New Denyse Schmidt fabric

After seeing other posts pop up about Denyse Schmidt's line for Joann's, I thought I'd go check it out for myself. The store near me only had a few of the prints, but I fell in love with this one and bought a yard to make a tote. I used this tutorial, but adjusted it to be a bit smaller. It's still pretty big for a shoulder bag, which I love.

I have had this red print in my stash for awhile and have been waiting for the perfect project. I love how they go together!

Sometimes it just feels so good to start and finish a project in the same day!

Mini Quilt Sunday

I'm not sure I've ever posted twice in one day, but I made this mini quilt today and had to share. In a book of graphic patterns I took out from the library I saw a painting that inspired this quilt. I was planning to make a pillow out of this, but decided in the end that it will hold up better being up on the wall. Plus it goes really well next to my green couch. :)

I have also been thinking about doing something similar and experimenting with fabric paint/stencils. The background is osnaburg, which was the main neutral in this quilt. I love the texture of it.

This was my first time doing free motion on my new machine and it didn't come out that great. Apparently Janome sells another foot that's better for this, but it's sold separately. After today I think that will be well worth it.

I bound it with one of the herringbone prints from the Modern Meadow line and LOVE how that looks as a binding! Uh oh... :)

Fabric influx

Wow. The fabric diet is OVER. I came home to two packages on my door step - Pips have arrived from Fat Quarter Shop and I got some great goodies from Sew Fresh Fabrics too!

Yesterday a few friends from my guild and I hopped on the ferry to Bainbridge Island for a trip to Pink Chalk Fabrics!!! They don't have a store front, but we were able to visit, do some shopping, see Kathy's FABULOUS space and dig through some amazing scraps! I was in solids heaven - I wish I got a picture, but I just stared endlessly at a wall of konas and free spirit designer solids. YUM!

I love to support a local shop - so I did what I had to do... :) This yellow print from Aviary 2 is gorgeous, and I got some kona stone, buttercup, charcoal, cerise, berry and slate to go with.

And I got to take home these scraps I got from the solids pile.

No this pile is not all the new fabric I bought this week (although that does take up a considerable portion of it) but this is what I'm calling the "overstock" (i.e. fabric that will not fit in my drawers. Better get sewing! :)

And lastly a BIG thanks to Kathy for hosting our group. We all had a great time!

My bee month has arrived!

After months of agony, I decided to follow this block as inspiration for my bee month. Some may have noticed I love solids and I wanted to use the blue Erin McMorris fabric in the middle as my starting point. It is one of my favorite prints of all time and I have hardly ever even used a bit of it! I gathered some coordinating prints and a bunch of solids, cut it all up and sent it out.


Maybe this was backwards order, but I felt rushed to get the fabric out and didn't make my own version of the block until afterward. I don't LOVE my first attempt but I really like this free way of piecing. As I went along, I decided some things didn't look right, so I just sliced it apart, tested out different arrangements and kept on.



It's as pretty fun way to do it and also takes out the need to piece teeny tiny squares and get the same effect. I cannot get this last picture to upload right side up - bah! I hope my fellow bee-ers enjoy making it too!

Thanks for looking!