The Wonky Yellow Brick Road Quilt (in pug)

The Wonky Brick Road quilt is all stippled, bound and freshly washed, ready to go to it's new home. I made this one for my dear friend Kari as a house warming gift - she just bought her first condominium and I wanted to show her how proud I am of her for such a great accomplishment. She's been hounding me for awhile to make her something handmade so I thought this would be the perfect occasion.

I'm loving how this one came out! The idea was born for this quilt when I found this adorable Spoonflower print on Etsy by Pugnotes. Kari loves her pug like he is her fur baby, so I knew this would be perfect for her. I wasn't sure how I would be able to showcase the print in a quilt until I remembered this one the talented Ashley came up with awhile back. I thought something similar would be a lovely way to use this print generously and still be able to incorporate lots of sherbet-y floral and geometric prints into the mix. Plus the cheerful wonkiness of the design reminds me of my friend, who always keeps me laughing.

I used lots of oranges, pinks, and golds with a splash of lavender in prints mostly from Erin McMorris, Heather Bailey and Amy Butler. I have a tendency to want to make a quilt all from one single designer's line, so it was fun to play with a mix of all these fabrics and see how harmoniously they play together. The method for piecing was simple and free-flowing, if not a bit tedious toward the end. But so worth it for the overall effect and how the "grout" makes all the prints pop.

For the binding I chose my favorite print from Erin McMorris's Weekends line and splurged on some deliciously cozy Little Folks flannel from Anna Maria Horner. This is the first quilt I've backed in flannel but definitely not the last! It's so cozy!

I had to get one more shot in since it was one of our last beautiful blue skies up here in Seattle for awhile....

Lucy does not want to give this one away. But it's much easier for me knowing it will be loved and I can visit it pretty much whenever I want to.

I hope you love your new quilt Kari! (and don't pretend you aren't reading this post - I guess the surprise is spoiled now!)

We also have a winner for the Innocent Crush fat quarters! I decided to go with random.org instead of choosing my favorite pattern because there were so many good ones suggested. Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful input. The winner is #20, Faith! Faith is one talented woman and I read her blog regularly for inspiration, so you know she will do something awesome with these fabrics.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Munki Munki Rainbow Nine Patch Quilt

It's all done! And I really love it. I started this one way back in November last year but stopped working on it when the insane person that lives inside of me kept telling me I needed to collect more and more Munki Munki prints to add to it. Really? I had to put a stop to the madness, as you can see I already had well more than enough to make a really, really big quilt (this one measures roughly 72x72). I don't even want to think about how much money I spent at the height of my Munki insanity collecting all of these prints!

But all my favorites are there: calypso, birthday party, ice cream trucks, aliens, recess, fireflies and even the rare field trip, cheese toast and etch-a-sketch. I was inspired to get working on this again while I was getting excited to take Heather's fabric design class last month. I wanted a pattern that was simple enough to highlight all the individual prints and tolerate the busyness of it all together and this is what I came up with. In the beginning I wasn't sure if I wanted to sash or not, but settled outside of my comfort zone for Kona Coal. Grey is the new white, right?

For the back I used leftover squares, even some ones I only had charms of in the rainbow stripe. The solid is a Moda Bella which I have never used before but I'm really happy with how it washed up. I of course didn't buy enough so I ended up piecing the bottom with some Kona solids and prints I had excess of from chopping up pajamas. The binding is one of my favorite Munki prints ever, sushi, that I had a big piece left from Heather's studio sale.

It's all cozy and crinkly after it's wash and Lucy is even loving looking at all the little pictures. I may even give this one over to her one day:)

*sigh of relief* Little Folks Top Done

I can't even begin to express to you how relieved I am to finally have this quilt top finished. I've been working on it since JANUARY! And when I say working, I mean working. Although there have been a few times when I have just had to throw up my hands and walk away from it or else I'm sure it would have wound up in the garbage can or better yet, the fireplace!

I was supposed to be on a strict fabric diet after the first of the year, but after seeing the entire collection of Little Folks voile in my LQS I was seduced by its buttery softness and beautiful prints. And obviously I'm a big sucker for anything Anna Maria Horner. I left the shop that day with a big bag of eighteen prints and an empty checking account! I wasn't really sure what I had planned for them except for a couple of baby blankets, but then I saw this quilt and inspiration struck.

So, I proceded to start chopping up squares and found a solid with the perfect texture to match the voile, white RK Ultra Sateen (which now seems to be extinct from online shops?). As soon as I started piecing the triangles, I knew I was in over my head. I had a little experience with half square triangles on regular quilting cotton, but the voile, maybe due to it's slippery nature or thin weight, was a serious pain in the arse to piece with such accuracy.

As frustrating as it was, and as imperfect as many of the points turned out, I had to keep my eye on the prize. And even with all it's faults I still know this quilt is definitely going to be one of my favorites. After Lucy gets to bed tonight I am going to get started on the sandwiching.

If you have been jonesing for some Little Folks for yourself, go check out my friend Chris's super generous giveaway today for some Little Folks charm packs!

And of course with the wrapping up of all these projects, I had to start some new ones, right?

Making a little progress on the Bird Quilt......

and I just couldn't deny the sirens call of the Spiderweb Quilt. Check out these awesome ones that got me started down that path here and here and here.

One more thing: I am so incredibly flattered to have been "featured" yesterday on Jodi's Pleasant Home blog. What an ego boost! Thanks so much Jodi!

Bird Quilt Resurrected

First off I need to apologize for the crappy dark photos. It has been dreary and raining here in the Seattle area - which it often is this time of year - and I haven't been able to get any decent light to take pictures with in days and days. I have actually completed both of my Bohemian quilts but they deserve a nice sunny day for their photo shoot so I'm holding off until the skies open up and give us a break from the downpour and gloom.

I'm sure you all have seen Penny's quilt-as-you-go-along on her blog. Her finished quilt is so awesome! I was all raring to go on that one but I had too many other projects looming over me to justify bringing on something new. But as I was organizing my fabric area the other day I came across these blocks - my very first quilt blocks! A light bulb immediately went off (which doesn't happen too often these days, so when it does I pay attention!) and I thought this would be a great merging of projects.

I got out my seam ripper (which I seem to have a sick love/hate relationship with lately) and carefully took apart the few blocks I had already sewn up and re-pieced them in the quilt-as-you-go fashion! This is such a fun project, pulling from bird fabrics and the scrap bin. I don't have a lot of cream or white scraps as is used in the quilt along so I just opted to sash every other block in white to break up the scrappiness. Each block is a bit time-consuming but you just have to keep reminding yourself there will be no quilting in the end. Nine blocks down!

There are some great blocks and finished quilts in the quilt-as-you-go flickr group.

I am hoping this means that Lucy is finally taking an interest in Mama's sewing....

but she seems to like a more chaotic arrangement of the blocks more than my orderly one. Future modern quilter? One can only hope:)

Sunday Stash, Birdie Quilt and a lot on my crafty plate!

Fabric for Birdie quilt, originally uploaded by Lucy & Norman.

So this is a project that has been on the back burner for quite awhile. I just love all the cool bird fabrics out there and decided to start collecting them with an all bird themed quilt in mind. The quilt I am planning I found on a tutorial at Amanda Jean's great blog. I got inspired to show you this after talking to Meagan yesterday, and seeing that she was planning the same thing. I just love it so far, but at this rate it won't be finished until 2012!

Oh well, I just love starting things but sometimes have a bit of trouble finishing them. At least I have come to terms with this flaw.

Here is a scary list of just how many WIPs I have on my crafty plate:

1. Bird Quilt

2. Mom's Good Folks Birthday Zig Zag

3. Old Red Barn Co Wonky Log Cabin Flea Market Fancy Quilt

4. Pillow Talk swap pillow

5. Hand Stitched swap piece

6. Summer's wedding quilt

7. Spoonflower fabric design

8. Sunrise circle sweater (knitting project)

Ouch! That doesn't even include all the projects I have brewing in my head, or all the things I need to whip up for the births of about six babies coming up! Does anyone else have too many crafty things going on?

At least it is fun! My mom's birthday is the 17th of October and I am almost finished quilting it. The FMF quilt is coming along well - I have about 12 blocks done, but I think this will be a big one so I am keeping at it. I should definitely be farther along with Summer's disappearing nine patch, but the backing is arriving next week so I guess I'll get going on it then. Luckily the swap pieces aren't due for quite awhile and the Bird quilt I have just resigned to being an ongoing project. I am not even going to tell you how many various knitting projects that are collecting dust!

Here are a couple of the birdie blocks I have done so far......

Aren't the little owls so cute?