Throwback

I've always looked at little quilted pictures, where some interesting fabric is framed by some other fabrics, and have been wanted to do something similar but never seemed to remember that when I was picking out new projects. But it finally came to me while I was thinking of what to do with that awesome grey fabric I bought a little while back. I found some fabric to coordinate, but as it was predominantly white I didn't want to do anything large with it. So I thought it'd make the perfect frame.

Then I used my newly acquired and still shaky free motion quilting skills to quilt it. There's another one to come, but progress had to be halted in order to watch a nerve-wracking Steelers game. But it was a pretty quick project, and with a 2nd one to match I think it'll make for some pretty cool wall decor. I put grommets in the top corners and some sheer ribbon, but the hooks that I hung it on are obviously not what I will use- it was just what happened to be available for me to snap a quick photo of it.

Go Steelers!

Free Motion Quilting- hoorah!

I took the best class this weekend with my mom at Quilter's Corner on free motion quilting. We didn't make anything worth showing in the class because it was all just practicing a skill. But I had so much fun that I bought a panel to practice on. Turns out it's pretty quick to hammer out a small project and it was so much fun.

The fabric was bought with that picture printed on it- I did all the stitching on top of it.
I love that it's forgiving of mistakes and there's so much freedom in what you can do with it. Sooo much fun! I feel like a whole world has opened to me by learning how to do this. My mind keeps reeling with ideas.
I was the happiest kid in class when the instructor told me after a few minutes of practice that she could tell I was going to be good at this. Now, you know that's what we nerds love to hear!

cupcakes

Inspired by an item I saw while shopping online, I made an emergency trip to Michael's for some yarn to try to make cupcakes with. I wanted a flat cupcake so that I could string some together to form a scarf, and most of the patterns I found online were for 3-dimensional cupcakes. So I tried to wing it, and I'm not so sure I wound up with a cupcake.

But Boris does keep going over to it to sniff it so perhaps it resembles a cupcake at least.
I think I'm going to keep working on this until I get a good cupcake.

My morning project went superbly well, though. I had a blast tearing through these potholders. I used up all the Christmas fabric then made one out of some scraps that I swiped out of my mom's stash.

They have pockets on the back (top picture) so there's something to grip. I got the pattern out of a serger book my mom had and the pattern looked complicated, but turned out to be quite simple- genius actually.

I put my first Christmas presents in the mail today and couldn't keep the smile off my face at the post office. I've never been so early with my Christmas gifting and I'm loving it. It really lets me put the thought and love into it that the people in my life deserve.

Looking forward to Friday's free-motion quilting class...pictures will follow...

Cabled Chapeau

Made from a Debbie Stoller pattern and with Debbie Stoller's new yarn. And there's a reason my blog is mostly pictures and not a writing blog...

Pinwheels

I used that fabulous little tool that I found last week to make a small table runner. I love these colors- a nice variation from my standard pinks and reds. And it was so much fun to stitch, cut then stitch again and watch the pinwheels come to life.

I have enough charm squares left over to do another one, too. Just need to find a use for them...

Now I'm off to Michael's to get some yarn to knit a sweater- something I haven't done in a long time. It's definitely sweater-making weather, though. Get myself some movies, some hot chocolate and I might be able to cope with the fact that it's supposed to snow today...We'll see.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Being oh so new to the experience of blogging, I thought I'd go ahead anyway and take part in the 2010 Blogger's Quilt Festival.

I'm also pretty new to the whole quilting game. This is one of the first quilts that I actually completed, so obviously I learned a lot in the process. But what I love most about this quilt is that it's all completely and totally my own. I had gone to the fabric store without anything in mind, picked up a handful of fat quarters that appealed to me, and on the way out I saw a triangle template and grabbed it just for the fun of it. I went home that afternoon and started cutting...starting sewing triangles together...and pretty soon the picture in my mind was complete. I knew exactly what this fabric was supposed to be.
I loved the entire experience and this quilt will always hold a very special place in my heart. It makes me happy just to look at it, and as this weather is getting cooler, it feels so lovely wrapped around my shoulders.
So thank you, blogging world, for giving even a newbie like me an outlet and a place to show my handiwork. It's fabulous to look at all the quilts that have been submitted.