WIP Wednesday

I haven't done much sewing on my machine this week.  Remember all those quilts I was telling you about last week?  Well I got one box on Friday before heading out for a last minute trip to the races and then I had the other one waiting for me when I got home on Saturday evening.  So most of my time this week has been spent binding and I can't wait to show you guys the finished quilts.

Here's a little sneak peek of what I'm binding.  I've managed to finish both the baby and mama pips so more photos of those coming soon.  It's been a rainy week here so I haven't had a chance to take photos.

I also manage to finish a few more steps on my tiny swoon for the #thimbleblossomsminiquiltswap over on Instagram.  I'm excited about the way this one is coming together but with each step I feel like it is going to be harder to give away.

Head on over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to.  

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe it's already Wednesday again.  I know I say that A LOT but it's amazing how quickly the weeks are flying by this year.

My sewing time this week has been spent getting a head start on my mini quilt for the #thimbleblossomsminiquiltswap over on Instagram.  I knew as soon as I signed up that I wanted to make a scrappy swoon mini.  I've been wanting to make a scrappy swoon for a long time but one of the problems of not having a "stash" to speak of is that it's really hard to make scrappy quilts.  I'm following the tutorial from the scrappy swoon quiltalong but I scaled my pieces down to finish at one inch.  I didn't do any math so I'm still not sure how big this will be when it's done.

I have managed to make it through step 5 so far and hope to have the top pieced by Friday because come Friday I have a whole lot of binding to sew.  I have five quilts coming back from 2 different long arm quilters and they are all suppose to arrive on Friday.

I borrowed this photo from Abby who was kind enough to show me a sneak peak on Instagram.  This is now my favorite quilt to date and I can't wait to have it back and finish it up.  Unfortunately for me it will be the last one to get done because the others are all gifts.  Two of which are for babies and we all know they aren't going to wait on their quilts to be done to make their entrance.

I'm using my leftover pieces from this quilt for the tiny swoon.  Waste not want not, right?  It's hard to believe these tiny scraps are all that's left of my Scrumptious Fat Quarter Bundle but at the same time it is satisfying to know that I've used it instead of hoarding it.

Head over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to this week.

WIP Wednesday

It seems like another week has flown by.  I finished up the custom baby quilt on Sunday and boy was I glad to have that off my plate.  Working on a project you don't like and then knowing the person isn't really going to appreciate it sure makes it no fun.  I'm glad to have that one done and off to Sarah to work a little crinkle magic on.  Once that was done I started thinking about what to work on next.  I landed on my Flower Girl Quilt Kit.

I made up the first block on Sunday after once again replacing my iron.  My old one spit rust or something on my fabric and stained it.  Luckily I had just enough to cut around those spots but I knew that was the final straw.  In an attempt to make this one last a little longer I also bought a jug of distilled water.  Has anyone had any luck with that?

I managed to squeeze in two blocks yesterday.  The first one I made up and posted to Instagram.  When I looked at the photo again I was a little disheartened to see that the print in my leaves were running in two different directions.  It was driving me a little crazy so I made some new leaves and took the block apart to fix it.

I was also lucky enough to snag a spot in the I heart B&C Sample Bee.  I'm in hive 3 with some other wonderful ladies.  I can't wait to see what blocks everyone makes.  One of my favorite things about Camille's original sampler is that she used some little blocks mixed in to fill the space between some of the larger blocks.  So to get started I made 2 sets of baby pinwheels.  These will finish at 4 inches each.  Not super tiny but I think it will be a good filler.

That's it for me this week.  Head on over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to.

WIP Wednesday

Wednesday continues to sneak up on me every week.  I haven't been doing much sewing this week.  The need to make this baby quilt that I'm not excited about has robbed me of my quilting joy.

It's looking much better and it's half way sewn together now.  I know just a couple of hours could have it finished and I just need to buckle down and do it.

Today was also the shipping deadline for the strawberry swap.  I was very lucky to have a partner in this swap that wasn't specific about what they wanted.  It can me the freedom to just create something.  She said she was a fan of Bonnie & Camille and Tula Pink.  I love both of those designers but they are pretty opposite ends of the spectrum for me.  In the end I went with Bonnie & Camille because it felt more strawberry-ish.  Is that a word?

I had a lot of fun putting this little pillow together.  The strawberry block is from the Strawberry Social pattern.  It's a super cute pattern but I wasn't prepared for how small the pieces were.  That's what happens when you just start something and don't read all the directions first.  Is it rude to tell your partner if they don't like what you made to send it back?  Cause I really like this pillow.

I also had a need to do some baking this weekend.  I use to love to bake but being married to a diabetic I don't do very much of it because neither of us should be eating goodies like this.  For some reason this weekend though I needed to make cookies.  I tried a recipe for salted caramel chocolate chip but they didn't turn out as I had hoped and most of them ended up in the trash bin.  I couldn't find the caramel bits so used the alternative of buying the cubes and cutting them in fourths.  They were too heavy and sunk to the bottom of the cookies which caused the caramel to burn before the cookies were really done.  Anyone have a good recipe or tips to keep this from happening?

I guess that's it for me this week.  Head on over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to this week.

PS-I just noticed this is my 300 post

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe it's already Wednesday and that the summer break for WIP Wednesday is already over.  I had been on a big roll with my sewing projects but I think I might have run out of steam.  My MIL asked me to make an owl themed baby quilt for her & you know when you aren't really keen on something it makes it hard to want to do it.  I don't know why I'm not feeling the love for this baby quilt but well if we are keeping it real around here I'm just not.

I started out with this after being inspired by a quilt on Instagram.  Right away I was second thinking those stripe blocks.  I thought I could use the cheater print from the line to get the same effect but it wasn't working for me.  After a quick poll on Instagram I removed the cheater print and instantly it looked a lot better to me.  I'm still not loving it but I think it will work and I won't be embarrassed to say I made it.

While I was waiting for the fabric to arrive for that baby quilt I worked on the Dream Big pattern in Swell.  The pattern is from Camille's first book so it counts towards my challenge.  The swell fabric was tracked down for me a few years ago by an online friend and I finally got around to using it.  I just need to add my boarders to this one.

The pattern calls for 3 boarders made up of two different fabrics.  These are the 3 fabrics I have to choose from.  I'm not sure but I'm thinking dots, flowers, dots.  I really like the gingham but I'm afraid it will feel a little to picnic table cloth.

That's it for me today.  Head over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to.

Nordika Star Blossoms (Finish It Up Friday)

I have actually had this quilt finished for 2 weeks now and had hoped to get some better photos before writing this post.  But it has been raining here every day by the time I get off work and on weekends so these photos will have to do.

I'm super excited to have this one done.  I had planned to move fairly slow with this one but the big blocks went together very quickly and then I found the backing fabric on sale for 43% off on a trip with my parents.  Normally it still would have sat but after entering it in a drawing for free quilting with Sara of Crinklelove and not winning she offered 20% off on any quilt that was entered and that was motivation enough for me to go ahead and send it.

For the binding I used the orange printed solid from the Scrumptious line by Bonnie and Camille.  I hadn't planned to do that but when I was laying out my goodies from a mini shop hop my mom and I went on I saw how well they played together and orange is my favorite color after all.

Quilt Stats:
83 by 83
Pattern: Snow Blossoms
Fabric: Nordika
Pieced by: Me
Quilted by: Sara @ Crinklelove

Check out what everyone else is finishing up this Friday over at AmandaJean's.

WIP Wednesday

I had a relaxing weekend at the lake but I didn't get to do much sewing this past week.  When I got home I had this lovely package waiting for me.  I was so excited to dive into it but forced myself to start laundry and unpack the suitcase first.  It was great motivation to get that done.

Inside was my Snow Blossoms Quilt.  This is the first quilt I had sent to Sarah (Crinklelove) and she did a great job with it. (More on that in a later post).  Last night I made lots and lots of binding.  I never thought binding was that hard but ever since I switched to using a diagnal seam to join the pieces I have had a lot more trouble.  It seems I have to use my seam ripper every third piece or so.  I don't know why I can't seem to get it right but it causes me a lot of frustration.  I did however manage to get it done and get it sewn to the front of the quilt so now I imagine I will be spending a lot of quality time hand stitching it down in the back. It's a big quilt coming in at 83 by 83 inches.

Other than that I spent some time getting the backs of my Jelly Filled Quilts ready to go to the quilter.  I'm trying out several new people right now in hopes that I will find one or two I really like.  I plan to do a full review of each of them as I get my quilts back so I'll keep you posted.  The baby quilt finished at about 40 inches wide so I just sewed a piece of muslin down one side of my back fabric to give them the extra room necessary to stretch it on the frame.

That's it for me this week-be sure to head over to Lee's and see what everyone else is up to.