Bricks Quilt

Also known as the "when are we moving to Florida?" quilt. I just love the colors though ~ so Summery. I used the idea from the Strawberry Fields Bricks Quilt on Moda Bake Shop, but changed up the sizes a little. The white squares are 3" finished and the rectangles are 3" x 6" finished.The backing looks like it was meant to be for this quilt. Actually I bought it on sale a couple of years ago for $5 a yard. I had 6 yards knowing it would make a perfect backing some day.

I quilted it in wavy lines and swirls...

kind of giving the impression of sand and waves.

Dreaming of my home near the beach :)

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Catch up time...

After several weeks of traveling, I'm home again and catching up on things. Thought I'd share a little of what I've been up to.

The girls' dresses turned out really cute. When I made the sash on "Mary's Fancy Sash" dress from Girl's World, I thought it looked kind of big for a little girl. Turned out it was, so we just left it off.

It's really difficult to keep these two still!

While in California, I also attended the Long Beach Quilts International show. It was interesting because I was disappointed in how few modern fabrics I found in the vendor booths. On the way home I listened to an interview with Alissa, one of the founders of the Modern Quilt Guild. She said that she got the idea for the guild after attending the Long Beach show and seeing modern quilting poorly represented. Hopefully in time we'll see more and more.

I decided not to break any copyright laws and post the show quilt pictures (yes, I have a lawyer in the family, but he's way to busy to defend his Mom). I did get permission from Becky Goldsmith of Piece O' Cake designs to show this one. It was one of my favorite quilts in the show and it's published in their book Quilt A New Christmas. I'm so tempted to make this quilt - but it sure does have a lot of circles!

I brought my daughter a bag of fabric scraps when I visited and she came up with this awesome project. You can read all about how she did it on her blog.

Last week I was on a quilt retreat. We had a beautiful and productive week. Unfortunately my pictures did not come out well - too much wonderful sunshine. I'm going to try and round some up and try again - so hopefully I'll have some better pictures soon. For now here's a pretty set of blocks using "12 Days of Christmas".

I did a bit of sewing this weekend and made my daughter a new thread catcher. Her old one was dated - so 1990's! The fabric is Hullabaloo and I found a quick and easy tutorial here.

So now that I'm home for a bit, I've got a few projects planned including redecorating the guest room. The painting's done and I'm on to the sewing part. Yeah!

And I'm starting a new quilt for Maddy's big girl bed. The fabric is Dena Designs and I'm doing a "Sliced Coin" quilt designed by Elizabeth at Don't Call me Betsy.

So now we're caught up!

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Quilting this and that...

Not too much sewing to report on. I just got home from a 10 day trip to California. Lots of playing and giggling and a bit of fabric buying. We made 2 trips to Maisonette and I added to my Loulouthi collection and my Joel Dewberry Heirloom collection.

This cute cupcake fabric will be a new pillow for the soon-to-be four year old. I made a "three" pillow last year and I was asked to use prettier fabric for this years addition. I hope these cupcakes (with some glitter that doesn't show in the picture) will suffice!
We also took a trip to the Long Beach Quilts International show. I'll have some quilt pictures next week. I did pick up this layer cake of Treasures and Tidbits by Piece O'Cake. I'm hoping it may work for this American Jane pattern I've been wanting to do.
I also bought an Oliver + S pattern for an adorable dress. I've heard their patterns are extremely well written - I'm going to give it a try - fingers crossed - it has buttons up the back!
So tomorrow I'm headed off on another quilt retreat. I'm feeling a bit unorganized, but I have fabric and a sewing machine - so I think I'm good to go.
Triangles will keep me busy!
And I squeezed in an hour today to start my STL Modern Quilt Guild challenge using Jay McCarroll's Habitat collection. We're allowed to add solids only. I'm cut out with 2 blocks made and I think I'm on a roll.

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All Wrapped Up...

All Wrapped Up - pattern by Heather Mulder Peterson in Stop, Drop and Roll. Made about a year ago...
And just back from the quilter...
Bound and ready to snuggle!

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Churn Dash Block!

I was invited to participate in the Designer's challenge for Issue 6 of Fat Quarterly magazine. The theme was Churn Dash and here's my block. I think it deserves to be part of a quilt, so I'm playing with that idea. I'm in love with the orange, teal and gray color combo!Be sure to check out Issue 6 for lots of wonderful ideas!!!

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Swoon 7, 8, and 9

And three more makes nine! Block 7...And 8...
And 9... {It's not quite as pale as it looks in the bright sunlight}
I'm excited to put these together!

And to keep up my paper piecing skills, I made this paper pieced block - part of the Summer Sampler series. Just love the block ~ there will probably be more...

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The perfect travel bag...

At least I hope so! In anticipation of an upcoming trip, I customized one of my favorite bag patterns - The Six pack Tote - and sized it to carry all my travel needs. The fabric is Outside Oslo by Jessica Jones in decorator weight.I think it's a good little travel companion!
A couple of new dresses are going with me. This one from Girl's World by Jennifer Paganelli, recommended by Mary Claire. It's a great book filled with tons of girly projects.
And this one Simplicity pattern 5695. Also a recommendation from Mary Claire.
And a cute pillow case. Could't resist this fabric.

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