Sunday, February 28, 2016

Splendid Mondays

With the Splendid Sampler releasing two blocks a week, I figure a good way to update is just once so I can have the time to complete the weeks' blocks. :)

We are currently at #5 blocks done, and I've kept up so far! Hurray!

Block #4: Happy happy by Jen Kingswell
I tried a new method of applique for this... well new to me. The small circles were basically done like yo-yos then hand stitched on. I haven't trimmed the block down yet to the 6.5" square because I'm holding out until I get a 6.5" ruler. 

I used to embroider like crazy so the stems weren't a big thing for me. It was smaller width that I usually do (2 strand instead of 6) but it looks nice. Small and delicate. :) I fussy cut the vase to have the glamping phrase on the piece.

Block #5: Simple Simon by Celine Perkins 
I really liked this block. It was fast and still something different for me. I used starch for the first time, and it was great! The fabric gets stiffer and easier to work with, I may just have to do this every time I cut pieces! Time to invest in some Best Press. 
I fussy cut the ladies so they were included in the squares as much as possible. 

Fishskin Mini Swap

A local quilt shop (well local-ish, they're out of the next town over) has recently hosted mini quilt swap online!

The deadline to mail out it is March 15, but I'm pretty well done except I need to handstitch the binding on. Actually, I finished a first one at the beginning of the month but that partner withdrew so I took on her partner instead. :) It's basically like secret Santa, so we have someone to make it for but that person has someone else. It's pretty fun! I may just do more of these, circumstances permitting!

Here's what I made my first partner:
Her likes were Cotton  + Steel fabrics, so I literally pulled all that I had in my stash - which was not as much as I would like (need to remedy that!) - and what with a Lori Holt pattern. I am actually a little glad that she withdrew because I decided to keep this beauty! :) 

And my progress for the new partner:
She said that she likes country fabrics and is starting to like civil war fabrics... It was a bit of challenge, but from snooping it seemed like she was okay with 30s prints, which was the closest I had in my stash. So I opened up a charm pack, and made this! More Lori Holt patterns from her Farm Girl Vintage book, and I freemotioned some parts of it. :) I like this one too, but I'm a little uncertain if she will... we will see. She's from Alberta and said "country" so I kept that in mind when picking the patterns! 


Friday, February 26, 2016

Finish it up Friday!

I've been crazy busy finishing a lot of nearly-done projects, and here's the one that actually made it all the way done this week! :)

I started this baby quilt before Baby O was born... so maybe about May? I fell in love with this pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, and generally love all of her animal patterns. It was super easy to make, and I love that fact that a baby size only takes 10 jelly roll strips. Bye bye random jelly roll leftovers! :)


The quilting is done by my pal and local longarmer, Sylvie! I just said "something woodsy" and she went with this, love it! <3 p="">

I'm all about using up flannel scraps for backings. I don't often sew with my flannel scrap stash, so this is the best way for me to use them. 

My Disaster Zone

As the name of this blog implies, I'm a bit chaotic. Organized chaos maybe? Everything has a place, but that place looks crazy to people that aren't me. ;)

Here's a glimpse into what my sewing room typically looks like.
Working on my king size postage stamp quilt that has been 3 years in the making, lol. The cardboard box has scrap vortex pieces. I swear I have more scraps that actually pieces of fabric now.

I started hanging my completed tops of projects in various stages. Keeps them out of the way to start new things. ;)

That's one scrap bin under the table - sorted by colouring groupings (warm, cool, neutral) until I make specific fabric bins for them all. 


And this is where I keep my books, selvages, batting bits, bundles & flannels. It's overflowing so I either need to get another one of these units or just use my flannel/batting up. :) I did that a bit, so it does look a little better now. 

I am just really happy to have this space to sew. Before we bought our home, we rented a two bedroom townhouse. We shared the spare room as a gaming/sewing center. One half was sewing and the other was the computer zone, but it was pretty apparent that my quilting stuff was taking over the whole space. Whoops! 

Now to get somewhat organized. ;)

Monday, February 22, 2016

Pat Sloan's 2016 Mystery BOM

I love block of the month quilts! I did my first one in 2014 with my local group of quilters, and it was a blast! The group has done one a year since, but I wasn't sold on participating in last year's quilt.

This year I've decided to take on Pat Sloan's 2016 Secret Garden mystery BOM! I've done the first two blocks and love it so far! I went with teal yardage that I had leftover from my making a queen size flower girl quilt for a friend. It's pretty much going to be scrappy but with teal/turquoise as the main attraction. Gold/yellow is going to my secondary colour, and white will be the "background" fabric. The white will be the only one consistent with the fabric number from the pattern so we'll see how it goes. :) I thought about adding pink but it doesn't really work.


January's block: DC Botanical Gardens

February's block: Killarney National Park
I like how the colours pull from the center block nicely. It's like the fireflies are coming out of the jar. :) 

All together! 

The Splendid Sampler: A journey to new techniques!

This year I've committed to yet another quit-along group, and it is the Splendid Sampler hosted by Pat Sloan & Jane Davidson!

It's 100 blocks in a year (2 per week), each with something a little new or challenging for the quilters. We're currently on block #3 by Melissa Corry, and I have to say it's been really fun so far! I've never participated a quit-along so huge - seriously, the facebook group was over 15,000 people in it! So my newsfeed has been bombarded with hundreds of quilt blocks daily but I love it. To be honest, before this, facebook was just a place to see info-graphics with zero fact-checking shared or "share this & get good fortune!" so the quilt change in pace is great. ;)

The blocks are only 6.5", so some are pretty tiny. Thanks to the farm girl vintage blocks I've been working on, I do have some practice with that, haha. I've never used starch or best press, so I think that might be something to try for the next block to make it even better! I'm going to commit to trying the new techniques and using new tools to help improve my piecing. There's always room to grow. :)

I went with my Glamping fat quarter bundle (which was 14) and supplemented with some stash and traded my mother-in-law for some more pinks/blues/yellows. I'm still about 10 short of the 30-35 that we should have, but I can at least get started on it with this amount and throw in some more as we go.

Anywho, on to the blocks I've done!
Block #1 Hearts A Flutter - this one called for needle-turn applique. I'll be honest, I didn't follow that because I had no clue what it was. So I found an easier variation through the sampler site that had the interfacing sewn on and turned inside out to fuse it together. I did the blanket stitch by hand and had to remind myself how to do that. It's been forever!

Block #2 Wings - Overall I like how it turned out but I was kind of mad at myself for accidentally reversing the row placements. It was just too small for me to unpick, so I left it and improvised with the embroidery on the butterflies. Instead of pointing in, they are flying in a circle. :)

Block #3 Lots of Love - Love this design! There's a mini quilt to match it so I may just have to try that out for the future swap partner, :) It didn't end up perfectly square, but oh well!

And all my blocks thus far with the cathedral window pincushion! I haven't tried cathedral windows yet so that was also a learning experience, Not too bad actually! I thought it would be way worse, haha. 

Monday, February 1, 2016

Welcome!

Hi there! My name is Emma and I am a quilt addict, officially. I began this intense "hobby" (more like obsession) in the fall of 2012 right after I married my honeybuns. I've been hooked ever since! I am a chronic scrap hoarder to the point where the floor of my sewing room is barely visible most days. I'm a firm believer in "no scrap left behind". Anything larger than 1" square is kept, sorted (sometimes), and used. It's been nearly 4 years, and I figured it's about time to jump on board the blog train. I hope to join in on more quilt-alongs and post progress here, keep my projects in this picture-filled record, as well hopefully make some friends along the way. :) Speaking of which, time to go sew the mystery quilt-a-long from Pat Sloan! Cheers, Emma