Sunshine and Moonbeam

My BEST FRIEND in the WHOLE WORLD had a birthday in July, so naturally I put a little something together for her two weeks late. Now that she's received her giftie, I can share it with you, too.

When we were kids, my friend's dad nick-named our inseparable duo "Sunshine and Moonbeam." She was super outgoing, with a shiny mane of blonde hair; I was bookish, in dark braids. This wonderful woman has certainly brought a lot of light, fun, and love into my life. I picked out one of my improv blocks to make into a wall-hanging for her. I hope she likes it!

Ever since trying it out on the receiving blankets, I'm all over these rounded corners. I just use a dinner plate to cut around. The puzzle here was number of spokes quilted out of the little O. I was going for texture, but didn't want to over-do. I like the final result. This quilt finished at about 26x30". I added a hanging sleeve in the back in case she wants to put it up on a wall.

And another finish this week! All this progress is so unlike me!

I made this improv block a while ago, but recently quilted it to hang in the nursery.

In trying to step out of my comfort zone, I did some non-linear free-motion quilting. I drew the clouds on first with a water-soluble fabric pen (love those) and did my best to stay on track with the needle. I committed to not ripping out any stitches - "que sew-ra, sera," and all that. I also branched out by using colored thread.

Whenever improv quilting, the hardest part is knowing when it's done. For example, I love the texture of The Silly Boodilly's quilts. Nearly every inch of the fabric is covered in stitches. They appear layered; there is a depth and weight to them (they beg to be touched), yet I never feel that the piecing is "covered." What makes her quilting and piecing are so harmonious?

I didn't use a paper piecing method for either of these wall-hangings. Instead, I practiced my favorite method of sewing first and cutting later. I find cutting out paper, having to rip it off later, and even working with an outcome in mind are unnecessary for me and make the process less enjoyable. Of course, the downside is doing more math as I go.

Progress on Projects for the Babies:
1. Wall-hanging Finished! I'm so glad to hang this up in my little guys' room.
2. Ball - I finally started sewing some of the pieces together! Yay!

Not Started:
3. Books

New Schemes:
4. Gobbi Mobile
5. Montessori fabric balls (2)


The babies will be here in 3-7 weeks. Approximately. Yikes!! Baby B (the one on top) is perfecting his gymnastics skills by flipping every which way. While Baby A remains head down, B has turned breech - which means he has now been caught in every possible configuration. Transverse, oblique, vertex, breech...this guy can't make up his mind.

My latest panic (besides the stretch marks...oh, the many stretch marks...) is that I only made one play mat for the babies to share, and now it's not working in the space we had planned for it. I know we don't need two of EVERYTHING, but...only one quilt? I might need to whip up another tout suite - but how different should they be? Do I have time for all this??

Thanks for visiting, quilt friends! See more progress at Lee's:

WIP Wednesday

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for a Works-in-Progress Wednesday post!

In Progress:

Spring
What started as a sampler to use up scraps quickly morphed into a an all-out study in green and yellow. I've now got 13-18 blocks, depending on how they're grouped, and I'm trying to figure out a way to put them into one cohesive unit. More on that here. (Warning: this post is a bit melodramatic. The soap opera that is my quilting life...)

Well, I'm happy to say I've made some major progress. First, I ditched the white background. It was a sheet I found at Goodwill. It's possibly the softest, weighty-est, coolest-to-the-touch sheet in the world...but it's a bitch to cut and sew, let me tell you. Lesson learned: stick to 100% cotton for piecing and save the crazy-cool finds for backing.

Lucky I just happened to have a bit of Kona Coal lying around...

Yes!! Much more like the rainy spring day I had envisioned when I was inspired to start the project. Which called for a new title: 'Lemons and Limes' becomes 'Spring.' (Whew, that's out of the way. I find titling quilts awkward. But I can't keep calling it 'that yellow and green one.')

I've been adding borders to my improv blocks to make them all 18" square. I can't decide if I'll add sashing as well, or if a few gray borders will be enough.

Brother Quilt
Obviously, this is for my brother (to commemorate high school graduation). As for titles, my husband suggested...wait for it.... 'Quilt-ageddan' or 'S'ain't Nothin' Like a Quilt' (the school's teams are the Saints). While I'm mulling those over...

I have all the blocks done, but I'm still playing around with the layout. So much yellow and purple intermingling is sort of a puzzle since it's outside my normal palette. I played around with these tradition layouts first:

What do you think? Does it work? I'm a little...bored by them. But maybe I should fight my tendency to eschew simplicity? There is something nice about big, bold, and simple.

Hmm. Next I tried out some modern layouts. I like them much better, but I'm not yet ready to commit to one.

So far this one is my favorite. Don't mind the living room furniture! :o)

Do you have a favorite?

Paisley Sunrise
I'm still plugging away at these liberated Amish cables. I like having a little hand-quilting around to drag into my lap on winter evenings, so I don't mind if this one takes a good long while.

Finishes
Nope!

New Projects
Since I only have three projects in the queue, I'm planning and plotting what I want to make next. Here's the short list:

Wonky Crosses
Liberated Churn Dash
Wonky Stars (probably my favorite block ever...why haven't I done this yet?)
HST Cross (aka Criss Cross)
Liberated/Wonky Nine-Patch

Probably the hardest part is choosing a color scheme for each one. I like a lot of things I've seen on Flickr, but I don't want to copy! Hmm hmm...

Improv Blocks

Why am I so compelled to use these ridiculously small scraps. Who cares. No one will know if I throw away a 1" square of fabric.

And yet...I pull out these scraps and stare at them, waiting for some puzzle-like fit to make itself known. They WILL be pieced, damn it.

Yesterday I saw an "O":

 

And then a couple bars in a frame. These are so simple, but I really like them. There is something calming in the symmetry and simplicity of these blocks.

I'm channeling my inner-Amish.

Today's project: 1 case for all 3 of my iPods (I know. It's a sickness.) I'm scouring tutorials for iPod cases but somehow I can't conceptualize how to make dividers so I can stow all three. I'll let you know how it works out.

WIP Wednesday

Well, everyday is WIP-day at my place :o)

Another log cabin scored me some points in the epic battle of the scraps. They seem to be multiplying, not diminishing. These helped a lot too:

This tutorial gave me the idea to put a scrappy frame around my favorite Modern Meadow trees. This is a departure from my normal style (I sort of dislike things "floating") but this project is all about trying something new, right? Anyway, all these cheerful yellows make me happy!

More Samplin'

Don't get used to these everyday posts, guys. I'm going back to work soon, and I'll be way less productive (at least in sewing)...which is why I'm trying to soak up all possible creative goodness over the next few days. And this sampler is doing the trick to keep me motivated. It's fun to make just one of each block. They become more unique and special.

I tackled the HSTs first (I'm not sure what the name of this block is?). I'm seeing these everywhere on Flickr and had to have my very own! But wow, it's been a while since I did any precision piecing, and let me assure I did not achieve the perfect accurate points I was going for.

I'm trying to banish "perfect" from my vocabulary. Perfection is a myth, anyway...why should I put so much stock in something that doesn't exist? This project has been going on for several years now...still a WIP :o) On the bright side, I did something with those HST that I think looks really beautiful.

Next I wanted to do some freestyling. This lovely quilt captured my imagination a while ago. So simple, yet it really gave me pause. There is just something peaceful about it. So I grabbed this guy and gave it a gray frame...

...stepped back, and realized I was re-creating a rainy day-- the gray clouds, the raindrops and puddles, the way that everything growing becomes greener. True to the scene, I cooked up a little sun that may or may not look much more like a rose:

But even so, I love it! These pentagon improv blocks are rocking my world. So satisfying to make and very delicious eye candy. And now for the big reveal...my fabric version of a cloudy, rainy day:

 

Eeekk!! Why does this make me so happy?!!

Up next: these little orphans. Looking forward to sewing them into something tomorrow...