Blue/Green Quilt top finished!

And here is the finished top.  LOVE it!  I so wish I had the time to hand quilt it for her, wouldn't that just be gorgeous?

 

The top finished at 80 x 90 inches.  Perfect for a double bed.

Feed Sack Fun!

So, I happen to work at a quilt shop.  Surprising, I know.  And the owner knows well my love for all things vintage.  So when a woman comes in saying that she has a tub full of feed sacks, she gave her my number.  I thought she might be looking to sell them, but she was actually looking for someone to piece together a couple of quilts for her.  I don't usually do a lot of commissioned quilts, but once I saw the fabric, I knew I just had to do it.  I mean they were still in their sack form!

She seperated them into a pile of blues and greens and a pile of pinks and yellows and asked me to make two double sized quilts.  She picked a very easy pattern of quarter square triangles that looks very patchworky and shows off all of the fabrics nicely.

Here is the stack of blues and greens all washed and clean ready to go.

 Here are the blocks I have so far.  I think I should have the top finished tonight. This is SUCH a fun project!  I can't help but think about the history of this fabric as I cut and sew it.  I wish it could talk.

 Here is a close up of some of the blocks.  Aren't they fun?

More pictures to come soon!

Thanks for stopping by!
Tracy

Pumpkin Pillows

Have you ever seen a new pattern that you loved so much you had to stop and drop everything you were doing and make it immediately?

Well, Mrs. Amy Smart over at Diary of a Quilter showed up on my phone this morning with the cutest little pumpkin pillow. Check out her blog here: Pumpkin Pillow.  I knew that it had to be made TODAY.  After all I still had all my leftover bits and pieces from my spiderweb quilt still sitting on my table, just staring at me.

Never mind that I am STILL quilting poor Colin's quilt.

 I have a quilt laid out on my floor that needs its blocks sewn together.

 This cute little wall hanging needs to have the binding finished.

 I have approximately 59,000 more of these little stars to make.

 All of that could wait because those pumpkins are just too cute. 

And there they are in all of their scrappy cuteness.  By this weekend they will become pillows living in my living room.

Now that I have gotten that out of my system it is time to finish up those other projects.

Have a great day!
Tracy

Purl Soho and The City Quilter

The family and I just got back from 9 days in NYC.  It was the first time for all of us and we had a blast.  Knowing it would be a long time before we got back again we tried to "do it all".  So of course this means that I had to hit Purl Soho and The City Quilter, and I did not leave empty handed.  :)

 I don't knit or crochet, but this gorgeous wall of yarn makes me wish that I did!

 Liberty of London!!!  I stared at this wall for a long time - so wish I could afford to bring a little piece of each home with me. 

 And here are my guys waiting patiently outside for me.

 After all of our adventures learning the subway system, I just had to bring home a piece of their subway fabric. They designed it themselves.  How cool is that?

 And here are my goods...

 Deciding what Liberty of London fabric would come home with my was tough, but I finally settled on this bright and cheerful piece.  I just love it.

 Stripes and Plaids can be tough to find so I grabbed these up for my stash.

 I actually found this piece at a discount fabric store.  The store was tiny but had TONS of bolts inside. This will become an infinity scarf for fall.

 Some more pretties including some Flea Market Fancy that I found ON SALE.  Yay!

And some fun little novelties.  I just love those eggs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Taking a break.

I have been sewing like crazy this week getting ready for a craft fair this weekend.  It was nice to take a little time to sew something just for me.  I made a couple of blocks that have been on my mind lately.

I can't stand waste - especially pretty fabric.  I save every tiny little piece (anything an inch or wider).  For a while I didn't know what to do with it. Then I saw Victoria Findlay Wolfe's book 15 Minutes of Play.  Made fabric = perfect solution! I started to picture wonky stars made up of slabs of made-fabric. I pulled out my apple green scraps and made some adorable wonky stars in no time!

 How fun are those?

I have also been saving up some orange and black scraps for a fun Halloween spiderweb quilt.  I am so excited to see this one come together.

Ahhhhh, so nice to get some of those ideas out of my head and into reality.

Thanks for stopping by!

2 Finished Tops!

This week I was able to finish 2 quilt tops that I've been working on.  This is mostly due to the fact that I had a quilting retreat on Sunday that included a show and tell and I really wanted to have these to share.  Nothing like a deadline right?  Even if is is self-imposed.  :)

First up is my Churn Along quilt.  I just LOVE it and can't wait to quilt it (one of these days).

 The inspiration for this one was a quilt along led by Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter. http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2014/04/im-hosting-free-fast-churn-dash-quilt.html

My next finish is this beauty! I just love all things vintage and when I saw the April Showers fabric I just knew I had to make something with it.  The pattern is called Changes by Kelly Guy.

I think it was just the perfect pattern for these fabrics.  Loveliness.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Fourth of July!

Banners, Pillows and Progress

It has been a busy week.  I made a fun banner for the 4th of July.   had enough material left to make 2 more for my Etsy shop.  :)

 

 I had enough material left to make 2 more for my Etsy shop.  :)

A sweet friend saw the banners and requested a similar banner to announce the name of her baby girl who is due in August.  Her nursery is all vintage and shabby chic.  How perfect are these fabrics for her banner?  I can't wait to get these done.

 I made a TON of tooth fairy pillows for an upcoming show.

 

And of course I am chugging along on Colin's quilt.  I have about half of it done.  Here is the front.

 And here is the back. I am loving the way that it feels.  Am I the only one who pets their quilts as they are quilting?  It makes me happy.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Comfort Quilts and machine quilting practice

What do you do when it is time to destash and clean out your fabric? 

 I am usually a hoarder.  I keep EVERY. TINY PIECE. because I am sure that I will be able to use it in something.  But sometimes fabric is passed on to me by sweet friends who know I can't turn away free fabric.  When I know that it is just not my style, I turn it into a comfort quilt for some sweet little one in need.  This next quilt is a perfect example.  Someone had passed on about a yard of this butterfly fabric to me, sweet but now my style.

I love triangle quilts and that that the butterflies would be perfect for a triangle quilt.  I think it turned out really cute!  And I managed to use every last bit (because I hate waste)!  Check out the cute backing.  I used the very last strip of butterflies and the rest of the two purples from the front.  And did you notice?  I machine quilted it!  All by myself!  It is not perfect but look at that fabulous pattern it made on the back.  And it was so fast!

Look at the cute little stars made by the stitching at the points.

Feeling inspired, I made another one from bits and pieces I no longer needed/wanted.

Now I was really in a cleaning out sort of mood, so I tackled a stack of leftover 3 inch blue squares from an Oceanwaves quilt I made for my dad last year.  ( I told you I can throw away NOTHING)  I just matched them up with some leftover whites and Voila, a sweet little boy quilt.

And of course, I machine quilted this one as well.  This is about as big of a quilt that I could do on my own because the throat of my machine is tiny, but it is a start.

And one more quilt, some frogs that I hope will make some little one smile.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hand Quilting vs. Machine Quilting

I am a hand quilter and always have been.

 I enjoy the process, I love the final product and I feel like it makes my quilts seem "heirloom worthy".

 And, if I am being honest I don't like change.  This is how I started quilting and it is hard for me to let go.

You might be wondering why I am even writing this post if I am so content with the process and results of my hand quilting.

Well, here is why...

That is a stack of 17 unfinished quilt tops.  In that stack is a beautiful Swoon quilt, a Row Along by Lori Holt and my version of Tula Pink's City Sampler.  There is also a quilt top that I pieced about 15 years ago.  They are all just sitting, waiting to become a real quilt and to be used and loved.  The problem is that I can piece together those tops a lot faster than I can get them quilted.  And there are sooo many cute patterns, and sooo many beautiful fabrics that my list of quilts to make just keeps growing.

So, I took a leap.  That stack was 20 tall a couple of months ago.  I took one in to our local quilt shop whose owner has a long arm.  I handed over my lap-sized great granny and held my breath. 

And....I love that the quilting pattern is traditional.  I love that it was done in like a week - while I was still quilting another quilt.  And after its first wash, it wrinkled up just a beautifully as a hand quilted quilt.

I also sent 2 quilts to my friend Shirley who just bought her own long arm.  She does free motion, so I picked out a couple of quilts that I thought would be perfect with some cute little squiggles.

 Aren't these little squiggles and loops adorable?

 This top would have just lingered in that stack for a long time while I tried to figure out how I wanted to quilt it.

But now it is a finished quilt.  Ready to be used.  And I love it.

I'll share the second quilt I sent Shirley later when it's finished.  I am going to be adding some hand quilting to the machine quilting she did.

I still feel like I have cheated a little having someone else quilt my quilt for me.  But...

I have 2 finished quilts that would otherwise still be lingering in my unfinished pile!