block one

block one, a photo by sampler jane on Flickr.

fireworks block by Thimble Blossoms. fabric Center City

Decisions

Decisions, a photo by sampler jane on Flickr.

Happy Drawing

Happy Drawing, a photo by sampler jane on Flickr.

front

Happy Drawing

Happy Drawing, a photo by sampler jane on Flickr.

back

Sashing

HST block of the month, a photo by sampler jane on Flickr.

Just waiting for December

BOM

I have so enjoyed In Color Order's block of the month! I didn't find this group until about June or July but I have been catching up ever since.  This block of the month uses half square triangles.  I decided to give a try to thangles and am so glad that I did.  I had read about them over on Katy's blog. No stretching or distorting only perfectly sized hsqs!

April

May

June

 July

August

September

October 

November

Long awaiting the last block so that I can get this quilt together for a Christmas present!  

This line is Blitzen by Basic Grey.

Cross Stitch

I have attempted my very first cross stitch project! So excited that this is happening!  The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

I ripped a good bit out oh around three times an entire row had to be taken out.  What can you do, sometimes my counting was off so I placed the wrong stitch or color in the wrong place.  However this pattern was super beginner friendly.  Anything that I couldn't figure out I would youtube and that helped immensely.  The back is a lumpy mess but it's okay because the front worked out great.  This is going to be a Christmas present for my niece as soon as I finish the other two pieces.  I'm not sure what to do with the finished project if I should frame it or try to incorporate it into a pillow?  Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

Drunkard's path

 
Finally am making progress on my drunkard's path inspired by Kristie's awesome quilt!
I don't know how to quilt this one, I've already "unsewn" many a stitches.
But I guess that's the problem with trying to recreate such an awesome awesome quilt at least without the use of a long arm.
Any suggestions?

Love how this simple squares turned out but not so much in love with the pieces of curves. 

BOM

I joined the Sugar Block Club over at StitcheryDickoryDock.com
I really enjoyed watching her Craftsy BOM free class. Although I didn't make any blocks....this club includes sweet recipes (Yum!)
It starts in January!

points not so much

I made my first spinning stars block.  I had to concentrate a good bit to put this block together.  For whatever reason I couldn't comprehend turning my template over to copy it... but other than the points not matching up I think it went pretty well. 

I found that when you are joining the eight final pieces it is better to start sewing from the point piece A not from the flat end piece C. 

I also finally made Oh Fransson's TV Tray pressing board.  I have been wanting to make this for forever and but just never got around to it.  It is super handy and I don't really know how I ever did without it. 

Until next time!
-t

BOM

working on In Color Order's block of the month using half square triangles.
They are really easy and her instructions are great.  For the most part I love the versatility of half square triangles.  The only hiccup I had was buying my thangles.  This was the first time that I have tried this product and they are so great however I misread the finished triangle size so my blocks are around 14 1/2 unfinished.  No big deal though

January

February 

March 

I used Blitzen from BasicGrey and my background is from the same collection called mint grunge.  Which I must say is the best for background.  It is mostly white with hints of green and gray.  This will be my first Christmas quilt, what's not to love about Christmas?!?

Spinning Stars

excited to start the Spinning Stars Quilt Along!!!  Finally got my fabric in, this is my very first AMH fabric and it is amazing!  This is the Field Study in Gypsy and I'm hoping to make the baby size quilt.  Fingers crossed.
-T

still alive

The holidays were great but very busy and then January was full of many birthdays!  My sweet sweet husband got me a bread maker for my birthday (after many previous flat and dense homemade loafs) and I've been enthralled in the world of bread since then.  Great for my tummy but also not so great for my tummy in the expanding waistline area! He got this cookbook to accompany it. Just for the record, the author is a genius.  Once I found the ingredients I was unstoppable!

Today I sent off my first blocks for my very first swap!
It is called  Japanese x and + block swap coordinated by Issabella The Cat
I think that this is going to be a great first swap.  It was just enough blocks to get my feet wet without being overwhelmed.  I found it on flickr.  I was a little nervous at the post office because I wasn't sure home much international shipping would be.  But the post office was very helpful and it wasn't too terribly expensive.

I also joined the Swoon-along group hoping that it would help motivate me to tackle these beasts again.  Unfortunately so far no such luck.  I just know to make these blocks that I need full brain concentration and so far the opportunity for this has not arrived. Maybe soon because my husband has been not so quietly reminding me that he needs a quilt that covers his feet.

I'm still addicted to flickr.  I especially love this quilt from swoon-along group.  It makes my hearts stop, it's so unbelievably amazing!  love love love it!  

Hope everyone is having a wonderful February and that the weather is nice like it is here.

Holidays

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  My little one was definitely thankful for all of the great table food that he got for lunch, he was definitely a turkey that day for sure.
warning this post is very picture intensive.

I've been working on some Christmas presents for family mostly. It's nice to be able to create something from scratch for a change

Another  mug rug but with my first scrappy binding.  Took me a while to make sure that the seams weren't in the folding.

 front

back

and I made my very first cathedral window mini quilt from this tutorial.  I really thought that this would be a complicated pattern but it was surprisingly easy to follow.  Besides the bulk and a few holes that I didn't piece quite right it was very rewarding.  

please excuse my yucky ironing board the stem setting exploded on it the night before

and one more mini quilt for my mom

love this block it's called Antique Tile

most of my scraps are from the same fandango collection, Kate Spain because my sister's birthday present last year was this quilt from this tutorial.  I love Kate Spain she is one of the few designers that I actually know by name.  

It's crazy how fast this year is coming to a close.  Hopefully I'll be finishing up with the rest of the presents soon!  And just inn case you need some Christmas cheer

thanks,

T

Slow

Not much farming going on.  We have been a little under the weather lately so not much in the productivity department.  I made three blocks Basket, Basket Weave, and Bat Wing.  As you can tell my scraps are only very muted or super bright.  We'll see how this comes together in a quilt or not so much might end up as a mug rug or something similar.

(pictures on my bed because right now my desk is a super disaster)

I had never done a biased cut handle before so that ended up as an epic fail.  Instead I ended up cutting the fabric out from the already curved template (without the seam allowance), used steam a seam to hold it in place (love this product) and then machine appliqued it in place (my first time ever, yay!) 

I love these little farmer's blocks they are minimum commitment for maximum gratification.    

Finished another swoon block!  #5 Another one bites the dust.  I swear with every single block that I make I just love this pattern more and more! It is just so fun to see how each piece comes together.  Love that  Camille!

Plus I got these fat quarters at my LQS on sale for 99 cents, seriously that never ever happens. It's amazing how much joy fabric can bring into your life. Sigh. Well that's all for now.

Thanks,
T

farmer's wife

Finally started my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt after weeks of looking them Flickr: The Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long.  I had bought the book at few weeks back at my local Joann's with a coupon but in actuality was a little intimidated by the blocks (I have very limited experience with templates) I finally bit the bullet and started (in numerical order, I'm just funny that way) and these blocks are so much fun to make I have definitely caught the fever.

This is the first group that I have ever joined so it is so much fun to see everyone's blocks coming together and all of the great fabric choices and different techniques being utilized.  

I am using freezer paper to print out my templates.  It's working for the most part, I just have to cut the paper down to feed through the printer and remember to put the paper side up, not the waxy side which results in ink getting on everything- cough cough

The next block is called basket and I'm not sure how I'm going to do the handle, I'm thinking some needle turn applique maybe.  Either way I'm excited for next week!

thanks,
t

More more more

Finished up two more swoon blocks, yay!  Almost halfway there

 This felt is behind my wall, so I took these pictures at an angle to miss the sewing machine.  I think that is why the top looks larger than the bottom.  I tried to be more centered on the green/yellow block.  Maybe fixed the problem? or maybe I really sewed it together like that but hopefully not....

and between the two of these I made my very first mug rug/Christmas present!

 front

back

the bottom is a little bit wavy (not on purpose) I swear that it was straight when I cut it out.  Something about hand sewing binding onto so much batting made it distort a little bit.  Hopefully it'll get better by the next time. 

Regardless I am proud of myself for stepping outside of a pattern and doing something without first taking a class about it.  Reading other people's blogs helped me realize that if I can quilt then there are lots of other creative outlets that I can do.  It's an empowering feeling.  Nice to step outside of my comfort zone every now and again.  

  I know that I could never really sell this mug rug or anything but hopefully it will bring some joy to it's recipient.  Because we are always our own worse critics I suppose.  

yay!

Finished my second swoon block a few days ago, just a little slow to put it up here.  I seriously got the most perfect nested seams of my life on one of the blocks only to realize that one piece of the entire thing was sewed in backwards (it's not my fault it's hard to tell the pretty vs wrong side of this fabric, they are teeny tiny swirls).  What are you going to do?

On a much happier note I seriously love how this block is completely transformed with each new fabric addition. Amazing!

Not much else going on in the household.  We've been having rainy weather lately which would be great for quilting but little man is somewhat chewing on everything and a little bit fussy.  Poor little guy.

I have seriously been considering joining this quilt along which I found on flickr
Drunkard's Path Quilt Along
it is hosted by Kristie and Kate
I have never sewn circles before but seriously the enthusiasm of these two totally makes me (whether I can in fact or not) believe that I can in fact make this quilt!  So we will see. Hopefully I will not end up with a quilt top that looks like triangles instead of curves or a big old unfinished pile of scraps.  I'm hoping that a good group morale will keep me going.  Although I have never done a quilt along so maybe I'm putting too much pressure on my peers to get my procrastinating self in gear.

I never thought of doing more than one work in progress at a time but reading all of these blogs makes me see all of the beautiful fabrics out there and the endless possibilities.

Salutations!

I have been quilting for about two years but have sadly only made four quilts.  I know this turtle like pace mostly is aggravated by my knack for procrastination and general laziness.  I am slowly but surely hoping to speed up the process with a blog, something to keep me more organized and help me to develop a better awareness of my own pace.  Instead of reading about other people diving into creations that they love I am hoping to become one of those people.  Overall more productive and creative, no longer being bound by over thinking fabric and pattern choices.

I have been extremely blessed in my life.  I have a wonderful family.  My husband of two years and an almost nine month old little boy.  My husband has vastly encouraged me to embrace my love of quilts by taking a sampler class at the local quilt shop.  Ever since that first shop hop I have been completely hooked.  He's definitely a good one, letting me splurge on fabric and such.

My son is best described in one word as "ruckus."   We love him dearly but vaguely remember the days when all of our belongings were not in some way broken, dented, or otherwise out of commission.  You have to love the mobile baby days when they pretend like they have no fathoming of the word "no" only to shake their head at you as if that was the initial command.  Gotta love that boy!
                                                                          Six Months

Eight Months

That is about it for me.  I have recently started the "Swoon Block" by Camille Roskelley at Thimble Blossoms (Swoon Quilt)

Image from http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/ (I bought the pdf format so didn't have the pretty cover)

I saw it finished on another blog Fussy Cut: Swoon.  I just kept looking at Angela's pictures and other swoon quilts on flickr (which I had previously never paid much attention to, but now am obsessed with) and it practically sunk into my subconscious and became yet another work in progress.  Luckily I had bought some fat quarters from a shop hop that I previously had no idea what to do with, but now are being put to dutiful use (must have been divine intervention)! One block down and eight more to go!  Progress progress progress!

I love how this quilt is coming together!  The only minor problem is there are a ton of intersecting seams coming together, making for serious bulk.  I know that you can cut down or open seams to remove bulk but I'm nervous to do either one....?  Any suggestions?
Well I guess that's it


Thanks,
T