15 minute challenge...week 16!

Another week...another report to link up over at Life in Pieces!

Tuesday: Hexies and Scrappy Stash QAL

Wednesday: Scrappy Stash QAL (finished piecing the blocks together)

Thursday: Ayumi bag

Friday: finished bag, made a pillow cover, worked on 2012 FQS Designer Mystery BOM

Saturday: none - had a very busy day NOT at home

Sunday: finished Month 5 FQS Designer Mystery BOM; Rainbow Strip blocks (25 of 36 now complete); cutting and prep for new bag

Monday: worked on new bag...and if I had paid ANY attention when I purchased the necessary supplies, I might actually have a finished project to show!  So instead...the bits and pieces that I have gotten done:

Anywho...another 6 of 7 and loving every minute!  My fall fever continues a little, but I'm liking the directions it is taking me; I'm enjoying branching out and trying new things. Still need to get the rainbow quilts done before Christmas though!  And if the new bag works out...then I'll be making a few more as Christmas presents (BONUS!!).  I'll be back later this week with a book/pattern review!

FNSI Results - with pictures!

I had made a list yesterday of all the things I would love to work on...and here is the final version of the list and pics!

Finish up latest Ayumi bag (for a good friend) DONE!!

Make pillow for living room DONE (almost!!)! -OR- work on table runner (this is a maybe kinda thing)

Have FUN FUN FUN! - DONE DONE DONE!

2012 FQS Designer Mystery BOM - October - All cutting done and piecing in progress!

Details:

Bag - following this tutorial, all fabric purchased locally, Pellon 809

Pillow - pattern is Dream Big pillow from the book Simplify by Camille Roskelley; fabric is Primitive Gatherings Little Seasonal Gatherings

Block - pattern part of the Fat Quarter Shop 2012 Designer Mystery BOM, fabric is Vintage Modern by Bonnie & Camille

FNSI! (edited for final tally)

Woohoo!  It's time for another edition of the Friday Night Sew In!  I have lots o'stuff I really want to try and work on tonight...we'll see how far I get!!!  Thankfully I got off work a little bit earlier than usual (wooohooo!  that extra time I spent in the office yesterday meant I could leave early today!) so groceries are taken care of...in a few minutes I'm going to get dinner prepped and in the oven...and then...I have plenty of my latest audio book to keep me going...so it will be GAME ON!  Let's see...goals...

1. Finish up latest Ayumi bag (for a good friend) DONE!!!
2. Make pillowcase for Girl 
3. Make pillow for living room DONE (almost!!)! -OR- work on table runner (this is a maybe kinda thing)
4. Work on Rainbow string blocks
5. Add borders to Scrappy Stash QAL quilt (we'll see)
6. Have FUN FUN FUN! - DONE DONE DONE!
7. 2012 FQS Designer Mystery BOM - October - All cutting done and piecing in progress!
8. HST BOM - October

Time to get some cooking knocked out of the way so I can make some headway on this list!!!  See ya later tonight!

happy happy happy happy!

OMG!!!  I am sooo excited!  After a bit of drama with paypal (we are so not friends mr. paypal...nor will we ever be!) and some help from Jennifer... I was able to snag me a ticket to Sew South Retreat!!  I'm over the moon excited!  I can't wait to meet everyone that's going, to attend my first sewing class of any type, and to learn some new things!  And there might be some tickets still available...so off you go...check out the Sew South Retreat website and join in the fun!

and now...for even more HAPPY...check out my Scrappy Stash QAL quilt top:

I had to get Girl to help me figure out the best way to layout the blocks...and I'm thrilled with the end result!  (seriously...I can't help but smile when I look at it!!).  Now my goal is to add a nice size border to really "frame the rainbow."  I'm not sure I want black, but have seriously considered some Kona charcoal/med. gray/Ash; I'll audition some options over the next few days and see what I come up with!

Now go...have a HAPPY day! (I'm grinning from ear to ear!!!! now I just need March to hurry up and get here!!!).

15 minute challenge...week 15

dear fabric...how I love thee...let me count show you the ways...

Tuesday: Table Runner (decided I needed something for fall on my table!)

Wednesday: none

Thursday: Rainbow string quilt

Friday: Rainbow string quilt, and a visit to the Georgia Quilt Show (my first show ever! I chatted about it here).

Saturday: Ayumi bags! (Girl's and Mine)

Sunday: Hexies (another new project...and right now I'm addicted!) and prepped an Ayumi bag for a friend of mine

Monday:  Hexies and Scrappy Stash - piecing the quilt top!

and that makes it officially 6 out of 7 days!  Had a lot of fun trying new things this week, actually went a little crazy with new things, but I'm feeling pretty good about it!  Linking up over at Life in Pieces.

My Tula Pink Charming Ayumi Bag...

say that 10 times really fast!  A week or two ago I stumbled across the Sew Sweetness blog  (I think I had googled Tula Pink or something) and read about her Tula Pink Sew Along!  I was loving all the projects posted so far, and really wanted to make something...but I didn't have a whole lot of Tula Pink fabric left in my stash, and I was kind of hoarding it...an I wasn't entirely sure I'd finish a quilt top in one of her patterns in time...so I looked but figured I wasn't going to play along.  Until I made my first ever bag (following this tutorial).  And I was so smitten that I wanted to make a bag all for me...and instantly thought of my Prince Charming stash...and so I present to you...

My Tula Pink Charming Ayumi Bag!!!

Isn't it delicious???!!?!?!!  I am just in love with those frogs!  and it's 100% Tula Pink Prince Charming fabric!  (ok...minus the pellon)...here is a pic (not the best one) I took trying to show the lining was also Tula Pink fabric.

I just love this bag!  So glad I sacrificed some of my precious fabric for it!

Rainbow Strings...and I made a bag!!!

Ok...after having so much fun piecing my Scrappy Stash QAL blocks...and loving the yummy rainbowy goodness of all the blocks laid out...I decided to continue the rainbow theme AND try something new...and so the past few days I have been putting together my Rainbow String blocks!

Blue:

Pink:

Green:

and the rest that I have done:

17 of 36 complete!!!

The whole plan is...Scrappy Stash is for one niece...and the Rainbow Strings is for her sister!  I wanted to make them quilts...and wanted them to be similar, but not identical (originally I was going to make 2 scrappy stash quilts)...and well...this is where I'm at!

and then...today...I got this wild idea that I wanted to make my daughter a bag...and after we wandered around the store looking for a good pattern...we took a lunch break...and it hit me...THIS ONE!!!  I pulled it up on my phone...and Girl agreed!  So after we ate...we went straight back to the store and picked up some fabric and some Pellon 809.  and then...we got home and I got straight to work!

and let me tell you...it was danged HI-LAR-I-OUS in my house!  I was jumping up and down and grinning and hollering "I made a BAG!!!" (a lot...apparently I told Guy many many times how I had made a bag!)  I was a bit proud of me...  and here it is:

And Girl LOVES it!  She even said she was going to take it to school!

WOW!  My life is now complete!  So I got started on another one...that I'll share with you tomorrow...maybe...I have all the fabric ready to go...

I'm very excited about this one!!!

I went to my first Quilt Show...

today.  I drove 3 hours from my house to Duluth, GA to attend the Georgia Quilt Show.  and well...wow!  My mind is still a bit boggled...

One thing...pictures...I had read the website in advance and was pretty sure I read that there was no photography allowed.  So I left my camera at home.  ONly to arrive at the show and see about a gazillion cameras!  and about a gazillion pictures being taken!  oh well...I did snap a few on my phone.

You can view pictures of the contest quilts here. I will give you the names of my favorites if you happen to come across them in the photo gallery: Buried Treasure (I am in love!), Sunflower Serenade (which has received awards in many quilt shows and is stunning in person), Jacobean Royalty, and Dreamcatcher - Caught in a Dream.

and I found a new love...Primitive Gatherings...WOW!   I had once received a jelly roll of their Seasonal Little Gatherings that I had ignored for quite awhile.  I broke it open to add some pieces to my scrappy stash QAL blocks (I was short orange).  I found myself really liking the fabric...and have since started working on a table runner using what's left of the jelly roll.  Long story short (way too late)...I was perusing Lisa's blog yesterday, and saw that the Georgia Quilt Show was happening and there would be a Primitive Gatherings booth.  And that was the seed that developed into me driving a total of 6.5 hours today to spend 2.25 hours at the Georgia Quilt Show!  anyways...the Primitive Gatherings booth was AMAZING!!!  I was so overwhelmed...I went in and out of the booth several times before settling in to do some shopping.  And here is what I left with:

not much...but I was seriously overwhelmed...and I wanted EVERYTHING!  and I wanted to play with wool...and all of the teenytiny little patterns...and the big huge applique and wool...and I finally had to calm myself down and say whoa...you have no idea what to do with any of that!  So I'll add it to the list of things to learn!

Anyways...I did leave with a little bit more fabric:

Meet the Gang by Marisa and Creative Thursday

Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater

and everything together (I also picked up a 1/2 yard of a Sweetwater Reunion print and a 1 yard cut of some Lizzy House pearl bracelets):

for a total of 11.5 yards...and I'm happy with all of it, and thrilled that I went...and my head is spinning with all kinds of ideas now!  So I'm off for now...to see what comes of those ideas!

15 minute challenge...week 14!

played with lots of fabric this week!

Tuesday:  none

Wednesday: quilted a few on the T-shirt quilt, prepped for the scrappy stash quilt along

Thursday: scrappy stash QAL

Friday: scrappy stash QAL

Saturday: scrappy stash QAL

Sunday: scrappy stash QAL

Monday: none

and made it 5 out of 7 days!  woohooo!  Linking up at Life in Pieces!  I have to admit one minor disappointment this week... I really really wanted to get the T-shirt quilt finished...but I'm just not in love with it right now...so it's backburnered and partially quilted...maybe next week!

a rainbow of goodness!

I am IN LOVE!  Seriously...in LOVE!  I can't even tell you how excited I am to see all of my Scrappy Stash QAL blocks all together!!!  (yep...got 36 of 36 completed!!!).  So much so that I'm contemplating putting together another 36 for an additional quilt!  (I'm really thinking Christmas gifts here for two of my nieces that I have yet to sew for!!!)...I'm like a kid in the candy store and I'm in LOVE!!!  and now...to catch you all up to where I'm at!

Last time I posted I had completed the Red, Blue, Gray, Green and Pink blocks.  Well here we go with the rest (in order of completion):

Yellow:

Orange:

Purple:

Brown:

(shockingly enough...I'm totally digging the brown...and I was sure the might be a mistake!).

One serious bonus to finishing these blocks...I discovered some fabric that I had completely dismissed as "never going to use" in my stash...and now I have plans for it!!!

and now...serious drum roll here...all the blocks together...and the point in time where I jumped around like an insane goofball!

First...the 9 color groups:

and Last...all 36 blocks:

oHeMGeeee!  I am now trying to figure out the final layout for the top...I had started with one idea...and have completely thrown it out the window...I think I know what I want to do...just going to have to lay it all out and see!

Closing out Friday!

with just a few more blocks for the Scrappy Stash QAL!  I'm telling you...these blocks...I'm in serious love here!  The piecing is so easy...but looks so complicated (at least to me!!)...they go together quickly...are great for chain piecing...I'm putting together 4 blocks a go...and it's fantabulous!!  So without further ado...

Green:

Pink (this pic does not do these blocks any kind of justice...they are my ab fav so far!):

finished all of these before 11:59 pm on Friday...so that closes out my week...now what to do for the weekend????  A few more colors and I'll have all my blocks...(FYI...I figured out that I'm DEFINITELY going to need to purchase more yellow and orange...I could maybe get 2 blocks out of each color with what I have...and I need 4 of each)...but I have a pretty important football game tomorrow...so maybe a few minutes just before the game...or just after...or not at all...we'll see!
anywho...take a look at the new pile of scraps (most of which is probably in the toss category) I created over the past two days making these blocks!

20 of 36 blocks completed!  So excited!!!!

#Notgoingtosewingsummit

and since I'm not...I'm dedicating myself to some quality time with my machine...and linking up at AmyLouWho!  and the Scrappy Stash Quilt Along!  and let me tell you...I am LOVING the blocks!  I have finished 10 since I got home today!  I'm probably going to be going for a total of 36 blocks...(managed to scrape up a tad bit more orange and yellow fabric from my stash...but still may need a little more).  I have to say I'm really surprised by how much of my scraps I have used up!  Anyways...here we go:

Blue:

Red:

Gray:

I am so excited to see how it all comes together in the end!!!!  12 of 36 completed!

Scrappy Stash blocks!

So...I should have been more productive at work today...but as hard as I tried...I just couldn't muster up the desire...I did get some important stuff done (that I'd been putting off for a few weeks...some admin work...bleh), but not much beyond that.  I had seen a few posts out in blogville the past few days about everyone getting ready for Sewing Summit.  I'm jealous...a little bit...I'm not much of a "crowd" type of gal (other than sporting events)...but it looks like so much fun!  Oh well...no summit for me this year...maybe another time!  Instead I'm going to link up and follow along with some other folks #notgoingtosewingsummit over at AmyLouWho!

Since I'm "stuck" at home...I'm going to dig in on my Scrappy Stash Quilt Along blocks!  I was able to get my scraps sorted out the other day and discovered that I'm woefully short on a few colors!

I'm going to ponder what I really want to do with orange and yellow (who am I kidding...I want to buy more fabric!  in orange AND yellow!!) for a little bit (long enough to convince my husband that I really do need some random yellow and orange fabric!) so I started working on my blue blocks!

So that's 2 down...28 to go!

like a hole in my head...

yeah...just what i need...another project...but I'm uberly duberly excited about this one!!!  After seeing the lovely blocks the lovely hostess has made...I'm totally all in on the Scrappy Stash Quilt-Along over at Ellison Lane Quilts!  So now...time to get my scraps organized...figure out what colors I might need more of (my plan is to cut some pieces from some of my stashed/untouched/getting dusty fabrics and throw em in)...and get to piecing!  30 blocks in a month...and finish a quilt...we'll see!  (this might be a great Christmas present for someone...)

15 minute challenge...week 13!

Well...let'd dig right in!

Tuesday:  HST BOM...August block finished

Wednesday: HST BOM September block from start to finish

Thursday: none

Friday:  finished Paris Race!!  And made the back for my T-shirt quilt!

Saturday:  none (it was Girl's birthday!)

Sunday:  basted the T-shirt quilt and started quilting

Monday:  nothing
And that's all she wrote for today!  Off to link up at Life in Pieces!

the Race to Paris is finished!

Well...more like my Paris Race quilt is finished!  and I'm so happy to finally get this one done!  It's been sitting waiting on binding since before my machine went in for her checkup a few weeks ago!  But enough is enough...and here it is:

So so so glad to get this done and very soon get it on it's way to it's new home!

Details:

• Fabric: Pom Pom de Paris by French General, Quilter's cotton that I bought at JoAnn's for the binding
• Batting: Warm and White
• Thread: Gutterman (both piecing and quilting)
• Pattern: Jelly Roll Race

15 minute challenge...week 12!

It's been a busy stitchy week!  I spent most of the past week's designated 15 minutes picking fabric and getting a few blocks done for my version of the In Color Order HST BOM!

Tuesday:  fabric

Wednesday: HST BOM - June cutting and HST's made

Thursday: fabric

Friday: none

Saturday: HST BOM - June finish

Sunday: HST BOM - July finish

Monday: none

and here are the June and July blocks:

June 

July

And that's that!  But that's not all for today...be back later to share with you a quilt finish!  Linking up at Life In Pieces!