WIP Wednesday- Quilt Market here I come!

Well it has been announced here that I will be attending quilt market with Angela Walters helping her out with her booth!  The cat is officially out of the bag- and I couldn't be more excited.  I have been very busy making lots of lovely things with her upcoming fabric line and I can't wait to be able to share all about them, but alas- I must wait... but I did make myself a new handbag and wallet to take- so I thought I would share pics of those- so if you see the purse at market please come say hi to me!  I will be in booth 1427 so if you are there please stop by and say hi- I am really looking forward to getting to meet some of my internet friends in person!  If you will be at market then I hope you have a safe flight and if not please come back soon for lots of pics and fun stories about my trip!
I am linking to Lee's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's that time of year again, the time where I turn another year older and everyone I know is extra special nice to me and I just can't get enough of it! :) This year it really snuck up on me as I was so busy preparing to go to market a few days after... yup- that's right!  I will be at market helping out a lovely friend of mine- but more on that to come..... anywho- I haven't had much time to think about anything else and yet here I find myself with a birthday tomorrow... and the good news is that I am wrapping up the last details of all my market prep today- so I think I may actually get to enjoy it.  As I do every year, I made myself a birthday gift.  I started this tradition 3 years ago and I have to say- it's a keeper.  As a quilter I find myself in possession of very few quilts.... because I give away 80% of what I make.  I am not alone here- I think we are all guilty of this- and so by making myself 1 very nice gift a year I get the chance to spoil myself on something that I will actually get to keep and use.  I look forward to it every year- and the things I make get lots and lots of use, because who knows better what I need or would use a lot then me?  :)   So this year with my upcoming trip approaching I thought a nice new purse and wallet would be in order.  So I designed and made these all for me... trimmed in leather- recycled from some leather pants and complete with leather tassles that I made too.  It was so fun to go crazy- and the quilting- feels so soft- I love matchstick quilting and even though it is a bit of a pain and mine isn't perfect- when combined with my favorite design- feathers- is just so me.  I love them both and they will suit my needs perfectly.  Happy Birthday to me.  So... next time you find your birthday quickly approaching I hope I have inspired you to think about making yourself something nice- you deserve it!

WIP WEDNESDAY PANEL CHALLENGE

Ahhh, it's Wednesday again and I have been very busy sewing up a storm this week.  Unfortunately what I am working on is a top secret project- which I won't be able to share for a while...  But- I did get the okay to share my Make it Right Challenge project that I made for Angela Walters new fabric line from Art Gallery called Textures.  I actually made this last month, but had to wait to share it until she was ready for me.  Originally the challenge was extended to only a few people, and then she and Art Gallery opened up the challenge to everyone- and there are some very good prizes- so make sure and read about the challenge if you haven't already.  My project was a quilt- when I saw the line I was immediately inspired by the name textures and the sketchy type prints of quilt designs that create different textures when quilted.  I wanted to use one of each of the prints (though I think I am missing one) and quilt each print in a different design to give it it's own texture.  I also wanted to leave big pieces of the fabric so you could really see it.  So I whipped out my Quick Curve Ruler and went to work and this is what I came up with.  The actual challenge was for a creative use of the Panel though- so I decided to make it a double sided quilt and use the panel as the back.  I really like how it came out- perhaps even more then the other side... hmm!  I hope you all enjoy seeing what I made for the challenge, and I also hope you all join the challenge so I can see what you make with the panel.  Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's out there!
I am linking to Freshly Pieced Work in Progress Wednesday

Art Gallery Textures Panel Challenge with Angela Walters

When I first heard from Angela that she had a new fabric line coming out- I was naturally over the moon excited for her.  Then I heard what it was going to be called and I really got excited.  Textures.  Perfect.  I love the texture that free motion quilting creates and I loved that she had themed her line after just that.  So when I was asked to participate in the panel challenge I jumped at the chance.  I was already feeling very inspired by the Textures line and I really loved the look of the panel, and making it a true "challenge" - I had never used a panel before for anything- so this was a first and I looked forward to it.

I know I could have made anything for the challenge- but I knew immediately that I wanted to make a quilt, and that I wanted to use my Quick Curve Ruler, and I knew I wanted to keep large pieces of the fabrics on the front of the quilt, and use the panel on the back- to give it a double sided look.  Each fabric got assigned it's own quilting design- which gave it it's own "texture"-  and each 1/4 yard I ordered was cut in half and half was kept uncut and the other half I sliced up with the QCR- and the design just kind of fell into place.  I like that in each row you can see one big piece of the line and little slices of all the other pieces-  and curves give it lots of movement-which combined with the textures- makes it a really fun quilt.  It was also ridiculously fast to piece together- just a few hours!  The back took a bit more thinking as I was unsure of how I wanted to use the panel.  It was so pretty, I just couldn't hack it all up- try as I might.  In the end I used half of it as is for the center square, and used pieces of the rest of it to make the smaller rectangles on the edges.  I also used a bit extra I had to give splashes of it in the binding.  I paired the panel with Cozumel Blue for the back- which I also used for the binding as well.   Another first for me with this quilt was using double batting.  I never have done that before, but I really wanted the texture to jump out at you for this quilt, so I went for it.  I will say I had my issues with it- not as easy to keep tight and basted with no shifting- but if you are careful you can do this in your domestic machine (I did)- though this method would be easier for sure on a long arm.  Overall I am very pleased with the results and hope you all like it too.  Nothing gets my little brain more excited then a creative challenge and I had tons of fun participating in this one- can't wait to see all the amazing things you all make too~

crosshatch

the slices

mod clamshell

all over feathers

wood grain

pebbles

swirls

square stipple

paisley

Thanks to Angela Walters and Art Gallery Fabrics for such a great challenge!

WIP WEDNESDAY a fun new ottoman

I have been doing lots and lots of sewing lately, but not much I can talk about yet.... so I have been a little quiet around here lately, but this weekend I made myself a fancy new ottoman- which really came out nice if I do say so myself.  This one is really just a practice version- I wanted to make sure I had the dimensions and construction method down before cutting into my yardage- so I dug through my scrap bin and found a pretty fat eighth of Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner- and I also found a large piece of linen I picked up at a thrift store a few months back- it had a few marks on it from being wrapped in tape- and a water mark- but I laundered it and even though it had marks I thought I could overlook that for a practice version.  I ended up filling it up with shredded paper- yay for recycling!  I can't wait to make a few more, it sure is nice to put my feet on- and really dresses up the living room too.  Fun stuff... can't wait to see what you all have been up to! :)  as always linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced

fun weekend sewing

Soooo I have been in the depths of waiting for things in the mail in order to continue the WIPS I have, and I decided it would be nice to make a few throw pillows for our bed since the shams came out so nice.  I also got a request from the Mr that more pillows for the bed would be good.  I love a man who appreciates a well made pillow!  Anywho- I decided to do some round ones in the poof style- they were quick and easy to make, just like a dresden plate- and I love how they came out.  On one I used my walking foot and did some straight line quilting for a change of pace from my typical fmq.  On the second I was missing my fmq so I did feathers on it, one side has wavy feathers radiating from the center, the other has a big feather wreath.  Fun stuff and more beauty for my bed- win/win!

WIP WEDNESDAY measure once cut twice...

This week's worth of sewing has been precipitated by a huge amount of waiting for fabric to arrive.... sigh.  I started the week by finishing up my second pillow sham in Joel Dewberry's Heirloom fabrics- I have it pictured below along with some pics of the quilt I made for our bed which I haven't pictured yet.  It came out great and I had a fun time quilting ferns for the first time in the center.  I then moved to working on my Tula Pink Saltwater quilt.  I started cutting and got a little carried away- and cut 6 blocks wrong... which prompted me to order 4 new FQs of those prints so I could remake them.. and then wait a week for it to get here.  I then was contacted by a very good bloggy friend with a super secret special request- for which she would send me the fabrics... again more waiting.  So finally this past weekend everything got here and I got the super secret project done (more on that soon... I promise) and the Saltwater quilt is half done too... Looks like next week will be a quilting week- which to me are the best weeks.  Hope you all had a great sewing week, can't wait to see what everyone has done!

Saltwater quilt sneak peek

Our bed quilt, made in November for our 10th anniversary- he came up with the minimal design- I made and quilted the quilt.

I did some crosshatch in the middle along with a half feather surrounding the "bricks"

the top and bottom each have a long feather design with a chain design and figure eights, I also did some large areas in pebbles.

the new pillow sham- unfortunately the curved piecing gets lost in the patchwork as the fabrics don't have enough contrast.

my very first fern.

the new sham-

the first sham I made