birds on a limb

i finished this one up this past weekend.

i pieced the back to avoid buying fabric, and i am glad i did.available in my etsy shop.

tagged

valerie tagged me to share 7 random facts about myself, so here goes (and just so i don't bore you to tears, i'm also including quilts that were made pre-blog):

1. i am terrified of heights, we have freeway on ramps where i live that make me really nervous. i feel like i'm on a roller coaster--my heart starts beating and my mind starts racing.
2. i love batter, especially pancake batter...my mom used to make me "nettie special's" when i was younger. a nettie special is a pancake about the size of a golf ball, that is only cooked on one side. MMM...I still love them.
3. i am afraid of cats--i know that sounds strange...i grew up on a farm, our cats were somewhat feral. one in particular used to chase me. my sister played "rodeo clown" for me to distract that crazy cat while i ran inside.
4. i have never sent a text message. i don't even know how. i'm not a big cell phone user.
5. i love to be at home. yes, i do enjoy an occasional outing, but home is my favorite place to be.
6. i enjoy vacumning...now i wouldn't just vacumn for the fun of it, but of all the household chores i do each week, vacumning is my fave.
7. i married my high school sweetheart, and i still feel very lucky to have him.

some weeks

i don't know what got into me, but last week i started 3 new quilts. i guess some weeks are just like that. this is the last of the three. (one and two can be found here and here.)

katie jump rope strips

this quilt is a special order through my etsy shop. she requested prints from denyse schmidt's katie jump rope line, with the addition of some black and white. (have you heard the katie jump rope line is being discontinued?)

i forgot how fast strips quilts come together, and i really like the simplicity too.

disappearing nine patch

i've seen so many disappearing nine patch quilts lately, and have decided to try one myself. at first i didn't know if i liked this pattern, but this, this and this (and others) have convinced me that i do. one more.

it's not only a SUPER easy pattern, but a great way to use up charm packs that seem to accumulate. for this quilt i'm using charm packs from Tula Pink's, Nest line. i am smitten with how clever she is. she "hides" things in her designs, birds in this line...insects in her flutterby line.
very clever.
and i also really LOVE the colors... a few close ups:

stash

amandajean (and others) asked for a pic of my fabric stash, and since I love seeing fabric stashes, I am happy to show you mine. Generally I don't purchase more than 1 yard of each print (unless it's a really good deal!), lately I like to get fat quarters and half-yards. This gives me more variety.

I really don't have a HUGE stash, it's just the minimalist in me that feels I need to go on a fabric diet. I have a "use what you've got" mentality for most things...the problem is I haven't been doing that with my fabric.

I like to feel justified in purchasing new fabric...lately I feel guilty because I have plenty that I should be using.

I mostly arrange my stash by color (with some exceptions--the top shelf in the top pic is kits I sell in my shop)...I keep my solids separate

I am dying to make a red and aqua quilt, so I have a stack of fabrics set aside for that.

and last but not least, my stash of japanese imports. I use these A LOT in my etsy shop, so I keep them separate from my other stacks, but I really want to start incorporating them into more quilts...they are adorable.

stacked coins

I almost forgot to post this quilt finished. I can't think of a creative name, so stacked coins it is. Plus it's already out the door to it's new owner...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I used Denyse Schmidt, Heather Ross, and Wee Play (american jane) fabrics...they all came together nicely to give it a vintage-y, flea market-y look. I just LOVE it, and am hoping to make another quilt with these fabrcis for my etsy shop.this is the back...I used a Heather Ross dot, with a strip of scraps running through it.

I haven't been doing much quilting this week. I guess I needed a break...I'm also trying to go on a fabric diet. I really need to not buy fabric for a long while.