I'm Still Here.

I'm still here...still reading blogs and being inspired by others.  I'm just taking a sewing break.  It will be a short one.  I have no desire to stay away from my sewing machine for too long. My husband and I are currently purging our home to get ready for a church garage sale and we are going room by room getting rid of the excess.  Since we both work full time, the evenings after the kids are in bed are the only time to truly get any work done. It feels good to know we are getting rid of things that are cluttering our lives and hopefully raise some money for a good cause through the garage sale.  Our goal is to be done by this weekend.  I'll be sewing again soon and turning out those MSBHQAL blocks at record speed and figuring out what exactly I'm doing for the back of the Patriotic Quilt.  Wish me luck!

MSBHQAL: Block 3 of 9

Block #3

MSBHQAL: Block 2 of 9

I spent Monday evening cutting the rest of the fabric for the remainder of the blocks.  Yesterday was spent sewing all the strips together with their center sashing and piecing the second block.  Now that all the strips are sewn, I should be able to pick up speed on the blocks and get those knocked out soon.

Here's a mock-up layout that I'll be updating as I finish more blocks.

Patriotic Quilt Top!

I had a wonderful quilting weekend.  I was able to finish up the top of my mother's patriotic quilt.  I'm so glad to have that done and now it's time to start working on the back.  I'm not sure what I'll be doing for the back yet, but I do have some ideas floating around.

I also attended the monthly Memphis-Area Modern Quilt Guild yesterday, which I hosted in my home.  It's so much fun to get together with other passionate quilters.  We are a new guild with a lot of potential.  We covered and accepted our bi-laws for the guild and then we had a wonderful show and tell.  We have so much talent in our group!  We also got our hands dirty with a fun fat-quarter swap.  It's always great when you get to walk away with some wonderful fabric.

Quilting Gallery Contest!

Hey, everyone!  I entered the Quilting Gallery: Leaves, Trees, & Flowers Contest with my Petals Quilt!  Use the link above to stop by, pick your favorites and vote!

Arkansas Traveler DONE!

Whew...it has been a long journey for this quilt.  The planning for this quilt started in early June.  A dear friend asked me to make a quilt for her soon-to-be-born niece and I quickly accepted the job because I had been eager for an excuse to try out the Arkansas Traveler pattern.  Once I had all my fabric, I started cutting in mid-July and finished piecing towards the end of August.  I'm so thankful I had a productive Labor Day holiday to finally finish the backing, basting, quilting and binding for this quilt.  The recipient has already been born (5 weeks early!!!) and is eagerly awaiting her quilt.  So without further adieu, here it is!

The colors are so bright and vibrant.  The pattern gives off a scrappy vibe, which I LOVE and really compliments all theses fabrics together.  For the quilting, I echoed around the outside of each diamond shape creating a cool star pattern.  I also placed diagonal lines right through the center of each diamond all the way through the quilt.   The backing really shows off the quilting design.

The main backing fabric is out of the Carnaby Street collection and can be found in the Arkansas Traveler blocks on the front.  I used up the scraps left over from the diamonds by sewing them together and placing them vertically on the back.  This really adds a point of interest to the backing.  I also used one of the pink fabrics for the initial to help tie it all together. 

This was my introduction to paper-piecing and I may be taking a break from anything paper for a while.  I LOVE the final results, but I'm not sure I loved the sewing fabric to paper to just rip it all off.  I felt like there was a lot of waste involved...paper, fabric and time.  I'm more of a regular piecing kind of gal...at least for now.

I will be placing this quilt into a box in a few days and saying my farewells.  I know it will have a wonderful home and I will have my pictures to remember the journey we embarked on together.

MSBHQAL: Block 1 of 9

Here's my first block...not too shabby!