Fun Stuff

I have been working on some stuff for myself this week. First off is a table runner/bed runner/ awkwardly long and skinny mini-quilt. I based the pattern off of a kit for a teeny tiny mug rug they had at my local quilt store. I used all the same fabrics, but made the blocks bigger and used more of them. I can't believe how well I got the points to match up!

I have no idea how I am going to quilt this, or what I am even going to back it with, so this is the state it is in. This is also the state it will remain in until I figure out where it is going.

I also made myself a pillowcase out of some Les Amis fabric I bought at QuiltCon. I just love this dang fabric!

The pattern I used has a band that looks like a stripe, but it really is a band. Here is a photo showing it flipped up to prove it is a band, not a stripe. Emphasis on the band, not a stripe thing.

I also finished the front of the Science Fair quilt in Honey, Honey. For the background fabric, I used some tone on tone white. There are just so many seams to mess up in this pattern! Somehow the quilt and I both survived!

The Camp Snoopy sample quilt came back from the quilters, and I finished the binding today.

Here is a close-up of the quilting, done by Kenneth Butler.

Two Point Seven Five[ish] Quilts!

Since I have last really blogged (way back in May), I have finished two complete quilts and two fronts. This is technically 3 quilts, but I thought the title was more fun this way. Here goes!

First off we have a sample I made up for The Quilt Cottage. Making samples is rad. They give you all the fabric and tools, you assemble the front, they long-arm quilt it (which I can never afford!), you bind it, it sits in the store for a few months, and then you keep it! Here it is! 

From another angle with the backing showing. Also the pattern is the Big Blocks pattern.

And this final one shows the quilting which was done by Kenneth Butler.

The second quilt is a "Yay! Y'all bought a house!"quilt for my boyfriend's best friend and his wife. It started ages ago with the original intent of being for me. It is a twister quilt, so you start with something like this:

Then cut it up and sew it back together again to make this:

Turns out it was way too big so I trimmed it down when I decided to give it to them. Here is the final one!

Here is the binding and backing combo for the twister quilt.

As for the front I finished, it is a Super Swoon! I am writing a tutorial to make one giant Swoon block that fills a whole quilt. This is the fabric I picked. 

Here they all are together, looking awesome. Cthulhu! Woot!

And here is the overall picture of the front, with my shadow for scale. I am absolutely keeping this one for myself. It is off getting professionally quilted. I like it so much to pay for the quilting. If you know me [and how cheap I am], you know how amazing that is.

I also have some bee blocks to show off. Both of the bees I am in had us using Oh Deer! Here are the two blocks I made. The first is for Color Bee Shocked, the second for Quilting newBEES.

I have lots of samples in my future. Some of them I am excited about, others not so much. But I will find homes for it all, and it is wonderful practice, even if I don't love the fabric! 

Here is one I am super excited about! I picked up all the fabric along with the pattern and tool to make the Science Fair quilt in Honey, Honey! I absolutely love this fabric line! There is also some white on white fabric, but it wouldn't photograph well.

I am also making a whole bunch of sample Snoopy stuff. First there is a pillowcase.

There is also a quasi-coordinating quilt. I apologize for the horrible picture, but it was taken on my bed at night, and the lighting is horrible! You can find the pattern for this over here. This one will be dropped off for quilting tomorrow. 

Now for a bit of Christmas in June. Here is this elongated churn dash block in horribly traditional X-Mas fabric. 

Luckily I am also researching patterns for a much better line of X-Mas fabric, Aspen Frost. I just have to find something the owner of the quilt shop and I agree on. Shouldn't be too difficult! 

Okay, so I have had a lot going on and will continue to stay that way. This is a great feeling because I have been feeling neglectful of my sewing. 

Vive Caribe!

I have been taking an unscheduled hiatus from blogging, and I'm not sure why. Thanks to summer, I am no longer working 50-60 hours a week, so I can't blame work. I have been doing a lot of sewing (I started making samples for a LQS), so that could be it. Unfortunately I have completely forgotten to take pictures of what I have been making. Oh well.

This evening, my boyfriend and I (along with 20ish other people from job number two) are hopping on a plane and heading to Bonaire, in the Dutch Antilles, off the coast of Venezuela. Here is a handy, dandy map for reference:

Bonaire is my favorite place in the world for scuba diving! They have been super proactive with their reef conservation, and it shows. So much coral! So many fish! So much beauty! I have my GoPro packed, so hopefully I will be bringing back some spectacular photos and/or videos for y'all to see. :)

I have to be at the airport in 5 hours and I have no idea what sewing project to take with me! I didn't plan ahead! Ahhhh!!

As a preview, here are a few of my favorite pictures I took in Bonaire last year.

I saw this octopus on my first dive in Bonaire. It was incredible! This is my favorite picture I have EVER taken.

Here is a picture of a parrotfish. I love them because they always look like they are laughing, and I spent the whole week trying to capture a picture of it. This one was taken on the last day of diving, last summer.

Bonaire had a big feral donkey problem, and they are now in the process of rounding up as many as they can and keeping them at the Donkey Sanctuary. This is a little baby that was born at the sanctuary.

Hopefully I will come back with even better pictures this year! For now, I'm off to stare at my suitcase.