Herringbone Times Six

Another month, another round of swapping.  
I chose the make the herringbone block for this round.  
With such a wide range of color pallets chosen by the swappers, I'm always worried about my interpretations, and hope they all like what I made.  *fingers crossed*

 

My goal was to get all my blocks made and sent before Thanksgiving week.

 I'm happy to report that I mailed all my blocks out this morning. Yay!!

Now I can enjoy the holiday break without the stress of a deadline hanging over my head.

 So, an informal poll:  Are you cooking Thanksgiving dinner at your house this year or are you going to someone else's house?  We (my husband does a lot!) are cooking dinner for our little family and my sister's family.  There will only be 11 of us, so it's not a huge crowd.  Besides, we just had my parents here, so we're good with low key.

Le Creme

This post is part of an ongoing series of posts where I document my fabric stash purchases.

This year I am trying to keep track of my fabric intake in order to see how much I consume.  I'm not going to keep track of how much I spend, though, because then I might cry. 

I have always loved Swiss dots.

Something about their understated simpleness speaks to my soul. 

 So low volume creamy Swiss dots make my heart sing.

Le Creme Swiss Dots by Riley Blake

Scrappy Bow Tie {Finish}

My parents left for home this past Monday after visiting with us since Halloween!  It was so fun to have them here, but my house hasn't quite recovered from all the mayhem.  We had a steady flow of family dinners, cousin time, and hanging out with each other while they visited. The kids kind of got used to having them around and were pretty sad when they weren't here to greet them after school.  We sure wished they lived closer! (hint-hint Mom!)

In the midst of all our family bonding I was able to finish my scrappy bow tie quilt.  I am pretty sure  it has been a WIP for close to 2 years.  Most of the blocks were from a swap I participated in way back when. 

 

 At some point in time I convinced myself that hand quilting this thing would be a good idea.  I'm happy to say I did it, but it was a slow process, of which I still need LOTS of practice. (The galloping horse method would come in handy here.)  I also did some simple machine quilting thru the each block to ensure it would get finished in my lifetime.  I actually really like the mix of the two methods.

A scrappy quilt deserves a scrappy back don't ya think?  Luckily I had some bigger pieces in my stash that worked.   (Did you know I have a thing for quilt backs?)

After finishing the quilt my mom said she might like to have it, and was even willing to pay me for it, but taking money from your own mother seemed a bit weird, so instead I just gave it to her!  My dad, who is always cold, was happy to have a blanket long enough to cover his toes.

With that I'll leave you with my favorite picture from their visit!  

Each day as my Dad would read the paper, my younger son would get the comics section and 

read beside him.  It really was adorable!

Quilt Finishes around 60" by 72".

Linking to Really Random Thursday and Finish It Up Friday
More on this quilt here

Anastasia

This post is part of an ongoing series of posts where I document my fabric stash purchases.

This year I am trying to keep track of my fabric intake in order to see how much I consume.  I'm not going to keep track of how much I spend, though, because then I might cry. 

Anastasia from Girls World Vibe by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit

Colors: Brown, Sky, Grass, Honey, Tangerine, and Magenta

Broken Herringbone :: Pinterest Block 9

 This post is part of an ongoing series.  Follow along as I make blocks using designs from my pinterest board with hopes of a beautiful sampler quilt at the end.

I'm definitely not winning any races with my block making pace on this project, but I'm holding on. 
 My latest block is called Broken Herringbone.

 
It's an easy block with some fancy cutting that uses 2.5 inch strips.

Pinterest Sampler Blocks 1-9, a photo by simple girl, simple life on Flickr.

With this latest block I'm up to nine blocks. 

 I'm thinking I'll need to make a total of 30 blocks to end up with a nice sized quilt, so I'm on my way.

Original Pin

Block  Directions

Wee Wander Quilt

Happy Monday!
Today I'm super excited to show you my latest quilty finish.
Last month I was able to work with the lovely Sarah Wright of Sarah Jane Studios as she prepared for quilt market.  I made a quilt for her booth out of her new Wee Wander line that will be hitting stores in January.  If you are a fan of Sarah's work, like I am, you will definitely love her new line!   

Here is a look at her full market booth. 
So cute, huh?

Photo by Emily Herrick

 

As for the quilt, this was my first time working on a market project and my first time dealing with the crazy slim market sew time lines, but it was a lot of fun!  I had cleared my schedule in anticipation of the fast turn around time so I could devote my days to getting the quilt done.  I thought I'd have 10 days to sew, but I ended up only having 5!!  It was crazy, but like I said, I really did have fun!

Sarah and I decided on a simple design that would show off her fabrics beautifully.  Sometimes the simplest of designs is the prettiest, don't you think?

 A bunch of Sarah's fabrics incorporate fireflies into the design so my quilter was awesome and quilted fireflies all over the quilt.  They look so dang cute, don't you think? 

I was literally snapping photos right before handing over the quilt (which is why they are not the greatest...) so you can head over to Sarah's blog to see lots more.  She posted close up/detail pics of her fabrics, as well.
You're gonna love them!

And finally...One last booth photo for good measure!

Photo by Amanda Woodruff

It was fun to work with Sarah and fun to have a project at market!

Linking up to Fabric Tuesday and Show and Tell Tuesday

Black and White + Low Volume

This post is part of an ongoing series of posts where I document my fabric stash purchases.

This year I am trying to keep track of my fabric intake in order to see how much I consume.  I'm not going to keep track of how much I spend, though, because then I might cry. 

I think with this black and white bundle my "dark" stash is finally nice and full. 

There are so many great prints in this bundle that I'm not sure I can pick a favorite.  I mean, how can you go wrong with text prints and beautiful geometric basics?! 

Before the Dawn Bundle from Westwood Acres

Fabric Details:

Remix Triangles in Black by Anne Kelle for Robert Kaufman

Memoir Writing in Charcoal from Madrona Road by Violet Craft for Michael Miller 

On A String in Charcoal from Valentina Collection by Valentina Ramos for Robert Kaufman

Zig Zag in Black from the Tuxedo Collection by Dear Stella

Dash Dots in Midnight from Monster Mash by Sweetwater for Moda

Hashtag in Black from the Tuxedo Collection by Dear Stella

Keep Calm and Sew On in Black and White from Timeless Treasures

Black/Cream polka dot from Moda (not sure of it's exact name)

Remix Tile Print from Robert Kaufman (not sure of it's exact name)

French words on Black from Mon Amie Collection by Brejer for Robert Kaufamn

BTW, Amanda has listed her Fall Inside Voices bundle. 

I just got mine, but I have it on good authority that they are going fast. 

Fabric Details:
Do It Yourself Scissors on White by Dear Stella
Winter's Lane Tile by Kate and Birdie Paper Co. for Moda
Do It Yourself Pins in White by Dear Stella
Knick Knack in Aqua from Baby Jane by Eric and Julie Comstock for Moda
Stella Dot in Grey from Dear Stella 
Ikat Diamonds in Mustard from Simply Color by V and Co. for Moda
Tuxedo Dot on White from Tuxedo Collection by Dear Stella
Hop in Red from Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille for Moda
Hedgehogs in Stone from Bluebird Park by Kate and Birdie Paper Co. for Moda 
Eau de Cologne Labels from the Live Life Collection by Yuwa of Japan
Berries in Rose from Nest by Valorie Wells for FreeSpirit

Linking up to Sunday Stash

Maxi Skirt

My daughter is almost 12, which means she is starting to dress and act more like a teenager.  She, of course, is so excited to be growing up, while I'm not too sure I'm ready for 2 teenagers in the house. :)

Recently I've been feeling a bit neglectful in my mom duties as I haven't helped her sew anything in a long time.  I really want my daughters to grow up knowing how to sew and love it as much as I do.  That can only happen if we sew together often, right?  I guess that means I need to be better about finding more projects we can do together.

So with all that in mind, her and I set out to make a maxi skirt.

Sewing it Herself, a photo by simple girl, simple life on Flickr.

Knowing she has a short attention span we picked an easy pattern.  This one from Simplicity was perfect.  It consists of exactly 3 pieces:  a front, a back, and a waistband.  Perfect!

Simplicity 1616, a photo by simple girl, simple life on Flickr.

We made Version A.

 She sewed up all the sides and I serged the raw edges and finished the hem.  She did a great job!  
We were able to start/finish the skirt in one afternoon.

A Finished Maxi Skirt, a photo by simple girl, simple life on Flickr.

Here she is modeling her finished skirt right before church.  Of course I'm totally biased, but I think she looks fantastic. :)
She's growing up way to fast if you ask me!

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday

***We made the skirt exactly as the pattern.  For my daughter, who is about 5' 6", the finished skirt hits right about her ankles (skims the top of her foot).  I am a bit taller than her so I would've lengthened it a few inches so that it would almost drag on the floor.

Sew Pieceful Blocks {October}

So sorry for the lack of real posts around here.  I've been having major computer issues, but I'm finally back up and running. Yay!! I've been super busy on the sewing front so I've got a lot of posts ready to go for the next few weeks.  

 

First up for show and tell are my Sew Pieceful blocks for October.  I put off making my blocks, which is never a good thing, until the end of the month so I used a block I had previously made for my Pinterest Sampler.  It saved me a bit of time remaking a familiar block since I didn't have to think as hard during the making. That's always a good thing! :)

 

Sew Pieceful Blocks October Hive 2, a photo by simple girl, simple life on Flickr.

Once again everyone chose such beautiful color combinations.

For November I'm trying to be a little bit more on the ball and get my blocks done earlier in the month.  I've already picked out a block design and pulled fabric for each person so I'm already way ahead of the game, huh?

Have a Great Thursday!

Want to join the Sew Pieceful Block Swap?  Find all the information about it here. 

Cameras

This post is part of an ongoing series of posts where I document my fabric stash purchases.

This year I am trying to keep track of my fabric intake in order to see how much I consume.  I'm not going to keep track of how much I spend, though, because then I might cry. 

Who doesn't love cameras?! 

Surprise, Surprise... I bought them in every color.

Kodachrome (Cameras) from 2wenty thr3e by Eric and Julie Comstock of Cosmo Cricket for Moda

Colors: Mustard, Parchment, Pavement, Clementine, and Petal