Birthday Haul

I had never thought of it before this year, but it's kinda nice that my birthday falls on the week before the U.S. Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  This year it meant that I took advantage of a few sales to spend my birthday money!

First off a book, which I haven't had the chance to look through yet, but promises much inspiration. 

And then a couple of fabric bundles and patterns from The Workroom.  Have you ever visited this website?  I've always drooled from afar, but I decided to indulge myself, since I have been wanting those two quilt patterns forever, and then the fabric bundles just made sense because of the sale!  You know what I mean, right?!!

That last fabric bundle is meant to coordinate with the new collection Doe, which is the one fabric item that I put on my Christmas wish list (crossing fingers).

Now if only I could get some quilting done!  Reading back in my blog makes it look deceptively like I've been finding time to quilt, but unfortunately that's not quite so!  I think my itching fingers will have to wait till after Christmas...

Monthly Sparks

Are any of you quilty fabric lovers having a hard time filling out your own Christmas wish list?  I've got a suggestion for you!  Fabric Spark is launching a fun new fabric subscription!  Sign up, and every month you'll receive a bundle of 12 fat quarters that have been curated by one of the quilters/bloggers shown above!

I can't wait till it's my turn to choose the bundle.  It's coming in spring, so I'm already thinking pinks and oranges.  These two groups above are just fun ideas I was having fun pretending with!

Here's a link to the listing to purchase this 12 month fabric subscription, which will explain further details.  12 Monthly Sparks

Moda Building Blocks #2

Here's my next two blocks for the Moda Building Blocks Sampler.  The top one is 24" x 24" (i think) and the bottom one is 6" x 6".

With the top block I am slightly unhappy with the color/value placement.  I wanted the two halves of the geese to be a very similar value, and I thought they were.  That green tricked me though, and ended up being a fair bit darker than the aqua.  Or maybe it's more a problem that the aqua blends into the background color... Anyways, this block is a real stunner if you can get your values right.  I'm not bothered by it enough to make a new block though!  Partly because these huge blocks eat up a large amount of fabric.

And the little block suffers from imperfect piecing.  If you feel insecure about your seam matching skills, well here you go!  I didn't think it was so bad but this close up photo really highlights it.  Won't be fixing this either though! 

Are you sensing a theme here?  Ya, I'm not really a perfectionist.  I have an internal list of things I won't allow, but slightly mismatched seams is not usually on that list:)

The Shoe Maker's Children...

Mexico Quilt in Small

I'm so relieved, I found the photos of the quilt my mom made when she pattern tested this quilt.  Seeing these photos actually revives my interest in finishing up this pattern.  I'm thinking there's maybe something good here after all!

Don't you love those monkeys?!  I just love the happy colors and prints in this quilt.

As you can see, this is a small quilt of the same design.  It's probably around 40" x 48", but it's still the same full design as the lap size and twin size quilts.  That's because the pattern uses different block dimensions for each size, rather than just making less blocks.

So there's hope for this pattern yet:)  Just a few more nice long naps from baby here will definitely help!!

Quarter Log Cabin Quilt

Remember this bundle that I put together with fabric chosen from Fabric Spark?  Well, the quilt is finally completed!  Sewing has been a little slow here the last few weeks.  In the first month after the baby, I actually spent some time at my sewing machine and thought smugly to myself that it would continue as usual!

I think it may have sadly been a babymoon thing, because right now I'm over run by real life!  Oh well, that's not a bad thing, just a phase of life, and I know my cuddly little baby will grow up very fast!  (and I still have a backlog of finished and not so finished projects to show you...)
 

Now on to this quilt.  It. is. bright.  I love it's quirky craziness.  That purple just clashes so amazingly with the red:)  When you see that teal floral print up close, it all makes sense because the print includes this magenta and red so well.

From each fat quarter, I started by cutting a variety of strip widths, anywhere from 1.5" to 3.5".  I also cut a few 4" squares from some of the prints.

I then constructed quarter log cabin blocks, using a variety of square sizes to begin, anywhere from 3" to 4".  You add strips to 2 sides of the square, rather than all 4 sides as you would for a regular log cabin.  I kept adding strips till the blocks were 9" square.

It took me awhile to decide on the backing and binding fabric.  I'm really happy with what I chose because I feel like it is cohesive with the front of the quilt, but calms it down at the same time!

Backing fabric is Cotton and Steel On the Grid in Mint.
Binding is Cotton and Steel Dottie Bluebird

For those of you who like these eclectic colors and patterns together, but maybe not all the bright colors together, I've just had the thought that using this bundle to make a Pow Wow quilt would be amazing.  And this fabric I've used for the backing would make a great background for this quilt.

You can find this bundle here at FabricSpark.  Note:  The bundle has been slightly edited, due to one fabric being out of stock and also my changes once I started making the quilt:)  The bundle right now is exactly like what I used in my quilt except that the navy arrows have been replaced by another navy print (which works equally well) and the one cream and red floral print is not included.

Another note:  If you do buy this bundle and make something with it, I'd love to see it!!