Saturday, June 25, 2011

Kaleidoscoping

Hello, lovelies!

My rotary cutter and I got a workout the past couple days: I'm making a lap-size quilt for the Kaleidoscope Quilt Along over at Don't Call Me Betsy, and the cutting instructions went up on Thursday. I've been working in chunks--90 minutes of cutting seems to be my max before I begin to worry about slicing fingers and need a break--and this morning I finished!

Kaleidoscope QAL: Scraps

Saturday, June 18, 2011

FNSI results! And beautiful flowers!

Hello, lovelies!

It's a muggy Saturday here, and my sewing room is becoming a guest room for a couple days, so Friday Night Sew-In was my last chance at the machine for a few days!

But before I share my results, I want to point you in the direction of an artist friend of mine: Tracie Thompson in Minneapolis. I love pretty much everything she does! Case in point, her watercolor flower sketches:

Irises Peonies
Petunias Poppies

Aren't they cheerful? I'm thinking I may need at least one of these lovely watercolors for my sewing room! Unless one of y'all get to them first--Tracie has good prices, and she'll ship all over. (She does pet portraits, too--OMG SO ADORABLE--I encourage you to check her blog out! Each picture takes you to Tracie's blog, where you can also see the flowers in much better detail.)

And now for FNSI results! I got two blocks done last night (one for the layer cake QAL and one for the jelly-roll Quilt of Valor, and as always, click for bigger):

Layer Cake QAL: Block 8

Quilt of Valor: Block 10

And behind the cut, more pictures--I've gotten a lot done this week!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Friday Night Sew-In Tonight!

Hello, lovelies!

I hope everyone is having a lovely Friday--I certainly am! It's beautiful outside, and my house is clean(er than it used to be), and it's been a delightful Zoe-and-Mom day. I'm looking forward to doing some sewing tonight!

Handmade by Heidi

Care to join us?

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Growlery

Growlery growl'er-ee, n (English; cf. Dutch grollen, to grumble)
A retreat for times of ill humour. This term has largely become obsolete, which is strange, given that so many people seem to have a place to go when they are in a bad mood - a place to be alone and think. It's similar in meaning to the Latin-derived sanctum sanctorum, with the added connotation that the individual in question is going to the place to be alone while upset. (From Forthright's Favourite Words)
An excellent word of the day, don't you think? It also happens to be perfect to describe my sewing room this past week: I had a few days where I really needed the escape!

Good thing I had a bunch of stuff already cut, eh?

I have *LOTS* of pictures to share, so I'll start with a yummy stack of fabric. That's right, my fabric for the Kaleidoscope Quilt Along arrived this week! It's mostly Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain (SO PRETTY OMG), and the 'solid' I found is a white tone-on-tone that has adorable flowers and vines that go perfectly with the other fabric.

Kaleidoscope QAL: Fabric!

There's still time to join! C'mon, you know you want to...

And follow the cut for many many pictures!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Quilting Along!

Hello!

It's a fine Sunday morning--I'm out on my deck, feeling the breeze between my toes, and it's wonderful! This week has seen me in my sewing room more often (yay!), so I actually have some sewing progress to share (double yay!). I'm catching up on a couple quilt-alongs and getting ready to start another--but I won't get behind on that one, honest!

First up, my first three blocks for an informal quilt-along I'm doing with my mother-in-law (as always, click for bigger pics):

Quilt of Valor blocks: All together