Feathers on Feathers - a finish Friday

This one has been a long time coming!

I finally finished my Feather Quilt, made from blocks from my Make It Modern Bee (from ages ago).  It was my January challenge for my Lazy Bum UFO group (it was also my November challenge that didn't get finished).  It's nice to start the year off with a finished challenge.

I asked my bee mates to make feather blocks in fall colors with a white, cream or gray background.  I really love how it turned out.

I also tried out a new background filler - all over feathers.  From a distance, my quilting looks pretty good, but up close, my feathers still look like drunken seaweed.  However, as I tell people who ask about other FMQ motifs, sometimes it takes quilting a whole quilt to really let a design sink in.  I could definitely see some improvement in the plume shapes towards the end.

I may need to revisit this feather block again soon too.  I've seen some really lovely mini's made from just one feather.

Also, just a heads up:  I am participating in a Eclectic Elements Blog Hop coming up on Wednesday, February 11th and hosted by Nicola at Sunshine Reflections.   So if you are a fan of the line from Tim Holz, I hope you will stop by and see what I've been making.


Thanks for reading today,

Jen


Linking up with:

Mixing it up with more Geese - Building Blocks Tuesday

I've been on a Flying Geese tear lately.  I made these Remixed Geese for Green in the We Bee With It Bee.

The Remixed Geese pattern is free on Robert Kaufman's site.  It is a fun pattern and these geese whip up pretty quickly.  Kathinca in my Lazy Bum group is making one with wild high-contrast colors.  I'll show the blocks I made for her next week.  I can't wait to see how it comes out.

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Partly Cloudy Skies - Building Blocks Tuesday

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but my Lazy Bum UFO group has formed a little bee within the group.  You see, some of us** like to reward ourselves with a new project whenever we finish up an old one. So formed a little group to exchange blocks and we agreed to have a Flying Geese theme.  We all picked projects with Flying Geese in them, though as you will see as I share the blocks in posts to come, they range widely.  As long as the block had a goose in it, it qualified.

**I don't really fall into this category.  I start new projects at will, whether or not I've finished an old one or not.  But this block exchange sounded too fun to pass up, so I agreed to join up.

This block is for Rachel, and I love the colors she chose, yellow and gray!    It is a very Sunny block, but technically the skies are gray, so does that make it a Partly Cloudy block??  That's what I've decided to call it.

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Foxy Finish - a finish Friday

I am just under the wire here, but my fox mini is done!

(This is a miniaturized version of Elizabeth Hartman's "Fancy Fox" pattern.)

Even though I finished the quilting on Wednesday, I couldn't sew at all yesterday, and hand binding takes a while.  Luckily, I had a bit of time today.

The shipping deadline is Monday, which is of course a post office holiday, so really TOMORROW!  So, I am really just under the wire here.  I have all my goodies ready to go, so it's off to the post office!

***UPDATE: Shipping deadline is actually Friday (for those of you who read my post earlier and panicked).  I guess I wrote down Monday on my calendar so I wouldn't be late.

I really hope my partner likes this quilt.  If she doesn't, I might cry because I didn't get to keep it myself.  I suppose the cure for that would be to make one for myself, but who has time for that?


Thanks for reading today,

Jen


Linking up with:

Quilting foxy faces - WIP Wednesday

Has it really been over 6 months since I've linked up to a WIP Wednesday?  Geez!

This Wednesday, I've got two projects in progress.  Today, I spent a bit of time quilting my Schnitzel and Boo Mini quilt.

I actually didn't want to quilt through those cute faces.  By quilting chevrons in all the negative space, it really made those foxy faces pop.  Now you know me, I really like to quilt the Dickens out of things, but I tried to hold back.  I considered quilting some matchbook lines inside some of the chevron lines, but I determined that would detract from those faces.  Having the lines uneven distances from one another added enough interest, so I just let it be.  And I'm pretty happy with the result.  Now I just need to bind and label it.  I need to mail it out by Monday, so I better crack the whip!

The other WIP, is my Feather Quilt.  My fellow Lazy Bums decided this would be my January UFO challenge.  This was a kind choice, since it was the nearest to completion; as of December it was all SID'd and ready for quilting.  I will have you all know this quilt has traveled about 500 miles in this condition without a single extra stitch.  Once I realized that, I knew I needed to do something!  So, I did....

Quilting was commenced and finished!  I even have the binding on, it just needs to be turned and stitched down.  I am heavily leaning toward machine binding so I can call it done.  I will decided tomorrow.

Perhaps, I will have at least one finish this Friday.  Stay tuned!

As always, thanks for reading,

Jen

Linking up with:

 

Quilt as You Go Scrappy Log Cabin blocks - Building Blocks Tuesday

When I am procrastinating properly, I tend to pick up projects that are easy and fun, yet still have some merit.  This week, I found myself making these Quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) Scrappy Log Cabin blocks.  They served several purposes: they helped me use up some of my scraps, they let me participate in the Scrappy Log Cabin QAL on Instagram, and eventually, they will be made into scrap baskets to hold even more scraps.  I wish I could take credit for the idea for the last one, but it is out of the book Sunday Morning Quilts by Cheryl Arkison and Amanda Jean Nyberg.

I procrastinated my way through several colors, and nearly depleted my orange scraps altogether!  Let's not forget, it is a color I have only recently learned to love.

In the end, I have 3 colors done, plus a few random coaster size ones for fun.  Now I suppose I will have to get to work on some of the things I have been procrastinating about, including bee blocks, quilting my Schnitzel and Boo Mini for swap, and a few different pouches that MUST be made by the end of the month.

Onward!

Would anyone be interested in a tutorial how I make these?

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Annual Contemplation Time

This is the time of year that I contemplate the New Year and what I want to accomplish or focus on.  I usually start this process by looking back on the year that has passed.

It was a pretty good year for projects!  Though I made a lot more smaller quilts vs. the large ones of 2013, the smaller ones were more intricate and challenging for the most part.

Also this time last year:

• I signed up for a 6 month Fabric Diet (and included Craftsy classes in the diet too).  I made it all the way to February before I broke down and ordered a bunch of fabric.  Ironically, my Epic Fail post was one of my most popular posts.  I guess the guilty-minded like company. I did much better avoiding buying new Craftsy classes.  In fact, I think I went most of the year without adding any, until that last big sale, that is.
• I was not going to worry about finishing UFO's - if they got worked on, great!  If they didn't, I wasn't going to feel guilty about it.  Ironically, the first few months of the year, I finished more UFO's than I had in the entire previous year.  My UFO busting did wear off in the middle of the year, and while I've made some progress on several, I haven't finished one in a while.  But, I don't feel guilty, and I guess that was the point.
• I wanted to finish up all my Star of Africa bee blocks - once I decided to go out of order and just finish them as the ideas came to me, it was a breeze!  Again, February was the lucky month when I could report those blocks were all done!  
• I was going to work on things as it struck my fancy.  I think initially, this was great.  I finished a lot more items in the beginning of the year.  I just sat down at my machine and asked myself, "What do you want to work on today?".  It was lovely.  I guess, the freshness wore off somewhere in the middle of the year as I started working on things with deadlines or because they were the items still sitting on my table.
• I wanted to connect and reconnect with friends I've made through these quilty-interwebs (without signing up for swaps, etc.).  I noticed that I was getting a lot fewer comments, and was myself commenting less and less. The interaction was depleted.  As with most resolutions, I started off the year well commenting on friends blogs and responding to all my comments, but somewhere in the middle I started getting lazy.  Well, not really lazy so much as I didn't want to spend all my time in front of the computer and instead went down to sew.  I also discovered that it wasn't really helping all that much.  I got a lot more communication and interaction later in the year when I joined a bee and a couple of swaps.  Instagram has also helped I think.  I think that platform is just so easy to comment on or get a validation with a "like".
• I also was planning on rewarding myself if all my resolutions were going well.  Yeah, I'm not so good at the holding back on rewards.  I am the Queen of Rationalization.  So another epic fail there.
• I also wanted to update the look of my blog.  Well, as you can see, I just got around to doing that.  What do you think?  Are the pictures too big at the top?  I need some feedback.

So some successes, and some failures.  Par for the course, right?  Now what to do for the upcoming year....I thought long and hard about what I wanted to resolve to do this year.  I considered all the things I want to learn or get better at.  I thought about the friendships I've made and how much fun it is to make new friends.  I even paused to remember the UFO's, PHD's, and WIP's I have laying around.  And you know what I came up with?  I just want to sew as much as possible.  So, that's what I'm going to do!

• Participation!  I am probably overdoing it a bit, but I can't wait for some of these fun things to start!  
• There is the Scrappy Log Cabin QAL on Instagram - so convenient since scrappy log cabins are something I wanted to do with a few of my scrap piles.  This QAL has already started, and I haven't sewn a single block yet.  But there is always tomorrow.  And I did pull out the "piles" I was referring to - so that's a start.
• And the Sew My Stash 2015 year long support group, hosted by Project Leasa.  Ironically, I just downloaded a Stash Report spreadsheet from Pam at Hip to Be a Square Podcast right after purchasing some Cotton & Steel basics.  I clearly need help.

• The Arcadia QAL at Sassafras Lane - I already got my pattern in the mail!  I saw this one and couldn't help myself.  I need to decide if I am going to make the rainbow or another version.  The rainbow is calling me, but there is another rainbow quilt on the horizon..  
• I joined the 2015 Skill builder BOM at Pile o'Fabric.  Alyssa has designed a stunning quilt, which of course is shown in a rainbow of color that may just have to be how I make it too.
• Then there is The Rainbow Mini Swap that is in progress
• There is also a Tula Pink mini swap I joined.
• And a Spring Fling Mini swap that I'm waiting to hear back on too.
• I'm still signed up for the We Bee With it Bee
• And just joined the Bee Hive Bee
• Lazy Bums, I haven't forgotten about you either!
• What's next?
• Well, later in the year - obviously, I will be busy for a while with these swaps - I do want to try my hand at making some kind of garment.  I've got several patterns.  I just need to pick one and go for it.
• I also want to get going with Inspirational Sunday's again.  It's been a while since I've been to a quilt show to get any pics, but that will change shortly as I am off to Austin, TX for QuiltCon next month
• Beyond that?
• Who knows??
• Perhaps I will start my own swap or bee later in the year.

Have you signed up for anything interesting?  What are your resolutions for 2015?

Busy is as busy does!  Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

More Mini Fox blocks - Building Blocks Tuesday

Hooray!  First Building Blocks of the New Year!

Well, you've already seen the blocks I worked on over the holiday, but they are just so cute I have to show them again.

I mean, how cute are these little guys?  I admit I was beyond excited when their little faces started coming together.

I miniaturized the blocks from Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Fox pattern down to 3 inches x 4 inches, so that I could fit a whole bunch together to make a mini for my Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap partner.

I got the top all put together before our guests arrived for the long holiday weekend, but then I had to put it away.

Everyone has gone home now, but I spent most of the day today running errands and doing laundry (not exciting).  So, I haven't had a chance to back and quilt this little quilt.  I'm not planning on doing anything fancy, but I'm not sure yet exactly what.

Has anyone made any Ashley's Stars yet?

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Around the World continues

Just a quick reminder to let you know the fun is continuing over at Mrs. Pickles Garden and Karma Willow Designs today.  Please go check out what Hayley and Katie have to say.  Personally, I really enjoyed hearing more about Hayley's "Perfectly Imperfect" style and Katie's story about how she got started quilting and how her husband encourages her quilting!  My husband is still asking, "Why do you need more fabric?"

Thanks for reading,

Jen