Latitude

I got a half a day of "my life" back today. My kids are ALL in school on Fridays as of two weeks ago. But some of these I am a parent chaperone for field trips so they don't count. In fact, I consider it "negative" time because even when it's over you are still exhausted. And if we balance the equation it means even less gets done. But I thought my down time could be used up this morning sharing a quilt I finished a while ago. I don't even know when - probably a few months but if it's been longer, please don't mention it, haha. The fabric strips of Latitude were sent to me by the fabulous Kate Spain. And gosh they are luscious.

This one wound up at 52" x 52" and is in the shop (because, let's face it, I'm nearly drowning in my quilting at this point - don't tell the husband, ha). 

Daydream

The only goal for most people in doing anything is to find more time to spend doing things that make them happy. Quilters neeeeeeed more time to quilt. There will never be enough hours in the day or years in a life for most of us fabric addicts. Maybe some people have their addictions under control. 

I do not. 

I like diet coke. 

And fabric. 

And apparently books and gardening and volleyball and piano and kids. 

Oh and science. ANYTHING nerdy and genetics/physics/chemistry related totally gets me going. 

I fully admit it. I'm an addict of MANY things. 

But if I could combine enough of them together and multitask my enjoyment I could create the most productive and efficient enjoyment machine for my life. I could sit in a garden drawing molecular models in my quilt designs sipping diet coke watching volleyball on television (no volume) while the children frolic through the plants nibbling berries and licking popsicles to classical music. It'd be awesome. And then maybe I could find time for the mundane cleaning and laundry type activities that seem to fill up entirely too much of my life at present. Hello sippee cups. And trips to the potty (Potty-training twins is a blast... said no one ever.). And endless dishes full of food that wasn't even touched. (No wonder my parents just took us to McDonald's.)

But constantly trying to whittle a little time from each of the necessary activities of life to make a little time for a hobby has kind of turned into a game. For instance, if I can get these dishes done while making dinner, flipping a load of laundry, and helping a kid get their homework done, I can free up at least 30-60 min that night for something else. If I do them sequentially I won't even finish today. One day when the kids are all grown I will probably find myself multitasking my hobbies. And then I'll miss the sippee cups and everything else. :)

So I'm sure a few loads of laundry and dishes have had to sit a few extra hours so that I would even have quilts to share on my blog. 

How do you find time for quilting? 

This little baby quilt is in Kate Spain's Daydream fabric line for Moda. 

I quilted a different texture pattern in each of the continuous negative space sections. Quilting multiple designs in a single quilt is so much more entertaining. I highly recommend you try it. You could get a new addiction! 

It could really use a name. I was thinking something along the lines of "party streamers." Any thoughts?

It measures 32" x 36" and is in the shop. 

Happy go lucky

For me, baby showers = excuse to make cute baby things. 

Let be honest here... I don't need more excuses. 

Sew, sew, sew... a little Happy Go Lucky fabric and a few stitches later, voila! 

And for your sewing pleasure try the little dress found HERE and the moccasins found HERE. Also, grab a charm pack, a fat quarter (binding), and a yard of fabric (borders [2.5" x 36" strips] and backing) to make this quilt in a snap! And you can use the time savings to finish the dress and shoes. 

Summersville

This finish was a LONG time coming. 

I remember working on this one about two years ago and getting all the way to completed quilt top and then we moved. 

And it lost its momentum and sat.

Once a quilting project gets put on the back burner it's really hard to pull it back out because the ideas and projects keep piling up on top of it.

This one is a whopping twin sized quilt in almost all red and cream from the Summersville fabric line - there's a hint of black in the binding for contrast. 

In the shop.

Frosted Quilt Pattern

Have you seen these?

I stumbled across them while searching for snowflake quilts making sure the name wasn't already taken. 

Amazing, huh?

Now available here.

Sooo sleepy. Must sleep. Now. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Blitzen.

The weather here has been rainy.

Well, that's an understatement. 

Houston has been experiencing some flooding and we've been stuck inside all week.

I'm happy to report that the sun finally made an appearance today and I have photos of my newest quilt! 

In Blitzen by BasicGrey for Moda.

I started thinking balls and ended up thinking wreaths and then needed snowflakes.

The design for this one was very organic.

Snowflake applique.

I chose the red binding and grey paisley large print for borders. 

I'm still wondering if I should have done red borders... these decisions always make me just want both. 

Houston is much too green today. 

Winter almost isn't fathomable. 

Whole quilt. 

See that little mushroom in the corner?

And all of the ones just above the quilt in the background? 

Houston has been attacked. 

There are more mushrooms than people right now!

It's in the shop. 

Sugar Pop!

Looking for the Giveaway Day post? Click HERE.

Just wanted to share this custom quilt I recently finished.

It's the Loaded Sandwich Pattern in Sugar Pop by Liz Scott for Moda (customer's fabric choice).

I ended up liking it though I'm always afraid of purple until it's finished in the quilt.

Don't ask why, I don't know.

I used to think I didn't even like it.

Wierd, huh? How can you not like a color?

And there's ALWAYS leftovers...

So I made this little coin quilt 35" x 40".
This one's in the shop.
I like the funky factor in these fabrics.
I've got a LOT of projects "on deck" right now so hopefully I'll find the time to finish them soon.

Its a Hoot

While I love, love, love holding my little guy and playing with my little girl, I NEED my quilting therapy.
I've only managed to eke out this little baby quilt but it was wonderful to do.
Not to mention that it gave me a much needed excuse to go to the fabric store to get the backing and binding fabrics.
So this little HST quilt is 36" x 36" and in the shop with more pics.

Just posting this I've been multi-tasking having a conversation with the very imaginative 3 year old and holding the sleeping baby...
this is why being a mom is fun, right?
(only problem is that the 3 year old keeps wanting me to close my eyes as part of her game...)

Wonderland 2

Here's the first one's twin!

Oh, so cute.

I feel like it's a child's board game, or construction paper project.

Minkee Heaven with an almost Tutorial

The materials for this blanket are just absolutely edible. Trying to keep my two year old from playing with it WHILE I was making it was definitely a challenge - and she has two minkee blankets of her own already! So if you have a bunch of different colored minkee scraps this would be the perfect project to use them effectively. Dimensions for the quilt blocks using a 1/2 inch seam allowance:

48 - 4" x 4" blocks in various colors (sewn into 12 block strips and added like sashing)

3 - 3" strips x width of fabric for sashing (trim them to size after sewing)

1 - 27" x 33" front minkee

1 - 37" x 43" backing minkee

3 - 2 1/2" x width of fabric for binding strips (sewn together)

If you have any questions... ask!

-F.N.

My First Post

A crafty blog all my own! Yay! I love reading everyone else's so I figure that just maybe there's someone out there who will enjoy something that I post. You just... never know. So I'm off to the races with my current project: Double-sided minkee patchwork blanket! My little girl has a love affair with this material. It's deliciously fabulous! She can hardly contain herself with me pinning and sewing minkee! She LOVES it. Possibly more than she loves me... let's hope not! But here's some pics along the way:

First there's the cutting... I love how deliciously the fabric looks when its just piled up and ready to go!

Then the insane pinning of the minkee. If it moves even an eigth of an inch my OCD can't handle it!

And then the sewn blanket top. Now for the quilting and binding. It's a good thing it's nap time for the little one so I can have fun too! And I'm sure I'll get the final product posted very soon...

-F.N.