WIP Wednesday

Quilting like crazy on the ManDarin quilt  (which is on my FAL list) for my hubby.

 

 

Happy Wednesday!

Sew many possibilities

Just to mix things up a bit this week with my sewing, I made a foray back into a scrappy project I started earlier this year.  It just so happens that I added this project to Q2 of my Finish-A-Long list, so progress is definitely needed.

 

I really enjoy letting the scraps lead me - basically, this means I just look for similar sized pieces and stitch them together. I keep an eye out for mixing colour value while limiting my palette to blues and greens.  It's a bit like putting together a puzzle, but it adds up to easy stitching and fun results.

I love seeing these tiny pieces become something larger and cohesive.  Scraps are treasures when it comes to patchwork!

My latest strips will find their way into being used with the first section I put together back in Feb. (shown in photo, below)   I haven't quite sorted out how all of this will be combined and I am still debating on whether to make this into a small quilt or whether I should just make a mini to have in my sewing room.

Possibilities abound with scraps!

I probably blather on a bit much about how much I love working with scraps, but I truly see so many possibilities with them.  I love experimenting with them and discovering new ways to make something useful and attractive.   Okay, you can call me crazy. ;o)

Fun Summer Fabrics

Warm sunny days have me daydreaming about the summer ahead.

  No surprise then, that I'd join in the fun to make a bundle of summer themed fabrics from

Sew Fresh Fabrics as a part of this contest.

 

 

 

Summer is all about the outdoors for me.  Camping, hiking and floating down a lazy river are favourite activities to enjoy with my family and with any luck, this summer will see me doing all of these things.  Can't forget biking and visiting summer fairs!  Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?   What do you enjoy doing in the summer?

If you're interested in seeing other summer bundles, click here, and if you want to create your own bundle(s), you have until the end of May to enter.  Details for the contest are HERE.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

 

 

 Hi there ! If you are visiting my blog for the first time while touring the Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome!  

The quilt I'm sharing is a recent finish, so those of you that are not new to my blog will recognize it as my Orange Twirl quilt.  It measures 71" x  90" and started out as a way to use up some leftover orange fabrics from another quilt and try a new block design.

 

 

Little did I know that this simple block and playing with fabric values in orange would captivate me!  The more blocks I made, the more I fell in love with this design.  It didn't take me long to realize that I would like to make the quilt bed-sized.  That presented a problem.  I needed to keep the values contrasting in the quilt, but my collection of orange fabrics was getting slim.  That's when some wonderful blogging friends stepped in to help me out.  I think of their generosity as "Orange-Aid" and their kind help, made my quilt more lovely than I had imagined.

 

 

My next challenge turned out to be  my quilting. 

 I knew from the start how I wanted to free motion quilt, but  once I was underway, I started having second thoughts.  I guess it was a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. ;o)

  Instead of ripping out all my stitches, I walked away from it. 

 The next day I was able to look at it with fresh eyes and

 

 

I realized the swirly quilting wasn't quite as disappointing as I first thought.

 

 

Sometimes, as was the case with this quilt, it's the fabrics that take center stage, not the quilting... and that's good. 

 

The rest of the quilt came together smoothly. 

 Using a stripe fabric for the backing was a first for me.  Using dots for the binding... was not a first, but is always a favourite.

 



Is there anything happier than a dot binding? ;o)

I would never have guessed that my initial motivations (where's the risk in using leftovers to try a new block, right? ;o) would result in a quilt that makes me smile every time I look at it and give me a whole new outlook on a colour that I used to overlook.

 

 

 Thanks so much for your visit! 

You're always welcome here and I hope you'll click my "follow with Bloglovin" button (sidebar) to keep coming back.

Okay, off you go!  Have fun visiting everyone else in the Festival!

 

 

 

 

Short but sweet?

Popping in with a short post today.  My hubby and I put in a 11 hour day installing yesterday since the job was out of town and we wanted to finish in a day. However, I'm totally feeling the effects today.  I actually woke up with aching hands and feet this morning.  Which I like to think is a testament to how hard I worked and has nothing to do with my age. ;o) 

We totally rocked that kitchen instal!  Nice to know that in the year since I started installing kitchens with my husband, I've become a pretty good helper, making a difference in how much time it takes to get things done (and keeping him laughing through the day ;o)

Today, mundane (but necessary) things like laundry, cooking and cleaning topped the to-do list.

  But you're not here for any of that!  You're probably more interested in what's currently on my design wall, right?...

 

Check it out!

 

  Yes, I now have 3 blocks complete for my Single Girl baby quilt. I can hardly wait to finish this girly sweet top! 

  My design wall  looks better than ever with the Single Girl blocks next to the quilt top,

 Garden Plot (which is awaiting finishing). 

 Somehow those circles look extra pretty next to those squares. ;o)  More to show soon....