Fresh Sewing Day & Small Blog Meet

January was a fairly productive month for me.
I joined the Lucky Stars BOM and finished the first block.  I've decided to use Mod Century for this quilt.

The Charming Stars quilt using my precious Fandango was also completed. Recipe found on the Moda Bake Shop.

I also finished up this zig-zag quilt using some leftover Bungle Jungle fabric

and I added another EPP Rose Star to my collection. There's a lot left to work on for this quilt, but I'm still enjoying the EPP and will someday see a completed quilt.

Lastly, I finished December's and January's Mystery BOM from The Fat Quarter Shop.

(bad photo, bad lighting)

It's time to get started on February.

I'm linking up to

and

Joyful stitching,

jane

Zig Zagging Along

About once every six weeks I try to arrange things on a Saturday so that I don't have to leave the house.  No errands, no grocery shopping and no social or family obligations.  My sister refers to them as pajama days. Yesterday was that day.  I spent some quality time in my sewing room and finally finished this.

This quilt was made from some leftover fabric from this.  It's a nice size baby quilt measuring approx. 33" x 48". The fabric is from a layer cake of Moda's Bungle Jungle.  I decided to do some straight line stitching and echo the zig zags.

 I put the back together from the leftovers as well. The binding is the same as the blue fabric on the back.  

Getting ready to start up a couple of new projects in February and finish off at least one more WIP. 

Linking up at Sew Many Ways.

Joyful stitching,
jane

Totally random stuff

Random thing #1
I finished the first of three projects that are on my list for the 2013 Finish-A-Long.  I figured that I should be able to finish one WIP a month and still be able to work on something new.

I used a layer cake from Kate Spain's Fandango line. The pattern is called Charming Stars and is from the Moda Bake Shop.

This was supposed to be done (in my delusional mind) by Christmas, but it was put aside when I admitted to myself that I would probably enjoy the holidays more if I wasn't stressing about finishing it. 
My guild is having a WIP and a My Precious challenge.  I had been saving this fabric and finally cut into it, so it qualifies as a My Precious entry.


Random thing #2 (and my favorite)

Our guild participated in a pincushion swap with some of the other modern quilt guilds.  I was lucky enough to receive this great cupcake pincushion from Jennifer who is a member of the Bay Area Modern Guild.
It is so cute and clever.  It's all made of wool.  I love the look of the knit "cupcake paper" and the pink and brown (raspberry and chocolate?) swirls.  Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a cherry on top.
 

The sprinkles on top are actually pins with bead heads.
Thank you Jennifer!

Random thing #3
I pulled out all my completed EPP Rose Star blocks.

I think I'm about halfway done with the stars.  They each measure approx. 12 inches across.  I'm not sure how I'll put this one together.  I'll need to make a bunch of "filler" pieces for in between the stars.  Not looking forward to that part.

Random thing #4
Finally decided to finish this zig-zag quilt. 

The fabric was leftover from this.

Hopefully, it will be done by the weekend.

Joyful stitching,
jane

Making Progress

Finally getting back into a nice sewing groove.  And just because I didn't have enough long-term projects, I decided to join the Lucky Stars BOM over at don't call me betsy.  Here's my first block.

One  of my goals this year is to become better at paper piecing.  This BOM seemed like a low pressure way to manage that goal.
The fabric I chose was Mod Century.

I had my eye on this fabric for a while. I love both the colors and designs.  I picked up this rather large batch of half yards during Burgundy Buttons great Christmas sale.

Also finished another Rose Star.

And I'm keeping up with the mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop.  Block  7 is done.

Not to mention that I finished the top to my star quilt.  The fabric is Fandango.  Using this fabric is part a "precious" challenge for the BMQG.  The idea being to finally cut into fabric that's been too precious to use.

However, my favorite accomplishment this week is the acquisition of this sweet batch of fabric goodness.

I decided to treat myself to some Salt Water.  Got a nice deal on it here,

Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet (other than just fondle it for a while).

Joyful stitching,
jane

2013 Finish-A-Long

I've decided to join the 2013 Finish-A-Long hosted by Leanne at she can quilt.  I'm very good at starting new projects, but not so good at finishing them without a deadline.  I've decided to be fairly conservative in my first quarter with just 3 quilts.

First up is my Charming Stars quilt using Fandango.

I made this quilt once before and it came together quickly.  All the blocks are pieced.  I still need to add the remaining sashing and cornerstones.  I plan on some straight line quilting.

My second WIP is one that's been hanging around a couple of years.  My taste in fabric has changed which made me lose interest in finishing it. 

The piecing is completely done.  I'll keep the back fairly simple.  I have some leftover squares that I'll work into it.

My third project that I really want to finish in Q1 is my Great Granny quilt.  I've got 16 out of the 20 blocks pieced.  I really enjoy piecing these blocks and am happy to get back to them.

The remaining 4 blocks are all cut and ready to stitch.  I think I'm just going to use some narrow (1" finished) sashing between blocks.  Not sure how I'm going to quilt it.

So that's it.  If I can finish one of these per month, I'll be happy.

jane

100 Day Hustle Finale

It's the day of reckoning for the 100 Day Hustle hosted by Kelsey Sews.  

First, my finishes (and almost finishes).

Most important on my list was the baby quilt using Bungle Jungle.  

This quilt was finished on time.  I had enough leftover fabric to make a top for a second quilt.

Next on my list was a quilt using my precious Fandango layer cake.    I was able to finish the 20 blocks.  

I made this same quilt last year for my daughter-in-law using Terrain.  You can see it here.
The sashing will be the same cream pindot as the star centers.  The backing will be this pretty green print and the cornerstones and binding the gold fabric.

I have every intention of finishing this by the end of the month.

Finished my 3 sets of Halloween potholders in plenty of time for Halloween.  I also made a cute mug rug for my desk at work with the leftover scraps.

 I think my favorite finish was my holiday quilt. 

I started this in the summer/fall of 2011and put it away when I realized it was not going to be ready before Christmas.  The top was completely pieced, so finishing it was fairly quick.

I was also intending on finishing a new holiday table runner/mat, but all I managed was this fun mug rug.

Finished my tote back for work.  I used some Echino that I bought last year.

Made a bit of progress on my Great Granny quilt.  16 of the 20 blocks are done.

I almost don't want to finish this one.  These blocks were fun to make.  I'm going to miss them.

There were also a couple of items that were not started finished - my son's T-shirt quilt and a Summersville quilt. All in all, I'm pleased with what I did accomplish.
Now it's time to check out  Kelsey's blog to see how everyone else did.

jane

I actually finished something!

 Linking up with Quilt Story: Fabric Tuesday

 It's about time that I finally finished something substantial.  I started this over a year ago and put it aside.  The top was completely pieced at that point, so all I needed to do was to put it all together.  My guild is having a WIP challenge so the timing was perfect.   (However, the timing was not perfect for picture taking.)  It was a gray, rainy morning, but since I knew it would be dark before I got home from work, I made the best of it.

The fabric (Flurry, I think) is Kate Spain. I downloaded the pattern from her website last year.

The piecing was pretty easy.  I have some leftover fabric that I'm saving to make a couple of matching pillow covers. With any luck, they'll be ready for next year.

The backing fabric is some Robert Kaufman that I've had for a while.  The green dots are from my stash. The binding is Vintage Modern.

I really love the way it crinkled after it was washed and dried.

I still have a bunch of gifts to finish making.  No rest for the weary.

Almost forgot - I also finished this cowl.

The pattern is the Honey Cowl from Ravelry.  It was my first time using circular needles.  It was very easy and I've already made plans to start another.

jane