working hard for my money....so hard for my money! Oh wait...just spending money!

I've had a few more beautiful fabrics come my way. It's so hard to pass up a good deal and a fabric that unexpectantly comes back on the market. I found some of Heather Ross' Mendicino prints that I needed to have. Just a bit, but it makes me happy. And there's a few lines out there that are seriously calling my name. I've recently decided that I'm in love with Joel Dewberry's newest line and then there is Riley Blake's rainy days and mondays, Heather Ross has a new line coming out soon, I keep buying more Katie Jump Rope for a new quilt swap month soon...oh it goes on and on. I LOVE fabric!

But other than purchasing fabric, I really have been doing some work on my many quilts and quilt swaps. I completed the blocks for our pretty in pink bee. These were actually for May. Rick sent them out super early...but as soon as I get one of those packages in the mail, I like to start working on them. Plus he had picked a fractured nine patch as the pattern which I had just done for the Bee Liberated bee. Unfortunately that was my down fall. I made the blocks correctly in terms of sewing, but he had wanted a cross with the fabrics and I laid them out in a typical nine patch pattern. Doh! Didn't read the directions that well because I already knew how to make the block. I still think that they turned out cute, but I'm sorry I didn't do it the way he asked.







I love the little skeletons the best! And Rick dyed his own fabrics pink...very cool! And I swirled the seams again...a tutorial on how I make my nine patches is coming up soon!




I've also been hard at work on my paint box quilt. I have forty of the eighty blocks completely done...and I'm pretty close to having the other forty done. They are so pretty! I can't wait to start laying these out.







I still need to figure out what fabric I want to use for the binding. I think that I won't be able to tell until I lay out all the blocks in a pleasing way and seeing which colors really pop.


I also recently bought these little baby shoes from weepereas. She posted them on Flickr and I bought them on Etsy. I couldn't resist the cute umbrellas and my little girl looks too cute in them! I think that she posted the pics on her website...I need to go check it out.





I'm working on Tacha's block for Bee Modern. She wants flying geese and sent us a delicious selection of pink and grey fabrics. I've actually never made them before, so it's been fun. I can't wait to post of what I'm making for her!

So many quilt bees....

So I think that I'm now going to be in 5 different bees! That's a record...but so far nothing has overlapped. Of course two of them haven't started yet, so that could be why. I'm in Bee Modern, Bee Liberated, Pretty in Pink, Busy Bees, and we're starting Ravishing in Red. Every group is different and very fun. It's so fun to work with other people's fabric and find out what they like in a block. Bee Modern has already had my month and I got beautiful blocks for my daughter's bumper and baby quilt. I can't wait to see what I get from the next four.

I made the first set of blocks for Bee Liberated, a group based off of Gwen Marston's style and design. She wanted Fractured Nine patch blocks. I hadn't made these before but they were a snap...especially since she had already cut up the blocks. Ironically we are making the exact same blocks for the Pretty in Pink bee next month...at least I know how to make it already!





I even went through the trouble of swirling the seams on these blocks because I had the time and inclination to do it right.



I'm going to be doing a small tutorial on how to do this for those of you who haven't seen this technique...I just need to get my brain in order and finish a couple of other blocks first. But I should have it done soon!


One of the things that I've been working on as well is a Paint Box Quilt for Oh Fransson's quilt along. I'm a little late in getting started and I'm doing it my own way of course. But I'm enjoying it still. There are some fun examples of other quilts made by other talented people...you should all check them out here

I'm doing a pastel version but with one constant fabric. I've got all the fabric cut up and am working away on the blocks....there are 80 in all, so it takes a bit of time. But the colors are all so pretty!





Somehow I managed to cut enough fabric of my main print for two quilts, so I think that I'm going to be making two of this one! Crazy!

Fabric Spree and Finally a Finished Quilt!

Well, I posted a sneak peak of the string quilt that I was working on before Easter. I did manage to finish it in time, but by the skin of my teeth. I even machine stitched the binding (something I've never done!) in order to finish in time. I was taking pictures of the quilt literally minutes before we left for the airport to take this quilt to my MIL.

Here it is unquilted with all the paper torn off and completely pieced:



My husband managed to capture this shot of me desperately trying to finish...I can see it in my face!



I made this quilt for my MIL for her generosity of time and love taking care of us after our little girl came. We needed help and she came immediately. She shyly requested a quilt for her birthday 3 years from now to my husband if I wanted to do that. But I knew that it was the perfect thank you for her gift to us.

Here it is all laid out and ready to be basted:



When I thought of my MIL, I thought that she would love blues and yellows. They are throughout her house. But of course I had to put my own spin on it, so there are lots of designer fabrics, joel dewberry, anna maria horner, amy butler, and so many more. There are at least 25 different fabrics in this quilt.



My wisteria was blooming right as we left, so I had to capture the quilt with it!




But I haven't just been working on the quilt. I've been collecting a little bit of fabric too...well, maybe more than a little bit. I'm adding to my stash like I'll never see these fabrics again...some of them I won't! I have some great fabrics, but I found some amazing prices on many fabrics and then had to check out all the fabric stores back home when we were visiting. And then I found out that a quilt shop was finally being opened in my city! Finally! So here's some of what I collected!

Love these fishes and the plaids are gorgeous in person! I'm sure I'll be getting more of those.



Fat quarters from Joanns....I was surprised at what I found.



Other great prints, so many fabrics, so little time.










Then I needed to get to a little sewing once we were back in town. While I was gone, my first package arrived from the pretty in pink bee. Amy wanted wonky stars and I decided to piece the centers of the blocks just because I have to make everything harder. Oh well...I like how they turned out. It's going to be fun doing a year of pink blocks for everyone!

a striped center:



a little log cabin center:



Here they are together. I did add one of my own fabrics too, so that should change the blocks up a bit.




I'm working hard on more quilts...I'm doing a couple of quilt alongs and cutting up fabric and getting ready to sew 80 blocks together for one of them. And there are other bees that I'm joining as well that I'll be talking about soon. It's time to sew!