WIP Wednesday

I'm back on the WIP train as they say. This week I am working on another tote bag. I am making another modified market shopping bag from Leanne at She Can Quilt. You remember my rainbowtastic one right...

Well I am making another using a mini charm pack of Odds & Ends fabric paired with essex yarn dyed linen in flax. This color palette is out of my comfort zone but I think I like it!

Turns out I didn't take many photos but here is a basting shot. I am using a cherished Too Muchery print for the lining. Hopefully I can finish this up today!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday - The last WIP with the plus quilt I promise!

This week has been all about taking poorly lit nighttime photos. Let's take a look:

The Sew Positive quilt is almost done! (pattern by Elizabeth at Don't call Me Betsy). 

Last night Sarah at Stitching and Bacon and I had basting/quilting instagram party. It wasn't a competition but I totally won. I am trying out a meandering squares quilting design. It is so hard to break the habit of curves but I think it is looking swell.

I am embarking on a scrap vomit quilt a la I'm A Ginger Monkey. I have no idea how many 2.5" squares I have so far but they are filling up this box quickly.

 I also stocked up on some lovelies! Using up scraps means I can buy mores stuff.

Essex linen yarn dyed flax, natural, yarn dyed denim and yarn dyed black.  

Waterfront Park domino dots. Essential stash builders.

Waterfront Park birds. Also essential.

I am also working on a new baby quilt pattern that I hope to show you later this week. Linking up at freshly pieced.

WIP Wednesday - Slow sewing week

WIPs in a minute, first a finish: 

I spent most of my time last week finishing this tote. Check out the full blog post on it here. I stare at it adoringly all day at work and parade it around hoping someone will say "wow great tote" or "where did you get that!?" So far no one has said a thing - probably because they are rendered speechless at the sight of it.

I am still workin on testing the Sew Positive pattern for Elizabeth at Don't call me Betsy (pattern for sale soon).  I am making a lap-sized quilt and finished making the large plusses and most of the small ones. 

Oops I forgot to take a picture of all my plusses - but here are two of them next to some other WIPs at the Bham MQG meeting from Saturday. 

I also acted on a compulsion to tame my overflowing scraps and started cutting them into 2.5" sqares. I see a scrap vomit quilt (or 2) in my future.

The Bins. From L-R. Scraps big enough to make 2.5" squares. 2.5" strips. 2.5" squares.

Oh and sneak preview - here is a stack of oranges with a blue Kaffe Fasset shot cotton. This is a soon to be WIP.

Linkin' up with Lee and the gang at Freshly Pieced. I hope you have a lovely Wedneday. It looks like midnight outside at 8am - storms are a'brewin in the 'ham.

WIP Wednesday - Colorful piecing and CAKE

Happy Wednesday. What have you been up to this week? It has been rainy, rainy, rainy here. It doesn't even feel like July. I have a colorful WIP edition this week:

1. Appliqueing circles to my heart's content.  I wrote a tutorial to quickly applique circles without raw edges. Check it out here.

2. Making a tote for me, because I want one. I saw Wombat Quilt's paper piecing Monday last week and just HAD to make the Garfunkel block...in rainbows....with fussy cut centers.

You can make your own - It is a free pattern available from 627handworks. 

The other side of the tote is going to have some simply color simple patchwork. A good way for me to use my mini 2.5" charm pack.

Not a WIP but I whipped up this cup holder in about 10 minutes just for funzies. I gave it to a friend for her birthday. 

 FACT: Cups look good set on rainbow Garfunkel blocks.

 Also not a WIP but it is CAKE! Chocolate Amaretto crepe cake from sprinkle bakes. This is 20 layers of crepe-y goodness. My lab loves me when I bring them cake.

What are you working on? Link up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday - Positively Sewing

Happy Wednesday. The middle of the week just seems to slip up on me these days. Here is what I have been working on the past week:

Testing the Sew Positive pattern for Elizabeth at Don't call me Betsy. This pattern will be for sale soon. It is a fun mix of large and small plus blocks. I am going for a lap-sized quilt and made most of the large plusses 

 I went scrappy with the prints and the background, no surprise there.

The print on the right was my inspiration for the color palette. It is a Robert Kaufman mosaic print.

I made one of the small plusses blocks to test it out and have cut out most of the fabric for the rest of these. I'm already thinking about some fun ideas for the back and how I am going to quilt it. I can't wait to see where this goes.

I also made a small bit of progress on my mitosis cross-stitch. I fill in the background green when I am watching movies. No thought required, score!

What have you been working on? Check in with all the other WIPper's at Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday

I didn't WIP Wed for weeks.  I haven't been sewing much because I am more into ass in couch with TV. So, uh, here to go. Mitosis cross-stitch. My own little pattern. Obviously this post translated was into English by a non-English speaker.

Also I've been cookin' and bakin'. Here are some peanut butter jelly bars (sing it). I used this recipe but I pursued perused around and they are all about the same. Just use your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe for the dough and your favorite Jam for the innards.

 I do actually make healthy food (from time to time) but I just never photograph it.

Happy Wednesday!! Linkin' up with Lee and the gang at Freshly Pieced. Spell checked by Kimberrrrrr.

WIP Wednesday - Hotel Room Sewing

I've been at a work conference since Sunday so not much sewing progress this past week. I did cut a boatload of charms and got some hotel sewing done.

 I also sewed together a mini quilt. Can you tell what it is? This is going in my office next year.

 I still need to bind it and I hope some of the wonk that was introduced during the quilting goes away when I wash it. Not sure why that happened. I used my walking foot and basted it pretty well considering it is small.

Check out what everyone else has been working on at Lee's blog.

WIP Wednesdays - Scrap Fever

First order of business are some recent finishes if you missed them. I sense a scrappy yellow theme here:

Aeroplane #2

Mellifera Quilt and pillow which I entered into the BQF at Amy's Creative Side.

The scrappy theme continues. I am consuming my scraps before them consume me. I still need to make more string-a-hex blocks. I don't feel like these are eating up my scraps as fast as I would like. Solution: Make more blocks! PS. don't you just love it when you lay out a quilt onto another quilt?

I just noticed my pup in the window. Silly boy. He is waiting for the repairman to arrive.

I am doing some tiny paper pieced letters for a mini quilt. These will finish up at about 2" high.

Some possible endings to this quote "Love... 

...it makes the world go round"

...the one your with do do do do do do do do"

....is a battlefield"

...it's what makes a Subaru and Subaru"

And a sneaky peaky at some wonky star action. Isn't he adorbs.

Lastly, I wish I could say I made this little chickie pincushion but I didn't. She is however a lovely gift from Hawaii. My friend knows of my love of chickens and brought her back to me. I love the lei. I have named her Luau and she sits on my sewing table (aka dining room table).

Check out the other WIPs at Lee's and have a fantabulous Wednesday!

Charming WIP Wednesday

Not too much to report as I was away over the weekend in New Orleans. Stayed at my brother-in-law's, went to the zoo, went to a reunion (Hubs undergrad lab), met our friends adorable new baby, had an 90s sing-a-long on the car ride home with the hubs sans actual music. He is good at beat boxing TLC and The Spice Girls.

I brought my sister's quilt to bind while in NO. Hubs wouldn't let me bind in the car. He was convinced I would blind him with the quilt as I maneuvered around the sides or that I would poke myself with the needle. That just meant binding on the couch with this not-so-helpful helper cat.

Helper Cat (Tm) comes in marmalade.

I also went to Mes Amis quilt shop and picked up a few things. I got the center fabric (Too muchery by Helen Dardik for P&B textiles) for an absolute steal. It was 45% off and I took the end of the bolt so that was an extra 10%. I can't wait to back something with it.

I worked on Aeroplane II. I bought 1 yard of automotive headliner fabric and 1 yard of heavy sew-in interfacing for my first Aeroplane and I figured that I could stretch it for both easy! I had to do a little zig-zag stitch surgery on the sew-in interfacing.

Again I lined my straps with some leftover headliner material (my substitute for soft and stable).

Lining and pockets ready to assemble once I get my zippers in from Zipit. I am officially a zipit convert. The selection and prices are amazing. That is my honest opinion I bought my zippers fair and square.

Modern by Robin Zigone and a Birds and the bees Tula Pink for the pockets. One of my commenter's recently said Tula Pink goes with everything and she was so right.

And now for the pic that inspired the title of this post. I cut 2 yard of novelty charm squares for my SMS give-a-way. All the folding of the fabrics at the end was no fun.

Meet up with other WIPpers at Freshly Pieced and have a good Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday - Scrap Happy

If you are looking for my Sew Mama Sew Give-a-way allow me to direct you here.

Another Wednesday! It seriously cannot be May yet but here we are. I have been attacking my scraps with a fury lately (much to the chagrin of my hubs). Scraps are a messy affair. 

Mucho mucho progress made on my sister's apiary quilt. It's all yellows and neutrals. On Saturday I started chain piecing the top (above photo). I have managed to finish the top, the back, and quilt it. I cut the binding out last night and am hoping to start binding it tonight and get in some quality time with The Doctor.

I also made two more of my pouches. The pouch construction is the noodlehead open wide pouch. A tutorial on how to make the patchwork panels is coming soon.

I've been inspired by the string fever posts by Rachel at Stitched in Color. I am working on making some isosceles triangle string blocks and a tutorial will be up with these in the very near future. So you can see lots of fun tutes to look forward to.

Check out the other WIPs at Freshly Pieced! Also voting is open for the Briar Rose Quilt design contest. Go vote and maybe consider mine :) It's called On the Fence by MarlaSewHungry.