2 more days!

That is, until my birthday:) It was two years ago on my birthday that I got my first rotary cutter and cutting board. That was the day I believe I became a real "quilter." After that I started thinking about quilts and ideas constantly. My improvement in my quilts has become extremely noticeable through those two years. Today I decided it was time to put up some finished project pictures... the only problem is I haven't finished anything lately. I have been working my heart out on my Good Fortune quilt.  I know I haven't put up pictures of like any of my finished quilts. I know I need to get around to it. And I will... someday:) (I promise!) Anyways, after realizing this I decided on making a few small quilts to hang on the wall next to my sewing machine. Just to show myself that when I do finish something, I love it. Every inch of it. I want to look up and see how good I've become over the past two years. So I picked out stash fabric, Cut it up. Drew on it. And I sewed for five hours straight. It probably would have taken a lot less time, but I love sewing at a slower speed. Listening to Christmas albums. And enjoying everything. Because that's what quilting is about isn't it? Enjoying the process of sewing little pieces of fabric together to create something beautiful? Here's lots of pictures of my finished products. I hope you like them!  (Sorry in advance for the carpet pictures. :(! I just really want to show some finished products and its too dark outside!)

The First one I made is a little wall hanging. I haven't measured the size yet, but its pretty reasonable. The stuff on it is all written by me. It's a recipe for fluffy pancakes:) The back is an older print by Lizzy House and I used my go-to binding on this one- houndstooth! I did random straight line quilting and I just LOVE the way it turned out.

The second one is also kinda small, more like a doll quilt though. I have been hoarding this fabric since it first came out.  Its so simple, but I really love it. Once again I used my houndstooth print. I want this stuff in every color. Right now I have two different reds and a black. One day I will have the biggest stash of houndstooth. You will be amazed. I will be in love.

I am now off to bed. Then tomorrow I'll wake up, have some yummy french toast, and try to finish my Good Fortune quilt top. Wish me luck!:)

Where are you Christmas!?

Let me start by telling how much I love thrift stores. They are my go-to stores for books. I find no need to buy a book at regular price, or new. You can get the same exact book at a thrift store for way cheap. Sometimes I find some really awesome things. Yesterday was one of those days. I found a 46 year old Pinocchio book with beautiful illustrations, two perfect condition (the covers don't even seem like they have been opened!) hard cover Hardy Boys books, a super cool Disney comic book that was first published in 1945, and probably the coolest Sherlock Holmes book I've ever found. How much did I get all of these for? $1.50. I consider yesterday a very very productive day:)




   I also found The Grinch soundtrack! Which makes me say, Christmas, Where are you? Please come soon, I cant wait for all of the holiday cheer to come into my life. There is just something about Christmas that makes me happy 24/7. The snow outside makes quilts more common inside in every home. The fire place crackling and the Bing Crosby throughout the house are the greatest sounds to my ears. The home cooking and hot coca are a couple of amazing things too. But most of all its the feeling of family and of all of the great memories Christmas brings. I remember watching all of the classic Christmas movies with my mom curled up on the couch. I remember watching A Christmas Vacation 20 billion times a season. I remember watching the Grinch every time it came on TV (Count it this year because it happens WAY more than you would think!) I also remember our marathon watching of A Christmas Story on Christmas day. I remember hanging all of the Barbie ornaments on my grandmother's tree. I remember taking each one out of its box and marveling at the beauty of it. She collected them, a new one every year, now I'm beginning to. Just like her. Listening to the Grinch soundtrack makes me just want it to be November now because for some reason when you pull up to a stop light in the middle of summer, let alone during the hottest temperatures of the year, listening to Christmas music, you get really really weird looks from the people in the car next to you. If it were up to me, there would be a Christmas channel on the radio year round.

On another note, if you were wondering about the beautiful blocks in the background of the book pictures, that is the not-so-Christmas project I am working on right now. Some beautiful 25 patch blocks of my Good Fortune fabric. After these are finished, I will be ready for some Christmas sewing. My birthday is next week, and I got a whole bunch of sale Christmas fabric for myself. None of it matches each other, but I'm thinking a huge quilt of all mix matched Christmas fabric would be amazing. And gorgeous. Who else is ready for Christmas? And all of the holiday cheer to come back into people's lives?

Fabric

 When I first began quilting, I thought the only places to buy fabric was Hancock's or Joann's. I thought $6.99 a yard was expensive. I waited until I got my coupons for the month and went to buy one single cut of fabric (at 40% off of course). There were the occasional times where I splurged and bought a yard of fabric at $8.99. But to  spend that much, that cut of fabric had to be the coolest thing ever. I was introduced into designer fabric when I started reading quilting blogs. Today, I could see a 2" swatch of fabric and tell you who designed it and what collection it is from. I can tell you the specific names of every 1001 peeps fabrics and many others. Of course, I blame this obsession on the bloggers of blog land. They have introduced me to the most beautiful part of quilting. Every piece of fabric I have ever bought or will buy in the future, is bought for a reason. It makes me smile. It makes me fall in love. I can see hundreds of fabrics and my eyes will go immediately to one bolt. I fall for it. Fabric brings out memories and feelings that other stuff can't. There's something about a cut of vintage fabric that makes me think of my grandmother. There's something about big bright florals that make me think of her gardens, more beautiful than anything. I pick up a fabric, feel it and my mind wonders. It goes to places I never knew before I began quilting. I find myself at work sometimes just thinking about fabric and how to cut it and what it would look like if I did this block or that block. All of the fabric in my sewing room mean so much to me, each one for different reasons. Trying to explain the feeling of finding that fabric that could almost make you cry it's so beautiful, is impossible to explain to anyone I know. I don't know any other quilters my age. I tried to explain it to my mother the other day and the looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am. Amy Butler makes me fall in love every time I look at something of hers. I can't pass up a Kate Spain Christmas line. When I get my hands on out of print fabrics or hard to find lines, I feel like I have won the lottery.I will hold it, feel it, hug it. I wont stop looking at it or thinking about it for days, maybe even weeks. Now, I don't mind spending $10.99 on a yard of fabric. I don't mind splurging on a line that makes me smile at the thought of it. I guess you could call me somewhat of a fabric snob, but I still love going to Hancock's or Joann's and finding those awesome deals on beautiful fabric (with no designer name on the selvage).

Does anyone else feel like this or am I the only one?

Working hard, or hardly working?

Well, I've been doing both. I have to be working hard to get so many quilt tops done! I've been cutting back on my hours at work which means (drumroll!) Progress! A lot of it too! I now have three, yes THREE, quilt tops that are ready to be basted and quilted. I am very close to having five. One just has a little more hand work and the other just needs sashing:) I am SO excited to see all of them done. They all are made out of such beautiful fabric. And of course all of these almost finished projects mean more new fabric! Like a FQ bundle of Alpine Wonderland. (I am in love with Riley Blake fabric!) I got more of Little Apples by Aneela Hoey, it was so cute the first time I got some I couldn't resist more; especially because it was on sale. As you probably know, on my original list of quilts in progress, there was not a Whoville one. But, the second I pulled this fabric out of the box, I fell in love and  knew that my life would not be complete until something is made out of it. This sent me on an all day sewing spree. After about 12 hours, all I have left is a little border with the extra fabric I have:) Nothing excites me more than knowing that all of these will be quilted soon.

Also on my time off I used some of my scraps and made a cute Library bag for a child I tutored last year. He is the sweetest thing in the world and I told him I would send him books to read all the time. Lately I've been slacking so I had to find a way to make it up to him. You see, last semester as part of a minority education class i was taking, we had to go to a school and tutor for a whole semester. I was assigned a child, we'll call him "M", that was really far behind in his reading level. M was diagnosed with ADD when he was first learning how to read and sadly when the teacher hear about this, she gave up on him completely. As a result, he never got the help he needed to learn how to read. Growing up, I was always stuck in a book so I knew this was a great match for me. Like I said before, he is the SWEETEST. We immediately became close and he trusted me to help him. By the time the semester was over, he was a confident reader. The only problem: it was going to be summer time and he has no books at home. NONE. Can you believe that? I knew he had to read all summer or else his reading level would surely drop again, so I told him I would send him books every month. And that's exactly what I have been doing. I really hope he likes this bag. I used some of my favorite scraps on the front pocket.









 Last but not least here is an update on my To Do list:
 #4. Little apples fabric: I finally cut it! Found the best idea for this fabric ever. Once i finish cutting the solid color, this baby is going to piece fast. Hopefully, it will turn out very very cute:)
#5. Tradewinds: in the pile to get finished!
#6. Good Fortune: Top almost finished!:)
#7. Fly A Kite: Did one granny square, decided it was more of a quilt to make in the winter time, when there is WAY more time for this tedious work. This one has been pushed back on the expected timeline of finishing. sorry granny squares, you are not my thing.
#8.  Vintage Modern: In the pile to be finished:)
#9. Costume Clubhouse: I decided on some hand stitching to give this one a more detailed look. Some of the fabrics were too plain for me. It needed more. As soon as the hand stitching is done, it just needs a tiny bit of piecing, some sashing and a lot of quilted spider webs:)

I'll see you soon with lots of finished quilts!:)

Missing

Thats what Ive been lately! I started this blog to track my progress as a quilter and I haven't been doing anything on here. I'm such a horrible person:) Not to make excuses or anything, but i started college this year and time has been flying. I also started a new job where i work about 47+ hours a week. But that also comes along with my bangin' paychecks. Which means...... (drumroll please..) new fabric! Not just any new fabric, designer fabric:) yum:) Being the broke student that i was, I never got the chance to buy "nice" fabric. I would always look at how pretty they were online but i never had the money to purchase. With my first big paycheck i decided to reward myself and get some of that fabric i had been dreaming about for years. I also decided that this summer, I would finish all of my WIP's and all the plans i have for this beautiful new fabric. I always make goals in my head to finish these but maybe making them official on here will make me actually do them:). So without further ado, here is my to do list for this summer:

1. Finish up my Christmas word quilt (just started not too long ago, ran out of white fabric. oops!) This one should be a quick finish once I get the fabric!
2. Finish up Dr. Seuss quilt (yes, the same one from the last post on here. It's been a WHILE since this one has seen my machine.)
3. Begin the valentines quilt (So excited for this one!) I fell in l-o-v-e with this guy and decided I could not live without one!--------->



 
  (Here's where my new fabric splurge items start!) 


This fabric scares me and motivates me at the same time! Its a weird combination, but it totally works.

4. I haven't quite decided what to do with this fabric yet, I'm almost too afraid to cut into it. It is just SO cute! I want something to show all the cute children and animals. 




















5.  Next up is my Tradewinds fabric.This stuff is gorgeous.So gorgeous that I didn't even cut it. I couldn't get myself to do it. It is such a good thing I got this one in a layer cake. If i were a millionaire, I would buy every single yard of this fabric ever made. seriously. I went very simple on this one and i am so glad i did it that way, it really showcases all of the fabrics. I call this one the "starburst" quilt. Because every time i look at it, i feel like this is what your mouth looks like when you eat a starburst. With all of that "fruit explosion" going on:) All i need for this one is batting and backing:) I already have my binding ready and everything:) (i will have a picture of the finished top up later!)


6. This fabric is also one of those I'm afraid to cut into. Haven't quite decided what to do with this one either. But that's okay for now because its nice to look at:)









 





 7. This fabric stumped me for quite a while on what to do with it. This is my first FQ bundle and I have never had this much fabric from one collection! I decided on jumpin' on the bandwagon and trying out some granny squares with this stuff. I just need my solid white fabric then I will embark on my journey:)





8. I have wanted  some of Camille's fabric for what feels like forever. I have spent many days drooling over her beautiful fabric and the products of it. When I finally got the money to buy it, I drooled over the real thing. I got a layer cake and I am making HST's with it. I still wanted something to showcase the pretty prints without over doing it. For the binding i am using some red houndstooth print I fell in LOVE with on my walk in the woods quilt. (more on that one later!) I am SUPER excited to see the finished product:)









9.Last but not least I have my costume clubhouse fabric! This stuff was super cute and I could not pass it up! For some reason, the cutesy character fabric always gets me:) I also have not decided on this fabric's destiny yet either. I'll get to it:)

Im planning on getting some of this.... this.... and way more of this..

SOON:)

 On another note..


I have finished a quilt! It was made with my first splurge fabric A Walk in the Woods. It was some pretty pretty fabric. I did something simple with a layer cake because it was for a friends graduation. We worked together for a couple years and when i got a new job, we barely saw each other anymore. Our schedules work against each other and our time together is very limited. I knew i had to get/ make her something meaningful. So, here it is:

 

 I know that right now you are thinking, that's it? But this is huge for me. This is the first quilt that I free motion quilted and its the first quilt where the binding actually looked like its supposed to! I almost cry thinking about how I gave it up, but i know it is in a better home where there isn't already 30 quilts fighting to be used.

 While taking these pictures, my dogs decided they wanted a picture too. When I put the camera down without taking a picture of them, they whined and whined. So i had to, and boy are they cute:)

I also found this little guy outside!

 Do you see him?! (Ignore the mud and weeds!)










After making this walk in the woods quilt, I have decided that the binding is my favorite part! It's been a struggle for me to do it right, and when i got it right this time, i freaked. Thats all i talked about for days. "Did you see my corners?!!" "I cant believe those corners!!" Seriously, ask anyone.