Creating

 Hey friends.  I’ve been spending some quality time (meaning late nights) with this lovely stack of fat quarters.  It turns out, they're pretty good company.  

These are from the Moda line Chance of Flowers.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  I’m using this stack of fabrics to test a new pattern that’s mostly written.  It’s tough to force myself to sit at the computer and work when it’s so pretty outside! 

Lucky for me (or unlucky?) it turns out I'm super low on vitamin D so I'm under doctor's orders to spend more time outside!  Hope you all have a fantastic (sun-filled) weekend!

Thinking of Snowflakes

I’ve been thinking about snowflakes lately.  It doesn’t help that we have a decent sized snow storm headed our way in the next couple of days.  It’s just that I get these ideas in my head and I let them rattle around for a few days as I try to come up with the easiest way to do it. 

This afternoon I pulled out a stack of snowflakeyish (what? That’s not a real word??)  looking fabrics to play with-

Out of this stack this one is hands down my favorite:

This is “Dotted Swirl” – a lovely silver metallic print.  It’s from the Hip Holiday line from Blend (designed by Josephine Kimberling).  I’m on the fence about some of the metallic fabrics out there but this one caught my eye immediately.  It just hits the spot I think.  Those silvery swirls are just perfect!  Aaaaaaand I think I should have bought more of it. 

Happy Sewing everyone!


edited to add:  After I had my stack of fabrics pulled I saw Ali’s blog post about this month’s Stash Flash.  Her theme this month is “Winter.”  My stack certainly fits the category doesn’t it?  You can join in the Stash Flash too – she gives you two ways to participate (love the IG option!)  It will be fun to see what everyone’s interpretation of the theme will be!

Stashing Low Volume Fabrics

 I like to keep a nice variety of low volume fabrics in my stash.  I don’t keep a large stash of them – but just a small cut of many different prints. 

Most of them are 1/4 yard or less, many of them are fat quarters. 

How do I find them?  Oh, here and there.  No really! 

I’ve only purchased one low volume bundle (which IS a great way to gather low vol fabrics!) and the rest were bought a piece at a time as I find them in shops.  Usually as I’m looking for fabric for other projects I’ll take a moment to look through the sale stacks or the bin of fat quarters. 

Buying a low volume stack or bundle is a great way to beef up your LV stash, or start one for that matter.  Amanda from Westwood Acres usually has a few low volume bundles in her shop.  You can also find some here, here and here, and here.

Swapping is also a great way to get a nice variety of fabrics.  I know there have been some low vol swaps in the past – does anyone know of a low volume swap currently taking sign ups?  Maybe we should start one of our own, eh?

As far as storing my LV stash goes, I’ve tried two ways.  When I first started really focusing on collecting low volume fabrics I would just add each to the color stack I felt it belonged with – although most of them fell in with the grays and blacks. 

The downside to that is that when I needed to do an entire project that used many low volume prints I had to go through each stack to pull out what I needed.  Ugh!  So after that I just started a new stack on the end of my shelf that was dedicated to just low volume.  That storage method works much better for me. 

So what exactly ARE low volume fabrics and how are they used?  This blog article by Sherri McConnell is a great place to start.

How about some low volume inspiration?  There are so many fantastic quilts and pillows out there that effectively use low vol fabrics.  Here are just some of my favorites!

1. Modern Maples Quilt Top Complete!, 2. My low volume version of V&Co's Reverse Hopscotch Quilt, 3. Low Volume Pixelated Heart Baby Quilt, 4. Low volume quilt, 5. Low volume plus quilt, 6. Finished HST Low Volume Quilt (125), 7. FLiQS Quilt Received from Donna, 8. plain spoken low volume quilt, 9. Low Volume Single Girl Quilt, 10. Banderitas, 11. Outer Border Quilting - Marcelle Medallion, 12. Springtime Riot {do. Good Stitches August Quilt}, 13. Friends with Additions Starter Block, 14. mod pop, 15. low volume quilt- full front, 16. Goose Creek for do. Good Stitches

Table Topper

Remember that family reunion I wrote about a couple of days ago?  Well at the reunion there was a  family store and auction to raise money for the next reunion.  One of the women (my second cousin I think) is a quilter and brought a few of these fantastic hand-quilted table toppers to add to the family store.  I bought this one immediately! 

I love the hand quilting she did.  Isn't it fantastic?  This is a fairly small topper – fits perfectly on my teal bookcase.  So far none of the boys in my household have noticed that it has some pink in it.  Let’s see how long it takes them to say something. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Traveling and Re-Stashing

A few weeks ago we had a family reunion in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.  Have you been there?  Our reunion was right on the river and there was full of plenty of food, fun and stories.  Lots and lots of interesting stories!
We come from a long line of farmers and ranchers so when they set up activities for the little ones what else would they have but cattle ropin’ (hay bale style!) 

This was a fairly large reunion, going back several generations starting with my great, great grandpa so there were plenty of stories to tell!

In the hot afternoons we played in the river!  In several places there were hot springs that flowed right into the river and the big thing to do in town was to float down the river on tubes.  Our kids were happy just to play in the shallows and leave the river floating to others.  It sure looked fun though!  We hope to go back in a year or two when the kidlets are a bit older so we can do the river float too.

On our way home from the reunion we stopped for a day at Bear Lake UT.  Such a pretty place!  This was taken from my car window as we drove away, but we really did stop to enjoy the lake.  And yes, it really is that blue!

After Bear Lake it was on to Logan UT where I absolutely had to stop at My Girlfriend’s Quilt Shoppe.  I had met the shop owner and her sister at Quilt Market (delightful people!) and I’ve heard such great things about the shop.  It did not disappoint! 

The photo doesn’t do the shop justice – but I was too busy shopping to take any other pics.  I was pretty reserved in my shopping – just grabbed these two:

…and a few FQ for some re-stashing:

I think it’s so fun to visit other people’s LQS (local quilt shops).  I think each one has it's own personality - especially the ones in smaller towns.  So here's my question:  If I came to your town, what would be the one shop you would recommend I stop by? 

Ginghams

I’m working with some of the new Riley Blake ginghams today.  Have you seen these?  The ones pictured here are the small gingham.  They also have medium and large available.  I got these in a fat quarter bundle from the Fat Quarter Shop (I had a gift certificate wahooo!) But the small and medium ginghams can also be found at the Fabric Fly shop (love this shop!)

The solids I have in the photo above are Kona Solids.  I had my preschooler with me yesterday at my local quilt shop and I enlisted his help in finding the solids to match each of the ginghams.  He had a blast – and he did a great job! 

Honey Honey

Today I’m hanging out with some of the fabric from Kate Spain’s new line for Moda – Honey Honey.  It’s delightfully flowery.  I can almost smell my honeysuckle blossoms!



This stack of fat quarters will soon become a stack of half square triangles.  What are you working on today?

Warming Up + Fabric Stack Friday

It is SO.VERY.COLD here.  My youngest son asks me daily if summer will be here soon.  I’m running out of things to tell him.  I suppose I could make a paper chain type of thing to help him visually understand just how many more cold days we have left, but I’m afraid that it will make me cry to see how long that chain will be. 

I bought this stack of Noteworthy fat quarters last week with no particular use in mind.  They were just so happy and warm looking.  They sit on my sewing table and cheer me up each time I go in there. 

I’m considering using the FQ and this block pattern to make myself a “you can make it through February” quilt! 

Fabric Stack Friday: Blues and Greens

I know that lately I’m showing a lot of fabric stacks and not a lot of finished projects.  I promise I have several finished quilts to show (wanna see one?  It’s already posted here.)  But for today all I have for you is this stack of blues and greens. 

Last year one of my online quilting bees created these blocks for me (the color is a little off, but you get the idea!):

Since then I’ve added about 10 more blocks of my own and some white sashing to make it a queen size.  Yup.  This one is for me.  The quilt top has been done for several months and I’m just now getting around to making the back.  That’s what the stack of fabrics above is for.  Gorgeous, aren’t they? 

Have a great weekend!  Do you have any big plans?  As for me I’ll be working on this quilt back and two eye-spy quilts!

Fabric Stack Friday: Late Bloomer

Just a hint of fall is in the air today.  We have finally gotten some rain, the first of the college football games began (yay Cougars!) and I can hear the elementary school kids playing out at recess.  Time for a change of colors in my sewing room. 

I have had this Late Bloomers charm pack in my closet all summer but just didn’t feel like sewing with browns.  I do today though!  This morning I sketched up an idea for a quilt that uses two charm packs and just under 2 yards of solid fabric.  I can’t wait to get started!

What are you working on this weekend?

Oh and don't forget -you still have three days to enter the giveaway!

Fabric Stack Friday

This vibrant stack is for my August bee blocks for IMAGINE at do. Good Stitches group.  Not my normal colors, are they? 


Jessica has created a fun block for us this month.  If you go here you can see a sketch of what the finished quilt will look like (as well as her block tutorial.)  It’s going to be gorgeous!

I Spy

Jeanette over at Stamp*Stitch*Create recently sent me this photo:



She made this using my Charming Lucy quilt pattern and a Bliss charm pack.  You can read more about her quilt here and here.  So cute!  I love the monochromatic rings – I might have to copy her idea.  I’m itching to make a larger version of this using two or three charm packs.

Fabric Stack Friday

Lately I’ve been on the hunt for some great gray fabrics.  I needed some gray to finish a project a couple of weeks ago and all I had in my closet was one small piece – less than a FQ.  I was surprised – I feel like I’ve been sewing a lot with gray lately – but when I thought about it I realized that I mostly just use solid gray (Kona Ash.)


We did some travelling last week and I had the chance to visit a few quilt shops in one town.  I kept my eyes peeled for anything gray.  This is the stack that I walked away with – not bad, eh?



Fabrics are (Left to Right): 
Georgette Christmas by Anna Griffin for Windham found here and here
Definitions – Scattered Seeds by Faye Burgos for Marcus Brothers found here
Urbanicity Scribbles Grey White by Michele D’Amore for Benartex found here
Tuxedo Floral Gray by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake found here and here
Tuxedo Gray Scatter by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake found here and here
Gray Color Weave by P&B Textiles (I couldn’t find it anywhere online!)
Carnival Light Gray Stripes by Red Rooster Studio found here, here and here

Fabric Stack Friday

A few more yellows for this project-

And for this stack of prints from the Apple of My Eye line, I was imagining a table topper with a few raw-edge appliqued apples.  Then I saw this, and my plans might have changed.

That Time of Year (Wednesday's Color Card)

Each May I get the urge to pick every lilac I see, and find a parade to watch. 

I grew up in Spokane, Washington and each May the city holds a Lilac Festival.  There are lilacs blooming everywhere.  The festival royalty is chosen.  Around town you can hear the Jr High and High School marching bands rehearsing for the parades.  All along the parade route, the downtown intersections are each painted with enormous images of lilacs.  Then there is the parade.  It’s an evening parade – The Torchlight Parade.  Very cool.  I think all parades should be at night.  Does someone (ahem…mom) want to buy me a plane ticket to Spokane so I can see the parade this year??

Leftovers

Still here.  Still busy.  Still sick.  Can it please be Summer? 

I’m working away on these custom orders.  Meanwhile, I’ll give you a preview of a small quilt that I hope to write about soon.  It’s not a top secret thing, I just don’t have time right now.





This was made from the scraps leftover from the Stars Abound 2 quilt.  They are such fun, bright colors and they look so great together.  I couldn’t bear to have them assimilated into the black hole that I call my scrap bins.  I think I used every.last.scrap in this quilt.  It sure feels good to do that. 

Happy April everyone!

A Little Inspiration

I’ve decided that I need a new quilt for myself.  I have become a bit enamored with this fabric and *I think* I’ve decided to use this as the jump off point for my quilt.  A plus:  the mister just walked in, saw the above pic and proclaimed “wow! I love it!”

The fabric is from the Long Live Vintage line by Adornit.  Not sure of the name of this particular print.  I DO know that at my LQS there is only about  2 yards left on the bolt.  I’d better get down there and grab the rest of it tomorrow!

(original photo of fabric from here)

I {heart} Sweetwater

It is not often that I actually look forward to the arrival of a fabric line.  In fact I usually don’t pay any attention to what is “coming soon.”  This one however, has caught my eye and I cannot wait to see it in person.  I mean – just look at it!

(Photo from their Etsy site)

Anyone know of a good pattern that uses Jelly Rolls?  I need a reason to buy one of these babies to appease me until the yardage is available.