ALYOF - September Finish(es)!

I set myself a lofty goal for September's version of A Lovely Year of Finishes (Post #2 on the Goal Setting Party). Not one, not two, but three goals. Yes, I broke the rules. And guess what? I managed to finish them all... along with solo parenting the now 10 month old, walking whirling dervishes that are Double Trouble for many of September's 30 days. Enough about my supermom-ness, on to the quilting!

Goal 1 - QPP Project #3 - MMQG Mini Swap (Due September 10th)

You can read the finish post for this little lovely here.

Goal 2 - QPP Project #4 - Do Bees FQ Swap (Due September 24th)

I finished this one with a vengeance! The task was to make something and I made three somethings - a 1 Hour Basket, a zipper pouch, and a lanyard. You can read more about them here.

Goal 3 - Woodland themed Polaroids for Lara from BuzzinBumble (Due September 30th)  
I didn't have quite as many camping/woodland themed prints in my stash as I thought I did... shocking for a Girl Guide! I might have stretched the definition of woodland a little bit, so I included some extras for Lara. These little lovelies are going in the mail this week!

I'm linking up with the September Finishes Party over at Fiber of All Sorts. Big shout out to Bittersweet Designs and Fibre of All Sorts for this very motivating link-up. I hope they keep it rolling in 2016!

J

Sunday Stash - Unexpected...

Since I made 0 trips to my LQS and 0 on-line purchases this week, I really wasn't expecting to have a Sunday Stash post this week. But somehow, fabric made it's way into my life nonetheless!

On Thursday evening, before our Do Bees FQ Swap, Fancy Nancy gifted me this little lovely, tied up with some selvages (she saves for me!).

It's classified ads for all manner of little vehicles! Too cute! Fancy Nancy said it was in exchange for the cat fabric I gave her a while back... not at all necessary, but appreciated. And it's got a lovely selvage!

Then at the MMQG Sew In yesterday, Val (of Purple Boots & Pigtails fame) gave me this fun print. Do you recognize it?

Yup! It's Mr. Men!  She found it in a quilt shop in Newfoundland and though of BT... since her Mr. Purple Boots Junior is a little big for novelty prints these days. Mr. Tickle was always a favourite!

BT did well on this round.... vehicles and Mr. Men. I might have to go internet hunting for some Little Miss fabric for GT.  These babies are so lucky to have people thinking of them and sending little gifties. It's really not about the gifties... it's the thought that means so much to me.

And then, out of the blue, appeared the October selection of Canady Coated Collections. I wasn't expecting it and it was a great pick me up! Aimee went for Hallow'en-ish. I love it! And wouldn't you know, I was looking for some Kona Corn Yellow a while back!

I'm linking up with good 'ole Molli Sparkles for some Sunday Stash action. Pop on over and get your fabric fix. If only one could pet it trhough the screen! 

J

Friday Finish - More Swappin' and a Secret Revealed!

Finally, Quilting Protection Program Project #4 can be revealed! At the beginning of the summer, the ladies of my Thursday evening quilt bee, the Do-Bees, swapped FQ bundles.We didn't know which bundle belonged to who and had only one rule: make something!

 

First up, a 1 Hour Basket à la Kelby Sews. This is my second time doing this pattern and I'm much more pleased with the final result. You can see the first incarnation here.

I stipple quilted the portion with the elephants... though it was tough to sew over their little faces somehow. The quilting gave the body of the basket a little more umph.

Even though I didn't use decor weight fabric, I wanted the basket to sit up more than my last version. I opted to make a sandwich of the exterior layers. I used quilting weight fabrics on top, a layer of fusible interfacing, a layer of batting, then another layer of interfacing. This time, my basket isn't near so shlumpy!

I also whipped up a little zipper pouch with a vinyl backing. I find these very convenient. You can keep little things organized and know what's in there without opening it!

And just for fun, I made a lanyard with the few scraps I had left. Fancy Nancy, who provided this fabric selection, was quite pleased with her treasures, though she did apologize to me for the fact that I had to work with pink! Anything for you, Fancy!

And lucky me, my swap partner turned this...

Into this...

Odd lunch bag, you say? Nope. it's a carrying case for my Oliso. AND it opens up to be a pressing mat when you arrive at your sewing destination!

I suspect that if you pop over to Anja Quilts sometime soon, you'll be able to read a little more about it. I'm linking up today with Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts, as well as TGIFF @ Simply Pieced. Pop on over and check outs some fab Friday finishes!

J

And don't forget about next week's Throwback Thursday {Volume 3}!

Just 7 sleeps...

... until Throwback Thursday {Volume 3}!

If you haven't linked up yet, next Thursday is your chance to share a post all about a project from your quilty past. The good, the bad, the ugly. Anything goes. Pull out a fav and give it a quilty photoshoot. Tell us a story about it.. or two!

To get you thinking for next week, here's my #TBT for this week.  Fall has arrived here in Nova Scotia and that crisp autumnal bite in the air is turning my thoughts to camping. Probably because for a decade or so, I helped organize an outdoor skills competition for junior high aged Girl Guides. This little quilt is as close as I'm likely to get to camping this year!

This paper pieced mini was completed back in 2011. The pattern was from a long since discarded Quiltmaker magazine.  I was pretty darned impressed with the FMQ I did in the borders. It mimics the foliage in the batik.

Love this little campfire... more FMQ to create flames.

Hope to see you back next Thursday with a story to tell!

J

P.S. I just realized this is my 300th post! I'm probably the only person on earth excited about that, but it makes me smile, and smiling is good! ☺

WIP Wednesday - The secrets continue!

It's Wednesday and I've actually been sewing this week! Yay! Only trouble is... I can't really show you much. Damn you, Quilting Project Protection Program. That said,  QPP Project #4 is now complete. And I'll be showing it off to you on Friday. Patience, Grasshopper! And QPP Project #2 just needs to be gifted and you'll be seeing it too!

Here's a little sneaky peak of QPP Project #1. I'm making great progress on it - 15 of 30 blocks done!

I will freely admit that this does NOT look very exciting, but it is! It really is! I can't wait until I can share it!

I couldn't do an entire post with just one pic of some squares being sewn together. A while back, Q-D (Girl Guide pal, Q-Squared friend, MMQG guild member and maker of this awesomeness) asked me if I would help sort this pile into a colour wheel friendly rainbow spectrum. With my Technicolor Galaxy shenanigans, she figured I could handle it.

As I dug through the pile, I pulled out all the scraps that had multiple colours in them. I find them hard to use in rainbow palettes. I also set aside the grey prints... not so rainbowy.

As I sorted, I laid them out in a rough colour wheel. Sometimes my workspace just doesn't seem large enough.

No shortage of purples in this spectrum... not shocking given that Q-D just finished a massive project involving a whole lot of purple. I'd insert a link to her blog so you could check it out, only she stubbornly refuses to create one. She makes awesome stuff though... I wish she'd share it in the blogosphere!

I might have to dive into my stash and help Q-D out with this section of the rainbow... not so many yellows and oranges!

I'll be delivering a rainbow sorted spectrum of scraps to Q-D at our MMQG Sew In this week-end. I'm sure she'll be jazzed! 

And, since it's Wednesday, I'm linking up with  and WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced and Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts. Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts is the brain behind the Dog Gone Cute QAL. If you're not yet QAL, it's not too late to whip up some super adorable pups. Now that so many of my September projects are wrapping up, I'll be turning my attention to some Dog Gone Cute-ness!

J

True Confessions of a Selvage Junkie

Here's the thing: I tend to work on selvage projects when I don't have anything else on the go. Not so much the case lately! I didn't manage any new projects... even though I had lovely, luxurious weeks to get on the bandwagon.  So I thought I'd share some of my past selvage shenanigans... including the one that started it all.

Someone showed up at a guild meeting with a bag like this and I was all in! I had to make one of my own. I scrimped and pinched and begged selvages from friends (they all save for themselves now). I still love to pull this out as a summertime purse!

 

Once I finished that purse, I was truly hooked. I went on to make some simple zipper pouches. Sometimes it's those every day items that can bring one the most enjoyment. You get to admire those little selvages every time you pull it out of your purse!

Then I stumbled onto selvages as spools of thread... couldn't resist that idea either! Thankfully, Tallgrass Prairie Studios has a lovely tutorial for them! This was one of my first forays into an improv style of piecing and definitely an early use of Kona Ash. Sadly, it's never made it to a studio wall (except for this pic!)

This one did make it to the wall though... and sometimes doubles as an extra bulletin board when the other one gets too full!

Once upon a time, a bee mate requested an improv star block with selvages. This one, using Dominique @ The Running Thimble's tutorial, ticked all the boxes!

And then there's the selvage block from last year's Skill Builder BOM.  It was such fun to match the selvages to the quilt colours... and to choose ones that might actually be book titles!

Here's the most recent of my selvage projects, a pillow for the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's swap with the Edmonton Modern Quilt Guild.

You can read more about it's creation here.
 

I'm linking up with Final Link-Up for the Selvage Along over at Quilty Habit & Quilts of a Feather!

 

Thanks so much to both of these lovely bloggers for organizing a laid-back link-up. I loved the pops of selvage-y inspiration every week or so. So nice not to feel like I was on hamster wheel style-along where one can't possibly catch up or participate!

J

Sunday Stash - Happy Birthday to me!

Hmmm.... I can almost hear you. Wait a sec. Isn't her birthday in February? And her blogoversary is in July, isn't it? (I know you have those marked on your calendars - they're giftable holidays afterall).Okay, okay. It wasn't my birthday. But a lovely little LQS, Patch Halifax, had their birthday party yesterday and I couldn't resist celebrating a little. Namely, by taking advantage of a sweet discount!

I've been in love with Lizzy House's Natural History for Andover from the get go. I don't think I'm alone in that... a lot of the prints are sold out at Mad About Patchwork and the bolts at Patch are looking SLIM. I don't want them to disappear before I get some more in my stash. I snagged pieced of Star Chart in Night Metallic (I resisted the Turquoise... so much already in the stash) as and Twinkle Twinkle in Midnight Blue.

I've been eyeing the Butterfly Box in Bright and Blue. The Green pathway doesn't speak to me... not so many green butterflies out there in the world!

And because I'm a full on Cotton & Steel Basics junkie, I picked up some Sprinkles in Black Cat.

Do I have a purpose for these? Not so much. But the Star Chart and Butterfly Box prints are sure to appear in some Polaroid Blocks!

I'm linking up today with the now mostly unpacked Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash. Mmm... more fabric.

J

MMQG Mini Swap - con't!

Ack! How has more than a week gone by and I haven't managed to show you other half of the MMQG Mini Swap. I must have been too busy admiring it to blog about it! To ease the pain of giving up the little lovely that I had really come to like over the course of making it, I got this wonderful mini in exchange!

My swap partner, K, didn't really need to read a questionnaire to know of my love of Konas. It's a pretty open secret! I can't say with certainty, but I think she used White, Breakers, and Bahama Blue with itty bits of Azalea and Goldfish. And perhaps Jade Green on the binding. Love 'em all!

Check out these improv blocks! What fun!

 And the quilting! There's matchstick, and wavy, and echo... oh my!

 I love the fishies on the back and the snippets of them on the front!

All in all, this swap was a big success! I enjoyed the process of making a challenging mini for my partner and was pleased with the finished product AND I got a mini in return that will happily live on the walls at my house. Win - win!

How about you? Are swaps normally a win-win or not so much? 

J

Sunday Stash - Winner, winner!

Nope... no chicken dinner! But there is fabric... and we all know that's what you junkies are looking for in a Sunday Stash post. And better yet, I didn't buy any of it! I had a very lucky evening at this week's monthly meeting of the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild. First I snagged the prize for the "wear your name tag" prize.

A spool of thread and this nifty chalk pen. Has anyone out there used one of these? It's a new notion to me and I'm very curious. Also, thoughts on the thread from Connecting Threads? How well does it stay on one's machine with the spool shape?

And then I won this FQ bundle! It's curated by our PEI Leader, Heather and donated by the Canadian on-line shop, Fabric Please. If the jealousy is consuming you, you can order your own bundle. MMQG members even get a discount!

Here are the deets - or as many I can scrounge up with limited selvages! - Reel Time Film Strips in Chalk Ink (Moda), Hashmark Hash Dot in Papaya (Michael Miller), Boys will be Boys in blue (Freespirit), Block Party in Sunshine (Moda), Reel Time Lenses in Multi (Moda), Passport Etchings by 3 Sisters (Moda), and Jazz Jam Piano Keys in Grey (Andover)

I definitely was on a winning streak that night! Damn. I forgot to buy a lottery ticket on the way home! Oh well. I'm linking up today with Sunday Stash, though Blossom Hearts had to pinch hit for the up to his @#$hole in cardboard boxes, but ever glittery, Molli Sparkles.

J

Technicolor Galaxy Check in! {Volume 1}

Welcome to the first Technicolor Galaxy Check in @ A Quarter in from the Edge!

There are lots and lots of quilters out there working on the Skill Builder 2015 BOM - Technicolor Galaxy. Some use the private FaceBook group to post about our progress... others not so much. I've been finding ALYOF very motivating and thought it might be cool to have something just for those of us working on Technicolor Galaxy. And, with the blessing of Alyssa of Pile O Fabric, this link-up was born.

So here's where I am so far.
I'm halfway through the pieced backgrounds that I've (foolishly?) chosen.

 And most of the way through the actual tiny flower hexies!

I'm finding that with the added oomph of the stabilizer, they're not lying flat. Anyone else run into this problem? Did it resolve itself once it was appliquéd to the background? Please say yes!

 I only have the blue flowers left to do... but I don't seem to have much energy left for EPP by the end of the day lately. Lots of Grey's Anatomy via Netflix, but not so much EPP.

It'll get done though... it's not a race after all! In the last round of blocks, I found it easier to quilt the Arrowheads, Piano Keys, and Scattered Geese all in one marathon session. I could choose the back fabrics all at the same time as well. Instead of digging through my Konas three times (ain't nobody got time for that! ), I just did it just once.

And now it's your turn. Link up and share your progress to date.

An InLinkz Link-up

And remember, there's no judgement here. You don't need to be up to date (or even close!) to link-up. Wherever you are in the process is worth blogging about! It might even be your chance to ask a question of other TGers or catch a tip on a block you've yet to tackle.

Hope to see you back here on October 12th for Technicolor Galaxy Check in {Volume 2}!

J