excitement

I've been really busy lately! Lots and lots of sewing.


- Finished Emma's baby quilt! It's so much cuter than I thought it would be. It has really made me love Erin McMorris' "Weekends" line. When I initially saw the colors, I thought they were pretty but I was wary of how to put them together. After changing the pattern, I really think the string quilt was the pattern to use - it looks so lovely and bright, and the recipient's mother loved it :)


- Got started on my quilt for the silent auction! Two days after I started, the top is finished and I've already begun quilting it! It's a string quilt based on Elizabeth Hartman's "Valentine" pattern from her new book. I haven't been into grouping colors lately, but for this quilt, it really works! (And I managed to clear out a few fabrics I KNOW I only bought for a "rainbow" quilt and wouldn't use otherwise). The quilting is done by hand in green, blue, yellow, and orange (the colors of the quilt). I'm binding it black! I really love the look of pictures with black borders - all of my frames in my house are black.



- Getting excited about a few new fabric lines coming out! May is definitely my month for fabric buying :) I'm particularly excited about the following lines:




a.) Loulouthi. I love that she named them after her daughters and the graphics are to die for. Anna Maria Horner is quickly becoming one of my favorite designers. I don't have anything in mind for this one, but I'm thinking that I'll do something with larger pieces so you can really see all the lovely fabric :)

b.) Far Far Away III. I've been waiting for this one for-e-ever! I have to say that I'm not a fan of the horsey girl prints in this particular line - I'm a sucker for princesses, sue me already - but I think they'll be cute to add to my stash for future baby girl quilts. All of the fairy tale prints are destined for my ultimate "Far Far Away" quilt, which I've been patiently hoarding for :)

c.) 1001 Peeps. I loved Castle Peeps and I'm definitely loving 1001 peeps. Can. not. wait! I've even got plans to order extra of the peeps print so that I can use them for my hexagon quilt! :)
Other than that, I've got a quilt slated for these - using the same pattern as my Castle Peeps quilt, so they match. I'm weird that way.

d.) Prince Charming! Can you tell that I adore fairytales? I've got wonky stars in mind for this one - I love, love love that frog print! :)




- Bought a whole set of Rit Dye. I plan on using it for my vintage sheet/Alice in Wonderland quilt - I'm going to be dying fabrics (linen bits, tea towels, white fabrics) and some extra accents (lace, trimmings). My goal is to use a mod mosaic pattern and add in some little accents, and quilt it like a crazy quilt with quilting thread and embroidery. I even plan on embroidering the characters! It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm always up for a challenge!




- Got some Denyse Schmidt Quilts. Well, only one print, actually - the only one I really, truly cared for was the one with the little red flowers on dark blue. I admire that she recreated some prints from previous lines, but it's not suiting my palette right now. Love those dark blue flowers, though!



- Managed to find the vintage sheet section at my local GoodWill! Not that it's large or anything, I just figured we didn't have one because Galveston is usually bereft of cool, crafty things. But it has one! I managed to snag four pillowcases and one vintage sheet (and a copy of Dorian Gray). All for $7.51! I was pretty darn proud of myself. I'm totally going to check the Goodwills on the Gulf Freeway next, they might have something cool, too!

That's all for now. I'm hoping to finish a lot more - be back soon! :)

Knocking the list out!

It's a beautiful Thursday here in sunny Galveston! It's been a really busy week here, but I've definitely gotten a lot done!

- My car broke down on Monday! The battery died. After an hour and a half of waiting and getting it towed to a body shop, I could go back to work - and luckily for me, I got the car back the next day! I'm happy I was in a parking lot and not on the freeway, but I'm still going to grumble about the combined cost of new tires (465) and a new battery (145). And all of that right AFTER I paid off the car!

- I finished Emma's quilt! Well, the parts I was going to complete, anyway. The top is finished, the quilting done - I originally tried to complete it by machine, but hated the thread I chose (a light plum/pink shade) because it was too dark. And the quilting I did - diagonally, across the quilt - wasn't complimenting at all to the design. So I carefully ripped out those stitches, chose a lighter, more complimentary rose pink, and got started quilting by hand. I started that Thursday, and yesterday I was finished! :)

Now I'm just waiting on my talented mother to bind it for me and I can give it to its recipient (but not after taking a few pictures to show here!)

- I got in some fabric love. Mind you, this fabric love was bought BEFORE my car broke down or the tires were needed. It's essentially my last purchase until three lines I want to purchase come out - Far Far Away 3, 1001 Peeps, and Loulouthi. Those are then my last purchases while I work on some other quilts!

But this week, I received some vintage sheet goodies - about seven or eight more fat quarters, which were added to my quickly-growing stash. I'm definitely in love! Already planning a quilt with these, although it'll be awhile before I get to it! I also bought some solids - two yards of plain white cotton for a quilt I'm starting today, and some Kona Snow for my best friend's wedding quilt.

- Started on a new quilt last night. This one is for a silent auction for breast cancer; the only stipulation on color was that it be BRIGHT. Somehow I don't think that's a problem! I cut out all the strips last night - yes, another string quilt, but it's the quickest block for me - and I'm looking to make at least four blocks tonight (hopefully). My goal is to get it finished in the next week and then start on the quilting, also by hand (with variated colors). Then to bind it in black and hand it off!

- Finally bought a copy of 101 Patchwork Projects. I rarely buy quilting magazines - the patterns are usually too fussy and conservative for me. But this one had one project in particular I really want to try - filminthefridge's Rubik's Crush pattern! So glad I found a copy, too, I've been looking since the beginning of April :)

All in all, it's been a good week! If I can get this second quilt finished in the next week or so (which is definitely doable, even if it means less sleep and more quilting), then I can finally begin on my best friend's wedding gift, and then I can finish the boyfriend's quilt. So much work, so little time! I'm off to it now!

Wednesday. Eek!

I'm supposed to be off today. But we're having a "Greek Night" here; it's a pretty fun event we do every couple months or so. I like them, they're just a LOT of planning. The good thing is, the event is tonight so I can rest tomorrow :) In the midst of everything else, though, I've been: - Basting Hexagons - I'm down to about 150 to baste, although I'm waiting for four more charm packs today: Hullabaloo, Oh My!, Regent Street, and Lilac Hill. I already cut 2.5" squares from "Grace" and "Fa la la la". I love me some French General! - Getting some fabric love in the mail! The entirety of Anna Maria Horner's voile "Little Folks" joined my fabric stash this week. I'm completely in love! I can't wait to get some other quilts out of the way so I can start the string quilt I plan on making with that. - Adding a little more to my stash. Joining me this week were some cute Japanese prints, as well as some dobby dots from Little Folks, some more voiles, and the Mrs. Aster voile prints from Greenfield Hill (which I found on etsy! yum!) - Watching movies! I saw Jackass 3 (hilarious - yes, my sense of humor must be awful, but I think those guys are a riot), Insidious (seriously the scariest movie I've EVER seen - and without any need for gore), and Prowl (a straight-to-DVD movie that was actually kind of terrifying. Even my boyfriend said so, and he is not so easily impressed.) - Finally FOUND my DVD for "Earth Girls are Easy". If you have never seen this movie, you really must - how can you go wrong with a cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Geena Davis, and Michael McKean? Sure, it's completely cheesy and weird, but any movie that has gratuitous shirtless shots of Jeff Goldblum is a WIN for me. Just sayin'. - Started on my best friend's wedding gift (blue-and-green string quilt) and my amiga Karla's baby quilt. I revamped the second one, mostly because the pattern I had chosen (Film in the Fridge's 'Rectangle Squared' pattern) was choosing to be a little to intensive for the time I've got left. If I was more proactive, I think it would be the pattern for me. Also, I've fallen in LOVE with string quilts, so why not? I've got cute plans for the back of this one, too :) So that's been my week. I plan to finish the top of the baby quilt this week, and hopefully get it quilted and bound by the day of the baby shower (Sunday). Wish me luck!