Fresh Sewing Day

If I could only share one thing this Fresh Sewing Day, it would be Monochrome. It may not have been accepted to the challenge I made it for, but it's plain and simple my favorite thing I've made in a while. I pretty much enjoyed the whole process with this one, and am still pleased that I was clever enough to include that black and white stripe. So there you go.

But the month did hold more. Like these two impromptu minis - A Step Towards Home and Those Modern Hexies. In both instances, I randomly decided to try something new to me, and both were very fun. 

 

Actually, I just finished another modern hexie mini last night, but since I haven't blogged about it yet, I think I'll just share a sneaky peek.

I can't seem to make it through the month without some non-quilt projects, now can I?

Clockwise from upper left: Big Patchwork Tote, Living Large pincushion, drawstring bag, & Quilt-as-you-go Thread Catcher

And finally, another challenge finish - Mod Irish. All in all it was a good month. So let's see what's next!


Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day with Lily's Quilts.

ETA: Well what did I know? Went to link up and I guess Fresh Sewing Day is no more. It was fun while it lasted. Thanks, Lynne.

Fresh Sewing Day

May felt a little calmer than April, which was a relief, not to say this last month wasn't full enough. It started with a class with Krista Hennebury, and once I got home from it, I worked pretty steady to finish up Room Temp. I enjoyed the technique and the quilting so much, I've started another similar yet quite different project, which you might have seen on Instagram.

My other quilt this month was Askew, full of improv wonky crosses, a block I never seem to tire of.

I'm not sure why my Greek Key block tutorial didn't get mentioned last Fresh Sewing Day, so I'll include a link to it now.

And I've been busy with Bee Sewcial! The top two blocks are for my bee-mate, Marci, and the bottom two are sample blocks for 'my' month in June.

The few small projects I made were all gifted - a Big Patchwork Tote and a couple of scrappy qayg pouches.

There were also a couple of other bee blocks and the demise of my participation in the Patchwork City BOM. I'm still feeing a tad guilty about that, but considering I'm in the middle of a quilt I'm really excited about, I think it'll be ok. June's bound to be a little bleak, with a vacation planned and all, but we'll see. Until then . . .

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

Fresh Sewing Day

April was a very full and engrossing month. Heading into it, I felt overwhelmed with 3, mind you, blog tour stops in one week! That meant for scurried secret sewing, which I'll say right out, isn't my favorite. Oh, I enjoy the features, don't get me wrong. But it's so hard not to share with you when I finish a project. That inclination just must be in my DNA!

So there was that, but also, there were a couple of major firsts in April! One was being a guest on a podcast, which was kind of nerve-wracking, but I did enjoy chatting with Tzoniki/me being crafty so much, and she provided an opportunity to reflect on my sewing journey, which was a delight. Second, I started a new extension of A Quilter's Table in a newsletter, The Scrap Basket. Issue 2 is going out Monday, May 4. Among other randomness, I've got a round-up of clamshell quilts and techniques planned. Subscribe over in the sidebar if you're interested!

Another accomplishment was the addition of 2 tutorials, Quarter-Cut Baby Quilt and the Greek Key Block. You can see the baby quilt in the mosaic below, and if you missed it before, here's the quilt I made with Greek Key blocks.

So, on to the actual sewing - the larger projects being an Emphasis table runner, which I started at QuiltCon; "Through the Looking Glass", a mini quilt made for our guild's paint chip challenge; and the Quarter-Cut Baby quilt, which I hope to make again soon.

Half of the small projects were made as gifts, and the other half for blog hops, which were actually made in March but I couldn't show off until April. Anyway, it was a very fun mix for sure.

Fabric-Covered Clipboard, Chevron Table Set, 1 Hour Basket, Crafter's Retreat Apron, Double Scissor Keeper, 
Little Patchwork Tote, Travel Diaper Clutch, Quilted Patchwork Bibs

And then there were blocks. Bee blocks, a guild block, and the newest bunch, Patchwork City BOM blocks.

Hopefully May can be just a little less jam-packed. Yeah right.

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day.

Fresh Sewing Day

Boy the months fly by, don't they? I've had some secret sewing going on behind what you see here in preparation for the blog tours I mentioned on Monday, but thankfully I managed to have a few finishes in spite of all that.

I probably feel the greatest satisfaction over Keychain, my most recent finish, and one wip that's been sitting around for a while. I really enjoyed making the improv Greek key blocks, and am thinking a tutorial might be in order. Plus the fabrics were heaven to work with. Shot cotton + Essex = something pretty special!


Canvas Baby II has been delivered to a new baby girl in our family and remains a favorite pattern.


And I must say, my Gee's Bend-inspired Heart-Speak was an experience in itself. From its beginnings amongst the Gee's Bend quilters themselves to its immensely enjoyable quilting to the heart-felt gifting of it to a friend who was truly moved by its story . . . well that all made it pretty special to me.


As for the littles, the most challenging were definitely the Bee Sewcial transparency blocks, and the most downright fun was certainly the Patchwork Bucket. It's still making me smile.


I've got all kinds of thoughts about what April might hold, so we'll see where it takes me. The secret sewing will be revealed, a couple of challenges need to be tackled, and a new experience awaits. So basically, I'm ready!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts' Fresh Sewing Day!

Fresh Sewing Day

By its nature, February was already a short month, and it was made even shorter by nearly a week away at QuiltCon. I swear much of the rest of the month was spent either getting ready to go or decompressing once I was back. Considering all that, I'm pretty pleased with what I accomplished - especially my Marsala quilt! Check back tomorrow for a complete reveal post.

Probably the project that was the most downright fun was pattern-testing The Motley Wheel for Nicole/Mama Love Quilts, and then meeting up with Nicole in Austin was icing on the cake!

Stitching up a simple little doll quilt for grandgirl using her first fat-quarter made us both happy.

From there it was a variety, the highlights being a new-to-me Lola pouch and a travel-worthy Cargo Duffle.

And lastly, I made a stack of covered sketch books.

I promised a little giveaway, and random winners have been selected! Tammie, you get the galloping horses, and Mary, the one with the flower is yours! I've emailed both winners. And that's a wrap!

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day.

Fresh Sewing Day

January felt slow-motion at the beginning. After a hectic holiday season and busy family times as the year got going, it took me a while to get moving. My first finish, though, was just a treat. Having bee blocks gave me a head-start of sorts, which was helpful. I proceeded to learn  just how versatile half-rectangle triangle blocks can be, and came up with Ziggity-Zag, a quilt that really pleased me.

Next was Oh, Baby!, a sweet little Clustered Star quilt . . .

And the last major project was also from bee blocks, so a snap to piece and finish - a quilt I named Junctions, a nod to its Intersection blocks.

Per usual, there were some bee blocks and other littles, my absolute favorite being that patchwork sketchbook cover. I think working on that spurred me on for the rest of the month.

So now February is upon us and it's going to be a busy one with QuiltCon and all. I can't wait!

Fresh Sewing Day

Without a doubt, my cross-stitch quilt, Thanks to Vesta, was my favorite finish of December! After taking pretty much the whole year to make enough blocks from scraps, it was a complete pleasure to finally bring them all together in a cohesive design. Quilting a fast and fun cross-hatch serpentine and then finishing with a made-from-binding-scraps binding kept me motivated till the last stitch.

Other than one bee block and a few hashtag blocks for Molli Sparkles' Help for Sydney quilts, all the rest of my December makes were Christmas gifts or bags. I found the pillows especially enjoyable, even though they were all paper-pieced! {uh-oh!}

And then last night - after the mosaic was made and all - I finished 1 more Dala horse pillow, yet another gift.

From beginning to end, it was a pretty good month!

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day.

Fresh Sewing Day

After a couple of months of feeling somewhat unsettled in the studio, November finally felt back in the groove. Probably the most focus went into Striped Strip - so much angst and freedom here, all at the same time.

There were also a lot of mixed emotions in my project for The Great Pillow Fight. It always causes a quandry when making a swap project, but once I got going, this was enjoyable (especially the quilting) and my partner, Whitney, liked it, so success!

Oh yeah, I made a little mug rug too, cuz Whitney likes yetis.

There were plenty of littles, though a couple were made in October, but I couldn't share last Fresh Sewing Day. You can read about the bee blocks and the Two in One pouches in their own posts. The baby shoes were made with a pattern by petit boo - in triplicate for my bee-mate Marla/sewhungry's new triplet sons! The pink patchwork bag was made for grandgirl's birthday, adapted from a tutorial by A Quilting Loft, and the wonky cross mug rug was made for a coworker.

Posting a little early were Intersection blocks (tutorial by Film in the Fridge) - December's assignment for FAITH circle.

There were also a couple of minor but much appreciated studio updates {here and here}, which really weren't that monumental, but make my space that much more pleasant.

 

And finally, Trim-Tied Gift Bags, a new tutorial. Believe me, I'm going to be making more of these myself.

A pretty full month, yes. Probably just a foretaste of December. yikes.

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day.

Fresh Sewing Day

I thought September was fairly under-whelming, but I feel like October doesn't have much to show for itself either. But I did finish 1 quilt, the largest Postcard Quilt to date, a joint project with FAITH Circle of do.Good Stitches.

And I made some really fun hexagon potholders, and I am pretty sure I'll be making even more. All of these were sewn right out of my scrap basket, which felt really good.

Bee blocks were pretty low-key, and I especially enjoyed those maple leaf blocks.

And lastly, I made a garment, my first in a very long time. It was a Julia Cardigan, and it turned out nice enough - beautiful fabric, I just chose the wrong pattern size. But daughter dear will certainly put it to good use, so all is well.

So that's that. There were a few gifty items that I'll show off once they've been received, but until then, we'll call it a wrap.

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

Fresh Sewing Day

Chalk it up to vacation time away and jet lag that was difficult to recover from, but face it, I didn't spend much time in the studio last month. Finally, as an attempt to find that sewjo again, I started a new project, and that really helped.

So my Mini Saltwater earned the credit for getting me going again, and it was fun to boot.

Bee blocks were a good next step - entertaining but not too taxing.

And then, I had to get serious. I was scheduled to participate in Selfish Sewing Week, for which I'd decided to make a Brookfield Bag, pattern by Sara Lawson. That process was quite enjoyable and kept me on task last week. Once it was done, I felt 'back to normal'. yay.

Next was an unplanned apron for my granddaughter.

And finally, I just finished binding my latest Spiraled quilt, which I'll share more about yet this week.

Soooo, the month started out dragging, but I think it finished up ok!

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

Fresh Sewing Day

I'll just say it. August was an unusual month for me. To put it simply, I guess I just moved at a slower pace. I wasn't in overdrive like I often am, and that's probably a good thing. I did get bee blocks out of the way right off, and a few littles made.

I experimented with polyester hex mesh and made a few items for traveling.

The largest project was a pair of Stone-Stepping table runners, which were inspired by a quilt pattern in We Love Color, and while a tad challenging in that I figured it out as I went, really were quite satisfying. Thanks goes to my mom for her assistance in choosing both the adapted "patterns" and solids. And honestly, it was kind of fun dragging out the graph paper to sketch things out.

And finally, over a weekend's time, I was able to create Canvas, Baby, my third project using shecanquilt's charming "Canvas" pattern. Excuse my saying so, but every version I've made has been a delight every step of the way. Serious.

September will have a slow start with what else I have going on, but I'll be back at it before you know it!

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.