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!

Ripping Stitches

I'm riding shotgun on the way to my gram's farm for the weekend. I'll be spending the next few hours in the car, carefully ripping out the quilting on my punctuation baby quilt.

It was my first attempt at FMQ and it didn't go so well (you can read about it here). Hopefully this thing will be quilted and ready for binding by tomorrow night. *fingers crossed*