On a Whim

I busted into some Honey Honey by Kate Spain last week. I've been looking forward to this line for so long!!

I chopped some up and whipped up a block from the Thimble Blossom pattern On a Whim. I'm super stoked about this quilt :-) Its going to be a while in the making though, I'm trying to be good and finish my other projects before I dive in all the way!

MAQS - Part I

Here is my Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show recap. I took pictures of a bunch of quilts, but there were soooo many more that I didn't take pictures of. This show is mostly traditional and art quilts, there was surprisingly not much of a modern presence.

This was one of my favorites, and one I might have to try to recreate :-) I've never done a wholecloth, and I love the idea of infusing some color into one.

The quilting on this one was amazeballs. Really, the quilting on these pieces really impressed me this year. Made me feel nice and inferior ;-)

I love the use of color thread as a design element in it. This is a detail of the quilt above.

And the back - amazing! I love how the different thread colors create almost a whole different quilt on the back.

This is another of my favorites. I like the idea of taking a traditional quilt and making it modern with something as simple as asymmetry.

More beautiful traditional quilts.

Amazing quilting! One day I'm not going to suck so much...

There were a good number of art pieces and non-traditional piecing methods showcased.

This one won Best in Show! This mother was h.u.g.e...

...with teeeeeeny tiiiiny quilting allll over it. Thumb for scale. It's all I had on me :-p

I think this one won in the Best Use of Color category.

So pretty. I'd love something like this hanging in my house :-)

More wholecloth -

 More tiny quilting! It was a theme, I swear!

This one was way fun, and unexpected!

I might need to try one of these too -

There were a bunch of quilts depicting desert scenes. Like a lot. There wasn't a challenge or theme category, though, I think it was just a coincidence. They were all beautiful though!

 Detail of the above quilt - more tiny quilting!

I have a bunch more photos, so I'm doing another post with those. Stay tuned!

Stashtastic Sunday - MAQS loot!

I spent Friday at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, Va. It's an annual tradition for me, so I was definitely looking forward to it.

It's also something where I look forward to spending some cash money.

I got a magazine and a pattern, and a purple thing and some hexie papers. I also got a pair of machingers. I tried them out when I took my one and only quilting class, but I preferred being able to feel the fabric a little better. But after the gardening gloves incident, I decided that they were worth another shot.

I also got a straight stitch plate for Bridget, as well as some bobbins (and a holder). Bobbins for this beast have been IMPOSSIBLE to find! My shop in Richmond hasn't been able to get any in in months! Bridget's a new model, so accessories in general have been hard to come by, but I've been working with five bobbins total since November. The Bernina dealer at the show said that they only had 12 to bring with them, and they sold out within 30 minutes of the first day of the show. I took a shot and tried the Bernina dealer in Newport News and got lucky!

I also got some fun blenders - some more Simply Color as well as some ovals and a yard of some really fun sherbet-y orange.

I also finally found some Les Amis! I first saw this line a while ago, and thought idly was so cute and sweet, but I've never seen it in stores. So when I saw it I had to forgo the fat quarter bundle and get some half yards ;-) I also got a fq of the large scale focal print too.

I'll have a post of the quilts in the show tomorrow, hopefully! It was amazing, so many beautiful pieces!

#notgoingtoquiltcon

So I'm not with all the cool kids in Austin at Quiltcon, but luckily I have my annual quilt show this weekend, so I'm definitely getting my fix. My mom and I have gone to this quilt show together for the last 6 years or so, so this year is difficult going without her. Understatement.

But anyway, recap and pictures to follow!

Quilting a monster

I started quilting my xplusalong the other day. It's definitely the biggest quilt I've ever machine quilted. I've done other big ones either by hand quilting or tying.

I'm doing a pretty simple straight line grid with the walking foot on this one, because I figured that would be the easiest based on its size. I'm using a really pretty pale pink Aurifil 50wt.

Yeah. Manhandling that beast through my machine was a lot harder than I expected! And I have a large harp machine!

Part of my problem is that my set up isn't ideal. My table is relatively small, and I don't have a drop-in table. The quilt kept catching on the edges of my extension table. I improvised with some tv tables to catch the edges of the quilt, and at one point I was using (clean!) rubbery gardening gloves to get a better grip. The process was getting smoother the more lines I did, but it's still going to take a lot of trial and error.

Feathers! ...or ferns?

I did some more fmq on my grandfather's quilt over the weekend. I tried feathers for the first time ever, as well as a double loopy meandering thing. The feathers went a lot better than I expected, though they came out looking more like ferns than feathers. They were really quick too! The double loopy meandering stuff didn't impress me as much - I need to work on making it more uniform. But a success in the end I suppose!

Sorry for the photo-laden post, but its kinda nice to see how the different patterns work together :-)

Skill Builder BOM - February

I did my February Skill Builder blocks this past week. I'm really having fun with this, but the block in this first picture really kicked my butt. It came out a 1/2 inch too small; I think I rotated one of the sections the wrong way while piecing it. The top left triangle section is a very square rectangle, and I think I just sewed it to the white triangle on the wrong side.

I really like this block. It's simple, it showcases prints well, and there are a gazillion things you can do with it!

My pull and scraps for this project. :-) so pretty!

January and February blocks together. I've sashed and basted the January blocks, I'm hoping to quilt them this coming week.

Sisters Ten BOM - February

I realized that I posted these Sisters Ten February blocks on Instagram and Flickr, but neglected to do a post. I did these a few days ago. After the January blocks, I was worried that the gray was too dark, but I'm really loving it now. It mellows out the neon tendencies of the orange and pink color scheme. I'm digging it. I'm also digging fussy cutting (obvs!).

House Tour - One year in.

It occurred to me that I haven't done a house tour since I closed on the house over a year ago. I still have a long way to go, I haven't even hung anything on the walls. But it's starting to feel like home (belatedly, see this post).

Here is the living room. The plants are mostly dead, I brought them in from the sunroom a little late in the season. The arrangement on the mantel hasn't changed much since I moved in.

Here is the view across from the sofa. I got that chair from Goodwill for $20! I still need to make a cushion for it...

This is the dining room. I've re-upholstered one of the four chairs. At least it's a start! The china cabinet was a consignment store find, for less than $100. I luuuurve it.

The kitchen. Absolutely nothing has changed.

Upstairs - my bedroom you've seen since I painted it. I love this color. I'm considering reprising it in the living room.

The studio! Also a space I've shared before. Also where I spend a good chunk of my time. You can tell from the earlier post how much more settled in I've gotten.

The guest room/office. It's still a catch-all for the crap I don't want to deal with.

Aaaaand the basement. Rarely used, lots of potential. Maybe the home of a long arm one day?? Haha I wish!