagrammed over graph paper.  It made it super easy to enlarge this 6" block to 18" for my pillow.  I could very easily see that I only had to multiply all finished sizes by 3. 

I am going to try to get a second pillow cover done this weekend with a different block design.  I will share it when I get it done. 

Thanks for stopping by this week.  I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Link a Finish Friday, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

WIP Wednesday 7/2

I did some more work on my Jamestown Landing quilt (from String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!).  I finally have all my HST's sewn into broken dish blocks.  There are 210 there.  Phew.  I have 67 string blocks there and I need 156.  That's going to be my next goal.  We are moving into a new place in the next couple months and I really want this ready for our new bedroom.  I feel like I am over the hump.  I really love how this is coming out.  It has a combination of scraps and specially bought fabrics in it.  I didn't have enough blue and creams so I had to get some more.  I threw in a jelly roll of Indigo Crossing by Moda.  Every strip is represented somewhere.  I LOVED that jelly roll.  It matched perfectly.  I also bought a fat quarter of every neutral and blue I could find on Connecting threads.  Don't you just love that store?  Then mix all that in with my scraps and I think I ended up with a great mix.

I promised myself I wouldn't start any new projects this month but here it is, July 3rd, and I have one in the works.  But for a good reason!  My Aunt and Uncle are becoming foster parents to a beautiful little 10 month old girl.  She is painting a room for her in the colors of pink and brown.  So obviously I had to do something for her.  :)  These are the fabrics I pulled.  I am torn between doing something easy and quick and something more intricate.  I have never been one for the quick and easy quilts. 

This is a sneak peek of a finish I am going to show you on Friday!  This is the very first time I have ever quilted something with just straight lines!

This week I am linking up to Freshly Pieced and Esther's blog.  

WIP Wednesday 6/26

I finally made a dent in my Jamestown Landing quilt.  Its all I worked on all weekend.  It can be found in String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It! by Bonnie Hunter.  I finished all 840 half square triangles and I finished about 70 of 156 string blocks.  I started sewing the HST's into broken dishes blocks too but I didn't get a picture of that.  I can't wait to get this quilt done.  Its for my bed and the first quilt I have kept for myself in a long time.  I have been looking into sending it out for quilting because its going to be pretty big but I just don't think its going to be in my price range.

I posted awhile ago that I purchased these totes for organizing scraps and I would share my thoughts after using them for a bit.  I purchased two different sizes.  Here are the links to both:

Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors

Whitmor 6754-977-5 Plastic Organizer Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors

I love them.  I think I prefer the wider flatter size.  They are not super sturdy as they are just thin plastic but they are great for small pieces.  I have my scraps sorted by color now.  The only complaint I have is that if you pack them too full the cover won't stay on.  But I had some small adhesive velcro dots and that fixed that issue.  I put all my bigger pieces, fat quarters or larger, in that tote on the bottom.  Now I just need to find a place to store them in my teeny tiny house.

This week I am linking up to Freshly Pieced And Esther's blog.  

 

WIP Wednesday 5/14

I don't have a whole lot to show this week but I have been busy working on this Squirrel wall hanging.  It's a Cynthia England design.  I pulled out the center pieces so I could see what his head looked like so far.  I am not sure I like one of the fabrics near his nose so I plan on ordering some fabric markers to darken it up a bit.  And of course, it needs the hand embroidery in the face before it will really start to take shape.  But overall, I pretty happy with it so far.

I am still working on my Jamestown Landing quilt.  I am half way through the 840 HST's.  I am using them as leaders and enders for my wall hanging.  You can read more on leaders and enders on Bonnie Hunter's blog or in her book Adventures with Leaders & Enders: Make More Quilts in Less Time!  It's a great book.  

I also wanted to share a special bonus for my readers today!  If you follow my blog or visited during giveaway week I gave away a Quilt Halo.  So many readers loved it but didn't want to spend the money to try it out.  During the week I emailed Christy at Purple Daisies and asked her if she had a coupon I could give to you when I annouced my winner so those of you who wanted could try it out could at a reduced price.  Unfortunately she was super busy getting ready for Quilt Market so she just got back to me yesterday.  Understandable right?  

But she did give me a coupon!  For 15% off any order use the code, INSPIRING.  Pretty awesome!  She was super nice in her email and very apologetic about missing my giveaway.  I have shopped at her shop before and was very pleased with my purchase.  I buy applique foundation from them that I use for all my hand applique.  Its great for the glue stick method.  I am working up a tutorial on that as we speak.  They are not a sponsor of my blog and I am not getting compensated for this post I just really like them.  Christy's mom is Sharon Schamber who developed the quilt halo and many  more quilting techniques and tools.  You can find the Quilt Halo here.

I hope everyone else is having a great week.  I am off to see my son perform in a school play tonight!  He is very excited and so am I!  I am linking up to Freshly Pieced this week.   I can't wait to see what everyone else is working on.  

Finally Friday

Wow.  This week has been crazy!  I usually do a Wednesday post but didn't realize til late Wednesday afternoon that I didn't do it.  Wednesdays are supposed to be about WIPs.  I had already talked about my Jamestown Landing Monday.  I did add about 200 HST's to my count though and pieced some into the bigger blocks.

And then I worked on this project.  It's a paper pieced squirrel by Cynthia England.  It's a commission piece I am doing for a friend who wanted a Squirrel wall hanging to give as a gift.  It took two nights to get that one section done.  Its a good thing there is no deadline on this one.  Its been super fun to make so far though.

This is my little kitty Arya keeping me company while I was cutting some more fabric for Jamestown Landing.  That is the end of my cutting table.  :)  Creative and neat just don't seem to coincide, do they?  I have about 4 projects there that I am currently working on and a stack of fabric that I just bought that needs a home.  The problem is finding it a home.  I am running out of storage space.  I think I am going to order this, Whitmor 6754-491-5 Plastic Document Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors,  today and see how they work out for scraps.  They also have similar ones that look like they would work out for fat quarters.  I might get those too.  Here are those, Whitmor 6754-373-5 Plastic CD Boxes Set of 5 Assorted Colors.  Not bad for 25 dollars, huh?

If you haven't read it yet, I am doing a giveaway on my blog.  The deadline is tonight so head over to that post and enter if you haven't already.  You can find the post, here.  I loved doing a giveaway so look forward to some more.  It was a lot of fun hearing about what everyone was up to.  I got a lot of new followers which is super.  Welcome to everyone who is new!

Today I am linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts so be sure to head over there to see what everyone is up to this wonderful Friday!  

What? A Monday Post? A Giveaway?!?!

I don't usually post on Mondays but this week there are several really exciting reasons why I am.  First of all, it is because I had one of the best weekends.  Friday I spent the day at a Bonnie Hunter workshops learning the ins and outs of her quilt Jamestown Landing found in String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!.  Saturday I went to our quilt guild meeting and got to hear her talk about her quilts and see her trunk show.  I have loads of pictures to share sometime (if they come out well.)  I took them all on my phone.

Jamestown Landing by Bonnie Hunter

Bonnie was great.  She was so down to earth and I learned so much from her. I feel like I have a better grasp on using her preferred specialty rulers.  It turns out I was using them the slowest way and she really sped up the process for me.  My half-square triangles are more accurate.  We also learned how to string piece.  I have actually never done this before.  I love it!

The picture above is what I have done so far.  This quilt has 840 HSTs!  So I have a LONG way to go. There are 3 sandwich bags there that each have 10 blocks in them.  I am not sure how many squares are in my basket.  I haven't really been counting. 

I will share more about Bonnie another post because I have another exciting announcement.  I am going to do my first giveaway!!

 

I have this Quilt Halo in my desk drawer and its been there for months.  I bought it and only tried it once.  Its a great product but its not just for me.  I have been machine quilting with just my hands for way too long.  I thought it would be a great item to pass along for someone else to try without having to purchase it.  It was an expensive notion so this would be a great way to save a few dollars.  So that means a chance to win for one of you!  All I ask is that you comment on my post about what quilty things you did this weekend and I will randomly choose a winner in the evening of May 10th.  That's the only requirement I have.  I would love it if you became a follower but its definitely not required.   

Since this item is kind of heavy I am leaving this giveaway open to US residents only. (OOOPS, I posted this in the international section so I am opening it up to everyone!) Sorry!  Also, please make sure you are not a no-reply blogger or leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you about your prize.  If there is no email I am going to draw another winner so make sure its there!

I am linking up to Sew Mama Sew for her giveaway day.  Welcome to my blog if you are visiting from there.  If your one of my regular followers be sure to click the link to check out all the other giveaways.  I know I am going to enter a few myself!

Comments are now closed! I will announce a winner tomorrow morning. I spent the night at a mother son dance tonight and my son wiped me out. Bed time for me!

Friday Fun!

On Friday's I usually do a post focusing on any finishes I had in the past week.  I just had one and I already posted about that this week.  Here's the link if you want to see it.  Gift Bags and a Tutorial.  I would really love some feedback about my tutorial.  Its my first one I have done for my blog.

Today I am spending the day with Bonnie Hunter!  I couldn't be more excited.  I have been following her for about a year now and have always admired her work.  I love the scrap quilts she makes.  Scrap quilts have always been out of my comfort zone.  We are doing her Jamestown Landing quilt from the book ,String Fling: Scrappy, Happy and Loving It!  Its such a great book.  I bought it specifically for this class but there are 4 quilts in it that I added to my to do list.  Now I just need a better collection of scraps.  I bought a bunch off one of the facebook swap pages but I still don't think I have enough neutrals.  I am crossing my fingers that I have enough for class at least.

I am going to try to link up to Crazy Mom Quilts today!  I hope everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

WIP Wednesday and OMG, I get to see Bonnie Hunter!

A couple weeks ago I found out that Bonnie Hunter was coming to Maine!!!  And not only was she coming to Maine but to the next town over from where I live!  Even better.  And wait for it...... it gets better.  Even though the deadline to sign up had gone by there were still spots!  How does that even happen?  Its Bonnie Hunter!  Why are there spots open???  Within about 5 seconds of finding out there was a spot I had my checkbook open.  I sent off my registration and a few days later got my confirmation!!  The class I got into was for her Jamestown Landing quilt, which I have been drooling over for forever.  Here is a link to a picture of the quilt, Jamestown Landing.  I am not sure if I can steal a picture from her page to show here so I won't.  But go click.  I'll wait.  It's gorgeous isn't it.

I have been following Bonnie's blog for about a year now.  I haven't made any of her quilts yet though I have wanted to.  I don't have much of a scrap collectionbut it is slowly building.  I did start the Lazy Sunday mystery quilt that is going on in Quiltmaker right now but I am only part way through part one.  They just released part two.  I had a few baby gifts to get done so I used it as a leader/ender project.  Another one of Bonnie's methods that you can read about here.

I have been working on my stash of blue and creams for this.  Last night I started to cut my fabrics down into strip sets.

This is what I cut up last night.  She has asked that we have our fabrics cut in to strips so she can give us a lesson with her preferred method of making half triangle squares.  She uses the easy angle ruler.  I have used this method before but sometimes I find cutting them to be cumbersome so hopefully she gives out some good hints.  

Here are some blues and some neutrals.  I think those darker browns may be too dark.  I am not sure but I really like them.  I am trying to decide just how much I should cut up.  The quilt we are making is a scrap quilt but there is no way I have enough scraps so I have to use my stash.  I purchased the strips I already cut above and the top row of fabrics in this picture from Connecting Threads.  They are all fat quarters and I only paid about $1.50 each for them.  Awesome prices.  

Here are some more fabrics I set aside.

And these are more blues from my stash.  I am going to try not to cut into these.  I am saving them for a blue and orange quilt requested by my son.  

This is my only work in progress for this week.  I just finished a baby quilt Monday night.  I only have a few days before my in-laws get here for a short visit so I thought I would use this time to get ready for this class.  It's May 3rd.  I wanted to make sure I didn't need to find more fabrics but I think I am ok for the class at least.  This is not a quilt we will finish that day.  

I am linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced this week.  Click below to see what everyone else is working on.