beejeebers!

I've joined my first virtual quilting bee - beejeebers! Pretty exciting, huh? I've done block swaps before through AFA so I'm super excited to do a bee. I love making and sharing projects and completing tops from swap blocks. There is just something super fun about combining all the fun from your buddies into a beautiful quilt. My month is October, so I won't get my blocks until then. But for the next year, I'll be making a block for my bee buddy and sending it to them based on their desires. I just hope I have scraps in the correct colors!

Some of my worries about being in a bee:

1) A lot of players like modern quilting. I do more traditional but I dabble in modern quilting. I just hope my creative powers will be working when the modern blocks come knocking! I don't think this will be a big issue. I'm good at sewing stuff together so I'll manage here.

2) Stash power. I started buying "better quality" fabric in the last year or so so my stash is a good mix of all kinds of stuff. I have a problem with the term "better quality" because quality isn't a brand name as much as something you can tell from the fabric. If it is thick and has a good weave it is quality to me. I don't buy see though fabric or fabric that is thin. But I worry that my definition won't match others in the bee. I can't afford to buy designer lines all the time. I don't have a ton of modern prints. So I hope I have enough stash power.

3) Colors! Neutrals are at the heart of a lot of modern quilting. I started using Kona solids last year because they are much better than the cheaper stuff they sell at Joanns (which I have some of, but I do like Kona!). Problem is that Kona comes in a zillion colors. Kona White, Kona Snow, Kona Bone... just some of the whites! I can get my paws on some neutrals but I worry I won't be able to find stuff. I can't order online - just too much money to do each month. I need a coupon and a sale at Joanns! So I hope I can find what I need at Jojos (my term for Joanns!) or Hobby Lobby (uh, I don't care for that place but they carry a lot of Kona). I've never seen Kona Snow and I'm currently hunting for Kona Ash for the January block.

4) Flakes and droppers. I've always done centralized swaps, so the idea of a bee like this is new to me since it would be possible for someone to flake out after their month and **frowny face** the group. I hope this isn't going to be the case.

So those are my thoughts at this point. We'll see how this rolls as 2012 gets going.

christmas tree pants

I've got a super late start to the Christmas Tree Pants sew along. Better late than never, right?

I decided to make one for my mom, mostly because she has wanted a homemade tree skirt (or pants) for a few years now. I am also making one for my sister. Both are in progress between finals grading and setting up my winter course. The red is for my sister and the blue is for mommers.

This is what the block will look like. I'm working on getting the blocks done. This blue/white fabric has micro glitter on it. Sparkles! It is kind of a pain to work with - I think it is more stretchy than most cottons. Or I just don't like bias seams. Or I need to use more starch. :)

64 patch

I've started working on a 64 patch quilt top. This is going to be fun.

(This is only 36 but they are actually 4 patches I tossed on the board!)

I had a some strip sets I ordered last year from Connecting Threads - the Bed and Breakfast and Canterbury samplers. One set was cut a little off - it was only 2.25 inches instead of the full 2.5 inches. Of course I didn't notice this until my friend started hacking into them for a project she was working on.

I have been wanting to make something postage-stampy for a bit, so I cut each strip into thirds and sewed pairs together. I then cut the strips down to 2 inches to even things out and cut the sets into dyad units. I tossed these in a bag to mix them up before assembling the 4 patch blocks.

I mixed them up by putting them in a bag and shaking it up!

I have a lot more sewing to do on this one. It is the end of the semester so things are starting to get nuts. I hope to get a couple tops ready to send out at the start of the year. I've been looking at my money and think I might be able to splurge a bit and pick up a midarm sewing machine. I really want to do more of my own quilting :)

Too many projects, not enough time!

finished top

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted. This last month at work has been nuts! However, I've been slowly working on projects here and there.

The big accomplishment over the last month is finishing the top for this quilt that is going to be my mom's holiday gift. I'm also very excited because this is my first top I've sent out to be long arm quilted! It is about a big full/small queen and that is just too much to work with on my baby Brother.

The pattern is from Lay Cake, Jelly Roll, and Charm Quilts. It is a great book with neat projects. This top is bigger than the one in the book - I just made more blocks and recalculated measurements. I'm really excited to see this come back from being quilted... that will be a different post!

wonky blocks

That is all.

I have nine done. I think I need 20. Might have to do the math again since I think I first "mathed" with 9 inch blocks and I decided to go with 6 inch ones. But I like what I am seeing so far!

wonky baby quilt

My best buddy from highschool and his wife are having a baby in February. This means it is time to make a quilt for them. They decided to do a gender neutral primary colors set. I thought, ohh, this will be fun to work with. They are both into more contemporary art, so I thought it would be a good time to try my hand at a wonky log cabin quilt.

I went though some solid color combos at the shop before getting an idea. Remember inkjet printers and those silly 3 color cartridges? I decided to do that for the quilt. Magenta, yellow, and cyan with white and a black/white print.

I really like that print. It reminds me of bowling balls. The woman who cut it at the shop said someone else had bought some earlier in the day to make a baby quilt. I told her that was my plan too! I wanted a contemporary black and white print that wasn't too big and this fit the spot. I love the little yellow bits in there!

I plan to chop into this tonight and get some blocks done. First I need to decide if I want to do 6 or 9 inch blocks. Choices, choices....

star quilt along - top done!

I finished my top for the stars quilt along hosted over at happy quilting. I first posted about this little diddy back here.

Ta da! I'm quite pleased with out it turned out. My sweetie bear helped me lay all the blocks out and figure out the order they looked best in. That took a while - I decided not to sweat it more than I have to since I should be, I don't know, working on work or something. Next stop is to get this baby sandwiched and quilted. I've been debating boarders on this - what do you all think? I thought maybe it would be a different experiance for me. Heck, the wonky blocks were a new experiance for me!

The last month has been pretty busy for me - semester starting, new courses to prep and teach, 250 students, and a lot of freelance writing work (mostly writing test banks - yuck!). Work stuff and family stuff has kept me from sewing as much as I have wanted but I hope to get back into things shortly. About the time I figure I am caught up enough to get back to blogging something comes and bits my bootie. C'est la vie!

Anyways, it feels good to get this top done in time for the parade on Friday!