Jumping the Gun

Here is the big, hot mess that graces my kitchen table this morning. And while I have all of your rapt attention, I thought I'd whine about it to someone who might care - or at least sympathize.

I was so inspired and excited by all your comments I decided to give a go to a pattern I had been contemplating for the Bohemian for a long time now, the Drunkard's Path. I used the template for the Joel Dewberry Deer Valley pattern found on the Free Spirit website. I'd seen so many other great circle quilts like these ones here and here that I thought it would look great with these big, bold prints.

Well guess what? I hate it.

I got pretty excited that I was able to pull off these curves fairly successfully my first time and made this test block. It wasn't near as difficult as I had feared! So I got a little rotary blade-happy. By the time I started laying some things out I was totally frustrated. So much so that Mark ordered me to go relax with the New Moon DVD he brought home for me and my knitting (which I also screwed up).

So what to do? I have a plan, I think. I do want to do a circular quilt at some time, but not with these prints. I am thinking a more calming pattern will take some of the busyness away and a nice neutral solid (linen?) will bring it all together. I am a bit heartbroken I wasted the only fat eighth of red circle dots I had, but I think it is time to just let go of this debaucle and move forward.

After all, there are more important things in the world to lose sleep over, right? I guess if this is my biggest worry of the day I am one lucky girl:).

And if anyone has a similar story to share I'd love to hear it!

Bohemian Madness Giveaway!

I am finally getting ready to cut into my hard fought stash of one of my most favorite line of fabrics ever: Anna Maria Horner's long out of print Bohemian. I now have every print in the line (with the exception of one, which I think will soon be on it's way to me from another Bohemian fanatic). Thank you Miss Sarah!

Yes, I know I've shown you these before but the last photos I took were really awful and I wanted to capture these before the slicing commences! Not that these pics are great by any means, but I am working really hard on taking better images. Mark got us a really nice Nikon when Lucy was born, which helps, but I really struggle with photography. Maybe add those lessons to the long list of knitting, crocheting, yoga, sushi making.....the list goes on and on.

OK, back to business. Here's a close up of this yummy goodness:

Cathedral circles, vines, paisleys oh my! Just looking at these brings me to my happy place. 

Do you love these too? Would you cry rivers of joy if you could get your hands on these? It seems like Bohemian madness has hit the fabric loving community and these are all to hard to source, so I want to share! I will be giving away a fat quarter stack of each of the prints below!

 I have a pretty good idea of the quilt I would like these to become (I'm thinking something hexy or circular), but I'd love to hear all your ideas too! So in order to enter the running for a fat quarter of each of these 15 prints, please leave me a comment on the type of quilt you'd like to see this collection made into. If you become a new follower, you get a second chance to enter, and if you are already one you get a third (Please remember to leave a comment for each entry you are eligible for).

I will close the comments for the giveaway on Friday, April 2nd at 5 PM Western time. Good luck and Happy Sunday!!

Lucky me! (And a Far Far Away sneak peek)

I just had to share a little view of the back of my new Far, Far Away quilt.....I think I almost like it better than the front! I'm still hand sewing the binding and then it needs a wash and a photo shoot before I show you the whole thing. I'm totally loving it!

Sooo....besides it being a completely gorgeous and warm Seattle day, this week has pretty much sucked at the L&N household. We had a big release at the winery this weekend and we were all feeling pretty wiped out by Sunday night. Then Mark started complaining of a pain in his lower right abdomen. This is a guy who does not even make a peep if he has the flu so I knew something was wrong. His doctor ordered at CAT scan for Tuesday and sure enough he was ordered off to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. After a night stay he is home with some pretty bad discomfort but luckily they got to it before it ruptured! So dealing with that (and consequently crabby husband) and a little girl who has decided to refuse her naps the last two days = mama who needs a little time to blog with glass of wine in hand!

Well here is the big, bright spot in my otherwise trying day: My pillow talk swap from the super talented and generous Ryan (imjustaguywhoquilts)!! Can you believe I was lucky enough to get this awesome Katie Jump Rope cushion cover?? If you love it as much as I do and wish it was yours, never fear! Ryan has just completed a detailed tutorial on his blog. Check it out here.

As if that wasn't enough, he also sent over a sweet little gardener set and cute crab toy for Lucy, and some beautiful journals for me. Thank you so much Ryan, and I'll get some photos up soon of the stuffed pillow in it's happy new home.

Sunday Stash

New Munki goodies arrived from Kerri at sewdeerlyloved on Etsy. Time to get going again on my Munki Munki Nine Patch.

Just a short post today, because it is beautiful outside and I need to go catch up with this little girl.....

She is on the move and into EVERYTHING! It is a lot of work but so fun to watch her explore. But at least she is going to bed pretty early, so tonight I can get quilting my Far, Far Away quilt. Hopefully I will have it all done to show you next week - I am really loving it!

Yet another project....

I keep telling myself that I am NOT going to start another project until I have finished some others, but when inspiration strikes, sometimes you just have to go with it!  (I did finish up my Far, Far Away quilt top - more on that later ) Last week I bought this fabulous pattern from Elizabeth at Oh! Fransson and my new Heather Ross fabrics were calling out to be used. This pattern is great for people like me who can't do math because Elizabeth's cutting directions are very clear and all laid out. So far the only adjustments I have done to the pattern is I had to change the direction of the horizontal cutting in order to have the gnomes and mushrooms oriented the right way. These were a blast to make and I highly recommend the pattern to beginners - lots of useful information.

I think I am going to love making this quilt!

DQS8 out the door!

Phew! It's all done and off to my partner! This little quilt was my first attempt at dresden plates and they were a lot of fun to do and easier than they look (at least to me). I know my partner likes blue so I decided to go with the color theme and used lots of my very favorite fabrics. I'm not 100% sure it is her style so I hope she likes it!

My walking foot sort of gave me some grief so the quilting is really minimal. I didn't want to risk screwing it up before mailing day! Partner you are welcome to embellish it all you like if you think it needs it. I just hope you love it as much as I love the sweet little quilt I received.

OK Lucy just started crawling for real today so I am off to catch her (something I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of in days to come)!

Heather Ross Spoonflower is here!

I apologize for clogging up your blog feeds today with my THIRD post of the day, but I just HAD to show you what showed up tonight!!

All seventeen pounds of two yards of all twenty-two prints! The colors are so vibrant and look beautiful together. I would love to just roll around in this stuff. 

Unfortunately I don't get to keep it all. So I'm off to cut into the wee hours to get this all divvied up and off to the other seven owners who have been excitedly waiting. I can't wait to see what you all make!

Swap Time Part II: The Pillow Talk!

I finally finished my pillow for the second round of The Pillow Talk Swap - leave it to me to wait until the last minute - and it is off to it's new home far, far away (hint, hint). I really fell for some of the other Anthropologie knock offs I've seen and then after visiting my local store and seeing it in person (along with the $88 price tag!) I knew I had to try it out. I had been itching to get to know applique a bit better too. Sorry that my partner had to be the guinea pig but I think it turned out pretty well.

I actually started this at the very beginning of swap time but it just took awhile with all the fussy applique. But what a great way to use up favorite scraps! The binding is one of my favorite Good Folks prints that I attached just as one would a quilt, and enclosed with a zipper. 

Just a little patchwork strip for the back and it's done.

I sure hope my partner loves it. It looks great on my sofa next to the Good Folks quilt;) I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new pillow soon!

Swap Time Part I: DQS8 Received!

This weekend I was having a rather crappy Saturday. I woke up feeling a touch on the ill side and Lucy was more crabby than usual. I muddled through the day and went to the mailbox that afternoon expecting only junk and bills (as I have been behaving myself in the fabric ordering department - until today, that is) and look what jumped out and surprised me:

Now wouldn't this package make your day?

This beautiful mini quilt was made for me by the enormously talented and generous Kelli. She did such a super job of incorporating my favorite colors and fabrics into this, and the pattern is awesome. I need to learn how to make these hexes! This is going to hang on the wall in Lucy's nursery. Along with the quilt I got a sweet little handmade matryoshka and tissue holder, and some fat quarters of Flea Market Fancy and Heather Ross fabrics!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart Kelli, you made my weekend!

Yummy yarn

I do apologize to all of you non-knitters who are bored by yarn, but I just finished my first ever pair of socks! I am really proud of myself, even though they are wonky, have a few holes and one is wider than the other. But hey, at least they fit! (And yes I do have large feet!)

I used Noro Kureyon sock yarn in color S233 lot C. It is beautiful yarn but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to beginners because the fiber is so varied it is tough to get your gauge right. The pattern I used came from the book "How to Knit socks: Three methods made easy" which was very straightforward with clear directions. 

I learned to knit on double pointed needles at some knitting classes I took a year ago when I was pregnant with Lu. She is modeling here my first project, Baby Leg Warmies (which is a great free pattern  by Alana Dakos from Never not Knitting). I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in light pink and carnation. I think these will be super cute this spring with her little denim dress.

 

It's becoming more and more clear to me how much I love a good rainbow.....isn't this pretty? This will soon become my guinea pig for my new crochet project. The Rowan Handknit DK cotton was recommended by my crochet muse Lucy at Attic 24 . It comes in such a pretty variety of colors, I want to order more! Just playing around with these skeins gave me the idea for the blanket I am going to make, now if only I can find some time. I'm off to drop Lucia off to visit with her wonderful Grandma and then I think I may just sneak back home to get in some uninterrupted stitching!