sew to swap

I was lucky enough to contribute to another book, Sew to Swap, written by Chrissie Grace. What a fun project this was.

I just have to point out what a great looking book this is, yes the quilts are pretty, but the instructions and directions are beautifully illustrated (by Ariel).They are one of my favorite parts of the book.

As the title suggests, the quilts are all sewing swaps. I was able to contribute to several of them, and it's so fun to thumb through this book and see all the finished projects!

You can find the book here, use promo code SEW2SWAP for a discount!  Also, follow along with the tour!

November 20 A Little Sweetness
November 21 House of A La Mode
November 22 I’m Just a Guy Who Quilts
November 23 Little Bit Funky
November 27 In His Grace

christmas hidden stars

I finally finished up a holiday quilt, and I am so happy with it!  It turned out better than I had hoped.  I first saw this pattern in this book and loved it--but I wanted mine scrappy.

I tried to use up my christmas-y fabrics, and added in some greens, reds, and blues.  I think the mix works really well.

Here's a confession, I usually don't like my quilt backs.  I hate to buy a lot of fabric for backing, and I'm too lazy to make cool quilt backs like so many of you bloggers out there make.  So I usually piece what I have together (really sloppily), and then don't really like it.  For this quilt, I really wanted to use up those holiday prints, so I am glad I did it this way.  But it's definitely not my favorite part.

This candy-cane stripe called out to me as the binding.  It just had to be, and it's my favorite part.  I love a striped binding anyway, but red and white will always be my favorite!

We have a chance of snow in our forecast for this weekend, and even though I am thrilled that I actually finished this up before Christmas, I don't think I'm ready for winter.  I'd like to see fall stick around for a while.  Plus, I'm not ready to give up my garden tomatoes!

stacked!

I cut strips for this quilt back when I was cutting squares for my market square quilt.  I have been stuck on this quilt for a while... I had the blocks finished, but debated making it bigger.  I ended up NOT making it bigger.  I am totally okay with smaller lap size quilts.  Plus I have plenty of large lap size quilts and smaller ones are easier for the kids to fold.

I have always loved this design of quilt, but I really fell in love with this quilt, and then had to make one. I love that it looks like books stacked on top of each other

It's a pretty easy design to make, but I don't use a pattern.  I'll try to explain (without pictures), I cut strips of white and strips of color.  I then trim my colored pieces to a good size to make the "books".  I try to vary the sizes, but I don't plan this part out.  I then add white to either side and trim it to the right size.  Once I have a bunch of these strips, I sew them all together.

I used this great polka dot from JoAnn's (by Denyse Schmidt) for the back and bound it in green.  I actually debated selling this quilt, we just have so many...but there are a few things about it that make it less than perfect, so I think we'll keep it.  I like it a lot anyway, so I don't mind.

far far away

I'm on a roll finishing up quilts that have been so close to being done for a very long time, and it feels so good. 

I started this quilt a long time ago and really didn't like it much...I guess I kinda wished I'd used the fabric in a different way.  That's the main reason it took me so long to finish.

Plus, the quilt is pretty big, and main fabrics are linen/cotton blend and it's heavy.  I was really dreading the quilting process.  

But it all turned out in the end.  I really like it now, and quilting it wasn't too bad.  

I used this fun zigzag print on the back and decided to use those zigzags as my quilting guide.  

 I didn't do a great job, I'm going to call it organic as opposed to sloppy--if it weren't for that dark purple print you wouldn't even be able to tell.

I'm mildly opposed to white binding, but it just worked so well for this quilt.  I had to use it.  I think it really frames it well.

cottage quilt

It was probably over 2 years ago now that I was involved in the Cottage Quilting Bee, and I have finally put my quilt together and I think it turned out so great.  

I received soooo many blocks, and it was so fun to figure out where to put them all.  I ended up framing them on the front in white. 

I pieced my back with orange fabrics that I had along with my remaining blocks. 

I quilted it in large loops.  It's not perfect, but I do like the effect.

and an orange stripe binding to finish it off.  I am loving this color of orange.   A big thanks to all those friends who contributed to this quilt.  I love it.

flower garden

I feel so happy to be quilting again, I actually forgot how much I enjoy it.  My husband gives me a hard time because I usually plug in my headphones and ignore the kids so I can quilt...it's pretty therapeutic I guess.  

Another really simple baby quilt, but I am really diggin' the colors--a little out of my normal range.  But really pretty. 

A close up, I love this little "dutch girl" print.  It's so sweet for a baby.

I am determined (again) to make a dent in my stash, so I used this yellow 30's print that I've had forever.   I think if I used what I have more for quilt backs, my stash really would start to shrink.  That is my goal for the remaining quilts on my to-do list.

pinwheels

I actually finished a quilt!  Wow!  Summer was rough this year for sewing.  It seems like we were just busy doing other things.  But I did get this pinwheel baby quilt finished up recently.  I have several friends having babies right now,  so I have to keep my baby quilts pretty simple.  I kind of like them that way anyway.  

I used the new Children at Play line from Sarah Jane (I've been a fan of hers for a very long time!  I think she was one of the first etsy shops I [hearted] when I first discovered etsy.), it is a great line.  I wish I could justify buying every single piece of fabric...

Inspired by this pillow, (I like it better, the smaller pinwheels are cuter.)