TGIFF - I've been bitten...

Don't panic. I'm not rushing off to the ER for a tetanus shot nor do you need to start preparing garlic necklaces and sharpened stakes! I've been bitten by the mini mini bug!

This trend has been sweeping the blogosphere (and apparently Instagram-ville... though I'm not on that trend) for the past few weeks. And when I realized that my bloggy (and real life) pal, Anja, was hosting TGIFF this week, I needed a finish. FAST.

When I got to thinking about what to make, this pillow came to mind. It's one I made for our pillow swap with the Edmonton Modern Quilt Guild a while back. This could be easily made mini mini! And I do love me some selvages.

Instead of using my typical muslin or white Kona as a foundation, I opted to use strips of wash away stabilizer. That way, if it was too bulky when the selvages were stitched in place, I could submerge it in water and be done with the bulk. Incidentally, that didn't turn out to be necessary. ☺ I cut my strips 1 3/4 by 6½ inches, so I could trim them down.
Then to the selvages. I have a ridiculous number of teal selvages. Likely a result of a ridiculous number of teal fabrics in my stash.
And then I got so caught up in the fun that I didn't take another picture until I was quilting. Yikes. These mini minis really do come together fast! And match stick quilting is so much easier to commit to when you're only doing something 6 inches square!

To bind it, I used Yvonne @ Quilting JetGirl's fab selvage tutorial... easy peasy. It seems like the perfect way to finish this mini and saved me from even considering the madness that would be my usual double fold binding.

 This entire business just makes me happy. I think I might be hooked.

I've been working with these fabrics a lot lately... as you'll see in next Friday's big reveal. I love those little bees and their hexie hive!

And here it is with the quilt that inspired it, a little wallhanging that was meant to be a pillow at one point. It lives on my studio wall. The mini mini finishes up at 6 inches square... which is apparently a bit large for a mini mini. Oh well.

I am, of course, linking up with TGIFF @ Anja Quilts today, as well as with Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts. How about you? Have you jumped on the mini mini swap bandwagon? This one's up for swapping. Just let me know!

Psst... did you hear about the Birthday Bonus Club?

 There are still spots open, but they're going fast. Don't miss out!

J

WIP Wednesday - It's selvage time!

It's been another week of late night sewing... no matter what I try, I don't seem to be able to fall asleep much before 3 am. Oh well... As I said last week, I'm a little stumped on how to quilt a few of my WIPs, and part of me just felt like playing a little this week, so I dug out the selvage bin...

And had a good look at my selvage inspiration board on Pinterest. I found this little lovely from the Berlin Quilter, but sadly there was no tutorial. I had to put my Q-D skills to work and come up with my own measurements. I opted to make each rectangular section 3½ by 9½ with the goal of an 18 inch finished pillow.

 There's something about working with selvages that turns me into a messy quilter...
Now that the top's done, I'm not so sure I want it to be a pillow. I don't have a suitable place for a pillow of this sort to live... but I do have a few empty spaces on the walls on my new studio. Hmmm.... 

While I was playing with my selvages, I came across a whack of Amy Butler selvages and decided to whip a new insert for my phone case. Himself bought me this lovely clear case for Christmas... I can fill it with whatever fabric I want (though I will admit that I've only had a couple different prints in there since Christmas).
I figured if I made a few inserts at a time, I might change it more often!

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced as well as Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts.
Hope you had time for some sewing this week!

J

Tuesday Stash!

It's not Sunday, but I'm stash sharing anywho! I love it when an overstuffed squishy envelope arrives in my mailbox! It's like Christmas, and birthdays, and well, you get the idea. So much so that I just couldn't wait to share these treasures with you. I couldn't even wait for better light... excuse the watery yellow evening glow! ☺

First off, some little red foxes - Fox and the Houndstooth to be exact! It's destined to to be the backing that livens up this recent project. It'll be quilted in aqua thread and a bordered with solid red. How's that for a pop of colour?

And as if this fabric couldn't get any better... check out that selvage! Bow ties! Oh, Robert Kaufman. You know how to make a selvage junkie smile!

And once that practical (nothing says practical like foxes with monocles) purchase was made, I went a little wild! These matryoshka dolls were just too lovely to pass up. And their selvage is not too shabby either!

Himself rarely chimes in on fabric purchases, but when I showed him Ribs and Bibs, he actually requested a BBQ apron. That's right, my husband wants an apron. A manly apron, of course!

One item that never fails to please from Hawthorne Threads is their Scrap Pack. I've ordered the "Fresh" version three times now and have received some real treasures. Maybe on my next order, I'll branch out into the "Warm" or "Cool" packs. All this loveliness for $6.99. What a steal!

And then there's this... destined to be the feature print of two very special upcoming quilts. I couldn't resist Wild by Wee Gallery. I love a print with unusual animals and I think it will pair nicely with my beloved Kona solids.

 Who can say no to a fabric featuring narwhals? Not me, that's for sure!

 And I didn't even see these little critters in the preview pics! Hedgehogs... it's meant to be.

 Thanks for coming on my gushy, overexcited tour of today's mailbox treasures!

J

A little Bee-hind: ModQImprov April (and May!) Edition

I came to a horrible realization yesterday. I made a ModQImprov block for the April Queen Bee, put in an envelope, addressed it and.... never sent it! Ooops! And a worse crime in the eyes of my devoted readers (ha ha!), I failed to blog about it. In this post - a double dose of ModQImprov blocks.

For April, the Queen Bee requested a selvage block that included a star of some kind. That leaves a gal a lot of room to maneuver! Since the lovely Dominique over at the Running Thimble wrote a tutorial just for me a few months back, I decided to put it to use - wonky star à la Dominque!

I started out with my trusty notebook. With trepidation, I will admit. This appeared to have some math involved. Instead of using prints in the white areas as Dominique did, I planned to make areas of selvage.

Then on to the fun bit... cutting up that Kona Ash according to my plan. Ash is just right to make the bright bits of those selvages pop. When working on individual blocks lately, I've taken to using a scrap of batting as a mini, portable design wall. It lets me lay out the pieces as I wish and then move it around as needed. My sewing desktop is only 2 by 3 feet, so things often have to be shifted between cutting and sewing.

I got so into putting the selvages together that I forgot to take many pictures. Oops again. I top stitched them in place... here's hoping the Queen Bee doesn't wash this one too much! Doesn't look like that baby star is going to fit, does it?

But it did! Here it is complete and stuck to a wall with Washi tape.Were I to make this block again, I think I'd make a few adjustments (such as narrower points on the stars), but that's improv! Sometimes you just don't know how it's going to turn out.

For May's block, the Queen Bee requested a wonky pinwheel and offered up a lovely tutorial from Greenleaf Goods. She gave this palette from Design Seeds for inspiration.

http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/flowered-palette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definitely inspiring! I dove into the scrap bins and pulled some treasures. Printing the palette and having it on hand really helps me stick to the brief!

And in not too long, I had the coloured bits sewn to the 3½ inch Kona White foundation blocks. I pre-marked them with some wonky lines. Off to the cutting mat for my favourite (sarcasm!) part - trimming the blocks to size.

Again, once the wonky bits were done, this block came together very quickly. Here it is posing with the fresh new shoots of our Red Volunteer daylily (It'll be far more impressive in 3 months time!)

These are headed for the post office on Monday. I might have been behind for April, but at least I'm right on track for May! And with these blocks, I say good-bye to the ModQImprov Bee. It's been fun seeing what the Queen Bee would choose each month and having my skills challenged by blocks I wouldn't necessarily have chosen for myself. If you get the chance to join an on-line bee, I highly recommend it!

Hope you got some sewing in on this sunny Saturday! Or maybe you even got outdoors for some precious sunshine! Though I only finished one block, I had a great day sewing with my pals, the Squares!

J

Sunny Sew-Day or a Sew-y Sunday?

I guess it was a little of both! Today made Day 4 of my sew marathon. I don't really know what's going on with me in the productivity department, but I suspect it has a lot to do with this being my last week of summer vacation. It hurt me even to type that.

To kick things off, I dove back into my selvage bin. I have a couple of ongoing projects that I pick away at when the bin gets a little too full or I don't know what else to work on. First up, rainbow blocks.

These blocks are made up of four 5 inch blocks. I vary the rainbow gradiation from block to block. I don't have a plan for them... I just like making them! So far, I have three complete blocks like the one below.

And I made two more segments for a future block. Don't you just love selvages?

On to the teal! Apparently, I must make a lot of projects with teal if my selvages are any sort of proof. These blocks are done on a 6½ inch foundation.

 I've got quite a few of them... eight in all... and again, no firm plans for their future! 

Remember those teal and orange HST layouts I shared this week? Well, I fell in love with another layout... who knew there were so many options! This one was from a pic found on Pinterest from Milly Made It.  She also used teal and orange, but darker tones paired with a gorgeous grey. This one's already quilted and bound... you'll just have to wait for some pics.

 I can also tell you that in the past couple days, I've made the a pile of blocks for another baby quilt, inspired by this scrap of fabric I got from Q-A. I tried not to work on it, but it just kept calling me. And it wasn't just the selvage! I'll let you in on the details later in the week!

I also got to thinking about my Crafty Pay it Forward promises that I made back in January and started work on a little something to go in the mail to a certain Guiding pal in Antigonish. Here's a sneaky peaky...

 

As the August days fly by on the calendar, my thoughts are turning to school supplies. It's the best part of September. Who doesn't love a cool little pencil case like no one else has?

 

Yup, those are zippers! I saw a similar idea on Pinterest (Yes, I have more than one addiction in my life.) and decided to whip a couple up. They are a little bit tricky, but I think Miss K and Super K will like them. And it's totally a coincidence that both those special young women have K blog aliases!

The pink one has this lovely Amy Butler print on the back and inside. I really wanted to line it in some way, but I have a hell of a time with linings.

And the blue and purple one has a cool batik that I bought in Alaska at The Quilted Raven. I love to pick up some of fabric or a pattern when I travel. It's fun to use it later and think of the adventure you had to get it. My kind of souvenir!

Now I just have to think of something to make for Mr. J. It just wouldn't be fair for him not to have a little back to school giftie too. But they didn't have enough zippers for me to make a Pittsburgh Penguins colour scheme!

See what I mean? There's been a whole lot of sewin' goin' on!

Hope you had a sunny or sew-y Sunday!

J

Utilitarian happiness...

Alas, back to school means not so much time and energy for quilting... so I've pulled these little gems out of the vault.

I know, I know... it's not a masterpiece and it's more than a little fifties' housewife to show off your ironing board, but every time I use it - even when it's not quilting related! - it makes me smile a little. Some days I just need that.

I made it from an on-line tutorial that I've since deleted from my Pinterest boards (foolish tidying up), but this one from Sweet Verbena is very similar. And it just happens to use Amy Butler fabric as well!

On the topic of everyday sewn objects that make me smile whenever I use them....

 These little creations are from last summer, Sadly, I have no tutorial to link to share. The purse is an adaptation of a pattern from a magazine and the matching zipper pouch is my own creation. If one can call something as simple as that a creation!

I'm looking forward to another Q-Squared session tomorrow... I love a day of sewing with the Squares!

New Year's Resolutions

The date and title of this post don't seem to go together, do they? At the dawn of 2012, some six months ago, I made two New Year's resolutions. Firstly, to buy no quilting magazines or books for a year. No, I am not single-handedly trying to bring down the publishing industry. Let me give you a visual on this...

Can you see why?

Can you see why now?

The personal library is pretty big... not to mention that I have access to the  libraries of the quilters in my Bee(s). I'd also been finding a lot of great inspiration on-line as well. Oh,Pinterest! but that's a resolution for 2013! 

I'm at the halfway point of this resolution and it hasn't been so bad. I waver slightly whenever I see an issue of Quilts and More, but making things from my Pinterest boards and completing projects from my UFO list (more about that another time!) has been really satisfying.

One of the projects I've made in 2012  - Selvage Spools -Inspiration from Tallgrass Prairie Studios

And, though I sometimes have to wait a while, my local library provides me with new, free, quilt-y books. Even if I do have to give them back three weeks later!

Secondly, I've wanted to start a blog... I've been reading a lot of them. There are so many quilters and crafters making cool stuff. I make cool stuff... why shouldn't I blog about it? I can be all artsy about it and say I want to explain my process. I guess that's a part of it.

Resolution #1 - Well underway!

Resolution #2 - You're reading it!

J