W.i.P. Wednesday

I was happily able to make some good progress this last week!

Completed projects

Mouse Pads - No, you're not seeing things . . . I made more mouse pads!

I actually made one more that I gifted to daughter dear before I got a picture! But in doing all that text and typewriter sewing, I did take time to write a tutorial. Hope you enjoy it!

Lined Drawstring Bag - That gifted mouse pad needed a gift bag and I turned once again to Jeni's no-fail solution. I love it every time.

Bee Freebie - I was so smitten with the paper-pieced bee that Badskirt posted over the weekend that I just had to make one! The bee was made from a variety of scraps, the background in Essex linen in denim. I'll be incorporating this block in an upcoming as-yet-to-be-determined project! (And just fyi, I copied the pattern 150%, so each side measures 3".)

Ongoing projects
Lucky Stars BOM - Just in the nick of time, I got the May block done, so I'm ready for June's!

City Sampler Quilt Along - Not sure if I'll be able to keep up along with cohosting an upcoming sew along (starting MONDAY!), but I did manage to get the first 3 blocks done on schedule. I'll share them soon.

x and + blocks {#xplusalong} - This has been the main excitement in the studio the last few days! I finished my 80th block and began piecing them together. I decided to piece in 20 block sections (4x5), and have 2 sections done! I'm super excited to have made it this far on this one!

Improv Slice and Insert Quilt - No progress here.

Polaroid quilt - Still receiving blocks. Pretty excited about this too!

Upcoming projects
* Patchwork, Please! sew along projects
* baby quilt - need to start soon!
* June bee blocks
* prepping more City Sampler blocks
* pillows for Mom/pillow for grandgirl
* mail bag

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Four Lucky Stars

Just a quick post to share the latest in what's become one of my favorite projects so far this year - my blocks from Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars block of the month club!

The fabric I'm using begins with Architextures, usually with an additional coordinating print from outside the collection, and then one solid from my Architextures Coordinates charm pack. I never thought I'd be so excited to paper-piece, but when a new block comes out, I just can't wait to get to it!

W.i.P. Wednesday

You know how some weeks you start new things more than you make progress on your wips? Well that was pretty much the kind of week I've had . . .

Completed projects
Lucky Stars BOM - I couldn't resist tackling the Exploding Star as soon as I could.

Triple-Zip Pouches - I managed to make three, all given as gifts already. I shared about one already . . .

and have made two others . . .

And for those of you who were interested in the Quiet Book I made for grandgirl, I posted about it here.

Ongoing projects

Woodland cross-stitch sampler - no progress.

Modern Crosses - Scrappy binding is made and machine-stitched on. Now need to do the 400" or so of hand stitching.

Scrappy Trip Along - No progress. Haven't touched these blocks since last week except to take them down from the design wall.

do.Good Stitches FAITH circle - This is my first month as a quilter for my circle. I've let my bee-mates know the plan, and I'll post here about it soon. Meanwhile, it starts with these blocks:

Upcoming projects
* Hubby's Christmas stocking
* Emerald mini
* Mod Angles cushion
* flannel pillow for grandgirl
* table topper for mom
* scrappy Metrolink
* x and + blocks {#xplusalong}
* Polaroid block projects
* placemats

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.

W.i.P. Wednesday

The last week has been a teeter-totter, the 'up' an unexpectedly delightful revisit to paper piecing, and the 'down' being some cross-stitch confusion. The constant pleasure has been my #scrappytripalong! The more blocks I've done, the more I love it, and I am so excited to move on to the #xand+along in February.

Completed projects
Lucky Stars BOM - I was able to complete both the practice block + January's block. These were great fun and I can't wait for the next one! Plus I'm really happy to have gone the 6 1/2" route and with the fabrics I've chosen.

Ongoing projects
Woodland cross-stitch sampler - Whew! After much encouragement, I have finally begun stitching!

Modern Crosses - This quilt's at the long-armer's. I might even have pics to share soon, and better yet, should have this back by week's end!

Quiet Book - I have made real progress on this project! Can't say it's the most fun I've ever had, but I'm on the downhill stretch. Just have had a few 'issues' along the way, and there's lots of fiddly pieces to deal with.

Scrappy Trip Along - This one may be the most fun I've ever had! The 30 blocks are done! There's not enough room on the design wall to show them all off, but I can live with that. There will be another row along both the side and the bottom (5 blocks x 6 blocks). I don't expect to be overly thoughtful about block placement for the final layout, so hopefully the top will go together fairly quickly.

Triple-Zip Pouch - The 3ZAL officially starts Monday, January 28. Meanwhile, fabric and zip choices have begun to pop up in the flickr group. Here's mine:

Upcoming projects
* Hubby's Christmas stocking - no progress yet
* Binding for Mod Cross quilt
* plan for FAITH Circle's February quilt
* Emerald mini
* Mod Angles cushion
* flannel pillow for grandgirl
* table topper for mom
* scrappy Metrolink
* x and + blocks {#xplusalong}
* Polaroid block projects
* placemats

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday.

Lucky Stars - January

After my happy success with the practice block for the Lucky Stars BOM, I was eager to do this month's block - "Funky Star."

Again, I used the Architextures map fabric as the background. I pulled other prints from the collection, plus the solid Kona Berry from my Architextures Coordinates charm pack (see below for colors included).

top row: flame, ice peach, plum, lake; 2nd row: cadet, pond, honey dew, kumquat; 3rd row: meringue, kiwi, berry, cactus; 

4th row: cerise, delft, lagoon, mango; bottom row: pacific, peacock, teal blue, fern; photo courtesy of Pink Chalk Fabrics

On the practice block, I included the Cerise. Along with using the same background for each block, I also plan on including one of these solids, a different one each time.

I'm really glad I decided to do the 6 1/2" version of each block. I've just enjoyed doing them so much, and can hardly wait to work on February's.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

Practice

One of my favorite quilts still, is my Kaleidoscope quilt, which I made along with Elizabeth/Don't Call Me Betsy over a year ago. It lives on our family room couch, and is the first thing I reach for if I get a little chilly. At the time, it was a real stretch for me, both in technique and fabric selection. But overall, the quilt-along was a really positive experience. So I knew when I saw Elizabeth's Lucky Stars block of the month club, that even though it  consisted of entirely foundation paper pieced blocks - not really my comfort zone - it would be worth doing. And I couldn't resist the opportunity to brush up on my skills, or at the very least, keep them active.

First up was a practice block, which I finally got around to facing last night. I understand the purpose of having a 'practice' block, but there's no way I'm considering this block any less special than the other 'lucky stars' I will eventually make this year. It's just plain cool.

Anyway - I have a palette in mind, and that would be loosely following that of Architextures.

I don't have the whole line, but I have several, and did purchase a charm pack of Architextures coordinates. I plan on using a bit of all of the above stack plus other prints from my stash as I go along. You can see I've already added in that bottom print from Juggling Summer.

Here is my first block, with the background I intend to use throughout. It's called "Swirling Star" and measures 6 1/2". It's great that the patterns we get have two options - this smaller block plus a 12 1/2" block. Since so many of the blocks I seem to make are the larger size, I decided to go with the smaller for this project. They may end up together in a quilt, or used in small projects as I go - not quite sure. But I do know I can't wait to try the next one!