Staycation Sewing

I have been doing lots of sewing this week so far.  I have also gotten lots of housework  done.  And you know what?  I don't mind the housework taking me away from the sewing as much, when I know I have so much more time to do both since I am off all week.  This is great!  So here are some more pictures of my staycation:

 I made another wristlet from Trillium Design's pattern.  Seriously love this pattern people.

 My daughter has been coveting this purple fabric forever.  I had to make her something out of it so she would stay out of my stash.  The green dot fabric is Vintage Modern.  A perfect match.  The purple fabric I tried to find on line a couple of years back to buy more, but alas, it's gone.  So I will use the rest sparingly.

 This is a project I am just starting.   My daughter will recognize it.  It will be a bookshelf quilt.  These are a few of the test strips.  I found a partial jelly roll of an old Basic Grey line in my strip scrap been and it seems perfect for books, with a few others added in.

This quilt is basted and actually on my machine right now.  It is for a recipient in the Comfort Quilts Bee that I am in.  I am loving how it is turning out so far.  I will show more when it is done.

I also made a baby quilt for a friend, but since she sometimes reads my blog, I am going to have to wait to post pictures until I give it to her.

So far, on staycation, that's two wristlets, one quilt quilted and one being quilter and one new project started.  Pretty good progress so far.  I have two other quilts being pieced and one more waiting to be quilted, which I hope to at least start on before I go back to work.

Have a Great Wednesday.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Boy, has it been hot here.  So hot in fact, that today's forecast of 96 degrees sounds good! When it gets that hot, there is nothing to do but sew in the AC.  You all know I'm right, yes?  So, what am I sewing?  Take a look:

 First up is the back to my Swoon Quilt.  I have been procrastinating a bit, so I used Amy's One Thing, One Week Challenge to help me get past this.  I really do want to see this quilt finished.

I used a bunch of the fat quarters from the Reunion line, along with leftovers from the background fabric and just kept putting it together until it was big enough.  And surprise, I kinda like it.  For me, this is the hardest part of quilt making.

Here are the blocks again.  I think this will be a great quilt.  And yes, the blocks have been sashed, but the picture of that is not too great.  You can't see them very well.  Too hot to go out and take pictures.

 For the first time in 4 years I have a design wall.  I wanted to work on these blocks and see how they looked.  So I found my old flannel sheet and washed it and then just hung it up with tacks.

 I forgot how much I love having a design wall.  It makes things so much easier to see.

 I also finished my two Bee blocks for the Comfort Quilts Bee this weekend.  So I will be going to the post office this morning to get these in the mail.

I love how they turned out.  The rainbow fabric is a Hoffman Challenge fabric from about 2004 I think.  I have never known what to do with it, even though I loved it when I bought it.
Have a great Monday everyone.

Bee Blocks and Swoon

So it's well past middle of the month and I knew I needed to finish up my bee blocks for the Comfort Quilt Bee.  I had one done and the other cut out and started.  Let me just say right here and now, that while I think this block is beautiful, it was tough to put together.

 Here are a bunch of the HSTs I had to make for one block...not too bad, right?

 But then they all had to be trimmed to 2 1/2 inches.  We are talking less than a quarter inch off of each one.  It was making me a bit crazy.  I have issues with fussy stuff like this.  I guess I am just a rebel when it comes to precision things.

 But they did turn out nice and I am pleased with the result.  I have to make the signature block and then they will be in the mail this week.  YAY!

I don't know if I have said this before, but the most important thing I learned in piecing these kinds of things was from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.  Shorten your stitch length and your squares and points turn out so much better, every time.  No one ever taught me that before.

During the piecing of these bee blocks I said, more than once that they were more trouble than the Swoon blocks.  Which reminded me I need to finish 3 more to have mine done.  So I decided to take a picture of all 6 that are done so far, to help inspire me to get off my butt and finish them.  So here they are.
Hope you have a great week.

Lots of Show and Tell

I've really been making some progress here this week.  I am sewing a lot to finish some big projects and even squeezing in some smaller things that weren't on the list.  So here is my show and tell.  I have to tell you I cannot always get my pictures to load in the order I want without a lot of finagling.  So today, I'm just gonna narrate them in the order they came up because I'm feeling too lazy to mess with it.

This is my couch with all its quilty goodness on it.  It's sort of an off white and to protect it I have covered it in many quilts and pillows.

 I bought 2 charm packs of California Girl by Fig Tree.  I love to test drive a new line to see which prints I really love.  This line has quite a few, which could get expensive when it comes to yardage.  I had a couple of pillow forms that needed dressing for awhile now, so I decided to drop all else for the day and do them.  The border is a dotted print from the Strawberry Fields line.  See how well they play together?

 Under the green strips is the zipper.  I put the other strips on to add interest and mimic the zipper strip.

 And dig the mitered corner!  I am usually too afraid to miter, but yesterday I was not afraid at all! First a zipper and then a miter! What next?

 Here are my March Bee blocks for the Comfort Quilt Bee.  This was a great block From Don't Call Me Betsy's blog.  Her tutorial is so easy.  These were pretty quick and they are off to the post office today.

 Here is the second pillow cover using California Girl charm squares.  Also a good shot of the mitered corner.

 I like this one sooooo much.  Very cool prints in this collection, I must say.

 I didn't have another zipper long enough, so I did an envelope closure, again using two sets of strips to mimic the look like the other pillow.  The small check print is also from the Strawberry Fields collection.

 Here is another shot of my couch with all 4 pillows.  You can see in the background the quilt on the back of the rocker and the one on the wall.  If you look carefully in the bottom left corner of the picture there is my Irish chain quilt in its hoop.  Still not done with it.  Can you have too much quilty goodness in one room?  You should see the other chairs!

Last, but not least, my sister's quilt.  All that remains before quilting is to add the 2 inch border strip.  Then it will be off to the quilter.  I am so glad this is so close to done.  It is a very big quilt, even if I am not quilting it.  Thanks for coming along today.  Have a great Monday.