itty bitty grannies - a mini quilt

I'd been doing very well at resisting the urge to join in on all the granny square hoopla, started by Jolene (Blue Elephant Stitches). Find her awesome tutorial here. I loved everything about this block but knew I shouldn't start a new project when I have so many going already. Then Katy (Monkey Do) offered up an alternative strip piecing tutorial and I caved.

I wanted to do something quick and easy, just to get granny-squaring out of my system, so I pulled out some scraps left over from my 1930s quilt and pieced some itty bitty 3.5 inch blocks. I decided four was enough for me and made a little mini quilt, just for fun. It begged to be hand-quilted, so I gave that a go. This mini finished at about 8 inches square.

Nothing about this thing is perfect, obviously. I was pretty careless with all of it, just playing and experimenting and whatnot. The quilting stitches are uneven, and perhaps overdone. I put the sashing together all weird-like. The center of each side sucks in towards the middle, probably since the blocks are on the bias and the sashing is not. Is that why? Let me know if you have any insight.

Oh, and then there's that one block I accidentally trimmed the seam allowance off of. After a bit of cursing I decided to add some pink and call it good. It works for me. I like it. A lot.

Here's a look at the backside.

So, all in all I think this little guy is cute as a button and worthy of lounging about on my desk at work. Maybe I'll even set a coffee mug on it from time to time :D

Linking up with Megan's {sew} Modern Monday, Jenna's Manic Monday, and Elizabeth's Little Quilt Monday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.

New quilt + Stashing

I started a new quilt! Turns out y-seams aren't so bad and I was able to machine piece two blocks over the weekend. I finished the second one last night so no photo of that yet.

I might have ordered a bunch of new fabric especially for this project. I'm also pulling from my stash.

I wish I could flesh this out more but I have to work (drat!) and don't have time :D

Linking up with {sew} modern Monday and Sew Darn Crafty (buttons on sidebar!)

OMG! Look at this brilliant button Lucy has made for the Stale Stash Swap she's put together. Can't wait to figure out how to add it to my sidebar!





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!