nine patch... still working

my last update on my nine patch blocks for the one a day quilt along was on june 7th

it was day 42..
and i was at 35...

as of yesterday... july 16th...
i was still at 35...
its been a busy month!!

there are people in the group done... some have been done for a while... take a peek... amandajean our fearless leader posted finishing instructions and she has her top done...

some people made less than 70 blocks...
and made it smaller...
i stared at this photo and thought about that...

and decided even if it is not done on time... i want 70 blocks... because that is what i set out to do... and i think it needs more to be really scrappy and balance the colors...

so last night i whipped out 11 blocks... so that puts me at 46... with 24 to go!!... seems like a much more manageable amount to me...

i've got a full night of sewing planned... but don't expect to see any more nine patches... i'll be working on a new MBS tutorial for all of you!!

speaking of which... check out what vanessa & rachel are up to!!

wip wednesday...

i'm joining the wip wednesday train...
that is work.in.progress for those of you who don't eat sleep breath quilting terms...

wof.. bom.. lqs.. fq.. hst... i could go on and on...

anyway everyone seems to have their own rules and goals for wip wednesday...
mine is simple.. i'm gonna share..
i make no promises that i'll be any further on this project tomorrow..the next day.. or next week... sometimes i will... but who knows!!! i have lots of projects going over here these days..

so now the project...

it all started on a trip to m&l with my brother...
i discovered urban couture and was in love...
my rule at the time was fabric had to be for a project to be purchased...
so what to do?
i remembered camille's pattern late bloomer...
but i didn't own it yet... or have it with me...
my brother pulled up camille's blog on his iphone and i guessed yardage from the picture...

i bought 1/3 yd cuts from 12 fabrics...

a bunch of yardage for borders..binding..backing...


and a slew of giant ric-rac...


i ordered the pattern... which at the time was only available in magazine form...
and discovered that i was missing out on lots of reds and browns...



so despite all the fabric i already had i ordered a layer cake... and for the heck of it a jelly roll and charm pack... who knows what i was thinking...



so then i spread it all out on the floor and came up with the color layout that made me happy...




i decided to be adventurous (or crazy) and piece the circles instead of appliqueing them...




i do love how they are turning out...




but it is by no way a fast process... lots of patience and lots of pins!!




my design wall.... the white spots are where i need to finish circle blocks...

i'll get there eventually!!!!

p.s. i quilted it...

rachel's pinwheel quilt...

back in march... i left a comment on her post...

"as for quilting i'd mail it off to julie and ask her to quilt it with her loopy allover design on her big 10ft frame ;-) ... she'd say yes because she loves you... and frames do a wonder with a million seams and make it like they aren't even there."

and she did... and i quilted it... and here it is....


it was the first quilt i did that wasn't mine...
and i'm super happy about how it turned out...


just was a bit hard to put it back in a box and ship it away!!

but she loves it...


lets just say she sent me a super long e-mail with lots of thank yous...
that started with
it's here!!! it's here!!! it's here!!!
and went on and on
and ended with
and it's just how i imagined it would be!!! and i heart you!!!


can't get much better than that.

--

i also finished quilting a baby quilt this weekend...


i used a panel on one side...


with her name embroidered on it...

i'd like to say she is named after me... but she isn't...


and the other side is pieced... back in the day i made 4 matching baby quilt tops... so i'd be ready... and then they sat..and sat... i wanted to use one for this but it was square and the panel was a rectangle... so i added flannel triangles to the sides and chopped some parts of it off... and here it is... i really like how it turned out..


and just for fun... more pictures of my quilting...

stars on my red white and bold quilt...
loops on my disappearing nine patch...

and my one attempt at hand quilting... i really love how it looks but it took forever!!

my skirt... "it's a jelly roll"

you know that you talk about fabric pretty often... when your dad knows what a jell roll is!

i walked in today and had my new skirt on... and dad says "it's a jelly roll!"

i was so proud i gave him 2 high fives!! my dad knows what a fat quarter is too... and prides himself in learning my quilt terminology... gotta love it!

pam & elizabeth designed the cutest skirt for the moda bake shop and i just had to make it...

my strips...mostly dandelion girl, with some gypsy rose, patisserie, buttercream & figs, and allspice tapestry... five different lines!... i was inspired by joanna's post about 80/20!

i don't have a ruffle foot so i gathered the bottom tier with 2 rows of elastic thread and it worked pretty well...

i also made the top pieces 9x9... their tutorial suggested taking one square out but i was afraid with only 4 that it wouldn't fit over my hips! sticking with 5 and taking one inch off each worked perfect!

lastly i only made 2 tiers... then i took 3 WOF fabric pieces by 4" wide and sewed them end to end.. measured the bottom of my shirt and cut it to that length plus seam allowances... sewed short ends together in a loop... folded it wrong sides together and sewed it on like it was big binding... just without turning it and no hand stitching!

in mom's garden again... and mom played photographer... thanks mom!

i'm so happy with it!

oh fransson giveaway goodies!

i received my giveaway goodies from elizabeth at oh fransson!

wrapped all cute!


folded in a neat little pile!


i dug right in!


and started playing with a few layouts!

i can't wait to start sewing... if only i didn't have to go to work!

My First Quilt

camille & carrie have started "parade of quits"

with the goal being... show your first quilt.. and your most recent finish.

we all know we learn a lot along the way

and i'm no exception...

if you have read my first ever post on this blog you'll know that this isn't the first quilt i started... but it is the first one i finished... and i don't know if my brother even knows that...

lots learned... but this quilt is sooo full of love!

i took solid fabric and screen printed the mini design on it... i drew the logo by hand with black ink on acetate back in college...

if you couldn't guess my brother is a huge mini fan... he is also a really great photographer... check out his work... i'll be flying out to LA to visit him in 2 weeks! my trip just happens to overlap with Quilt Festival in long beach!! ..just happened ;-) .. anywho i'll be visiting to help them pack to move into their new house!! and pick paint colors... i love getting to design!

and now back to the quilts...

so that brings us to most recent finish...

and as much as i'd like to be able to show you one of my new works that shows how much i've learned...

but as fate has it my most recent finish is a quilt that took 4 years to finish...

not that i worked on it each day...

but its kinda cool fate that camille & carrie's timing lets me focus on how far i've come by showing how sometimes it takes a while to get there... i had to suck it up and deal with the things i did in the piecing that i'd never do now... but they were all i knew at the time... and in the end... its a beautiful quilt...

here is a close up... the fabric has all kinds of sweet wedding wishes...

i hope you enjoy the history of my quilts... and will stick around to see what is yet to come!

melinda's quilt

in 2005 my friend melinda got married...
i was an ambitious new quilter and decided i would make her a quilt as a gift...
i started with a pillow and had it done in time for the shower...

i started the quilt on 4/24/05 and finished it on 7/3/09

i had made less than 10 quilts at the time and had no idea what i was getting myself into...
i paper pieced the center on photocopy paper... changed the star points to not have Y seams but it was still much bigger of a project than i could handle at the time...

i'd work on it here and there... it was hard to accept that my skills had changed and work on it sometimes... despite going from 12 blocks to 9... and the center turning into a medallion... its made with love... a lot of love...

and soon melinda will have it... and the pillow won't be alone any longer...

i also found a new place to photograph my quilts... my parent's back yard!

--

thanks for all the e-mails and comments on the bake shop!! i've got lots of more projects planned for you guys!!

happy fourth!

of july...

thanks for all the comments and e-mails on my MBS debut...

enjoy the holiday today...
i leave you with pictures of my adorable nephew taken by my brother...

gotta love him!!!

its moda bake shop day! make a coupon clutch!

its a big day! its moda bake shop day!
(don't worry mom its not actual baking... i know better)

my tutorial is on moda's site... how cool is that?
seriously.
i'm super excited and nervous... like its the first day of school in 5th grade

check it out!

coupon clutch!


i hope you like it!!
leave me some love to let me know!!
and let me know if you make it and send me pictures!

a few thank yous...
rachel for all the support in the world!
angela for helping with my pdf files!
pammie & allison for always believing in me...
and my mom... for letting me borrow her garden to take pictures...and a million other things!