No Reason

I've been cutting, cutting and cutting some more.



It is clearly time for a new blade. I certainly haven't run out of scraps.

I am cutting them into 5, 3 and 2.5 inch squares. No reason, no plan, it just seems to work out.

Sea Improv Baby

I used the leftover bits from my niece, Lightning's, quilt to do a little improv quilt. It is small, 37 x 37 but I like it. The tan solid was at the top of my scrap basket and I had enough to run with it.



I had a Riley Blake flannel that worked quite well with the colors on the front.


I quilted this one with some straight lines in a few different directions using my basically free Janome. Actually, I ended up a little ahead on that one. It's a nice machine that I got at QuiltCon in February. Not that I needed a new machine but they had such a good deal on the machines used in the classes that I ended up bringing a couple home and finding people interested in them. So after a few nail biting weeks, I basically made back the money that I spent on them. It's nice when a diabolical plan works out.

I entered this quilt in the San Diego Quilt show. Not because it's anything special but just to give people a little taste of other options in the world of quilting. Sure you can do detailed floral appliqué but you can also do a million more things.

Circle-y Zippy Thing

I'd been meaning to try this headphone case tutorial for awhile and Sunday morning seemed like as good a time as any. I had a recipient in mind but when I pulled out a bin of scraps, this fabric begged to be used. I used my circle cutter to fussy cut the mermaid and then based my sizing on that for the rest of the pieces.




I used a pink scrap for the lining and tried to serge the inside edges but it turns out the serger doesn't like circles. So I just zig zagged the edges with the thread color in my regular sewing machine. It shows a little. Lazy usually does.



Anyway, it's been sent off as a back to school present although I suspect it will be pirated by a little someone.

Now I need more jump rings. And a smoother circle. Actually I have a few small changes planned for the next one.

Receiving Squares

From this stack of squares to this -







Oh curses, I didn't download the full quilt picture. I will have to update later, but you can see my "fancy" quilting here.

This was one of my Finish Along Projects.

Update:  I actually won a prize for this finish so I have come back to the post to add the full pictures here. These squares are all cut out from leftovers of receiving blankets I've made for babies. Probably over the last 5 or 6 years. Mostly for my nephew, Squall, but some for friends too. This one is intended to be donated soon. For those keeping track, yes, I hand sewed the binding again.  It's just still my favorite way to finish.

You Gotta Have Skills

Mine happens to be procrastinating.





Err, I mean, testing new things. Like fabric stamping.

Triangles Finished

I finished the binding on the triangles today. It's really scrappy with a minky backing. Some of the triangles are pieced since the scraps weren't quite big enough.




It's a decent size baby blanket that I'll stash away for a gift one day.



The quilting created asterisks on the backing which goes well with the overall patterns.



This is one of the projects I listed for the Finish Along. Just 5 or 8 more to go.

Triangle Quilt, Triangle Quilt

It was a dark and stormy morning and  by that I mean it was raining lightly and there was no way I was going to leave the house.  It was too much fun staying home and being blamed for the rain by Matilda.

So I started with this Minkee I got on sale recently -

to this initial grouping (ignore the stacks in the back) - 

to some really bad math.  I need 99 triangles, no wait, I need 396.  Damn it, I'll just lay them out.  Oh, I need 180.  Ok, well here's the first batch -



and here they all are with a dog that is still irritated I'm spraying her with water every time she wants to go outside -




And voila, the next morning, the sun is back and the triangles are attached.  I did consider renaming the quilt from "Triangle Quilt, Triangle Quilt, Doing the Things a Triangle Can" to "What's the Point" but it's a baby quilt and everyone knows that babies don't mind mismatched points.



And look a couple do match up just to be show offs.




The nice thing is that almost everything was scraps.  I had a scrap bag of oranges, yellows, reds and pinks.   Some of them were big enough for cutting a triangle but some were not so I pieced them and then cut the triangles.  Scrappy, random and quickish.  Not too shabby for a rainy Saturday.

The New Math

Start of Wonky Star, a photo by shanleytulip on Flickr.

I learned some new math recently.

One (1) panicky dog who needs to alert me to danger five times in the middle of the night. She needed to protect us from immediate danger but not without me going out back with her. I'm pretty sure the danger was a skunk and some wind.

Add eight (8) white squares and nine (9) scraps picked out in the wee hours of the morning.

Multiply by one (1) super full glass of wine and it equals one more wonky star block for the guild donation quilt.

Start of Wonky Star, a photo by shanleytulip on Flickr.

One more and we'll have enough squares for a blanket.

Lemon Squares Bound

Lemon Squares Bound, a photo by shanleytulip on Flickr.

I had a looooong day of jury duty today and decided to fully dork out and take a quilt with me to bind. I finished up the Lemon Squares quilt. I've just got to dig up the label from somewhere around here. If I can trick someone into holding up for me this weekend, I'll post a full picture soon.

Hmm, that seems to be a common thread on posts lately. It might be time to dig out my pulleys too and set up a photo spot. Maybe on my new front porch, that should fancy up the neighborhood.

You can kinda see in this picture that I decided to try pebbling in the white spaces. On the yellow squares I stitched in some lemons. Cause I take quilt names literally.

Procrastinating

IMG_1916.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

But it's for the children. Here's another block for the guild project.

I am doing some of the things I should too. Like looking up travel apps instead of packing. Oh wait, that might not count.

Must print label next.

Guild Star

Guild Star, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

This is not necessarily one of the 37 things that I should have been doing but it was a fun little bit of sewing for the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild project. I'll miss the sewing day next weekend but wanted to get at least one square done for the project that Amanda put together for us.

The tutorial is from the twobutterflies blog.

Fun, quick and cute!

Saturday Stash #9

Lovely View, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

And yes, I know I haven't posted a few of the pictures but I did take them all on Saturdays and I'm a big fan of filling in my blogs backward. So glad Blogger let's you change the posting dates/times.

Here are three little stacks of Kona solids with a set of Sunkissed (still not opened since I'm not quite sure of a pattern). The scraps on the corner of my desk are for the SDMQG first charity project, a wonky star quilt.

I sew in the house in the "winter" since my converted garage is just a bit chilly. Plus the yellow walls and happy fabric/photo desk help with how much I miss the sun after work. I'm already on the countdown to Daylight Savings Day!

I'm Shocked

DONE, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

It was a good snack. I cut all the little pieces I needed to finish and actually got this thing off the frame. I'm shocked that it's finally quilted. I think it holds the record for the longest time on the frame since it has been loaded up since 2010. And that's just for the last two thirds. I'm going to take a little break before putting on the binding and starting the grand clipping of the threads on both sides.

The Last Bits

The Last Bits, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I am so very close to being done with this one. The edge of the fabric is on the top bar. But I've run out of little scraps of fabric so I'm half (or three-eigths) thinking about leaving them scattered like this.

We'll see after I have a little snack though.

Lemon Rind

Lemon Rind, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

These are the trimmings from my Lemon Squares quilt (top done this morning). Clearly these must be lemon rinds then.

I've now got 3 tops waiting for me to finish up the twin size Ticker Tape. Only about 30 inches to go on that. I can do it. I can.

Lemon Squares

Lemon Squares, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here is the result of cutting up my yellow/orange/pink scraps following this pattern over at the lovely Fresh Lemons blog. I shorted a couple of strips on the last 3 blocks so will need to redo those before finishing up I know the picture is kinda dark but I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out and wanted to lay it out real quick on the floor. I still have plenty of scraps left in all 3 bins but at least they close a little easier. Most of the sewing I did at the sewing meetup on Sunday. If you're in the San Diego area and want to spread out and sew, we get together the first Saturday of the month (except this March). Email me for details!

Lemon Squares, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's a closer up too. And I won't need to buy any fabric to complete this one. Although I did steal the white on white from another project so will have to find some more of that next month.

Ready

Ready, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I'm all ready to go tomorrow for our local quilting meetup. And yes, I'm starting a whole new project. I've cut up my yellow, orange and pink scraps for making a lemon squares quilt from this pattern.

I'd say that this is in response to a need for a break from the cold winter weather but in reality it's been all sunshine and roses so far this year. Literally. My roses never stop blooming. And trust me, I don't try to help them along. They're just stubborn.

Ready, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

And yes, for those wondering, my schnauzer was right, I'm just starting to feel better.

Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The top is done and only 5 inches wider and 10 inches longer than I expected it to be. Maybe a little large for a baby quilt but she'll grow. I did manage to complete the top with only fabrics I already had on hand. So even though I had a resolution exception to buy any fabrics needed for this quilt, I only had to pick up some green and white flannel for the back. In fact, I think the border was originally purchased for the first baby quilt I made. Hmmm, that one also ended up way larger than expected.   Although why did I buy 2 yards of fabric for an applique project?

I've got the twin size ticker tape on the frame right now so I won't be able to quilt this until the last 30 or so inches is done on that. Let's see if I can talk myself into working on it this weekend. I know I'm going to like it again once it's off the frame but right now I just find it tedious. Plus it doesn't warm up out in that room very quickly.

Here's a little closer picture of the feathery fabric I fussy cut for the little border.

Chain Reaction, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

And for those keeping track of my craziness, yes, I did consider alphabetizing the 4 center prints but managed to mostly talk myself out of it.

Where's My Tape?

Back to the Lil Pieces, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The title of this post is the way to announce that you're coming off break in my family. This ticker tape quilt is one of the projects that I'm working on at the end of 2010. I've reloaded and added a couple of more rows. Between June and December I've created plenty of new scraps to finish this off. Here's the post from when I was last working on it.

In between placing the little bits and tacking them down with the machine, I'm working on some borders, some clean up and some planning for next year.

I'm on Break

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Ok, really I've just got to make some more little bitty scraps. I've got a little over a third of it done. So I'm unloading the ticker tape twin and moving on (or back) to other projects. I really like how it's turning out though. I'm clipping the threads on the front as I go but it's probably going to be a nightmare to clip all the black thread on the black backing.

Ticker Tape Twin - w/ Secret Message, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.