WIP Wednesday: An Amy Butler-ish Christmas

I just realized that I'm gifting four Amy Butler bags this year. Five, maybe, but four for sure. Good thing interfacing has been on sale, and Wonder clips are my new best friend!

Here's what I'm finishing up today:

  

Just the hand sewing left. Nothing a needle, thread, thimble and Downton Abbey episodes can't finish.

Next up are the Sophia bags for my daughter and niece. Just a bit more cutting and then I'll get started!

Linking up!

 

WIP Wednesday: Patchwork Weekender

Don't do what I do.

Don't get sucked into the Weekender madness. It's an addiction, I tell you. Especially these pieced, quilted ones. You know you've got it bad for Amy Butler bag patterns when you're buying Peltex by the bolt at Joann's when it goes on sale. Yes, that bad.

WAY too much fun people! These patchwork Weekenders are addictive!

I've got the lining fabrics on order, and I'll be cutting the handles and piping this week.

But I have to wait at least 2 days to sew anything! Two whole days! I'm taking my machine in for a tune-up, cleaning, etc. It's doing something weird and I can't figure it out. And I've had it for 2+ years, so it's more than ready. Just wish it wasn't right before Christmas, you know?

But I've got my Husky as back up, and I'm working on Christmas jammies for a friend, so the serger is out. So don't you worry about me!

Linking up! And just a few days left for the giveaway - have you entered?

 

WIP Wednesday: Falling Hard for Swoon Blocks!

Shhh. Don't tell on me, but I actually got some sewing done. Yesterday was my non-birthday day this week. Today is the last birthday, but I had to do some patch sewing for my new little cub scout.

Okay, I bagged it and bought the Badge Magic, which was so much easier! Badge Magic is your friend!

But then I figured I was already in the sewing room, and I should get something done. And done I did!

No, I haven't neglected my string quilt. Got it all pieced together with the sashing and the first white border. But honestly, even I'm getting bored looking at it. I won't do that to you! Once I get the red border and the last white border, you'll get a finished flimsy. I might even iron it!

No, my WIP today is this:

I'm late to the party (story of my life), but I. LOVE. THESE. BLOCKS. I'm using Scrumptious prints paired with the Scrumptious solids and I can't wait to do more!


Seriously. How awesome are they?

I'm also working on some fun stuff.

Sorting scraps for Scrappy Sundays. Read more about it here. Jennifer got a head start because she doesn't have three kids' birthdays this week! I'm playing catch up (story of my life), but I don't mind. It's not a race.

I need another WIP like I need, well, another WIP. But this one is going to be ongoing until it's the size I want it to be. And frankly, I want some space back in my house!

Linking up! See you Friday - I have another finish for you!

WIP Wednesday: String Quilt Dilemma

Okay y'all. I've been sewing and staring at these blocks, and pinning ideas for the last 48 hours. Can't decide what I like best. Help!

I've got 31 red string blocks done. I think I can make at least five more, which gives me a six by six layout.

But it's too small! I wanted a big, two people could snuggle under it kind of quilt. The friend that it's for is 5'10", so a 60-odd inch quilt just isn't going to cut it folks.

So, I have two options. Well, three, if I combine them.

First option: sashing

from Quilt in Progress

from About.com String Quilt Gallery

from Jaclyn's Scrappy String Quilt on flickr

And this is the best one as far as similarities with my blocks and how they'd look with the sashing:

from the Craftsy project gallery

Second option: borders

 plain white border - simple, nice and restful for your eyes from Sarah Jackson's flickr photo

A stunning pieced border, but I don't know if I've got the fabric for this one! from Marjon Savelsberg's flickr photo

Third option: sashing and borders (and I think I like this one best of all!)

Again, not sure I could swing the pieced border, but I could use a single red print for it that would be awesome. And I LOVE the little cornerstones in there. From JulieKQuilts

Here's what I worked up in EQ7 (sorry it's kind of blurry - I'm a work in progress myself!):

So, what do you think? I could fussy cut some of the Holiday Hostess ladies for each cornerstone, which means the sashing is going to be pretty wide. or just use thinner white sashing with scraps from the quilt, then do a couple of borders.

Please, if you want to pin any of these images (other than mine), go to the original source and pin from there. They aren't mine, and I want the right people to get the credit for their awesomeness!

WIP Wednesday: Pieced or Solid Borders? Or Not At All?

So here's my law student answer: it depends.

If it's written into the pattern and I like it, I do the border. Pieced, solid. Pieced and solid. I'm cool with it. Like these quilts, both made from Fig Tree patterns:

But then there are times I know I'm just adding a border because I want to make the quilt bigger. Like this one:

And then there are the quilts that a border would just ruin, in my opinion, like these:

Still, I have to put borders on these Simple Life quilts. So I thought I'd make it a little fun and use the panels as corner squares in the borders. Makes it a little better, no?

Whatcha think?

Linking up!  Have a great Wednesday. Come back Friday for my finish (another real finish for me!). 

WIP Wednesday: Long Arm Success!

The long arm maiden voyage got off safely and splendidly!


First, I think it made a difference that I was with my sister-in-law, Rachel, who is amazing in so  many ways. She patiently showed me how to load and unload the quilt, which is the most complicated part, in my mind. The rest is pretty intuitive.

Here's the first quilt of the night, all ready to go:

A flower. Rachel said that even when I'm doing pretty easy free-motion stuff, I should still challenge myself with something different. So there are a few flowers.

And my second of the night, all folded and ready to bind now.

So my WIP for today and tomorrow is to get these bound. I'll be going back Friday and hopefully have two more to bind this weekend!

Have a great Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday: I'd rather be . . . .

Hmmmmmm.

This:

Or this:

You guess.

I'll wait.

I busted out a bazillion boxes yesterday. Nearly the entire sewing room is packed. Only a few more boxes of books to pack (we're bookish people!), toys and the kitchen. Not bad with three weeks to go! And lest you think that we order lots from Barnes and Noble, we don't. But they sure do give out free, awesome moving boxes.

And then I pruned rose bushes until I was sufficiently scratched enough to swear off roses for the rest of my life. I think the world has got it backwards. Why are dandelions the weed and roses the pretty flowers? Dandelions don't hurt. They seem to do just fine the more you abuse them. I find roses to be too princessy for my tastes. At least the ones in my yard. Oh well. I'm moving away from them soon and I won't be missing them.

So I'm rewarding my little self with some sewing. I must get at least two more flimsies finished before the move. This one is nearly done - just one row left!

I have a whole slew of flimsy finishes to share on Friday. Just you wait! Three, plus this one. Happy day!

Linking up!

The World's Most Intriguing Blog Post Title

Cannot come up with a headline grabber to save my life today. Sorry!

It's Wednesday and I wish my WIPs were closer to finishing than they are, but blast it, I had to clean up the house again for another showing yesterday and then they called and want to show it again tomorrow. So 48ish hours between showings = plenty of time for the kids to trash the place. Good grief.

And I tried to clean out the shrubbery yesterday morning. Yeah, that's not going to happen. First, because I don't HAVE to do it (I was just being nice). Second, because I'd need a suit of armor to tackle those rose bushes. They are seriously overgrown and impossible to deal with. I've made a note to myself that I won't have rose bushes around my house. I'll go with hydrangeas and lilacs and other non-killer-thorny shrubs. These ones are AWFUL!

I much prefer dandelions . . .

Okay, but I'm going to sew this morning. And I'm going to work on these blocks:

I like them okay, which means it's great I'm giving it away. Still don't do well with scrappy stuff. But they are cute. The other plus to making these charity quilts is getting my daughter involved. She loves hanging out with me, and I'm teaching her sew, so we talk about what I'm working on and who it's for. I showed her the website for Quilts Beyond Borders and it started a conversation about orphans, poor people and helping others. I know I talk a lot about starving children in other countries (usually when I can't get them to eat homemade chicken pot pie awesomeness!), but I think it did her a lot of good to see kids who don't have much. And will do her good to help make something for them.

Linking up!

WIP Wednesday: I surrender!

Waving the white flag over here.

I surrender to the madness that is the scrappy trip along. I held out pretty well, don't you think?

I will confess it is not purely scrappy. My little OCD brain can't handle that just yet. I had all that London fabric left over from Christmas and thought I'd make a Trip Around London quilt. I pulled everything red, blue and yellow I had and I'm happily making blocks whilst watching Downton Abbey. Oh, and I threw a little Madrona Road text in there, just for fun. And I had to have the solid white to rest my eyes on.

I get why this is such a popular quilt to make.

Oh, and I made my second block for my do.Good Stitches bee. Wanted to try out a churn dash.

Love how it came together, but I'm not sold on low-volume. Add it to my list of quilty quirks. I might have to make a full on confession one of these days, but it may make me unpopular!

Linking up, because I certainly do have works in progress today!

WIP Wednesday: Can't Help Myself

My Weekender pattern arrived Monday afternoon. It completely derailed any logical plans from that point on.

As I've been waiting for it to arrive (like, for three WHOLE days!), I've been drooling over all the awesome bags out there, like this one, or this one, or this one. I've got serious Weekender bag envy. I MUST have a patchwork one.

So I bought some duck cloth at JoAnn's Monday on the way to swimming lessons (multi-tasker, that's me!). And I cut it out Monday night. And I might have forgotten to baste that Halloween zig zag quilt as I got lost in the piecing of my bag.

Um, hi, is this not awesome? I know, humble much Jennie? (If you don't like it, don't tell me. It's like telling a mother she has an ugly baby. Not cool. Or true. Every mother has a beautiful baby.)

I don't have the material yet for the lining. Or the piping. But I just had to piece these panels. It had to be done. Didn't it? Tell me it had to be done, please.

Okay, and I completely cut out my "plain" ones (as plain as bright pink dandelions and London umbrellas can get!).

Off to quilt that zig zag quilt. Ya know, before Halloween is over!

Linking up!

WIP Wednesday: Deliver me from Distraction!

I know I'm not the only one with this problem. I've been so productive lately, but then new fabric shows up and I want to dump the old, tired, I'm-bored-with-you projects and play with the new shiny, pretty fabric.

For the record, I was not this way with boyfriends. Or shoes. I have shoes that are 15 years old that I love. And I've been married 11 years. So this is clearly just a fabric thing.

But here is a finish for you from my 3Q FAL list! I had a Love U jelly roll that I'd cut into 2.5" squares. I pieced them into fun nine patch blocks and made a baby quilt a while back for my sweet little girl. She's outgrown it, so I used the rest of the nine patch blocks to make a toddler-sized quilt.

I love that it isn't entirely girly with bright oranges, yellows, greens, blues and reds as well as pink.

I love these little snails, marching around in a circle (sort of).

And the owls make me smile. I didn't know I was such an owl person until recently. And little missy has an owl costume for Halloween. I love it!

Backed in the green butterfly and flower print, bound with the green dots. It's perfect. And I think she likes it!

As for WIPs, there are too many to count! So for today, here's what I'm doing:

Cutting the binding for my string quilt.

I don't know what it is, but I just don't like making binding. It's so tedious. I've got some Star Wars binding to make too.

Also on my list:

Cutting interfacing for my bags and sewing machine cover. I felt really ridiculous taking photos of interfacing. It's like photographing your underwear when you're doing laundry. Not exactly super glamorous. Well, maybe your underwear is fancier than mine. But let's stop talking about underwear. Here's the progress on the sewing machine cover, mat, pincushion, and thread catcher.

My WIP list is mostly about finishing things.

To Piece:
Quite Contrary quilt
PKM Dresden plate quilt
Cowgirl Saltwater Taffy quilt
Christmas string quilt
Lucy's Crab Shack triangle quilt

To Quilt:
Yellow and Orange string quilt
R2D2 quilt
3 Christmas quilts

To Avoid:
Halloween fabric (making bags in October)
Two FQ bundles of Apple of my Eye
Gypsy Girl FQ bundle that is arriving today (for a quilt for my daughter)

Linking up!