Tennessee & Kaffe Fassett

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately but a lot has been going on. I am preparing for our big move next week. YHEA!!! 


I also went home to Tennessee to visit my parents. While I was home our LQS was having a Kaffe Fassett event. He was in town with Liz Prior Lucy to sign and talk about their new book "Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts". I was lucky enough (because of a cancellation) to attend the lecture and book signing. His "Glorious Patchwork" book was one of the first quilting books I read and he is one of my quilting inspirations. He talked a lot about his use of color and pattens and how you shouldn't pay attention to the "color wheel" instead just listen to your emotions when it comes to laying out your colors. I really learned a lot! I wish I would have been able to attend his design class the next day but of course it was filled up!! Maybe next time.

The Floral Snowballs will be my first project from this book. It will be a gift for a very special person.

Since I have been packing, I have not done a lot of sewing on big projects but I did manage to do a few small things. 

I made these lovely pleated zipper pouches for some of my friends. I also made them for Mother's Day gifts (forgot to take a photo). The pattern/tutorial is from Skip To My Lue. It is really easy to follow and quick to make!

This is the first pillow I have made using Hexagons. I love how it turned out and it is going to a great home!

I also made this fabric flower for myself to wear on my new green cardigan! You can find the tutorial on Cluck. Cluck. Sew. What a great way to use your binding strips!

Happy Sewing Everybody!

K

Good News and Quilting Bee Blocks

We Have Sold Our House!!! Finally!!!! Fort Worth, TX here we come!
Our move date is May 16th and now we have to find a place in Fort Worth. That is my husbands assignment for this weekend. 
Of course we are moving during my Sew New To Me Quilting Bee month, but no worry I am currently cutting up fabric and getting it ready to mail. Here is a little sneak peek!


Yes! I am cutting in to my favorite HR fabric !



And here is a peek of an example block.


I also realized that I have never posted the other wonderful blocks I have made for the lovely women in our group. Here is a little mosaic - 

1. SNTM VQB Sneak Peek May, 2. SNTM VQB April Block for Jessica, 3. SNTM VQB March Block for Corey, 4. Sew New to Me VQB - for Faith, 5. Sew New To Me VQB January Block for Cristin, 6. Sew New To Me VQB January Block for Cristin, 7. Sew New To Me Virtual Quilting Bee November Block, 8. Sew New To Me Virtual Quilting Bee November Block, 9. Sew new to me quilting bee - Blocks for Heather 1, 10. Sew new to me quilting bee - Blocks for Heather 2


Drop by our Sew New to Me VQB flicker group anytime to see some more beautiful blocks and quilts!


I also finished the Paintbox quilt top & back. It has been quilted and the binding has been sewed on since the photos were taken. 




I decided to do a big square color wheel on the back.


I am now hand stitching the binding. I am hoping to get this finished before the big move!!
K

Progress

So, not much as been going on lately. My wonderful husband is coming home today to spend Easter weekend with me. YHEA! So not much sewing will be going on!


I also did a little re-design with my blog. I have been playing around with the new blogger template designer. I still don't understand how to do a lot of stuff. Any recommendations on blogger books or websites?


I have started the sashing on the Paintbox quilt. I am loving it!!! Now I need to start thinking about what to do on the back.





This is a WIP (work - in - progress) for a special project. I like were it is going! Loving the Heather Ross Mendocino line. I will also be using this line for my Sew New To Me quilting bee blocks! Can't wait till my month of  May!



On my design board now is a few block I made from the Hope Valley line. These block were made using a Jelly Roll and a pattern by Anne Dease called Twice as Nice. As soon as I finish the Paint Box quilt I will start working on this again.





Have a Happy Easter everyone!
K

Orange & White Craziness

I finally started on my Orange & White quilt this week. I have been collecting O&W fabric for a while but wasn't sure just how I wanted to work it into a quilt. Then I saw this wonderful tutorial on Oh, Fransson's blog for a Crazy 9 Patch Lattice Quilt and I knew it was perfect! Since I wanted a quilt bigger than the one in the tutorial I just added a couple of more rows to it. I have 45 of the 72 blocks made. 






I will also use a Kona tan as my solid blocks. 


I just don't like using a lot of white in my quilts. Does anybody else feel that way?


Hopefully I will get the rest of the O&W blocks done this weekend.
Then next week I will start sashing the Paintbox Owl quilt. 
I love it when I have projects to work on!


Everybody have a great weekend!
K

Picture Wednesday - Paintbox Squares Finished!!

I know, I know, I have been slacking off on my blogging, but making Hexagons has taken over my life! I have also been organizing and spring cleaning in my sewing room.
I did finally finish my Paintbox quilt-a-long squares. All 80 of them. I love, love, love how they turned out! I also love the layout I decided on. I will be using a Kona Charcoal to sash them with. I am hoping to get the quilt top finished sometime next week.







Next I will have to figure out what to do with the back. Any suggestions?

Picture Wednesday - Addicted to Hexagons!

Yes, I am now addicted to making Hexagons! Thanks Texas Freckles and everyone else in the quilting/blogging world that kept talking about how easy it was. I blame all of you for this new addiction! 



They are so much fun to make! It is the perfect project to work on while you watch TV. I have made about 40 of these little beauties so far and have a lot more cut out. 


It's amazing how much cuter the fabric looks when it is in a hexagon shape!



I want to make a lap quilt and with good timing, Melanie at Texas Freckles is starting a hexagon charm piece-a-long.



This will be a long project! I think I am going to go about it in "blocks". Make a 7hex x 7 hex block and then put them together. Hopefully this will make the project seem less "big".




I almost have my first row stitched together!
I will keep posting my progress on this quilt.


Happy St. Patrick's Day! Now go out and drink some green beer!
K

Friday!

I finished my first "getting paid for" quilt. The Stacked Coin quilt came out beautiful but I was not happy with the photos I took of it today (very cloudy here) so I will not be posting photos yet. I will see if I can get some better photos before I ship it out next week. 


I have been seeing a lot of my fellow quilters working on hexagons. I wasn't sure I wanted to try it until I read Melanie at Texas Freckles Blog. She had done some research and had links to other blogs on ways to make them. Apparently they are very addictive! So I have decided to give it a try. I picked up some 1.5" pre-cut hexagons at the quilt show last weekend. This will be my weekend project while I catch up on some TV shows.
If I become addicted - I am blaming Melanie! LOL!





I also worked on a few more Paintbox Quilt Along blocks. Only 28 more to go. Now I will have to decided on a sashing color? Charcoal Grey??





Don't forget that Target launches their Liberty of London line this Sunday!!! You know what I will be doing on Sunday!!
Have a great weekend!!
K