In an effort to get something finished this week, I sat down at the machine and sewed the binding to this quilt. The pattern is Fox Tails by Tula Pink and I bought it as a kit last year on Craftsy. I am fairly certain that I never would have chosen to make this if the kit hadn't been on sale, but I am glad I bought it because it was a fun one to sew up. I left the quilting to a local long-armer - I told him to just do his thing. The soft swirls that he quilted compliment the harder lines of the diamonds in just the right way. I think it was a good call to have this one done as it would have been difficult to manage such a large scale design on my domestic machine. Not impossible, mind you, just hard!

I chose to bind it by machine. Speedy! And because I am donating it to our church and school picnic in a couple of weeks, I didn't feel a hand binding was absolutely necessary. I love hand binding, but I have two other quilts with bindings attached to their fronts, just waiting for me to sit a spell and stitch. There was no way that this was going to get finished if I didn't do it by machine.

As for Kate's quilts, one is partially bound and the other needs to basted and TIED! I hope to be able to share the first one with you next week. Have a great weekend and Happy 4th of July!

The girls left for camp almost three weeks ago and come home on Saturday. Naturally, I've spent most of the week focused on completing my long list of things that I thought I would accomplish while they were gone. I suppose I will always be a last-minute person at times.

At top on my list was making new quilts for the two twin beds in Kate's room. I started cutting and sewing on Tuesday. The first top was finished Wednesday and the second one yesterday. I have batting and there is fabric for backing, but that still needs to be pieced. The design is simple - 8" finished four-patch blocks separated with setting squares. I originally thought that I would quilt them with loops, but the more I work with the gingham and the four-patches, the more I think they beg to be tied. Am I crazy to think I might actually be able to get that done today? I completely realize that I might be kidding myself that tying is faster than quilting. Maybe not, though? And I am torn on the color of yarn to use...white is safe and will blend, but her walls are aqua so maybe that for a little extra pop of color? I guess I will have to make a fast decision and go with it if I have any chance of getting at least one completed and bound before she gets home.

I'll let you know how it all turns out next week. Have a great weekend!

Remember my first mini quilt? The one that I made to be given away and then decided to keep? I made its replacement and sent it off to my swap partner last week.

Feathers! I used Anna Maria's pattern to make these, but instead of strip piecing and then cutting the feathers out of the strip sets, I paper pieced these beauties. Easy, peasy. I started with a good pile of fabrics and four copies of the feather template. I added the fabrics one by one to the templates, making sure to maintain the angle of the feather. Once I had done two feather halves, it dawned on me that I would need to sew on the reverse side for the other two. Glad I caught that before I had sewn, although an extra feather wouldn't have been so bad!

After adding the black chambray background pieces and sewing the feathers together, I felt that there was too much negative space in the middle. I ended up cutting out about 1 1/2" total - 3/4" from each side. Jane, acting as an extra set of eyes, agreed that less was more. I quilted it with straight lines about 1/4" apart. I love how it turned out and, thankfully, so did my partner.

On to the next mini quilt! These things are a little addictive.

I found my first two four-leafed clovers on Sunday morning while walking the dog. I am always on the lookout for them, but had never been lucky in the past. Minutes before, I had decided to stop looking. And then I looked down and there they were. I feel like this is symbolic, but of what, I am not sure.

I didn't mean to be away from this space for so long, but I haven't felt like I've had much to share. I've been head down, getting things done. First it was the end of the school year, swiftly followed by the girls leaving for camp. Since they have been gone, I've spent my time between some secret sewing and a nice visit from good friends. I've read a few books and cut out two more skirts. There are myriad quilts in various stages littering the sewing room, but I am not going to touch them or the skirts or anything else for that matter until the secret sewing is complete. I'm hopeful today will be the day.

It's been hot here. I moved the sewing machine downstairs to the family room and placed it so my chair would sit over the air conditioning vent. Brilliant, if you ask me. It's a little bit of a pain to have to walk up two flights of stairs to find whatever little tool or thing I am used to having at my fingertips, but, really, I could not stand to be up in that heat any longer. Bonus: extra steps. Fatty told me that I might as well set up camp in the family room for the entire summer and I think I probably will. There is a TV, streaming music, access to food and drink, plus I get to be around people instead of by myself. As much as I appreciate my sewing space, it is nice to be part of the action instead of all alone.

Lately, when I take Hazel outside before we go to bed, I have been greeted by the most amazing sight. The fireflies are numerous and active. The yard is black and quiet, punctuated by hundreds of sparkling lights. They skirt the ground and hover in the highest trees, flickering on and off, flitting here and there. I stand and stare for a few moments, soaking it all in, appreciating the wonder of what I see. The dog trots up the stairs, and we go in, locking the door behind us. I silently say a prayer of thanks for all that is good at the end of my day.

This skirt was supposed to be sewn Mother's Day weekend. I had the fabric washed and the pattern picked out, but it just didn't happen. I honestly forgot how busy May can be. I thought if I could get to May 9th, I'd be gold. More like May 29th, in reality. So it goes. Over the weekend, one week later than I was planning on getting it finished, I was really bummed that I hadn't sewn this skirt. I attacked KCWC style - cut out Saturday afternoon, sewn a bit on Sunday and finished between 3 separate sewing sessions of 20 to 40 minutes as time allowed yesterday.

I love the other Everyday Skirt that I have in my closet. It is one of the items in my wardrobe that gets worn again and again so choosing this pattern again was a no-brainer. Also, Liesl's patterns are extremely well-written and go together so smoothly. They are a total joy to sew.

The fabric is one of Anna Maria's new Loominous yarn dyes (Headlines in Grape) and, boy howdy, is it ever lovely! It is lightweight and beautifully soft with lovely drape - basically, perfect for clothing. After washing, it reminded me of a madras. I was a little stumped as to how to best use the stripe with the side panels on the skirt. It drives me absolutely crazy when patterns don't match on the seams! In the end, I decided to cut the side panels and the pockets (which you see a tiny bit of at the side panel seams) on the cross grain to make them a design feature. It was a good call! I love the end result and can't wait to wear my new summer skirt!

My friend, Jill, and I are both making the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt. She is working from the kit, adding a few of her own fabrics and I am working from my stash. Well, I am trying to work from my stash. I may have to pick up a fabric or two as needed - most of my cuts are 1/2 yard or smaller and some of these block eat up a lot of fabric!

Above is my first block, finished a few weeks ago. As the pattern suggests, we are starting with the biggest block and working our way smaller. Good thing, too, as the cutting instructions seem to be difficult for me to manage. I don't know what it is about them, but I cannot follow them correctly. The amount of fabric I have wasted is crazy. On the last two I cut, I wrote the sizes on a sticky note and I didn't make any mistakes. I will continue in that manner going forward. It really sucks when you mess up on Carolyn Friedlander's ledger print. Just saying.

I didn't start with a well-developed color scheme. I am just going to let this one take me where it will. Right now it is looking very gold, green, red, orange and blue with low volumes. That could change. I may end up with a ton of variety in the prints, but I am hoping to keep the prints harmonious. By using what I like, I am hoping that it will just come together in the end. Fingers crossed.

Three blocks down, a ton to go. The fourth is cut out ready for when I have a few moments to string together. I don't know what it is about May, but I swear it is busier than December! The school year is wrapping up here - Jane has 2 weeks left, Kate has 3. I have a few secret quilts I am working on and I am still trying to get some of the book quilts into pattern form. Can anyone recommend a designer that can turn all my little sketches and instructions into a beautiful pdf? Let me know! I am ready to get this rolling.

Back here Friday with another book review and giveaway!

I whipped up a Linden sweatshirt yesterday in about an hour. This pattern by Grainline Studios is a super easy sew. I am sure that you have seen a gazillion versions of it, especially if you are on instagram. If not, check out the hastag #lindensweatshirt. Simple, comfortable, fast, well-fitting - it has all the hallmarks of a pattern that I will sew again and again. And, actually, this is my second one. The first I made out of a Liberty sweatshirt fleece back in the winter - it is heavy and cozy and was worn a ton. This fabric is a much lighter French terry. I bought it from Frances at Miss Matatabi. She has the best stuff! While I was shopping for this, I picked up some pink French terry, too. That's earmarked for Linden #3.

Headless! First thing in the morning, on my way to work out is not a look I feel like sharing today. ;)

The nitty gritty:  I made myself a size 12, same as I have in other Grainline patterns. I think the fit is spot on for me. I may be inclined to add a tiny bit of length, maybe an inch, to the front and back pieces of the pattern on my next go, but I am not sure. The Liberty one I made in the winter, I sized up to a 14 because the fabric had little to no stretch. I also cut the cuffs and neck band on the bias for that one. But! This one was made exactly as the pattern specified and came together beautifully. There are a few spotty bits of top-stitching with the double needle, but those are completely user error (forgot to put on the walking foot!) and I am not going to point them out! I sewed most of it on my serger, but it can be done on a domestic machine, too. I did add the cuffs, neck band and waist band with the sewing machine before serging the seams. It was just easier that way for me.

Overall, a winner of a pattern! I can't wait to make another.

On a complete and total whim a few weeks ago, I decided to make an improv quilt. The fabrics, mostly Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt, just spoke to me as I was wading through the stash. I don't know what drew me to the purple - perhaps the wild violets that show themselves in the grass every spring? No matter! Purple it was! And bonus because I have a dear friend whose birthday was around the corner and she loves purple like I love green. No better time than that! I grabbed the fabrics, pulled in a couple of other prints (a purple gingham, the pink pez, red and pink dot) and some Kona snow (always on hand!) and started cutting.

If you'd like to make something similar yourself, the process is super simple. I cut full widths of the printed and the white fabrics about 14" long. Then I sub-cut them into smaller strips using my rotary cutter without the ruler. I was intentional in making them different widths and a little wonky/angled, but not too crazy. I paired each printed strip with a white strip and sewed them together.

Once that step was complete, I took each print/white pair and sewed it to another print/white pair so that I ended up with "blocks" alternating 2 prints with 2 white strips. I find that making blocks like this to arrange in the quilt top is measurably faster and easier for me. It takes much less time to lay everything out, I have fewer design decisions to make and I make them faster! Once I had the blocks arranged the in five rows (one for each of my friend's children), I sewed the blocks together. Due to the irregularity of the strips, the sewn rows had to be trimmed down before I was able to sew them together into a quilt top. You do lose a bit of height on all of them - two rows ended up being 12" unfinished and the other three were 12.5" unfinished. I was aiming for a 60" quilt so it is good to cut the strips taller than you think they need to be.

After I had the rows sewn together and the quilt basted, I let it sit for a couple of days before quilting it. I wasn't sure if I wanted straight-ish lines or if I wanted to free motion something. In the end, I decided to quilt it with free motion loops from side to side. I didn't mark the rows, but rather used the seam lines as a general guide and that seemed to work well. The quilting was fast! Maybe an hour and a half? A good reminder that free motion quilting often takes less time than straight lines - I always forget that!

The back was pieced with a 60" wide piece of the purple gingham and a strip of other prints along one side. I bound it with a stripe from the same collection that I didn't use in the quilt top. Oh - and one little part of the binding is another print that was a mistake I added as a design element. I think it gives it a little extra charm.

I washed the quilt so it would be soft and crinkly. I loved how it came out and had so much fun making it. I'm already plotting the next one!