Mini quilt challenge

Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts is hosting a mini quilt challenge and I've got to join in on the fun.  The prizes are fantastic and I've really never done a "mini quilt".  I've done a couple of mug rugs but I want to do something a little different.  I'm excited!!

I'm not sure what fabrics I'm going to use, but I'm leaning toward blues and greens as the main color.  Stay tuned....

Stashbuilding

Last week was a GREAT mail day!  The mailman brought me some yummy fabric goodness.  I haven't really bought fabric since before the holidays, so I was way overdue. :-)

 Fly A Kite by October Afternoon for Riley Blake Designs 

Aren't those flowers just the cutest?  The colors are very pretty and subtle too.

Pezzy Print by American Jane for Moda Fabrics

I have been waiting for Pezzy Print to be released since I first saw some "old" pez fabric on Flickr last year.  Being a new quilter I of course missed out on the first release of the pez fabric ( I don't know when it was but I know I missed it) so I wasn't going to miss it this time around.  I got the fat quarter bundle but I'm going to have to get some yardage of some of the colors.  I don't have a great variety of blues in my stash (mostly aqua) and this line has a great baby blue, navy blue and a pretty teal color.

I found both of these lines here:   The Fat Quarter Shop and Fabricworm

Is it really 2012?

Happy New Year!  I can't believe I haven't posted anything here in over a month.  Wow!  I haven't sewed a stitch since that improv log cabin and I'm itching to get back in the swing of things.  I hope to quilt more in 2012.  I've already got a couple of ideas for quilts  swimming around in my head and it's just the first week in January.

One of my goals for 2012 is to use more fabrics out of my stash and limit the number of precut fabrics that I purchase.  I've had a small love affair with precuts and it's time to end it!  I bought myself an Accuquilt Go Baby fabric cutter and I love it.  I picked up the 5 inch square die, 2.5 inch strip die and a HST die.  Now I can make my own charm squares and not buy them.  Yay for me!

Some of my goals for 2012:
1. finish citrus quilt
2. I Spy quilt for B
3. quilt for my sister
4. patchwork quilt for my brother
5. HST mini quilt for my sewing corner
6. baby quilt
7. a totally improvised quilt

This picture has nothing to do with quilting.  I know.  I just thought I'd share a pic of my two sweet boys.  And besides you can't have a post without a picture.  That would be boring.

Log cabin love

While my oldest was at school and my baby (who is almost 3 by the way ;-) was napping I had the urge to make something quick.  I needed to feel productive and my sewing machine looked so lonely.  So I pulled out my scrap box and figured I could make a log cabin block with what little time and fabric scraps I had.   My scrap stash is very, very small.  Most of the scraps are from my citrus quilt and J's I-Spy quilt (mostly novelty prints from wally world and Hobby Lobby).    So I just pulled out some longish pieces and evened out the edges.  When I was piecing I didn't pay any attention to color placement or pattern.  It was very improvisational, relaxing and fun!  I see more improv piecing in my future for sure.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We hosted about 15 people and had a great time.  Surprisingly I didn't overeat.  I'm hoping to get a little sewing done this weekend.  I definitely won't be doing any shopping at. all.  Have a good Friday!

My First Mini Quilt

Since I am a newbie quilter there are going to be a lot of firsts around here... :-)   I'm going to apologize in advance for the terrible pictures in this post.  They were taken at around midnight in my dark cavelike dining room STRICTLY to document my sewing projects.  Never, never, never in a million years did I think I would have a blog and that these pics would show up here.  I mean really, never.  But anyway...

Front

I made this mug rug truly as an experiment.  I follow a lot of sewing blogs and last year a couple of them had mug rug swaps.  I loved looking at what everyone was making and I just had to get in on the fun.  I didn't make this to swap though, just to make something quick and cute.  The front fabric is from a jelly roll from Hobby Lobby and one small strip of Kona Sand.  The back fabric is from It's a Hoot by MoMo.  I finished the binding by machine and was pleased with the result.  Not perfect by any means, but I'm okay with that.

Back

It measures about 6 inches high and 13 inches wide.  Its big enough to hold my favorite big Starbucks coffee cup and an english muffin (my usual breakfast).  I really need to make another one of these because it took no time at all to make and it was fun!  My stash of fabrics has grown a lot since last year and it would be fun to use a bit of it on another mini quilt. Some of the things on my To Do List  for 2012 (yes, I'm already thinking about next year) are to make something using half square triangles (since I'm a little intimidated by them), a wonky star block, a "proper" log cabin block and an improv quilt. I think another mini quilt using these techniques is in order, don't you?

I'm linking up my post to Amy's Show & Tell Friday Mini Quilt Party! There are some great links there, so check them out.

Work In Progress Wednesday: Citrus Quilt

 I have always wanted to make a quilt with citrus colored fabrics.  I've seen many on Flickr and various blogs and always thought the citrus color palette was refreshing and clean.  Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts and Sarah of Fairy Face Designs started this Quilt Along a few months back and I decided to jump right in.  It was my first quilt along and I tried to stick with the timeline but I only sew when I can find time so I fell behind.  I'm ok with that though because I don't enjoy rushing when I sew.  I get stress knots in my shoulders.  Stress knots are not good. at. all.   Sewing is supposed to be relaxing right?

I really could find more time to sew if I stayed off of Pinterest, Facebook, Flickr and stopped playing Bejeweled Blitz.  Oh and I'm re-reading The Outlander Series of books by Diana Gabaldon.   I am totally hooked on the series.  ;-)

My citrus fabric bundle

My first block

Front of quilt

I still have to do the scrappy border and piece the back which shouldn't take too long.  I also think I'm going to try and add some yardage to the white border to make it bigger.  There are some great looking quilts in the Flickr group.  You can check them out here.

I have a few projects in the works.  I probably won't get much sewing done this weekend because we have relatives coming in from out of town and tailgating on Saturday.

Still in progress:
--Citrus Quilt
--I Spy charm quilt for B-still cutting charm pieces (really, really need to buy an Accuquilt  Go Baby to help with cutting)
--Baby gift quilt

I'm linking up at at Freshly Pieced for Lee's WIP Wednesday Anniversary Edition.   Go and check out the fabulous things everyone is working on.  I hope your day is great!

C is for Cookie

In the middle of playing nurse maid to my sick husband (not really, he only let me make him some hot tea), doing the laundry and breaking up arguments over whose turn it was to play the Wii I had a hankerin' for some chocolate chip cookies.  I remembered I had a new recipe on one of my Pinterest boards.  (gotta love Pinterest) So....I put the laundry on hold, cut the Wii off and enlisted my two little sous chefs in some baking.

They turned out soooo yummy!!  The recipe is here.  Now go make some.  :-)