Anyone Can Quilt

Oh sure it looks innocent enough...

Well hello little apple core quilt.  How are you curved piecing?  You look so pretty and innocent, but we both know how naughty you are.

Yes, you look old fashioned and cozy.  But do old fashioned and cozy things make people say bad words? 

You lured me in with your cute little template.  It was so fun choosing pretty fabric and cutting out all of your pieces.  But then you showed me your true colors.  Like with all the pins I had to use (I hate pinning).  And then there was the time(s) that I thought I sewed a curve so nice and pretty, only to discover that I sewed a big ol' stinkin' tuck into the bottom seam (hence the bad words). 

I really hope you're proud of yourself. 

Oh who am I kidding, I can't stay mad at this punky apple core quilt.  She's not completely at fault, it was my first bout with curved piecing and all.  And it was actually kinda fun.  I made her for my very dear friend for her birthday; this friend is worth a king sized quilt worth of pins and tucks and bad words.  I just wish I had the endurance to have made it larger.  I've seen bed sized quilts in this pattern, which now that I know what goes into one, actually makes me want to faint. 

Seasoned curved piecers, now is your time to laugh out loud.  It's teeny!  But there's love in every stitch, so there.  :)

I love Kate Spain's Fandango fabrics.  You can still get some on Etsy!

I do want to make another apple core quilt now that I've gotten my feet wet with this one.  Only this time I will make the apple cores HUGE!  That'll teach 'em! 

Now it's back to my stack of quilts in progress.  Some need quilting, one needs borders and quilting...ok maybe two need borders and quilting.  And of course let's not forget the Pips quilt that I started when I shouldn't have.  It's so fun and easy I couldn't help myself! 

Have a wonderful spring quilting week! x

 

 

 

 

A peek at Pips.

Have you seen Sherbert Pips yet?  It is SO cute!  I had to order a layer cake last week.  The kids on scooters are what got to me, oh and the colors..and the little girls on swings!

I'm officially still working on a secret project for my dear friend.  But I had to dig in to these last night for just a little while.  This quilt is going to be so fun and easy!

Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging comments in my last post you guys!  I know my posts have been too few and far between lately.  I'm going to work on that.  I love blogging so much and have lots to share.  I really appreciate that you take time out of your busy schedules to visit here.  Really, thank you.

Let's see, more to share... how about my next batch of coffee cozies for my Etsy shop?

Some Fig Tree fabrics and linen.  I'm enjoying preparing for a spring shop update. 

This one below is made from some vintage fabric that I'm sure was to be used to make pillowcases or aprons.  It has a pretty scalloped border; I love the colors!  Oh, and do you see the old aqua sewing machine?  I bought it at an antique fair last summer.  I saw it and looked at the price tag.  $20.  Then the lady told me that everything was half price.  So I did what any sane woman who already had three sewing machines would do.  I yelled to my husband who was already a few booths down to give me $10. 

Last but not least is a picture of my daughter's quilt that I should be finishing soon, as she keeps reminding me.  Poor child.  I draped it over the curtain rod to get it out of the way while I was doing some sewing room cleaning.  The light shone through so prettily that I had to snap a photo. 

Hmmm, maybe some patchwork curtains are in order? 

Happy Wednesday to you! x

Signs of quilting life..

Where has the time gone?  I'll tell ya.  Homeschooling, after school activities, and attempting to get my house in order.  School is going pretty well, the house...well, not so great.  But I have to let that go; children grow up at lightning speed.  The housework can wait. 

I do have a cheery quilt that is almost finished and on Little Sis's bed.  She picked out the fabrics for her quilt and I love how it is coming along.  The quilting is finished and now she gets to choose her binding.  I do love a simple cozy quilt made up of squares. 

I decided on simple straight line quilting.  My walking foot and I spent lots of quality time together.  Round and round we went in concentric squares until we ended up in the middle.  This kind of quilting is simple, but seems to take f o r e v e r.  I love the effect though!

I didn't have large enough squares of some fabrics.  So there are some patchy guys thrown in.  I think those ones are my favorites.  Is it wrong to have favorite squares?  I wouldn't want to hurt the other's feelings. 

By the way, while we do school in the morning we have this little nut hopping around the kitchen.

Charlie is awesome.  He loves to explore the kitchen, and lives for head rubs.  Once you start to rub his little head he will not move an inch until you stop.  He'll even lay down and fall asleep during a good head rub.  Someone asked in a comment awhile back what kind of pet a rabbit was, because she heard they could be a nightmare, chewing on everything.  He does like to chew on some things, mostly paper in his case.  He has never been destructive to furniture or anything like that.  You do have to give them things to chew on and appropriate toys or they will get bored.  And we have to keep all cords out of his reach while he's out of his cage because he will bite them in half as fast as lightning!  One of the best things about house rabbits, they can be potty trained!  Charles uses a litter box both in his cage and out, and never has pee pee accidents.  He does drop little poopies sometimes as he hops around, but they are little dry odorless pellets that are easily swept up.  He is so worth having and we adore him and his silly personality.  I mean come on, look at his little front legs.  They kill me with their cuteness.  If you're interested in having a pet rabbit, I suggest doing lots of research first.  I really love The House Rabbit Society, lots of great info there. 

Ok, back to finish our school day.  Then it's time for mom's recess, the sewing kind.  Woohoo!!  xo

 

 

This one could have landed me in jail..or at least small claims court.

A few short months ago I had this quilt in my hot little hands.  I LOVE this quilt.  But alas, it was not mine, and I had to let it go. 

This quilt belongs to my dear friend Monica, the Happy Zombie.  She designed this fabulous quilt for the winter issue of Quilts and More.  Monica is soooo busy these days with quilt markets, designing quilts and her own fabric line for Lecien called Holiday Happy.  So busy in fact that she enlisted me to quilt and bind her treasure.  I really enjoyed working on this quilt.  Looking at it just makes me happy!   

I miss you quilt!  I would have stolen you like we talked about.  But then we both would have had to be in the witness protection program, and neither one of us really wanted that, remember? 

Happy Christmas sewing everyone! x

p.s.  The gorgeous aqua floral fabric Monica used is from the Flower Sugar line by Lecien.  This particular fabric is getting hard to come by.  I found some recently on Etsy, so I know there's still some out there!

Put a fork in it.

Toulouse is finished.  Pieced, quilted, bound and washed.  I worked on this quilt off and on throughout the year; I'm so happy to have it finished.

Don't you love the feeling you get when you stitch that last stitch onto your binding?  And tie that last knot? 

It's such a sense of accomplishment.... of cozy accomplishment.

I get pretty excited when I finish a quilt.  I drape it here and there, fold it this way and that.  Last night I snuggled into this one while I watched an old movie.  Then I brought it to bed with me so he wouldn't get it all furry.  Cause he would.  And maybe he'd barf on it just to spite me. 

He is capable of such horrors.  But I love his kitty feet. 

Finally I hung her up behind the couch.  It's hard to get good pictures of the whole thing!

Carrie Nelson is a genius.  She designs the most beautiful quilt patterns.  I am truly in awe of her work, and so glad I made this quilt!  I'm also so glad that each and every fabric in this quilt was from my stash.  Even the backing!  Woohoo! 

Thank you for visiting.  I hope you are all getting some cozy fall quilting worked into your busy schedules.  I sure am.  This go around I'm enjoying some mindless stitching.  You know the kind, I'm talking charm squares and four patches, oh ya.  x