Cutting Update

Cute fish quilt

Hey all.  I thought you might be wondering... did I succeed in my crazy quest to cut 5 quilts?  No.  However, I did get 2 quilts cut and the fabric picked out for the other three.  I was distracted by a good book and (of all things!) work.  It was somewhat busy so I didn't have time to do it all.  LOL.  But, it was a good day. 

Now I'm ready to make the blue and white Celestial fabric quilt and a cute fish quilt for my girls.  It's a jelly roll quilt.  I'll keep you updated!

WIP: Scrappy Quilt Kits

Today I've decided to spend a few hours cutting fabric to make my own stash scrappy-quilts-kits.  I hope to have 5 quilts worth of fabric cut by the end of work today. That does sound ambitious, doesn't it?  Hmmmm.... 

I do have some strips cut to start one out. It's going to be a blue and white celestial theme quilt.  The others I haven't really decided on yet.  I have two fabulous quilt books that use jelly rolls, so that's easy to cut.  I also have some fun quilt quilt patterns that I've been thinking of making lately.  Here's an example of some of them.

Since I haven't actually sewn anything, I'll show you pictures of quilts that I have made in the past and I'm going to cut fabric to make similar quilts this winter.  With the cutting done, I should be able to get out a kit and make a quilt pretty quickly.  Cutting can be tedious, but it can also be fun as I imagine how all the fabric will work together.  I love color!  It's my favorite thing about quilting... matching the colors up for a stunning quilt.  :)

 I am going to share my quilting stash with you.  WARNING: don't panic.  It is kinda messy.  I've tried having it neatly organized into color ranges and such, but that doesn't fit my style.  I love to root through a pile of fabric like a dog joyfully digging a hole.  So, now I keep each color  or theme fabrics (like Celestial fabrics or outdoor fabric) in it's own bin so that I can freely paw through it.  It feels like Christmas to me... searching for just the right fabric can be messy and fun!

theme bins: sailing, fall, fruits, fall, flowers, blues, finished blocks, coffee, etc

Precut strips: 1.5" in bag, 2.5" out of bag

color bins: red/orange, black/brown, blues, yellows/whites

WIP: Athena's Puzzle

This week I've hardly been sewing because it's been beautiful outside!  Hurrah!  I love the sunshine in August.  Yesterday it was 82 degrees here.  Delightful!

So, I haven't been thinking much about quilting.  I dug out an old project to work on today while I'm at work.  (Yes, I get to sew at work!)  It's an Athena's Puzzle quilt.  I have 6 blocks done, 3 blocks started and many more to do.  It's in lovely fall batiks.  So, I didn't feel like working on it until it was nearly fall.  :)  You know how that goes, right?

Here's the picture of what I've got so far.  I hope to get several more blocks done today.  Wish me luck!

FAF: Doug of SDI Woodworking

I have had the privilege of trading and buying kid's spinning tops from Doug, the owner and creator of SDI Woodworking on Etsy.  He does a magnificent job with the wood!  I loved his work so much, I just had to share with you all.


I have a neighbor that has a 4 year old boy.  He seems to have a ton of toys already, so it was difficult to know what to get him for his upcoming birthday present.  I leisurely scanned through the wood section of Etsy looking for gifts.  When I saw the picture above my search was arrested;  I marveled at the beautiful range of wood.  It is so perfect with the natural glow of the wood grain shining through!




We arranged a trade for an equally priced handbag from my Sew in the Snow shop on Etsy.  I eagerly awaited the gift in the mail.  It was so smooth and perfectly balanced!  It also came with two little tops as well.  I love these tops.  My kids were with me when I opened it, so we had to test them out.  We spent over an hour playing with all three tops.  It was so much fun.  Even my 3 year old could spin the little one!  We got a big one (about 5") that has a pull-string on it.  It is difficult to manage for the kids, but I think they'll learn how to balance it soon.



We decided that we had to keep the tops we ordered.... so I ordered another set for the birthday party.  That arrived today!  How exciting!  I thought I was getting 3 little tops, but he gave us 5!  What a delightful surprise!

Doug is a very talented craftsman. I highly recommend his shop to anyone looking for well-made wood products.  You won't be sorry...  I sure wasn't!

No WIP Visiting with Dad

Hi all!  I have had the rare pleasure of my Dad visiting us in Alaska this last week.  So I haven't had much time to sew this week.  Instead we've playing outside, riding bikes, and cooking up a storm.

We've had great homemade food from salmon chowder and fresh Sourdough to double-decker tacos, to grilled steak with corn on the cob and ratulie.  Splendid food!

Tonight he leaves on th "red-eye" back to Denver,  it's been a good visit though.

Hope your week has also been good.

WIP: Binding Day

I looked at my closet to dig out more fabric to start a baby quilt, and I realized that I had 3 quilts waiting for bindings.  So, after a loving pat to my cute fabrics, I decided to do the deed and bind my quilts!

The first one is a dinosaur toddler quilt for a boy.  It is a simple quilt made for charity, but I like how it turned out.  The big panel even has  the dinosaurs names on it!

The second one is a jelly roll quilt I made to sell.  I didn't like how bland the colors were, so I added extra dark oranges and some dark browns from my stash.  It isn't my usual color range, but I really like the pattern!  I'm thinking of doing it again in purple and greens.  I have a jelly roll from Christmas that I've been saving.... It could be perfect for this!

The final one is also a jelly roll quilt. It's my favorite!  I love purple and green together.  The fabrics are from a Christmas exchange of half a jelly roll (20 strips).   I added in some of my own fabrics too.  It's now on my bed.

Both of the jellyroll quilts are patterns from a book titled: Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  I really like the selection of quilts that they have designed in there.  I highly recommend it!

I'll try and get pictures of the completed quilts later this week.  Have a great day!