Instagram Update: Spring Sewing

I am making some progress on my Spring Quilting To Do list (thank goodness!). This update is all from Instagram (iPhone) pictures, so sorry if the quality of the lighting could be better in some!

Comma Sutra has been laid out and then restacked for me to start sewing into rows. They don't all line up perfectly, but the overall impact is really nice.

I have jumped in with my first Tumbler quilt (I've wanted to do one since I discovered what they were about a year ago) using Tim and Beck's Bungle Jungle charm squares. This will be for our neighbour who is expecting her fourth boy.

The template is from Missouri Star Quilt Company and is made especially for charm packs so that there is minimal waste. The cutting for this quilt was SO EASY.

Here are the scraps. So cute. 

And this is the layout . I think I will add a border as well.

And that is what I've been up to! Here's hoping I get more sewing done this weekend- but with three Easter dinners to attend I might be out of luck!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

Superhero Mashup: A Finished Quilt

One day while shopping at my LQS (The Hobby Horse in this case) I saw a completed flannelette quilt that struck me immediately. There were kits underneath and I grabbed one (there were only two left and they sold out the next day, I am told). The colours are awesome and the subject of the quilt screamed to me that it would be perfect for a certain little boy, B, the son of friends of ours (the big brother of the baby who received Things That Go and Bouncing Bunnies, actually). This sweet little boy will be five in April and he loves blankets- always has- so I hope he loves this quilt made just for him (and we got him some Lego, too, so that might get a bit more excitement out of him than the quilt, but I digress).

This is Superhero Mashup, a mix of Superman and Batman in the softest flannelette. It does have batting and it is so soft. I couldn't stop snuggling with it while I was binding it, and my cats were drawn to it even more so than most quilts. I did stitch in the ditch (the fabric is so busy that I thought anything else would get lost or detract from the quilt) and there is a simple wiggly line on the thin red border (an S stitch on my machine). I did FMQ super loose wiggly lines on the outer border in a red variegated thread and it looks awesome.

This quilt will fly off to B on his fifth birthday in April. Until then I better hide it from my cats!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

Fat Quarters Bonanza

I am part of the Sew Sisters Kona Solids of the Month Club and my March delivery just came last week. Below is the inspiration image and the solids:

From left to right: Lilac, Lemon, Sprout, Tulip

I am pretty happy with Tulip (my favourite of this bunch), and I don't hate Lemon but this colour combination is NOT my thing. Way too typical Easter for me. Once I add them in colour order to my Kona solids stash, however, they all will be loved. I love this club!

On another note, I'm done all the blocks for Comma Sutra! Below is an example of one of my favourite blocks. I am very nervous about how they're going to come together because of the extensive trimming. Fingers crossed!

Also, I am a member of the Fat Quarter Shop Blogger's Choice Bundle of the Month Club (thanks to my awesome husband who pays for it every month, gifted to me at Christmas). This month's bundle is AWESOME. It was by Kelli and Andie. It is by far my favourite since I started receiving them. They are all stash builders, really, and I don't think there is one I don't like in the whole batch. I think I am going to take it out of the packaging (and let me tell you, Fat Quarter Shop packaging is the best of any store out there that I've experienced so far) so I can start using some of these in my stash immediately. Love!!!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

Spring Garden: A Finished Quilt

I was able to finish Spring Garden, a baby quilt intended for my friend's sister who had her baby two months ago. I kept finding reasons to work on other projects, but now it is finally done and can head home! It would have been nice, given that it is now spring, to photograph this quilt in a nice garden. Alas it is still freezing temperatures with snow everywhere, so this Spring Garden photo shoot is taken on snow.

The main fabric line used is by Riley Blake- Love Birds by My Mind's Eye I think?

I  love the turned squares and the happy mix of fabrics.

The backing is mostly this fabric (I can't remember the name) 

FMQ squiggle on border 

There is a row made with the scraps on the back to add some whimsy.

Closer shot of scrappy row on back.

The binding is scrappy and I LOVE it. It is the first time I've done such a scrappy binding and I definitely will be doing it again.

So friendly, don't you think?

It is quilted very simply- stitch in the ditch on alternating rows each way (vertically and horizontally) and then a FMQ squiggle on the white border.

Spring Garden is on the way to baby M, and I hope they love it!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

Latest Fabric Haul

I recently went on a little bit of a buying spree at Pink Castle Fabrics to buy fabric JBIWI (Just Because I Want It). My goodies arrived in the mail on Wednesday and I am thrilled with the purchase! I wanted to share some pictures:

2 yards of Living Lattice in Blue (for the backing of a quilt, I am imagining) and some Lizzy House Jewels in Orange (because these jewels are awesome and they were ridiculously cheap)

A full yard of Headliner in Black (I LOVE it) and a 1/2yard of Paris Map in China White.

I know, right? SO CUTE. 1/2 yard each of Nursery Versery Itsy Bitsy Spider, Laurie Wisbrun's Sheep in Park and Llama Love from Modern Home by Monaluna Designs 

THIS is my FAVOURITE of all my purchases. I have looked at this print a thousand times and finally gave in and bought some. I will save some of this for me, for sure because it makes me SO HAPPY! It might be my first Kokka print- Penguins in Blue.

This pile makes me so so happy!

I think this fabric was worth every penny, but I do have a very large stash and lots of sewing I need to do, so maybe instead of buying fabric I should try to sew with that fabric? Just a thought. Now if only I had more time!!

Which of my purchases is your favourite??

Lynn (aka Buttons)

March Break is Over *sob*

My March Break is over. It is Monday and back to work. I didn't get as much sewing time as I wanted this past week, but here is a wrap-up of what I did manage to accomplish:

1. I finished my baby quilt with the pink/red/green/blue. I think I have decided to call it Spring Garden. I will take finished pictures this week and do a post. I love how it looks- very soft and delicate and feminine without the pink being "in your face."

2. I finished piecing, quilting and trimming Superhero Mashup. It is from a kit from my LQS and it is flannelette and soft and yummy. I did decide to add batting so it is thick and squishy and I hope the little boy getting it on his fifth birthday on the 22nd of April will love it. I just need to put on the binding (which is made and ready to go).

Straight-line quilted (stitch in the ditch) and then did a squiggle on the thin red borders and some FMQ wiggly lines on the outer border.

Ready to add binding! I hate the red flannelette they used for the binding and small inner border. It leaves a lot of fluff behind and does not seem to be as high quality as the superhero fabric.

3. I managed to piece rows 1-5 and most of row 6 (out of 7 rows) of my Comma Sutra quilt. These blocks are a bit time consuming and sort of wasteful when trimming them down, but they look great. They also are a bit finicky to cut right, so I am a little nervous about putting it all together. This is a wedding gift so I sure hope it looks great! I think it will come together quickly once all seven rows of blocks are finished.

Left hand pile is rows 1-5 ready to go. On the right is row 6 which needs just a few more blocks. At the back is the last row, 7, which needs those white strips added to make the last row of blocks.

4. I finished my March Sugar Block Club block and I love it. I still haven't redone my February block but I think I will once all my April deadline quilts are finished.

This is quite a bit of progress considering I didn't end up having as much time as I wanted this week to sew. Once Comma Sutra is done I will get to piecing a baby quilt for our neighbours as their little boy will be the first one due in my massive influx of babies coming this spring and summer. I already know the pattern and have the fabric ready to go, so I hope it will be a fun and fairly quick quilt to piece.

Wish me luck, because I have lots of sewing to do before September!

Lynn

Holy Babies, Batman!

When I made my list of projects I wanted to complete in 2013 I made a few mistakes. One was including three different quilts that were for myself. Hah! Who has time to sew for themselves? Particularly when it is BABY BONANZA around here! I had mentioned that I expected some friends would be making baby announcements and boy was I right!

So here is the revised 2013 list (when will I have enough time???):

(New items are in red)

• Superhero Flannelette quilt (I already have the kit!) for my friend's son, B
• A quilt for my grandma for her 89th birthday (she was super jealous of my mom's Christmas quilt!)
• Landscape Architexture Butterfly String quilt for my dad for his birthday
• A zipper quilt using Reunion for my father-in-law's 60th birthday in August
• A red and white quilt for my father-in-law's mother-in-law (trust me it makes sense if you knew the huge nature of my family) for Christmas
• A quilt for my daughter's junior kindergarten teacher for the end of the school year
• A wedding quilt, Comma Sutra, for two friends getting married this spring

New babies announced:

• Neighbours J & J are having a little boy (their fourth) due in April
• Life-long friends C & P (I was in their wedding in September) are due August
• Friends of 15 years J & R are having a boy in July
• Friends through my daughter, V & S are having a boy in July

And here is the kicker:

• Friends of 15 years (part of the same group as J&R above) are having TRIPLETS due in September. TRIPLETS, people! Now I have to decide if I do three totally different quilts or three quilts that are different but tied together by fabric or colour or something. Plus, I wonder the boy/girl combination?

This stack will be for Baby J&R (Camp Sur, some Lotta and some orange Pearl Bracelet)

Other 2013 Quilts/Projects To Make

• Box pouch with zipper (scary!)
• HST quilt in all Kona solids I have the fabric all picked out but since I want to keep this one it will have to wait
• Paper piecing (I wonder if I can find a class near me?) 
• A Plus quilt I have decided to make the baby quilt for friends J&R a Plus quilt
• At least one quilt from Sunday Morning QuiltsThe one I picked out was for me and will take ages. Maybe next year? and one from Quilting Modern I may make a baby quilt for C&P from this book.
• Squares and Strips quilt in orange and turquoise using the tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew Nope. This one is for me. I'm out of luck. The bundle will have to sit a little longer.
• Tumbler quilt I am going to make our neighbour's baby quilt a Tumbler quilt.
• Something with my Lotta fabric I've put some Lotta into the baby quilt for J&R so that will have to do.

Being the age I am EVERYONE is having babies. Oh dear. No time to blog. Must get quilting!!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

P.S. Finally getting around to binding my red/green/pink/blue quilt for Baby M. Decided to go with scrappy binding. What do you think?

Fabric Binge

I went a little wild this week and ordered a ton of fabric from Pink Castle Fabrics (I'll post pictures when they all come in). This wouldn't be so bad if I haven't been buying something almost every week for the last couple of months. I need to stop! Maybe another fabric fast, this time in April?

But one thing I had to have was some more Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets. I LOVE them. I ordered this fat quarter bundle from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics and I squealed in delight when they arrived:

I know, right? SO AWESOME. So many colours. I am in Pearl Bracelet heaven and can't wait to start integrating them into quilts all over the place. Expect these babies to pop up in lots of future quilts!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

Sugar Block Club: March Block

I had a terrible time with the paper piecing for the February Block of the Sugar Block Club so I was so relieved when I saw there was no paper piecing needed in March! The flying geese still sort of sucked, but I like the way my block turned out. Interestingly, I learned my lesson from the February block about text prints. My original plan was to use my fat quarter bundle from Pink Castle Fabrics curated by Red Pepper Quilts (with a few chevrons and solids thrown in) and to use text fabric at least once in every block. I cut out the centre block for March in text and then put my cut squares on top of some Ann Kelle black and white chevrons. I change my mind instantly (something I wish I had done in February).

Here is the finished product!

I think it is fresh, fun and very Red Pepper Quilts (other than her points and such are always absolutely perfect).

Now I just need to work up the courage to redo that February block, equipped with tools from my quilty friend A. Maybe next month? ;)

Lynn (aka Buttons)

It's a Bird! It's a Plane!

Today was supposed to be my sew-all-day-without-a-little-person-around-to-interrupt-me day. Alas I also had to take the car to the dealership for an undercoating check and a squeaky heater motor, and then I had to go get a new screw for my sunglasses because one arm fell off. It turned into a three-hours-without-a-little-person day but that is better than nothing, I guess!

Here is my progress on my Superhero quilt, destined for a little boy who turns five in April.

This is the best I could do. I tried taking this picture by laying it out on my bed and then standing on the bed to take the picture.

The fabric is adorable- Batman and Superman. This is a quilt kit from my LQS and the fabric is all flannelette.

Here is a little hint at the back.

 Now I am deciding about batting. The original pattern does not call for any, but this little boy loves snuggly blankets. Also, I have never quilted a quilt without batting. How would that work exactly? I guess it will come down to my comfort level, so I put my money on batting.

I will try to use the remaining few days of holiday to fit in as much sewing as I can (squished in with motherly duties).

Lynn (aka Buttons)

March Break Day One Instagram Update

It is the first day of March Break- hooray!- and I am sneaking in every bit of sewing and quilting I can. Here is an instagram picture update of what I've been up to so far today!

Cut blocks and did layout of Superhero quilt

Cut the blocks for the Sugar Block Club (cut these Sunday night, actually)

Quilted this baby quilt (still some FMQ to go)

Starting piecing my Sugar Block Club March block

Progress on my March Sugar Block Club block

I'm taking a few minutes for a break but then back to the sewing table before my daughter is finished quiet time!!

Lynn (aka Buttons)

Purple Patchwork: A Finished Quilt

A lovely friend from work just gave birth (almost a month early!) to a little girl. A few months ago I asked some leading questions about nursery colour and she said "purple!" I don't think she has any idea I've made her daughter a quilt and I'm thrilled this last bit of my Lizzy House Outfoxed fabric (and a bunch of purples from my stash) are heading off to be loved by this family.

Here is Purple Patchwork:

This is my favourite block. There are several jaunty foxes and a whole purple triangle. I think it really captures how wonderful this fabric is. I'll be sad to say goodbye to this block. Also, this photo shows the "X" stitching I did in variegated purple thread.

The back is Pearl Bracelets in Lilac (another Lizzy House) and it is bound in Kona Kumquat (with a touch of Kona School Bus)

This shows the diagonal quilting.

Is there anything more rewarding as a quilter than making a quilt for a brand new baby? I hope the family loves it!

Lynn (aka Buttons)