Penny Sampler: the finale

I finally did it. I finally sat down and finished up my penny sampler quilt. I don't know why I kept putting it off. The top has been done since November and I have had the backing since before the holidays. I really have no excuse, but I do think I fell a bit out of love with it once it was done. Somehow it is much brighter than I imagined and while I like it, I am just not as in love with the whole as I was with the individual blocks.

Anyway, you may {vaguely} remember that this was a class that Rachel at Stitched in Color held. It started in August and finished up in November, doing a few blocks per week. Considering I had a baby days before it started, I kept up surprisingly well. It was easy to just do a few blocks and kept me at least sewing something.

I had this grand idea that I was going to quilt the dogwood pattern on this quilt, but I think that was another reason I kept putting it off. It would have looked awesome, but on a quilt this size, it just felt like it would take forever. And I'm just going to be honest here, I stink at free motion quilting. I am working on it and I will keep working on it, but I just suspect this is something I will never be very good at. I am not a good doodler either and I suspect this might be related. I ended up with some nice...what would you call them...loops? And as easy a pattern as it is, it has an awful lot of mistakes and....sad loops. It was also really difficult to quilt over some of the thicker applique, and there are more than a few puckers if you inspect it closely. Still, it is a nice overall pattern and it turned out pretty well.

The back is a dottie quilt backing in tonal steel which I love a little. The binding is mostly gray with dots (I totally forget what it is right now but I think it's from bella) with a splash of pink in the corner which I would love to call intentional but I was actually just short that much ha.

So there it is. And now that it is finished I do love it. And I will be perfectly happy snuggling under it...if someone else doesn't claim it as their own first :) Woohoo for finished quilts! In other news, if my blocking attempt goes well, I will be returning soon with my finished shawl!

Penny sampler: it continues

Hey! Bet you didn't think you'd hear from me again this week! I wasn't so sure either, and then I went crazy with my penny sampler blocks to catch up and got so dang excited I had to share. I still haven't made this weeks blocks, but that means I have 3 blocks and a bunch of diamonds to make and that will be it. I can't believe it, and honestly I can't believe I've kept up with it so well, what with the class starting less than a week after I had a baby.

I am just going to go ahead and apologize for the crappy pictures, but I am working with what I have here, which is a carpeted floor and bad light. And don't mind the junk everywhere, it's a hazard of moving next week haha. Here she is in all her glory!

And some close ups of the recent paper pieced blocks.

I love this quilt! The flower pot block is my favorite and I kind of think it makes the quilt. So now I have two horses and a long churn dash and I will be caught up....if I get it done before the last part is posted next week that is. I am just loving this quilt and so looking forward to having the top completed. I still need to decide on a back and figure out whether to hand quilt it or not, but I guess I have time. Now I just need to sneak in some horse block making! Have a great weekend!

Penny Sampler: the second month

Alright, so this past month was precise piecing in our lovely penny sampler quilt. Here's the thing, I am not a particularly precise person. Which is why I wanted to take this class, hoping to kick my rear in gear. At the same time, I did manage to make an entire farmer's wife quilt, and am also part way into my pony club sampler (which I can't wait to get back to!) so I reason that I must not be terrible. I mean, my quilts come out looking pretty good, I think. Still, improvements could be made. So I am working at it. And through the course of these blocks it became clear that I have just as much problem with precise cutting as sewing, so there's that. In fact, that might be the larger issue. Anyway, on to pretty blocks.


Penny candy were first. All 17 of them. Cute little things :)

Hanging diamonds, snowflake and stacked pines came next

then ribbon square, jewel, and hourglass stacked

and finally, boxed in, crossroads, framed, and whirl

And here are some group shots laid out in there approximate final locations. On my purple carpet. Have I mentioned that I need a design wall...and that it's not likely to happen any time soon. *sigh* Oh how I wish I had a blank wall to use, even temporarily. Still, it gives me a rough idea of what I've got going on so far.

So there it is in all it's glory. I am loving it so far even though the purple does throw me off a bit in these pictures. I am really looking forward to the final paper pieced blocks. I am thinking I am going to hand quilt this beauty, but I suppose I have time to decide.  Happy weekend everyone!

Finished: Dogwood Blossom

Don't die of shock or anything, but I actually did finish two quilts recently and I am posting about them :) I finally gave up waiting for the sun though since, no lie, it has been almost a week without more than a glimpse of the sun, so the pictures are not my favorite, but oh well. I am thinking of sending this off to be loved by a sweet new baby, so I need it taken care of.

This is the dogwood blossom pattern from the penny sampler class. I did already talk about the top what feels like ages ago, but it was my first sketch stitch applique project, using two different methods to turn under the raw edges. I am still not very good at either of them, but I think sketch stitching and I will be good friends.

Anyway, I got it in my head that it needed to be backed in minky, so I found some of that and went to put it together and realized that it was showing through some of the lighter fabrics on the front. So, after much consideration, I decided to just put a layer of white flannel between them. Part of the reason I didn't want batting (aside from how ridiculously thick that would have been) was that I wanted pretty sparse quilting. I only stitched on either side of each seam line, so it is super, super snuggly.

I did zig-zag the edges before I put the binding on to stop the shedding of the fabric and make it easier, which it did. The binding is whatever pink/brown binding scraps I had lying around that I could make work, so it isn't ideal, but I think I like it. It is just lovely now that it is all finished, all soft and wonderful. I kinda want to keep it, but I think it would be much better for a northern baby. Perfect for making a soft place to lay on the floor or snuggling in a stroller I would say. Hopefully I will get it on it's way soon.

In other news, I am caught up on my penny sampler blocks for a few minutes, so I am going to try and get some pictures of those soon as well.

WIP Wednesday {9.18.13}

I'm back! Time to start keeping weekly track of what I am doing again I think. For sanity's sake, I am going to ignore all the things I need to do/should be doing and focus on what I am actually doing. I have some pressing things that need progress (and more time than I've got) so this should help me see that I am, indeed, making progress.

Things went into high gear this past week when a series of events led to the necessity of a big girl bed in a fairly short time frame. The frame has been found, we are on the hunt for a mattress and will go get some sheets, but obviously that leaves a quilt that needs making. I can't possibly imagine going out to buy one when I have all this beautiful fabric to use, so that has been what I have been working on when I can find the time. It will be pretty simple, but I have a whole lot of fabric to cut. Why, oh why don't I keep extra bed sized quilts in my house?!?! I really hope this comes together fast once I am done all this tedious cutting.

I also made some test pairs of big girl panties, which I do not have pictures of since they were snatched and worn immediately. Is it weird that I love making panties for my little girl? It feels weird, but they are so cute and satisfying that it hurts a little. This pattern, in case you are wondering.


In addition, I am working to keep up with the penny sampler. These are the blocks from last week, and now I am waiting for this weeks to go up so I can start pondering my fabric choices and be ready when I have the time. And maybe take a break from cutting a gazillion strips.

So that's mainly what I am working on. Along with a quilt, another "yarn blanket" has been requested for the big girl bed, so I am waiting for the yarn to arrive so I can start that. Hopefully by next week I'll have started and made some progress on that. Life is so crazy right now...and when it gets crazy, all I want to do is shut myself in a room and sew, so that is exactly what I do when I can find the time. Even if it involves wrapping the baby up on my chest while I cut fabric :)

Penny sampler: 3 weeks later....

Man, 2 kids is rough. Awesome, sometimes fun, beautiful, but also exhausting, stressful and did I mention exhausting?? So here I sit, baby sleeping on my chest, trying to type while keeping her from rolling off. It is both sweet and comical :) I am just going to go ahead and say that until that changes, updates will continue to be sporadic, although it seems like I get myself together enough to manage one post a week and I am pretty happy with that, seeing as I am only making about enough to fill that anyway, even though it does take me all week.

So here we are, beginning the 4th week of the penny sampler class and friends, it is time to show off some blocks. I've shown you my fabric picks, but let me also explain again that the idea is to have a largely black/white/gray/cream quilt with pops of the bright blue/pink/yellow. This is hard for me since I love color and want to use lots of it...in every block. Also, I tend to favor prints over solids, so I am making myself pay attention and use more solids too. I am definitely toning myself down and so far I don't think I am doing too bad. I don't know, you tell me.

Week 1 was the easy one with two heart blocks, a big quartet and a small single heart. I had so.much.fun picking out fabrics, and I continue to. I maybe shouldn't have used that bold print for the larger one since it does show through the hearts a bit in the right light, but I don't really care because it totally makes the block. And come on, gray with polka dots and a little pink heart, that's just cute.

Week 2 was two more little blocks and one large block. The little ones are so cute and so much fun. That big one there, that was a beast. There are something like 79 pieces in that thing! We are not even going to talk about how small some of those little windows are, or how they are a bit wonky. I do love the result though. I feel like appliqueing the roofs makes them seem a little funny and disconnected, but the more I look at it the more I like it and when I put them all together, all seems right in the world.

Week 3 brought three more little blocks and another big one, this one without any applique. The little ones, once again, fantastic. I did hate making those stinking little leaves though. And in the larger block, I managed to contain myself and do gray trees with an ivory background and I love it. I am hoping it will be a peaceful spot in the quilt and I just have to hope that it doesn't seem out of place in the end.

Here they are together. Even though I am pretty sure none of these blocks will be near each other in the finished quilt.

Obviously there is still a long way to go on this beautiful quilt. This week is our last applique week and next week we start precise piecing, which is definitely a lesson I need ha! Also, we got the extra project preview for this section and let me warn you, there is another baby quilt in my near future. I will say that all this sketch applique has been perfect for someone who is bad at applique. It is so forgiving and yet totally secure so I don't have to worry about the pieces falling off in the future due to my bad hand stitching (which may or may not be happening on one of my skill builder blocks...). I am looking forward to these last few blocks and I'll be honest, I'm a bit sad that there aren't any more of these sweet little sketch stitch blocks. Let's hope I can continue keeping up with this wonderful class!

dogwood blossoms

I made a quilt top!! A whole freaking quilt top! I don't know when it will become a quilt, but that is neither here nor there. I have been really living it up with daddy home to help with these two little kiddos and taking full advantage of naptime. Older child "naps" (really just plays in her room)  and daddy and baby snuggle while mommy sews. It has been a winning situation all around. Unfortunately, daddy is back to work this week so I am expecting productivity to drop off quite a bit unless my littles magically synchronize their naps ha!

Anyway, back to the point. Quilt top!! This is the dogwood blossoms quilt top which is one of the practice projects for the penny sampler class at stitched in color. Our first section is all about the applique. We learned two different methods for finishing those edges and I tried both of them in this quilt, and it was great practice. I also did sketch stitching to attach all those petals for the first time and man, I love it. It is definitely my kind of thing, so forgiving and nice and bold. I actually love this quilt top more than I even thought I would. I used pretty much all the brown fabric I had and a lot of the pink, and made this sweet little baby girl blanket.

One applique method is using freezer paper and the other is sew and turn. And if I'm honest, I'm not all that great at either of them. I think they are easier for me than needle turn, but I think I am just kind of bad at applique. Maybe all this practice will make me not so bad, but I'm doubtful. I definitely have totally different problems with each method, but in the end, I think they all look pretty good and it's not so noticeable if you don't look too closely. 

The top finished at somewhere around 39" and I am thinking a nice plush minky backing (without batting) will be perfect. Once I go get some. I am a little scared of minky, but I am going to try it anyway.

So now I am working on the actual penny sampler blocks. I am almost caught up on the blocks from the last 2 weeks (spoiler alert: I absolutely love them!!) so I'll hopefully be back with those soon. Assuming my first week home alone with 2 kids doesn't kill me :)

easing back in

Well, here I am. Slowly, very slowly, I am getting back into the swing of things and we are finding our new normal. I still don't know how much sewing time that will involve, but I am hopeful that I'll squeeze in some time. I am super thankful that my ridiculously wonderful husband has been home and given me a little time to start working on a few things.


First, here is my fabric that I collected for my penny sampler quilt.

I went a little overboard, but I love it. I am going for mostly black/white/cream/gray with pops of blue, pink, and yellow. I am hoping I can keep it balanced but it is going to be hard to do without a design wall....or any space large enough to lay it out really. Class started last week so obviously I am already behind, but I have been thinking about it at least so I'll be ready to go.

I also decided that I am going to go ahead and make the practice quilt. The project choices were a pillow or a quilt and while I know I don't need to do either, I like the quilt and would really like to learn/practice some sketch applique and work on the different applique techniques before I do it on the quilt, since that was the main skill I was aiming to learn and improve in this class. So I am downsizing and making a baby quilt with 9 blocks to practice. And get this, I already have the fabric cut! Excuse the blurry phone picture; getting out the real camera was just not on the agenda in the short time I had.

I don't know when I'll have time to actually make the blocks, but I am on my way. At least they don't look difficult and I'll get to try out both applique methods. Not to mention it should be a really cute baby quilt when it is eventually done. I am using pretty much all the brown fabric I have and mixing it with some pinks and I am loving it so far. I am pretty excited about having these blocks finished so I am hoping I will find the time to make them this week so I can get started on the sampler blocks. I am hoping I don't fall too far behind, but who knows. One day at a time :)