July was full of blues

July marked the use of blues from my scraps -- I made my colored strips that i am getting ever so close to having the major 6 colors all finished so I will be able to make an awesome rainbow quilt once I make the orange ones. 

I got the scrap bin made early on in the month as well. 

I got my green string blocks put into a future charity or baby quilt 

and then I whipped up a blue charity / baby quilt. 

I spent a great deal of the month putting together some patters that I am testing for a friend so I can't show you guys 2 quilt tops I did manage to put together but here's a preview of the fabrics i used -- all from stash. 

instead I will show off this rascal of a cat that is making sewing extra challenging lately. She steals my layout spot, my chair and here lately she tries to reach for the rotary cutter or whatever project I am sewing on.

I did buy some fabric this month for a mini quilt that I will be making for a guild swap with the Houston guilt coming up in September -- I love these fabrics and am pretty sure my partner does too, especially since I know her in real life.

I was queen bee in one of my hives this month and choose migration blocks. I love the ones that I made, 

and as more are coming in they are all looking so great together, still waiting on 2 ladies to arrive but I know one is in the mail. 

For my other hives I made a hidden gems block (this one took me 3 tries to get the colors in the right place even with marking them),

and a fun variation of a 9 patch -- mine are on the bottom row.

For the traveling quilts i added mountain's majesty blocks for Becky's quilt but she wan't things to be a surprise for her so I can't share that either but they were pretty awesome. 

I finished my Tessellations quilt top and got it shipped off to the longarmer for her magic. 

I showed you guys my completed swoon already in it's own post.

My Feather weight project is nearly complete and she's a fun candy purple now -- the bobbin case just needs a little tweeking on the reassembly and i am sure that she will be sewing in no time. This machine was found in an outdoor junk pile by a friend a few years ago and wasn't 100% then so even if it becomes just for display I love it. Her name is Bridgett -- my mother's nickname when she was being stubborn. 

and managed to make a bunch of frankien batting for most of my charity quilts. These will be great practice pieces for the longarm some time soon. 

Wow July was busier than I remembered and I know August will be as well since it's vacation time and my aspirations are high. The end of August is also a fun girls weekend in the mountains and many things need to get under way before then to have a super pruductive time. 

Savings Challenge time

It's time to link back up with Val and join in on the savings challenge that I have been a part of for the last 4 years, 

Per usual I will be saving my loose change and some bills for the next year with the hopes of a slush fund for fabric shopping and the excitement of something bigger after the year. This year I will be storing my bills under the watchful eye of Darth Vader. 

My real goal is to beat my small total from this past year but I'm also hoping that my savings this year will go toward a quilt retreat next year or a fun trip somewhere. 

Swooning -- a completion

I've been a fan of Thimble Blossom's Swoon pattern for some time but never seemed to get around to making it. 

I bought Pat Bravo's Rock N Romance line with the intention of making a queen size quilt for my bed out of it but put it off. 

Earlier this year swoon came around again in a quilt along and I joined up. Now by this time my love of doing a huge quilt from the line had wained and we have a bed quilt that my husband loves so I regrouped on the design and narrowed things down to a patchwork version of swoon. 

I made a few modifications to be easier on the math with these prints and have had the top completed since March, when I sent it to the The Green Apricot for quilting. 

Angela (and Juan) did a great job with it and all I had left was to bind it. Truth be told i got the binding attached right after stash bash but then never got around to turning it. 

I am happy to report that it is now complete and all ready for display in my bedroom. 

This is my 1st finish for the 3rd quarter finish a long. 

Mammoth Undertaking -- a completion

Every now and then in life we stumble into a person that from the beginning we have a connection that is deep and we know that our life is changed because they are now a part of it.

For me this story starts 2 years ago. It was my first stash bash and I was anxious about meeting all these new people. To be honest it didn't start out as a great time because of some negative interactions I had right at the beginning but then there was this one chick on the other side of the room that kept stalking me. Everytime I went to the cutting table or iron there she was, anytime I went to the side room to lay something out there she was again. We joked about her stalking me and at one point I think I was convinced she was my secret sister. Turns out she wasn't but she was an awesome chick and through social media we kept in touch and made plans to meet up at the next retreat and hang out more. So now we've been to a total of 4 retreats together and plan to see each other more once they move later this summer. 

Before retreat this year she proposed a private swap -- ok sounds great. we knew we were doing a quilt swap but when it came to specifics I asked mini quilts or throws, we take the plunge and commit to throws (which for us loosely translates to a twin size bed quilt). I knew right away in looking through her pinterest and knowing her love of Alabama that I wanted to make her Violet Craft's Abstract Elephant. 

After some discussion it was determined that it should be in teals instead of grey and I set forth to find a great fabric group to make this happen.  

As it started to come together the project became more exciting. 

I determined that I would send it out to The Cotton Farm Fabrics for quilting and Charlene did a remarkable job. 

Then I got it bound in some fun Cotton and steel 

and had some fun taking pictures of this mamoth undertaking. 

It was a real pleasure making this for Mallory and I know that she will cherish it for many years to come.  For me she made an AMAZING Tula Pink rainbow shadowbox that she had Tula sign at Quilt Con -- I love it and her so much. 

Mr. Pink also finds it an amazing spot to cuddle. 

Mallory is one of the few that i put in the category of "my people" -- I am forever grateful for stash bash and bringing her into my live and know that we are destine to be friends a very long time.  

Piggy Bank Challenge Results

Each July Val hosts a Piggy Bank Challenge -- I've been doing this challenge the last 3 years and usually I do pretty well. We have a year to see what kind of savings we can generate from change or loose bills and then decide on what our splurge item will be and then we start the challenge over for another year. 

This year I managed to save $338.50 -- That's not nearly as good as my savings in the previous years but I have dipped into it a few times recently. 

My husband and I got a new to us 2000 4 Runner and we have been making some upgrades to it. 

I also bought a FQ Bundle of Tula Pink's new line Spirit Animal that a friend snagged for me on an instagram sale. 

I also got a layer cake of Sunprint 2017

And I pulled money out already to order her new line diving board, that is coming out soon.

In non fabric purchases I am planning a small trip later in the summer and I am sure the funds will come in handy then.