March Madness

Well I've been quite busy sewing away on the latest quilt. It's a bit larger than I normally make, plus it's a string paper pieced quilt. So that all adds up to a lot of work. Here's a pic of all the blocks finished and ready to be sewn together. I'm actually much farther than this now and practically have the whole quilt top done and paper removed. Hopefully by the end of the day I'll have that part done!



This quilt needs to be finished within the week...so all other sewing projects are definitely off the plate until I finish this. Wish me luck...


But once I finish that, I have all kinds of ideas for my next quilts and finishing up quilts that I started a while ago! I've been drawn to the fabric fairies and started collecting a bunch of new fabrics at great prices...it feels like old times before I was sick and laying on the couch for nine months. Here's some of the lovely fabrics that I've been purchasing!






And I've decided to join a new bee, Pretty in Pink Bee. I have plenty of pink fabrics that I rarely use because it's hard to blend them with other fabrics without automatically ending up with a female quilt. It's kind of a sweet idea and I love the idea of working with everyone's favorite pink fabrics. There are lots of sweet ones out there. Here's the fabrics that I've pulled from my stash that I think that I will use. My month is not until August, so I've got plenty of time to come up with what pattern/idea I want everyone to do!






And if all that were not enough, I think that there are a couple of quilt alongs that I would like to do and I'm trying to start my own bee with other fabulous quilters! Let's just say that I'm ready to sew again!

Bee Modern April Blocks

I took a break from my current quilt to work on the Blocks for Bee Modern for April. I'm not quite sure what is going on with February and March...we never received any fabric for those months. But maybe we will in April. That would be ironic wouldn't it? Jane sent us authentic Japanese fabric given to her by her brother and let us cut away into it. She wanted modern, symmetrical, improv blocks. Most of the fabric was navy graphic prints, but there was a small bit of red that she wanted used very minimally in the block. The blocks are 12.5" square.

I found myself a bit befuddled by her description of what she wanted for some reason...I think I struggle with being both symmetrical and improvisational at the same time. Plus with all the navy prints, I found it difficult to find a pattern that would really show off the different fabrics instead of blending them all together. But hey, that's why I do these bees...for the challenge of working with someone else's fabric and guidelines. I'm always amazed at what comes from it and what I learn. I inevitably design an extra block that I don't end up doing (usually because I don't have the right fabric amounts) but that gives me ideas for blocks for other bees. So it's all good. But enough chatter...here's what I made this time!

I think that the faded wood steps look vaguely Japanese in nature, so I really liked them as a background for these pictures.

Sneak Peak at my latest Quilt

Here's a sneak peak at my latest project, a large string quilt. The blocks are 12.5" square and I need to make 35 of them! Crazy! And I have a deadline that's a little nuts....but I work well under pressure. The fabrics have been fun to work with and as always there is that bit of doubt that it will look good when it all comes together. But seeing the pictures of the blocks help!

Yummy New Fabrics!

Well I'm starting a new quilt that is a hush hush project because it's a gift. So I won't be able to show much more than sneak peaks until it's handed over. But I think that it's going to turn out well! In the meantime, let me delight your eyes with the fabulous package of fabrics that I recieved lately. I got these at unbelievable prices and I couldn't resist. I actually only need one of these fabrics for my current project! But with Katie Jump Rope , Chocolate Lollipop (which started my love affair with modern fabric designers) and some Joel Dewberry you seriously cannot go wrong. There's a couple of other fabulous designers in there too. So here's what made me smile this week...enjoy the eye candy!










Sneak peaks of my latest quilt to come soon! I just need to get the babe to nap long enough for me to get some sewing done!