I finally finished knitting Anne Shirley. I loved making this- the pattern repeat was simple enough that I memorized it, but interesting enough that it was still fun to knit. And I love the fact that it can be worn without blocking, because I hate blocking. So instead I'm going for the more shibori-like effect, which I actually like- the texture is great.

Haven't used my sewing machine much lately because I've been obsessed with finishing this, and I'm so happy that I did.
I'm expecting two exciting packages in the mail this week: I ordered some batting to finish a project or two and some extra supplies to make $50 so I could get free shipping; and the quilt top that I sent off to be quilted is on its way back to me, so I'll just have to bind it and it'll be done. I started this one over a year ago so I'm beyond excited to complete it. Pictures to follow, naturally.

I made the Awesome Lap Quilt from the Moda Bakeshop with the jelly roll of Plume that I won a few weeks ago. I love the fabrics- they're even more vibrant than they appear in the photos.  

Today I'm going to add the borders to the Mozambique quilt, then I'll have 3 quilt tops recently completed that need to be finished, and I guess I'll change my focus for a little bit from piecing to quilting. I really have a lot to learn in that realm, so I'm going to have to throw myself into it wholeheartedly. Wish me luck ;)

I love birds

I fell in love with this bird fabric the first time I saw it ages ago; after pointing it out and drooling over it a million times I finally broke down and bought it. I wanted large blocks to show off the birds as much as possible.

When (if) it stops snowing, I'm going to take it to my local quilt shop to try to find a backing for it. If there's nothing there that'll go with it, I'll order the complement in the Rumba line by Hoodie for Blank Quilting. I'd like the immediate gratification of finding something local, though. With the smaller size of this, I might even be able to quilt it myself. 

I came home to some new fabrics that I ordered, too. Poppies in the Spice colorway by Michael Miller, that made me swoon when I saw it. So maybe today will see me cutting into that. Or into the jelly roll that I won. We'll see what the day brings...I love being able to sew on these snowy days when the thought of going outside makes me cringe. It brings some warmth to my life.

A sunny cold day and some fat quarters

First off, I won some awesome fabric from Lilac Lane in the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day. I was pretty stoked to win, since there were hundreds of entrants to each giveaway I visited. So I'm looking forward to getting that package in the mail, thanks Lilac Lane!

When I want to pick up a new little project but don't know what to do, I usually stand at my ironing board pressing fabrics- fat quarters or scraps or any little leftovers- until inspiration hits. I wound up with 6 fat quarters, cut them up and made half square triangles with them.

Then I had moments of pure joy playing with the squares and realizing that I have soooo many possibilities for layout.

I can do squares:

Or stripes:

Or pinwheels:

Or alternate the triangles:

There's probably even more I can do. How am I going to decide? The fun part will be piecing them all together. I don't think it'll wind up to be very big, so I don't know what I'll do with it, but sometimes it's more about the process than the end results. And sometimes it's the other way around.

Layout for the Moz blocks

I laid out the blocks I cut to get an idea for how they should be arranged. I think I hit the nail on the head on the first try. They look stunning together, don't they? A little lopsided and wonky because I had to lay them out on the bed, over my soft, cozy, warm, inviting bedspread that I got to linger in this morning, thanks to getting called off work. It was a perfect day to sleep in, and now it's a perfect day to get sewing.

Little Box- perfect snowy afternoon project

I made a little box from a tutorial on ps I quilt; I left off the handles because I wanted a box for my coffee table odds 'n' ends instead of a little mini-tote. 

There's nothing in the picture for context, but it's small- about as wide as my hand is long. It was a fun little afternoon project.

Gettin' My Mozambique On

After staring at these fabrics for a few months now, I got up the guts to start cutting. I wanted to keep the integrity of the designs, since they're so beautiful in and of themselves, so I wanted large blocks. I cut each of the small-patterned fabrics into 12" squares; I have 15 squares of each of those 3 prints = 45 12" squares to start from.

The fabric with the clover-shaped design wouldn't allow for squares to be cut around the design because of how they were laid out against each other, so I thought about fussy-cutting them and then appliqueing them. Now, I'm thinking the design might be too big to applique them all on...

I might have to wait until the squares are put together to decide how/how many of this design to applique. But since I can't get straight edges/square corners out of this, I think applique is my only option.

Again, any thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcome- I like brainstorming ideas; I love to hear what other people think when they see something.

On another note: starting this blog has altered the way I look at my projects and the way I process them in my head. I'm now in love with taking pictures as I go along and spending time looking at the pictures and processing it that way. It provides me a very different perspective- a bonus to starting this blog that I never anticipated.