lozenges + ear infections = random

I finished up that lozenge pillow cover last week and shipped it off just in time for my sister in Phoenix to get it for her birthday. I didn't have time to take decent photos so apologies in advance...

I used Lynne's lozenge EPP templates (found here) and omitted the squares. Instead I made a background panel from two layers of Moda quilting muslin with some batting in between, quilted with not-so-straight lines using a walking foot. (I did the same for the two back panels). I then hand appliquéd the patchwork to the panel.

I was kind of on a roll so I went ahead and hand quilted in the lozenges too, just to give it that extra something (and some additional stability in case my appliqué skills don't hold up). Hand quilting this small project was fun, but it gave my fingers a workout!

I didn't get to launder it (so it would get all crinkled) and have a lengthy photo shoot like I would have wanted... I  finished it on my lunch break and ran off to the post office after snapping a few crappy shots on the front porch swing.

On another note, I've been struggling with respiratory infections on and off (but mostly on) since the end of October. But I draw the line at ear infections and finally hit up the doctor yesterday. He prescribed antibiotics as expected, but he also insisted I start using a neti pot.

Mind = blown. Have you ever tried one of these?! I'd heard of it before because my old roommate had one, but never saw him use it and he never described the process. If you have no idea what I'm talking about go hit up google. It'll blow your mind too! I've used it a couple times now and I'm in love.

And since that last little tid bit is just tad on the random side, I think I'll link this post up with Cindy's Really Random Thursday over at Live a Colorful Life. (I can't get over the fabric covered car from last week. Mind = blown!)

what I'm doing

I finally finished the hand appliqué on this pillow cover and started hand quilting. Yikes! Needless to say, my hand is starting to scream at me.

I'm treading dangerously close to my deadline (of course) so this is what I'll be doing all evening, snuggled up under a quilt on the couch with my tea and hot pad. And iPhone :D

hoop-la-la swap - received

Yeah... Like three months ago. I can't believe I haven't written about it on the blog yet considering how fantastically freaking awesome it is. Better late than never, right?

Jennie from Jennie's Threads made this for me during Allegory's hoop-la-la swap back in November. It's English paper pieced and she showed such an attention to detail! See that sewing machine there? It's pieced from 1/4 inch hexagons. Incredible.

She wrote a pretty detailed post about it way back when she made it, won't you go check it out and leave her some love? She deserves it. Go on... I'll wait. She even sent along some of those teeny hexie templates for me to play with, if I ever work up the nerve.

So anyways, it's hanging in my sewing room and I love it to death. The intricate piecing, the lovely use of vibrant color and low volume. The intermittent hand quilting for texture. Plus tiny patchwork and EPP are totally my thing, she gets me.

Spot on, Jennie! Thank you so so much and apologies for not bragging on it sooner. I'm just plain slow at most things these days.

things I'm working on

Scrappy trip along quilt #1
30 blocks done, waiting to get another Chicopee design roll so I can keep going. Right now it's about 1 part Chicopee, 2 parts stash and I'd rather not dilute it out any more than that.

Scrappy trip along quilt #2
Dubbed the "circus clown" quilt. 12/12 blocks done, just need to assemble the top and get it quilted and bound.

2 doll quilts for my nieces
These will both be English paper pieced and need to be finished and shipped in time for Valentine's day, my eldest niece's birthday. And of course her little sister gets one for her dolly, too!

Lozenge EPP pillow cover
I just have a few inches of hand stitching left for the appliqué and then it's on the washing/drying and squaring up before I assemble the pieces. It will have an envelope closure and will fit a 20" pillow.

Random 12.5" blocks
I have three so far and need to make a fourth before these blocks hit the mailbox and go on an adventure. More on that later. Find a tutorial for the heart block over at modernhandcraft.com (I used 3.5 inch sub squares for mine).

That's my round up of active WIP's. There are a bunch of others but I figure they fall into the UFO category since I haven't touched them in a while and don't plan to any time soon!

Linking up with Lee's WIP Wednesday :D

flowerburst hexie progress

While out and about over the last week I got four new flowerburst hexie blocks finished. This is an ongoing project I started back in January, when I first fell in love with English paper piecing. I cranked out 50ish flowers to start with and then decided to add borders, which is a much slower process thanks to those little half-hexies.

Ever since then I've had a whole bunch of scraps cut up and ready to piece into more flowers and borders, kept in a cute little sewing kit ready for spontaneous drives and weekend getaways. It's my go-to project when I have nothing else prepared and I want something to sew on when I'm away from home.

Here's the whole batch so far. I usually post process pics to instagram while I'm working on them, although the turquoise on yellow one seemed to slip by undocumented.

This one and the next one I worked on last weekend while visiting Jon's parents. They love to sit out on the back porch and chat, which is the perfect opportunity for me to hand-piece.

I worked on this next one yesterday afternoon while riding in the car. You can see a bit of Lucy's fur over there on the bottom right. She's a total lap dog and a nut for car rides.

Last time I posted about these blocks I was having trouble calculating how many I'd need in order to make a queen size quilt. Helen, from over at Archie the Wonder Dog, suggested using this site, which tells me I'll need 184 full blocks and 14 half blocks, with the final quilt measuring 90x92 inches. So far I have 19 blocks and about 30 flowers...

Based on my progress so far I should have a finished top in roughly 4.5 years. Whoa. Talk about discouraging! Add in how long it would take to hand-quilt and I might just finish this one in time to cover up with at my funeral :P

I'm linking up with Quilt Story for a little Fabric Tuesday linky fun.

on the road sewing + bee blocks

When I was young we took lots of cross country road trips. I spent hours in the back of our Chevy Lumina minivan (which we dubbed the "dust buster" given it's odd shape) creating elaborate, beaded macrame jewelry. Once I got old enough to drive I realized how much it sucks not being a passenger. It's impossible to get my craft on if I have to keep my eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. Enter Jon, who loves to drive, who drives me anywhere and everywhere all the time. And only gives me the slightest bit of shit over my compulsive need to sew while riding shotgun.

Speaking of EPP on the road, I've been making some cute blocks out of antique/vintage fabric scraps. They're kind of along the lines of Clare's rose star blocks, only not really since they're scrappier, made from all kite shapes and I'm not adding the outer two rows. But those rose stars certainly were my original inspiration. I just love how you can dice up a hexagon and make so many different things from its pieces.

I have four of these hand-sewn blocks pieced and was thinking I'd float them on the natural quilter's muslin I used to cover this gigantor ironing/pressing board I made (with the help of my handyman). I got it at my LQS for $5/yd and it's heavier weight than normal muslin. I think it works really well with these old fabrics.

The pressing board is something I've wanted to make for forever and has been super useful while working on some far flung bee blocks for Holly. She asked for mod mosaic blocks using our scraps, with a color gradient and odd/unsquare shape. I have to finish the red-purple-blue one tonight so I can mail them off ASAP, as these were July's blocks and I'm a major tool for being so behind.

In my defense, my sewing room and supplies were in a horrific state of chaos (I'd never really finished "moving in") until recently when I finally got my butt in gear and organized the hoard. It's only slightly better now but I can at least move around in there and find what I need to make stuff. Ah, progress.

We'll be on the road again this weekend and I'll be taking full advantage of my passenger status, as usual :D

edit to add: yesterday I stumbled across Cindy's Really Random Thursday link-up and told her I'd wished this post were more random so it would fit the bill. She told me to link up anyway, so I did! Go check it out, there's some great randomness going on.

rockin' weekend recap - it's a doozy

Hey there. It's been busy over here, but I had so much fun in the last few days and thought I'd share some highlights. It all started when I finally got the motivation to put up a rad design wall in the new sewing room.

rad new design wall

You can't hardly tell from the photo, but it's pieced together and covers the whole entire wall. I know, not really necessary, but I had enough material. So why not go overboard?

Stats:
2 30x60in sheets of 1/2 in thick white foam board (which we cut in half at the store so it would fit in the car)
1 king sized 100% polyester batting (cotton batting has an ivory color to it, I wanted white)
3M adhesive strips for hanging

All in all it took an evening and about 30 bucks. I could have simply tacked some batting to the wall like I had before in the dining room, but this looks much better and I deserve the very best :P

project gingham, underway

I was trying to get as much done on my gingham quilt before leaving town for the weekend, but pressing seams open sure is tedious. I had reasons for doing it that way, but now I'm thinking it's a waste of time. Especially with the Project Gingham deadline fast approaching! Someone needs to hurry the heck up, already.

windows down, needle in hand

We then skipped town and headed to my future in-laws' place for the weekend. Did I forget to mention that the boy and I are getting married? Oops. Like I said, lots going on over here. Anyways, I brought along my first ever EPP project, these hexie flowers which I started back in January and am now bordering to make big hexagons.

uh oh, where are you taking me?!

What's super fun about the boy is how spontaneous and awesome he is. There I was, happy to sit and stitch and devour peach cobbler with his mom on the back patio, when suddenly we're headed off to a hillbilly pasture party involving lots of food, beer, live music (the boy and his friend sang folk rock songs, swoon!) loud mouths and laughter. Good times all around.

a mud-splattered Lucy-goose

Of course the dog was loving every moment of this adventure, too. We ended up camping out on a sandbar off the river, complete with tents and fishing poles and Sam Adams. Too much fun, really. But the next day was over a 100 degrees and the AC went out, so not everything was perfect. I did manage to get three blocks finished during stolen moments at the house or in the car. This one is my favorite.

a flower burst hexagon

I've decided to name it a flower burst hexie block, and while I'm sure it's been done before I can't find anyone to credit, so that's what I'm calling it. And if you're on instagram, I'm using #projectflowerbursthexie to tag all my photos so they can be in one place. And if you're doing Project Gingham with us, we're using #projectgingham to keep track of our progress. I also made a Project Gingham Flickr group, too!

I'm linking up with Quilt Story today for Fabric Tuesday. Head over and check out what else is there!

Ok that's it. Phew. Long post. Also my 100th in just over a year. I've come a long way since the very first. Thanks for sticking with me!

hello again

I've been absent for a bit but am guessing no one even noticed, right? Not that I need an excuse to take a blogging hiatus, but I met a boy. He's been eating up all my free time. That's all I'm saying so as not to jinx it. 

 

Progress has been made on my EPP megahexie patchwork curtains. I took and basted a bunch in the car on a recent weekend road-trip. I like to sit and stitch them together on my front porch steps while the cat and dog play in the yard. No power cord required. I loved this post by Clare (who is hosting the piece and love hexathon) because it totally explains the awesomness of hand-sewing in a few photos and a couple sentences. Check it out!

I never showed off the lovely fabric I got through the stale stash swap. I traded with Danny, who took some of my Mendocino and sent these guys in return. What fun we had pulling fabrics and comparing stashes. 

My sewing room hasn't been touched since my best pal moved out of it three weeks ago. I think my first step will be to paint it bright white, then move everything in and organize. Soon. Ish.

happy mail + another hexie project

Elizabeth sent me a big 'ole box of vintage fabric! I wonder what the neighbors thought as I jumped up and down, squealing with glee.

Mail sure is fun when it isn't bills or advertisements. A million times better when it's fabric.

About half the pieces are cheerful ginghams, which she split with me so we can make quilts together this summer [Eeeek!!].

The rest are bed linens, because she found out how much I dig them. I think she should show us her stash, which must be incredible if she was willing to part with all of these lovelies :P

Oh, and I started another EPP hexie project. I've recently reclaimed my sewing room from the best pal (I'll miss ya, bud!) and had plans to cut up some vintage sheets to make megahexie patchwork curtains for the windows in there.

I had my 2.5 inch (each side) templates cut and my fabric pulled, just waiting to be used. Then Clare started a piece and love hexathon and her timing couldn't have been more perfect. I'm in!

I'm ready to do some mad crazy EPP while on vacay at my gram's farm up in Iowa over the weekend. Hope you have a lovely Easter :D

Edit to add: if you'd like to try piecing megahexies by machine, I just found this great video tutorial by Liz of Lady Harvatine. Go check it out!

some progress + exciting news :D

My sister thought I needed to post again, so I took some quick pics of things I accomplished recently.

I had been adding the gray borders on each star, but now I think it will be easier to arrange the blocks to my liking if I wait to do that until they're all done. I don't want to risk having two of the same print touch each other, that's the challenge I set forth for this project. The star points can't be pieced in until they are made into half hexagons with the gray, so you'll notice in the picture that they aren't actually sewed on yet.

And I'm slowly adding borders to my hexie flowers, an EPP project. Very slowly! It'll be a long while before this quilt gets finished.

Drumroll please... My best pal and roommate for the last 15 months will be moving out tomorrow. I'll miss him, but am SO ready to get my sewing room back!!!! Whoo hoo!

Ok, that is all for now. Have a great weekend :D

Rural Adventures



I spent the weekend at my parents' house, carrying on with family members I haven't seen in a while. My brother was home from college (he's studying to be an aerospace engineer) and my great aunt and uncle were in town, too. I managed to get this block pieced together on Saturday afternoon whilst enjoying coffee and conversation at the kitchen table, overlooking the scenic views found on the property we so lovingly refer to as "the Ranch."

Isn't it funny how you take your everyday surroundings for granted? Now that I've been away in the city for a couple years, coming out to my parents' place is new and exciting! Here's some pics I posted to Instagram over the weekend:

I figured out that Instagram profiles can be viewed on a computer, so if you'd like to see what I'm up to feel free to check it out here.

Linked up with Fabric Tuesday :D

Happy sewing!

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Rose Star Mini Quilt - Finished

I went ahead and made a mini quilt out of my most recent rose star block, thinking it would look cute on the wall in my sewing room (once I get it back) or on the center of a table in case that never happens.

I echo quilted it, 1/8in from the seam on one side, 1/4in on the other. Why? Because I messed up and didn't notice right away. By the time I figured it out I decided to just keep going and pretend I'd done it that way on purpose (oops, so much for that plan).

I have a scrolly/swirly black and white dot print (by Alexander Henry maybe?) and thought it would look cool as binding. I was right (duh) and I'm super happy with how it turned out.

The back is leftover sheet material that my mom found at a thrift shop. It's 100% cotton and I used most of it for the backing on my punctuation quilt. I just need to put binding on and that one will be finished. I guess I should get on that...

I'd like to give a shout out to my pal, Elizabeth! She wrote a killer sweet post where she linked back to my blog not once, not twice but THREE times, lol! I was über pleased and am stoked she's joined in on the EPP bandwagon. Do yourself a favor and go check out her blog, Occasional Piece.

Okie dokie that's all for now. I'm linking up with:
Megan's {sew} modern Monday
Elizabeth's Little Quilt Monday
Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

Thanks for stopping by!

My Love Affair with EPP

Since I have no Valentine, (ick! who needs one?) I'm professing my love for English paper piecing instead. It's more like that disgusting, obsessive, quit hanging out with your friends because you've fallen off the face of the planet sort of love, but I'm ok with that. Judge all you want. I'm HAPPY.

hexie flower hexies

I know what you're thinking... Maybe if I put down the needle and thread and ventured out of my living room for a change I might find myself a man. Meh.

The other day I stopped to get an oil change. While the guy behind the counter seemed to be flirting with me, I decided to walk across the parking lot to the LQS and peruse the fat quarters instead of chatting with him while I waited. Once I returned he got back to asking 20 questions, attempting to find out if I was on the market. After telling him I spent nearly all my free time quilting, he straight up inquired if it was because I had no man to tend to. Huh. We laughed because he was spot on and we both knew it.

and another pic to prove this post does in fact belong on a quilty blog

Unfortunately for this guy, he didn't meet my very basic requirements. Since my pool of possible valentines is so incredibly vast (ha) I can afford to be picky. I'll share a few things I need from a man in order for him to have a chance with this fine behind.

- Must be able to fix a sewing machine.
- Must enjoy tolerate holding bolts of fabric so my hands are free to look for more bolts of fabric.

- Must be tall enough to hold up a queen size quilt for photographing without it touching the ground (preferably his footwear would be visible, but let's not get too specific!)
- Must have a mother who owns a long arm and would let me use it anytime I want (bonus points if she has a giant stash for me to pilfer)
- Must know to gift me a bundle of fat quarters on Valentine's day (and any other holiday) rather than flowers or chocolate or diamonds. Ok maybe I'd take diamonds, but you get the idea.
- Must make the mad cash so I can quit my job and be a SAHQ (stay at home quilter) for the rest of my life.

Are my expectations too high? Methinks not.

Oh and thanks for all the feedback on my Star Flower block (in the last post), it's so nice to ask for opinions and get such good ones! I'll be sharing pics of the finished product once the sun shows itself long enough for me to take some.

Liking up with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday :D