Scrappy Trip Along - Finish!

My first finish of 2013 - the scrappy trip along.  

I used half of an upcycled duvet cover for the backing and then made a scrappy binding and I hand-tied it using perle cotton.

I think I decided about halfway through the piecing that I was going to use this quilting method.  Every time I go in our basement to do laundry (which is quite often), I see this doll quilt  and always think how I want to make a person size hand tied patchwork quilt so I figured the scrappy trip along was close enough!

I'm happy with how the quilt came out but I really messed up the binding.  I decided to machine stitch the binding again using the stitch in the ditch method which worked well for me in this quilt but I don't know if it was because of the size difference or what but this time around I really struggled with it.  Plus, the stitching line doesn't blend in with the rest of the quilting like the last time because, well, there is no quilting!  Oh, well!  So, between the binding issues and the mismatched seams, just don't look too closely, okay?

And since I just realized that tomorrow is February 1st, here is my January mosaic (even though everything but the scrappy trip along was actually made in December!)

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts and Fresh Sewing Day.

wordless wednesdays

Linking to WIP Wednesday.

Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up

Last month, I participated in the happy little pouch hop along with one of my dearest friends from the online quilting world, Heidi from Fabric Mutt.  Heidi made this wonderful little  hexagon pouch that I absolutely adored so you can imagine my reaction when I received a holiday package from her in the mail a few weeks later and inside was none other than that little pouch!  And not only did Heidi send me the pouch but she stuffed it full with a variety of fabric scraps that she knew I would just love.

And speaking of fun fabric scraps, these in the above photo are from another one of my dearest friends that I met this year though this online sewing/quilting community, Nicole from Bold Goods.  Actually, though, these fabrics aren't mine - Nicole put together two adorable packages of fabrics for each of my two older daughters (but I convinced them to trade with me for that little dancing couple - I mean, seriously, how cute is that fabric!)  I've actually now met Nicole twice - in real life!  We don't live near each other but fortunately, she has some friends that live near me so twice now we've been able to sneak in a visit when she has been nearby.  And have I mentioned how much my daughters adore her? Especially my one year old!

And lastly, see these perfectly basted EPP hexagons - well, I'm not the one who basted them!  I finally went to my local modern quilt guild meeting last week and I am so glad that I did!  It was so fun to meet Instagram and blog friends in real life!  The basted hexagons and precut hexagon scraps are from Melinda from Quirky Granola Girl - she saw that I was working on a EPP hexagon project and gave these to me (I think she said they were leftover from this amazing quilt.)  There were so many great fabrics in the pile including a bunch of cute novelty ones that I had never seen before.  Fun, fun, fun!

1. Link up any recent sewing/quilting post.
2. In your post or on your blog, please include either a text link or a button letting people know about this link up.
3. Visit at least the two bloggers who link up before you and everyone who visits you from this post.
4. When the link tool asks for your name, write down a random fact about yourself that has nothing to do with sewing or quilting.

Scrappy Trip Along

Well, I have officially finished my largest quilt top to date.  

I made and pieced together 30 12" blocks - which might be small for most of you but it seems huge to me!  The blocks were fun to make and I could have happily kept on going but I stopped here thinking ahead to the actual quilting part.

I also used this opportunity to try to figure out some new places inside my house to take quilt pics since this top was too big to fit on the white brick wall in my sewing space that I usually use.  The photo above is on my couch in front of a large window that faces west.

This is the floor in front of the couch.  

The chair on the other side of the room.

And finally on my bed.  

Well, the photo taking is still a work in progress but I'm having fun experimenting with the possibilities!

Linking to Freshly Pieced and Crazy Mom Quilts.  

Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up

Just a quick post to let you know that my wonderful friend Heidi from Fabric Mutt is hosting this week's Let's Get Acquainted Link Up on her blog.  Click here to add your link and while you are there, I definitely recommend taking a look around her awesome blog and seeing all of her beautiful projects!

I'm excited to see what everyone has been working on.  I'll be posting in the next day or so about my scrappy trip along progress and an old crafty hobby that my daughters and I decided to pick up again this weekend!

Improv Star Quilt

Last month, I wrote a post about a table runner I made that was quite different from the original plan and had resulted in a few unused blocks.  One of those was a swoon block in some of my favorite Chicopee fabrics which I ultimately used as a starting point to make a couch quilt for my husband.  This might actually be the first thing I've made for him - not sure what else to say about that!

I didn't have a plan when making this quilt - just a color scheme and the one big block. 

 I started by making this star block.  

And then made some more of the wonky hourglass blocks from the original project.

Then I just started improvising and adding strips of fabrics in my chosen color palette like I did for this quilt.

I backed it in this sheet that I love.

And then used this opportunity to practice all sorts of different kinds of free motion quilting techniques and motifs.

Now it resides on our couch with my beloved folksy flannel quilt.

- 

And that's that!  He says he loves it and now really wants me to make some pillows for his office couch  out of a very specific yellow (um, maize) and blue fabric that you might have seen me post about on Instagram (I'm plumandjune there too.)

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.

Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up

zip pouches in the top photo - made by me

totally scrumptious triple chocolate ice cream pie - made by my husband

1. Link up any recent sewing/quilting posts.
2. In your post or on your blog, pleaseinclude either a text link or a button letting people know about this link up.
3. Visit at least the two bloggers who link up before you and everyone who visits you from this post.
4. When the link tool asks for your name, write down your favorite kind of pie!