WIP: Fair Isle Zig Zag

Wow, I really AM on a roll! :)

I started the zig zag row on Sunday, sewing together all the long pieces and then sub-cutting them. But I lost a bit of steam so I put off sewing all the pieces together until yesterday, when I made myself sit down and finish.

All that's left is the reindeer row and then putting the top together. I'm making it my goal to get the top completed before I start on my Farmer's Wife 1930s quilt. So I only have a couple weeks to get it all done.

Linked up!

Farmer's Wife revisited

I decided to revisit my Farmer's Wife goal. I never did start it. To be honest, the original intimidated me so I just collected fabric and shoved it in drawers. Out of sight, out of mind. ;)

But after reading about the Farmer's Wife 1930s book including rotary cutting instructions I decided to give it another try. And with two quilt alongs starting next month (see both buttons on the right) I figured why not start now? I'm hoping it will give me the motivation to sew every week.

I still want to make the original Farmer's Wife but that will be on the back burner for awhile until I can find enough fabric.

Since I want the original in our bedroom, I decided to use all the Fig Tree fabrics I've collected so far for my 1930s quilt. So far I have Mirabelle, Honeysweet, Farmhouse, Butterscotch & Rose, and Tapestry along with the Moda Bella solid Fig Tree Cream (9900 67). I'm thinking I may throw in a few more solids in shades of browns, yellows, greens and blues to help mix it up.

Our bedroom colors are blue, brown and cream so I decided to use only those colors from Fig Tree. Though, I prefer the older collections' shades of blue versus the more recent blueish-green. So I'm on a hunt for the older fabrics. Right now I have Fresh Cottons and Breakfast at Tiffany's with the cream solid. I'm thinking I may take a few of the precuts in those colors, as well as get some more solids. I may throw in a few other lines to even it out but I mostly want to keep it Fig Tree, as they are my favorites. :)

Here's hoping I can actually stick to it this time around. ;)

WIP: Fair Isle Checkerboard

I feel like I'm on a roll here. I've been so unmotivated the last few months. I think when you have a tedious project hanging over your head it squashes your motivation. At last that's the way it seems with me. But the last week or two I've had the desire to sit and sew or cut fabric. It's a nice change. I hope I don't lose it. :)

On Wednesday I sat down and completed the checkerboard row. Definitely one of the easier rows. And this ruler made it even easier. Seriously, where has this been all this time?? Find yourself a 50% off coupon and buy one for yourself at Joann's. Best. Investment. Ever.

I bought the quarter cut one simply because I thought it would be the most useful to me. But they had two other rulers that did 1/2" increments, if that's more for you.

I also think I figured out why I was having issues on the poinsettias and fir trees. When I ironed my fabric for the checkerboard I lightly starched the grey (quilter's linen) and that seems to have done the trick. I noticed that it has a bit of stretch and I think that is why I ended up having to recut pieces. So moving forward I will be starching the quilter's linen, the cream doesn't seem to need it as it's already pretty stiff.

Next up is the zig zag and then after that the reindeers.

Linked up!

Holly's Tree Farm Backing

For my Feed Company quilt (which I'm still pinching pennies to get quilted) I decided to go with a single fabric for the backing, the bandana print in navy. For Holly's Tree Farm I initially was going to do a single print again, but after some searching on Pinterest I decided to piece a back.

I found this helpful page with 6 different ideas to piece a backing. I decided to go with the pattern below:

I picked 2 prints from Holly's Tree Farm and 1 from Feed Company, these two collections play so well together. :)

I fell in love with the 'store fronts' print so I decided that it would be the middle section. I chose to go with the graphite/grey color. The green 'pick your tree' print is for the narrow bands on either side of the middle, and the Feed Company plaid will be the top and bottom.

This backing will provide some great interest without taking away from the front. I'm getting excited, I can't wait until the top is all done and I can send it off to the quilters. If you're doing this BOM and would like my measurements for this backing let me know. I'd be happy to send you my sketch. :)

Scrappy Postage Stamp

If you look over to the right you will notice that I added a bucket list of all the quilts I want to make someday. I add to it whenever I see something I like. Well, one of the quilts is a postage stamp and last week I started on it. I'm going to be using my 1.5" scraps to make it.

I love scrappy quilts. They just make my heart sing. One of the best things about a scrappy quilt is seeing all the fabrics you've used in past projects. I've found scraps in my scrap box from almost every quilt and gift I've ever made. Makes me smile. :)

I've been cutting a little here and there for about a week now. In addition to the squares already in my scrap box, I now have a pretty little pile. Not all are quilt shop quality, but I don't love them any less. See that dark blue square above? It's part of the Navy uniform I cut up for my very first quilt. It's my favorite.

I organized my scraps about 2-ish years ago using tips from Lori of Bee in my Bonnet and Bonnie of Quiltville. On the shelf above my sewing desk I have my scrap bins. Not all of them are full, I haven't seriously cut into my fabric stash since, but I do try to trim up any scrap that comes from a current work in progress.

I even got a few four patches done! Not too many but it's a start. :) I'm storing my cut squares in this little aqua bucket that I found in the Target dollar section. And my four patches are in a (thoroughly) cleaned out Bag Balm tin.

I'm even thinking of joining a postage stamp swap, to help build up my collection. Click the button below to get more information if you want to join too.

This postage stamp quilt will be my "bonus quilt" as Lori calls it, made using her leaders and enders method. I have no idea how big it will end up but for now I'm planning on just making 12 or 16 patch blocks and then going from there. It may take a while but I'm determined to have a good size quilt of all my tiny scraps to snuggle under.

All tucked away next to the photo of the sailor I fell in love with

New Sweetwater BOM

Are you a follower of Sweetwater's blog yet? Did you see their newest BOM? So cute!!

Check it out here

Well, it's not really a BOM since you'll be getting everything in one shipment. I'm on the fence on whether I want to do this one. I'm thinking I might just do the custom block and turn it into a pillow. But I know that I want to get my hands on some of this fabric, it is so sweet! Just wanted to give you all a heads up as the deadline is August 28th. See their blog for more details

Label all the things!

I actually did this awhile ago but haven't blogged about it yet. Way back here I blogged that I wanted to redo the label on my son's Christmas gift and put a label on his first birthday gift. Well I finally got around to it about a year ago.

All 4 designs on an 8"x8" sample

When I made the label for Joseph's pinwheel quilt I also made labels for 3 other quilts. I printed all 4 labels on a 8" x 8" sample from Spoonflower using the Kona option as the base fabric. And I have to say, they are holding up very well!

The first two you haven't seen yet, they are for his Christmas and first birthday presents.

Alex's train mat label

Alex's first birthday quilt label

These next two you have already seen but here they are again.

Joseph's pinwheel memory quilt

My sister's Christmas gift

I also used Spoonflower to make labels for Grandpa's memory quilt and the shirt pillows. In this case I printed a single design on a fat quarter to have enough for everything.

Shirt pillows

Grandpa's memory quilt

I love working with Spoonflower. It's so easy to create a label and have it printed on quality fabric that will last through lots of washings. With all the quilts I am working on and written down on my 'someday must sew' list, I will definitely be using Spoonflower to create special labels for each of them.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this post are my own. I was not paid to write this review, this is just simply me wanting to pass along some good information.

Holly's Tree Farm progress

I thought I would share with you my progress on the Holly's Tree Farm BOM. As with my Feed Company quilt, I'm going minimalist on the embroidery. The first two blocks had me stumped on how embroider them, I wasn't sure if I should just do the borders or include some of the text and other design elements (like those cute trees!). So I didn't really start on anything until after the second month of blocks arrived. Ahh, much better. These were much easier to decide on, doing just the borders provided the minimalist look I was going for.

I'm still working on the block below from month one and then I have the other block from that month to do. The third month blocks will be here in a few weeks and I hope to get caught up before they arrive.

WIP: New table runner

I've been seeing this quote around Pinterest and Instagram for the past few months. We live in a small house and this quote rings so true for us. We love our little house. :) I designed this panel to fit 4 on a fat quarter and I had it printed at Spoonflower. Yesterday the quote panel arrived and I immediately cut into it and pieced it all together, making up the pattern as I went.

I'm about halfway done with this table runner. I was able to get a mini charm pack of Farmhouse by Fig Tree Co. to use around the quote. Now I'm just waiting on the fabric yardage to get into stores so I can finish it up. I plan on adding fabric to both sides to make it longer so it will fit my table.

With 3 more panels I'm thinking of other things to make. You will see more projects with this in the future. :)