Pincushion Project

My quilt group always does a fun project for our December get-together where we each make a gift and then bring it to the meeting where we have one of those crazy gift exchanges.  It's the type of gift exchange where you never know whose gift you're going to end up with - lots of stealing and hilarity goes on! We have made dolls, snowmen, pins, bags, table-toppers, mug rugs, and more that I can't even remember.  It's always fun and it is definitely the meeting I don't want to miss.

This year's theme is pincushions.  I was excited to give this one a try because I've been seeing so many adorable pincushions on many of the blogs I follow.  Finding the one I wanted to make required lots of searching for the perfect tutorial.  I always think (hope!) that if I make something I would love to have, then someone in my group will love it, too!  Here is what I came up with:

It is called a Couch Pincushion, made from this tutorial by Bree McElroy from Distant Pickles.  I found it posted on Riley Blake Designs where there were tons of pincushion ideas.  It is meant to hang over the edge of a chair or couch for when you are doing some hand sewing.

Since I love hand-sewing my bindings, I am always sticking pins and needles into the arm of my couch.  This is the perfect solution to that problem!  The pincushion also has a couple of built-in pockets for carrying your scissors, thread, and whatever other notions you need for your project.  I really love how this turned out!  I may need to make one for myself!

I'm linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts!

Braided Herringbone Quilt Top

I just finished this quilt top yesterday from Kelly's tutorial on My Quilt Infatuation.  It is actually posted on Sew in Love (with Fabric) as a part of their Holiday Headstart Blog Hop.

I love this line of fabric - Hello Sunshine - from Connecting Threads.  Even though it isn't a fall theme, or anything remotely related to the holidays, it has been fun to work with this past week. 

Right now, this quilt top is about 40" by 50" which would be perfect for a baby quilt.  However, I am really loving it, so I'm not sure I will want to give it away!  It looks pretty good with my blue couch!

To make it more useful here at home, I am thinking of adding some extra borders to it to make it larger.  I have lots of extra fabric, so that will be easy to do.  For now, though, I'm going to set it aside because it really is time to get going on a few Christmas projects!

Braided Herringbone WIP

About a year ago, I ordered a kit with yardages of Hello Sunshine from Connecting Threads. Although I loved the fabric, I never really wanted to get going on the pattern that came with the kit.  So it sat in my stash for the last year, or more!

 

 

I can't decide which of the fabrics in this line is my favorite.  Maybe this one?

 

 

It reminds of fireworks!  Or this one?

 

 

 

It could be a galaxy up in the summer sky!





When I saw this tutorial from Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation, I knew I wanted to make her quilt pattern, a braided herringbone.  As I was thinking about my fabric choices, I remembered I had the Hello Sunshine fabric, and I knew I had enough of that for this quilt.  So, it was just a matter of cutting fat quarters from the fabric and then trimming them up to meet the sizes needed for the braided herringbone.  Here is what I've gotten done so far:

 

Kelly's pattern calls for 10 fat quarters of fabric to make the quilt top, and my Hello Sunshine yardage included 5 different fabrics.  I added in a fat quarter of white, and one of a creamy yellow that I thought would go with the rest of the fabric.  Next, I need to trim up the blocks, put them together, and add the borders.  I think I'm going to love this quilt!  I'm not sure what I will do with it yet.  Maybe it will go to a friend who is expecting a baby next summer.  I may love it so much that I want to keep it!  I'm excited to see the finished product! 

 

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday!

And Sew On Wall-Hanging

When I joined this BoM back in January, I had no idea what would really be involved, but it has turned out to be a fantastic experience.  I am so excited about the way this project has come together that I can't stop looking at it!  It has so many fun details within each block. 

I think my favorite block is the one in the upper right-hand corner, the stash cupboard.  It was so fun picking little scraps to make those stacks of fabric.  Of course, the most challenging block was the final one, in the center, the Sewing Sanctuary.  I lost count of how many little parts were required to make the whole thing!  Fortunately, it came together pretty easily. 

I am almost done with the whole project, just need to sew on the binding, but I decided to link up today because I don't know if I will get that binding completed before the Nov. 7 linky deadline.  My goal, for sure, is to have it completed to show off at my November quilt group get together in a week and a half. 

Thanks, Kristy, for hosting a fun BoM, and sharing your wonderful patterns with us!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Although I made several baby quilts this year, my favorite was one I mostly made out of my scraps.  I just wanted to try something new so I started stitching!  Here's what came out of the trying:

This was a quilt of many firsts for me: first improv quilting, first pieced back, first FMQ (more practice needed there!), first black polka-dot binding, and first quilt to give away to someone other than family or friends.  When I look at the pictures again, I have a twinge of "Oh, maybe I should have kept it..."  But when I think about a young mom cuddling her baby with a quilt I made! I feel proud that I sent it off.


This will also be my first time ever to link up to the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  I have definitely enjoyed browsing through all those links in this last year since I entered the blogging world.  Excited to be a part of it!

Pluggin along!

It has been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted.  Between work that takes from morning until bedtime, and a weekend guest, I have only been able to do little bits of sewing and no blogging at all! I'm missing it!  But I have been reading lots of blogs and getting lots of inspiration!

I have gotten a little behind on my last And Sew On block.  It was supposed to be for September, but I got busy on my 100 Quilts for Kids quilt, and put off the last block for the BoM.  Now I'm trying to catch up so I'll be able to join the linky to show off our finished projects at the end of October.

Since I took these pictures, I've made more of the pieces.  It's definitely labor intensive!  But I'm excited to get to the point where I can make it into a wall-hanging.  This weekend is my goal!  Of course, there is lots of paper to tear off before I can see some progress in that direction.

This has been my first BoM where I have sewn along with other online quilters.  What a fun experience it has been!  It will be almost a year-long process from start to finish, and a great learning experience.  Would I do it again?  Definitely!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday!  Happy almost Friday, everyone!

Fall Patchwork

I haven't had much time to sew this week, but I did decide that my dining room table needed a little something to celebrate fall.

I cut 3 and 1/2 inch squares out of 6 different fabrics and did a very random placement.  The quilting is simple straight lines on the diagonal - my favorite right now.  I love the combination of oranges and greens!  Unfortunately, the lighting in my photo leaves something to be desired.  I couldn't quite capture the true colors, whether I tried inside or outside. 

The orange with fall leaves is my favorite fabric:

 

I had just enough of the green left to use it for the binding, and I'm so glad I did!  It's perfect!

 

 

As simple as this is, it's fun to have something new decorating my table.