Skinny Pinny Swap

Well today I sat down and made my Skinny Pinny for my partner swap. I had very little to go on as far as what she would like but I pulled out all kinds of trimmings and came up with these two. I kind of like them both… 

I filled the blue and pink with walnut shells and I really like how they work better than stuffing. 

As far as the pattern I used this one here but decided I would like to do something different so I used jelly rolls and changed the measurements a bit, but they still sat perfectly at my sewing machine. 

Isn't it funny where you get inspiration from? These little salt and pepper shakers were begging for me to take them home last summer, I still think they are so fun! It's amazing that this fabric was in my stash and complemented of all things my salt and pepper shakers! 

So now to debate what one to send!

Aurifil Block of The Month

This Months Aurifil Block of the month  comes from Amy Gibson from Stitchery Dickory Dock.

At first I wasn't so sure about this one, but now that it's together I LOVE it! I wanted to keep with the tone of my first block so I really tore up the sewing room to find some prints that all flowed with this block. The hardest part of of a BOM is not quite knowing what you will want to do with it. For the half square triangles I wanted to be sure to use 8 different fabrics because I knew they would be duplicated at least once. I didn't want to overpower it with one specific color. 

I think I did a pretty good job with the color choices. The top spools block goes pretty well with the triangle block! 

I can't wait to see what the next one is but I need to pack this one away in it's box until March to find out. 

In the meantime I hope to finish Pat Slones BOM this week as well, but it is a short month so we shall see! 

Anyone Notice the lack of cute Valentines Fabric?

Has anyone else noticed the lack of cute Valentines day fabric? I recently joined Quiltingboards  and joined the disappearing 4 patch swap.  Using the tutorial HERE we each make 6 blocks, using a Valentines day print and a solid print. I had the hardest time finding anything that was up my ally in the valentines day section so of course I wandered over to the remnants basket where I found 1/2 yard of Kona White and this cute pink banner print. To me this passes as Valentines day print don't you think? 

Mailing isn't until later in February but then I started to worry if I had enough fabric. So off to cutting. I am happy to say that 1/2 yard of each print was enough for 7 blocks. One for me, and 6 for everyone else!

As for the pattern it's self, after I made the first test block, I found that I had to reduce my seems to a scant 1/4 and press my seems open to get the 9 1/2 inch finished block, but other than that it came together fairly well. It is never a block I would choose to do for myself, so I'm glad it pushed me a bit. Lining up the points of the triangle and ensuring exact seem length. ( I have a confusion there has been more than a few times where I haven't gotten the exact measurements on a block and said well, good enough for me!)  was good for me! 

Globe Trotter block One Complete Kind of….

Well Pat Sloans Glob Trotter QAL has turned to be a bit more then I was ready for! 

First the pattern seemed a bit old fashioned for my tastes. But I thought with the right fabric selection, perhaps it would perk up a bit, and I could develop my skills a little bit with a pattern I would never select on my own. 

First was the fabric selection. While I have made quilts before I have never gone and selected a whole line of fabric for one quilt. I always work with hand-me-down fabric, or fabric from others stashes. So this process took and HOUR! Oh Yes you should have seen my cart. Sillyness! I pulled so many bolts out, compared, checked prices, checked the pattern and fabric requirements. By the time I selected everything I was ready to call it a night!

Of course I didn't

Then the cutting, then assembling 24 little half square triangles. 

I think I need to sharpen my seam ripper after this first block as well. The number of times I had to take the stitches out was making me more than a bit irate. 

So Finally two days later done, and I load it up to the flicker group here and realize something is wrong. 

At this point though, I am going to call it "my interpretation of" and call it a day. I don't dislike it, but It's not what I was going for either. But if anyone else asks I just modernized it a bit, I totally did it on purpose! HA! 

Aurifi Block Of the Month

The start of the year, and quiltalongs are popping up all over. I have always stayed on the outside of these quilt alongs, but this year I'm jumping in! Upon chance I stumbled upon Aurifi Block of the month and I just loved The Flicker group here.   Well this is an easy enough one to get my feet wet, so here is my first block! I love the fabrics that everyone has chosen for this. I raided my scrap bin for these and crossing my fingers I will have enough to finish this quilt without buying any fabric just to stretch out the last few blocks come December!