September do.Good Stitches blocks

September is my first month as a quilter for the Emerge Circle of do.Good Stitches, and I'm so excited to take the lead, but man, was it hard to narrow down my choices. I have so many ideas and color schemes I want to use, but I finally just had to pull the trigger and decided to use this lovely quilt by Quirky Granola Girl as my inspiration.

Photo courtesy of Quirky Granola Girl

I've asked my circle mates to create monochromatic scrappy log cabin blocks that measure 6-8" finished. The log cabins should use prints and solids in the teal and green colors from the color schemes below. The log cabins are then surrounded in larger pieces of scrappy low volume, gray, cream, and white solids and prints to create a final block that measures 12-16" (finished) on each side (it can be square or rectangular).

We'll be using this color scheme:

Photo courtesy of BenzieDesign on IG

And here are my finished sample blocks.

The blocks will be improv pieced but should not be wonky. If you need help with the log cabins, Ellison Lane has a good tutorial. I can't wait to see what the other ladies do!

August do.Good Stitches blocks

Last night, I finished my August blocks for the EMERGE circle of the do.Good Stitches charity bee. Allison was in charge this month, and she chose Cheryl Brickey's Use Your Illusion Quilt, the March 2015 Quilt of the Month for the MQG. She asked us to make six of the 14 blocks in the pattern using white for the background and solids or monochromatic prints in this fun color scheme for the lines:

Image courtesy of Design Seeds

Here are my six blocks!

I'm really curious to see this one come together. I'm the quilter for September, so I'll be posting my sample blocks in the next few days.

WIP Wednesday: Still trucking

It was another crazy week of sewing over here. After finishing the Double Zip Clutch, I worked on hemming the crazy amount of fabric on my bridesmaid's dress for my little sister's upcoming weekend. Talk about a fun project... Then, I broke into the fun bundle I showed off last week for a secret sewing project. Gotta get this one done soon!

I took a break from appliqueing a million circles to work on my August blocks for the Emerge circle of do.Good Stitches. I got two done last night and the fabrics cut for the other four, so I'm hoping to finish these up tonight. I'll share more info on these when they're all done. I think it's going to be a super fun quilt.

And, because I obviously don't have enough on my plate, I did a quick fabric pull for Robert Kaufman's Rhoda Ruth Block Challenge. I'm hoping I'll be able to crank this out before the deadline because I hate to miss a chance to win that bundle.

Back to work! (P.S. Sorry about all the terrible basement lighting photos this week. No time for good photos -- just sewing!)

The neverending to do list:

Double-Zip Clutch
August do.Good Stitches blocks
Rhoda Ruth Block Challenge
September do.Good Stitches blocks
Wedding quilt
Jewelry travel pouch
QuiltCon triangle challenge quilt
QuiltCon bonus quilt
Patchwork City sampler quilt
Vintage Quilt Revival sampler project
Allie Owl quilt
Menagerie quilt
Hazel Hedgehog quilt
The Kittens quilt
Aviatrix Medallion quilt
Swoon quilt
Spiced Chai quilt (from Vintage Quilt Revival)
Sunset Tiles quilt (from Scraps Inc.)

T-shirt quilt
Sewing circle tote
Re-cover downstairs chair

Ironing board cover
Clothing for me! (Washi Dress, Sailor Top Shirt, Sorbetto Top)

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Double zip clutch

Well, you can mark another item off this week's crazy to do list. Last night, I finished the Double-Zip Clutch from the wonderful book Sew Organized for the Busy Girl by Heidi Staples of Fabric Mutt.

 

What a fun project! This one's destined for a little classmate of B's, but I'm already brainstorming reasons to make one for myself. It came together really easily, and the construction method is oh so clever. Other than a snafu in which I accidentally sewed the outside flap into the zipper (oops), it was smooth sailing and a fun one-night project.

I adore the fabulous Ann Kelle Girlfriends print on the outside, and I paired it with the aqua crosshatch and pink dot fabrics from Kelle's Remix line. I don't get to make many little girl items around here, so it was fun to get to embrace some new fabric.

Now I'm itching to do another project from the book, but how will I choose??

WIP Wednesday: Balls in the air

Man, what a week. It seems like I have a million balls up in the air, sewing wise, and I'm just jumping from one thing to the next. Sometimes the variety is good, but this time, I'll be glad to get back to a single quilt project (hopefully) soon. First, a few finishes. The big one was my version of Carolyn Friedlander's awesome Austin House quilt. I love this quilt so much, and thankfully so does the hubby, for whom it was made. You can read all about it here.

My little sister is getting married in September, so I had a few wedding-related projects to wrap up, too. I managed to finish the ring bearer pillow and a bow tie for the cutest little ring bearer around. (FYI, burlap is a pain in the butt to sew.)

After I finish a few more small projects, I've got my sights set on this fun bundle from Pink Door Fabrics, which just might be making its way into a quilt for someone special. Shhh, don't tell.

Before I can get to that, I'm planning to make the Double-Zip Clutch from the wonderful book Sew Organized for the Busy Girl by Heidi Staples of Fabric Mutt. (No really, I love this book so much. Great projects, great tips, great fabrics.) B's going to a birthday party for a friend from school this weekend, and I thought these super cute Ann Kelle fabrics would be just right for a little girl's art tote. Hoping to finish this one tonight.

Then, I've got big plans for two more pieces of clothing for me -- this time, shirts! Eeek! I finally printed and pieced my Washi Dress pattern, and I'm planning to make the tunic version in this fabulous Morse Dot in Blue (really teal) print from the Imprint collection.

And I managed to pick up this Cotton + Steel Hatbox Floral lawn from Knotted Threads for a steal when she was destashing it on her IG account. I've loved this fabric since it came out but had trouble justifying the price, so this time, I snatched it up as soon as it appeared in my feed. I think this one is destined to be a Sailor Top.

And, because I obviously don't have enough on my plate, I've been doing a lot of canning the past few weeks. Behold the fruits (literally) of my labor: 7 jars of strawberry, 6 of plum, and 3 of peach vanilla. I think we're good for the year. :)

Now, I gotta get back to sewing...

The neverending to do list:

Austin House quilt
Ring bearer pillow and tie
Double-Zip Clutch
Wedding quilt
Jewelry travel pouch
QuiltCon triangle challenge quilt
QuiltCon bonus quilt
Patchwork City sampler quilt
Vintage Quilt Revival sampler project
Allie Owl quilt
Menagerie quilt
Hazel Hedgehog quilt
The Kittens quilt
Aviatrix Medallion quilt
Swoon quilt
Spiced Chai quilt (from Vintage Quilt Revival)
Sunset Tiles quilt (from Scraps Inc.)

T-shirt quilt
Sewing circle tote
Re-cover downstairs chair

Ironing board cover
Clothing for me! (Washi Dress, Sailor Top Shirt, Sorbetto Top)

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Austin House quilt: A finish!

I'm so excited to finally reveal my latest quilt finish. It took a while for the clouds to go away so I could get some decent pics, but here's the Austin House quilt!

When I first saw Carolyn Friedlander's Austin House quilt in posts from last spring's Quilt Market, I knew it would be perfect for the hubby (he's a big fan of mid-century modern architecture), and I couldn't wait for the pattern release. I'd been thinking about making a new wall hanging for his office (the Oxford Comma quilt, while cute, just doesn't really reflect me as a quilter anymore, and I figured he was ready for something new), and I knew this would be perfect.

This is such a fun pattern and so well written! Though I love Carolyn's aesthetic, I'd never actually made one of her patterns, so it was nice to discover that they're as clear and precise as you'd expect. (I'm taking a class with her in September for the Catenary quilt, and I can't wait!)

After much debate (and eventually consulting the hubby, though I'd originally planned for the quilt to be a surprise), I decided to make each house different. The fabrics are almost all from Carolyn's collections (Architextures, Doe, and Botanics), with just a few extras thrown in, and they fit this quilt so perfectly. I like that each house has its own style, but they're all very cohesive. It was a lot of fun picking the fabrics for each little piece.

The sashing is Essex Yarn Dyed in Chambray. I really love this color for a subtle background (seen previously in my Fancy Fox II quilt), and I think it pairs perfectly here. I used another Architextures print for the binding and a Doe print and old Michael Miller dot from my stash for the backing.

I decided to quilt it using white thread in a random ledger design, which mimicked the Architextures ledger and schematic prints under two of the houses. I think it adds some interest without distracting from the houses.

The hubby sent me a text this morning with a picture of it hanging in his office, so I guess we can call this one a success!

Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday and Fabric Tuesday.