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!

plans and ideas

My fabric for the baby quilt - a bundle of Erin McMorris' weekends - arrived. So did the Innocent Crush. I couldn't be more pleased with both! Lovely fabrics. Innocent Crush I think I love more, but you have to laugh at the little bikes and lollipop flowers in the Weekends line. So cute!

I'm starting on the baby quilt tonight. Since my off day is cut in half tomorrow (I have to work in the morning...and then on my half day on Wednesday...), I'm starting after work.

I'm doing the "rectangle squared" pattern from Film in the Fridge (can you tell I love her blog?), because it seems easy to quilt (this one by hand, too) and I love working with easy, square shapes. Of course, wonkiness is fun, too...but for the time constraints, I think this is best. As soon as I get the top quilted somewhat (I'm thinking a quilt around 45"x45"), I'm headed up to Joann's to purchase some goodies.

With my income tax this year, I've decided to do two things: buy new tires, and finally get some of those sewing notions I've never had (and probably needed). Such as rotary cutter, cutting mat, and acrylic ruler! My mom always cut things with scissors and templates of card stock, so I always did that, too. So my list, at the moment, is : some handquilting thread (for the baby quilt, for the Innocent Crush quilt), a rotary cutter, a mat, an acrylic ruler, several yards of Kona in White (because that's the main color I use), and several variations of blue (for a quilt for my boss, using QAYG technique).

I ALSO took the liberty of ordering myself a cute little pincushion, made with Moda Wonderland's Snip Snip in glass. I felt like it was time for a new one :)

Off to work, and to plan! Then for some quilty goodness! Have a good weekend :)

I am now swimming in it

Fabric, that is. My packages came in the same day I wrote my last post! Even though I had to wait to run home, when my backup came in at five ...

and then run a delivery ...

and then take care of some other stuff when I got back ...

I finally managed to OPEN my packages at seven-thirty (it is TORTURE to wait that long), and I couldn't be happier! I'm officially in love with Modern Meadow. So much in love that I've decided the only thing to do with it, rightfully, is to make a big, queen-size quilt with it.

I've already decided on a pattern and worked out the blocks. Have you seen Film in the Fridge's "Rubik's Crush"? It's going to be like that - not exactly, since there was no pattern, but I think I worked out the measurements somewhat. Of course, I've decided to try it several times with scrap fabrics and see how that goes first!

I ordrered some more of the line (15 more pieces), since I intend to have it in its entirety. After they arrive, I'm only missing 5 of the Handpicked Daisies (excluding Grass), Acorn Chain in Maple, and Napsack in Berry and Lake.

But that project, as much as I am excited for it, is on the backburner until I finish a friend's baby quilt! The fabric is on the way (along with some delicious INNOCENT CRUSH) and I'm psyched to get started on it :)

In the manner of quilts already started ... I began quilting my couch quilt, and after doing a few lines, I ... HATED IT. It didn't look the way I wanted it to at all, and I must have basted it incorrectly, because it kept bunching. Not the machine's fault, but mine, so I decided to start over ... I got out a little quilting hoop, and began hand-quilting each square. So far, I love the look. I know I'm not nearly as fast or efficient a hand-quilter as my mom, but I think I did okay. Pictures when I'm not lazy anymore!

It's that time again - work! - but I'll return later!

FINALLY!!

I did it. I went crazy. I spent way too much.

But I finally got my greedy, grubby hands on some fabric love I've been wanting for a while: Heather Ross' FAR FAR AWAY.

So far, I've bought at least a fat quarter of every piece of her current line, FFA2, and at least a far quarter of all of the unicorns, the princesses, and the frogs from her last line. I even managed to snag a piece of the orange wildflowers (and intend to capture the purple and mint). I'm debating on buying the snails still - I don't think I need them, although they are cute. If I did buy them, I think it would be only to satisfy my need to collect every piece of the line, when I think I only really -want- the more dynamic pieces included in my quilt.

I love the linen fabrics - they're going to be fun to sew with, as they're my first "linen/cotton blend" fabrics I've purchased. And the double gauze - I had never imagined it would be so soft! I'm reading up on how to properly quilt them, and I think I may save the sewing of this stash for a day when I have a better machine.

My plan for these babies? I'm going to make a huge, queen size quilt for my bed! I know what you're thinking: "Katie, you're 23. You are a big kid. You do not need to make yourself a fairy tale quilt." Oh, but I do. It's not just for me! It's for prosperity; I've never made a quilt I didn't intend to one day pass on. I've made baby quilts for others, for a specific child, but nothing made for my home is meant for just one person. I still have quilts my grandmothers made for us, some never finished, but treasured all the same. If I ever have a daughter, she would hopefully inherit my love for all things fantastic.

The plan is to attach each piece of the main print (I'm still debating what size to cut them) to some Kona solids that match the main color of it (i.e. plum, aqua, etc) and turn those babies into 8 point stars. It'll be a hell of a lot of piecing, but I think it'll make for one fantastic quilt. The only things that I didn't take into major consideration are the moons from the pussycat and owl prints - they're going to make those prints too big, so I think they're going to be pieced where the sashing (white) will be meeting between four blocks, as a stopper. I can't see not using them; they're way too cute for that!

I can't wait to get started on this project!!!