Quarter inch by quarter inch...

Bit by bit and little by little, the crazy design in my head is coming to life.  I thought I had drawn it to "scale" and was hoping so hard it would all fit together once I had each section pieced.  Ahhh, that would have been WAY too easy :).  Here are some during piecing progress photos...

Three squares, then four squares done... those little squares are 3/4 inch each.  The whole mini will measure about 18" square once it's done.

Then the "main" square pieced, now to lay it out...

 Got the layout, now to piece the main squares to the color next to it...

 Then I got it all situated and go figure, I was a hair off on each section for them to fit perfectly :).  But, thank goodness text fabric is forgiving, so I was able to tweak and add, and it flows together pretty seamlessly ;).  Although there is a seam...

 Now I just have to figure out how to get these sewn together at exactly the right spots!  My brain has another crazy idea, and I may just go with it - shooting from the hip seems to be holding up ok ;).  I really love how it is turning out and will have a hard time saying goodbye to this one.  It's been a really neat process to participate in (DQS13, that is).  So, on to my crazy idea- cross you fingers it works!!

DQS13 Progress...

After weeks of craziness, my original idea has been tediously drawn to scale.  I have been pretty nervous about seeing if I could get this to truly work "on paper", and I think I can!!  I think I can, I think I can... :)  Here it is all drawn out- it'll be 18" square once done.  It is so cool to come up with an idea in your brain, and follow it through- It'll be great to see it done!

 Then I started pulling colors, based on my partners likes, which were easy, considering they are the same as mine ;).  I decided to go with solids- all solids, because I like the look it gives.  I will gradient the colors from the center out, starting with a rich jewel tone in the center and end at the edges with a very pale pastel of each tone.  I am excited!  Here's what I have...

This week, I get to figure out how to piece it ;) hehe!!  So looking forward to seeing it come together more :)!!  Wish me luck-

Summin' up a year of projects...

It didn't feel like I got much done this past year, but here is the sewing version of my year's worth...

Not to bad :)  I'm happy with it!

And the big project of the year, that was mostly non-sewing related (however, quite a bit involved sewing now that I think about it)...

...it's definitely the most fun too!  Thinking of doing it again, to an Airstream this time!  That'll keep me busy for a few months ;).  On to 2013 and lots more fun!!!

Just in time...

"Not my normal color palate" turned into this:

 and I am in love!!!  I could not be more thrilled with this quilt!  It measures 70"x80", larger than I had originally decided on, but I had to go big- I love big quilts!~  So a BIG lap quilt it is :)  This quilt, if you remember, was made for my dear friend who just began a three year chemo regimen.  So for on the days she may need an extra hug, here is a HUG for her!!  It is not my normal color choices, but it is oh so her!!  I am giddy with how much it looks like her!  And I absolutely loved watching the colors come together!  It was a work of love- a fast one too- my fabrics did not all arrive until four days ago, and with the holidays and all the obligations I had this week, I was up til the wee hours every night getting this done.  It has to be done by today to go in the "Hug" boxes her family is giving her for Christmas.  She will open a box each month- such a wonderful idea!  It is in the wash at the moment so it can get all lovely and crinkly in the dryer, and then it will be delivered to the boxer-uppers!  I can hardly wait!  What a fantastic surprise!

 For quilting, I chose my all time favorite, teeny tiny loops!  It just makes me smile, and it's an added bonus that it makes it crinkle up extra good in the dryer! ;)

I chose prints and solids for the front- and love how they play together!  It was my first time mixing in quite a few solids and I will definitely be doing this again!  A good thing!  The backing had to be a super soft vintage sheet.  I had found this butterfly one a while back and was so happy that it had not been listed (and cut into) yet!  The colors are perfect, and I love that it's a butterfly!  It reminds me of hope!  So it fit this quilt to a tee!  

Off it goes for a special Christmas box of HUGS!!!

Hello Pickles is DONE-- Yeehaw!!

Finally, a year and a half later, Hello Pickles is COMPLETED!!  Hip hip hooray!  The pattern is from sweet FeistyEily.  I am so beyond excited!  Piecing the top took a bit longer than I planned, and then I added the border at the end, so it took a bit longer then I had hoped.  Life happens- seriously!!  Does that happen to everyone else??  I am blown away by how many amazing quilts my quilty friends can make!  Either I am re.al.ly slow or I just don't put as much priority on my quilting- I hope it's the latter :).  hehe.  With my family and life obligations, quilting has to take a back seat most of the time.  I long to finish projects and make beautiful pieces, but some times, it just has to wait.  And I have had to come to a place in my mind where that's ok.  I may never be a hugely "popular" blogger, but I make things that bring joy to people, and create sunshine in their lives, and that is what quilting is all about, to me.  

 I love how the completed top looks, but the back (even though it's just one piece of fabric) really has my heart.  This quilt was made for a special boy in my family.  He surprised me by his choice of fabrics- I had expected dark, somber prints with maybe a few bright pops of color, but he blew me away with his choice of a modern, very brightly colored bundle from Sew Fresh Fabrics.  Peg and Becca had run out, but created one for me with just one substitution- it saved the day!!  One piece of fabric was this backing print- it was just a FQ though.  The boy just could not get over how awesome that print was- it had become one of my all time favorite prints, once I saw it too!!  I knew I wanted to back it in that print, but never dreamed how tricky that would prove.  Apparently the fabric had been sold out and after much crying and tons of searching, I found an amazing etsy seller that had the 6 years I needed!!  WOW!!  So there's the back, all awesome and colorful- it's called Wild Garden.  

 The background is Kona Ash- love that color!  Love how the colors around it POP!!  It's a favorite for backgrounds!

 For quilting, I chose to FMQ spirals on all the colored centered blocks and I zig zaged over the entire ash centered blocks.  I alternated the directions of the zig zags on each row.  It turned out fun!  How I wish I had a larger throat space on my machine- someday, someday.  I'm working with under 6" here, so it gets tricky.  

 The quilt is abut 100" long and over 6' wide.  I love how it looks with all the happy colors showing!

 All rolled up and ready to go to that awesome boy I know!!

Warm Cool Quilt Along DONE, Finally~

A year and a half later, the warm cool quilt along quilt I made for a kiddo is finally done :).  The top has been done for quite some time- over a year, but the child requested a minty backing and it honestly scared me.  I had read so many posts about what nightmare minky was to baste and quilt that I put it off as long as possible!  I LOVE how it turned out, and the child likes it even more, so everyone is happy!!  I love these colors myself so it was very fun to make too!

 The minky was not near as bad as I had dreaded!  The quilt is between a twin and queen so the size is what had me so worried!  When I sandwiched the quilt, I taped it down to the floor really well!  With duct tape :)  Then I used an entire can of 505 to spray baste it- told ya I was really scared it would wiggle or move.  :)  hehe!  Then I got the batting and top situated with spray, and then added pins to have an extra extra good hold of that minky.  

 Once it was all situated, I took it to the sewing machine and got to work!  I decided to quilt it to mirror the diamonds made by the colors.  I love the simplicity of it!  You can sort of (if you look really hard) see the design on the back a photo down.  

 The quilting...  The minky is the softest I have ever felt, and it gives the quilt a wonderful weight.  I love a quilt that's just a drop on the heavy side!

 All rolled up and ready to give to a sweet kiddo!!  So after so long, it is wonderful to have it done and to be able to see it being used!  Makes a quilter happy :)

Not my normal color palate...

I have a dear friend who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in the past few weeks.  She just began THREE YEARS of chemo.  It hurts my heart to know a little of the things she will experience.  My mom had chemo during my Senior year of high school, so I have been there a bit.  She is a survivor and has such an amazing attitude.  And I believe in miracles, so I have faith all will be well.  For Christmas, her family wants to surprise her with a "box of hugs" for each month.  They asked friends to participate in the fun too.  I immediately knew I had to make a quilt.  It just hollered at my heart and head!!  

After several calls, I found out her favorite colors are autumn colors.  I go for more happy, rainbow jewel tones, so these were not in my stash.  After several trips to get Kona solids, some beautiful prints, and a couple etsy orders (I am still waiting on 4 solids), I am almost ready.  The creme is the background and the vintage butterfly sheet will be the back!  I usually wait til I have the top pieced to pick a binding- I'm just weird that way :).  

As much as these are not my normal colors, they are gorgeous and I can hardly wait to see it come together!  I hope those last few colors get here fast because this has to be done by the 20th!  I'll be doing some fast and furious sewing :)  Love it!  I am so glad that I know how to make something that can give her a hug on a day she may need it!

Hello Pickles Quilt top DONE finally :)

These photos are actually PRE-border.  I wound up putting a 6" ash Kona border all the way around!  Just 'cause I LOVE huge blankets and this one is for a taller people :)  I love how fun and colorful and just down right happy it is!  

 Now to piece the back and get two quilts sandwiched at once :)

 I have been trying to get some things crossed off that terribly long to do list and it's so fun to see them coming together!

Teachers are Sunshine, Part 2

When you have special teachers, they get more and more special, the more children that have them!  That's how this teacher was.  It was our second time having her as a teacher and she was even more incredible than the first.  

I knew when I saw Debbie's giant Swoon quilt that I would have to make one for this teacher.  Debbie and I talked about measurements, but I needed to make mine larger, so I just had to multiply more.  I wound up multiplying by 3 so the final product is a bit over 80x80.  I dubbed it the "Ginormous Swoon" :)!!

The teachers favorite color is yellow, so I thought this pattern would make a happy, beautiful sunshine!  I used the more "solid" looking yellows as the wider blocks that make the compass points and the more "print" looking fabrics for the points in-between the N,NE, S, SE, E, NW, SW and W.  

I LOVED how Debbie quilted hers also, so I spent an insane amount of time quilting this huge beast the same way.  It was harder to see in large scale so I had to pin off the lines for parts to make sure I was free motioning in the right spots :).  It was so worth it though, and it is exactly how I dreamed it would be.

I backed it with a vintage sheet I got for this one and also a strip that my kiddo wrote a note for the teacher on.  It makes it personalized to see the note, in the child's own handwriting, to me.  And it makes me smile, so that is worth it!  Aqua Sharpie, here we come!  I was sad it washed out some so we had to go over it to darken it a touch- the red didn't fade at all on the other teacher quilt.  That's ok, it all worked out lovely~  Here it is.  

It made her cry, so I think we succeeded in letting her know how much it meant to have her as a teacher this year :)!!

Teachers are Sunshine, Part 1

I have been busy crazy getting two quilts done for teachers around here.  This is the first one I got finished!  The sweet Amanda of Quilted Fish designs the perfect cheerful fabric!  The colors fit the teacher to a tee-  we gave it to her this morning and she went crazy!  

It was her first year teaching so I wanted it to be a good memory for her.  Little did I know that her grandma is teaching her to quilt and blankets are her favorite thing in the world!  I was soooooo thrilled!  

I cut the fat quarters into thin and fat strips and went crazy sewing them into a fun pattern.  I wanted it all mixed up and colorful and was very happy with how it turned out.  

I added a wide piece of ric rac, because I love ric rac :).  The bad had a few pieced pieces and then we wrote a note on one section of solid yellow.  

The rest of the back was finished off with a perfectly matching vintage sheet I found!  It turned out well and I quilted it with loops! My favorite, of course :) 

Journey of The BLUE ZOO

When we got our vintage motorhome and had it painted aqua, I knew that this mini HAD to be made! We are camping people, but I am particularly the kind that must have a potty and shower. :) We are so excited about our journeyings for this coming season!

So the quilt- it measures 12"x24". The designs are what we do from sun up to sun down on any given camping day! From biking, to fishing, to board games we fill up our days. Then there is the road, which has dotted white lines, of course, so people can pass us because we are just enjoying the ride most days! Then in the evenings, we have a campfire and roast marshmallows for s'mores, under the light of a gazillion stars! What could be better?! To us, nothing!

I quilted the bottom to be the suns rays and the top to ooze the setting sun. The scenes are pieced, paper pieced, appliquéd and embroidered. The binding is a vintage sheet. I love how the vintage-ness of the motorhome is brought home with the vintage sheet. I could not have found a more suitable fabric no matter how long I searched!

This project was so interesting to me because I started with one idea and went through about 20 revisions, seriously, before it evolved to this. I am very happy with the "Journey of The Blue Zoo" and with the real life journeys it will decorate!

I'm entering the Modern Mini Challenge with this mini :)

My entry and confusion...

I'm linking up with Lynne's small blog meet today!

Been busy working on the RV, getting it ready for the first journey :) Planning more curtains and bed coverings, etc!! Still looking for that perfect, thick fabric :) Here's hoping - and within the budget! hehe!

Made an entry for the Moda Sliced competition- only to realize that I think I was an hour late because I got my time zones messed up!!! I have cried and cried!! Horrors! I NEVER mess them up- that's my hubby's job, and I always correct him. Unfortunately, when it counted, I got it all skee-wam-pust! So I am praying that the quilt fairies smile down on me and a miracle happens and I can be evaluated for the contest. If nothing else, I am praying that someone will at least tell me what they thought of my entry. I created BOOK END FRIENDS :) Quilted, cute, wood 2x8 filled book ends, with an adjustable strap to expand or decrease with the books they hold. Batting, Moda fabric, and a buckle were the required items. I couldn't think of anything ingenious to enter until hours before the end. Inspiration hit and I worked like a mad woman to finish. So we'll see what happens- there are some amazing entries!!

A picture many be worth a thousand words, but a book is definitely worth a thousand pictures! Thus the "worth 1000" and the teensy pieced Polaroid pictures. Very me!! Here are my book end friends :)

Have a marvelous weekend, filled with SUNSHINE!!!