WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!  I hope all of my friends here in the US are gearing up for a great turkey day tomorrow.  I know I sure am.  My mom does most of the cooking so I get to relax and take it easy-having cooked Thanksgiving once in my life I am super grateful for this and know how much work it is.

It has been a little slow for me in my sewing space and when you add in the number of projects I'm working on that I can't really show here yet it makes it even harder.  But I've only missed a handful of Work in Progress Wednesday post this year and I'm trying to keep my streak alive.  I find when I don't have much to blog about this is the one post a week I can count on to keep my little space here alive and kickin' during the week.

I did manage to sew up my second quad to Marmalade Stripes & Squares.  I even joined Quad 1 & 2 together so technically speaking this quilt is over 1/2 done.  I don't think I can sacrifice this one to being a back but I figured out it would make a pretty good quilt for my SIL.  So I think I am going to work in that direction.  She & my brother kept their Dueling Flurry Quilts out all year because they needed quilts on the couch so I think we need to give them so variety.

Well I guess that's it for me this week.  Be sure to head over to Lee's and see what everyone else is working on.  As for me it's a 4 day weekend and I'm getting a quilt back tomorrow that my mom picked up from the long arm for me so I see some binding in my future.

WIP Wednesday

How is it Wednesday again already?  I'm not sure where the weeks are going.  Please tell me I'm not the only one to look at a calendar lately and get completely freaked out about just how close Christmas really is.  Since things are still really tight here I'm making as many Christmas presents as I can.  Homemade holidays is in full swing at my house but there are still people I don't know what to make.  Before you go suggesting I make quilts-I only make one quilt a year for Christmas.  It's a self imposed rule to keep me from going crazy and freaking out.

For my nephew I made up this little car roll up.  I used this tutorial and changed it up just a little by adding piping down the sides.  I almost wish I wouldn't have done that now because it looks a little messy but I'm sure JR will still love it.

If I were going to make this again though I would do a few things differently.  The tutorial calls for sewing on the track after the layers are sewn together.  I think I would do this first next time just to make it a little more clean.  And even though it was my idea to add the piping I think I would skip that next time as well.  I did use the Velcro that the tutorial called for but if I was doing this again I think some elastic loops with big buttons would still be easy for little hands.  

Since I've started the mad dash to completing my holiday list I will probably have to take a short break from my current project.  But I did manage to sew up the first quad of what I'm currently calling Marmalade Squares & Stripes.  Allison suggests in her tutorial to sew up a larger quilt in quads.  Which actually makes a ton of sense to me.  After working that way on my Complications quilt I have to say it is a lot easier to maneuver than tons of seams that are twin size.

I'm looking forward to this quilt along (found on instagram #feathersquiltalong) after the holidays.  It will be a little reward to myself for not going completely crazy with everything I have going on this season.  Quilting is after all cheaper than therapy.

Be sure to head over to Lee's to see what everyone else is up to.

WIP Wednesday

So after spending the first 2 days of my 4 day weekend wishing I was sewing and begging inspiration to strike I finally settled on a free quilt pattern I found on Pintrest for the back of my Complications quilt.  I've never really made a quilt back that had a lot of detail to it.  Usually I find one print from the line that is on sale and use that with some left over pieces or blocks so I don't have to try and match the pattern repeat.  But I am trying to work with what I have on hand right now since I can't afford any new fabrics to play with.

I really love Allison's (of Cluck Cluck Sew) patterns so it was not surprise that this free pattern of hers would be the same way.  I set out using the pieces I had left over from my fat quarters of Marmalade and Vintage Modern.  There are even the last tiny pieces of Ruby from my Swoon quilt mixed in here too.

Overall the pattern is made up of 4 types of blocks.  Large squares cut from a single fabric, squares made up of tiny squares, squares made up of strips, and a square in square design.  Then you lay them out in random order.  I think I am going to cut a few less of the large squares and add in a few more of the 16 patch squares because I have a ton of 2 1/2 inch squares cut already and they are just so darn cute.

I haven't cut everything out-another disadvantage to my sewing space is the lack of a proper cutting area.  I currently cut on a TV Tray so after a while my back starts to hurt.  So I cut a little and then sew a little.  I did manage to make the first 16 blocks or so not counting the solid ones I have cut out.  I need a total of 88 so that's not too shabby for progress.

Truthfully-I'm loving this so much it will be hard to use it as the back of a quilt.  I'm thinking it might just end up as its own quilt before it is all said and done.  But then of course what do I make for the back of two quilt tops.

In other news I joined Instagram this weekend.  I'm having a hard time finding all of my friends over there but I'm working on it.  I was such a fan of Flickr but it seems like more and more people, quilt alongs, and destash sales are showing up on Instagram these days and I felt like I was missing out.  But being so new I'm still trying to learn all the rules of the @ and the #.  Do you #designer when you use their patterns or fabrics?  What helpful hints do you have for someone brand new over there?   I'd love to hear about it.

Be sure you also head over to Lee's and see what everyone else has been up to this week.

WIP Wednesday-Still Missing My Mojo

So... No sewing going on here...  I don't know why I can't seem to snap out of it but for some reason no matter how many projects I pull out of the closet I can't seem to get motivated to finish up any of them.  Let's see so far this week I have started and stopped:

• Backing for Spools of Love
• Backing for Complications
• Backing for Sunny Trails (this one is seriously just one seam)
• Starting a Yellow Brick Road Quilt
• Making binding for the 3 quilts at the long arm
• Pulling out Bee Blocks to make into a finished quilt

Nothing seems to make me want to sew which is really strange because usually just sewing something helps.  I have a four day weekend this weekend and I was really looking forward to using some of that time to sew but unless this fog lifts I don't guess I'll be doing much of that anytime soon.

Head over to Lee's to see what everyone else is working on.  If you have some inspiration or ideas on what I should be sewing leave me a comment.  

Missing Mojo

Well I'm back from a really long week of traveling for work and I feel like I haven't stopped running since my plane landed.  I finally have some time today to relax and sew but I think I might have left my sewing mojo in Canada or Utah because nothing seems appealing right now.  Who knows why that might be but I just have a total lack of inspiration which is odd since most of the time I have a list of projects longer than the time in the day.  I guess I really should get serious about my holiday plan and figure out what I'm doing there.

Thought I would pop in today with some photos from my trip.  Interestingly enough I didn't take any photos in Canada.  I didn't have much time there and most of it was spent inside a stuffy office building.  I got horribly sick while I was in Canada and ended up catching an earlier flight to Salt Lake so I could sleep the bug out of my system which left no time for exploring.

Sorry for the bad iphone photo

Once I got to Salt Lake I did manage to check out Material Girls before crashing.  It was such a super cute shop-I really wanted to take her samples down and take them home.  I got to see Wallflowers by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew in person and that line is super cute.  My luggage was already over full so I had to behave and ended up coming home with just a charm pack of scrumptious.  But I could have easily blown my budget in that store.

After sleeping most of the day Saturday I ended up exploring the city on Sunday while waiting for my coworkers to arrive.  Turns out everything in Utah is closed on Sundays.  Who knew?  I did get to see the great salt lake which was extremely pretty even if it smells a little funny.

After that I headed over to Temple Square.  I was hoping I could hear the choir sing but no such luck.  It was still a very pretty place to walk around and wait for my coworkers to arrive.

So what are you working on?  Leave me a comment and let me know maybe you could inspire me to start something or even finish something from that really big list of mine.

WIP Wednesday

Not a lot of sewing going on around here this week.  Between a cold and getting ready to spend over a week traveling for work it has been a little crazy.  In fact while most of you are reading this I will be on a plane on my way to Winnipeg.  I did manage to get a angel gift made for the Sewing Room Swap and I did a much better job of taking pictures along the way on this project.

DS Fabrics and Kona

This partner wanted some storage for her sewing space or something she could use to take projects with her to sewing days.  I was thinking from the start that I would make a social tote-but before I ordered the pattern I found out she already had it.  Of course then I couldn't make it so I switched gears and tried to come up with something else.  I found this tutorial online and thought why not.

Then I got sick.  Turns out sewing piping for the very first time while a fever is cooking your brain isn't always the best idea.  And cutting circles that are bigger than anything you have to trace in your house-well that could have been a disaster.  Luckily the hubs was feeling nice and helped me out with a piece of wire and a pencil.

Adding the piping

If I were to make this sewing caddy again there are a lot of things I would do differently.  The extremely stiff interfacing on the sides of the caddy made it very hard to turn and with as many times as they tell you to flip it back and forth mine ended up coming lose and you have to have it secured for it to work out.  

Almost done-just needs the bottom

The instructions also don't call for you to use interfacing in the bottom of the basket but if I were making it again I would use something for sure.  Even if you don't want to go with the heavy weight even a medium weight like what is used in the handles would have been better than nothing.  Oh and those handles-I would make them a little larger as well.

Finished basket-lots of pockets

So that was my project for this week-its off on an international adventure now and I've got my fingers crossed this one will actually get where it is going.  Be sure to head over to Lee's to see what everyone else is up to this week.

WIP Wednesday

So after my big push last week to get the top of Sunny Trails sewn together I ended up not doing much more sewing.  I did cut pieces for my Swell quilt bases on a pattern in Camille's book but I didn't start sewing yet.

I'm kind of stuck on this one.  I really like the panel-it was inspired by this postage stamp quilt.  And I ordered my panel not long after specifically to use with this Swell fabric but it has just been sitting waiting.  And now I feel stuck.  I didn't realize the inside of this quilt was so small.  The pattern in the book calls for adding 3 boarders but I don't really like the thought of that with this panel.  To me it feels like it's just too much going on in such a small space.  Of course there is no way I will find more Swell fabric.  I'm thinking about just making it a baby quilt but I don't really need anymore baby quilts sitting around.  These would be number 3 in just the last few months.

What would you do?  Make it a baby quilt?  Add the boarders?  Any other creative solutions?

Also up this week I have had a cold, a dentist appoint-terrified by the way so it was a big deal, and a birthday.

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

PS-My mom and dad got me a beautiful set of Nordika Fat Quarters for my birthday so I'm already plotting what I want to make.  I've seen some beautiful patterns made out of it and my brain is already on overload to find the perfect one.