"lyon(s)" and (tiger) stripes and BEAR, oh my!

I'm sure most of you have seen at least one version of Juliet of Tartan Kiwi's 30-inch "Big Bear" pattern. (I know I was blown away when I saw Adrianne's polar bear, Michelle's umbrella prints friend, and Juliet's eclectic grizzly pop up in my IG feed over the past few weeks.)  

Though the eyes look like two different blues head on, they're cut from one and the same oakshott swatch.  Whoops!

So much so, that I jumped at the opportunity to pick up the pattern as soon as it was released.  Straight away I printed it on ledger-sized paper (mine finishes at 40"), but I was pretty ambivalent when it came to fabric choice.  Until, of course, the Oakshott summer clearance rolled out, soon after which this stack of fabric showed up on my doorstep.

Okay, technically not *my doorstep* because FedEx takes that signature-required policy quite seriously.
The failed delivery attempt slip, on the other hand, was on our front door.  ;o)

Within no time, their calling became clear:  one big (big) lyon bear for our toddler's bed.  To be honest, I initially thought that my big-paper strategy would yield a 60" bear (evidently my printing math is not quite up to par), so I'm going to add some neutral borders on the sides to match the background before elongating the design with some aztec-inspired rows on each end as originally planned.

By the time all is said and done, someone's going to have a very fun, still-pretty-big new furry friend for her big girl bedroom.  ...Which will hopefully make up for the fact that we will not—in spite of multiple requests—be painting said room pink.  ;o)

sewvivor - {no} hats in the house - sarah

After finally sewing something this summer, I'm back to the arrow that started it all... The radiant one ;)  And since things didn't pan out for the pantone challenge with this little quilt, I figured I'd have a go at Rach of Family Ever After's Sewvivor auditions!  Because why not throw my name in the hat?  After all, it is quilter's edition this season! :o)

So I've had my heart set on handquilting this one for quite some time... I even handpicked an assortment of neutral anchor floss to complement the mismatched feedsack tones in the background:

But knowing any quilting would have to withstand quite a bit of washing (naptime quilts are weekly loads at our house!), I figured I should give myself a little bit of insurance by straight-line quilting on the machine before getting out my thimble.

The lines fall roughly every inch on the diagonal.

And in a surprising twist of preparedness, I have the perfect binding—a bluish/purple striped oakshott—all ready to go just as soon as I add all those handquilted stripes and echo stars.

...Make that almost ready to go thanks to my little helper.  ;o)  (I'm guessing the handquilting will be a much bigger task than rewinding that binding, anyhow.)

And with any luck I'll finish the pattern by the time I get this little cot quilt bound!  (Which would be quite the feat, as it's been on my list since teaching elements of this design back in April.  <<insert ashamed emoticon here>>)

Fingers crossed!

selvage play

As some of you know, I'm on a self-imposed, non-necessity fabric buying ban until I make a dent in my selvage stash.  Back when I made that commitment, I envisioned finishing the selvage 16-patch I started last spring and calling it a success.  (The idea being that it'd be impossible to finish that particular quilt if I kept adding new selvages to my "collection").

Then along came Victoria Findlay Wolfe's workshop prep for SewDown Nashville.  First up on the supply list?  "Scraps - a nice big, generous bag of colorful scraps."  Turns out the only (organized) scraps I had on hand at the time were about a dozen ziplocs full of color-coordinated selvages that were either too skinny or too short for my 16-patch project (I'm using 2" x 8.5" strips for those blocks).

So naturally, I gathered them up and took the whole grocerybag-ful down south last month.

Being me (and thereby predisposed to monochromatic color schemes), I initially set out to make my 15 Minutes of Play fabric from one bag at a time.  And then as I found myself working from my cool blue bag, my (hilariously entertaining) workshop neighbor Jessica (@alittlegressica) offered me a purple Lizzy House print.  I hesitated a moment, but figured what the heck, purple and blue are analogous, so I used it right away and switched back to my blues.  And then another purple came my way (this time an AMH).  And a few minutes later, Jessica handed over a generous selvage off of a mustard AMH print she was using for her own "made" fabric.  I again happily accepted, but this time proceeded to dig around for the appropriately-hued baggie so I could put it where (I felt) it belonged.

But before I could catalog that scrap, a little voice in the back of my mind said something along the lines of, "Self, VFW's whole idea of 'play' is about breaking out of your comfort zone and facing your fears head on."  So I took that mustard scrap and nestled it right next to the blue and purple strips I'd been using.  

And you know what?  I kind of like it :o)  And while I won't have Jessica around to throw in any more contrasting curve balls, I do have a nice little assortment of selvages that Daisy of Ants to Sugar just sent, so I'm thinking random pulls from those will be a nice (albeit less witty) substitute.

Of course I have absolutely no clue what these will ultimately become, but it's safe to say I'll be crossing things off my "not to do" list with each new little panel of "made" fabric.

Here goes nothing!

a mascot and a flag {#opgivewarmth}

As promised, I've updated the #opgivewarmth page with a few more (necessary) details, so please pop on over there for shipping information and other logistical musings.  

One thing I'd like to emphasize here is that I've changed my mind on the 12.5" block size.  Instead, feel free to send any block whose finished size is a multiple of 3.  Whether you feel like making 3" or 36" (finished) blocks, so long as you remember to include an extra 1/2" for seam allowance I'll take whatever suits your fancy!  (I think I can hear Alison audibly gasping from halfway across the world about how I've just multiplied the work for myself, but in the abstract I like the design flexibility that having a variety of sizes will afford, so let's just hope this new plan pans out in practice!)  

And while I have your attention, I wanted to share some of the designs brewing around this month's palette...

The coyote you've seen (though he's been tweaked thanks to some IG friends who pointed out a, um, sneaky detail that I'd embarrassingly overlooked).  So, moving right along, how happy am I that there's already something in the flickr group from one of you?!  Erica made the beautiful AMH feather (it's long been on my own wish list, so I can't wait to incorporate hers into one of this month's MVOB quilts!)  Extra bonus?  I've seen snippets of another block in the works from Aoife of thREDhead (also, I love that she provides a clip of how to pronounce her name over on her blog; I was totally saying it wrong in my head).  

And because I was in a bit of a pink-y mood after strip-piecing stripes and testing out those geese for my friend Amanda of Material Girl Quilts, I decided some little HSTs featuring my all-time favorite AMH print were in order (field study sundials in glow, for those who are wondering).  A little inadvertent scattering on my desk (the present holding cell for this project) ultimately led to this pseudo-patriotic affair...

Ironically, my motto as a little girl was "Say no to pink."  Suffice it to say, I'm sort of smitten that this little flag stands for just the opposite.  I can only hope it finds its way to a little kid who's more openminded to the color than I was at that age.  ;o)

Linking up with Lee.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah

welcome! {also, beware of dog-like creature}

Hello (again)!

Just wanted to welcome any newcomers popping over from Freshly Pieced today :)  I'm Sarah (as I hope you've figured out by now), and {no} hats in the house—yep, all lowercase, grammatically incorrect, and ostensibly entirely unrelated to quilting (or is it?!)—is my little corner of the interwebs.  That, along with my nooks on bloglovin', craftsy, etsy, flickr, and instagram, but it all started right here, so there.  :o)

Seeing as it is W(ip)ednesday around these parts, I figured I'd share a bit of my most recent progress.  As you might've guessed, it's #opgivewarmth-inspired...

And as affable as it looks.  Because blankets aside, every kid deserves a 2' furry friend, right?

Even if it is a coyote.*  (!)

;o)

*Pattern by Violet Craft, for whom I pattern-tested this spry little animal and fellow four-footed behemoth, Sir Sunset Stag, both of which are part of her upcoming Forest Abstractions design.

sunset stag {in stripes and plaid}

Meet Sunset Stag, my latest adventure in paper-piecing.  This time, rather than opting for yet another tiny endeavor, I was thinking BIG when I offered to pattern-test this three-foot, four-legged friend for Violet Craft.

Truth be told I've had a stack of fiery sunset hues set aside ever since my nephew was born on a snowstorm-y day in January.  I considered several other concepts between now and then, but none of them felt right.  So I pressed pause and attended to a project with a different kind of radiance while waiting for inspiration to strike.

The alphabet starbursts sprinkled across the dusky sky may or may not spell out his initials and nickname ;)

Before I knew it, Violet's #forestabstractions patterns over on IG had planted a lasting (and promising) seed.  (My in-laws are all kinds of animal lovers, so this was truly perfect for their latest addition.)

Disappearing (red) stripes:  now you see 'em, now you don't! #themagicofoakshott

For anyone intimidated by the size, the large scale piecing was incredibly straightforward (...once I had assembled the 20-page printout, that is).  But Violet has assured us that the finalized pattern won't be nearly as cumbersome ;o)  

In the meantime, if you're interested in scaling up something of your own and don't mind a little extra prep work, did you know you can print super-sized versions of regular patterns just by using the "Poster" option on the print menu?

Here's how:  After selecting the "Poster" button, enter the magnification percentage into the "Tile Size" field (for instance, for a 12" pattern, 200% will yield a 24" block, while 300% will yield a 36" block).  Then, get out your scotch tape (speaking from experience, gluesticks and clear packing tape are no friends of any sewing machine needles *I* know); trim, line up, and join the printouts; cut the (giant) pattern into its respective sections; and proceed with piecing as normal.

I think you'll be surprised by how quickly an intricate top comes together.  This one just needs a border or two (or three?), then it's off to a new life on the farm :)

Linking this WIP up with Lee!

sweet sultans {for my hun}

Last week, these lovely warm fabrics popped up in my (still) snow-covered mailbox courtesy of Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery Fabrics.  Having had some time to think through my concept for her upcoming blog tour, I quickly set to work pulling coordinating oakshotts to complement the fiery tones in the prints.

Originally I was deciding between two ideas:  one inspired by free people's Valentine's feather arrow, and a second that incorporated this traditional block (Sweet Sultan, BB #800.8; coming soon to the INDEX).

Initially I opted for the arrows, but after getting the idea to fussy-cut the bees from one of Bonnie's prints for the center piece of each sweet sultan flower,

I'm happy to report I came up with a design that incorporates both.

The next few days will be full of feathers (of the paper-pieced variety), and once I've completed the top I hope to try my hand at hand quilting before my stop on the tour next week.

With the help of my color consultant, of course, who wisely added the lavender hues back into the mix after I had (foolishly) considered omitting them ;o)

What do you think?  Did we make the right call?

linking up with Lee

seeing purple {pantone in sketches}

A couple years ago when my husband was out of town on business, I decided our house needed a little sprucing up.  Naturally, I painted the master bedroom purple in his absence ;o)  So it should come as no surprise (whatsoever!) that this year's pantone color of the year has me a bit giddy.  (As do the prizes for the 2014 Pantone Quilt Challenge.  Eep!)

On the cutting table in anticipation of both?

Last summer's stack of succulents+sunrise-inspired fabrics for a pseudo-clamshell quilt made using an old school block called "Grandma's Fan" (BB# 4096), which (when set on point) bears a certain resemblance to the succulents that brought about the original pull:

Needless to say I haven't quite figured out a name for this one, but pretty sure Grandma's Fan is not it.  If you have any suggestions for me, please do share!

Also in the cutting line-up is an array of low volumes and purples, which will soon be transformed into some fave-b-c's inspired by my little one's rather large personality:

I can guarantee the finished quilt will be a step up from this sketchy mock up.  Just how far of an upgrade will depend on whether I'm suffering from tunnel-vision in thinking this was a worthy concept to begin with ;o)

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Pantone Quilt Challenge, this year it's newly hosted by my friends Anne of Play Crafts and Adrianne of On The Windy Side.  You can find everything you need to know (and more!) on either of their blogs: Play Crafts or On The Windy Side.

Hope you'll be joining us on this red-violet adventure!

jumping on the #economyblockalong bandwagon

Minus the gorgeous-but-not-so-much-my-style uber-scrappiness.
Plus my coveted collection of grays.

But my friends, insofar as I have a plan—a spectrum of gray squares encasing colorful fussy cuts, all arranged in roygbiv—consider me on board!

Looks like the rest of the week will be full of cutting.  Much of it fussy :o)

Linking up this wip with the talented, newly-minted author Lee!

P.S. Congrats to Amanda (A) of Everyday Fray, who won my first year blogiversary giveaway!  In addition to cutting into my extensive assortment of grayscale prints for these greconomy blocks, I'll also be digging into some liberty tana lawns, oakshott cottons, and who knows what else as I put together a nice little surprise parcel over the coming week :)

P.P.S.  Thank you so much to everyone else who took the time to comment on the giveaway post!  I so enjoyed reading your responses and learning more about each and everyone of you.  Turns out we all have quite a bit in common, which might explain why this (geographically) vast community feels wonderfully home-y all the same :)

something hued.

#ithinkicanithinkican

Just add diamonds...

And subtract sleep.  

;o)

Linking up with Lee :)  

P.S.  Only days left till this WIP needs to work its way into a finish, so keep an eye out!

something borrowed...

Rossie's Painted Pebbles tutorial + Avenir Black Bold =

When I think about weddings, one of the first things that comes to mind is the crisp simplicity of letter-pressed invitations, announcing the wondrous news to loved ones near and far.  ...And we didn't even have letter-pressed invites ;)

Nonetheless, I could think of no better way to tip my hat to that sentiment than to add a typographic element to this Double Wedding Ring quilt using a slightly modified version of the-one-and-only Rossie's reverse appliqué method:

…To be continued! ;)

(P.S.  Rossie has a tip jar in case you, too, find yourself inspired by her creativity.)

something new.

After months of saving up to order fabric from England planning, the pieces are {figuratively} starting to come together...

studying + study-breaking + sketching + scheming = sparkly oakshotts ;)

So the DWR design insanity is (sort of) officially under way, but one question remains:  traditional or modern?

Lucky for me, there's nearly a month left to decide while all the (tiny) pieces literally come together ;)

And okay, obviously it's not so under way that the diamond shape is set in stone.  If by chance seeing this has changed your mind since that little old "round vs. square" poll, please (please!) chime in!  Or, if you stand by your round cut vote, speak up, too. ...If only so that I have some positive vibes to keep me going when I'm on the 40th of eighty-one 4⅛" diamonds.  ('Das right, CRAZY's in da {house} :D).

Linking up with Lee ;)  Happy Wednesday, friends!

P.S.  Thank you all for your overwhelmingly kind comments about my muted forest quilt, which mysteriously slipped through a linky loophole over at Amy's Creative Side and wound up in the Viewer's Choice vote.  (Pinch me!?)  I have massive respect for the 23 other artists whose work is hanging in that group, and I do hope you'll head on over to peruse the offerings and cast your vote for the pieces that catch your eye.

...Oh, and it's a slightly addicting showcase, so be prepared to stay awhile ;)

something old...

Because who can pass up this challenge?

T-minus 40 days and counting!  So tell me, will you be DWR'ing by December 1st, too?  Who's with me?!

;)

back to linking up with Lee!

one fish, two fish. blue fish, do.fish.

Okay okay, you got me:  technically they're birds (three little birds, to be precise).  My mind just immediately goes to the sea every time I see Julie of 627handwork's Block Rock'n Marley block.

September was my first month up as quilter for the do.good Believe Circle.  And believe you me, I had big plans for my big debut all year.  And then I pitched said big plans to Lynne of Lily's Quilts for her Made With Oakshott feature.  As Lynne kindly picked said idea in August—and yours truly has a thing about not repeating projects—, I was back at square one for my September do.good design.  (Oy!  ...And also, score! Mad {mad} love for oakshotts over here).

So when September 1 snuck up out of the blue (I think I was in the thick of the forest at the time), I turned to a block I'd had my eye on for ages:  Marley.  As for colors, I asked my bee-mates to—and I quote—"channel our inner Cath and go with scrappy grays and blues (blue birds on a gray background)."  I have to say, sometimes often I can be a bit of a Sebastian-the-crab (as in, "You want something done, you've got to do it yourself.")  So I am being 100 percent honest when I say I could not be more thrilled to see my bee-mates not-so-rasta renditions of Julie's brilliant block pop up in our flickr group:

Ben     Big Mama Quilts     Debora     Nicole

The best part?  That's only half of what's on the way.  (...No pressure to the other half of the Circle ;D).

Anyway, I'm up again in January and this whole "Omigah-I-can-think-of-a-million-and-one-projects-on-my-own-wishlist-but-get-writer's-quilter's-block-when-it-comes-to-group-project-ideas" has me wondering just how to approach this design dilemma next time around.

So to all you veteran bee-members, tell me this:  What's your design philosophy for bees?*

*Do you treat your "to do's" and the bee-wishlist as one and the same?  Maintain two separate lists?  Are particular blocks more bee-friendly? (Apologies in advance to anyone in Believe who has an aversion to paper-piecing). Or do you throw convention to the wind and just cruise along wherever your creative spirit takes you?  (asks Sebastian).  I'm thinking of borrowing inspiration from my own project wishlist (let's be real:  it's just going to keep expanding anyways), but I'm quite curious to hear how others manage it.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!  Much appreciated.  ;)

wip wednesday

twinkle twinkle, little star

First off, thank you so much to everyone for your beautiful words about project 1x1.  I'm pretty excited about that one.

...This one too. ;)  In fact, this {mystery} block has been on my wishlist for ages.  So far it has not disappointed.  Of course you'll have to take my word on that, as I want to hold off on showing the block design until the top is fully assembled.  Not because I'm sworn to secrecy {I think we all know I'm not that cool} but because I've been tweaking little details here and there and and figure y'know, what's a few more days?

So in the meantime, here are some sneaks of earlier stages...

Hint:  The stars in the top row are leftovers... bonus!

Now for the big question... quilt with black thread* or an off-white?(!)

*Up until recently I've been sewing exclusively with Aurifil, but I never thought to order any grays/blacks (truth be told, this is my first time using such dark fabric as a background).  So let's just say I had to dust off my good ol' Gutermann stash for this one.  Of course if you all think lighter thread is the way to go, I have a lifetime supply plenty of Aurifil to turn to ;)

Thoughts?

Edited to clarify:  Linking up {this post over here} with Lee of freshly pieced.