Swoon WIP :: 4/16

I've declared this as the year that my Swoon quilt will *finally* be finished.  I even went so far as to write 2014 on the label as the finish date - so it will be done!  I'm focusing pretty much on this project for now.

front

from the back

Last month I actually started quilting this one and have continued that progress right along.  I'm now working on the sashing/borders with some FMQ using the Seafoam design from Angela Walters' book.  It's fitting since I've named the quilt Pure Seaglass, as the colors remind me of finding bits of sea glass at the beach.

I can already tell this will take awhile to get it all quilted, and hopefully it turns out the way I hoped once it's all finished.

Linking up at Freshly Pieced this Wednesday and getting myself ready for Quilt Week!

bee-utiful napkins!

I had fun finishing up my napkins for this summer.  They are the same hive print from Honey Honey - in the blue and orange color ways.  I used my Clover binding clips to help hold the hems down on the first couple of napkins and they worked like a charm.   

While talking to Momm about quilty things recently, she remembered that our machines came with a foot for hemming.  So I pulled out my manual, found the Rolled Hem Foot D and looked up how to use it.  It took a few trial runs and some seam ripping…but I managed to make a fairly decent rolled hem on the rest of the napkins.  The corners were by far the trickiest and I need some more practice on those for next time.

It was fun to learn a new skill and use some of the other feet that came with Gilbert.  He worked through these like a pro!  I love my machine!  :D

I'll link this up at Fiber of All Sorts for my April ALYOF project.  Now that it's nice enough for dinner out on the deck I can put them to good use.
*Edit: linking up at The Littlest Thistle for the FAL Quarter 2 - number 213.  This one was on my original Q2 list and was a quick finish!

Sunday Sunday

Are you ready for some fabric?  I've added the following goodies to my stash recently and am linking up my Sunday Stashing over with Molli Sparkles!

First up this delicious stack of sketch print half yard cuts.  A wonderful birthday present that makes me smile whenever I walk by my sewing machine. :)  Not sure how I'll manage to ever cut into these!

Next - this fun stack of polka dots - who can resist the dots?!  I certainly can not. 

I snagged the dots mostly from the remnant table at Hancock's - along with this cut of High Street and the purple geometric (which I already have in Teal).  Fabric at a discount - yes please!  :D

 My most recent stashings were these lovelies: some dots from April Showers, Botanics leaf prints, and Crosshatch from Architextures in white and orange.  I couldn't resist picking these up from Hancocks' either.

 
 I'll probably stop in again this week before all the quilters arrive for Quilt Show!  But first I have to see what colors might need some beefing up in my stash…..

Second Quarter Face Off

Quarter 2 of the Finish-a-Long is about to begin so of course I have an overly ambitious list of projects to finish.   :D  A couple have slid from Q1 to this list, but I'm okay with that - it helps remind me to work on them when I have a chance.

1. Pure Seaglass *aka Swoon*:  from Q1, currently half quilted and I've got some Netflix ready for the rest of the quilting.

2. Improv Quilt: also from Q1, still just a top that needs backing, basting and some idea of what it needs in quilting.

3. Napkins: I found this Kate Spain Honey Honey fabric on sale at Hancock's recently and decided it had to be napkins for my table.  I've got 2 made, and about 6 to go at the moment.  

4. Get a Clue #1: At retreat I made 2 quilt tops using my Nancy Drew layer cake.  One is intended to be a gift, so I better get cracking on this one.

#1 - Nancy Drew

5. Get a clue #2: This one is for me and I'm planning to quilt both of these the same way so I need to make some backings.

#2- Nancy Drew

*please excuse the slightly blurry shots!

6. Twister: A wall quilt top from Retreat that needs to be basted and quilted. (apparently I don't have a picture handy of the finished top)

Well all of that ought to keep me out of trouble over the next few months.  This is my hardest quarter of the year as I have much to do with Quilt Week and Quilt Camp bookending the quarter.  Be sure to make your list of projects to finish and link up with us at Littlest Thistle!

honey honey bees

How about some more quilt goals?  It's April, which means I've got another project goal for the month as part of the Lovely Year of Finishes.  I wasn't sure what I'd have time to work on in the upcoming weeks until this afternoon when I walked into my sewing room and saw these sitting on my ironing board.

I'm making sets of matching napkins for the summer with this fabric.  I have 2 in the blue color way already finished, but 2 more are cut and waiting and I'd like to cut out 4 in the orange color way as well.  Fabric is Honey Honey by Kate Spain and has bees on it!

Here's to a project that will be fun and brighten up my table this month. :)

Birthday Celebrations

My birthday was last week and I had a grand time celebrating with my family who came out to party!  I try to not work on my birthday and instead get out to do something fun.  This year we deviated from having a specific plan and toured various sights through KY & TN so brace yourself for picture & story overload.  :D

M&D came to town and we had a good time around the house, visited Hancock's for some birthday fabric of course, enjoyed our time together and went to dinner at Max's where the cheesecake was delicious!

gift: awesome new wine glasses

Friday we headed to Louisville to pick up J and went out to explore.  I have the Roadside America app which lists all of the strange/unusual/quirky places near you and used that while we walked around downtown.  

bat: baseball style

bat: vampire style

After lunch at a great local grill we found: the world's largest bats, a plaque commemorating Louisville as the birthplace of the song 'Happy Birthday', some giant statues at the riverfront and a golden replica of Michelangelo's David.

not sure why this is here….

Then we toured the Evan Williams Experience - the newest stop on the Bourbon Trail.  Learned about Evan Williams who was a major player in the early KY bourbon making story.  We also got to taste some of their bourbon which is really the best part of course.

We stayed near Fort Knox (where we couldn't visit the gold-sadly), and on Saturday we were up and headed to Jim Beam Distillery to get in our fix of the Bourbon Trail.  As this was the actual distillery, the tour was more involved in the process and we even got to help make some bourbon by adding in some of the grain mix and then helping to bottle the finish product.  :)  Then it was through more scenic KY countryside to Mammoth Cave.  

It was incredible!  If you haven't ever been - put it on your list now! To think there are 400 miles of tunnels and passages that make up the cave system- wow.  Every time we walked by another path or level on our tour, J kept staying someone had been down that path, someone had explored that area already.  People back in the 1800s used to write their names on the ceiling using candles for a unique experience and the marks are still there.  Parts of the cave were just so huge - tall ceilings, wide passages and some were tiny and twisty but it was all fantastic.

into the cave!

candle writing on the ceiling

That's where the KY portion of the celebrations ended as we drove down to Nashville for the night.  We visited a modern speakeasy (thanks J!) for some proper cocktails which were awesome.  The next day we toured the Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson.  Pretty house, the grounds were expansive and he managed to accomplish so many things in his life.  Congress, Senator, raised race horses, dealt in land, took care of many children, President, War hero from the Battle of New Orleans, etc.  How did they manage to do all of that back then you ask? J summed it up nicely by saying: 'they didn't have the internet!'  So, so true.

Grave of Andrew & Rachel Jackson

To cap off the night we went to the hockey game- Predators vs. Capitals!  We had super close seats and it was fun to supper the Caps -even in the other teams arena.  An exciting game as the Caps are in the hunt for a wild card spot in the playoffs, and it went to overtime and a shoot out!  Sadly, the Caps lost, but it was a great time.

A perfect way to start this next year off right and fully embracing my word of 2014: CELEBRATE!

warmups

milestone entries

[This is my 200th post!  When I started blogging I thought I'd just try it out for a bit and see if I liked it enough to continue.  Obviously, I liked it a lot and love having a space to express my quiltings & adventures. Thanks for reading along!]

 Rachel at Stitched in Color has another fantastic mosaic contest running through tonight titled Ethereal. I love entering these because it's fun to play with fabric and color!

My entry: Ethereal Textures

Fabrics from top L-R: 
Cotton Solid- Light Turquoise; Bella Solid Almond; Botanics- Leaves Charcoal; Botanics- Graph Paper Curry; California Girl- Mosaic Tilework Seaglass; Botanics- Branches Ash;  Boho- Flower Child Meadow; Architextures- Crosshatch Grey; Sun Print-Text Orange; Cotton Solids Light Lime; Honeysweet- Cobblestone Persimmon; Barcelona- City Map Cream

 
It was fun to make since I'm not usually drawn to pastels.  I ended up pulling some soft, warm tones and most of them have some texture that gives them a little more interest.  Hope you like it!

Q1 Wrap Up

Hard to imagine that the first quarter is already finished!  I enjoy having a list and link-up date for motivation to get in the sewing room during the week.  It's exciting to have more finishes rolling out of my sewing machine.  :)

I've linked up my finishes which include my Outdoors Quilt and Zip bags -go check 'em out!
  I made no progress on my Improv quilt - so it still needs backing and an idea for the quilting.  I did manage to baste my Swoon quilt and have started quilting it - I should have some time to work on getting the rest of the quilting done soon.  

These will slide into my Quarter 2 list and hopefully be a finish in a few months so stay tuned!