I'm bringing (machine) quilting back

I've been doing a LOT of hand sewing lately, but very little machine work (and blogging), despite the fact that I've got a LOT of projects that are in various stages of completion that really need to get done. Today I finally got back in the groove of things since I have to make a baby quilt for a girl. And fast. Like the baby was due today. Or actually yesterday since it's now like 3 a.m. Anyway. I found the cutest panels online a few months ago and just fell in love with them! It's from the What a World line by Jill McDonald. They are so, so cute. Here's one of the 15 different panels:



I don't have the best plan for this quilt; I've kind of been winging it so far. So far I've added a really thin border of white around each square and then am adding a thicker border of a black fabric with white polka dots. After that? I'm still figuring it out. Here's a preview though!



(And of course there's one of my quilting day essentials - a TV show on DVD that I love that I don't have to pay too much attention to, this time the Gilmore Girls.) Here's hoping I keep making progress tomorrow, er, today.

Backblogged - Winners & Losers

Walmart. It's always an interesting trip. I found these in the women's section a couple weeks ago. Oh my.



Needless to say, I didn't find any cute clothes there to buy. The trip wasn't a total loss. I found this Peanuts flannel in the fabric section. So cute! I am thinking I will either make pillowcases or some pajama pants or shorts.



I also couldn't pass these up. Yum! I wish Target would stock them.



While at Walmart, I also stopped by the Fashion Bug next store since I had a $10 off anything coupon. I found a couple cute summer shirts on clearance and a pair of cropped jeans. This one is my favorite.

A good match

During my last trip to quilt camp (in, uh, February), I finished this top after lots of indecisiveness about the layout. I tried a lot of different options and nothing seemed perfect. This was my favorite one, though.



It's made from a layer cake of Santorini by Lila Tueller. I don't usually have the nerve to mix so many large prints together, but I really like this line, especially the fabrics that look like stained glass. Anyway, because the prints were so large, I wanted to make sure to not cut the pieces too small, otherwise I would have lost a lot of the patterns.

Months and months ago I had sewn all the fabrics into half-square triangle blocks, but then it sat around my apartment for a while, because I was perplexed as to how I wanted to lay it out. Then at camp the indecisiveness continued. (For some reason, I agonize over decisions all.the.time. You would think it would be choices about my last quilt or last meal EVER, but no, it's usually not very important stuff.)

I am happy with how it looks, although it seems a bit unbalanced color-wise to me. I am hoping that after I quilt it that it blends together a bit better.

I picked out fabrics for the back and binding last time when I went to Joann Fabrics. I am very satisfied with what I found, because sometimes I find it hard to match the color shades from one line of fabric (usually Moda lines) and the basic fabrics I buy elsewhere. (The green is for the back and the pink is for the binding.)



I'm really looking forward to finishing this!

Sunday Stash

I am still in a holding pattern quilting-wise. I've been reading obsessively (the Hunger Games trilogy - OMG AMAZINGLY GOOD) and doing some more crocheting (I've well into my second forget-me-not, this time in black and white). I have, however, bought some fat quarters that I've been fabric-stalking for quite a while now.
My newest acquisition?

Castle Peeps. Love, love, love.

There were only a few etsy shops that had any of these left, but I was lucky to find one that had three fat quarter sets - one blue, one green and the other red/violet/orange. It was so tough to decide, so I just ordered them all.



It's not really even my colors, or patterns or anything, but I adore it so much. And I've seen so many amazing quilts made from this line that I just had to get some.









I was going to post photos of my favorite print, but I had trouble picking just one! I especially like the top castle print though.

No design has been picked yet, but I've got some ideas floating around in my head. I just need to get to work!

Where do I come up with this stuff?

I often find myself knee-deep in insane craft projects. The kind that take infinite patience and require a little bit of delusional behavior. What can I say, I tend to be a glutton for punishment.

Take my postage stamp quilt, for instance. This project has been years in the making. I think the last time I even mentioned it here was back in February of 2009. And at that stage, I had already been working on this quilt for years.

Anyway, I spent all day - and I mean all day, from like 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. with just a few short breaks - sorting through the huge pile of 1.5-inch squares that I've amassed. I am pretty sure that I have now gotten squares cut out of just about every piece of fabric I own and all the scraps I've collected, even those I picked up at quilt camp earlier this month.

Here's a little look at the most recent pile of cut squares:



After I finished catching up on all my cutting, I started the sorting process, which is really overwhelming and can drive anyone into a nightmare of OCD. Basically, I have each color separated into a different Ziploc bag. I then lay out all the squares of one color, trying to keep them arranged from light to dark. And then the hard part: making sure I don't have doubles.

This. Is. Impossible.

I've already found a few fabrics that have made it into more than one block, but there's no way I'm going to tear them apart just to fix that. I hope that after the quilt is together no one will ever notice.

Here's a look at some of the medium red squares.



I got through most of the colors today, but still have a few left to do, including two of the worst - green and blue - just due to the fact that I seem to have more of those colors than any others. I'd really like to get going sewing these blocks together again soon. I am still not sure how I'll lay the quilt out, but I hope to have some design ideas to try out soon.

I have to admit that I am really, really curious about where I'm at collection-wise. It seems like I have a ton of squares since I've been collecting them for years, but since they're only 1.5 inches, I know I'll need a lot to make a decent size quilt.

Sunday stash - Super Saturday edition

Last weekend I was lucky to have some company, my mom, one of my sisters and her husband. It was so nice to have them here, especially since I have been having a rough time for a while.

On Saturday, they were nice (and patient) enough to take me to a nearby town to visit a local fabric shop. It is one of the few I've been lucky enough to go to lately and it definitely did not disappoint! It also happened to be the day of the Super Saturday sale and I found lots of good bargains and beautiful fabric. My mom, who is an avid quilter but very good about not buying too much fabric (that gene really did not get passed down), and my sister, who is not yet a quilter, both even found some fabric to buy.

Here are some of the ones I picked out.









Did you see the adorable elephants???



I don't have any definite plans yet for any of these, but couldn't pass them up. I will share some of the others soon!

Sunday stash

In my opinion, one of the oddities of the quilting world is the challenge in finding good, red fabric. There is a lot of red fabric to be had, but the challenge is in finding a basic, primary shade of red. It's either too pink or too maroon. Too orange or too purple. It's pretty annoying, especially when I am looking for just the right color for a project. This also seems to be an issue with yellow and bright turquoise.

I bought these fat quarters in a little bundle at Joann's a while back. They happen to be a great basic red, so it didn't take much justification to buy them and add them to my stash.

Sunday stash

Purchased during a recent trip to Joann's. The fat quarter bundles were 40 percent off. I am trying to be braver and use larger prints with a variety of colors in my projects. I hope these help!

Hi. My name is Christy and I'm a fabriholic.

I'm going to Joann Fabrics in less than an hour.

I need a plan.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have plenty of fabric. And thread. And supplies. But that doesn't make it any easier when they have a big sale with lots of coupons. Although heaven knows Joann's makes their coupon periods challenging by letting people only use them on regular price merchandise. And then they put just about everything in the store on sale for a smaller percentage than the coupons are for. Oy.

I'm in the middle of about 15 projects, but that doesn't keep me from brainstorming ideas for my next quilts and crafts. I don't know if it's from a lack of sleep/too much sleep/too much pain medicine, but I am feeling so productive today! If only I could work as fast as I think I can.

Wish me luck!

Blog posting detour

So I know I said I would post more about the glass sculpture and its home in an upcoming post - and I still will - but I've gotten distracted.

Right now? So much fabric, so many options. I don't even know what to work on. I've gotten engrossed in looking for a perfect (or close to perfect) pattern for my recent fabric purchases, but I'm having so much trouble deciding what to do!

I have this set of Hoffman Bali pop batik strips called Strawberry Fields:



This set of Hoffman Bali pop batik strips called Kiwiberry:



And this Moda jelly roll from a line called Charisma:



Oh, and a few things from two recent trips to Joann's. :)

Yes, I know I was on a fabric diet, but I got all the strips during a half-off sale at Fat Quarter Shop before Christmas and Joann's has all its quilting fabric 50 percent off.

And yes, I lost the recent stash busting contest. By a lot.