WIP Wednesday Guest Post at Freshly Pieced

Hi Friends! Today I’m over at Freshly Pieced with a run-down of my works in progress! If you’d like to read a little about what I’ve been working on, head over and check it out!

Here’s a sneak peek:

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Work in Progress: Keeping it Real

As anyone who has ever moved can attest to, moving is tiring and challenging and time consuming. And I’m not even talking about the actual move itself (although it is all of those things, too). I mean the learning a new city and a new job– figuring out how to get around town, where to go to get your hair cut or to see a movie or to get some takeout, and learning new work skills and beginning new research projects– all of this has left me with less time to sew than I like! We’ve been in Boston for a little over two months, and some things are starting to fall into place, but it takes time to find a comfortable pattern to our days.
When I can’t find time to sew regularly, I feel a little off. A little frustrated. Creatively backlogged and unproductive. And I have been sewing, just not at the pace I’m used to. I like to see my ideas realized, and sometimes that means sewing like mad to get things done. But lately I’m just so dang tired I haven’t had that finishing power I’m used to.

So: here it is. My halloween quilt. Exactly 1/2 of the quilt top is done. The other half? Still needs to be cut and sewn. And now that halloween is here and it’s not finished, well, it may just be waiting around for a while. In my head, this is already done! I even know where I want to take a picture of it, I can see it so clearly! But, I just didn’t quite make it.

I have a number of other ideas (and upcoming birthday and Christmas gifts!) that I am dying to get to work on– I just need that drive to finish my projects to return! And in the meantime, I have begun hand quilting my single girl, and I am really loving it. This hand quilting thing might be around to stay!

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Challenge Accepted!

Sometimes sewing just makes me so happy. Actually, most of the time I’m sewing (or looking at fabric, or thinking about fabric or quilts or sewing) I’m pretty darn happy. So, it’s fitting that I’m feeling pretty excited about a few new projects!

First up, I am thrilled that Rachel picked me for the Bloomerie scrap fabric challenge!

When Rachel shared the sweet little stack of fabric above, I immediately thought it would be perfect for a baby quilt I just sketched out. I love making baby quilts– they are the perfect size, and come together so much more quickly than full sized quilts. I can’t wait to get to work on this! And I’ll try to share a sneak peek as I get things going.
As for the challenge, I can add in 1 more fabric of your choosing if I’d like to (yup, I’ll be doing that!). Each fabric has to be used, but you don’t have to use all of each one. I also am allowed to add embellishments as needed, though I tend to keep it simple with my quilts, so I’d be surprised if any buttons or ric-rack found its way into my project! I’ll wrap things up and will post about my project by July 8th, and Rachel will feature all the projects on her blog on the 9th. I am excited to see what the other challengers make– I’m sure you will all want to check it out, too!

(Also– if there are any How I Met Your Mother fans out there, you may recognize the reference in the title of my post. And if not, here’s a little video to give you some context:)

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I also have been chatting with some other bloggy friends, both new and old, about a quilt we’re all planning to make this summer– the pow-wow quilt (pattern by Allison from Cluck Cluck Sew). Jacey suggested on her blog that she’s going to refer to the pattern as Which Way, and I have to admit I prefer this quilt name, so I’m jumping on board and I’ll be calling it by that name, too. I pulled this stack of fabric for the quilt, and I can’t wait to start cutting it up!

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WIP Wednesday: Snapshots

It’s been a while since I rounded up my works in progress to tally them up, and to link up with Lee’s blog! I’ve found that when I finish a project, I get the “real” camera out to snap some photos. But for my everyday stuff– the real behind-the-scenes work– I tend to catch a photo with my phone and post some of them on instagram. So here’s what I’ve got cooking, in a few snapshots from the last week or so:

I finished quilting my fat quarter quilt, and I’ve been leisurely hand sewing the binding in the evenings (Simon was keeping an eye on things, as usual). I decided to branch out and try quilting it using the orange peel quilting pattern from Elizabeth from Oh Fransson. I love how it turned out!

I started working on what I’ve been thinking of as my “4th of July” quilt. Wonky stars in 2 sizes, the small ones scrappy.

I pulled this stack of fabric for a new quilt I’m going to start working on soon! I’m really drawn to all the bright colors.

And I’ve been working on some new pillow covers for on the couch to go with the new quilt. I’m thinking of it as the living room summer makeover! And– as usual– Simon is testing things out, and I think he approves of this pillow. Once I finish sewing these, I’ll have some before and after pics to share!

And– last but not least, I’m still S-L-O-W-L-Y working on my single girl. I want to finish the quilt top this summer, and I’m thinking of hand quilting it in the fall! It’s queen sized, so that may be crazy. But, since I haven’t ever really hand quilted anything, I don’t know how crazy it is, so I’m probably just going to go for it! If anyone has any words of wisdom (or caution, ha) let me know!

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What I’ve been working on…

This week I’ve been making some blocks for a new quilt. It’s very red, pink, white, and grey. I’m loving those colors right now! There’s something so wintery but warm about them.

I’m hoping to finish the quilt top by this weekend– I’d love to have it ready to use by Valentines day!

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Lots in Progress!

Things have been a little busy around my house lately– my sisters were visiting from out of town (I was so sad to see them leave this morning!), and while they were here I wrangled Liv (my younger sis) to fold the rest of my fabric for me! She’s just started sewing, and is already able to identify lines of fabric and designers! I promised her a little fabric in return for her help 🙂

As we were organizing my stash, and I was taking note of the many, many projects building up, I thought it was time for a really realistic check-in with my projects. I don’t usually put this all out there, because I tend to be working on so many things at once it feels overwhelming to actually write them all down! But, work is picking up a bit and I really need to prioritize my projects.

Before I spill the beans about everything I’ve got going on, I snapped a few pics of fabric I pulled for a new quilt. I started with the 4 fabrics (in the pic above) from Heather Ross’s far far away 2 line. I didn’t actually use these in the quilt– but I loved the color combo so much I wanted it to guide my fabric choices. I’d been wanting to do something with orange in it, and this really helped shape the palate.

So, then I broke each color out individually and found fabrics that stayed pretty true to that tone:

Then, (and here’s a true work in progress shot!) I cut them all up. And I’ve been sewing them together, and should have a new quilt to show you soon!

I also finished the binding on my flea market fancy quilt– I have the big reveal of the whole quilt (which I realize I haven’t yet shown!) later this week.

So, here’s the damage–

Things I need to finish soon:
1. Do. Good Stitches Bee Blocks
2. For the love of solids swap items (this is half done, and I have a plan for the rest!)
3. Habitat challenge blocks for the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild (due at our next meeting… next week!)

Things I have in progress, but that don’t have an immediate “due date”:
4. Felted scarves (a custom order– one blue, one green)
5. Felted scarves for the fall craft show
6. Ocean inspired quilt (commissioned for a wedding– needs to be done by the end of September. All the fabric’s cut, just needs to be sewn)
7. Binding on 2 baby quilts for my etsy shop (yep, just the bindings are left. Almost finished!)
8. Throw quilt using the fabrics pictured above! (all blocks are made, just need to be squared and sewn together)
9. Wall hanging for my mom (blocks are made, and need to be squared)
10. Hope valley filmstrip quilt (all the pieces are cut– just need to sew them together!)
11. curtains for my living room (fabric is ready to be cut, and I keep imagining how good it will look when they’re done!)
12. Scrappy quilt (I pulled out all the scraps I want to use for this one and totally know (in my head) what it will look like– just need to get sewing!)

Argh, it sounds like a lot, but I always manage to get things done! I think it helps to be realistic about the WIP list– last night I sketched out 3 new quilt designs I’d love to try, but clearly I need to focus some attention on my current projects first! My ideas always seem to outpace my ability to sew them– Does anyone else have this problem?

Also– one last thing– Lee (from Freshly Pieced, who hosts the WIP Wednesday each week) has entered a design in the connecting threads fabric design contest, and she needs votes for her design! You can find her design (“Flourish,” by Lee Heinrich) here. Check it out if you have a chance!

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