Ugly duckling or Blue-ribbon winner?

Thanks so much for sharing your opinions on the sashing for my Red Letter Day quilt! I considered each and every one. And, yes, I made a new pie chart of the second set of results.


FIRST RESULTS

I think the change between the first and second time I asked for opinions is really interesting. Before I showed the audition photos, there were tons of votes for white. Only three for black.

SECOND RESULTS

After I showed the audition photos, the votes for black and white pretty much reversed. I never would've thought I would like the black sashing the best...but I did!

I definitely had second thoughts. Like when I went back and looked at my original inspiration photo. Sure looks beautiful with the crisp white sashing, doesn't it?

I had second thoughts when I dropped some of the black fabric on my laundry room floor and picked it up covered with whatever linty mess lives in there.

And I had second thoughts every time I looked at my dirty old shed-machine of a yellow lab.

But I pushed all of those thoughts to the back of my mind and went with the impractical black sashing. And I think it looks pretty darn awesome! I really can't imagine it any other way.

I ended up adding a thin border of the Bahama blue around each block.


I was concerned about having the black next to the brown borders in some of the blocks, like this guy here. That's probably an old-fashioned notion, but I think the blue sets the blocks off nicely and unifies them.


I wasn't sure what to do with the all-blue block, but I just went ahead and added the blue border to it too.


I can't wait to hear what you think! You'll be seeing this guy again when I get it all quilted and bound.

WIP Wednesday!

I haven't finished anything this week, but I've been a sewing machine (get it? sewing machine? heh).

Anyway...I finished all 48 blocks for Rachel's Postage Stamp Quilt-Along.

I'm using Hello Betty fabric, and I love the way it's turning out. I'm only showing half of the blocks here. This is going to be a big quilt! I just need to sew the blocks together to finish the quilt top...after I finish pressing them (groan).


One of the things I like most about this fabric is that it has three solids--teal, orange, and brown.


I also got all of my fabric cut for Don't Call Me Betsy's Sliced Coins Quilt-Along. I'm using Sanctuary (with Kona Coal as sashing), which my mom got me for Christmas (thanks, mom!). I'm in love with this fabric. Can't wait for the next step!

There are some great quilt-alongs starting up now. I'm so tempted to join this one, and this one, and most of all this one. But for now I'm resisting.


Oh, and I finished my bee block for Cherie!

I finished my Red Letter Day quilt top tonight. I might wait to show it to you once it's all finished up. Or I could show you a sneak peek of the quilt top tomorrow...


I'm linking up to Lee's blog!

Auditions

Previously on Katie's Korner...
You gave your opinions on my Red Letter Day sashing. I made a pie chart and ordered some fabric. The fabric has arrived, and now I have proper audition pictures. (I see how the fancy quilt computer software would come in handy!) So I'm asking for your opinion once again!

(Do you think I'm crazy? Surely you do.)

It's pretty dreary here (is it not dreary at your house? can I come over?), but I'm hoping the photos show up well enough. I'm witholding my opinions for now!

Oh, and AmandaJean suggested that I add a thin border to set off the blocks, and I'm considering that too.

So, without further ado...

White.


Black.


Coal.


Ash.


Aqua.


Cloud.


Bahama Blue.

So...love/hate? Let me know!

For me: pincushion organizer

I have a bad habit of leaving my sewing supplies all over the house. I'm always sticking my needle in the arm of the sofa and then forgetting about it. Not long ago, my 3-year-old brought me a needle he found and said, "What's this, mommy? It hurts." So...I suppose a more practical solution was in order.

Enter: My pincushion organizer.

This project has been on my list for a long time. I used this tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew. It's from Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson.


The little scrap bag is detachable.


The pincushion has a little felt strip for needles. Better than the sofa arm, yes?


It works well on your fancy sewing table. Or kitchen table. Whatever the case may be.

I'm linking up with Sew Modern Monday with Megan of Canoe Ridge Creations. Check out her blog for more projects!

This, that, and the other

This post is going to ramble a little, so stick with me. (Or don't. I won't know if you leave now!) Anyway...



I wasn't going to join Rachel's latest quilt-along, but then I did. See, I had this Hello Betty Retro jelly roll collecting dust, and I found a Moda Bella Snow jelly roll for a good price here...so I figured, why not?


Here's my progress so far.


Luke took this photo of my progress.

And...thanks so much for your input on my Red Letter Day quilt! You certainly gave me a lot to think about! Here's a chart I created to reflect your responses.

Am I a dork? Yes, I am. So, to update you, I ordered a few blue fabrics to audition. And I'm still seriously considering white. And black. And gray.... Stay tuned!

Also, the lovely Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy tagged me for a Liebster award.



The Liebster award recognizes "little" bloggers--those with fewer than 300 followers. Now, 300 sounds like a lot to me! I'm surprised that anyone who isn't a blood relative reads my blog. Thanks for thinking of me, Elizabeth. Now I get to tell you about three blogs with fewer than 300 followers that I like to read.
1. Blue is Bleu: I've been reading Audrie's blog for a long time. Go for her beautiful, unfussy quilts. Stay for her wicked sense of humor.
2. Sew This Is My Life: Cristin has a great eye for color. Her gray and green quilt is one of my favorites. And she has a really cute little boy! (When I clicked "publish post," Cristin had 299 followers. So she very well might be ineligible for this award by the time you read this! What do you think will happen? Do you think it will be taken away, like Reggie Bush's Heisman?)
3. Film and Thread Now, I have no idea how many followers she has. She very well may have thousands. I hope I haven't offended you with this "little guy" award, Anne! But Anne is an innovative quilter, and her Are We There Yet quilt is unforgettable. I love her Backward Forward quilt too. She makes incredible bee blocks, and her photography is always amazing. Plus, we Alabama quilters need to stick together!

Finally...you should be watching Justified.

Season 2 starts on February 9, and season 1 is available on DVD on Tuesday (so get thee to your Netflix queue!). I'm sure FX will be rerunning the first season too. Timothy Olyphant is fantastic.


Plus it has the coolest intro since The Sopranos.

Okay, think that's about it! Told you I was going to ramble! Have a great Sunday.

Opinions, please

Cheryl over at Naptime Quilter is relaunching the Workshop in Progress. Great timing, because I could use some input!



The women of my quilting bee made these excellent Red Letter Day blocks for me last year. I've really been itching to sew them together lately, but I can't decide on the sashing.


There are so many other colors going on here that I'm tempted to go with plain ol' white, but is that too boring?


Please let me know what you think! And head to Naptime Quilter to see who else is participating.

Practice makes...dresdens!

I'm in 2 bees this year. Cherie is in both of them, so I'm making blocks for her this month. First up for the Sew Beautiful Bee: a dresden plate using Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms fabric. I was a little nervous about this one, so I made a practice block using my own fabric first.

Cherie based her instructions off of this tuturial from Sew Mama Sew. Really fun! I think I'll make this into a pillow.


With that one under my belt, I had the nerve to cut into Cherie's fabrics. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Hope you like it, Cherie!

1 charm pack + 1 yard of flannel = 1 baby quilt

I was feeling a little, I don't know, burned out after the holidays. I wanted to sew something, but I didn't want to do any measuring, or cutting, or thinking. So I came up with this equation that even my addled brain could handle: 1 charm pack + 1 yard of flannel = 1 baby quilt.

I had a Fandango charm pack...


and the yard of flannel that I won in Kate Spain's giveaway. (Like the satellite dish in this picture? Shh...we don't have satellite TV. High class here at the headquarters of Katie's Korner. Our neighbors have their dish mounted on a post in the front yard, so this seems like a minor infraction...)



I quilted in diagonal lines--I wanted the quilt to stay soft, and I wanted to practice the technique. The binding is a dot from Midwest Modern, which ended up being a pretty good match.

Now that this is finished (I don't have a recipient yet...but I'm assuming I'll know someone who has a baby girl at some point!), I'm ready to move onto something that requires a bit more brain power. Maybe Cherie's dresden block for one of my new bees?

Hobo bags

Luke has a growing collection of action figures, and we were in need of some storage for the little guys. This post on Cluck Cluck Sew reminded me of this tutorial on Made, and I was off and running on some Hobo Bags.


After I finished the first one (David Walker's Oh Boy), he demanded another in robot fabric (Alexander Henry's Ready Set Robot). Of course, I was more than happy to oblige.




Maybe this will keep his super heroes from getting lost for a little bit longer.


Satisfied customer! I suspect I'll be making more of these in the future.