do. Good Stitches {finished quilt}

Well howdy! I have lots to show off these days I just haven't managed to get it up on the blog.

I'll start with this quilt I just finished yesterday. Thanks to the ladies in the Heal Circle of do. Good Stitches this quilt came together beautifully (our circle supports hospice)!
June was my month to pick a pattern and put together the quilt. I choose the Square Deal pattern from the book, Block Party (it's more of a recipe than a quilt pattern).

I hope it will put a smile on someone's face!

{this and that}

Hey y'all! I've been distracted the past week with giving our master bedroom a makeover. I can't wait to show you.

I squeezed in a bit of sewing over the weekend though.

A custom ordered mini quilt for a loyal customer. I'm really digging the quarter cabins!

This is my first project fully made on my new machine and I am thrilled with it so far! Still some differences I'm adjusting to but so far I'm really happy with my choice. I've never had such an easy time straight-line quilting before!

Some bee blocks for do. Good Stitches. Boy do I love this coral color! From L to R: Star of Virginia, Asterisk block and Indiana Puzzle.

More coral! I just finished cutting out fabrics for a commissioned baby quilt that is going to be super sweet in these colors.

Heal circle charity quilt

Well I've got a beauty to show you today! October was my month in our do. Good Stitches Heal circle charity bee and one of my goals for January was to get it put together and finished up.

I asked for HST flying geese blocks using this tutorial. I envisioned a scrappy style of quilt that played with light/dark values and I think it came out perfectly!

One thing that was not in my original vision (but SO happy that it ended up as it did) was some of the blocks sent to me were 14" whereas the rest were 12.5". I couldn't trim them down without cutting off the points and they were way too pretty not to use or use on the back. So I decided to add scraps to the sides of each block to make them each measure 14". It's a brilliant happy accident because I LOVE how it came out. It adds a lot of character and makes the quilt very interesting I think.

Thanks to the ladies of Heal Circle for the gorgeous blocks! Scrappy quilts are awesome when they come from so many different scrap bins.

Wednesday

I'm late to the party but I'm there all right!

A baby Scrappy Trip quilt. I was completely inspired by HoosierToni's Les Amis color scheme. I'd gotten a few of the Les Amis prints a while back so I just added a bunch of other prints from my stash to fill in the colors. Love the little foxes and owls.

And for this month's do. Good Stitches blocks: Modern Maples! This block has got to be one of my favorite traditional blocks ever and some day I will make one for myself.

meanwhile...

So, we're in the heat of the summer right now and I say there's no better time to be holed up in your sewing room than when it's 100 degrees outside.

For once, I'm actually getting an early start on fall table runners for the shop. It's usually October 1st before I realize, hey, it's fall, might like to make some fun things for halloween.
I was trying out some Barn Bats (tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman) for something different. Pretty easy but pay attention when you're sewing the wings column to the heads column. I had to remake a whole set of bats cause I didn't line them up right.

And, between making bats, I made spiderwebs! For our do. Good Stitches circle. Really nice, soothing colors here!

Stay cool friends!

do Good. Stitches finished quilt

A finished quilt for the Heal circle of do. Good Stitches benefiting hospice. So happy to have this one done! It's very bright and cheerful and I hope it brings a smile to someone's face.

I chose an improv block from Sew Mama Sew's Modern Block of the Month. I really like this block a lot. I think it would be fun to do it with all scraps! My color inspiration was this picture.

Thank again ladies of Heal circle! I LOVE being a part of that group.

quilting today

Today I've been quilting a do. Good Stitches quilt. My month to collect blocks was April (hey, I'm only 3 months late!) and I chose a yellow, aqua and coral color scheme. The block is from Sew Mama Sew's Modern Block of the Month. A really fun block, although I kinda wish I had gone with a scrappier color scheme. It's still looking very happy so that makes me happy and I hope it will bring a smile to a recipient in Hospice.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July tomorrow!

Sewing Merrily Along

I've been getting some steady time at my sewing machine lately. YAY! And next week my little one goes to a half day camp so I'm really looking forward to that uninterrupted time. :)

I got caught up on my May and June do. Good Stitches blocks.

Some feathers:

Wonkey cross table runner in progress:

And star blocks waiting to be pieced into a quilt top:

I hope you're having a very sewy week too! :)

Butterfly beauty

This little beauty is all finished up and ready to go to a family in our do. Good Stitches charity (our circle's is hospice). Once I got going, this quilt took no time at all to piece and quilt. The ladies of the Heal circle really did a great job whipping the blocks up!


Original tutorial from Film In The Fridge but I wanted the "butterflies" to be a little larger so I made a tutorial for these specifically.
I'm so happy with this one! Thanks again ladies!

Blocks

I hate when I loose things. I've spent two days looking and still cannot find my thimble! So, I just picked up a new cheapy one at Wal-Mart so that I can get that quilt (my do. Good Stitches quilt) bound and shipped off to our awesome leader Nicke!
And January just happens to be her month to design so I'll send these little beauties along too.

I'll be honest. When this scrappy trip-along craze started I thought it was cool but didn't see what all the fuss was about. Ah, now that I've made these, well, I can see why! They were super fun and easy to make and really did use up scraps! Plus there are so many gorgeous layout possibilities. This is one of my favorites.

Two more Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks done!

#97 Waste Not


#16 Calico Puzzle - I guess I love kids fabrics, so fun and whimsical, I never cease to be drawn to them.

Goodbye January!

Recovered from the bug I had only to get another one (along with my little one)! I'm seriously sick of being sick! But I'm feeling the life return to me and I think I'm going to finish quilting my do. Good Stitches quilt today (or tomorrow, let's not get too ambitious right?).

I have to admit, I'm very glad that today is the last day of January. This has been the most unproductive (not just in quilting!) month I've had in a long time. Here's to February being a happier, healthier month!

Happy Thursday!

12.5" Butterfly block

Whew! So, we are finally settled into my Dad's place. Moving is stressful! We'll just be here temporarily until we can find a place we like in our price range. We're still in the same area. It's nice to have family close by!

To add to the chaos, we are leaving on a road trip tomorrow, but it should be fun. :)

September is my month for the Heal do.Good Stitches circle again! I'm so excited to be doing this. Nicke, our lovely circle leader, posted about some of the hospice patients receiving their quilts. It was very moving to see their smiling faces despite the adversity they face in life.

So, for the September quilt, I want to keep it simple. I found this fabric for a steal online a month ago. 

These butterflies are quite sweet and will be perfect for the quilt back!

I immediately thought of Ashley's Dinner Date Tutorial because to me they look like butterflies. I just want to provide some more detailed instruction for consistencies sake since so many are contributing. (I'm one of those people who loves details! That's why improv is tricky for me. LOL!)

To make a 12.5" Butterfly block:

1. Start by cutting 4 6.5" squares from your white (background) fabric.
2. Take a square and make a mark at 3.25" on each side. 

3. Chose scraps that will adequately cover the top right and bottom left corners. Place them well within the markings (this is so the "butterfly wings" won't overlap when all sewn together. My green one here is a little too close to the markings.). Vary the angles a bit to make them a bit wonky.


4. Sew the corner scraps on, again making sure that your seams are well within the markings.


5. Press and then flip to trim away the excess.


6. Now trim away the excess background. You don't want your seams to be too bulky.


7. Repeat so that you have 4 6.5" squares.


8. Sew and press seams open. (oops I forgot to trip one of my corners)


9. Whaalaah!


This block is super simple and I think it will make a very happy quilt!

going improv

For the month of August, we were asked to make improv blocks for our Heal circle of do. Good Stitches. I have to admit, improv is a stretch for me. But, I decided to just go for it and I'm pretty happy with how my blocks turned out.

Tested out some curvy piecing. Fun!


I guess I was really on a roll because I then proceeded to use my newly learned improv skills in making an iPad sleeve. I used the tutorial from One Shabby Chick.

Have a happy Wednesday!

April do. Good Stitches quilt

I'm a bit late with finishing my do. Good Stitches quilt for April but I could not be more pleased with how it turned out!
The ladies in the Heal circle did a fantastic job with all the blocks!

I asked for Ribbon Star blocks (tutorial from Fresh Lemons) in a particular color palette.

Our group is benefiting hospice and I truly hope that this quilt will bring a moment of comfort to those on hospice and their families.

I'm already looking forward to my next month which is September. I have several plans brewing.

Hi!

I'm BACK!!! my trip was amazing but it's taking longer than I expected to upload all my pictures, unpack, recover from jet lag and just readjust to life. So, I wanted to drop in and say hi and show you the two blocks I whipped up for my do. Good Stitches group this week. Surprisingly, I've managed to make time to catch up on all my blog reading LOL! I missed seeing what everyone was up to. :)

We were asked to make any type of non-wonky star in solids and Kona white.

This one is called Rising Star.


This one is Two Colors Star from the Solstice Stars series.
Honestly, these were just what I needed to help me get back into the swing of things!
I will be back very soon with a post all about my trip!

miscellaneous

Two days to go! Thankfully the packing is going quite well and my to-do list has many checked off items! I know I said I was going to post a finished quilt but I wanted to post about other stuff instead.

Yesterday and today I actually had a bit of time for sewing which was nice because it is a great mental break from trip preparation.
I finished the quilt top and backing and basted my do Good. Stitches quilt for April. I may not get it finished before I leave but at least it's almost there. I LOVE how it's looking so far, really nice work by the Heal Circle ladies!


I also got inspired and picked out fabrics for my next quilt! Like tons of other people, I have fallen in love with Lucy's Crab Shack fabric collection. I picked up two of the fabrics from my local quilt shop the other day but there is NO way I need any more fabric. So, I decided to pull similar colored fabrics from what I already have to get the same look and color palette. I can't wait to cut into this pile!


Lastly, I whipped up this little case for my Kindle. It's already packed away in my backpack ready to go!

I should be able to pop in here one more time tomorrow. I have to show you how huge my bags are!