springy baby irish chain

I've talked about my partner in baby quilt crime before - we live in a baby prolific area and have teamed up on many projects over the last couple of years. And most recently we have churned out about 4 baby quilt in almost as many weeks!! It's been a little crazy. Brynn is normally the piecer with myself doing the quilting and we've swapped around who does the binding.  But we've been able to work together to give a gift that both of our hands have made.  And I really love that.

Admittedly, Brynn has a pretty amazing hefty stash that we've worked from.  Plus she's great at quilt math and is a very precise piecer.  I've gotten comfortable in my role as the quilter and actually really enjoy free motion quilting these smaller quilts.

However, on this particular quilt I had all of these fun scraps leftover from my scrappy trip around the world quilt.  And I wanted to contribute materials too so I offered to piece the top. I really love an Irish Chain and after watching this awesome tutorial, from the Missouri Quilt Co, was super inspired to get it going!

So I started with my scraps and some trusty Kona Snow and made up some nine-patches.  Side note: I love chain piecing.  Side note 2: all photos here taken on my iPhone 5 and don't look as good blown up.  Please forgive me.

I started to get really excited as I started laying out the nine patches with the solid blocks.

And even more excited when I got it all put together and thought about backing it with the aqua chevron and binding it with the red dots!

I then packaged it up and sent it to Brynn for quilting and binding and a good washing.  Side note 3: the sun was really bright at the shower.

And here's a quick detail of the quilting and binding.  Brynn is also super proficient in her binding skills, they always look so nice and crisp.  Side note 4: in a house with poor night lighting and phone camera photos sometimes Kona white gets mixed in with the snow and you don't notice until you get it in some real daylight *smacks head*.

I do love the way this quilt turned out. The colors seemed really cheery to me and perfect for our friend who is having her 3rd baby and 3rd girl.  Aqua is the new pink.  Did you know?

I have several more baby quilts to share.  How about we have a baby quilt exclusive sew & tell soon?

Modern Basics II

Hi friends!  I'm really excited to share with you Modern Basics II! This is the second book by one of my first (and sweetest) blogging friends, Amy of Amy's Creative Side.

This is Amy's follow up book to Modern Basics and once again has charmed us with 14 modern designs with easy to understand instructions for creating the quilts in a variety of sizes. The book is full of gorgeous photos of each quilt along with color coded instructional diagrams.  I also love the quilting basics section in the back of the book. I always learn something new!

In looking through the book, one of the things that stood out to me the most was Amy's comments at the beginning of the book. That she created all of these quilts amid the busy-ness of caring for her family, without a designated sewing space impresses me, not just with her organization skills but her encouragement that these quilts really are attainable for any quilter, any skill level, and any situation.

I always get intimidated when starting a project, it usually puts me off.  But her clear cutting and piecing instructions, with diagrams, make the process understandable, and less scary. And then I start thinking of fabrics to pull to start another project!

Modern Exchange is an example of how 2 simple blocks alternated can make a beautiful and interesting quilt top. Shown here, the large focal print jumps out at you, while putting it together with more solids/small scale prints would achieve a completely different look.

Amy asked us to share a favorite tip or tool with you. My favorite tool is also a tip, and maybe a bit unconventional. Recently, I've been working with a friend on a lot of baby quilts. My sewing companion is my iPad. From watching (or-re watching) my favorite shows while sewing, looking up a tutorial, referencing a quilt top layout, or getting quick feedback on Instagram when I need it--it really has become a staple when I'm sewing! Maybe I'm just addicted a gadget geek, but it really helps me keep information at my fingertips! In fact, I read Modern Basic II in e-book form!

Go to Amy's post to find out how to win your own copy! There you will find links to see more of the quilts and find out how to get an extra entry by going on a scavenger hunt and filling out this form.  There will be 15 copies given away and Amy's plans to share some fun things from her stash as well!

Just for fun let me in on your favorite tip or tool in the comments! Am I crazy for loving my iPad?!

starting fears and a virtual quilting bee

I have been so out of the blogging scene for the last several months (or maybe close to a year) that I haven't been keeping up with posting here, let alone reading others blogs.  I just came across something that a dear friend of mine is doing and I wanted to give you a heads up!

I know a lot of you are seasoned quilters but I also know a lot of you (and others who I'm going to direct here to see this) are beginners and want to start quilting but don't know quite where to start or how to get the information you need.  I've had several friends ask and I always point them towards Amy's blog, Diary of a Quilter, because she's so down to earth and explains things very well.  Not to mention that each of the quilts she makes are gorgeous, and I'd like to replicate pretty much every single one!

She is hosting a virtual quilting bee!  Starting this month and going through the fall!  The first month of posts focus on basics with block tutorials following every other week.  Click on this button here to take you to the posts!!

I'm always afraid to start projects and cutting into my fabrics.  I have a theory I wrote about several years ago, The Science of Fabric Love, why it's scary to make that first cut!  I also find myself learning new things all the time from the basics section of various quilt books and tutorials found online.  Plus having a deadline and following a schedule are always good ways to improve my chances of completing a project!!

So go check this out!  Let me know if you are planning on participating!

WIP Wednesday: more scrappy tripping along

I've been feeling the itch to get caught up here on the ole blog and couldn't decide where to start as I have many completed projects and my forever sewing room cleanup/organization project. So I think I'll continue to tell you about my most current WIP.

I knew I didn't have enough of my fat quarter bundle to pull off the whole quilt but at the same time wasn't sure about how much I actually needed.  I was worried about cutting too much of any given fabric or what colors I needed to supplement.  What I needed to do was get the blocks finished that I was working on and just see where I stood.

So I let my strip sets sit around for a while until the other night when I sat down with a Downton Abbey rerun (I have A LOT to say about that show!!) and sewed up the rest of the blocks I had prepped.  Here's an idea of what it will look like.  I'm really loving it!

I have 13 blocks finished and am planning on 30 total. I'm not as far along as I'd hoped but I have some new fabrics to add in and I think it's going to turn out really cute.

 

I plan on backing it with the blue chevron and binding with the red dots! 

This is one quilt that I'm hoping to finish for myself in record time.  I started it in January and hope to have it all done in the next month or so.  

I'm also mulling over an Amy Butler Weekender bag.  I got the pattern for Christmas and am currently debating fabric choices: buy something new? or use up my stash?  Tough decision.