W.I.P. Wednesday

It's Wednesday. I've been a busy bee this week! My list is getting mighty short...



Finished:

May blocks for do. Good Stitches





Lisa asked for bright, colorful blocks. I hope she meant that, because I certainly took it to heart! We're making blocks using the Sugar Pop n Change block from Moda Bake Shop.

Tracey's block for the VIBees



Tracey asked for petal blocks. I remembered this block from Penny at Sew Take a Hike. She told me that the tulip template came from Material Obsession 2, so I picked up the book from the library.


Tracey is making a baby quilt, so I didn't want raw edges. I found this tutorial for using freezer paper for turned-edge appliqué. Very clever!

Angela's block for Sew Beautiful Bee

I've showed you this before, but it's in the mail, so it can officially come off the list. I'm pumped to mark all of my bee blocks off the list!

Charms for Japanese Import Charm Swap

Cut up and in the mail!

Ongoing projects:

Modern Sliced Scrappy Quilt for do. Good Stitches

I basted this tonight, so it's time to get started on the quilting! Maybe I'll finish this up this weekend.


Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Red Letter Day quilt
Postage Stamp quilt (Long arm? Hand quilt?)

To do:
Blocks for do. Good Stitches
Tracey's VIBees block
Angela's Sew Beautiful Bee block
Cut up (and mail) charms for Japanese Import swap
Blankets for Craft Hope Project 13
Houndstooth quilt
Deer quilt


Head to Lee's to see what everyone else has going on.

Wandering star

May is Angela's month for our Sew Beautiful Bee, and she asked each member to make a block that is "us." She sent us this excellent blue fabric to work with and asked us to add a bit from our own stashes. So, after some deep introspection and meditation about who I am, I decided, "Katie likes stars!" I've been on a bit of a star kick lately (I asked the members of my other bee to make star blocks for me), so I found a pattern for a Wandering Star block in this old copy of Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns, which I picked up from my work library when it closed a few years ago (and probably haven't cracked open since).




This is a fine book, but it makes me realize how spoiled I am by all of the photo-heavy, step-by-step, super detailed online tutorials. This book was all: "Here's some templates. Cut out the fabric and sew them together." Did I mention that the block has set-in seams? Honestly, I didn't know what set-in seams were before I put together this block, but I figured out what I was doing (this explanation helped) and got some practice!


I hope you like it, Angela! (Eek, I'm nervous!) Now, I have to admit the block is not perfect. I lost one of my star points when I squared up my block (ouch), and the set-in seams could be better. But I'm hoping what the block lacks in perfection it makes up for in likability. (Hey, maybe this block IS me!)

Perhaps I should've just made a block with the word "DORK" on it...

Extreme Orange! (Bloggers’ Quilt Festival)

Yay! It’s time for the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of Amy's Creative Side! I’m so glad Blogger decided to cooperate so we can get on with the festivities.

Today I’m featuring my orange dirt bike quilt. (That’s right—a dirt bike quilt.) Margaret’s Hope Chest has a project called Wrapped in Hope, and they’re providing birthday quilts for children who have parents in prison. I signed up to make a quilt for Dresden (with that name he’s sure to appreciate quilts, right?). He’s turning 3 this month, and he requested a quilt featuring dirt bikes and the color orange. This must be a cool kid.

After a few moments of head-scratching (not much dirt bike fabric in my stash! Okay, not any!) I remembered this quilt by Rebecca of Chasing Cottons and knew that the Michael Miller Extreme Team fabric would be just right for this quilt.

So, after some thinking and sketching, I came up with this plan…



Which became this quilt.





I didn’t want to cut up that main panel, so I decided to frame it out with orange and black, and then added patchwork squares surrounding it.


I just bought a few fat quarters of the Extreme Team fabric, so I added some Kona Tangerine, Ash, and Aqua to the mix. I pulled out the aqua color from the puzzle print. I used Kona Black for the binding.


My favorite part (and I think it just might be Dresden’s favorite too) is the road, which was a last-minute addition to the plan. In this picture, you can see that I quilted in gray thread in the blocky meandering stitch. I think it gives the road kind of an asphalt look.


I wanted to continue the road theme on the back, so I added an intersection. I can just see Dresden spreading this out on the floor and driving his cars up and down the road. I filled out the back with Tangerine and Aqua yardage (and a bit of Ash when I came up short).

I’m excited to send this quilt off to its new home! (My 3-year-old son—not so excited to see this one go.)

Now head over to Amy’s blog to see lots (and LOTS) of more quilts on parade!

W.I.P. Wednesday

It's Wednesday. Kick it!



Finished:

Bottled Rainbows

Done! I loved working on this project, but I'm glad to have my scraps once again contained in my scrap bin. They were starting to take over my living room.

Dirt bike quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest
Done! In the washing machine as I type. I'm saving this for Bloggers' Quilt Fest, so come back on Friday to see the finished quilt.

Ongoing projects:

Modern Sliced Scrappy Quilt for do. Good Stitches

I need to figure out a backing plan, and then on to the quilting.


Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Red Letter Day quilt
Postage Stamp quilt (Long arm?)

To do:
Blocks for do. Good Stitches
Tracey's VIBees block
Angela's Sew Beautiful Bee block (Got a start on this one tonight, and then I got to the set-in seams and got a wee bit nervous. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow.)
Cut up (and mail) charms for Japanese Import swap
Blankets for Craft Hope Project 13Houndstooth quilt
Deer quilt


Head to Lee's to see what everyone else has going on.

Modern Sliced Scrappy quilt top

I'm hosting the recently formed Peace Circle for do. Good Stitches, and I'm in the process of putting our first quilt together. We'll be making a quilt each month for My Very Own Blanket, an organization that provides handmade blankets for kids in foster care.


I asked my bee members to make blocks using Elizabeth's Modern Sliced Scrappy block tutorial. Each bee member makes two blocks using fabric from her own stash. The blocks came to me from near and far, and I put the quilt top together last night.


I'm so excited to get this quilt put together!

So...I need help deciding how to quilt this. This is always the hardest decision for me. Any thoughts?

Craft Hope Project 13!

The new Craft Hope project is collecting handmade blankets for tornado survivors in the Southeastern U.S. Find out all the details here, and help if you can!

Rainbow-tastic!

I finished my Bottled Rainbows quilt, and we took it on location for a photo shoot. (Yes, there were other people at this location. Yes, they looked at me like I was nuts.)


I was worried that the precariously draped quilt would fall in the water. I was more concerned that I would fall in the water. We both left dry!


I used particularly rainbowy prints from Ann Kelle's Remix for the backing and binding. (Thanks for pointing me in this direction, Elizabeth!) I love the 1980s feel of that line.


I loved the quilt-as-you go angle of this project. It's something I'll try more of in the future.


This was billed as a leisurely quilt-along, but I quickly got addicted to putting the blocks together.


I asked Luke to name our donkey, and he decided on Diego. I like it (and I'm surprised he didn't choose Batman). You can kind of see the quilting in this photo. I tried to quilt lines on either side of the seams, but the bulky intersections gave me too much trouble. I ripped that out and attached the blocks to the backing by quilting around the scrappy center. Hope that's enough!


I considered cutting these stripes on the bias, but I ended up deciding against it. Still second-guessing that decision.


My patient photo assistant

Definitely check out Rachel's quilt-along if you're in the market for a scrappy project!

WIP Wednesday

One of these days I'll quit lamenting the rapid passing of time. Not today!





Finished:
Blocks for do. Good Stitches




I'm sewing the quilt this month, and I held off making my blocks until I saw what my other bee members made so I could make sure we had a good range of colors. I'm just waiting on one more, and then I'll get to work on putting this quilt together! The blocks were made using Elizabeth's excellent tutorial.

Baby blankets for my sister.
My sister has a bevy of friends having babies, so she asked me to make her a slew of the minky-ribbon baby blankets to have on hand as gifts. They're cute, but you'll have to take my word for it because I shipped them off without taking a picture.

iPod pouches for my nephews
Again, no pics, but I made my nephews some pouches using Kelly's fantastic tutorial and my Extreme Team scraps. (Check out Kelly's tutorial if you're in the market for a zippered pouch.)

Ongoing projects:

Dirt bike quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest
No progress since my last post. This is priority #1.

Bottled Rainbows


Binding in progress! I got a good chunk done during the Good Wife tonight. (P.S. After tonight's episode, I'm on Team Peter!) Should finish it up during Criminal Minds tomorrow. Thank you, shows, for not being reruns this week!

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Red Letter Day quilt
Postage Stamp quilt (Long arm?)

To do:
Dirtbikes quilt (in the mail by mid-May)
Blocks for do. Good Stitches
Tracey's VIBees block
Cut up (and mail) charms for Japanese Import swap
Houndstooth quilt
Deer quilt


Head to Lee's to see what everyone else has going on.

Dirt bikes

It feels a little strange to return to business as usual after the devastation that ripped through my little corner of the world yesterday, but I suppose that's what you do. We were very fortunate and never even lost power, so I busied myself with my dirt bike quilt while I watched seven hours of severe weather coverage.

When I found out I was making a dirt bike quilt, I immediately remembered this quilt by Rebecca of Chasing Cottons. I thought the Michael Miller Extreme Team fabric would work well in an orange dirt bike quilt.


So, after lots of thinking and sketching, I came up with this plan. I just had a few fat quarters to work with, and one of them had a large-scale print, so I wanted to leave it in tact. That print became the center framed block. From there, I did some simple patchwork and added the little road.


And here's the top! I'm proud that I was able to execute my plan. (If you ever wonder why people sell simple quilt patterns, it's for people like me! The very basic math here just about melted my brain.)



This is the center panel. It's not exclusively dirt bikes, but I imagine the little dude I'm making this for will appreciate the other extreme sports too.



In addition to the orange solid (Kona Tangerine), I added in some blocks of Kona Aqua, which closely matches the icy blue accent in the Extreme Team fabric. I also added a few squares of Kona Ash just to round it out.


I have to admit the road was a last-minute addition to my plan, but I'm so glad I included it! I believe it makes the quilt, in my humble opinion. And I can just see the little boy who receives it driving his cars up and down it.


I had the pieces spread out on the floor when Luke woke up from his nap. He said, "Mommy! I like this one so much more than the one you made yesterday!" First reaction: Ouch! But then I remembered that he's my target market for this quilt, so he should like this one more than my Bottled Rainbows.

I'm thinking I'll continue the road motif on the back, but I'm not sure how to quilt it. Any ideas?

W.I.P. Wednesday

Wednesday again! I felt pretty productive this week. Let's check the list.



Finished:


Block for Sew Beautiful bee


Ongoing projects:

Dirt bike quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest

This is my plan for the dirt bike quilt. Dirt bike quilt? Yep! I signed up to make a quilt for Wrapped in Hope, a part of Margaret's Hope Chest that provides birthday quilts for children with a parent in prison. I'm making a quilt for a 3-year-old boy who requested an orange dirt bike quilt. Luckily, I know a thing or two about 3-year-old boys (but really just a thing or two...everything else about mine is a mystery). I got started on my quilt top last night, and I'm pretty excited about it! More soon.

Bottled Rainbows

Well, I finished the quilt top and got it basted. Then I jumped in with some straight-line quilting. And it's pretty rough. The intersections got really lumpy. I think I need to come to terms with the fact that my machine and straight-line quilting are not friends (maybe on smaller quilts, but not ones of this size). So I think I'm going to rip out the stitches and come up with a new plan. I really like what Crystal did with her hand-quilting, so I might try that (this will be come a long-term project!).



Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Red Letter Day quilt
Postage Stamp quilt (I was thinking about straight-line quilting this one, but because of my troubles with the Bottled Rainbows, I'm considering a long-arm.)
Bottled Rainbows

To do:
Dirtbikes quilt (in the mail by mid-May)
Blocks for do. Good Stitches
Houndstooth quilt
Deer quilt
iPod covers for my nephews
Baby blankets

Good news: I haven't added any new projects to my list. But...I'm soon going to be sans quilt-along, so I'll be needing a new one soon! Does anyone know of any starting up?

Head to Lee's to see what everyone else has going on.

Rainbows: bottled up

I finished up my Bottled Rainbows blocks. I definitely left the difficult ones (scrap-wise) for last. Some of these are a bit of a stretch, but I think they'll work when the quilt is put together.


Pink worked out pretty well.


Hope Valley+Central Park+Soul Blossoms=Cerise


Okay, the first 3 weren't too hard.


Anna Maria Horner must like this ruby color. Many of these scraps are from her fabric lines.


Indigo...yep, I cut into my new Denyse Schmidt fabric for this one.



Last and also kinda least...eggplant! I really love this color, I just own very little of it. I briefly considered ordering some fabric so I could create some scraps, but I decided that wasn't the best use of my fabric budget. So I decided to distract you with the donkey. What he lacks in purpleness, he makes up for in cuteness. And, hey, his boots are purple!

I'm just a few seams away from a quilt top!

Circle of geese

For her April Sew Beautiful bee block, Brooke asked each of us to make her a Circle of Geese block (tutorial here). Now, I'll admit this was a challenge for me, but after a few Stuart Smalley-style pep talks, I figured it out.


Brooke picked out some really cool fabrics for these blocks. They're going to make an awesome quilt!