WIP Wednesday

Welcome back!

Last year I joined in Material Girl's layer cake quilt-along project, featuring HST blocks.  I really enjoyed working on this project - two blocks were released a week for ten weeks and surprisingly, I managed to keep pace.  Then I came to the sashing and promptly ran out of Kona white.  A trip to the quilt shop for more white and I discovered while cutting the new sashing strips that it was not Kona white that I'd purchased.  Sigh.

Suffice it to say, I got busy, life happened and this project has since sat on my sewing table for a year.

More Kona white purchased and a dose of enthusiasm later, and I'm pleased to show off a freshly sashed quilt top:

I'm so happy with how this is turning out so far.  The sashing went together well and now I need to start deciding on borders and binding.  I intend to do scrappy binding, which I love the look of but for the borders, only a few of the fabrics I used are larger than FQs so I'll have to choose from among them.  I have a good chunk of the turquoise from the first block in row two (left side) and a really large chunk of the buttery yellow from the last block in row four (right side) so those are the most likely choices.

Detail shot of the pieced blocks:

And for good measure, one more shot from dead on at the foot of the bed:

Linking up to Freshly Pieced:

WIP Saturday

It's National Scrapbooking Day today but I seem to have gotten a wee bit confused because I spent it sewing!  But I have a good reason; I finally had both a fresh roll of thread and more importantly, time to sew thanks to the May Day long weekend.  In fact, I'm on day three of sewing, having spent the last two days at my friends' cottage working on various stitching projects.

Today I put together the final four blocks for my HST sampler quilt-along so I'm feeling very accomplished!

 Block #17

 Block #18

 Block #19

Block #20

Whew!  That's 20 quilt blocks now ready for squaring up and sashing tomorrow.  Then the fun of block placement begins.

I also finished off another milk carton woven basket.  This one in a smaller size (the size we've been making with my students at work) - 2x3 base and using orange juice cartons.  If you missed it, you can see my first basket here.

Not too shabby for a day's work.

WIP Wednesday

It's WIP Wednesday today!

Last Saturday I worked more on my layer cake sampler quilt-along and got another two blocks made up so I'm now 'caught up'.

 Block #9

This orange stripe fabric is some of my favourite.  Love the buttery yellow, too.

 Block #10

Half way done and this little quilt is shaping up quite nicely.  So enjoying this quilt-along!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday

Hello, hello!

I have more photo goodness to share with you today from my on-going layer cake sampler quilt-along.

 Block #5

This yellow fabric was one of a batch of new fabrics in the shop that I just had to have!  So glad I did - it looks fab paired with the white on red polka dot.

 Block #6

 Block #7

Block #8

And this turquoise feather print belongs to that same collection as the yellow above and as you can see, it also came home with me.  The bright yellow matched up well with the yellow in the feathers.  So cheerful.

I can't say how much I've been enjoying this quilt-along.  I look forward to the new block releases each Friday and can't wait to get sewing once Saturday rolls around.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced...

WIP Wednesday

Two more new blocks to my layer cake sampler quilt-along project:

 Block #3

Just love how block #3 turned out!  I've loved that red and white print since the day I saw it and it pairs so nicely with the turquoise.  The perfect block for these prints.  Or is it the perfect prints for this block?

Block #4

I decided to use these two fabrics for this block because the green and white stripe print is a wee bit light against the white background and grouping them together helps give it more weight.  I also rather liked the symbolism of using a bird patterned fabric in the flying geese block and the green stripe makes me think of them flying over a mowed field.  Yeah, that's right, I'm just that silly.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced...

Quilt-Along...GO!

Hey, you!  I woke up this morning to a beautiful, clear blue sky (after a week and a half of on-again, off-again fog) and an itch to stitch!

After having finally cut out all of my 8" blocks and picking up some extra white background fabric, I set to work, joining in the Layer Cake Sampler Quilt-Along over at Material Girl.  I'm technically two weeks behind (possibly on the edge of three weeks behind) but not worrying about it in the least.  This isn't about 'keeping up' or deadlines, it's about creative therapy!

First two blocks are done and I finally got to really use my new little sewing corner - totally loving it!  Will definitely have to invest in more ambient lighting for the corner space in general but between the built-in machine light and an extra Ikea clip light, the throat-plate area of my sewing machine is very visible.

 Block #2

I actually did the blocks in reverse order, because I knew I had more of the above fabrics in case I muffed up somewhere along the line and I thought these would work really well with this block design.  Completely love the colour combination and how it turned out.

Block #1

And here's the second (first?) one.  I just love that adorable yellow daisy print and it has the finest hint of bold orange in it so it worked great with this orange leaf pattern.  I played with all three variations on this block but in the end I really liked this herringbone version best.

Tomorrow I'm off on a course to learn how to use milk cartons to make a woven basket.  Hoping I might be able to squeak out one more block after I get home from that.

WIP Wednesday

Hello, hello!

I seem to have a number of creative irons in the fire lately but am making very slow progress on a few of them.  Last Saturday was quilt guild day (which means I did get some sewing done) and we joined in a silk and wool felting demonstration.  It was good fun and I came home with this handmade flower:

I also worked on a special (secret) project - can't say more than that right now but here's a sneak peak:

And finally, I found a bit of time to finish cutting out my 8" squares for the Layer Cake Sampler QAL going on over at Material Girl.  Yes, I'm about two weeks behind and should have four blocks done by now but since I wasn't using a pre-made layer cake, it took me a bit of time to dig through the stash, choose fabrics and then cut them to size.  But that's done for now and I have 36 of my 42 blocks and a good start of background fabric to keep me busy for a little while.  Hopefully I'll have those four blocks done by next week.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday...

WIP Wednesday

Hello, hello!  Well, it's been a few days - work is a rollercoaster, as always.  But I have something to share with you today.  You may recall that back in January (this post, to be exact), I mentioned my plans to take an old and long unused computer desk and convert it into a sewing corner.  Well, check this out:

 (Apologies for the poor lighting.)

So I cleaned off the old desktop computer, which will be going to a friend, plus all the other junk (for lack of a better description).  I took off the shelving unit that was attached to the top of the desk - it was rather confining and I wanted to not have the desk facing the wall; then turned the desk around to look into the room and get some natural light from the nearby window.

Here's a closer look into the corner.  As it turned out, the shelving unit was still reasonably sturdy on its own and it literally *just* fit next to the larger shelving unit (which also gave it extra support on the weaker side).  I've filled it with my scrapbooking supplies and it's so nice to finally have a proper place for things now and not have to dig around in dark, cramp piles!

I haven't actually had time yet to sit down and sew but having this dedicated space is really making me want to.  Which leads me to my next share for today.  On Sunday I shared a pin to this layer cake sampler quilt-along:

Layer Cake Sampler Quilt-Along

I've decided that I'm going to jump in and join and I'm so excited!  I don't have any layer cakes so I went through my fat quarter collection and my scraps and have pulled out a large stack of fabrics and even started cutting.  I'm going to use 8" square blocks so that my final finished blocks measure 12" square.

Linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced:

Pinspiration Sunday

Well, here we are back at Sunday.  I can't believe I've successfully blogged for nine consecutive days!  It's amazing what you can get done when work doesn't get the in the way.  Sadly, that will all change with returning to work tomorrow...  But let's not dwell on that just yet.  Go grab your hot beverage of choice and we'll enjoy some photo love.

Currently:

* watching - nothing good on the telly
* reading - Still Alice
* making - nothing today (break!)
* eating - stir fry & noodles
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans & long-sleeve top
* weather - clear, 4C
* feeling - accomplished
* wanting - to start a quilt-along
* needing - to go to bed early
* planning - a little self improvement
* thinking - just 8 more weeks to Easter break...
* loving - my re-arranged living room (more on Wednesday)
* enjoying - Canada's Olympic gold hockey medal WHOOT!

And now on to the pins!

When Bali Met Sochi

Want to continue getting your Olympic fix even though the Games have officially closed?  Try this beautiful batiks quilt inspired by the 2014 Winter Games artwork.

Layer Cake Quilt-Along

I just found this great sampler quilt-along by Material Girl.  All of the blocks use HST and are very quick and easy to put together.  The plan is to make two blocks each over ten weeks and late-comers are welcome.

Cat Lady Embroidery

Are you a (crazy) cat lady or one in the making?  Then you might like these cute Internet-inspired free embroidery patterns.

Handbag Inserts Pattern

If you love having different handbags but hate the transferring of your stuff from one to another, here's the solution - handmade, of course!

Mission Concepcion

I'm totally in love with triangles!  I love this yummy orange and turquoise triangle border paper and the popped-up effect used to add dimension.  So cool!

Our Little Snug Bug

Remember I said I love triangles?  I really like the visual triangle and little bits and bobs clustered on these floating triangles.

Interesting Bits by Julie Kirk

Julie Kirk sells these fun little ephemera packs on her Etsy shop.  If you like ephemera, these could be a great option - paper, embellishments, bits and bobs, etc. and all co-ordinated to work together.

Shaped Word Clips

Lawn Fawn has some fun new shaped word clips in super pretty colours.  There are a nice variety so go check them out.

Holiday Glimmer Palette

This is such a pretty champagne-like colour palette.