Friday, April 23, 2010

It's on!

In the words of my sister, "It's on!". Indeed it is my friend, it's on, so let's get started!
My sister Katie and I took a little trip to Half Price Books in Concord during her lunch break yesterday. We both loved their quilt book section! After spending most of her hour break looking at books we both found what we loved. One in particular stood out to both of us, called Flowering Favorites, from Piece O' Cake Designs, by Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins.



I have been wanting to learn applique and this book is perfect for some spring/summer quilts! My sister and I decided to choose a quilt from the book and work on them at the same time. I chose the quilt on the cover called Flowering Vines. What I love about this quilt is that it goes along with the previous quilt I just made, the Rainbow Stripes quilt. It seems fun to continue the theme in some ways.



My sister chose the Briar Rose quilt. This picture does not do it justice. I cannot wait to see what fabrics she will use!


Of course no post would be complete without sharing a picture of our puppy Mason. He likes to always be right there in whatever I am doing, especially when I am taking pictures!


Remember to check back and see our progress on these quilts!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Spring in full bloom!



I love these two fabrics. Oh, they just make me giddy! I tend to be drawn towards flowers that are very showy. I am in love with dahlias, especially the "dinner-plate" dahlias which are huge and so magical. These fabrics called out to me, I had to add them to my "stash"!

The blue fabric is called, French General Classic Floral Aqua for moda. The other fabric is called Josephine Rose printed by Lecien.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Sewing space!

I am interrupting this weeks focus on fabric to show off my make-shift sewing space! I am sooo excited! Yeah!! This is a little nook we have in our kitchen that we haven't quite figured out exactly what we were going to do with it (right honey?).
I just moved our cookbooks and our only plant I have managed to keep alive miraculously for the last few years. Doesn't my sewing machine fit perfectly there? It has only been a week since we moved but that seems forever in time spent away from quilting!


Of course this post would not be complete without a little picture of my constant companion, Mason. He isn't feeling very well today, but he is always curious to see what I do next!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Sushi Roll

This "Sushi Roll" is a collection of fabric's that I had been looking at for awhile. You will learn from my blog that I tend to pine away for certain patterns and fabrics before I purchase. Of course once I buy them I think of them even more, like how I will use them!
I had heard of layer cakes and jelly rolls but never a sushi roll. I stumbled upon this one in my local quilt store, ThimbleCreek Quilts, thimblecreek.com.





I picked up this lovely sushi roll about a month ago but haven't found the pattern I want to use yet. I have been looking at a lot of different quilt books that focus specifically on jelly rolls, layer cakes, etc.


Check out other Sushi Rolls at: www.lecien.co.jp/en/hobby.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Focus on fabric!

This week join me as I look through my fabric stash! Today we are going to look at my collection of yellow fabric. I began buying bits of yellow fabric here and there, wanting to eventually make a quilt all made of this beautiful color.

The yellow dot fabric in the picture above is from the Pokemon quilt I made for DJ over a year ago (please see post from June 10, 2009).

In the picture below is a yard or more of this very brilliant and bold yellow. Oh, I love it so! It's almost an egg yolky kind of yellow. I also got this fabric for DJ's quilt but it was way too girly to use in his quilt!


The fat quarter of yellow leaf fabric below I bought at JoAnn's probably over six months ago when these were on sale. I also love a sale!!


My favorite of all is this yellow umbrella and bow fabric called, Aunt Grace Fifteenth Anniversary Collection 2006 from the Collection of Judie Rothermel for Marcus Brothers Textiles Inc. I love the whimsy of the bows, and the fun of what I like to think of as parasols.



Join me again tomorrow for more fabric fun!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Dream Quilt


I recently dreamt about a new quilt design. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was! Immediately once I was awake I sketched out the idea, trying to describe the quilt square in as much detail as possible. Not the easiest thing at 4 in the morning!

Creative ideas used to come to me in my dreams much more often. I can remember in high school when I wanted to be fashion designer I had sketchbooks full of designs I had dreamt about. Over the years I have sketched out and used ideas in my card making, scrapbooking and various sewing projects. I am so excited to try out this new quilt idea! Check back to see my idea come to life!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Craft closet

Now that we have made the move, the setting up of our home begins. The most important part to me, apart from the kitchen, is my craft closet. Right now I just have my craft stuff packed in the closet willy-nilly!


Some of my fabric and finished amigurumi stuffed animals hang out waiting for me to use!

My most favorite thing in this closet, my sewing machine! Kind of hard to see but its down in the right hand corner hidden next to that box holding all of my handmade cards. Even though it's not fancy, it is my sturdy friend, and I cannot wait to use it again. Unfortunately we got rid of our dining table where I used to sew. I am searching for a smaller sewing table that I can quilt on.


I found a small desk on IKEA.com that may work for my quilting projects. What do you use to quilt on? Any suggestions?

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Finished the move!

We made it through the move! I never remember all the work that goes into moving until I am in the middle of it! Wow, I am so glad it is all done. Now time for the unpacking!

The best part of the move was that we finished early enough for me to attend the "Voices in Cloth 2010" quilt show at the Oakland Convention Center. What a wonderful way to finish the weekend spending time with these amazing quilts.
My sister also surprised me with the gift of a new quilt book! She said I need to build up my quilt book library, which is so true! The book, Material Obsession, Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke is beautiful and inspiring. I can't wait to get my sewing machine set up and get back to quilting.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Moving!


We are moving to a new apartment. In the middle of packing up all of our things, the quilting and blogging will be on hold. Please stand by for more to come!

Beginning quilter.

As a beginning quilter I am struggling most with binding my quilts. Once again I ripped out the binding on this striped rainbow quilt since it didn't turn out how I wanted. After looking at many different ways of binding, and trying them I still cannot make it look good!
My first few quilts I used the already made binding from the fabric store. As I have made other quilts I have wanted to make a coordinating binding. So this current quilt sits unfinished until I can bind it! It really is my learning curve right now.