In Search of Food Fabrics

Phew.. I finally got THE best idea for my husband's 30th Birthday. He loves food, loves cooking, has tons of gadgets.. but he doesn't have a food quilt. So I'm in search of 5 or 6 inch squares that I can put together into a food quilt for him.

If anyone knows of a good site with a bunch of variety, or has some squares that they'd like to trade, just let me know! I'd love you forever and ever!

Thanks.

Be back tomorrow with a decent sized sewing update!

My First Quilting Bee - Fabrics are Ready to go!

Yahoo!

I decided what fabrics I was sending out for the My First Quilting Bee. I'm almost done hand quilting JellyBean's Beatrix Potter quilt, and she just needs another quilt. Since we moved in late June I just got around to clearing out one of my filing cabinet drawers, and lo and behold I found the *perfect* fabric for her new quilt.

I got this fabric when I was pregnant with Bean in 2008, and it's been sitting waiting to be made into something awesome.

I've decided to ask for improv blocks, or for the participants of the bee to do whatever they feel like with the fabric. Just be inspired by it.



And naturally I had to make 2 sample blocks. I do have 4 made, but can't find 2 of them!

Here are my sample improv blocks. They measure 12.5 inches, so they'll finish at 12.

Thinking about opening an Etsy...

So today I finally seriously started thinking about opening my own Etsy. I don't know what I'd really like to sell there, but I was thinking about putting together miniature quilt top kits.. but I don't know if that'd be a good idea or not. I've got a ton of fabric and I think I'd like to put together kits. I love cutting fabric - that's so calming to me!

Any ideas from my readers?

And.. I'm more mini quilt down in my 1000 promise. Before I want to send them off, I'm going to finish 10, so that means only 4 more to make and then I'm sending my 10 into Ami Simms. :)

Yay for productivity!

And, Terry and I started wrapping the gifts for Christmas. We got our tree today and put it up, so when it's settled down a bit and all decorated (probably Wednesday night) I'll have a nice photo to share with you!

First Snowfall is DONE! And a WIP

I just have to add the label to it and then I can show everyone! Next time I get it in my head to hand quilt with metallic thread, just smack me. It was so tough to get the quilting right with it. After one swirl, I realized I needed to double the thread (I know Quilt Police.. I know) but I was constantly breaking the thread and the only way I could get it to work and not break was to double it up. But in the end I think the doubled up metallic silver thread really looks awesome, and it looks like swirly snowflakes quilted in..

Hehe.. you have to wait until tomorrow to see the final photos.

And now, I've got no idea what to do with it, or where to put it. Terry and I moved into our house at the end of June, so our walls are still pretty bare.. and I'd like to keep it up for all of winter I think.

And just for fun.. here's Terry and me:


This is the WIP I was mentioning before:


This is going to probably also be hand quilted - the blocks are 12.5 inches each. Terry wanted me to make it for our wedding - 3 years ago! Oops.. I never finished it. I'm unsure of what design to quilt in it, I was thinking in each of the larger blocks something that is representative of us.. maybe in one block an outline of the USA, and one of the UK.. maybe an airplane, I'm just not sure. The quilt is about 120x120 without an extra border, and maybe I won't add one. I'm unsure about that. What would you do?

Sneak Peaks and more Progress

Whoo hoo. I realized as I was packing up my Scrappy Christmas Block Swap blocks to go to my partners, that they were 1 inch short. I thought I'd fixed them up, but I guess I didn't. So, I had to seam rip all of them and just have to add 1 more border to each block and then - off and mailing!

But here are the blocks so far:




And here is Aunt Janet's Dresden Plate in the process. The petals are sewn together and I'm appliqueing the center. No idea what color background it's going to go on, but I'm really liking it so far.



And as a possible quilt for the Holiday Quilt Swap - here's one sneaky peaky..


Possible Embellishments?



Or here's a pattern for the other idea I'm debating with:

Today's goals!

I joined a new Christmas Challenge found here Di's Christmas Challenge. The challenge is to finish 3 projects in time for Christmas. Think I can do it? I've got a bunch of stuff to do for Christmas, I'd really like this one to be mostly a handmade one, so I'm going to really try my best to get 3 projects done in August, especially since I go back to work in September.

Currently I'm running a load of laundry - actually pre-washing the fabric I'm going to be using for the Scrappy Christmas Block Swap. Especially since I've got a lot of reds, I don't want them to bleed when the recipients of my blocks receive them.

Edited:



I'll edit this post later tonight with some pictures of my progress. Till later!
Jenn

Photos, Freebies, Idea and a Swap

Phew - the title of the post says it all huh? First things first - I finished 1 more block on JellyBean's quilt - I'll take pictures of that later. I need to charge the camera battery. It's coming together nicely, if I do say so myself.

I also made a block. I used up some scraps to make it, and now that the one block is made, I've no idea what to do with it.


Freebies: While surfing the web I found this site: http://www.lizzyhouse.typepad.com/freeabee/ <- all these goodies will only be available until August 15 - grab them while you can! It's got great ideas for all you crafty people. I'm sure some of you know about the site already, but I figured I'd share anyway.

Idea: Fall Quilt Contest <- I'm entering this one, I've never done a contest before (I've always been afraid of it!) I'll let you all know when I've completed my quilt. I've got a good idea for what I'm going to do for this, and I'll share some sneak-peaks as I make it. My goal is to start it this weekend - and since it can be a wall-hanging, I've got the time to do it. And if I can transfer my idea onto paper and then onto fabric, it just might look good.

My second Idea is coming together for the Block of the Month that I'll be offering here for free. I'm working on a sketch that can be used for Applique or Embroidery for a quilt block, or a mini quilt. I'm going to start the Block of the Month in September, I think that'll be the easiest thing for me to do, and put it up at the 1st of each month. I'm planning on having each of the unfinished blocks be 12.5 inches, so finished they'll be 12". And here's a hint - it'll have a teddy bear in it.

And the Swap: I've signed up for ModernJax's Scrappy Christmas Block Swap (see link to the right). It's closed for sign ups now, but I figured out some of the fabrics I'm going to use for my blocks. This will be my first swap in a long time - so I really hope what I make is up to par with those of you who do swapping regularly. But of course, I just *had* to buy more Christmas fabric, because you can never have enough.. or enough fabric in general. I don't need more fabric, but that's ok.. it's for all those "future" projects. Since I participated in the FabShopHop I found some amazing stores that had Christmas fabric for pretty cheap - so naturally I had to get some. But here is a sampling of the fabrics I'll be using for the Scrappy Christmas Block Swap:


Close up of what will be the center of the blocks:
This one is a little glittery. I love this fabric, and I've been saving it for the right project:


And I love this fabric too -it's SnowPeople!


All the Fabrics I've got so far:












A Few Close Ups of Bordering Fabrics:










And just for fun - my stash:

I do have more in a Rubbermaid tote, but this is the majority of the fabric I have.