June Sewing and Stashing

June started slow enough and the heat is getting really hard on me here in NC. I'm back to sewing but I am trying to take things slow so that I will not end up back in that lovely hand brace. I can tell that my hand is getting stronger and I know before to long I will be back at it 100%.

This month I started a new and awesome project when I went to a workshop with Kathleen Baden to learn how to make Alison Glass' Tessellations quilt. I've had this pattern since I went to the AG trunk show 9 months ago and I probably could have figured things out on my own but I really needed that motivation of a workshop to at least get things started. I figured out what fabric I wanted on the back and bought this lovely voile from Trailer Stash Fabrics when they came to the guild meeting a few months back -- 3 yards pulled for use. 

For the front I decided that I would start in my stash and pull out all the things that I had on hand and see what I needed to add in as I started to put things together -- and as you can see I had a wonderful helper, demanding the inclusion of more orange.

Well. the pattern calls for 25 fat Quarters but I kept pulling and ended up with around 30+ fabrics some fqs, some large scraps and some half yards -- an estimated 9 yards of fabric. 

The first blocks are coming together and I'm excited to see where this quilt will end up as I keep making more of it -- this surely won't be the last time you see this quilt. 

I did get my bee block made for this month  -- half a yard used 

I'm queen bee in one of the hives this month and the lady in hive 3 is MIA -- so only one block to make. These 2 were 6 month hives and a lot of fun to participate in, the other hive will be all year. 

We went to Greenville for Father's day weekend --so you all know that means that no sewing happened. It also means no fabric purchased because there aren't any good shops in that area.

I did buy solids for a quilt that I will be making to represent the different members of the Triad 86 car group. (+8 yards ) 

I did some minor sewing through the end of the month and attended a sew in but all these projects are still in the WIP pile, which means they will be going on the goals list for the upcoming quarter. 

I finished up the month with having bought 8 yards and with having pulled / used 12.5 yards. So put that with last month's totals and I am sill in the positive 72.5 yards for the year. 

Spring Fling Mini Swap

I know you all are starting to think all I ever do is make swaps and bee blocks lately and really it's starting to feel that way. 

This one was all about spring time and I was partnered up to make for Kimberly Russell (@kipperson) who loves Amy Butler and the color purple. I am a fan of some of Amy Butler but not a super fan so I searched around and found out that there isn't a whole lot of purple in Amy Buttler (at least what I was able to find) but I did find this lovely fabric -- 

and did the rest of my fabric pull from there (mostly stash). 

Being in the Spring theme I wanted to make something that looked like a flower so I went for a paper pieced Dresden, then I added to it to make it really special.  

I added some quilting, this was my first time using invisible thread and I seriously love it and I love the results.

and so does Kimberly. 

She liked me extras that I threw in, too. 

Be sure to check out all the great minis that I've gotten in the last 6 weeks in my other post. 

Rainbow Swap -- #rainbowteamorange

Since I am all about swaps, sometimes I get paired up with people that I have been admiring for a while and this time I got paired up with Carrie Hanson of Gotcha Covered Quilting. I know that she has great taste and is super generous as she is often one of the sponsors in swaps that I have been in -- so if you haven't checked out her awesome shop you probably should head on over there (once you finish reading of course). 

So, now that I knew who my partner was my initial idea of doing a color block and then fancy smancy quilting was thrown out the window. 

I didn't feel that either of these options were really where I wanted to go with this mini, even though I still really liked the one on the left. 

Now it was time to regroup and do another fabric pull to see where this mini was headed. 

Well sometimes the back up and punt turns into something spectacular and I am really happy with the outcome. 

I got to use my accuquilt and a die that I had been wanting to use for a while and I felt that she would really love the outcome -- and guess what, so did she!!

Extras were all about rainbows too. 

Now it's time to wait and see what I receive -- I'll be putting all my received packages together in a big post once the four of them arrive by mid April.  

Sewing or Stashing in March

March always starts out rough for me and this year was no different, the anniversary of meeting my husband falls between dates of great loss in my life. So to try and feel better about things I often buy fabric or over indulge in food (this year I went for both).

My first purchases of March were from Quilting Quest in Lexington and Mary Joe's in Gastonia. The shop in Lexington is closing shortly and I wanted at least one more trip there before they did but I didn't find many things that I really wanted but Mary Joe's more than made up for it and my total purchases for the day was a whopping 17 yards, but I felt good about them because nearly all has an intended project.

Next up in March I decided to finally join the Forsyth Piecers and Quilters guild and it was just in time for the guild yard sale meeting. I have been wanting to join for some time but the dates didn't line up for me but this was a great reason to put forth more effort into joining them. I sold approx 50+ yards of fabric and over 2 paper boxes worth of other stuff. (This is the left overs that will be heading ot the Guild meeting in April.)

March is coasting right along with swaps getting sent out and some other pay it forward type mail this included 2.5 yards more fabric.

I went to the Charlotte Quilt Guild show and bought a charm pack and a yard worth of fabric -- pretty good for me. I also got that really cool vintage piece that looks like the start of a pillow, I'm thinking about trying some hand quilting on it (GASP!!). (+2)

Trailer Stash had it's grand opening I got a great new shirt from Patchwork Threads, a pattern and half a yard of linen.  

Hubs and I went to the mountains once this month and stopped at a lovely shop I had found last time we were there -- it resulted in a 15 yard purchase. I just couldn't pass up 10 1/2  yards of Flea Market Fancy for $10 -- and the other 5.5 yards of lovelies that I acquired. (+16)

Trailer Stash Fabrics came by Triad Modern Quilt Guild and Gina did a great job speaking about this awesome endeavor that she is undertaking with the love and support of her husband and family. I decided that I wanted to get some Voile for an upcoming quilt back -- it's my first time with really buying Voile so I sprang for +4.5 yards of some delicious Anna Maria Horner that I will be using as my inspiration for when I attend a Workshop in June for Allison Glass' Tessellation Quilt. 


So after a slow start there was some making this month..... 
My bee blocks -- about a yard
I pattern tested a bag -- another 2 yards.
Made another Sew together bag for a shop I will be teaching at next month -- 2 yards.
I pulled fabrics for upcoming projects --

• Alison Glass Mini Quilt -- 2 yards
• Spring Mini Quilt -- 2 yards
• Stash Bash Secret Sister Swap (2 items and extras) -- 5 yards 
• Tote bag for me -- 3 yards 
• Sewing mat, sew together and thread bin for me -- 5 yards 

March's totals are 74.5 yards pulled / used, 40 yards purchased -- a -34.5 yard use for this month. Putting that with January (-8) and February (-3) I am currently 45.5 yards lighter in my stash. 

Since I will be heading to Stash Bash in a few short weeks I am continuously thinking about the projects that I want to take with me -- they need to be containable to my work area so I am thinking that this will be an excellent opportunity to work on my Swoon Quilt, Lucky 21 quilt and perhaps pull fabric for another new quilt. April might be a month of great progress.

Triad Modern Quilt Guild will be holding our Yard Sale in April and hopefully I can purge out the rest of my pulled fabric then. 

Bee Blocks for March

Last week I had a huge pile of things that went out in the mail -- several swaps, a custom order, a few pay it forwards but also my Bee Blocks went out. 

We Be Learning blocks went to Deb and she chose ribbon stars. This is a block I had not made before and while they are lovely I don't know that I want to make them again. She said think Spring, I know these are all going to look great when put together. 

We bee with it blocks were for Celeste and she chose wonky star 16 patches -- this block is so much fun to put together and see what can be done with scraps. She wanted a blue and greens one and an all pinks one. These blocks are great and definitely something that I could see my self using many more of my scrap squares to make. 

Stash Bee blocks were made for Robin and she wanted it to be Half Square Mania -- any block as long as it was all HSTs. I managed to flip flop a couple of my blocks and ended up with same fabric touching but I still like the result. 

These bee blocks are becoming one of my favorite things to make each month. The We bee learning and we bee with it are only 6 month hives and it's hard to think that in a few short months they will be done -- perhaps I will sign up for the next round as well. I was hive queen last month and all my blocks have trickled in and I had to make a few more to round everything out but here is the result so far. 

I get the be queen again in June and then in September and I am so happy that I chose to do these blocks for all of them because this quilt is going to be AWESOME. 

Kitten MQS

Another cat themed swap? Why yes, don't mind if I do.

This time I made for Jeana Schaaf, (@jeanaschaaf) she loves bright colors, rainbows and Japanese themed things --- now who does that sound like?

Initially I pulled out all my cat fabrics that I had on hand -- I'm supposed to be sewing my stash after all.However, Nothing felt quite right and I thought about it for a while and contemplated making her a mini of rainbow kitty heads and had almost settled on this idea and then I went to the annual quilt show in Statesville and I found something that was absolutely perfect for me (i mean her).

I had already decided that I was going to do a pattern called apple pie by Sew What Sherlock and now I had my focal point and it was time to play with color so I pulled out some other lovelies to go with my perfect fabric.

I whipped her up and this was the outcome. You all know how prone I am to making modifications when putting a pattern together (and sometimes I ignore the pattern all together).

I went with a simple --- for my quilting and here she is all finished up and ready to ship. 

Now swaps aren't the same to me without extras -- so here's what I found for her and her fur babies.

Her response -------

Now it's time to wait and see what I receive -- I'll be putting all my received packages together in a big post once the four of them arrive by mid April.  

Studio Ghibli Swap

My partner for this one happened to be one of the awesome moderators Felice Regina (@iamlunasol). She happens to love Kiki's delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle so I really wanted to make something that represented both movies. I too love Kiki's and all the colors and scenery so I used this movie as a basis for my colors -- I went with a mini horizon charm Pack that I had been holding onto for some time and some stashed special fabrics to createanother sew together bag. I wanted to make this bag because to me it reminds me of Howl's Castle -- so much more room inside that you would expect and has lots of compartments. 

I chose to put Soar with your spirit embroidery on the outside. I chose this sentiment because it to fits both movies where the overall theme is about finding yourself to move forward. To me it also is suitable for the creative process because doing the things that you love is good for the spirit. 

Since the quilting doesn't show up great in pictures I took a shot of it before assembly -- swirls like the wind and creative chaos. 

So, remember those special, coveted fabrics I had been holding onto for a while. I really love how they all came together and sure hope that Felice agrees with my choices. 

Once it was all put together this was the outcome, and I even found this really neat charm to use as a zipper pull. 
(pic) 
I also decided that since I knew she had made 2 packages for this swap I would send her a very special extra handmade item along with her other extras. 

It looks like things were well received 

Now it's time to wait and see what I receive -- I'll be putting all my received packages together in a big post once the four of them arrive by mid April.  

TULA Pink Love

It's no secret that I LOVE Tula Pink. SO when i was given the opportunity to sign up for a Tula Pink Mini Quilt Swap I jumped right on board with both feet.

I got paired up with  Paula Leber (@bubbabean22) and apparently she loves Tula like I Love TULA -- only a slightly obsessive amount. So what's a better way to show our mutual love than with a heart.

Well I wanted to make it more special for her so I used a paper piece alphabet by from Blank Pages and pieced her name on the mini.

Now it was time to quilt it up and prepare it for shipping.

The hardest thing about this swap for me was not sending extras other than a FQ. I love extras and spoiling my recipient but I was good and stayed true to the swap. So here's the finished project. 

So Paula was super excited and here's what she had to say.

Now it's time to wait and see what I receive -- I'll be putting all my received packages together in a big post once the four of them arrive by mid April.