March A Lovely Year of Finishes

I finished my March project for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  I was so happy to have this off my pile, I felt like it was taunting me.

A while back I had seen a quilt a long for this quilt called the Pervalong.  I thought is was fun and interesting and decided to give it a try.  I started out and made the center square of the small quilt and then got distracted.  I blame my sewing ADD.  So the center sat and sat until I added a border and then another made of improv pieced fabrics.  And then it sat again.

I chose it as my March finish for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  For the finish I added another border and then quilted it to death.  Seriously, I machine stitched (semi) straight lines randomly across the quilt one way and then another, perpendicular to the first lines using about 2 and a half bobbins on this little quilt.  I feel like it might have been a bit of overkill, but I really like the look it gives the quilt.  

I made sure that strawberry was pieced so you could see it clearly, I kinda like how it pops out of the quilt.  

All the quilting on the back gives a plaid look to it. 

I am happy to have finished this quilt.  One more off my pile of unfinished quilts that seems to grow when I am not looking.  

Fun mail and hand stitching

The other day I got a fun unexpected package in the mail, yay!  Em sent me a a quilt block book.

Perfect reading for a couple days spent on the couch.  As I was flipping through it I found some blocks that are awesome and might be perfect for the Project Quilting bonus challenge.

Since I had to spend a couple days relaxing on the couch I figured it was a great time to start a new hand stitching project.  Prior to my nerve block I picked out a pattern and some fabrics and had it all set so I could start my project when I was ready.

I decided on a pattern my parents brought home from Hawaii for me (best souvenir you can bring me :) ) .  I traced my fabric onto freezer paper and pressed it onto the folded fabric.  Lots of safety pins were added to make sure the fabric didn't shift while I cut it out.

After I laid it all out, I ran a basting stitch around the applique.  And while I lounged with Boo Boo Penguin on my back, I started the needle turn applique.

It was going nice and smooth, especially since I had never tried needle turn before, until I realized I sewed it to myself.  Ugh!  Thankfully I caught it before I got too far.  I have a feeling this project is going to take a while.

Project Quilting Challenge 6

I am sad to say that this last week was the last Project Quilting for the season.  It was "Hooray for Spring" and I decided to really push myself for this one and "think outside the square".  For this challenge all I kept thinking was bright colors and the warm sun leading into summer traveling.  So that lead me to thinking I need a new overnight bag.  I had seen a Retro Travel Bag on the Riley Blake website and loved the shape, but wanted it a little bigger and had to make it really mine.

The sides were pieced with strips, sewn onto fuse-able interfacing then fused to the fabrics   Then, I layered that on top of batting then the Peltex and quilted a quarter inch from each seam.  The bottom is fuse to interfacing then quilted to the batting and Peltex the same way.  The top has an exposed pink zipper.  It is fully lined with a fun green polka dot print and a green lime slice looking print that I hand-stitched in.

I added rectangle rings to guide the strap which is a long loop that wraps underneath the bag, through fabric tubes, and has an adjustable tab to shorten or lengthen the straps. The bag measures at its widest 20 inches by 13 inches tall by 5.75" deep.

I won't lie, this bag was a pain to make.  I haven't had much structured bag making experience and learned a lot in this process.  This was an 8 needle bag.  Next time I think I can make it using less (at least I hope so!).

I am loving this bag and can't wait until I take my first trip to use it.  Thanks Kim for the great season of Project Quilting, looking forward to working on my bonus challenge.

Linking up with

Birthday Winner!

On Sunday I used Mr. Random and came up with the winner of my birthday giveaway.

Congratulations to Polly!  She posted...

Polly @ Helping Little HandsMarch 18, 2013 at 3:38 PM

Happy Birthday! On my last birthday, my husband watched the kids all day, so I could spend the day in my room sewing, working on a quilt. (At least that's how it was supposed to happen, with a few sick kiddos thrown into the mix, I did end up coming out of my room to help a bit at different points during the day, but for the most part I got the day to myself.) I'm not sure if that was my most fun birthday...but usually I don't do much on my own birthday.

Love the fabrics you chose too!

I will have your fabrics on the way to you this week. 

Happy Monday!

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!  I hope that the sun comes out for everyone today.  It is out here and my daffodils and chroscus are blooming.  It is so pretty.  Today is also free ice day at Ritas and free 4 oz of frozen yogurt at YoGo.

So, recently with all this hype of Google Reader dropping out it made em think about my blog and all the blogs I follow.  I love all the different posts I see and the inspiration I get from them.  So I decided claim my blog on Bloglovin. Follow on Bloglovin

Honestly, I use blogger and don't plan to stop, but in case something happens I still have my list of blogs I follow backed up.

Hope everyone is having a happy first day of spring!

Happy birthday...(Giveaway :) )

to me.  Haha, sounds funny to say that.  I decided for my birthday this year to have a giveaway.  I mean, why not share something that I love.  So I have 4 fat quarters waiting for a lucky winner.  When I looked at them this morning, I decided it needed a little more.  So, I added in a quarter of a yard of one of my most favorite fabrics ever that I have been hording saving forever.

The top, pink and green, is the quarter yard piece.  It is on old Michael Miller print that is oh so fun.  The other 4 I picked up at my LQS the other day.  Looking now, they don't really go together, haha.  I will probably throw in some 2.5 inch charms, too, because you know I love my little squares.

So to enter my giveaway just leave a comment telling me one of your most fun birthdays.  Mine was a couple years ago, my friends and I camped and kayaked all weekend.  I brought pink cupcakes and I had a tiara to wear as I boated.  Quite a few people asked if it was my 21'st birthday (which it wasn't) but of course I said, "yes, yes it is".  This year I had a fun birthday dinner with my sisters over the weekend, it was a fun night with just the three of us.

Good luck to all!  I will close the comments and choose a winner on Saturday, March 23 at 5 pm est.

Project Quilting, Challenge 5

Project Quilting challenge 5 went up on Sunday.  This weeks challenge is the Print Publications.  You choose a magazine, open to page 28 and use that as your inspiration.

I chose a Vegetarian Times magazine. Actually, I grabbed a few of them and they all had a similar color scheme and setup.

The colors on this page just popped so I couldn't help myself,  I had to go and find some at the fabric store.  (I was trying to sew all the challenges from my stash.)  So I picked up three Kona solids and mixed in a few batiks that I had.  So here is my creation for this week, I am calling it Frittata Quilt and it measures 32"x32".

It is more abstract, I pulled the colors and the placement of the plate, plus the glasses in the right hand corner.  There is free motion swirls on the solid blue on the front what were inspired by the batik blue.

The back was pieced with the left over Kona solids from the front.  I am loving how the swirls pop off the green on the back.

This was a really fun challenge.  I tried to step outside my box with it and love the outcome.  And I even hand stitched the binding on, so not the norm for me.  Can't wait to see all the other creations that this week brings.  You still have time to enter if you want, submissions aren't due until Sunday March 10 at noon.

And I just have to share this picture, my daffodils started blooming this week, just in time for this wonderful storm to hit the north east.  So here is the first daffodil blooming in the snow.