...and jay makes a {full} forest.

(Y'know, to the extent a forest can truly "reach capacity.")

This past week has been quite productive for this little forest-o'-mine.  Joining the first three and middle six friends are the FINAL THREE (eep!):

05 {folksy} eurasian jay

09 fern flower

 11 pine marten

With all twelve blocks stitched and pressed, it looks like there's lots of paper-picking in my future (read:  weekend).  {Why oh why didn't I invest in something that washes out?!  Sidebar:  does anyone know if that actually exists?}  

Linking up with Kristy of Quiet Play ;)  If you haven't already, you've got to check out her latest pattern -- a pink unicorn!

the neglected {but slightly more populated} forest

These blocks haven't gotten much love lately.  Which is sad, because the designs really are quite lovable.  So the past few days, I decided to change that (hey, maybe seeing Jess's brilliant leaflet idea come to life this past week was just the inspiration I needed!)

You can read more about the Forest QAL here, and the roots of my own little muted forest (including the first three blocks) here.  So, without further ado, joining these woodsy ranks are...

04 maple {silver} fox

06 {glowing green} roaring deer

07 slow coming spring*

*I am in love.  I think I could might make a whole quilt out of these liverworts and snails (what can I say? My grandmother was Polish and I just love Julianna's inspiration for the block).

08 red {striped} panda

10 {pink+tan} squirrel {clutching onto an AMH nut ;)}

12 {muted but patriotic} trillium

With nine of twelve blocks down, this quiet little forest has tripled in size in about as many days.  I know I haven't tackled Joanna's jay just yet, but dare I say I'm starting to see the forest for the trees? ;)

Speaking of stragglers, these three creatures are currently on the cutting table:
05 eurasian jay
09 fern flower
11 pine marten

More soon!  {Working on a deadline always helps, doesn't it?} Linking up with Lee at freshly pieced :)

tiny-ness take two: round vs. square?

So perhaps you noticed my little foray into miniature foundation paper piecing last week and dismissed me as having gone off the deep end.  The following post is probably not for you ;)

For those of you intrigued by the madness, I have a question for you.  When it comes to 4⅛" stones as far as the eye can see... round or square? (imperfections included)

Sidebar:  I've removed the dresden gradient from the equation because that's not quite what I had in mind for this particular project (though thanks to everyone's encouragement it's definitely on the wish {wait} list).

And to the extent context is helpful, there will still be a gradient involved (it'll just be not-so-gray), and I'll be replacing the square blocks in a traditional pattern with these diamond blocks.  Lots of them.

Now, which (if either) would catch your eye scattered in a queen king size quilt?

Thanks, friends!

P.S.  For those of you who've taken the time to comment the past week I wanted to let you know I am totally smitten with your kind words and am thrilled to say I'll be doing much more sewing+email catch-up (and a little less toddler-chasing) in the very near future :)
P.P.S.  Linking up with Lee!

diamond dresden

I've had an idea brewing in my head for quite some time now involving a fair amount of pretty teensy paper piecing.  So this ~4", 96-piece diamond {centered in a gray (yes, with an "a"!) dresden} is something of a test run to see whether I'll be able to manage the task without going completely mad.

...Jury's still deliberating.

Happily rejoining Kristy's Paper Piecing Party.  If I do decide to carry out this idea (rationality is hardly my strong suit when it comes to creative endeavors), I'm guessing she'll have to set up a cot for this party guest ;)

bloom. boom. bordered. bound.

Have you heard of freshly pieced's Bloom Bloom Pow QA?  It was such a joy to make.  I sped through the bleaching (optional) + piecing back in May, then came to a pretty serious halt until a few weeks (months?) back.

What can I say?  The moment Lee mentioned incorporating those lovely zigzag scraps into the finished quilt, I thought to myself:  "Challenge accepted."  ...And then realized it really was a bit of a challenge!  I ended up adding three skinny borders to the top.  (The scrappy binding makes for a fourth.)

Just browsing through these shots makes me happy.  Okay, so maybe the location has something to do with it ;)  Either way, these warm and sunny colors are a welcome change from my cool color crutch.

I followed Lee's lead on the quilting, using the seams as a guide for straight lines (how predictable am I?) in Aurifil 2000.  I thought about something a little more dense (à la Lady Harvatine's Log Pyramid quilt) but I'm liking the more loosely quilted style.  It has a certain softness to it, don't you think?

Speaking of soft, I used an off-white, twin-sized linen sheet from Williams Sonoma outlet for the backing (thank you Tanger for amazing deals, all the time).  I think I paid $10 for it last summer.

It is delightfully silky, and (added bonus!) a perfect match to Aurifil 2021.  {Then again, what isn't? ;)}

...Now if you'll excuse me, that chair has my name on it!

finish it up friday {hallelujah!)

Edited to add:  You can check out other quilty friends' takes on Lee's design here!

binding and being a {beach} bum ;)

After weeks away from the house of {no} hats, I'm *this* close to being able to share a finish (let alone something!)

Why the sparse summer sewing?  While my creative wishlist has certainly jumped a few notches on my priority list (good riddance, bar study!), so has the enjoy-it-while-you-can side of life...

For the next couple weeks, I'll be doing just that ;)  (Well, that, and catching up with my four-digit blog reader feed... eep!)

So how do you strike a balance?

linking up with WIP Wednesday :)

poolside bundle {in the house}

When I entered my mosaic into Sew Fresh Fabrics's Summer Bundle Contest over at Lily's Quilts, it was in a "well-I-know-I-have-a-million-other-things-on-my-to-do-list-but-let's-push-all-that-off-just-a-bit-longer-while-I-compile-a-nice-little-bundle-of-blues-here-in-the-kitchen-at-midnight" kind of a way.  Did I think anything would come of it?  Not really.  {Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty great assortment of fabrics (if I may), but there were plenty of other amazing entries, too.}

So you can imagine my surprise as I'm perusing Lynne's blog last month and happen upon this very familiar-looking array of pool-blue fabrics (available now over at Sew Fresh Fabrics!)...

(!)  And then, as if it couldn't get any sweeter, look what showed up on my doorstep the other week (on my birthday, of all days!)  Thank you Peg and Lynne!

Now that's my kind of icing ;)

Naturally, I wanted to share my good fortune, so I'm working on a new pattern featuring these lovelies and will be offering it {on the house} as soon as it's properly tested, tweaked, and prettied up on {digital} paper ;)  Of course it's all in my head at this point so if for some reason it's a flop (there are curves involved! Eep!), rest assured I'll be sharing something with you, whatever that might be, when all is said and done.

Added bonus?  Looks like quite a few (if not all!) of these beauties will go perfectly with last week's succulent-inspired pull.  And on that note, while I love snapping beauty shots of fabric stacks, I love sewing with them even more.  T-minus one week-ish till I can pry the padlock off my machine.  Stay tuned, friends ;)

Linking up with Lee of freshly pieced, as this is very much a work in progress (read:  patience is a virtue!)