orange peel

Preview of things to come...

2012-02-01T16:02:00.001-08:00

It's odd to say but sometimes I like the garbage almost as much as the quilt...

2012-01-31T18:11:00.001-08:00

There has actually been quite a bit of sewing going on around here, just not much blogging. Hopefully that will change now thanks to blogpress and instagram, and the fact that all top secret projects have now been safely gifted. Let's start with what was gifted to me! My mom made me this super fantabulous linen pen roll.

All these gorgeous pens are inspiring me to finally do a little journeling.

Mmmmmm.

burp cloths

2011-11-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

I've actually been sewing quite a bit lately but most of it is top secret. But I did pick up some of Lotta Jansdotter's new Echo line this week and had to make something out of it asap. It is so flippin' awesome. And so we have here a lifetime supply of burp cloths...I'm actualy keeping some of these ones...they might motivate me to fold them nicely to stack on the shelf.

And of course there are some in the shop.

geese for my niece

2011-11-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

I love having any excuse to make a new baby quilt. These are flying geese for my new niece Lucy.

One more project made entirely from the stash! Alright, almost. I had the whole thing pieced and then found that backing fabric and it was such a perfect match I couldn't pass it up. Enjoy Lucy!!

like STRIPES much?

2011-10-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

I've been on the prowl for awesome shower curtains for...oh...years. Not finding much I decided to take matters into my own hands. (Tangent: note the apple green walls. I maybe should have drawn the line at shower curtain but ended up taking far more into my own hands. It's a little bit startling but I really really love it!)

I don't know if these actually qualify as awesome but they do not have rubber ducks, beach scenes, or purple and taupe floral motifs on them. Nor did they cost hundreds of dollars at anthropologie, where awesome reigns, but not for the common man's budget.

My favorite is the curtains for the dining room. I'm a really really rotten photographer but just take my word for it, these are a vast step up from the drop cloths I had hanging there before.

I confess I even had plans (and fabric) for striped curtains in one of the kids' rooms but realized things were getting a little out of hand in the stripe department.

favorite

2011-09-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I love this quilt so much. It may be because it is completely made from scraps...(I'd like to say it made a dent in my scrap stash but no suck luck)...

It might be because it's really really bright...and as much as I love muted colors and neutral tones when OTHER people use them, I always find myself right back to BRIGHT. (That's why I'm having a really hard time getting my house painted. I know in my heart that apple green is NOT a good thing for living room walls and yet...that is the paint chip I keep picking up.)

There's hot pink chenille on the back...sigh. I do love hot pink chenille.

Listed HERE.

stash busting

2011-09-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have been having SO much fun cutting my stash up and making these little minky quilts! They are the yummiest baby blankets.

Listed here.

And the best part is...stash busting justifies a little stash building in the near future.

stash love

2011-08-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

My neighbor had a sweet little baby Nora yesterday!

I love my stash. And I LOVE when I can make something entirely FROM my stash, which I rarely do but oh my it is satisfying.

And of course I cut enough blocks to make several, listed here.

Monstrosities

2011-07-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, I admit it, I have a problem. I'm absolutely addicted to Pinterest. But the other night my kids busted me on there looking at my "make with kids" board and they committed me to stop looking and start making. These are pretty atrocious little creatures (inspired by these) but we had such a good time going through the scrap piles together. They are 100% designed by a 5 and 7 year old. I did the sewing and they did everything else.

show me the money

2011-07-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

I bookmarked this tutorial many moons ago and last week's 3 little boy birthday parties was the perfect motivation for me to do something about it.

I'm positive that I was way more excited about these than the recipients were.

They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. Might have to make ME a wool houndstooth wallet.

The Amy Butler scrap drawer strikes again, or, a quilt with feet

2011-07-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

This is destined for a friend's pink nursery...4th girl!

Yummy pink linen on the back.

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to resist making more of these, some may even make it to the shop...

between the loads of laundry

2011-06-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Piles of linen destined for greatness...(if shower curtains can truly be qualified as great destinies)

some Amy Butler stash love...(now WHAT to put on the back? These lines are all discontinued so I think my favorite options are: more Kona snow OR light pink linen, any one care to weigh in?)

And a couple of lovelies for the shop.

scooters and trains and cars, oh my!

2011-06-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I hate to brag but...my cousin is a bit of a celebrity. A fabric selling superstar if you will. So much so that I almost don't dare mention her name in connection with mine. Oh, alright, it's Kim from Poppyseed Fabrics. And she is sponsoring one amazing giveaway over at Tatertots and Jello. Go on, check it out, just keep your hands off my fabric bundle. (jk, jk, may the best fabric nut win!!)

flower power

2011-06-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

Anybody notice what's wrong with this picture? (And I'm not asking you to point out my dirty floor...)

Well I was about 2 inches short on pink ric rac. Grrrr.

A little forced creativity and, voila!

something blue

2011-06-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

I barely sew any more. I just haven't really been feeling the vibe, but it's kind of nice to get the occasional etsy order to make me sit down and sew something. I always enjoy it immensely.

How's about cookin' something up with me?

2011-05-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hotpads for....Jessi...

Mama...or me? Since I haven't actually given her her mother's day gift yet...

And Auntie E...

Who also got a matching apron (for letting us use her house for a week).

a little more decor

2011-05-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

I must have made this a month ago or more but just getting around to the pictures...I saw this somewhere or other and thought (as I often think) "I could make that."

Except usually I can't, or don't, but this time I could, and did! Just rolled up little pieces of wool felt and hot glued them onto this wreath I have had forever. It looks cute in baby girl's room, although it really underscores the need for an extreme room makeover.

2011-03-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a little obsessed with using my scraps lately...I'm getting ready for a full blown fabric buying binge that can only be justified by using up some serious scrappage. LOVE how they look with linen!

Happy Jack=Happy Me!

2011-02-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

I never win anything. Alright, once when I was in 7th grade I guessed how many cigarette butts were in a big jar and I won a poster of a train. But it's been a long dry spell since then until the other day...look what I got from Happy Jack Hats. She has the cutest little hats, baby booties, and check out those tasseled leggings! Dang, we lucked out. Thanks Wendy!!

In other news, I am happy to report these made it to the wall, and in record time.

A little Jane for Jane

2011-02-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

I have got to be THE WORST decorator everrrr...but at least I have a plan. This is my first experiment with photoshop and I'm a little worried they might spontaneously combust into those little red x's I can never troubleshoot.

I would have waited until they were on the wall to show them off but at the rate I accomplish decorative tasks it could be years. But someday they are destined to reside on the wall with some of these.

Incidentally...I know I've missed some good ones...anybody else got any favorite Jane Austen quotes? Cause I've got a gal with a lot of blank walls...

cache valley goes mod?

2011-01-19T21:26:00.001-08:00

I've been hoping somebody local would jump on the bandwagon since I'm far too lazy to spear-head anything:

http://cvmodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

Oh if there were only more hours in the day, I would be a prolific reader, modern quilter, home maker extraordinaire, gourmet chef, super mom and then train for LOTOJA in my spare time.

I'm whining because my latest project has me stumped. I don't like it. It needs a little punch. I've got a few ideas but nothing I'm ready to commit to yet...

I draw better with thread than writing utensils

2011-01-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

And I chickened out (or wimped out) on most of the handmade gifts this year but at least one made the cut. I'm having so much fun sewing with linen! And I found some really good stuff at (of all places...) Joann's. But it's apparently a summer fabric and they are out...so it's small projects for now.

pouches

2011-01-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

Well it was definitely not a handmade Christmas around here (Legos are hard to fabricate...hehe) but I did whip up a little somethin' for some of the women in my life. Oh the fun I had with my scrap drawer and a beautiful bunch of colored zippers!

Batch 1:

Batch 2:

A few will soon be appearing in the shop...

stockings

2011-01-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

The stockings WERE hung on the [banister] with care...and I already miss them, sniff. I've been coveting these for years so I finally decided to do something about it this year. They are a far cry from the originals, but I like them. Especially full of chocolate.

Gray linen lovin'

2010-11-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

This is for my niece-to-be, arriving any day now, to her yellow and gray nursery. I couldn't resist throwing a little pink in there too. Modern is such a buzz word lately but the trend has made me feel like I can branch out a bit. The gray fabric is actually linen which is so lovely but kinda stretchy and therefore a bit of a beast to quilt. Good thing it's only about 32" square...

And guess what my favorite part is....

...the piercing.

inspired

2010-10-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

Bless the 30% off sale. I'm feeling suitably inspired. Now all I need is about 57 uninterrupted hours to sew.

I am making SOME progress...

I'm thinking about doing something at least...

2010-10-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

in pink, yellow and gray.

Mmmmmmmm.

Look what I made...

2010-09-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

A BABY!! I'm pretty proud. I like her quilt too.

2010-07-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

This is NOT one of those inspiring "look at my cute nursery" posts. This is more like a feeble attempt to persuade myself that I've actually accomplished something in the last month besides making an enormous mess.

Err, glued some fabric into the back of a $15 particle board Wal-mart bookcase:

Made some curtains for the boys' room:

Made some curtains for the girl's room:

Glued some fabric into a particle board Ikea bookcase:

And for crying out loud I am ALMOST done making a PERSON....

pink birdies

2010-05-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

One more little girly thing and now I'm swearing off the sewing machine until I get some MAJOR packing done! This one's in the shop, just because I cut enough blocks for about 4 of them so it's easily replaced...

finished!

2010-05-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

I can't promise never to show this quilt again but I just have to prove that it is indeed finished, and I can say that you won't see it again at least until it is snug in it's new home, hopefully with it's destined new owner resting upon it.

Measuring in at 45" x 60" I think this will actually double as a crib sheet (my secret favorite use for baby quilts).

wedding gifts

2010-05-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

We have 4 wedding invitations hanging on our fridge right now. It was making me feel so young again, until Andy pointed out that we are actually friends with one of the couples' parents. *sigh*

redemption

2010-05-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Remember my sad little neighborhood?

It's a happy neighborhood again, repurposed into hotpads.

mmmm grommets...

melinda's quilt

2010-05-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

[edit: I washed it. Thanks to my little helpers for helping me take some new pictures.]

I knew I should have photographed this BEFORE I folded it up on my couch for a week.

And I know it's tacky, but I might just list this in my shop for a few weeks and see if it sells...not because I don't love it, but because I have about 16 more ideas for quilts for Melinda and if somebody buys this one I can make another...

slowly but surely

2010-05-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

It's finally quilted: straight lines close together. I just haven't been able to commit to a binding. I had my heart set on pink Kei honeycomb dots but a. they seem to be out of stock everywhere b. I've never actually seen them so I don't know if they'll match. I have a million suitable greens in my stash, should I just go green?

we interrupt our previously scheduled baby quilt...

2010-04-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

...to bring you some emergency projects.

Hot pads for my friend's birthday...

and a quilt for Andy's boss.

It's turning out more modern than I thought it would...I'm not sure it will be to her taste. Or maybe I'm just saying that because it matches my living room really well.

mac and cheese for dinner again?

2010-04-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

How do people sew AND get dinner on the table? I tell ya lately every step of the way seems to come at such a high price (not that foregoing my cooking is a very high price to pay...) but I did manage to get all my blocks made and sewn together while neglecting all other duties and encouraging Henry in his mad Star Wars Wii playing skills.

I decided my first stack of blocks were heinously busy when put together, and not wanting to dilute the stew with sashing I just made some really simple square in a square blocks. I think...I like it. Yup, I'm easing right into this girl thing. I may even make the back...PINK!

2010-04-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

I love General Conference for so many reasons, one of which is the hand sewing time!! I've been working on these flowers for 6 years now. Not that it should have taken me that long, just that's it's kind of been my take-along-project for a long long time. I always said I would sew it together for my daughter and that's the size it would be. Little did I know how large an undertaking putting it together would be. Am I missing something? Is there an easy way to do this? It is like a wrestling match trying to get these rows together!!

About halfway there...

back to blue...but only for a minute

2010-03-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

My neighbor just birthed the CUTEST little piece of humanity ever....alright I'm still a little partial to my nephew but seriously this new specimen is top notch. He's a second boy so I had envisioned something different than just blue but when I found out the nursery was blue and gray it seemed like the perfect chance to get out the scrap drawer again. Man this was fun.

This time the quilting (a la my aunt june) showed up quite a bit better...in the pictures I mean. Not that I'm getting any better AT it, but the overexposure helps it show up a bit. I know the thread looks black, it really matches I promise, I'm just still working on getting the hang of the new camera. Alright and I confess, Photoshop Elements is still in the box. I'll work on that too.

This is what the quilt was meant to be. I wasn't ready to give up the color scheme entirely so it became the burp cloth.

I know, it REALLY needs a grommet, it just does. But I couldn't wait another second to see the little bug and I couldn't show up empty handed (these people don't like chocolate so it was a quilt or nothing). I'll just have to make another one.

let there be pink!! (green and turquoise allowed also)

2010-03-25T15:52:00.001-07:00

At first I was having a hard time wrapping my head around pink...I was leaning more toward yellow and brown and cream, or maybe green and gray? But once I started pulling fabrics out I warmed right up to the idea. After all, this may be my only chance. Let's do this baby girl thing right.

Now I'm trying to decide though, should I go ahead and mix all the colors in all the blocks? Or do green blocks, turquoise blocks, and pink blocks? Oh this is such uncharted territory for me, I am at a loss.

One thing is for sure though, LOVE those green elephants. Mmmmmm.

2010-03-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

This was a custom order and it was nice to have an excuse to just sew some big blocks together, especially these ones...I really really love this fabric.

I took the liberty of piecing the back...hope she likes it...I just couldn't help myself.

grommets!!

2010-03-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

I want to put them everywhere...it's like my repressed Bedazzler fantasy is now manifesting itself in an obsession with grommets. Watch out Baby Girl, you may be getting all kinds of hardware in your little pink blankets.

small miracle

2010-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

I guess that title could refer to the sweet new baby who inspired this final burst of productivity, or to the fact that I finally made something. For some reason my pictures are refusing to be organized tonight so here they are in their own choice of order.

The quilt: (oh how I hated this thing while I was sewing it together, but we are on better terms now)

The bibs: (my sister appreciates wacky fabric combos and reversibility as much as I do)

The swaddle blanket: (there just wasn't any rockin' flannel out there, so we went the 2-sided cotton route with a piece of flannel for batting, can't wait to hear how that works out...or doesn't...)

And the quilt again.

I REALLY like the back.

I am (was?) planning to do zig zag quilts for my boys' beds, but I barely survived this little guy so I'm thinking that in order to manage 2 twin-sizers I may have to do fewer zig zags and leave them some open space to roam in. I kinda like the floater.

Guess how much I love you...

2010-01-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

Well sweet nephew-to-be of mine, I love you enough to break my 3-month-no-sewing streak. I love you enough NOT to give you this miserable attempt. I love you more than my orange and green echino fabric stash, and my recently acquired Kei dots stash.

AND I love you enough to square off half square triangle blocks for you. And THAT, folks, is love.

Alright but who are we kidding, I did all this diminutive trimming while watching the new BBC version of Emma (a real hardship).

And I can't wait to meet you!!

It's a dreary day in the neighborhood...

2010-01-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to make one of these charming house quilts for so long but I really haven't been feeling the sewing vibe for months now! An upcoming nephew finally got me motivated but I am thoroughly dissatisfied with this effort. Are they too big? Too wonky? Not wonky enough? Does the gray just make it too drab? I can't put my finger on it but I think maybe a few months in a closet may be all it needs.

craft hope for haiti

2010-01-17T17:14:00.000-08:00

I think this is SO great:

I'm really tempted to just attack my basement and donate a bunch of charm packs...? We'll see what I come up with, or I may just go shopping!

the rest of it

2010-01-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

Here's the final quilt in all it's wrinkly glory: it's been finished for a while but I didn't want to post it until it found it's new home at Christmas.

It's a cabin quilt for the new Logan Canyon cabin...I didn't get a picture of it in its spot but here is the view it enjoys:

I know, nice place to be a quilt, right?

uno mas

2009-12-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

I seem to remember promising to leave Amy Butler alone for a while but a true attack on my scrap pile just won't allow for such forbearance. But it's just a little one, and I'm moving on now.

fingers (and toes, and eyes) crossed

2009-11-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

in the works

2009-11-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Yet another attack on the scrap drawer, using this tutorial here . I actually made the blocks a wee bit bigger and was not nearly as methodical in my piecing as she is, surprise.

Except for the dark fabric no yardage was harmed in the making of this quilt. In fact, most of the strips came from old binding leftovers, of which I had an enormous boxful. Dang it felt good to make a dent in that!

bermuda triangle

2009-11-07T09:01:00.001-08:00

I cleaned, I oiled, I rethreaded top and bobbin thread multiple times, and yet every time I got to that beautiful blue square chaos reigned. It's like the Bermuda triangle of sewing. And so we have a bag topstitched not once, not twice, but 4 times. I think those handles ought to stay in there.

new trick

2009-11-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

OK yesterday I had a bit of a sewing binge, I just couldn't help putting some pretty pink squares together:

And the REAL adventure of the day was learning a new quilting technique that I really REALLY like. I saw this here and knew I had to try it. Scribbling all over is, after all, right up my alley.

Isn't that just cool?

country lovin'

2009-11-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

There's that good sport of a husband of mine, dutifully holding up my latest project.

I have horded this fabric for years, just liking the fact that it all matched each other, until one day I realized I didn't love it like I used to. I still love it for waiting so patiently in a little gap box, all neatly folded and coordinating, but it's a more sentimental attachment than an actual affinity for country colors. But living in Iowa has made me feel the vibe and this little number is going to reside in a charming little bungalow in a town of less than 1000 people where I hope it will fit right in. I quite enjoyed piecing it, and especially quilting it, and I anticipate enjoying giving it away to a good home. The best part was using almost every single scrap of it up. My goal was to make the quilt all from fabric I already had. I ended up having to buy the binding is all. I already had the blue for the back but I wanted it to be a little bigger so I knew I had to save a little fabric to add to the blue, plus get a few more blocks on the front, hence the 8 or so string blocks, plus some leftover blue chenille blocks. Usually when I do plain squares I crosshatch them but this time I sewed straight lines about 1/4" down each seam and I REALLY like it. It was sort of labor intensive but definitely worth it.

I made a bag!!

2009-11-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

For years I have relied on my oh-so-talented friends and family for all my sassy handbag needs. But when I was given a stray copy of the ever-inspiring-but-way-too-expensive-for-cheap-little-me Stitch Magazine I knew I had to give the cover project a shot. Go ahead, check out the cover, my lack of creativity will astonish you. I just liked that one SO MUCH I pretty much recreated it.

This was SO FUN to make I foresee more in the future, hopefully with a tiny bit of original thought thrown in.

see ya later alligator

2009-10-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I get a custom order for something I never, ever would have come up with myself. But it's pretty fun to see things come together that wouldn't have otherwise. The only sad thing is that they leave much too soon without any time to marinate on my basement clothesline where the finished projects get to live.

This was 2 blankets, a stroller size and a crib quilt, that ended up costing me a fortune since I had to order the fabric from 3 different places and of course that meant filling up the flat rate envelopes...3 times...oh my.

this one's for you, Charlie

2009-10-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

So I did find a back for ole' Charlie, right here in Burlington. The yellow plaid seems like a little tiny bit of a cop out, I was really branching out there for a minute, and pale yellow plaid is so...been there done that. BUT the bias plaid actually saved my tail on the quilting. I thought I was going to have to go through and actually mark lines but the quilting ended up mercifully aligning with the plaid so I could wing it (which is also very been there done that for me but I'm comfortable there).

And there's no real Charlie this quilt is dedicated too, it just reminds me so much of Charlie Brown, and maybe there's a little bit of wishful thinking there too....

Henry's quilt

2009-10-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

Alright, everybody else is doing it, I'm jumping in!

When I got home with the fabric for this quilt I remember wondering if I was making a big, expensive mistake. It was pretty wild, which I love, but every once in a while I make something really atrocious. But I am so happy with how this turned out, and have used the "formula" several times since: the blocks are all fabrics that "go" together, lots of Amy Butler's Lotus and a few Japanese Echino prints. Then for the sashing I chose something that really didn't match at all but it ended up being the perfect frame because it didn't just blend in. And you can't lose with orange cornerstones...

I'm also glad that I was able to immortalize a yard and a half of this wonderful discontinued green Echino print on the back (there's a spider on it! how cool!), of which I once owned an entire bolt, and now this is the only surviving remnant.

Once again I'm apologizing for my lack of photography skills but I think it looks quite good with zebra sheets...

Here's (a really bad picture of) one I did for my nephew with the same formula:

Santa Claus is coming to town...

2009-10-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've been binging a bit lately. The problem all stems from custom orders. I have to order a yard here or there and if I'm going to pay shipping charges anyway I might as well fill up the flat rate envelope...

Henry insisted on taking this picture of his crazy mama.

a new favorite

2009-10-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Almost every quilt I make is my favorite while I'm working on it and yet it's sometimes shocking to me how fickle I can be: as soon as the binding is on I fold it up and forget all about it in the excitement of the next project. Poor little guys. But THIS one has won a special place in my heart for reasons I can't pinpoint. It's also taught me a couple of things. First: the joy of solids. This may just be the beginning of a major affair with Kona solids. (For future reference, this one is Ash. There are approximately one million colors and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a hard time remembering them all.) I always thought I was a patterns only girl, the wilder the better, but I really really like this plain gray, especially the back, with that nice little racing stripe. Second: I've always quilted things just to get them stuck together, a mere means to an end. But THIS time, I LOVED quilting it! I've never done this before but have been wanting to try just quilting straight(-ish) lines unevenly spaced all through and it was quite fun and for the first time ever I feel like the quilting actually really complements the quilt and adds to the design a bit. This isn't the first or last time you will hear me complain about my camera but sorry you can't really see it.

my first string blocks

2009-10-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing these string blocks around bloglandia and thinking I might need to give them a try. I've had this fabric for years and it's not anything I would choose now but I still like it enough to use and I think I've thought of the perfect home for it....(to be continued...) So as I was cutting blocks today I had these lovely long 1"-2" strips that I was going to decorate the inside of my trash can with and decided to give the string block thing a try and I think it may just be right up my alley. I have quite a lot of 1"-2" strips that probably should have decorated my garbage long ago, but I now foresee a lovely quilt in their future...(to be continued also...)

About those St. Louis quit shops...

2009-10-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to come home from St. Louis with piles of exotic (Missourian?) fabrics but Ben and Henry proved to be less than ideal fabric shopping companions. Imagine that. But I didn't come home empty-handed after all: we stumbled upon a really fabulous paper store where I bought one really fabulous piece of paper...and several yards of japanese ribbon, oh my, there are so many ways ways I would like to use this but the fact that it is fully reversible (one of my favorite attributes in the world) has my hands tied until I can come up with some good ways to see both sides.

the tangible fruits of conference

2009-10-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

Man I love sitting in front of the computer for hours on end listening to conference with a pile of beautiful fabric on my lap. There were also some substandard cinnamon rolls, copious note-taking, some changes of heart and lots of cuddling accomplished as well. But for now here are the tangible fruits of conference:

Look at those white on orange leaves on the bottom left. Erin McMorris, I may have seriously underdemeciated you.

lookin' for backs in all the wrong places

2009-09-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

I'm currently auditioning patterns and color schemes for my soon-to-be nephew's quilt. Haven't quite hit it yet, but we're getting closer. I like these enough that I think they deserve a non-basement scrounged backside, which is all the justification I need to hit every quilt shop in St. Louis this weekend, wahoooooo!

Good grief Charlie Brown, I LOVE zig zags!!

This poor little guy was the sad seam ripper project yesterday. I had fatter sashing in there and it was ruining our relationship. I'm pretty happy with the half inch gray though.

what I will be doing today

2009-09-22T08:25:00.001-07:00

the good old days

2009-09-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

Still plowing through all those unfinished projects and piles of destination-less scraps, and every once in a while I am running across real treasures. These blocks are the remnants of the very first (and probably best) quilt I ever made. I remember being inspired enough by these 30's reproduction prints to actually take a stab at sewing (maybe should have left well enough alone and gone skiing that day after all...) I do have fond memories of sitting at the sewing machine with my mom and learning the ins and outs of cutting strips, constructing blocks, chain piecing and so forth. The large version of this quilt was a BIG undertaking, but this little guy was a fun walk down memory lane.

inspiration

2009-09-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

I seldom come up with my own ideas but I am a cracker jack imitator and THIS is next on the list.

lucy in the sky with diamonds

2009-09-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

And it looks like I was doing drugs when I picked out the fabric for this thing. This poor quilt top has been in a tupperware for years. It was recently rescued from said tupperware, quilted and bound as part of my "take back the basement" movement. Most of my quilts remind me of something. This one reminds me of Amy Butler vomit. I saw a quilt made up with this pattern in a shop and loved it, and I can't remember now what I loved about it...oh yeah, it looked really cool, but I did not follow the directions, and mine looks slightly less cool than I could wish. There were all these templates which kind of freaked me out at the time, and then I was supposed to do the "light-dark-medium" thing, which I obviously missed the boat on. But I learned some things. For example, lightcolored fabric with huge dark colored patches does not equal medium colored fabric.

Alright, now that I've ranted a bit I think I've come to peace with it. The diamond quilting helped ever so slightly to bring out the disappearing diamonds, and if you never saw the inspiring original it's really not so bad. And now it's graduated from inhabiting the inside of a tupperware as a poor unfinished top to garnishing the outside of the tupperware as a newly knighted completed project. Felicidades.

project: attack the stash

2009-09-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

You all know I have an appalling fabric stash. My latest goal is to diminish it as much as possible in order to replace it immediately with the latest and greatest (kinda reminds me of my relationshop with calories). Piecing this quilt was kind of a zen experience in that I was not allowed to spend much (any) time actually laying it out and trying to put pieces together so they would look good. I put the scrap drawer on my lap and sewed everything together in exactly the order it came out in. AND...I think it looks kinda good!

just squares

2009-08-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Alright, um, so, I cut some blocks, and I sewed them together. I'm only slightly ashamed that I didn't even mix and match, this is the Katie Jump Rope only quilt, everything else: KEEP OUT.

But ooh-da-lolly, I love a green bandana print backing.

towels

2009-08-27T14:06:00.001-07:00

I really like cutting pretty fabric up into little pieces and then sewing it back together, but sometimes you just have to leave well enough alone. So these lovely little pieces of fabric just got washed, hemmed and drying-looped. Now they're stuck in the shop, until I run out of clean ones...

estee's (baby's) quilt

2009-08-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

Estee, you don't read blogs, right? Because this isn't in the mail quite yet and I wanted it to be a surprise.

My friend that I grew up skiing with married another friend that I grew up skiing with and they reproduced and their offspring will most certainly end up skiing, hopefully with my offspring, and so my offering thoughtfully blends fond memories of the past with bright hopes for the futrue. Sadly, nobody I have showed this to can tell that those blocks in the middle are supposed to be SKI BOOTS. (kind of like how nobody probably realized that whole bit about fond memories and bright hopes was tongue in cheek, please tell me you don't think I'd REALLY talk like that...)

I just have to mention the serendipitous process of binding this quilt: I do a lot of my bindings by machine these days but I wanted to do this one by hand and so I spent the morning on my lovely new red bench (thanks Allison!) alternately watching Henry draw with chalk and drown bugs, putting together a superhero puzzle and binding a quilt. Aaahhhh.

flying geese

2009-08-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to make one of these but I'm a little lazy when it comes to triangles. Lucky for me I live in the age of shortcuts: weight loss pills, pyramid schemes, and flying geese rulers.

Heather's (baby's) quilt

2009-08-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

I took a small hiatus from my etsy shops (to be continued?) and made some little goodies for people I know and love. That can be scary because when I am creating without intent to sell I sometimes get a little crazy with my combos. This little number is for my cousin Heather's first baby.

Eww, nasty picture of the back, I know, but it was so cute when it wasn't blurry.

testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

2009-08-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

It's only fitting that my first post should be my grandmother's flower garden since it's entirely possible that the finished product will be my last post. It's something of a life long project. What you see here is 5 years worth.

It has now graduated from placemat size to potential baby quilt size, measuring in at 42" square were I to sew it together as is. I've always said this is to be my daughter's quilt and so, as soon as she makes her appearance I will begin actual assembly. If she doesn't appear, I will be buried with a king size grandmother's flower garden.