I've Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day ...

What a gloomy Monday. It's rainy and cool and I had a dental appointment at 8 this morning. So when I got home, I needed some sunshine somehow!  I have been diligently working through a few projects and have finished several of them. My goal was to not start anything new until much progress was made. I have been doing good with this, but today, I had to step outside that box.  I needed the sunshine!

 I had recently pulled a bunch of scraps out of my yellow scrap bin and ironed them. My plan was to, at some point to begin sewing them together via the slab method from Sunday Morning Quilts. I had decided I needed a yellow quilt for myself.  Looking through those scraps is like a walk down memory lane of my quilting history. I cooed over many a scrap as I dug and pressed.

 But today I shoved the quilt for baby B aside, momentarily, and began matching up scraps and piecing them together. It's like putting together a puzzle, but there is no wrong way to do it. I have lots of sizes and shapes here to choose from. The only rule is no new fabric, just scraps.

 And then there is lots of trimming to get rid of minor imperfections and square up the sides before adding another piece of fabric.

And this is what is on my design wall now. There are several larger slabs and some small ones too. I stopped for lunch, but plan to keep going until I have one big slab. Then, I will back it, baste it and quilt it.  I still have a half full bin of yellow scraps, but I am saving those for another day.

 I still have all these strips to add to this one and all the pieces below.  So I think that will make a nice lap size quilt for me.

One more quick shot. This next picture is the progress on my Sunday Morning Quilts Bee quilt.  My Bee mates are helping me make the Gumdrops Quilt in aqua and orange. I will still have some strips to make to finish this, but it looks awesome already.

Hope you have a sunshine filled day. See you soon.

Spring Sewing

I've been doing a bit of sewing, although not really working to diligently on my quilts in progress.  I seem to want some hand stitching and some little things that finish up quickly. We all need that sometimes.  And I must admit, the end result makes me happy.

 I made these sweet little bowls that I first saw on Erin's blog.  The pattern she found here and it really is sew simple to make.  I cut into my fat quarter stack of Noteworthy for these and I think it's just perfect for something like this.

 They are cheerful and bright and I plan to use them to hold little things like bobbins and such on my sewing table.

 Upside down, they resemble little shower caps. They were such fun to stitch up.

Here they are with some flowers to give a bit of perspective as to size.  I think they will be handy.

 Now, meet Maggie Bunny.  She is made from a pattern by Alicia of Posie Gets Cozy. Originally offered as a kit, they sold out in just hours, so I bought the pattern when it became available.  This is without a doubt the most adorable thing ever.  And I assure you I don't make lots of stuffed things, except pillows.

 The pattern includes Maggie Bunny and her dress and boots and a knitting pattern for a cape let. I do not knit, so my Maggie is waiting for hers which my daughter is knitting. I did, however, draft a pattern for a hat. I thought Maggie might need it for being in the garden.

 The kit came with all the fabrics for the ears and dress; Liberty fabrics.  I had one little piece of this flowered fabric left from a fat quarter that I bought years and years ago. I don't know what it is, but I love it sooooooo much. I had my heart set on using it for Maggie's dress.  But I didn't have enough so I added the Kona Tomato at the bottom.  It changes the look of the dress, but still cute.

 I added a ribbon to her hat and just tacked it  on.  This is the best written pattern.  Every detail is thought of.  More kits are being made, but if you have a stash, the pattern is perfect. She even tells you where to buy the felt for Maggie. I have felt to make a few more of these.  I stitched a bit each evening while watching TV with my hubby.  It goes pretty quick.  I don't want this to sound like a commercial, but truly, this was F.U.N.

So I hope you enjoyed seeing my Maggie and have a great Sunday.

Best Box Yet

I have won another of the Traveling Stash boxes.  This is box number 6 and I think this is the best box I have seen. Lots of fabrics this time and just a few notions, patterns and magazines.  Want to see?  Okay, here we go:

 This is a lovely bunch of soft flannels.  I know it's spring, but think of the soft quilt you could make for fall.

 These four pieces are all at least a yard each.  Great batiks and cute children's prints.

 Here is the entire collection of fabrics.  All the rest are fat quarters or similar size.

Here are the patterns and notions in the box.  Some zippers, 2.5 inch squares and some 5 inch charm squares.

 These next two fat quarters made me laugh out loud.  This first one is called "heavy equipment" by Alexander Henry 2006.

 This one is Stand Tall Stripe. I don't know who is the manufacturer as that is cut off.  But Wow!

 This is what I took from the box. Four fat quarters, one 1 yard piece and a pink 7 inch zipper.

Here is what I added to the box: two one yard cuts of Flirtatious by Sandy Gervais, two one yard cuts of older green print fabric, 3/4 yard of red crabs from the Going Coastal line, 2 fat quarters from Noteworthy and a dot I am not sure of and 1/4 yard from sherbet pips and another I can't recall the name of, but very pretty blue and green.  Also I added about 40 charm squares to the small packet that was in there. I have lots of loose charms leftover from packs and swaps, so I pulled some from there. Whew! I was fun to add all that stuff!

Want to see this box in person?  Leave a comment on this post.  I will choose a winner on Saturday April 20.  Here are the rules of the stash:
Winner has been chosen and emailed. Congratulations to number 5, Angela T.

 TRAVELING STASH RULES AND GUIDELINES 

RULES:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.                                                     I have another stash box up for grabs here.  That drawing ends tomorrow, April 15 but there is still time to enter.  Good luck and I will be back with more sewing stuff soon.

Hear Ye Hear Ye!

I wanted to grab your attention.  I hope it worked.  I have received another of the traveling stash boxes.  I love to see what's in these.  Here is what I found:

 This time, most of the box was fabric.  Lots of dark colors, which is not my style, but a few lighter pieces too.

There were a few quilting magazines and some patterns.  A lovely spool of white ribbon and some wooden purse handles.

These were the pieces I chose to keep.  The one black one has little cherries all over it and I thought it might go well with some Mary Engelbreit fabric I have.

This is what I put into the box. The panel is actually a full panel, it's just folded here.  It is a Deb Strain Cherish Nature Panel.  The three green fat quarters are from one of Sweetwater's earlier lines, either Pure or Simply. The other pieces are various bits leftover from projects.  I am still looking through my stash to see if I can find something WOW to add.  I will edit this post if I do.

Found this! The coordinating egg fabric for the Deb Strain panel-1.5 yards and almost a yard of Flourish by Valori Wells, a nice springy touch if I do say so myself.

Now, if you want this box to come see you, leave a comment on this post. I would love to have lots of comments for this box! I will choose a winner by random number next Monday, April 15! Tax day! What a nice thing to do on that day!
As always, you must follow the rules of the Traveling Stash.
Give away over.  Winner has been notified. More info soon on the winner.
THE TRAVELING STASH RULES AND GUIDELINES 

RULES:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.

Rest of the rules and guidelines can be found here.

So Many Projects!

If you're like me, you don't just have one quilt or sewing project going at any time.  I make lists, so that I don't forget any of them and I try to rotate through and give each one a bit of attention.  Sometimes, however, I just have to start a new one, even though there are so many already in progress.  One of the things I love about my husband is that he doesn't even point out that I haven't finished the others when I start a new one.  Here are two in the queue, and one that's done. (an unintentional rhyme)

Remember this?  I started this a while ago, after buying the pattern last year.  I scrapped my original fabric choices and started again.

I made some progress on this one yesterday.  It's slow going for me because there is so much cutting and then trimming and then sewing...I will keep going, but this one will take longer than some.

 This is a new start.  I saw an offer of 50% off these fabrics from Fat Quarter Shop on facebook.  It is Zoofari by Riley Blake Designs.  I bought a total of 4 yards to make a new quilt for Baby B.  I thought pinwheels would be nice and quick. 

It's really cute fabric and I know he'll love it.  These are the first few pinwheels I made yesterday.  The dark blue is one I had in my stash, a Kona color.

Now, for the finish...and there's a story, but you knew there would be, right?

A few years back my daughter went to New York City.  She stopped in at the Purl and bought, among other things, a bundle of these cute fabrics.  She wanted to make a quilt, so I suggested patchwork as an easy one to do.  She cut them up small.  These squares are 2 inches!  Then, she did nothing with them.  Life happened and finally I stepped in and offered to sew them together for her.  This pile is what is still left at the end.  Here is what I made for her:

 Here is the quilting, in progress yesterday.  It was overcast and rainy, so the perfect day to quilt.

 I found, with the help of another member on flickr, some of the yardage with the hut on it.  I didn't know what it was, but turns out it's Tina Givens.  I was able to get another yard at Fabric.com.  I used it for the binding, although my original thought was to use it for the back.

 Here is the front of this bright and beautiful quilt.  I do love the way it all turned out.  Minimal planning went into this, but as often happens, it came together.

 I even had the perfect color for the quilting and stitching the binding.  What a pretty pink!

 I found some yellow in my stash that I made the border with to corral the squares.  It is the same 2 inch width as the squares.

 I absolutely love the back.  I found these two fabrics in my stash.  Both are Quilter's Candy from Connecting Threads.  I don't think the pictures do them justice.  So bright and pretty!

 Down in the bottom corner I cut and stitched one patch of the hut that I fussy cut.  I think it's perfect.

 This is a project that took a year, sandwiched in between so many other quilts, clothing and bags that I have made for friends and family.

I hope you have enjoyed this look today at some of my many projects.  They all get done eventually.
Have a great Monday.