Madrona Road Challenge

My first finish of 2013:-) I wish I hadn't been quite so challenged by these fabrics. Individually I liked them but they just weren't coming together for me. Maybe if it had been the pink colorway;-) Looking at some of the other entries I think I would have been happier if I'd bought some of the other prints to include. You can see the other fabulous projects by the talented ladies of the BMQG and check out the MQG Flickr group to see more finished projects.

We could only add solids. I tried some blues and yellows but I wanted to go with something unexpected. I finally settled on one of my all time faves, FreeSpirit Designer Solid in Olive. The design was inspired by a formal garden. As usual, the quilting took way longer than I expected but I love the way it echoes the herringbone.

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:

Finished quilt is 30" x 36"
Fabrics: Madrona Road by Violet Craft, FSDS Olive, Kona Slate
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread: Aurifil 2610

W.i.P. Wednesday: Bonus Time

It's school vacation week here so I wasn't expecting to get much time to sew but the benevelant quilting gods are smiling on me.  Sunday we had planned to go to Maine but it snowed again... the roads were slippery and it was cold and windy so I really had no choice but to spend the day quilting;-)

 I got back to work on my Victory Garden quilt and  finished doing the FMQ in the sashing and the outer border.  More paisley, it may be time to learn a new pattern but I just love how sweet this looks.

I finally settled on this awesome bias cut Hello Pilgrim stripe by the fabulous Lizzy House.  I was worried it was too blue but it's growing on me. 

Yesterday the power went off in my office so I got to leave after lunch.  My husband had already taken the kids for the afternoon so I got to sneak in some more sewing time to sew on the binding.  Now I just have to tack it down...  Audrey has a gymnastics meet on Saturday (guaranteed 2 hours of sewing time) if I don't have another happy accident before then:-)

Linking up for W.i.P. Wednesday!

Wearing My Heart on My Sleeves

Don't you just love my "new" Valentine sweater?

I was totally bummed when I noticed a hole in the elbow of my favorite sweater.  Pinterest to the rescue!  I found this awesome tutorial on Honestly... WTF for adding needle felted elbow patches. 

I tried needle felting a few years ago so I already had the supplies (a foam block & needle) so after a quick trip to our fabulous local yarn shop, The Woolpack, for some roving I was ready to go.

It took me about 15 minutes to felt the hearts on both sleeves and literally cost me $1 to save my favorite sweater.  Now I ♥ it even more!  That's pintastic:-)

Linking this up to Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts. 

My Valentine

Last year I wrote about why I bother making homemade Valentines every year.  I still like the sentiment but I'm not feeling nearly as philosophical about it this year.

This year I cut to the chase and just bribed my kids with muffins to get it done.  We had a couple ideas for our photo shoot but this was definitely the winner.

We also did a shot of them together...  can't you just feel the love:-)

Snowed In

Snow day?  I thought you said sew day!!!  There is nothing like a good blizzard for getting some quilting done:-)

I finally got to work on my Madrona Road Challenge...  I'm not sure why I had such a hard time with this.  I liked the fabrics well enough individually but they just didn't work together for me.  It was also tough being constrained by the small amount of each print we received.  If I'd started sooner I could have bought more but with the deadline looming and a blizzard raging I had to work with what I had.  It's a little wonkier than I intended but I can live with it.

I got it basted, started quilting, then yes, ran out of thread.  Seriously, it's a gift:-)  Luckily we're dug out here and I was able to make it over to Quilter's Way to restock.  School is closed here again today so I'm hoping I can finish this up!

In the meantime I was able to do some FMQ on my Victory Garden quilt.

And I cut in to this stack of pretty polka dots.  I'm working on something for Valentine's Day but I'm not sure it's going to be done on time;-)

W.i.P Wednesday: I Never Finish Anyth...

Where did January go?  I didn't get anything accomplished!  The January Just 3 plan was to:

1.  Finally finish my Victory Garden quilt...  I pieced the back, basted it, and did stitch in the ditch around the major lines of the 12 flags but I still need to do the FMQ in the sashing and then get it bound.

2.  Make something for the BMQG Madrona Road challenge...  Still obsessing over this stack of fabrics and I don't even have an idea:-(  Technically I have until the BMQG meeting on the 16th but I was hoping to get it done sooner.  It gets harder as I see what an amazing job everyone else has done with it!

3.  Quilt my Hexie Blob...  I did start on this but I haven't gotten very far.

So the plan for February...  finish the plan for January:-)

Trying to stay on track with the fabulous Just Three by traceyjay quilts.

And hanging out with the crafty gang at Lee's wonderful W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

Model Me

You know how people are always blogging about their secret projects that can't talk about... well I'm finally allowed to spill the beans about mine.  I'm part of a project the ridiculously amazing Rachel May is doing with Storey Publishing. 

Last week we did a photo shoot in the incredible secret studio (annex) at gather here.  How perfect is it that they have a Bernina named Alice!!!  They're named for great writers (Alice Walker) so I'm in very good company.

Part of the shoot was us sitting around sewing.  They wanted us to laugh and look like we were having fun which sounds incredibly awkward but when we actually started talking about quilting we were laughing so hysterically the photographer had to interrupt us to get us to do what we were supposed to be doing.  Such a privilege to hang out with so many fun quilt peeps including the fabulously awesome Rebecca of Parsley is the New Black.

I'll also have a little something of my own to show but you'll have to wait for the book to see that;-)

Small Victories!

It seems like I've been away from my machine for much too long!!!  I finally got in some sewing time and finished up this awesome pillow.  I had this extra block made for my Victory Garden quilt.  The perfect thing to check my quilting plan would work before I did it for real on my quilt.

I just stitched in the ditch on the flags...

and then used my favorite Angela Walters paisley in the sashing.  I was worried it would be to unbalanced but it did exactly what I wanted, made the flags pop!  No surprise I used a striped binding, my favorite Nicey Jane Slim Dandy.  I love how the Jen Paganelli print is just peeking out from the back:-)  The perfect addition to my living room!

Joining the fun at Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.