Weekend Get Away

I'm signing off for the rest of the weekend for a little much-needed girls weekend to the coast. I am lucky enough to have some wonderful women in my life who have been great friends since the seventh grade and we all still keep in touch. 

But, since I will be leaving my new BFF (Bernina!) behind I am bringing lots of other crafty goodness to occupy myself with. Here are a couple of WIPs I have been working on:

The colorful stripe is just a mindless one-rib knit scarf of two beautiful Noro Silk Garden colorways which I'm almost done with. Just about everyone on Ravelry has already made this but I couldn't resist and will probably be making another one soon. You can find the original free pattern by Jared Flood here. A great beginner project. The other is the Sunrise Circle jacket which I have been working on since I was pregnant. It is a gorgeous design I am knitting up in some luxurious Jo Sharp Aran Tweed. I hope to make a little headway this weekend, I finally feel like I have gotten my knitting mojo back! Whispering Pine on Flickr has an awesome version which inspired me.

As if I didn't have enough projects going on I just couldn't resist trying crochet. It was really Lucy's work at Attic 24 which got me so excited. Check it out, she whips up some absolutely gorgeous work and offers some fab tutorials, too. This is my first ever completed granny square - pretty wonky but I am excited I picked up the concept and feel like I'm making progress. A lot of people feel that crochet is easier than knitting. I have been a bit frustrated so far but I am determined to keep with it. The yarns I have been using are Cash Vero DK and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.

I'm also packing a pad and my set of beloved Copic markers. Why, you ask? Well am trying to coerce the husband into letting me sign up for Heather Ross's fabric design workshop, and I figure all the doodling I can get in between now and January will help (that and proficiency in Photoshop, which is the real obstacle).

I'm leaving these two miscreants alone for their first overnight together. I will miss them dearly, but two days minus Yo Gabba Gabba, 5 AM waking and piles of laundry will be a great break. They probably won't even miss me:)

Welcome Home New Baby!

Soooo, I made a rather large unexpected purchase this week. Here she is - the Bernina 440 QE! I really wasn't planning on this right now, after quilting my last two quilts it became painfully apparent that I really needed a new machine. My old Brother just wasn't gonna cut it anymore. Listening to it moan and groan and practically overheat during quilting was pretty pathetic. So I just went to investigate at my LQS who is also a Bernina dealer and all I had to do was touch this thing and I was sold. I'm easy, I know, but this foot pedal free stitch regulator is truly amazing (plus they were offering a deal and 12 month no interest financing!) So far I am absolutely thrilled with this machine.

I have had this Good Folks quilt top done since September so I have been using it to play around with the quilting function. It should be all finished up this week so I'll show it to you soon!

I have also joined Doll Quilt Swap 8 - my first time joining this popular swap. I have been hemming and hawing on what to do for my partner, who seems really sweet and easy to please, and I've been wanting to try dresden plates for a long time now, so here is a sneak peek:

My partner seems to like blue and dresdens so I hope this will be a good fit for her. I am totally frightened to stitch it on so I hope I can figure it out. Alright, I am going to go relax with the husband with a pizza delivery (diet breaker tonight, but a reward for the 7 pounds I have finally dropped this month!), some wine and my knitting project. I hope everyone is having a relaxing, crafty weekend!

A New Quilt and a New Bee

My first block for my first quilting bee ever is completed. I am so thrilled to be a part of this awesome group of ladies of the Bee-autiful Bee, started by Amanda. January's month is for Suzanne (foofanagle), who requested a simple vs. complex block and sent some absolutely gorgeous fabrics in a yellow and grey color theme to sew the blocks up.

I know, I know, I am a little hexagon crazy lately but I love the portability of them. I can hand sew while watching a movie with my husband or tote the whole project over to my mom's house who loves to occupy Lucy while I sneak in a little sewing time.

I am already jealous of Suzanne's quilt after seeing all the other blocks the rest of the bee-ers are coming up with. I'm so happy to be a part of it!

Now that the FMF quilt is completed, it is time to start a new project (or three!) I have literally hundreds rolling around in my brain!

My big ol' stack of Amy Butler Lotus fabrics have been calling to me lately. I do love this line, and they were some of the first I started my stash with. Originally I had planned on the simple Brick Path quilt pattern (Amy's own). I cut out the bricks and decided maybe something a bit different would be fun. This is what I'm coming up with:

So far I think I like it, but hmmmmmm what do you think about adding some sashing?

Oh and here is another pic of my Lu rollin' the new phil&ted's stroller. My kid has a sweeter ride than I do :)

My Dream Quilt: Flea Market Fancy is done!

Here she is! And she's mine all mine! I can't even begin to tell you how much I am in love.

The quilt is a great throw sized, roughly 60x75. I used just about every Flea Market Fancy print made, only a few are missing (like yellow barbells!) The sashing and back are just good old Kona cotton white and I used the brown tulip tiles to bind by hand (I don't think I'll be attempting machine binding again very soon). I started the quilt back in August or September with the Old Red Barn Co quilt along, but only now just finished due to holiday madness. John aka Quiltdad did such a great job leading us all through the process of wonky log cabins. I learned so much.

One thing I must now sing the praises of is quilt basting spray. This stuff really works! For some reason I think I was against using it - I just really wanted to figure out how to baste properly the old fashioned way. But I was soooo desperate for this quilt to turn out perfectly, and after wrestling my last quilt (queen-sized) I was willing to try anything. I will now NEVER go back to just pins. I have also been a bit lazy about taping the entire back to the floor before laying the batting. I now know how important it is to go through every little step.

I also picked up Color Grabber at my local Hancock's Fabrics, which pulls any excess dye out of the water while washing. It worked like a charm and is only five bucks for about 30 washes.

Here is the back:

I had to add this little patchwork strip because my back was too short. I was really irritated I had to add it at first but now I love it.

At least we got a tiny ray of sun so I could take some okay shots, even if they are with the old camera (still missing the bloody charging cords to the new Canon!)

It is pretty hard to get a non-blurry shot of a very busy 8 month old!

I hope this can help inspire some of you fabric hoarders (you know who you are!) to get cutting on your beautiful Flea Market Fancy fabrics. They truly are better outside of the sewing room!

Sunday Stash #???

It has been so long since I "Sunday Stashed", I have no idea what number post I'm on anymore. Oh well.

You might be wondering what this totally awesome stack of fabrics you have never seen before are. Well, I'm sure if you are bothering to read this you probably already do :).

This is one of my favorite fabric collections ever, Bohemian, by Anna Maria Horner (and you all know by now how much I love her!) These fabrics remind me of me back in college - I think that is why I am so taken with them. It has been OOP for who knows how long and I have been piecing the collection together through swaps and late night internet searching for the last year. I am now only missing a few prints. It is so cool to see the first of some of the prints we will come to love, like the dots from Chocolate Lollipop and the Filigree and Cathedral Circles from Good Folks.

I have yet to use any of these in a quilt. Now that my Flea Market Fancy is quilted and being bound, I am looking forward to my next big project. Dragging these out of the stash has me inspired! I am thinking of tackling something circular?

PS - If you are jonesing for some of these fabrics I may be willing to put together some fat quarter stacks of what I have enough of after I cut into them - just let me know.

And to continue with the AMH love, I am once again guilty of violating my Fabric Diet. I went to a great little shop in Ballard today and just HAD to pick up some of the Folksy flannels! I think the voile will be a quilt for me someday and the flannel a blankie for Lucia. It is so soft. I also picked up this tote pattern, which I have plans for in the new Echino line (oops, more fabric to buy!)

Well, I am off to finish binding my FMF quilt. Pictures soon - and hopefully better ones than these if I could just find the blasted charging cord to our new camera!

Quick Sneak Peek: My Dream Flea Market Fancy Quilt!!!

Remember these guys?

I started this quilt waaaaay back in September with the Old Red Barn Co. quilt along. Well, life -the holidays, taking care of Lucy, trying to get my butt to the gym and my mom's Christmas quilt all got in the way. So with the new year, I decided there was no better way to get started than to get back on this project.

Here is a look at our kitchen table/sewing room yesterday:

I really couldn't wait to show you a little peek. I just finished the top and snapped a pic. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this. It is now after 11:30 PM so I had better get to bed but I can't wait to get started on the backing tomorrow!

Oops!

Well, this doesn't come as a big shock, but I have already broken one of my New Year's resolutions and cheated on my fabric diet. (I am happy to report the other resolution is going quite well, with workouts everyday no wine and lots healthy eating) I really was trying to be a good girl but the vortex which is my LQS pulled me in yesterday and when I saw a bolt of EVERY print of the new Little Folks voile by Anna Maria Horner, I just had to buy some. OK $120 worth, eek.

For all of you hesitant to buy some because it is not regular quilting cotton, have no fear. This stuff is like butter on a baby's bottom. It is lighter weight but the texture is heavenly and it sews up lovely. With every line that Anna Maria designs, I fall more and more in love. And this particular line is perfect for baby things with its soft color palette, yet still manages not to come off as "baby-ish", which I detest.

So when I got news that my good friend was in labor with her first little daughter, I whipped up this sweet little blanket, using the "sugar cookie" palette and backed with some super soft ivory minkee. I really hate sewing with minkee, but it is the best for baby blankets, so I just deal. The blanket has already been gifted to the sweet new baby Ella, and mom and daughter are doing great. In fact, she was born with only one half hour of pushing and mom is already up and walking around so don't think I am a bad person when I say I am a bit jealous of that easy delivery!

I have a little quilt for Lucia already in the works also using some of the "moonlight" palette. I am just loving this stuff, can you tell?

Well, I hope you are all having a great year so far. I will be back soon with a sneak of my FMF quilt. It has been put on the back burner for awhile with the holidays and the making of my mom's Garden Party quilt, but I have now vowed to finish it by the end of next week.