Spring Ahead!

I've been having fun playing with the fat quarter bundle of Sweet as Honey that I won in Linda's giveaway back in January.  A couple weeks ago I made a bunch of Half Square Triangles out of it and then experimented with different layouts for a spring table runner.  HSTs have so many different possibilities!

I love the colors of this fabric line - rich, buttery yellow, light blue, charcoal gray, and a bit of pink.  It's filled with fun details, too - honey bees, beehives, flowers, and honey combs among other things.

I used some bigger chunks of the fabric for the backing.

And tried my own version of a Baptist Fan to quilt it, using my walking foot.  This design reminded me of the beehives in the fabric design!

For the binding, I decided to experiment with Susie's Magic Binding, which I just came across on someone else's blog last week.  Find the tutorial for it here.

I like the finish this binding gives to the edge of my mini quilt, although I think next time I would use a solid for the part that makes the small accent piece of the binding.  This time I used one of the Sweet as Honey fabrics that is mostly gray but does have some of the yellow in it.  Where the yellow meets up with the main binding fabric, the accent fabric gets a little lost.  But, that's okay for this project.  I like trying new and different techniques to see what will happen!

This mini is perfect on the dining room table with my favorite yellow candle.  (Really, it needs some daffodils to dress it up, but they aren't blooming here yet!)

Happy Sunday, everyone!  Be sure to head on over to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework, to check out what everyone else has been working on this week!

The Beginning of March - RSC 2016

I was just like a little kid on Monday, when I checked in at So Scrappy to see what Angela had posted for the new color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  When I saw purple with a dash of yellow, I was on it!   I knew I would be headed out to visit my mom in Phoenix for the weekend, so there wouldn't be much time to sew with purples, but I did get a Scrap Jar Star completed before I left.

I've noticed that purple is a hard color to photograph.  At least in my experience, it tends to look blue, but I can assure you that this block is made of purples - from very dark and rich to more pastel.  My favorite fabric (and one I only have a teeny, tiny bit of) is this one with pansies, and they have yellow centers!  So perfect!  I decided to be very careful how I use it, so that I can stretch it out as much as possible.

I had already made a yellow star way back in December, just to try out the block and see if it would work for this project, so here they are together.

And one more photo, just because!

Can't wait to see some more purple over at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

Scrappy Tote

I have continued to have fun playing with the Tula Pink Prince Charming scraps that Cynthia shared with me. Last week I shared a "quilt as you go" slab that I was working on using the larger and longer pieces of those scraps.  This week I finished it up into a tote bag for myself.

I've made several of these already, and I learned to make them from the video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company called "Make Three Totes from One Charm Pack."  This time, I decided I didn't need to watch the video over again, and just got started making it on my own after finishing up the scrappy slab for the outside of the tote bag. I measured an earlier tote that I made so that I would have the correct dimensions, although I made this one a little bit deeper.  The lining is a sweet teal pin dot that I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

Having some custom fitted pockets on the inside to hold my phone, keys, and other daily necessities is really handy!  I also really like a magnetic snap to keep it closed.

This tote bag matches the Prince Charming pillow cover I made for the living room a few weeks ago!

And a close-up shot of the quilting on the outside of my bag.  I'm already enjoying using it!

I'll be linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework - my favorite Sunday afternoon party!

Scrap Happy February

February Round-up:

In this month's colors of brown and pink, I completed...

Six 16 patch blocks - 

8 Double Four Patch blocks - 

And some blue ones, too!

 

I'm liking these together, but I see one that needs to be fixed!  

And, finally, two Scrap Jar Stars -

Short and sweet, but Oh! so much fun!  I'll be linking up with ScrapHappy Saturday over at So Scrappy.

A Busy Week!

Do you ever have this kind of week in your sewing room?  The one where you just can't settle on one thing to work on, and your brain is full of ideas, and you just keep jumping from one thing to the next?  That was my week, this week!  Besides working on my husband's zipper pouches, my daily Quilty 365 orange peels,and my RSC blocks, I also made a few blocks for Kat's February block drive for Covered in Love.

Then I pulled out the fat quarter bundle of Sweet as Honey that I won from Linda at The Road to Oklahoma in her January giveaway, because I have an idea for something I want to make out of those lovely fabrics.

Such pretty, sunny colors!  To start with, I want to make a spring table runner for my dining room table out of these.  So far, I've cut a 5 inch wide strip out of each of the 6 fabrics, cut 5 inch squares from the 

strips, and combined each square with a charm square of Kona Snow to make 4 1/2 inch HSTs.  This requires lots of trimming, so I'm still working on that!  It appears I might have enough HSTs for two table runners!

I've also continued to work on my scrap Organizing project and now my big brown scrap bin is all cleaned out, with the scraps sorted into different color tubs.  Yay!  That was very satisfying, but also got my brain going on what I could do with all of the skinniest of strings.  Any ideas?  I might have at least one idea that I am mulling over!

That, of course, leads to realizing just how much more cleaning and organizing there is to do, but instead of cleaning, I picked up the collection of Tula Pink Prince Charming scraps that Cynthia shared with me and got started with another idea I had this week.  

I took a few of the largest pieces (plus a scrap of Kona Navy) and sewed them onto a piece of batting using "quilt as you go."  This will be the outside of a new tote bag that I decided to make for myself.  I really love this fabric, and it will be fun to have something I can use all the time made out of it.  I'm still working on quilting the outside piece that I've made so far, and then as son as I find a coordinating lining fabric and some straps for it, I'll be able to finish my new tote bag right up!

Actually, it was a fun week, with all these different projects going on.  I guess I'll never run out of things to do!

If you are looking for more fun, scrappy ideas, head on over to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework, where I'll be joining the party!

Scrappy Patchwork for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

This week I've made a few more 16 patch and four patch blocks to add to my collection in the February colors of brown and pink.  Surprisingly, I found more of those colors in my scraps and stash than I expected to!

First my 16 patch blocks - I have 12 total now, and that meets my goal to make six in each color combination for each month.

Every time I put them up on my design wall (or lay them out on the floor upstairs by the window to get better light!) I see a different design possibility.  I'm sure that will happen every month as I add new colors!  

Of course, I had to make one completely pink 16 patch!

And this one is another favorite, with its tiny pink flowers and low volume stars for the background fabric.

I also added to my stash of four patches, and began combining them to make bigger blocks by adding 4 1/2 inch squares to each 4 1/2 inch four patch.  These larger blocks measure 8 1/2 inches.

There are still lots more four patches to work with in the pinks and browns...

And in the blues and purples, too! 

I'll just keep working on these and see what happens!

I'll be linking up with So Scrappy for Scrap Happy Saturday, and looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been working on this week!

Work in Progress Wednesday

My husband surprised me with a sewing request the other day, and since that doesn't happen often, I decided I'd better get right on it!  He has seen the various zipper pouches I've made for myself and other family members and friends, and thought he could use a couple for when we are traveling.  He really wanted solid fabrics for his pouches, so I took him to my favorite LQS that has the best Kona Cotton solid selection in our area.

For the first pouch he chose a royal blue for the exterior and a gray for the inside.  I used the Open-Wide Zipper Pouch tutorial from Noodlehead for the pattern, and it went together very easily! Even though this is about my eighth zipper to put in, I still struggle a bit with that part of the pouch construction, but I guess I will just keep practicing!  It's a good thing you can't see any of the zipper stitching from the outside of the pouch!

He also asked if I could put a small pocket on the inside, which I found was really easy to do, and I sewed on a tiny hook and eye to make sure the pocket would stay somewhat closed.

For the second pouch, he chose brown and tan fabrics.  Time to get going on this one today!

Linking up with the New WIP Wednesday linky at Silly Mama Quilts, and also Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.