March Goal: Penny Lane Quilt

I don't know about you, but I have a ton of projects that I have started but not yet finished. My good friend Melissa over at Sewbittersweet Designs is hosting this fun linky party she calls a lovely year of finishes where each month you set a goal to finish up one of those pesky projects that are sitting around begging to be finished. 

Anyway for this month my goal is to finally piece my penny lane star quilt top. It's a quilt featuring this awesome paper pieced block from 627 handworks that are in jewel tones with low volume backgrounds. My lovely friends that are part of the inspire circle for the do.good.stitches bee were kind enough to send in some of these beautiful blocks.

I'd love to sandwich it and quilt it, but I'm trying to be realistic given the fact that I have midterms and papers due this month, so the goal is really just to assemble the quilt top.  I have a few more star blocks to paper piece and then I can finally get this top pieced! 

What projects are on your to do list for the month?

Quilt as you go

There is something satisfying about quilting as you go. It is quite gratifying - you get the beautiful straight line quilting without having to wrestle your quilt through the sewing machine.

To be fair, my experience with this type of thing is somewhat limited. I like to make quilts with all sorts of designs, not just log cabins, but after making these blocks for the do.good stitches bee I almost couldn't stop. If only I didn't have school I would've made them all day long!

This is like instant gratification. Or at least almost instant.

Low Volume Stars!

Last month for the do.good stitches bee, we were asked to make wonky stars in bright colors with low volume prints for the background. I was so excited to make this block -- I LOVE low volume prints. Of course I don't have very many in my stash at the moment but that was okay since it gave me a chance to visit my local quilt shop where I picked up these beauties:

I am especially fond of the prints from the architextures line (2nd & 4th from the bottom) as well as my sparkly one on the bottom. With these new beauties in hand, I set to work on my wonky stars right away. 

I love how they turned out and think a quilt with bright bold stars and low volume prints needs to be in my future.

Taking Flight

For the inspire circle of do.Good Stitches we were asked to make red and blue airplane blocks following a tutorial written by Amy of Badskirt fame. Amy's tutorial was easy to follow and these blocks will make a fun quilt to be donated to a child in need.

**If you are looking for the Tula Pink City Sampler giveaway, click here.**

April Bee Blocks: Flowers with solids

This month for the do good stitches bee, the lovely Evelyn requested some simple half-framed blocks. She wanted us to each start with a modern floral print and then choose some coordinating solids to go with it. 

For my first block, I used some of my coveted AMH fabric, which I was sad to part with, but I knew it was going to a good cause. I paired it with some cheerful solids from my stash.

For the second block I decided to stick with more cool colors and picked this lovely DS floral fabric I had in my stash from when I made my fall fan bag last year. 

These blocks were super easy and took no time to make (which is good for me since I've been so swamped with school recently I haven't had time to blog...or sew as much as I want to...bad!)

Sadly this is the only sewing I think I will get done this month since I have 2 final papers due on the 28th. Although if I finish them before the due date (I am the worst procrastinator) perhaps a trip to the fabric store and some quality time with my sewing machine will be in order...

Scrappy Trip Along Bee Blocks

Have you heard about the scrappy trip along blocks that were all the craze a few months ago? There is an awesome tutorial here you can follow if you'd like to join in. I wanted to be part of the "cool crowd" a few months ago when I first saw these blocks popping up on flickr and instagram...but convinced myself I didn't have time to start a new project.

Fast forward to March and the ever so talented Kelly (who has an awesome blog - check it out) picked this block for the Do.Good.Stitches circle I am a part of. I got to make a few scrappy trip along blocks AND sew for charity. Awesome, win-win for me!

I highly suggest you take a few moments and whip up a few of these beauties yourself, they don't take a lot of time and the beauty is you can use scraps if you so desire.

A Year of Lovely Finishes: February!

Wow, it seems like 2013 is flying by -- it's already February! My lovely friends Melissa and Shauna are hosting a year of lovely finishes on their blog this year. Basically they are encouraging us to finish up some projects this year, but focusing on each month at a time. They even have prizes and all sorts of fun things!  Since I have tons of sewing projects for this year to finish I think this it the perfect opportunity to encourage me to finish some of them up. I totally missed out on January, but it's never too late to start.

So for this month my goal is finish the x-marks the spot quilt for do good stitches. That means quilt and bind and everything. Last time you saw it, this was my progress:

Since then I have almost pieced together the entire quilt...and then tore it all out so now it looks like the picture above. The other day I had an apiphany about the design for this and changed things up. As a result I need to make a trip to my favorite local quilt shop and pick up some solids to finish it up. So after I finish up some assignments for school I'll reward myself with some fabric love. I am excited to share the end result with you - hope you guys will like it as much as I think I am going to =)

What projects are you working on this month??

Modern Tennessee Block Tutorial

Hello friends! December is my month to design a quilt for the do.Good Stitches group I am a part of on flickr. With the holidays and all sorts of craziness coming up, I decided to whip up a tutorial for the Modern Tennessee Block. It's super easy and takes no time to put together - leaving you with plenty of time to make some holiday cookies.

Anyway, here's the tutorial:

Materials:

(4) 5-inch colored squares
(8) 3-inch light gray squares

Step 1: Cut all your pieces

Step 2: Draw a diagonal line with a pencil on the back of the 3-inch squares

Step 3: Pin a 3-inch square right side down on top of a 5-inch square in the upper left corner, and another 3" square on the bottom right corner.

Step 4: Sew on the lines and trim, leaving a quarter inch seam

Step 5: Press and arrange blocks into an x.

Step 6: Sew block together and square up to 9 inches.

Voila! Thanks ladies for making these blocks for me - you are awesome. =)

Finishing up on some bee blocks

It is almost December and I've been itching to do some holiday sewing, but I needed to finish some of my other sewing commitments first. So I sat down yesterday and whipped up a few bee blocks.

These blocks are for the cancer bee I am a part of on Flickr. It is a really friendly and talented group of ladies who each month work together to create a quilt for someone afflicted with cancer. This month, Deb of Trio Stitch Studios, asked us to make some improv blocks for a quilt for her brother-in-law. I really enjoyed making these blocks...and can't wait to see what the quilt looks like all put together.

Finally, Aprel requested these lovely blocks for her month of do.good stitches in rich golds and grays. At first I was a bit apprehensive of making them because they looked a bit complicated -- the texture is just so gorgeous. Luckily for me though these blocks were super easy to make. Here is the tutorial, should you decide to whip up a few for yourself.

I'm glad to finally finish these blocks and get a little closer to some holiday sewing. =)

A few finishes...and a WIP

**friendly reminder -- today is the last day to enter the chicopee giveaway! Don't miss out and enter here**

I have been a busy little bee this week -- catching up on all sorts of projects. I managed to finish quilting one of 2 quilts I need to finish for do.good.stitches (a charity quilting group on flickr). I will take better photos when the weather decides to cooperate, but for now this sneak peek will have to do.

Not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about washing it -- although with some suggestions from my lovely instagram friends, I loaded it up in the washing machine with a few color catchers and voila, no bleeding! Thank goodness for online friends!

I've also been trying to piece together a back for my other do.good.stitches quilt, so I spent the afternoon yesterday playing with a few kona charm packs. I am liking how this is turning out - I have a fun idea, but we'll see if I have the time to execute it...and of course it involves a visit to the fabric shop. =)

Finally, I finished my swap item for the Sewing Summit 12 Swap that is hosted on Flickr. I had so much fun coming up with something I think my partner will enjoy...but since she hasn't got it yet I'll only show a sneak peek.

I'll link up to Lee's WIP post...and hope that you ya'all have an excellent holiday!

Summer bee blocks

One of the best things about the online quilting world is participating in quilting bees. Often times you get to work with fabrics that you haven't used before and make blocks that you might not have originally given a second chance.

Anywho, here is a round up of recent blocks I've made:

do.good.stitches 

For August, Kelly, who blogs over at Thinking Out Loud, requested these adorable wonky butterfly blocks in bright summery colors. They were a breeze to make and I think they will make a quilt that is sure to bring joy to a child in need.

Then, way back in July (eep) Thea asked for blocks featuring half square triangles. I really liked the idea that she had to make 2 different quilts - one for a boy and one for a girl. The colors she chose are also are fresh and modern. I love Thea's design sense. Anyway, here are the 2 blocks I made:

Quilts for Cancer Bee

Denise asked for Improv Chevron blocks inspired by Red Pepper Quilts. At first I found this block a bit difficult, although that could be because I didn't have a lot of giant scraps to use. Anyway, I think the blocks turned out beautiful and I can't wait to see what the quilt looks like when it is finished. I highly recommend everyone try the tutorial, which is found here.

April Bee Blocks

These past few weeks have been full of catching up on my sewing bees. I really enjoy participating in sewing bees because it gives me a chance to create something I might not have otherwise created. If you haven't participated in a sewing bee, I highly recommend it as a way to stretch your creativity and make some new friends!

Cancer Bee:

For the cancer bee this past month, Nancy asked for some Ohio Star blocks. I've never made these before, but I enjoyed working on this more traditional block. Everything about this block was a bit of a stretch for me, including the color choice...blues and yellows. I learned that my stash needs to include more yellow for sure! =)  But I can't wait to see her quilt all completed.

Do. Good Stitches Bee

For April, Evelyn asked us to make cross blocks with bright primary colors. These blocks were a breeze to put together and I can't believe I had not made them before. I think this cheerful and colorful quilt with brighten up a child's day for sure.

Sew Bee Blissful

For April Caroline sent out a stack of gorgeous and calming fabrics that she asked to be made into these blocks featuring half square triangles. This is one of my favorite blocks of all time and I need to add it to my list of quilts to make.  

Lone Star Blocks...or how long it takes to paper piece 8 blocks

It takes about 3 days of sewing, in case you were wondering.

So during the time of my sewing hiatus, I put off a lot of my sewing obligations. So this past week I've been super busy finishing up some bee blocks from last month for the do.good stitches bee. Luckily Holly was super understanding about me being a bit late on my blocks. Anyway, she asked for everyone to make these awesome lone star blocks (pattern from Anna at Six White Horses). When I saw these blocks, I fell in love and decided to make them for my hive of the 3x6 bee.

I hadn't actually tried making one when I decided this. The first block took me longer than I'm willing to admit. I think it is because there are something like 58 pieces per block. But anyway, I persevered. And then with the help of my lovely husband settled on an assembly line piecing method, which either gave the illusion of speed or helped me not go crazy paper piecing.

I actually caught up on my tv watching while I was sewing so yay for that...what shows do you watch while quilting?

3x6 Bee Hive 2 Paper Pieced blocks

Do.good.stitches blocks

New Bees in the New Year (a month late)

One of the best things about quilting, in my opinion, is the chance to participate in a variety of bees. Sites such as twitter and flickr are excellent places to find other like-minded quilting people with whom to start a bee. It's great fun because quite often you meet new friends in the process.

So I thought I'd share with you a few bees that are happening this year.

3x6 Bee.

I love this bee. In fact, I with a handful of awesome ladies help run this bee and make it a success. It's quite fun and rather low key. Basically, you get paired up with a group of 6 other people and you make 1 block for each person in whatever colors they specify. You have 3 months to do this. So theoretically, if you participate for 3 or 4 quarters you will have enough blocks to make yourself a nice sized quilt. One of the reasons why I like it so much is because you get to meet a lot of talented people in a short amount of time. Sign ups are going on right now for Quarter 1 (Feb 1 - April 15) so check it out here.

Here are a few of the awesome blocks I've been given so far:

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.

It is basically the same concept as the 3x6 bee, only you make 5 blocks instead of 6 in the three month period. I'm not sure if their sign ups have closed or not yet but I participated in it for the first time over Christmas and it was great fun. All the ladies in my group were extremely talented! Check out their webpage here for more info.

Here are the blocks I got the first round -- enough to allow me to finish up a sampler quilt I've been working on from the 3x6 Bee.

Quilts for Cancer.

This is a new bee starting up where each person makes a quilt that they give to someone they know that has cancer. I like this idea because not only are you helping to give people some comfort during a trying time, but it also uses your stash fabric so there is no mailing necessary except for the blocks. There are still a few spaces left so you can check it out here.

Do.good.Stitches.

This bee is the brain child of Rachel from Stitched in Color (seriously if you have not read her blog go do it) I love this bee and have been part of it for about a year now. I love that we quilt for charity, that we use our own fabric, and that we rotate who designs each quilt. I also lucked out and have the best group of people ever in my circle. Seriously, they are all super talented and super creative. For more info check out the Do.good.Stitches flickr page.

Here's a small sampling of some of the quilts that the Inspire Circle has finished:

Citrus Sails Quilt

Bijou Lovely's Herringbone Quilt. 

Also new bees are starting up all the time. Be sure to check out the Quilting Bee Blocks group on flickr that often has a list of bees looking for participants.


Are you going to participate in any bees this year? If so, which ones?

November Quilting Bee Blocks

This month I have managed to finish all my quilting bee blocks before they were actually due! Yay!

Do.good. Stitches:

This month we got to make some bottled rainbow blocks following Rachel's tutorial. I have been wanting to try this for ages so I was so super excited when Becky chose this as her block for the month. Here are my two blocks:

Kona Berry Block (dark purples)

Kona Raspberry Block (dark pinks)

I loved making these blocks and see more of them in my immediate future...and there is something to be said for the quilt-as-you-go method that these use.

Sew Bee Beautiful:

This month it was Ella's turn to send out fabric and she requested some wonky stars. At first I was a bit nervous to make these, having never made a wonky star but I am pretty pleased with how these turned out. I'm sure her quilt will be quite beautiful! Now please don't mind the severe lack of ironing in these photos, I'm still looking for an iron...

Mod Mosaic Charity Quilt

This isn't a "bee" parsay, but earlier this month Kelsey asked for some help in making mod mosaic quilt squares using gray, orange and blues for a family who has had one bad thing after another happen to them -- house fires, hospital stays, car accidents, etc. You can read more about her request for blocks (and sign up to make one) here. These blocks are super easy to make and are excellent for using up stash. I enjoyed making this block and wish that I had time to make more.