QAL Blocks Galore!

I got block busy over the weekend. As I've mentioned, I'm now in several quilt a longs. I haven't counted, but it's at least 5. I'm really enjoying these QALs, but I don't have any completely finished work to show, which kind of makes me feel like I'm not doing enough. Oh well, perhaps that will change soon.

For the Super Mario QAL, I now have Luigi done. This one did not go quite as smoothly as Mario did, hence the little puckers in some spots. I'm not fixing it, I'll just have to be more careful in future.

Next I've got the Susannah block for the
It's made with Terrain by Kate Spain and an Oliver & S print.

Then there's the

I'm a little ahead of schedule with this one, but since I am making two quilts for this QAL, I figured it's better to be ahead rather than behind. The first block is made with Cherry Christmas by Aneela Hooey and the second block is made with Flurry by Kate Spain.

And finally, two more blocks for the I've decided to make this one 12 blocks instead of 9. Four each from Vintage Modern, Ruby and Marmalade. These 2 are made with Marmalade.

Sunday Stash Final for July

My input continues to exceed my output. But I really do have hopes of one day using it all!

My additions over the past two weeks include a few layer cakes, a little bundle and some cool mystery fat quarters.

First up I took advantage of a sale at Green Fairy Quilts, where I got my layer cakes and fat eighth bundle.
First is Spa Day by Deb Strain. Something about all those cool blues called to me. I would love to do one of those mosaic type of quilts with this.

Some of the prints in the cake.

Then there is Sew Stitchy by Aneela Hoey.

And Dear Mr. Claus by Cosmo Cricket.

Then there's this fat eighth bundle of Good Morning by Me & My Sister Designs. The bright colors and the blender prints made me want to snap this one up.

And finally, I couldn't resist the lure of $1.25 fat quarters from Jaqs Fabric. She sells warm and cool fq bundles of 12 mystery prints for only $15. I thought it would be fun to see what showed up. I actually like all of the prints I received, and only 3 are dupes for me.

That's all I have to show for this week. Linking up with

at Finding Fifth.

WIP Wednesday

I recently picked up several remnants of vinyl in different gauges at Joann's. No specific project in mind, but I figured they might come in handy at some point.

I've actually had the chance to use them a lot sooner than I thought I would. I made a little fabric/vinyl pouch from the tutorial in this book:

It was really quite easy sewing with the vinyl and I can definitely see doing this again. I used a cherry print that is also from Joann's, and I got to use one of my .25 zippers.

I think next time I would make the fabric part larger to show off more print.
Linking up with

It's Mario!

On Sunday I finally finished up my Mario block for the Super Mario QAL.
It didn't turn out too wonky or stretched out from not using any stabilizer, so I think I will be able to do the rest of the blocks sans Pellon.

I did come up with a method to use the wash away interfacing with some Lite Steam a Seam tape to hold my blocks down without adding too much stiffness.

That was the start of my Luigi block above, using the Steam a Seam tape. I think this would have worked quite well if only I had drawn my lines correctly!
After trying it out with three rows, I realized my sewn squares were looking pretty tiny. It turns out when I drew my grid on the interfacing, I was making my lines 1/8th in short. I think it had to do with the thickness of my ruler.
Anyone able to properly draw a grid should be able to use this method, and it would be a lot faster than sewing piece by piece.

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head....

...At least they were until I got myself an umbrella!

Yes, it's another paper pieced block. Yesterday I found some raindrop fabric on clearance, and today it is raining buckets, so it's clear I needed to make this block today. I've used Kristy's umbrella block and some of my Delighted scraps. The umbrella pattern comes with 3 variations. I decided on the one with points, and boy, were those some tiny pieces! I think next time I'll try the non-pointy umbrella tips.

In other news, I finally gave making hexagon blocks a try. I actually did this about 2 weeks ago when it was way too hot to stay out in the no air conditioning sewing area. I retreated to my cool bedroom and gave hexis a shot. I'm not sure if I've quite got the hang of it, but they didn't turn out too bad.

If you're wondering why I used that bright aqua colored thread, its' because I thought this would be a great way to use up some of the vintage threads I had found. I know the basting will come out, but I didn't figure that my connecting stitches would show. I will have to rethink the use of that thread when I make some more of these.

Tweet Tweet Paper Pieced Birdie

Way back when I first started quilting I tried my hand a few paper pieced blocks. They were all Christmas themed and I had hopes of turning them into a quilt. Well, that never happened. I still have them around, not too far from my reach.

In the meantime, Kristy of Quiet Play has been trying her hand at making some sweet paper pieced blocks. A little while ago she posted a really darling bird that she had made from her own pattern and I was immediately smitten.

My interest in paper piecing has been rekindled, and Kristy was kind enough to gift me with the bird pattern.
So, today I brushed up on the basics of what to do, and I made my own sweet little bird from Kristy's pattern. It didn't turn out perfectly, but that was me, not cutting my fabric pieces correctly. I'm sure I'll do better next time!

I was lucky to have found this tree bark pattern (Heidi Grace) earlier this month and now it has come in handy as the branch for my little birdie to sit upon. It was a bit slow going for me, but it did all start to come back to me after awhile. Now I'm hoping to get her other patterns and use them for a quilt idea I have...

Thanks again, Kristy!

Super Mario Block Progress and a Great Granny

I've made another Great Granny block; it's made with Vintage Modern this time. 2 down, 7 to go!

And here's how far along I am on my first block for the Super Mario QAL. It's going a bit slowly for me as I could not find the special Pellon stick n wash away fuse that would have allowed for quicker block assembly. Instead, I'm chain sewing each row, every tiny 1.5" square...It's really not so bad though, it goes quickly.

Sunday Stash: Oh, Joy! It's Marmalade at the Seaside

I've added three new collections to my stash this past week. One won't be out until October, but I couldn't resist getting a little sample now.

I'm talking about Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille. This newest line continues to highlight the wonderful reds, pinks, aquas and greys of Ruby and Vintage Modern, but now with a splash of yellow and orange. It is so very pretty.
I purchased my fat eighth bundle at The Sproutz Store on Etsy.

Next is October Afternoon's Seaside. I had decided I needed some of the blender prints, which then turned into a desire for all of the prints! Really, except for the kiddies on the beach, all of the prints in this line can go with anything.

And selvedge lovers, check out this one. It looks like pretty ribbon.

Last up is a Christmas and Winter themed bundle. It's Joy by Kate Spain for Moda. I'm in the Vintage Holiday QAL, and while I intend to use my stash of Flurry, I thought I could make a 2nd quilt at the same time, using Joy.

And that's it for my stash additions this week. I'm linking up with

Finding Fifth Sunday Stash.

Saturday Block Bonanza

Well, it is Saturday, and I made some blocks, the bonanza is just to give the title a little pizazz.

I somehow seem to have signed up for a bunch of QALs of the past couple of weeks (see, my right side bar is getting so full!), and today I have a couple of blocks to share.
I like the idea of the easy pace of QALs and BOMs. It's easy to get bored sometimes, doing the same thing over and over and with these, you do one or two, then you're done for a few weeks, so it breaks up the monotony, and provides a chance to play with many of my fabrics all at one time.
This block is my first block for the The Great Granny Along. This is a QAL that is using a super-sized granny square block that finishes at 12.5 inches.

I used Bonnie & Camille's new line, Marmalade and Kona Snow for my first block. I think I'm going to make the whole quilt a B&C quilt using Ruby, Vintage Modern and now Marmalade.

On tomorrow's Sunday Stash I'll be showing the rest of the Marmalade fabrics I received.
My next block is the 2nd installment from the Fat Quarter Clubs 2012 Mystery BOM. This one is called Mint Julep and was designed by Lisa Bongean. It was made with Vintage Modern and came together very quickly.

My final block is for the BOM at In Color Order. I'm not totally happy with the fabrics I picked for this block. It's possible I may do a different composition at some point, but for now, here's July's block.

Learn to Sew Simplicity 1935

From time to time my daughter expresses little nibbles of interest in learning to sew. I picked up this pattern in the hopes that she might be interested in trying it, as it is advertised as "Learn to Sew". Well, she wasn't really interested, but I was.

I was thinking I could use a new bag for toting around my work things, and this seemed like it would be roomy enough for my needs.

I sewed it up last week-end using some thrifted fabric for the outside and one of my Joann's clearance pieces for the lining.

The yellow ticking is a decorator canvas weight, so it should hold up to some abuse.

I did modify the pattern by not making a patchwork flap to go over the outer pocket. I didn't really want one, and had planned to just use some velcro or a snap to hold the pocket closed.
The print I picked for the lining is directional, and all of one piece. I didn't think about the consequences of that until it was too late. Next time, I would cut the piece and sew back together so that both sides will go in the right direction.

This was a very easy pattern, and the bag came together quite quickly once I had all of the pieces cut. As it turns out, my daughter asked if she could have the bag! Of course I said "yes"; it's gratifying to know that she wants the little items I make.
Now I get to make myself another one, or perhaps try a different pattern for my needs.

Sunday Stash

Linking up with Fiona at her Sunday Stash

This week's Stash report is very exciting to me as it has two of my favorites. Those would be dots and Denyse Schmidt fabrics!

First the dots, these are the new Ombre Dots by Riley Blake and they are just gorgeous. Ombre seems to be trending right now, but I would have gone for these anyway, because they're dots! Speaking of Ombre I can't wait until those ombre solids come out later this year. I got my dots from Selvage123 on Etsy. They also have the new chevrons, which I have so far managed to resist.

And then there's the new DS Quilts (almost)fat quarter fabrics. These are sold in 1yd packages and each contains 4 different prints. So far there are 4 different packages for a total of 16 new prints!

I think the idea is great if you're like me and mosty buy fat quarters. But if you like a bit of yardage, or really love a print and want more, then you're kind of out of luck. The only other minor gripe is that they don't measure a full 18 x 22, but the DS yardage of late wasn't quite stretching to two 18 x 22 pieces in one half yard either, more like 18 x 21.

I also picked up a few patterns that were on sale for only $1 each. Two of them are from Denyse Schmidt.

I'll be back tomorrow with a bag that I made from a different one of my $1 pattern purchases.>