Ambitious much?

And I’ve been prepping and packing my projects for over a week now. I can’t believe how much I have crammed into my purple tote and there is still room for my tools!

Want to see what I’m taking?

Project: Ribbon chevron

Needs: Border and back made

Priority: Very low. Probably will not touch

Project: Bloom Bloom Pow

Needs: Back made

Priority: pretty high, but I can’t find my plan I drew up for this nearly a year ago. Imagine that. So, it’s gonna take some planning to do and may get sidelined for easier things.

Project: Tula Pink Houndstoothish

Needs: 30ish more blocks and top assembled

Priority: highish. It wouldn’t take long if I would just buckle down and make my final fabric selections.

Project: Tula Pink Craftsy Workshop

Needs: to me made

Priority: Honestly, pretty low. I’d rather tackle some of my other stuff before starting yet another new thing. However, I know a lot of the girls will be working on this and I may succumb to peer pressure/feather showing.

Project: Fabric for swaps

Needs: to be cut (and some are for trading in stash bash events)

Priority: Very high

Project: Tula Pink Anchors Aweigh

Needs: top made

Priority: Honestly, pretty low but I bet this is the one I come back with completed. 🙂

Project: Economy blocks

Needs: to be assembled

Priority: Medium. I have decided this would make a good graduation gift for my cousin and I am a lot more excited about doing it now that I have a plan for it. So again, this is one I bet will gain some headway this weekend. I didn’t pack enough to make the whole top but I could put a good dent into it.

Project: Kaleidoscope

Needs: to be assembled

Priority: Medium with high excitement factor. However, I don’t know if I will have the room I will really need to plan this one out. I’ve put so much work into prepping it though and I am very excited to get to work on it. So I would say it is one of the ones I most want to get to but don’t know how well it’ll work out there. This is a huge goal for me for this year.

 

So, there you have it. That’s a lot of Tula Pink in there, huh? I am so excited and can’t believe this weekend is actually here! Now I might want to think about adding some clothes and a toothbrush to the pile!

 

Friday Finish: Citrus Bento

It is done! It only took a year! Well, most of that year it was just sitting on a shelf ignored.

To recap:

I started this quilt last year at stash bash where I was led to believe by the tutorial that it could be completed in an afternoon. Well, I spent 15 STRAIGHT hours that first day at stash bash working on it and it still wasn’t finished. That didn’t include the cutting, which I had done ahead of time. I completed the main part of the top the next morning. I made the borders last May. Then, lacking inspiration for the back I folded it up and put it away.

As Stash Bash 2014 crept closer, I felt the pressure to complete this quilt, as that would mark a year since I started it. I do have one (much) older wip, but really didn’t want this one to languor past the year. Over the course of the year, I had collected fabrics that might work for backing or binding. I also had quite a bit of leftovers. I was still not sure what to do with the back, but finally sat down and busted something out. I immediately basted and worked on quilting.

I again wasn’t sure what to do, and even though I’ve really been trying to FMQ, I felt with all the straight geometric lines I needed to go that route – even if it would probably take longer. I used my walking foot and straight(ish) lines quilted on either side of the seams in the blocks. (Which I don’t have a good picture of) I used variegated Aurifil thread in orange/yellow/white (choosing against the lime green. Wisely, I think.)

Then in the white borders I quilted several lines which crossed in the corners. In the middle border I quilted Xs. I still struggle with keeping lines straight on large quilts on my machine. No matter how careful I am, I still have drag or shifting.

I am in love with the binding. I found it at my favorite store last fall and knew immediately it would work great in this quilt. It works so well as the binding, having all three colors in it, making a nice frame and transition from front to back.

I also tried something new – I hand sewed the binding on this one. I have never done that before and felt it was something I needed to do. I am aware there is a certain …snobbery… over how bindings are attached. I’ve always liked the speed of machine binding, but believe I need to try something before I knock it. So now I can knock it. LOL. I was not enamored of the hand binding process. The upside was that I could do it while being with my family in the evening (instead of at 2am like I normally do). Other than that, I am not sure what the love affair is. It does not seem nearly as secure to me, for starters – and most important. And it took forever.  I definitely got better and quicker as I went along – my stitches are more even and invisible at the end than the beginning.

Citrus Bento

Citrus Bento back

See all my posts about this quilt here

See my goal post here

Finish it up Friday!

Linking also to the FAL

Here is my goal post: https://drowninginfabric.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/finish-along-q2/

 

Sunday stash – My favorite store is up and running

I had to make a long overdue run to the PO this week for a variety of swaps I needed to send. Since My Favorite Store is right down the street from the PO I figured I’d swing by and see what was going on in there. I hadn’t been there in a while, but the last few times I had been they had mainly drapery and upholstery out.

Well, They still had most of that stuff out, but they had a couple of tables of the cotton remnants. I am not sure if they are in the process of switching over or if they have decided to offer more of a variety at once. The nice thing about only having a couple of tables to search through is that it was a much quicker trip than the 3 or so hours I usually spend hunting there. However I still managed to find plenty and spend a bundle.

Here is what I took home (Though I wanted so much more) These vary from 1/4 yard on up to 2-3 yards of some-

Tula Pink

This is the 3rd time I’ve found those frogs there. And some Parisville! Ohh!

 

Sarah Jane

I was surprised to find some Wee Wanderer there already.

 

Lizzy House

 

Again, surprised to find Catnap already and excited to find some Outfoxed. Hoping to dig up more of this. I also found some 1001 lamps, but I have a metric ton of it and had a heart to heart with myself about definitely not needing more, not buying it just because I found it, and if I don’t buy it that’s money I can put toward something else.

Heather Ross

I found a lot of Briar Rose there last fall. This time, some Crafty Chloe and one BR print.

Joel Dewberry

These will come in handy for my Joel Dewberry swap coming up. (There’s one more print that I put in one of the other pictures.)

Assorted designers

Oh, Wrenly. You get me every time. And Lemon Grove. And Masha D’yans. And Belle.

More nice assorteds.

Finish Along Q2

So I somehow completely missed the finish along Q1 finishes link up. I was looking out for it but never saw it. Oh well. I only had one finish – my stack the deck.

So now it is time to link up for the second quarter –

1. My Citrus Bento – I am currently quilting this. I just need to finish and bind. Almost done!

2. My BOM class top. I doubt I will get to this, but here it is just in case.

3. My son’s bad piggy quilt. I hope to have this done for his birthday in May.

Chevron

4. My Chevron quilt. I am still hunting back fabric for this, but want to get to it soon as it is a thank you gift for a friend.

5. My Tula Pink “houndstoothish” – still in this state. I have about 30 more blocks to decide on fabrics and make before finishing the top. This one is huge.

Bloom Bloom Pow

6. Bloom bloom pow – I haven’t touched this one since I put it away last summer. I need to make the back.

7. Ribbon Chevron – This one is still festering in my sewing room. I will get to it some day – if for no other reason than to be done with it. I don’t love it as much as I did a year and a half ago. It’s funny to see how I’ve grown/changed.

8. Tula pink sail away – I have my squares cut and ready to get started.

I have a few other projects I am starting, but am just pulling fabrics for so no photos yet. Nothing I think I’ll have completed in the next few months anyway.

 

Bento back

So my complete focus the last few weeks has been my Citrus Bento quilt. This is the quilt I started at stash bash last year and am determined to bring completed this year. My biggest hold up (other than having other more pressing things to finish) has been my inability to decide what to do for the back, or to choose a good fabric for it. Then a few months back Fabric.com did a super dooper clearance on this fabric, which I thought might work.

Then they only sent me half what I ordered. Not enough for the back. Though I never really planned to just use this on the back. I like to piece my backs. But I was still pretty uninspired for what to do. I had leftovers of most of the fabrics I used in the front, plus several fabrics that I wish I had had when I made the quilt. I decided to cut layers and bricks and create a back from those.

Here are my (really crappy) pictures of the back:

I wasn’t as enamored of it as I had hoped (I was hoping to be able to do another stripe of the Beachwood Park in the middle, but not enough) but maybe it will look better when it is on the back of the quilt and not all wrinkly on my grass.

I finally got it basted –

And am quilting it now.

Sunday Stash

Despite my attempts to stay away, the sales keep getting me… My two favorites are up this week.

 

I caved on the craftsy Tula Foxfield class. I am a little skeptical because this is not a video class but a “workshop”. Hmm. Oh well, everyone else is doing it. Then while I was debating signing up they did a clearance on some of their fabric. I was only 11 dollars away from free shipping so rather than waste the shipping money, I tossed in a FQ pack. It was only $1 a FQ!! Oy. What am I going to do with all these precuts Craftsy keeps talking me into? What am I going to do with all those chevrons? Right now – looking pretty with the other precuts.

I also finally – FINALLY – bought the eyedrops I’ve been meaning to get to use for the binding on my Tula “houndstoothish” quilt (which still isn’t put together either). I had my eye on it in an online shop and realized they were selling out and wanted to grab it while I could. I also bought them out of the other two prints – both of which I already have yardage of – while I was at it. Well, what I thought was going to be a gold eye drop print turned out to really be much more of a green. It doesn’t show real well in the photos. Now I am not sure it is going to be what I want. I’ll make a decision when I get to that point. But at least I have it.

And Pink Castle ran a sale on Lizzy House. (well, Andover). Again, I already had both of these but had to grab them. I am about to use the twinkle in my next top so it doesn’t hurt to have more anyway, and the ghosts are just the cutest. I didn’t get bracelets, which I probably could use more than these, but, you know, trying to be good….

 

April ALYOF Goal – Citrus Bento

So, it is April.

That means Stash Bash!

Last year at Stash Bash I spent a day and a half psychotically slaving away on my Citrus Bento top. I completed the top in May and then it sat on a shelf for most of the year as I prioritized other projects. I had sworn to myself some time ago that it would be finished before Stash Bash this year. As much as I’d like to show it off and all that to the people who watched me obsess over it, it is more that Stash Bash marks a year since I started it. I hate to know that this quilt top has sat that long, untouched.

At that point I was still so new to sewing and even though I had made a few tops, didn’t really believe I would ever find the guts to actually finish a quilt. Though I thought at the time I had tons of fabric (HA!) I had to scour sales to find the colors I wanted in this quilt. I even used several (GASP!) non QSQ prints.

So, anyway, That’s my goal. To arrive at Stash bash with this quilt completely finished. I finished the back a couple weeks ago (which I still need to post about) and basted it and started quilting it. I need to finish quilting, bury the threads, and bind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April goals

I’m falling behind again. But that just means I’m cleaning and sewing and getting outside instead of sitting on the computer so much!

March review:

1. Make a back for my bento DONE

2. Make a back for Chevron Waiting for a sale on the fabric I want

3. Economy blocks Pshaw

4. Make a back for pixel I ordered and received the fabric

5. As long as I have black thread in my machine maybe I should finish my botm blocks. And maybe the top? DONE

6. baby’s bathroom (finish installing and then clean/organize I did install the cabinets and hooks! I did some clearing of the countertops into the cabinet but not much else. In fact, the tools are still in the bathroom.

7. So last year in March I did a big spring cleaning of my downstairs. I meant to do the upstairs in the fall, but we had such other things going on it didn’t register as important. I had planned to do spring cleaning again this year, but now that I am facing it down, I so don’t feel up for it. But I am going to tackle it. Ugh. I absolutely have to.

I just didn’t have it in me. I hate that. I tried. I can never seem to get past the toy pick up or kitchen cleaning. I decided instead to make a list of chores for each day and to focus on one room a week. I’ve done ok with that. There are still chores I skip or days I can’t get to anything, but my bed is getting made (something I have NEVER done, but am finding I like) and rooms picked up and counters cleared more regularly. It is going to take some time to get through my entire house this way, but better than nothing.

8.Finish Tula squares (the only reason this is so low on the list is that I am involved in yet another swap and I am anxious about picking out these last fabrics.) No. Been consumed with other projects and still haven’t gotten that swap back.

9. read I am almost done with one book! WOO!

 

April Goals – STASH BASH!

1. Finish Bento

2. Make back for Pixel. Finish?

3. Make back for bloom bloom pow

4. Make back for Chevron

5. Work on Anchor quilt

6. Cut/work on Kaleidoscope

7. economy?

8. Keep to cleaning regimin

9. Read