Why I should not sew when sleepy...

This month's block exchange block:


Ooops!!!!!

This month's actual block exchange block:



Sigh... But at least I saw the mistake before I turned it in! This quilter included a picture of what she planned to do with these blocks, which was fun to see. Very cute! She included the blue, the leafy batik, and the center sunflower print, and then left it to us to choose our own brown/gold accents. I thought that was a fun idea.

The block exchange is almost complete! I should be receiving my box back in September. I'm excited to see what I get back! (Don't know what a block exchange is? Check out this post for an explanation.)

Playtime: the counter

It's been awhile since I've worked on my Playtime project. This block was initially pretty intimidating. It took a little time to psych myself up for it.

Behold! The counter:


As with all of the other applique blocks in this pattern, I started by reversing the pattern (since it was designed for fusible applique, and I'm doing needleturn) and tracing a vinyl overlay to help in placement. Then I made many, many little (.5") circles. Forty-eight little circles, to be precise. Fortunately, I finally got a set of Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles templates and was able to use Carrie P.'s technique for prepping circles. It worked like a charm!

Here's my (virtual) progress on the quilt thus far:


Now that I've finished this block, I'm feeling pretty excited about getting back into the swing of things with this project. Woo hoo!

Autumn House - Block 6

Despite the heat last week, I did manage to do a little handwork (though not as much as I would have liked!). Now I'm one block closer to being caught up on my Autumn House quilt. This is block six, "When the crow is on the pumpkin, Autumn is in the air!":


Everything went very smoothly on this block. Similar to the last block, in the inner points I employed Janet's tip, but this time tried out the Roxanne's basting glue instead of Fray Check. It worked like a charm. Yay!

In other exciting news-- my sewing machine is back from the Bernina spa and is now clean and sparkly and ready for some stitchin'!

Hizzity-hizz-HOT!

Because of the unusually high temperatures here over the last week, the upstairs of my house has been unbearably hot (and the sewing/blogging room even hotter!). Thus, an unexpected blog break. I actually took advantage of the heat (since I couldn't do any sewing) to send my little machine to the Bernina spa. Hopefully, it will be ready to come home tomorrow and I can get back to my plethora of projects.

Anyway, I do have a project to share. I finished a pair of pajama pants for The Boy:


The pattern is Kwik Sew 3126. I cut a 3T, and shortened the length by 1.5". Easiest pattern EVER! Only 2 pieces, and they went together super-quick (only 45 minutes from start to finish, and next time I know it will be even quicker!). And the fit was great. They even fit over his bulky nighttime cloth diaper with no problem.


Since I was having a hard time telling the front from the back, I went ahead and added a little label. I need to start doing that for everything I sew, I think!


And, of course, the happy customer. He LOVES his new pajama pants and asks for them every night. They are nice and lightweight for summer (though not light enough for 3-digit temps... those were diaper-only nights!). Another pair of these is going on my to-sew list, stat!

Snip. Sew. Send. Month 2

July is Chen's month for the Snip. Sew. Send. virtual quilting bee. She sent out a lovely group of fabrics, most from Anna Maria Horner's Chocolate Lollipop collection for Free Spirit Fabrics and her instructions were to just go for it. How could I not be inspired?

I received 6 strips of fabric, ranging in size between 3 and 5 inches wide and then 18 to 22 inches long. Eeep! That's not a lot of fabric to play with. (There goes that idea for an applique block! Not enough to to really piece a background and have any left to applique... close, but not quite.) Fortunately, she sent along a couple of links to check out for inspiration, and in one of those I found a link to Andover Fabrics' free quilt designs. It was there that I finally found my muse:


I drew from the Sugar Snap Quilt design and scaled down the blocks to create a 12" block. It was only after I stitched it all together that I realized I had created a sort of nine-patchy look in the way I placed my fabrics. Funny how that worked out!

It's a simple block, but I was happy to find something that I could use all the fabrics in and that could easily accommodate the fabric pieces I was given. Hopefully, Chen will be happy too!

Jane Stickle Quilt: G-2 & J-6

Unfortunately, it was just too hot to do any sewing upstairs (think sauna hot!). So, no progress on any actual quilting. But, I did get a couple Stickle blocks done...

Block number/name: G-2 “Mohawk Trail”

Date completed: July 24, 2009

Number of pieces: 28

Notes on block: The fabric for this block came from my friend Cindy. She knew I was looking for more greens and generously offered up swatches from her stash. How cool is that? And I just love how this particular fabric looks in this block. I really like this block a lot and I’m pretty happy with how I executed it too… nary a point cut off!

I did most of the work on this one on Thursday night, and then finished it up Friday afternoon.

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Block number/name: J-6 “Granny Weaver”

Date completed: July 24, 2009

Number of pieces: 25

Notes on block: I love the look of the white fabric in this block—kind of like tree bark. It seems appropriate with the leaves. The green fabric is an oldie but a goodie. It is from a 2” strip I had remaining from my third quilt, made back in 1998. A little blast from the past:

Here I am with my third quilt, Happy Otters. I gave to my best friend’s mother, who was pretty much my second mom (also known as Mom²). (Sorry for the image quality... picture of a picture-- but the quilt really was rather blindingly bright.)

Traffic Jam!

Remember the Mod Sampler Quilt Along hosted by Elizabeth of Oh, Frannson!?


It's done! I call it Traffic Jam.


And I'm feeling pretty proud.


First I quilted in all of the straight lines (the sashing "road" so-to-speak). Then I freemotion quilted all of the blocks using coordinating contrast threads. It was fun getting to use so many colors! But also kind of a pain because it meant changing out the thread 13 times (and winding all those different bobbins too!). It was a little nerve-wracking because it meant all of my mistakes were just that much more evident.


I really like how there is kind of a color-shading effect on the back from all the various bobbin colors. In the quilt along, Elizabeth suggested using two different backing fabrics. But, this blue is what I had in my stash and I had enough of it. So that's what I went with. And I love the happy, stripey binding.


This is the first time I have used bamboo batting (actually, it was 50/50 bamboo/cotton). It is very soft and drapey, but it really caused lots of fuzzies and lint in my machine (far more than I get when using a 100% cotton batting). Pretty much every time I changed the bobbin (which was often!), I had to get a brush and clean out my machine. Kind of a pain. Other than that minor annoyance, it worked really well for me.


The label. I wish I had taken a better picture, but you get the idea (even if it's a little fuzzy).


So it is finally finished and mailed to baby Cooper (though he was born at the beginning of June, he was actually due in July-- so I'm practically on time). I don't think his mama reads my blog, but if she does, then hopefully this will motivate her to check the mailbox!

Welcome to the world, Cooper! I hope you enjoy your new blankie.