yummy new Christmas treats!

No of course I'm not talking about the crazy amount of candy and food that was consumed in the last week (not to mention wine too...) I'm talking about my new fabric treats!
I got Malka Dubrawsky's new book and I want to make almost everything in it. This is kind of rare for me, but I found her projects really inspiring. My aunts gave me these kona bundles (to go with my new Kona cotton color card!).
And some gifts to myself....
Z and S fabrics had a one-day 50% off sale. As much as I was mad at my friend for telling me about this (not really) I made out big with some Early Bird, Dolce, Nicey Jane and a few other assorted prints. I got the delivery yesterday and Buddy goes, "I'm so proud of you buying prints instead of just solids!" Well, there was a yard of Kona Kelly in there too. haha.


Merry (belated) Christmas and happy new year!

Thanks for looking!

p.s. New Year's resolution - blog more!!!

Quilting bee

I'm so glad that I joined the quilting bee organized by the New England Modern Quilting Guild. It's been a great way to stay connected and to share ideas with each other even though I don't get to see those guys any more. This month was Rebecca's and she was inspired by an Ingrid Press quilt, asking us to use neutral solids around a print "center" and using some other prints/solids as accents. I really, really enjoyed making these blocks and can't wait for Laurie's next month!

It might be hard to tell in the pictures, but the fabrics are mostly neutrals - shades of tan, light blue, light yellow, I added a very pale pink, and then I used a deep purple for an accent strip in the top one. I hope you like them Rebecca! :)

I saw this sewing machine in the National Museum of American History in DC over Thanksgiving weekend. It's amazing to see how basic these machines were in their origins compared to how they are now!

Thanks for looking!

Project Modern entry

I am really excited to share with you my entry for the Project Modern competition run by The Modern Quilt Guild! We were to make a quilt inspired by something we could provide a photograph of. I decided to do a fall themed quilt because I have been missing fall in New England since moving to Seattle. I found this photograph by Eric Valentine through a google image search and used it as inspiration for my quilt (with his permission)!

His version:
My version:

I quilted it with mostly straight lines, but didn't beat myself up when they were crooked. I wanted it to look and feel as organic as possible. You can see I've left the edges of the fabric raw for the same reason. The watery background is made entirely from my stash - with Konas and one medium gray pin dot fabric.

The patchwork for these leaves was also made entirely from scraps in my stash, using Heat 'n Bond and then cutting out the shapes free-hand. I fused them to the background, but stitched them on as well, to resemble veins.

Because I quilted it before attaching the leaves (so the leaves would really pop) you can see the vein stitching on the back. Eh, all in all I love the back - especially these fabrics from Alexander Henry's Farmdale collection. The gray is Kona Ash, which has a tendency to show up in quilts I make... haha.

Winners are announced on December 15th - wish me luck! I'm just looking forward to finding out what the next challenge is! :)

Thanks for looking!