Broken hearted swapper

Here lately there seems to be a phenomenon of swapers flaking out on swaps -- I know some of these people have a real unavoidable reason to not complete the items but that is where communication comes in and many times a swap angel can be assigned and the package may be delayed a little, but when people don't communicate someone is left hanging and it breaks down that person's willingness to participate in the future. (Bad swap packages can do this too but that is for another time.) 

I have been fortunate to this point that I have not had a flake as a partner yet and you guys know I've done a lot of swaps, but when it happens to someone close to you it seems more personal and you are compelled to make things right. 

I had talked my quilty best friend and adopted mama into giving instagram swapping a chance and mid January and she has not received a package -- I get the word from my dr that I can start venturing around more and push myself so I decide that she needs something to remind her that she isn't forgotten. 

I had a project in my mind for a while but hadn't started it b/c the time hadn't felt right but now it seemed like the best excuse to put this into action. I got my Cotton and Steele mini charm pack of basics and some kona solid I had on hand and whipped up this pixelated heart mini. 

I cheated on this one and used grided interfacing to keep my colors in the right places but I like the results and I didn't have to sew a million little seams and worry about pressing and nesting.

It's going to fit right in her sewing studio and I know she loves it already because she helped me with the layout and didn't even know it. 

So, Craktpot this one is for you.

First finish for 2016 is in the books and this one is extra special. 

Bee Hives 2016

I was new to hives last year and decided that this year I would join up with 2 hives again. When we got our monthly assignments I was excited to be near the beginning of the year but that meant I had to really get on things when it came to picking out blocks and colors. My first month as queen bee was going to be in February as a part of the Bee Hive blocks that were hosted by Alyce last year, so this at least narrowed down the blocks to choose from. 

I decided that this year's bee blocks will be making up a quilt will be for my husband (since the one that he has claimed was one of my first ones and it is looking a bit shabby in spots). I'm going with the Wanta Fanta block with modifications to make it more man friendly (cause there is a lot of white in most of the examples I have seen). 

He loves Purples, grey and white. So the first step to make this block more man friendly is to inverse the fabrics -- in your blocks the background pieces will be replaced with purples and the colored areas will be assorted low volume fabrics -- whites and grays with accents of black.

I pulled some fabrics out of my stash and scraps.

For this block I also tried to think of a way to make it scrappy and I wanted more interest. I came across this quilt online that uses similar shapes and I really liked the nine patch effect in the centers..  

This result can be achieved in the WF block by creating a 6.5 inch nine patch of 2.5 inch squares instead of using a solid 6.5 inch square. 

If you are not a fan of sewing the white corners on after making the 9 patch to create the snowball effect, this can be remedied by replacing the corners of your 9 patch with Half square triangle units. It's easy -- take a 3 inch square of purple and one of Low volume to create 2.5 inch HST units by drawing a line in the center and sewing 1/4 inch on either side. I like to use 3.25 inch squares and trim them down to ensure that my units are crisp. 

Careful fabric placement on the x units will result in the complete triangle effect on the points. I found using 4 different fabrics and marking my paper templates helped keep me keep track of which pieces were going to meet up together on the final block. 

Please remove paper before shipping, i don't feel that these blocks will shift as much as others I have made in the past.

Here is my completed test block and I am very eager to see the blocks that you all come up with. 

I'm glad that I am making it something slightly different than the tutorial initially called for but I know that my husband is going to greatly enjoy this quilt when it's all put together. 

I'll be queen in the Stash bee group in March and I haven't decided if I will have them make these block or if I'm going with the Arkansas snowflake (rainbow stars on low volume backgrounds) that have been floating in my mind for some time. The 5 inch paper pieced version goes together quickly and is scrap friendly. -- Here are a version I made for a hive mate last year and they turned out delightful. 

Happy Quilting everyone. 

linked up at 

City Sampler January report

Linking up with Michelle over at Crayon Box Quilts to show my progress with the Tula Pink City Sampler. 

In the last 5 months I have been able to complete -- blocks (which you can see here, here and here). I wanted to get all 70 blocks completed before Stash Bash but as you all know that did not happen and now this break in my foot has limited me in sewing and I had barely touched this project for the last 2 months. My goal for this month if I am being realistic is probably having 50 blocks completed but I'd love to be able to finish all 70 so that I can start on layout and assembly next month. 

In October at the check in the book looked like this ... 

and now it looks like this.... 

See all those little blue tabs -- those are the blocks left to make to get to 70 blocks. You see, I'm also in the process of reevaluating my layout options and I may be choosing to make only 56 blocks (7 x 8 layout) or maybe 63 (7 x 9 layout) depending on how I like the blocks that I have made and how many more in the book that I actually want to make. 

So on to the blocks that I was able to complete.

#33: block 19

#34: block 16

#35: block 49

#36: block 61

#37: block 67

#38: block 88

#39: block 17

#40: block 34

#41: block 94

#42: block 76

#43: block 70

#44: block 65

#45: block 14

#46: block 41

#47: block 44

#48: block 53

Holy Cow that's a lot of blocks, but there are at least 8 more to be made and probably more like 22. I am still loving this project and I even resorted my fabrics this weekend to make sure that I am not leaving out fabrics that I really wanted to include because they got buried in the pile. 

I'm hoping that this winter weather threat that we have for this weekend means sewing time because I've got the itch to put these guys together, soon. 

I have resumed sewing in my sewing room rather than the living room make shift area so that makes me a happy gal and also pleases several of the kitties. 

Happy Quilting everyone -- can't wait to see your progress. 

Linking up with 

2016 Quilting Resolutions

I like making goals, lists and resolutions and whenever a new year starts there are so many fun link ups to join up with so I have decided to throw my hat in on all of them. They all feed off one another and have different goals and time frames. 

First I'll start with the shortest term goal it's a monthly goal plan and is being hosted by Red Letter Quilts -- fun short term goals and hopefully will keep me on track with the larger plans.

My OMG will be to complete the top for my seat cover quilt -- maybe the whole project if I get lucky. 

Next up is the 3 month plan of the quarterly link up for finish along. 2016 has brought some changes to the Finish along and it feels like it will be a good thing -- there are various blogs to link up with and a great group of ladies is now leading this link up to share the fun and spread the word. I've been participating in this link up for the last year and a half and  am throwing out my list of UFP's to hopefully motivate me to keep going on these goals and get some lovely finishes as well as meet new bloggers. 

My carry over goals from 2015 for started projects are .... 

1. kaleidoscope quilt -- ready for backing and basting
2. Tula Pink Sampler quilt -- 32 of 70 blocks made
3. Tessellations Quilt -- half the blocks are made
4. Seat cover or car quilt for Honda -- ready for assembly
5. Spellbound Quilt -- ready for backing and basting
6. Scrappy Cross Roads Quilt -- blocks are ready to be assembled into a top but I may need to make a few. 
7. Moda Modern Building blocks -- 1/3 of the blocks are made (maybe I'll make an abridged version) 
8. Scrappy Trip along quilt -- pile of blocks potentially for 2 charity quilts 
9. Rush Hour Quilt -- needs quilting (my oldest UFO)
10. Scrapped Blocks -- ready for backing and basting 
11. Sew Original BOM -- ready for filler blocks and assembly (this one might be a charity quilt)

My Wish list projects include... 

1. Kate Spain Christmas Quilt (#Sewmystash2016 goal 1)
2. Bag Project pattern I got for Christmas 
3. Swoon
4. Lucky 21
5. Triad 86 quilt for Hubs
6. Kitten Mini Swap (due 4/20) 
7. Skinny Mini Swap (due 2/26)
8. Churn Dash Sampler Quilt 
9. Large Star Quilt
10. Bonnie Hunter's latest Mystery Quilt Allietare
11. Make something with my Quick Curves Ruler 
12. Pixelated Cotton and Steele Heart
13. Priory Square Quilt 
14. Cat Nap Quilt
15. Honda Door Covers 
16. Honda Dash Mat Revamp 
17. stash bash revamp project (4/15)
18. Folk Song Quilt 
19. Mountain's Majesty quilt 
20. sewing machine pouch
21. something from my orphan blocks

I'm also linking up with Jen over at Quilter in the closet for her 100 days challenge where we come up with 3 goals for the first 100 days of the year 

1. Complete at least 2 of my carry over projects from 2015

2. Decrease my stash by 50 yards or more -- through destash or use in ongoing projects

3. Make time to blog every week and link up with other bloggers. 

In the long term for 2016 there is another fun Challenge going on with Stephanie at A quarter inch from the edge  where everyone sets up a manifesto and determines what rules to follow this year as they undertake taming of the stash. 

In my Manafesto I elect to ...

1. Use more coveted fabrics
2. Make meaningful fabric purchases 
3. Use stashed fabric for bee blocks and swaps 
4. destash things I'm not going to use
5. Track fabrics use from the stash 

Lastly I'm linking up with Leasa of Project Leasa for another round of  Sew My Stash -- last year i was motivated my this link up and managed to purge so many yards of stashed fabric and came out with a stash 150 yards lighter at the end of the year. 

 The link up isn't necessarily about destashing but using coveted fabrics and working with things that we have on hand, it fits nicely with my other goals / manifesto. The initial challenge was to identify special stashed fabric that will be worked with this year -- I choose my Kate Spain Christmas Charm packs since I have nearly all of them now. I may make another jewel box quilt or find another charm friendly project to make. Turns out now I will be waiting a little longer to start this one as Kate announced the next holiday line (North Woods) and I'll be wanting to put that one in too. 

The second challenge is to reevaluate our fabric and crafting supplies and declutter things that no longer fit our style or are things that we will probably not use. I'm off to see what I can accomplish in that department as well. 

Lots of great link ups and I'm sure there will be others as I catch up on my blog reading. I'm hoping to find a few more swaps to join as the year progresses and maintain my bee blocks this year because they were great fun last year and I met some really great new people. Happy 2016 Everyone!!