Far Far Away in the making

I could no longer resist the call of Far, Far Away......

These fabrics have been just sitting in my stash since they came out a year ago, looking so sad and begging to be cut into. I REALLY have tried to resist starting any more projects until I finished a few others, but I have been getting really frustrated by the tediousness of piecing my Little Folks quilt top, and I am waiting on a few more prints for my Lotus quilt to arrive in the mailbox. Also I think I've had Heather Ross on the brain lately with all the excitement of the new Spoonflower fabrics we're waiting for and the fabric design class she is teaching that I'm attending in July.

I have been mulling ideas around in my head of what to do with these fabrics. I knew I wanted to make a quilt out of only the Far, Far Away and have been searching out different pattern ideas that would really play on the scale of the prints.

I was inspired by the Mod Sampler quilt from Oh! Fransson. I've also been wanting to try out wonky stars for a long time.

So far the stars are my favorite.....

                            

I think this one will go pretty fast. It is too fun to cut up! Plus, Mark is going out of town for the weekend, so I plan on indulging myself with lots of sewing time, along with eating cheese and crackers for dinner, watching Sex and the City reruns and sleeping in the middle of the bed:)

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my Good Folks quilt. I hope you are enjoying a lovely week.

Good Folks Disappearing Nine Patch

Finally she is done! I started this quilt waaaaay back in September and just finished the hand binding last Friday. It was originally intended for a friend's wedding gift but I was talked out of that idea. I am actually glad because now I love it and it looks pretty good on our new sofa.

We have been enjoying some beautiful, sunny weather up here in Seattle so I took this quilt down to our neighborhood park for a photo shoot. I love the little crocuses in the background. We usually get a little flirt of spring here this time of year, but by the time March is in full swing the weather turns downright nasty again. So we take full advantage of the sun while we can!

This is the first quilt I have done on my new Bernina QE440. I chose a little swirly design to compliment the squarish angles of the pattern and used a mauvish/wine colored thread by Mettler that looks great with both the cool and warm colors of the Good Folks prints. It was so much fun to use the BSR stitch regulator but I clearly need TONS of practice to get it right. 

The disappearing nine patch is a fun pattern, and if you are looking for a good tutorial, I used the one from P.S. I Quilt, found here .

I just did a simple pieced patchwork out of leftover scraps with the Filigree print in plum for the back.

I think this will make a great picnic blanket!

February Bee-autiful Bee blocks (& my newest obsession)

Here are my finished blocks for the Bee-autiful Bee. The very talented Elizabeth over at Oh! Fransson had the month of February and chose a fun Valentine-wonky theme. She sent over a sweet little package of solids and prints in pink and red cut into strips with instructions for each bee-er. You can read all about it on her blog.

Elizabeth is such a quilting force to be reckoned with, that little old newbie me was definitely intimidated to make these. But they were fun and simple to whip up and I hope you like them Elizabeth (and sorry for all the crazy seams on the back). I am so happy and honored to be part of this group of quilting masters!

As if I didn't have enough projects to occupy myself with, I have gone and fallen head over heels for Noro yarn. I am a sucker for variegated yarn in the first place. This stuff is so gorgeous and thrilling just to see which color combination is next. I'm easy I know. I of course just finished my striped scarf in time for spring so I know I won't be wearing that for long. And socks have been on my "must figure out" list for a long time. Sooo, I am off to hopefully finish my first sock tonight and then onto this very cool shoulder bag pattern, the Lotorp Bag. Wish me luck, I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Happy Heart Day!

We hope you are surrounded by those you love most!

XX, Megan & Lucy (and Norman)

Mama's got a brand new bag (and scarf)

Can you believe we actually got some sun up here in Seattle this weekend? It is turning out to be an El Nino winter up here, which is a nice change of pace from the constant rain and cold we are usually experiencing up here this time of year. Mark even got outside and grilled some prime New York steaks and asparagus (grilling while smoking a fine cigar could be one of his favorite past times).

The sun allowed me to get outside and take some photos of my new finished projects. This made me happy since I really am trying to get used to our new camera and all the grey days have not been very conducive to photography. So here they are in a bright little spot of green lawn:

My new Noro Striped Scarf!

and my completed Multitasker Tote!

I'm really loving both of my new accessories. I've been trying to get back into my knitting groove and this was the perfect no-brainer project - 1x1 ribbing in the beautiful Noro Silk Garden self striping yarn. I just love how this yarn feels and the way it does all the work to bring such a simple pattern to follow. The pattern for the Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood can be found for free here. It does take four skeins of yarn so it is by no means an inexpensive project but very worth it for me.

I bought the Anna Maria Horner Multitasker Tote pattern awhile back and just knew I needed to make it using fabric from the new Echino line! If you have constructed a bag from a pattern before this should be pretty easy for you to follow. And it was speedy! I finished it up in about four hours, which is fast for slow little me. I love the size and the big outside pockets. This one will be getting lots of use.

I finished quilting my Good Folks quilt last night! Now just the binding. With so many unfinished projects lying around, it feels really good to finish a few things.

Little Folks Voile Love

I am in love with this fabric line - I think I have mentioned that before (Ok, I love everything Anna Maria makes)! I also fell madly in love with this quilt made by Megan (philistine made). Well, I jumped in and eagerly started cutting my half triangle squares. I think I was in a bit of denial that the voile might possibly be a little tougher to work in such a precise pattern - it is a bit more slippery than regular quilting weight fabric. And accuracy is not exactly my strong suit.

Needless to say, I have spent a little bit of time with my seam ripper and my husband asked me to step away from the project the other night - that's when you really know it's time to take a break (and a glass of wine!) So I woke up that night (morning) at 4 AM lying there and just had to get up and sew. I think I just needed to slow down and now things are going a bit better. I also remembered that I had some spray starch and I really think it made a huge difference. I just love this pattern with these fabrics and would be pretty heartbroken if I had to scrap the project. It will probably be pretty slow going but here are my first couple of blocks.

By the way, the solid is Robert Kaufman Ultra Sateen which I thought was a better choice than the Kona to match with the voile. Also I prewashed all the fabrics first - I think just out of paranoia of working with the voile. 

I have a couple of other things I am working on I hope to show you soon. It has just been a little tough around here lately because Lucy is in full force teething mode and my normally happy girl is a little fussy  at the moment. OK back to the sewing while she is napping soundly!