Sunday Stash - Kona-tastic!

At last week's Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Sew In, Aimee of Candy Coated Quilts dropped off the August and September editions of her Candy Coated Collections. All I can say is yum! 

Don't you just want to jump right into cutting them and make something amazing? These collections beg to be kept together! But I'm immune to begging... I'll be sorting them into my colour coded Kona cubbies (Say that five times fast!)

Because I'm a little ridiculous about my Konas, I save the labels. Once the fabric is washed and ironed, the labels go back on. A little planning on the front end saves me time when it comes time to work with the fabric.

One of the other great things about Candy Coated Collections is that for the entire month, the inspiration photos decorate my bulletin board!

I also found a lovely little squishy surprise in my mailbox from the lovely Lynn @ Button Quilts.

Inside I found Ballerina, Honeysuckle, and Scone - three of the Konas I was missing for my Kona colour swatch binder. Don't you wish you had a bloggy friend who sends you random wonderfulness? I'm a lucky, lucky woman. Thanks, Lynn!

I don't necessarily aspire to possess all #OMG303 colours of Kona, but one day, I will have made a project with all of them. Except maybe the browns. ☺ In any case, that's why I have my trusty list to track them.

I'm linking up with the fabulous Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash Here's hoping he's moved on from Liberty prints this week. Where are the solids, Molli? Where are the solids? Oh wait... I guess they're right here!

J

Friday Finish - Bali Strip Pop!

Not just a Friday Finish, but also my goal for this month's edition of A Lovely Year of Finishes! I was #74 in the Goal Setting Party.... though my goal got a revision mid-month. This quilt was pieced last year and has been hanging about forever, so it's great to have it finished and ready to move on to a new home!

 

There are lots of bits and pieces in this quilt. I see a pillow case I made for camping, a baby quilt for a co-worker's little one, J-Boy's Christmas quilt from 2009, parts of Miss K's Kaleidoscope... and so many more. It's what I always love about working with scraps... seeing all those previous projects in a little slideshow in my head.

Sometimes it amazes me that I can make a quilt of fabric that I'm really not that excited about anymore (balis) and still really like the finished product! I now have a very small pile of balis left in my stash and have sent all my scraps to new homes. I'm moving on...

The quilting is horizontal wavy lines... perfect for softening up the very linear strips. It'll get even better once it's washed a few times. The thread is variegated teal which blends with many of the fabrics, but really pops on the purple or dark blue sections.

The binding is scrappy... just like the rest of it! I love using up bits and pieces this way. It's also a great way to make the binding blend with the top.

 Yay for finishing things and yay for the sun coming out just in time for a few pictures!

The Deets

Title:  Bali Strip Pop

Size: 53 by 77 inches

Fabrics Used: 2½ inch strips of bali/batik scraps
Quilting: Wavy lines in variegated teal and solid teal (Gutterman) 
Binding: Scrappy balis. Hand stitched with Gutterman 625
Backing: Bali/batik print in black, puple, & blue

Favourite Part(s): Cleaning out the bali scrap bin, reminiscing about past projects, and having something lovely to donate to the adolescent mental health unit of our local women's and children's hospital

I'm linking up today with the Finishes Party for ALYOF, as well as TGIFF @ My Quilt Infatuation AND Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts. Phew! That's a lot of link-ups!

J

It's coming... #TBT!

Hey everyone! Just a friendly reminder that next, Thursday, September 3rd, is Throwback Thursday {Volume 2} here at A Quarter Inch from the Edge!

You've still got time to snap some fresh pics of an oldie but goodie and show it off in a blog post! You know you've got a few gems hanging around.  I dug into the photo vault for this one... a Trip Around the World (à la Eleanor Burns) that I gifted to a co-worker way back in 2004.

 Thankfully, my quilt photo taking has improved. Far fewer feet are captured in my pics these days!

Not a Kona to be seen in this one. So very country! If only I had a close up of the fabrics to show you... you'd never believe they came from my stash.

Hope to see you next Thursday for the link-up!

J

WIP Wednesday - So many secrets...

This past weekend was Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's monthly Sew In. I was the first in the door (other than our hostess) and one of the last to leave! The Quilting Protection Program was in full effect at this particular Sew In... making it more than a little tricky to blog about it! First up QPP Project #2.

I'm putting use that precious Natural History Fabric I blogged about on Sunday.  I paired it with a spectrum of Kona blues: Sky, Niagra, Astral, Deep Blue, Nightfall, and Midnight (from top to bottom). Here's a little sneaky peaky of it sewn together. You'll see more at a later date. I promise!
Then QPP Project #3 - I can say what it is, I just can't show much! It's my mini-quilt for the MMQG swap. Thankfully, my partner wasn't in attendance, so I could put the hammer down and get a lot done!

I also managed to finish off some laminate bibs for DT. Not that they don't have bibs, lovely ones even, it's just that as BT gets taller and taller, it's tougher to keep him from pulling the bib out and defeating the purpose of it by smearing himself with food!

Guess that laminate purchase was justified!

I'm linking up today with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, as well as Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts. Have you heard about her upcoming QAL and Blog Hop?

I will admit here and now that I have given in... I can no longer resist Lorna's cute animals! Honestly, she's come up with a zillion and one shades of cuteness, but these perky eared critters were the last straw!

J

Sunday Stash - I didn't fall off the wagon...

I jumped off! Have you ever noticed that when life gets stressful and you don't have as much time or energy to sew, you buy fabric? Well, maybe it's just me. But I truly jumped off the Fabricaholics Anonymous wagon over the past couple weeks.


First there was an absolutely necessary order to Mad About Patchwork to get the Konas I NEEDED for QPPP Project #1 - Cardinal and Butter.

But there are so many other lovely things at Mad About Patchwork. And we had a special discount for our MQG this month. It would be rude not to take advantage of the offer. Right?

I picked up some Alison Glass Mercury in Chartreuse, Pearl Bracelets in Chocolate, and Mini Pearl Bracelets in Lemon Curd. Is it wrong that I want all the Pearl Bracelets in all the colours? I think Lynn at Buttons Quilts already has them... you know, just to taunt me.

And we've got a new fabric shop in the HRM. It's called The Makinso and they had a soft opening a week or so ago. I had to check it out and report back to my MMQG peeps. And it would be rude to go and not support a new small business!

And these tiny gnomes were just so danged cute. They'll definitely make it into DT's Polaroid quilt!

Then we had our MMQG August meeting at Patch Halifax. And I was nervous about doing a EPP primer for my guildmates. So I shopped my feelings. 

Chris, Patch's owner, brought in Lizzie House's Natural History... almost all of it AND in the colour pathways that I've been ogling for months. Pictured above are (from the top) Dino Exhibit in Navy, Twinkle Twinkle in Navy, and Hall of Gems in Sapphire. I could each and every print in this collection... and I'm seriously considering it. I've wanted Dino Exhibit for a certain project for a dino lovin' friend. More on QPPP #2 at a later date!

And then a ginormous squishy envelope arrived from Pile O Fabrics. I am a weak, weak individual.

I succumbed to another print from Lizzie House's Natural History line - Giants of the Deep in Ocean. If you're keeping track, I now have 4 of 19 prints.  

Does this one remind you of anything?

Yup, it's old school bowling scoresheets! It's Score Card in Dark Plum from the Lucky Strikes (Cotton & Steel). Into the low volume/text collection this goes!

But here's the real reason for my order... 

It's the Naughty or Nice bundle from Pile O Fabrics. Love, love, love! Cotton & Steel and coordinating Konas and prints all together!  

From top to bottom: Snow Globes in Teal, Cheers in Teal, Christmas Forest in White, Washi in White, Ornament in Metallic Teal, Notes to Santa in Multi

 

From top to bottom: Stitch Square in Berry, Squared Elements in Pomegranate, Netorious in Gold Mixing Bowl, XOXO in Picnic Gold, Crosshatch in Fern, Crosshatch in Fern, Crossquare in Green, and Dumb Dot in Navy, and Winter Pomegranate in Navy

 

From top to bottom: Nautical, Grasshopper, Candy Green, Ice Frappe, Cardinal, Candy Pink

This bundle, even with our cruddy Canadian dollar at present, was a great deal! And there are still some left! I'm seriously thinking about making that long thought of Christmas quilt for our family!

But now I'm back on track. I'm going to sew instead of buy. Honest! I'm linking up with the other Fabricaholics over at Sunday Stash with Molli Sparkles. Yikes.

J

WIP Wednesday - Tiny, tiny hexies!

The August lesson for Technicolor Galaxy launched last week and whilst DT were napping, I got down to the business of preparing the fabric.

 

So many tiny squares! The pattern called for 1¼ inch squares, but when I lined them up with the stabilizer hexies, they just looked too danged small. I opted for 1½. That ¼ inch really make a difference to me when it came to glue basting the edges!

I spent a very sticky couple of hours in front of the TV getting these little darlings ready. You'll notice a lack of blue. I set the goal of prepping the lime and the plum hexies. Sometimes when I'm staring down the barrel of an unpleasant task... such as glue basting 84 tiny hexies... I break the work into smaller goals. I'll get stitching on these and see where it takes me!


On a similar note, I'm doing a pieced low volume background for these four blocks. Bet you can't guess what shape I'm piecing?!

You guessed it! LV hexies. I've worked out that I need 12 hexies per block... so that's 48 hexies just for backgrounds.

You just can't scrimp on hexies, but I hate doing all that hand piecing, knowing that all those edgy bits will be trimmed away. Oh well...

Here's an idea of what it's going to look like... I'm loving it already! Just two more hexie flowers to for for this block. That's 21 tiny hexies per block plus 12 large hexies for the background times 4 blocks.

Yup.  132 hexies. Yikes. It's best not to dwell on it for too long!

I'm linking up today with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Pop on over and see what quilty fun people are cramming into the last few weeks of summer.

J

P.S. Are you out there in the blogosphere working on a Technicolor Galaxy quilt? How about joining in a little progress link-up? It'll be happening on the 12th of the month from now until December!

Why the 12th, you ask? Strategically chosen to avoid WIP Wednesday, Sunday Stashes, and Throwback Thursdays. How's that for planning?!

Oh dear...

A while back, I set my goal for August in ALYOF. And now the wheels have fallen off the wagon. I actually got started. You see, my goal is to make a lovely Beatrix top à la Made by Rae.

http://www.made-by-rae.com/beatrix/

At the most recent Sew Day with the Squares, I summoned up the courage to take Step 1 in the Beatrix-along. I got Q-B to measure me. And today I sat down to figure out what those measurements meant related to size selection. What they mean is that this pattern won't fit me. Ugh. I don't have the skills to upsize the pattern and I can't bring myself to make something for a goal that won't fit me after all my hard work. Insert sad face here.

So I'm calling an audible. With half the month already gone, my goal can't be too onerous. But I'm setting a new one regardless. I hope the lovely ladies of ALYOF will forgive me this one. I don't want to break my finishes streak, but this is a special case.

New goal: get this binding onto this quilt that's been looking at me for months!

It's finally quilted and only needs a binding before it can be donated to our local women & children's hospital. Now I'm off to cut some 2½ inch strips!

J

P..S. I haven't given up on Beatrix. It just means I have some more motivation to meet my weight loss goals. When my measurements line up with that size chart, I'll get sewing. You can take that promise to the bank!

#TBT Giveaway winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up with the first ever Throwback Thursday @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge. It was a treat to see your quilts from way back when and read the stories behind them.

But what about the giveaway winners, you say? Well, Mr. Random Number Generator did his thing and picked #9 in the linkups. That's Julie @ Julie's Quilts & Costumes who wrote all about the first quilt she ever made in a quilting class. It's scrappy, jewel toned, and has a tonne of HSTs. Pop on over and check it out! As for the comments, Mr. RNG went for #8. That was Connie from Oregon. Congratulations to both of you!

Hope to see you back on September 3rd for Throwback Thursday {Volume 2}!

J

Oh how I love a Selv-EDGE!

It's check in day at the Selvage Along @ Quilt Habit and Quilts of a Feather. I can't say that I've set my mind on a particular project, but that's okay since the Selvage Along doesn't finish up until September 21. That's loads of time... says the procrastinator!

Whenever I just feel like sewing and don't know what, I make selvage blocks. I don't worry much about what they're going to become. I'm just making them and I'll see what they turn into down the road!

 

Now you can see why my selvage bin is organized the way it is. These blocks are foundation pieced on muslin. I mark a 45° line on the corner and use it as a guide for topstitching the selvages. I keep a bunch of foundations prepped for whenever I feel like stitching up a block.

I also have a lot of teal fabric in my stash which means a lot of teal selvages. ☺

Lately, I've been thinking about cutting these 8 inch squares down to 4 inch and putting them together into something... but what?!

 

I'm linking up today with Quilty Habit & Quilts of a Feather. I love the pace of this quilt along. The way the tutorials are spaced out, you have a chance to make something. Unless you haven't been saving selvages... then you're in trouble!

 

J