Sunday, January 12, 2014

Lush Economy Block

 
I have obsessed before about my love of the Lush line by Erin Michael.  I collected quite a few of the prints and the similar Up Town, and recently was able to add to my collection the elusive paint by number deer print with the reprint named Lush Uptown.  The only problem was that I could not bring myself to cut into the fabric until I found the perfect pattern that displayed the large scale deer print. 
 

 
Have you seen the #economyblockalong
These are all over instagram and some of my favorite blogs as well.  

 
There are lots that are being made at 6.5 inch squares, mine are 12.5.

 
The larger blocks are perfect to show off the deer and use some of the various accompanying fabrics as well, and a stack of random solids that seem to match well.

 
This is what I have so far, I figure it will end up 6 rows, so half way there. 

Friday, January 10, 2014

Macaron quilt




Can you see it?  Why I named my new low volume quilt Macaron?  This was a box of Macarons that we got on our recent trip to New Orleans and I think it picks up all the wonderful colors!



This quilt is the 'cousin' to the low volume quilt I made this summer
As has happened a couple of times,  when sorting scraps and cutting more squares, I had a pile of strips left over which morph into quilt number 2, the cousin of the first as it is related, but not the same.
It is rainy and cloudy this morning, but I think the colors show pretty well.  There are a couple pops of red/pint that show through as well as a couple darker prints.  I used a pale Heather Baily print from the Fresh Cut line for the back and a creamy linen texture print from Riley Blake for binding, all from my stash. 
Shout out to my helper, the best quilt holder in the house.  He has the distinction of being the tallest in the house which helps establish his superiority in the task.
Sharing today at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
If you want to see other great projects go check out her linky party!




Thursday, January 9, 2014

Bring it on!

 Bring on the winter cold and quilting!  I am prepared!
 

 
Last year I DVR'd and watched the initial 7+ seasons of NCIS and all of Burn Notice, watching most of them while sewing and quilting.  At one time I had 78 episodes on NCIS stored on DVR! Since then there have been issues with the DVR (piece of junk), but have been managing through the fall using on demand to see a couple series, entertaining me while sewing, but got inspired today and decided to branch out! 
 
In addition to jumping on the Downton Abbey band wagon, I also got season 1 and 2 of Game of Thrones.  After some research, determined that 'season 1' (Dr.9) is the place to jump into Dr. Who! 
BBC America graciously had a one hour special on what you need to know to watch the Dr. that explained enough that I think we are ready to go...  wish I had watched it first and I would have jumped in at Dr. 10, but I plan to watch Dr. 9 while sewing and if it is as good as its supposed to be I will bring hubby in at regeneration. 

 
This is the Arcadia quilt that I dug out and will be the first in the video series.  Just a note to myself and anyone else who may benefit, when setting aside a project for hiatus, make a little sketch or notes on what your plan was.  I spent 20 min looking at the blocks and trying to figure out what I was doing before being able to pick up progress.
 
 
Last,  a shout out to the serger, great little thing.  She will be headed to the sewing machine spa tomorrow for a long overdue cleaning.  Best I can figure I have had her close to 20 years and have never had her serviced/cleaned.  I have been using her to give a clean finish to quilt edges after quilting before binding. The spot on the front is glue from the name emblem that melted and dripped when we moved here 10 years ago.. I expect a little WD40 will take it off, but have never gotten around to it. My hope is that when I get her back in a couple weeks that will be gone and I will have 3-4 quilt tops quilted and ready for her to zip around.

Monday, January 6, 2014

New and Old

 
Well, after listing all my UFO's pending in my last post, I figured the most appropriate thing to do was start a new quilt!  I have been loving the giant block quilt and saw a couple this past week that inspired me (1 & 2).   This pattern is super easy, I got the star part pieced, cutting and sewing blocks,  in the second half of the 49'ers/Packers game. 
Its now hanging up on the design wall waiting to be sewn together.

   
I gave myself permission to go ahead and make this after finding the backing (field study by AMH) in a little shopping excursion last week. Don't hate me, it was $3/yard.  The Sandi Henderson next to it was $4.50.  I got 5 yards of each.

 
Here are some other new acquisitions.  The piles of cream and blue/grey are for a project I have been envisioning and started collecting for.   Below them are a linen found at Hancock Fabrics for $3/yard and the aqua is Essex Linen that I got for $2 yard.  
 
I love fabric shopping and I need to stop finding such great deals!  I used the linen in the star quilt after researching different opinions on use in quilts and pre-washing (didn't).  We'll see.

 
Those are the new, and this is the old.  I completed the remaining blocks for the 'cousin' low volume quilt.  It is cousin to the original made from squares that I then had strips left over, hence, once quilt with squares and one with strips!

 
Love, love, love this and hope to have it all done by end of the week. 
In the spirit of using up scraps I pieced the batting to use and rather than succumb to the temptation of buying a fabulous cream on white fabric that I found cheap, I used a fabric from stash for the backing.
 
Hope everyone is staying warm!  It was 12 F here this morning which I know is warm compared to some of you... but goodness, I live in the south!