quilt without guilt

So I did it. After all the cutting and measuring and then setting aside because of other arrangements, I finally dug into my Innocent Crush strips and started on my String Quilt! So far, I'm l0ving it. So much simpler than I thought they'd be. First block went together so fast! I can't wait to work on another one or two tonight. (I've got to work on all the others, too...le sigh). But I'm super psyched! Anna Maria Horner is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Other things about today: - I got in my first little bits of Castle Peeps! I'm totally psyched. They are YUM-O. I bought extra so I could make a hexagon of each little peep! - Also got in some Innocent Crush/Maybe/Indigo for my "Nightcrawler" quilt and of the Modern Meadow grass prints I used for my boyfriend's quilt! - Finally bought labels for dressing bottles at work! - Wore heels for at least 8 hours before diving into a pair of comfy sneaks. - Tidied up my apartment so now I can quilt without guilt :) I'm even buying takeout so I don't have to use plates. I'm very efficient that way ... I also just love Taco Bell...

String Quilt As I Go

I had a brilliant idea. I'm not sure if it will brilliantly work yet, but I still think of it as "brilliant".

I was looking at String Quilts - the pattern fascinates me, I love them. I think they're awesome.

And I want to do something equally awesome for my friend's wedding quilt. Sapphires and Emeralds; the perfect melding of colors, just like this perfect melding of these two people, who are so alike and so well put together.

I was initially going to do a log cabin. QAYG. But I've already got two of those kinds of blocks put together, and honestly, they're boring me to death. Or at least to tears. And the constant sewing sewing sewing before you get to turn to another piece of fabric might drive me mad. I love the way the blocks look when they're done, but it's a process that requires patience.

So I'm going to try it String Quilt style. We'll see how it goes. It's virtually the same process, and I've already got all the fabric cut into strips. Maybe I'll alternate the blues and emeralds; we'll see how it looks. But I'm already excited, and I may just spend the night cutting out more strips of white fabric, you never know :)

the friday recap.

Had a pretty good week so far!

- Finally broke down and bought a fat quarter bundle of Castle Peeps (after being inspired by 1001 Peeps, which I am SO BUYING). I'm excited for them to come in! I even bought extra of the "peeps" fabrics so that I could make a hexie of each one!

- Also bought the entire line of Little Folks Voile in Fat Quarters. Just like my innocent crush quilt, I intend to use them in a string quilt. I'm not sure what I want to back it with yet ... most likely a voile or soft flannel...but we'll see. It's definitely a "must" be is also on the backburner until some of the other projects (at least four) are finished!

- Made some progress on the baby quilt for little Emma. I cut out some 1.5" strips, and started sewing them to the other strips. I just need to cut out ... what seems like a billion more! I need to have it finished by the 10th of April, so I need to concentrate on this first!

- Found some beautiful, gorgeous, dark, royal blues and deep emeralds for my best friend's wedding quilt. I started cutting them out last night, and I'm not done yet, but my next goal is to have at least 10 to 15 of the Batting Squares set up for sewing. I even bought "Ocean" blue and "Kelly" green thread to quilt with - I'll alternate blocks with the thread.

- Picked up some more perle 8 cotton at Joann's. I seriously love this stuff. The ones I got this time were variegated - pink, red, blue, green, yellow, and brown :)

- Continued to sew some more on my hexagon quilt, but my hands are achey! Plus, it's not one of the four major projects, so into the box it goes for now.

- Did a little more work on my boyfriend's quilt, although his has kind of taken a backseat too. I feel bad - didn't I mean to have it done by now? Oops!


I'm off to plan a party for tonight! Wish me luck - this one's a doozy!

IDEA; "Nightcrawler" Postage Stamp Quilt.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've been reading comics since I was a kid. I love them. And while I haven't read nearly as many as I should in recent days, I love looking up my favorites on Wikipedia and keeping up with the news.

Just as much as some girls might have a favorite band or idol or movie, I have a favorite comic character - Nightcrawler! ( I'm a dork, right? I know. It's a terrible burden, to be a geek...)

He's been my favorite for years. He was introuced as one of the new X-Men in the seventies - a religious man who looks like a demon, his powers include teleporting and blending in with the shadows. I've always loved his coloring - it varies from artist to artist, and in the below picture it's a rather dark grey-ish blue, but it's usually a very bright, royal blue. His uniforms are the same - blue, black, white, and, of course, red.

I saw several postage stamp quilts online, and I thought that this pattern -easy to do and quick - would be a wonderful way to showcase this color scheme, one of my favorites. And a quote from Nightcrawler on the back - still undecided - won't hurt either. :)This is my color scheme. Lots of varying blues, with a couple reds, some yellows, black and ivory thrown in - I'm also including some prints, including Anna Maria Horner's "Maybe" in Indigo (one of my favorite prints EVER, hands down!) All of the above are Kona solids (including one Quilter's linen, in Teal).

I have a little ways to go before I can start on this officially - but I'm incredibly excited, and I know it's going to be an awesome finish that's totally worth it :)

so make like a bee and get busy

Or go find flowers, or some such.

This has been such a ridiculously busy week I'm still reeling. Spring break + workin in the restaurant business = exhaustion. And we're not done yet; we've still got at least tonight to get through and possibly tomorrow, although if it truly IS only Spring Break for this week, then we'll most likely be slower then.

In between such things, I've been working on quilts as well:

- Patched together more rows for my hexagon quilt.
- Basted at least 100 more hexies and cleaned up the box of hexies yet-to-baste.
- Bought a queen-size, warm + natural batting at Hobby Lobby and cut it into 12" squares.
- Planned at least 10 more blocks for my boyfriend's QAYG log cabin!
- Set aside the next ten blocks I want to work on for MY Heather Ross QAYG log cabin!

Looking at postage stamp quilts online, especially quilts inspired by pictures, I got an idea for a quilt in my head. When I was a kid, I read comics religiously - and Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler from the X-Men was always my favorite! I want to make a postage stamp quilt with the color scheme of his uniform and some pictures of him - I even found the perfect backing!!!

But I can't - and won't! - work on it until I'm done with my friend's baby quilt and my boyfriend's quilt.

So my goals this week are:

- Cut out 1.5" x 22" strips of white solid for Emma's baby quilt.
- Start piecing the quilt together.
- Quilt at LEAST one block a night of the boyfriend's quilt so that it gets done faster :)
- Get my craft stuff organized!

I've got my work cut out for me for sure :)

wednesday's child is full of woe

for her poor knees, which are, as my mother likes to put it, "just about wore out". The result of constant sewing, literally running about (a no-no for me), and too much driving. If I were a smart girl, I'd go to the doctor and them looked at (they should not hurt this much at this age, but a car accident and a nasty fall later, and there you go). But I'm not a smart girl, so I'm gonna go to lunch instead.

I didn't finish the boyfriend's quilt. I realized, somewhere around friday night, that me actually "finishing" the top (even though it's QAYG), backing it, binding it, and adding those few quilted touches, was impossible to do by Tuesday. Even if I sewed my machine into oblivion. So I finished ten blocks, lined them up all nice, and showed him my work so far. He liked it! I'm glad. And I hope he had a happy birthday even though I'm a weird, weird girlfriend :)

And now I'm off to eat lunch, change clothes, pick up my brother, watch a movie, and do all those lots of things I do when I'm off and supposed to be not doing anything.