Fun Fabric Friday: 02/25/2011

Wow!  I just found out about a new line coming out from Free Spirit, designed by Jenean Morrison.  It's called Silent Cinema and the colors and patterns are fantastic!  There is so much interest and movement in the patterns that I can envision some really fun quilts made out of it.  I snagged the image below from Jenean's blog - I think this is my favorite color.  Head over there to see more and let her know what you think!

Quilt for Cole's 1-Year Birthday

Because I wasn't quilting when our nephew, Cole, was born, I wasn't able to make him a baby quilt.  However, I decided that a quilt might make a good first birthday present.  I fell in love with the "My Happy Nursery" fabric from Cloud9, which I discovered at Spool, and I decided to use that for Cole's quilt.  If you haven't touched this fabric, you really must!  It has such a nice feel to it - I understand it's because of the high thread count.  As a bonus, this fabric is also organic, which means it is super-safe for Cole!  I decided to use a pretty simple pattern that they made over at Spool and I think it turned out quite nice.  See the photos below.  I decided to back the quilt with a blue flannel with white polka dots.  The flannel makes the quilt nice and soft on the back - perfect for cuddling.

Photo of the Quilt Top.

Collage of photos of the quilt.

Mid-Week Sneak Peek

Can you believe I've never made half-square triangles before? I actually taught my mom how to make them, but hadn't done it myself. I decided I would do a zigzag quilt with a whole bunch of random fabrics alternated with some mustard colored Quilter's Linen from Robert Kaufman (actually, I think the color's name is Raffia). I've gotten off to a pretty good start, but man are there a lot of triangles to make! Hahaha.

Making lots of half-square triangles!  256 of them to be exact.

 

Mid-Week Sneak Peek: 02/16/2011

Here is another photo from my current W.I.P. I'm sewing long strips together an they'll form a tube. Then I'll slice up the tube. I'm using my awesome new machine, too!

Sewing strips together - very exciting.

Fun Fabric Friday: 02/11/2011

I recently found out about this fantastic new fabric line called Circa 60 Beach Mod by monaluna from Birch Fabrics and I am so excited about it.  I can't wait to get some - and I know EXACTLY what I'm going to do with it.  My favorites are the Happy Campers, the Trees Meadow, and the Mod Gulls Rust. I love the color combination and the beach-feel (even though I hate the beach because of the dirty sand, salty water, and hot sun!). Plus, it's organic, which is awesome.

Screen capture from Birch Fabrics

Mid-Week Sneak Peek: 02/09/2011

I am really excited about this project because I've been wanting to try this for a long time. Because this is just a sneak peek, I'm not going to give you all the details, but let's just say that this project will achieve one of my quilting resolutions for the year and I also hope to enter it in the Modern Quilt Guild's monochromatic challenge. Check out the fabrics I'm using for my quilt top - they have been cut into 3-inch strips and will soon be sewn into tubes!

Fun Fabric Friday: 02/04/2011

For today's Fun Fabric Friday, I'm going to feature a local (Philly) designer - Jay McCarroll.  I fell in love with Jay's fabrics the first time I saw the Woodland Wonderland and Garden Friends lines at Spool in Philly.  I actually never watched Jay on Project Runway when it was on, so I was first introduced to him through his fabric.  I met him a couple times at Spool and he's just such a fun guy - lots of creativity and energy.  Jay's new line, called Habitat, is a bit of a departure for him.  It's less quirky and "cute" and more mature, deeper, I think.  Spool already has the fabrics in stock, so head on over and pick up a yard (or twenty!).  Below are some photos of the fabric from Spool's Flickr stream:

Mid-Week Sneak Peek: 02/02/2011

Okay, so I can't tell you much about this project because it is going to be part of an upcoming swap, but I did want to give you a quick sneak peek.  This past weekend I took a hexagon paper piecing class at Spool because I've been wanting to learn and I am always looking for excuses to go to Spool!  At the class, this is what I made using some scraps I had.  I hope I can do what I want to with it and make an awesome piece for the swap!