Chrysalis #1 - More Blocks and a Completed Top

I finally uploaded the rest of the Chrysalis blocks.

















(I seem to be missing a photo of one of the blue blocks.  Hrm...)

Once the blocks were done, I got them all trimmed up.  That's always fun.  It makes for pretty trash. :)



And then I started playing with the layout for the top.  I knew that I wanted the squares to alternate yellow and blue, but with some of the inner squares being green, there was the chance that it was going to end up looking kind of clumped by color.

Bug took the camera and got this shot while I was laying things out.  Not a bad photo for a three year old!



The final layout.

Chrysalis #1

I've been working on a new, crib-sized quilt.  As much as starting another project kind of makes me cringe a little, I'm pushing ahead with this one, anyway.  It's actually for the shop, so its work and not just play. ;)

I bought some of Moda's fabulous Chrysalis fabrics and just love them.  I was kind of worried that they were going to be too girly or too...something...but they're really quite awesome.  Butterflies and flowers, but the prints and colors are just great.

I wanted to do something that would really focus on the prints, so decided to pair them with solids.  After much hemming and hawing, I chose yellow, turquoise and green.  It was a difficult choice.  The orange and brown are great.  Perhaps I'll use orange and brown for the second quilt.  Hmm...

The squares are simple - again, to focus on the prints.







I'm not sure that the individual blocks really give a good idea of what the quilt looks like put together.  And the quilting is adding something nice.  I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I wasn't able to get it quilted all at once but, well, real life and all that.  I'm quite please with how it's coming together, and can't wait until I can post a picture of the finished product.

Man-Quilt: The Beginning

(I haven't forgotten about announcing secondary winners for the SMS giveaway.  Promise.)

Once upon a time, I was involved in a fun quilting bee.  Life happened and I fell behind.  I caught up again.  But I TOTALLY FORGOT that January was my month to send out fabric.  D'oh.  I scrambled to get some fabric ordered, but by the time it all arrived it was a little late to get stuff out.  We talked about pushing me back in the lineup and the way life worked out, I kind of slipped out of the bee.  (As far as I know there were no hard feelings.)

After much debate, I'd determined to send out fabric for Richard's quilt.  He picked out the fabric and we talked about what he was looking for in a quilt.  He decided on a wonky square-in-a-square.

But then there wasn't a bee to send it out to, so the fabrics just kind of been hanging out...

Reopeneing my store and gearing up for Giveaway Day had me all crafty and wanting to be productive.  So I pulled out Richard's fabric and decided to start working on that.

I cut strips of fabric.



And then I started to sew...  I was able to get three done the first day, and three the next afternoon.  They were going fairly quickly and I'd hoped to get a few more finished, but the three year old had other plans.

Mug Rug Swap - Round 4

I got involved in the Mug Rug swap on flickr just in time for round two.  (And I'll have to look back to see just what I've posted about that...)  I didn't really need another hobby, but I think I might be hooked.  They're great.  Tiny little quilts, big enough for a beverage and a snack.  Relatively quick to put together, small enough that you can experiment and they have the potential to be stinkin' cute.

...so I'm still going with the swap. ;)

This is a blind swap, so I'm not at liberty to name my partner just yet.  Soon.  For now, I'll say that I was a little bit stumped on what to do for her.  She gave some really great information and I didn't expect to get stuck, but I did.  I latched on to her love of "kitschy" and decided to run with it...only, how exactly would SHE define the word?  I did some flickr stalking and fabric eyeballing, and ended up with this selection:

(Warning: crappy night time cell phone photos ahead!)



The Alexander Henry chicken fabric was something that I came across at Joanne's and didn't even realize what it was.  But it tickled me, so I abandoned my previous kitschy idea and let the rooster lead.



I was pleased.  Sort of.

I posted the pictures as a sneak peek to the group (which is suggested).  It was well received.  But it just didn't feel quite right for it's intended owner.  I stalked some more.  I eyeballed some more.  I went back to my original plan (and ended up with another Alexander-Henry-found-at-Joanne's fabric), and then abandoned it again.

I settled on bunting.  Because it's kind of fun, the design appeared very clearly in my head and (most importantly), my partner says she likes bunting.

I posted another sneak peek.





These photos were also well received.  And I have it on good authority that the person I'm making this for will be pleased.  So I'm ecstatic.

My original binding plan (polka dots) really, really, really didn't work out.  WAY too busy.  So I settled on black.  I think it frames it nicely.

It's kind of hard to tell in the photo, but I've quilted the front with big fluffy clouds.  It seemed to fit. :)



The back is quilted separately, straight lines.  I didn't figure I could go wrong with a little straight line quilting.  And I totally stole the tagging idea from some of the other swappers.  Had a stamp made up and heat set the ink on twill tape.  Brilliant.  Tagging is normally pretty stressful, but I love this.  It's easy-peasy, and I think it's super cute, too.


And, this time, I've gathered a few things to round out the package.  In addition to the mug rug - which I hope she enjoys! - I'm sending a mug, some teas in flavors that her profile suggests that she'll enjoy, a tin of sentimental candies and an Arizona-themed postcard.  Can't wait to see what she thinks of it!

A Gift for Grandma

So that charm pack that I received with my mug rug?  It's already been chopped up and rearranged and sent to Texas as a Christmas gift for my grandmother.  Initially, I thought that a set of placemats and coasters would be a great idea...but I was limited to the charm pack and some Kona red.  I considered a couple of hot pads and coasters, but that seemed...small?  So I decided on the table runner.

I tried a disappearing nine-patch for the table runner - three sets with the blocks rearranged more or less at random.  There was a pattern, but I certainly couldn't explain it verbally. 



Close-up of part of the front.  Pretty prints. :)



I quilted around specific blocks, which is easier to see from the back.



Twelve squares were turned into a set of coasters.



I LOVE the way this turned out and have been eyeballing charm squares to make another...

Mug Rug Received

A few days ago, I received an awesome little package from Hope (GoingSewCrazy) from the scrappy mug rug swap.  It was amazing!  The mug rug is super duper cute, and she included some amazing goodies.



The mug is super cute - Richard said we need to find three more to make a set - and the fabric!  Bug was so excited to see it in the box that he snatched it out of my hand and kept asking "Is it fabic?  Is it mine?  Can I have it?"  He ripped the wrapper off before I could get a picture of the charm pack all together.  It's Moda's "12 Days of Christmas".  I don't usually go for holiday themed fabric, but these were awesome all together.

Here's a picture of just the mug rug.  Check out the cute cloud quilting. :)


(And now I can say that my little robot mug rug went to Kendra.  You might recognize the name from a June bee block post.  I thought it was super cool that, from a pool of something like 120 people, I was paired with someone that I "know".)

Mug Rug Finish!

(First, I know...I totally dropped the ball on NaBloPoMo.  But that's not the point of this post.)

Because I don't have *quite* enough on my plate, I decided awhile back that I REALLY wanted to take part in the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap.  I watched the last round come to close, drooling over all of the terribly creative and oh-so-cute things that people thought up and I HAD to get my name on the list for the holiday/everyday round!

This is a blind swap, so I know who I'm making for (though I can't say yet!), but not who's making one for me.  Very exciting!

I was lucky to be somewhat familiar with the photostream of the person who's name I was given.  Not saying any more than that so that I don't drop too many clues, but I was at least vaguely familiar with some of what she's done recently.  It was kind of cool to see that I'd drawn her name. :)  And the questionnaire thing we filled out gave me some ideas that I probably wouldn't have come up with strictly from looking at her photostream.

After a bit of thought, I knew which fabrics I wanted to use, but hadn't entirely settled on an idea.  Tonight, I cut into the fabrics with a plan in mind...and then watched the mug rug take shape on it's own.  It's totally not what I had initially planned to make, but it just came together so nicely that I ran with it.



Given the green stripy fabric, straight line quilting seemed the best fit.  I did a stitch-in-the-ditch at the edge of each white strip and then eyeballed the interior stitching lines so that they wouldn't be quite even.  It seemed like a good idea since the green stripes and the robot are both a little bit wonky and not-straight.  It's backed and self-bound in the green fabric.  My initial plan was to hand stitch the binding in place, but I kind of liked the idea of visible, light stitching.  Doing it by machine kept the stitches even and, I hope, seem a little more "robotic".

Or maybe I'm just talking out my ear.

At any rate, I'm pleased with how the mug rug turned out and I hope that my partner likes it, too.  We still have a few days before it has to be in the mail and I'm contemplating a holiday themed mug rug as well.  (She didn't specify one way or the other.)  I've got an idea for that one too, but the way this one took off on it's own, I'll have to see what happens when I start working with the fabric...

(This mug rug finished at 7 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches.)

3x6 3rd Quarter - Complete!

This post is a smidge belated, seeing as Q3 ended in September, but I just recently wrapped up my blocks and received my last package.

The blocks I received from Beehive 5 of the 3x6 Sampler Bee:



Aren't they amazing?  I keep getting mesmerized by them.  They're all so pretty individually, and I love how they look all together!

Here are the blocks that I sent out:

My tester block, in my colors


For smoochee


For bessiemae


For nikkipeterson


For quiltygirl2


For miesmama


For woolymama


I had so much fun with this (even though I took waaaaay too long), I can't wait to get started on my Q4 blocks!

Four Cousins - First Top Complete!

Remember these?



Given the move and the new baby and a gajillion other things, it's taken awhile, but I finally got them all chopped up and put back together.

Bug's quilt top is done!



More on the process later...

Two Months of Sew Bee Wonky

Sew Bee Wonky - Another bee that I'm not behind in!  If you don't consider that I haven't done my October blocks yet.  (But I just got the fabric?)

For August, Kellie requested wonky houses.



I can not describe how much fun this little block was to put together.  I stressed over it for way too long, so worried that I was going to completely mess up her little bits of fabric and then have to figure out how to fix it and make it work.  No need to worry.  Pretty much anything goes with wonky houses, and they're so stinkin' cute.

For September, Paige requested wonky log cabin blocks.  (Yay!)  She sent some of the most delicious fabrics.



Yep, that's Mendocino in there.  I heart Mendocino.  And check out those awesome little bicycles!



The only thing I had trouble with was making the blocks big enough.  Even though I was careful not to cut into the long strips before I had to, I still ended up a bit shy.  The first blocks needed one more strip.  The second was considerably smaller.

Next up...more wonky stars. :)

Live Laugh Bee - Catching Up

Aside from two blocks this week, I haven't actually done any sewing for Live Laugh Bee in a little bit.  All caught up, if you can believe it!  (Well, sort of.  More on that in a moment.)  I just never got around to posting pictures.

Here's what's been going on:

Kelly requested confetti blocks.  I LOVE the blue fabrics that she picked out.  Blue, black and teensy little bits of gold in some of the prints.  Very pretty.  And she's planning to quilt with sashiko stitching, which should be gorgeous.



My second block came out a tad small.  I ran out of white fabric and couldn't find any in the right weight to sub in.  She requested that we just send small blocks if that happened.



Then Sarah requested wonky log cabin blocks.  I think wonky log cabins are my all time favorite.  Super easy to put together, lots of fun to put together, and I always love the way they look. Sarah sent a TON of fun batiks to choose from, too.





Of course, as soon as I finished Sarah's blocks I realized that I had done them wrong.

*headdesk*

She wanted then wonky, but with traditional styling.  You'll note that I intermixed the blues and greens instead of putting blues together on one side and greens together on the other.  Gah.  Lucky for me, these will be simple enough to rip apart and put back together properly.  Also lucky that she sent so much fabric in case I need to add a little more.  She also said that we could add some of our own fabrics if we have any that tie in, and I know I have some blue and green batik.

Ursula's blocks, for October, have been so much fun.  She sent out the same fabrics that I have waiting to turn into my nephew's quilt.  She requested flying geese blocks for a little boy's quilt.  It was so much fun getting to play with these fabrics and seeing how they look with the various solid colors (which I still have to choose for my project) before I've cut into my fabric.





The other blocks turning up in the flickr group look great.  I can't wait to see how she puts them all together!