Sewjo Saturday #4, the One I Almost Missed

My work schedule changed today so I almost missed this week. It has been a crazy busy week and not nearly as much sewing as I would like, but I did make a bit of forward progress. Here's what I have;

 I began sewing the Rocket Age quilt pieces together. Not many yet, but enough to see that this is going to be a great quilt for V.

 I can't tell you how much I love these prints by Riley Blake. So cool and so retro. Great colors too.

And the other project is a set of bunny bowling pins and ball(still to be made) for B for Easter. I made them out of some Heather Ross Briar Rose scraps. Hopefully they are not too girly. Gotta run, but see you tomorrow for Sunday Stash. Linking up with Kim for Sewjo Saturday.

A Softer Place to Sit

My Friday finish this week is my chair cushions. It only took me 3-4 days to get them all done, in between everything else going on in my life.  I am thrilled with the way they came out. I still need to go buy one more foam insert to do my last chair, but for now, I have 5 new chairs.

Text fabrics from a swap

Road 15 by Sweetwater

From a rainbow charm swap

More Road 15

Fig Tree fabrics

 Most of the sides are not too even, but who cares.  They are so cushy and soft when you sit.

 I love looking down the row of chairs like this.  It really is like having new chairs!

Have a great weekend. Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Friday.

A Charmed Project

I love Charm packs. I buy them to get a good look at all the fabrics in a line I am interested in. I buy them because they are not too expensive. And I have also swapped them. So I have lots of charms.  What do you do with all of those charms?  Well, patchwork of course. And what do you do with all that patchwork? Cushion covers!

These old cushions for my dining room chairs were really worn and ugly. I forgot to get a picture before I striped them bare. I have had them on the to do list for at least 2 years. Yesterday, I started on them with my charm squares. Here is where I am after 3 are finished:

 This is the first one, covered in Road 15 from Sweetwater. I added some poly fill to puff it up a bit. They tend to get flatter over time.

 This one is also Road 15 in another colorway. I had a whole charm pack of this to use. I used 12 charms for each cushion. The strip around the side is made from fat quarters of Reunion and Noteworthy, cut into strips and pieced.

Before you get to thinking they are all going to be the same, the next one is a bunch of text charms from a swap. I did use the last of the strips of Reunion and Noteworthy on it.  The last two are not done, but I have the charms picked out. One is some Fig Tree prints from California Girl and a couple from a newer Fig Tree line that I can't recall the name of. The other one is just an assortment of charms from another swap I did about 3 years ago, so no telling what they are. After that, I have to buy one more foam form, as I have always been lacking one. Such a slacker! Talk to you soon.

Sunday Stash #12...and a winner!

 So I was at my LQS and picked up these three half yards in bright, lovely fall colors for a quilt.

 This is the pattern on all of them and they come in a large range of colors and make great blenders to add a bit of interest to any quilt. I have used them before.

And here is the name of the designer and the manufacturer. Look for them in your LQS. Mine keeps them with all the Kona Solids and other background fabrics that are now standards.

 I got them to go with these Kona colors: Coffee, Earth, Orange, Canary Yellow and Lipstick Red.

These are all destined to be this quilt, for my daughter and her new husband. Can't wait to get this one started.
And now, the winner of my Nancy Zeiman book giveaway: number 5, Heather! I will be emailing Heather for her address. Thanks to all who played along. Another note: I am very close to 300 posts and when I get there, there will be a celebratory giveaway! Talk to you soon. Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

Getting Zen With It

The title of this post comes from a conversation with my Hubby this morning. I have to go to work at 1 on Saturdays and I always try to get an hour or two of sewing in before I go. I am in the home stretch of this quilt top:

I hope you're not tired of seeing this one yet, because not only am I almost done, I am making another one just like it in Rocket Age by Riley Blake Designs. Here's a look at that:

 This is the yardage I bought, based on how much it has taken to make the Sasparilla quilt top.

 And yesterday, in about 90 minutes, after installing a new blade in my rotary cutter so I could cut multiple layers at once, I had this.

All the pieces of the second quilt top are cut. This was not how the first one went. As I was figuring out the design, I cut a few, then sewed and then cut a few more. Now, I have the necessary pattern drawn out.

This is the whole stack for a quilt top. It doesn't look like enough, does it? Well anyway, back to Zen.
So I have lots and lots of HSTs to stitch together for the final border of the first quilt, even though I would really rather work with the newly cut fabrics.  So I put on some music and tried to find my Sewjo and become one with the fabric triangles.

Chain piecing

Trim to 4" squares

Half way there

Still to go

So, back to the machine to hopefully finish this part up. Sooooo close. Have a great Saturday. Linking up with Kim at My Go Go Life for Sewjo Saturday.

It's Here!

So on Sunday I posted some pics to Sunday Stash for a quilt I am planning and today it's here!  Wanna see?

I am making this quilt:

 And now, I am going to make another just like it in this fabric. This is going to be so cool!

There will be updates soon. Don't forget my giveaway here. Talk to you soon. Linking up with Fort Worth Fabrics Fabric Frenzy Friday.

WIP Wednesday with a Giveaway

I saw this adorable goldfish fabric on Cluck Cluck Sew a few weeks back and I knew that it was the perfect focus fabric for a baby quilt. I had been wanting something just like this. So I went on line and found it.  I did my fabric pull, but then waited for inspiration. I love Allison's Juice Boxes Quilt, but I didn't want to just copy it. (She has a pattern available for it.) Then, it finally came to me...Economy Quilt Blocks.

 I decided to put the goldfish in the center of all the blocks to make it cohesive. I added a couple of greys to tone it down a bit. I will need 25 of these to make my quilt. They finish at about 8 inches.

 I got the specific measurements from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. I wanted the blocks to be big enough to really see the goldfish.

 I am happy to finally use a bit of this print from the Going Coastal line that I have had like forever. I had forgotten how much I loved it.

 This is going to be a great baby quilt. And I love making these block so much, I might just have to make another one in some other fabrics when this is done.

                                          I love this one...

And this one...the Squared Elements are navy, although they look almost black here. When I get the top together I can take it outside and get a better picture in natural light.

Now, about that giveaway...I have a book that I loved reading that I would really like to share with someone.  A few weeks ago I won a copy of this...

I have enjoyed it immensely, but I am not one to keep a book that I wouldn't read again. And I do love to share a good read.  So if you would like to win this very gently used copy of Nancy Zieman's book, just leave me a comment and tell me to put your name in the draw. That's it. I will pick a winner next Sunday, March 30. Due to postage rates this is only open to US readers this time.  Hope you all have a great week. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced. Also linking to Fort Worth Fabric Frenzy Friday.