sunshine on a cloudy day {a plaid finish}

My husband suggested I call this one "Tennis Ball," but the Temptations' lyric just seemed much more fitting for this neon-bound gray plaid ;)

Our daughter recently started daycare, a milestone I'm using as an excuse opportunity to build up her "nap time blanket stash" (that's a thing, right?)  And building up it needs indeed; this brings the {teeny} tally to just three finished quilts, as her amethyst quilt (number four) has been caught in the queue since February (eep!).

The plaid square measures 42" (pattern available here).

The back is both fancy and not fancy.  Fancy because it's Anna Maria Horner's field study linen in ghost wing.  <3.

Not fancy because—in an uncharacteristic (yet perhaps what will become a recurring) move—I used a single piece of fabric for the back.

Loving the little bit of light radiating from the binding (Michael Miller's neon yellow, a purchase that was no doubt inspired by Cath of wombat quilt's electrified PP'd star).  I highly recommend it for anyone looking for that extra glow-in-the-dark-ish je ne said quoi.  Sidebar:  it bleeds.  Lots.  So be sure to wash!

Now off to finish that loveliness hanging out in the background...

;)

finish it up friday

city blocks: 1-10

The other week I started a little "feed sack city," my take on Tula Pink's city sampler series.

So far I've completed blocks 1-10, 11, and 21 (i.e. I'm caught up with Sara's sew-along but behind on Julie's quilt along).  Argh!  Lots of -1s and -2s in my near future... Add 'em to the tab ;)

Layout-wise, I like the designs in Tula's book, don't get me wrong.  And if I had opted for a more modern palette I would totally go with her rainbow grid (it's the beautifully bright burst of color on the cover).  It's just that none of them jump off the page for this old-timey country vibe I've got on my hands.  Instead, I keep going back to some sort of diagonal sashing à la Jen Kingwell's steam punk... But that's still stuck in the brainstorming phase until I figure out (1) how wide the sashing should be; and (2) how many blocks total? {Call me crazy, but I was thinking of making multiples? Haven't exactly worked through the math (or calendared a timeline, for that matter), so I very well may just stop at 100 and call it a day!}

What do you think I should do?  Skinny sashes with an abundance of city blocks?  A more ample set of alleys among the original 100 squares?  ...Or jump ship and stick with one of Tula's proposed layouts?  Decisions, decisions!  Help wanted ;)

blog hopping

What to say that hasn't already been said?  I'm sure most—if not all—of you have heard that Beth of plum and june is kicking off the 2013 New Blogger Blog Hop this week.  What does that mean for you?  It means lots (and lots!) of chances to get to know a relatively new crowd of pretty flippin' talented individuals.  And me ;)  

So what're you waiting for?  Week one is already under way... go on and check 'em out!

Friday, June 7th

Nancy @ Owen's Olivia

Amy @ 13 Spools

Ashley @ Wasn't Quilt In A Day

Casey @ The Studiolo 

Nanette @ Yeah, I Made That

Ange @ Heart Of Charnwood

Kim @ Robot Mom Sews

Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting

Friday, June 14th

Julie @ Jolie Maxtin

Melissa @ Melia Mae Quilting

Adrianne @ On The Windy Side

Molli @ Molli Sparkles

Laura @ Little And Lots

Sarah @ Duck Egg Threads

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Cari @ There's A Thread

Valerie @ Between Quilts

Friday, June 21st

Leigh Anne @ Ella's Cottage

Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt

Sarah @ Quilt Candy

Jackie @ NW Patchwork

Liz @ Beadqueene's Bits And Baubles

Erica @ Happy Fabric

Stephanie @ Simple Sewendipity

Lauren @ Seraphym

Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts

Friday, June 28th

Green @ So Sew Green

Gwendellyn @ The Rainbow Revolts

Jessica @ Stitched In Thyme

Amira @ Little Mushroom Cap

Kathy @ Kayak Quilting

Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts

Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

Kris @ Sew Sunshine

Camilla @ Faffling

Friday, July 5th

Christa @ Christa Quilts!

Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce

Anna @ The Crooked Banana

Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After 

Stephanie @ Quarter Incher

Kristy & Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs

Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness

Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works

Friday, July 12th

Leona @ Leona's Quilting Adventure

Karen @ Quilty Creations

Anne @ PlayCrafts

Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...

Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm

Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain

Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Sarah @ {no} hats in the house  <-- yours truly ;)

Friday, July 19th

Karen @ Little Birdie Quilting Studio

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures

Katie @ Snuggle Up With A Dish From Karma 

Alison @ Making Happyness

Kelsy and Amanda @ Everyday Fray

Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room

Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

Nicole @ Modern Handcraft

Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya

Friday, July 26th

Vicki @ A Quilter's Mission

RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts

Elise @ Lovelea Designs

Elizabeth @ In The Boondocks

Jenny @ A Note To Follow Sew

Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts

Sonia @ Fabric & Flowers

Emily @ Sew E.T.
Em @ sewing by moonlight

borders, borders everywhere.

Nope, still haven't delved into those oakshotts quite yet.  Instead I've decided to polish off two tops with some border details...

One warm palette:

The other cool:

Since each contains elements of equilateral triangles and skinny strips, I figured I'd try to tackle both at once.  Lots of chain piecing and ironing, but definitely no mixing up fabrics here!  And I have to say it makes for an extra colorful workroom ;)

In the interim, I have these friendly reminders lurking in the darkness hanging patiently nearby...

But what you can't see are all the other WIPs in my world (I may or may not have had to rearrange the racks just to snap that picture).  I started making a list; once I hit a dozen I decided I needed to adopt a new sewing philosophy.  From now on, I'm giving myself one month to quilt once I have a completed top.  (In my head I was thinking one month from start to finish for the whole project, but as soon as I saw it on paper I knew that would be overly ambitious... and dare I say contradictory to the tempo of quilting itself!?)

In any event, that means the clock's ticking on the tartan top I finished last week.  As for these two, it's a good thing they've reverted to incomplete tops; otherwise that timer would be bouncing off the shelf by now ;)

What about you?  Do you take it one quilt at a time or have you worked out a good system for balancing (and finishing) what you've started?  I'd love to hear how you make it work!

   

knitting bag {in ghost wing}

My mother-in-law loves to knit, so as soon as I saw the bag Jess made for her mom, I knew exactly what to do for her birthday this year...

Hello field study linen.  Love.  This being my second bag, I have to say it was pretty straightforward (pattern by The Sometime's Crafter).  The toughest thing for me was matching up the wing edges along the pocket overlay:

Fabric selection was definitely inspired by Probably Actually's test run of Noodlehead's super tote.  I ended up buying the print in all three colorways (aqua, dusk {gray} + luscious {this tan}), but there was just something about the golden-hued background that felt right for this particular gift.  

Because the print itself is so large and distinct, I shuffled it up with a mini-patchwork pattern for the bags' sides.  For the lining I used a floral print we'd bought together years ago at a local fabric store (it always felt more her style than my own):

I used feedsack fabric to make the handles (the sides were originally cut from feedsack fabric as well, but then I thought of the patchwork idea and decided to switch gears).  I used natural Aurifil 50wt for piecing, and a double-stitch for the pocket and trim detail.  Dare I say the other ladies in her knitting group are in for some bag envy?  I know I am! ;)

finish it up friday

string {scrap}tacular

Okay, so this one is a little less scrappy...  It's a three-tone grayscale tartan (not unlike the sketch that started it all):

Fortunately the wind stopped for a split second, so I was able to get a semi-decent full shot ;)

The final quilt will measure ~42" (x = 1.5" for those of you who've seen the pattern).  Sadly I wasn't able to make much progress on my selvage 16 patch this month, though I did manage to finish cutting all my strips last night:

These might be teeny 6.5" finished blocks, but it looks like I'll have plenty of strings to keep the first fifteen blocks company ;)

The only question is whether I should continue with the super-scrappy, pseudo-unplanned match-ups, or if I should switch to pairing like-colors together (e.g. the two on the left in the bottom row above) to preserve the option of doing a final layout where the colors shift from one side of the quilt to the other (like this).  Thoughts?!

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out all the other string festival entries here.  And in case you didn't know, my plaid pattern* is on the {house} (i.e. fo' free!) through tomorrow.

* Note:  I did find a mistake (AH! SORRY!) and will be posting an updated version by the weekend, but if you download it via craftsy beforehand you should get a notice when the corrected pattern is available ;)

an oakshott medallion {un rubis pour moi!}

After much anticipation, these lovelies showed up in last week's mail.  (For all you statesiders searching for a U.S. distributor, I *highly* recommend pinwheels, by the way.  Limited selection but excellent service!)

For a moment, all I could do was stare at the little stack in all its glory.  Before they arrived, I'd seen plenty of these fabrics on my computer screen (I'm a loyal—albeit unsuccessful—proposer for Lily's Quilts monthly "Made with Oakshott" challenge; besides that, this, this, this, and this have been particularly enticing).  

But in person, they really are... well, something else entirely ;)

So, what to do with these radiant ruby reds?  Quilt a little jewelry for myself, of course ;)

Now normally when I paper piece, I'm incredibly generous with seam allowances because, let's be real, seam ripping doesn't exactly do wonders when you're trying to work at a quick clip.  But with these luscious shot cottons, there is no flipping way I am going to cut willy nilly in any sort of a hurry.  On the plus side, it means I will {finally} be able to give a more accurate estimate for how much fabric one 20" gemstone requires ;)

Aside from the center stone, I'm thinking this is prime "medallion" material.  So far I've jotted down an array of possible border ideas.  The running list includes:

*equilateral triangles
*HSTs
*spikes
*flying geese
*teeny tiny stars } clearly this isn't a rush job ;)  ...yet.
*squares/rectangles
*marcelle pluses
*Play Crafts broken herringbone design
*Sew What Sherlock? arrows
*pretty much any of these {omigah}
*AMH feathers (these have been on my wish list since they were featured in quilty last winter, but I still might hold out to create a quilt inspired by this design)
*and maybe (maybe!) some applique (à la tile quilts or anything material obsession)

Any other border suggestions out there?!  The jury is still out on whether to limit the borders to oakshott + neutrals (solids or prints?), or throw in some ruby-hued prints (or just solids? or both?) from my stash.  I'm thinking a mix of prints with oakshotts sprinkled throughout would be fun (and would help stretch the itty bitty stack to a cozy-sized quilt!)

Decisions, decisions, decisions...  I'd love your advice on borders, solids, prints and the whole lot ;)

WIP Wednesday  {in spirit ;)} + thursday threads + Quiet Play's paper piecing party