Broken Promises

Remember how my friend Kim and I promised we weren't going to shop this weekend?  Well, we didn't mean to, but we just had to get some minkee for one of her quilt backings, and then, before you know it, we had hit 3 fabric stores.  But this is all I bought.

I won't share what Kim bought.  No really, we didn't go overboard.  As you can see, these are all necessities.  Except for the patterns.  Oh, and the magnetic pin cushion (okay, not really a cushion, but what else would I call it?) that matches the one in the background. Saturday morning, we had a class on fondant (I'm in love with it!!), and we were already ten minutes toward the quilt shop in Boerne, so what the heck, we drove the remaining thirty minutes to get there.  And then discovered our new lunch place because we always have good luck finding good lunch places when we're together.  Of course, we have good shopping luck when we're together, too.

As you can see, I bought a little pattern for the purse.  I also bought the hardware for the purse, but I conveniently forgot to put it in the photo.  I was dying to make the purse for a gift for a darling five year old's tea party birthday on Sunday.  Charli, the birthday girl is an old soul, so I knew she's love a handmade purse.  And I was right:-)

That's my stinker beside her.

 

If this were my little bag, I'd put my cords and electronics in it for a road trip (ipod, camera, chargers, ear buds, etc.).  Kim would put make-up in it if it were her bag.

 

Did you recognize the fabrics?  I used scraps from the heart quilt in the last post.

 

Extra notes:  

*Kim's daughter Morgan took the photos of the purse (and she took pics of the Laurel Burch quilt, the Halloween BQ quilt, and the Christmas Tree quilt).  She's only 19 and just got her SLR camera for Christmas, but she is already shooting like a pro.  I want to keep her nearby for all my photography needs.

*My sweet husband made the little table the purse is sitting on.  It just moved in the house Saturday, so I have yet to decorate around it.  I was too busy breaking my vow not to shop to decorate my little table.

*I also finished the chirp baby quilt.  I kind of improvised it & just went with it.  It's cute:-)

Sew & Tell Friday

I was up til midnight finishing the binding on this baby.  I like the result.

I was planning to use fabric on hand to stash-bust.  But then I bought the charm pack in the pieced border. And then I found the binding fabric.  And my friend Kim, who also made one, pulled out the Love fabric for the inner border out of her stash.

 

I quilted a large stipple for various reasons.  1.) I'm not experienced enough to do something that looks amazing. 2.) I had to work around all those thick layers and avoid where the seems converge.

And then I gave it a wash and dried it until crinkly.  I love the ruffly hearts.

Have you checked out amylouhou's Sew & Tell?  There are always some neat things to see every Friday.

Fabric ISO pattern! STAT!

In the last post, I mentioned that I have some fabric that needs a pattern.  This post is me begging for some input.  Mom, that means you're going to have to figure out how to leave a comment.  Go find the person at work who taught you to use your ipod.

First up we have Girl Chirp.  I loved these fabrics online, but when I got them, they seemed flat, color-wise.  I need to add something to them to add a little more depth.  But then what?  This quilt needs to happen ASAP because my home-girl had a baby 12 days ago, and this fabric is for her.  Cute baby needs cute quilt.  Thinking filmstrip quilt.  But then again, there are some block size panels.  Perhaps I could fussy-cut.  Go to fatquartershop.com to check this out in better lighting.

Next up, we have Nouveau.  I bought 4 charm packs & 2 yards of the print.  Maybe a half square triangle quilt?  Tossed nine patch with the centers being the print?

And then we have Authentic.  I have a couple pieces of yardage that can go with this.  Or I could order more (I don't think online shopping will violate my solemn vow not to shop this weekend).  I have no clues on what to do with this.  The prints aren't too large, as one might expect.  Maybe Bento Box?

And then I have my peer-pressure purchase.  Okay, so no peers were with me when I ordered this.  And no one that I've seen online has bought this.  But something pulled me toward it.  But those voices have stopped talking to me, and here I am with Dolce, but no idea of what to do with it.  I will most certainly have to buy more fabrics to go with this because my stash is hurting regarding pinks and aqua.  Too much stash-busting perhaps wasn't such a grand idea?  Nah.

If you have any ideas, send them over, please!  I need my goals set by Friday evening.  Fairy godmothers, get out your wands.  (DeDe, this means you, too!)

Decisions, Decisions

I'm kind of stuck.  I had to toss the ridiculous round robin quilt aside to find something else to work on.  Have you met Peter?  One reason he's so productive is that he sets weekly goals, so I tell him my goals every week...not that he has ever responded, but still, I must tell someone.  Makes me more likely to commit to a plan.  So I tried a little extra goals setting to get me out of my slump.  First I listed all the fabric groupings I had sitting around... fabric waiting on it's fairy godmother to take it to the ball.

 

Really?  Have I bought that much fabric in the last year or so that I haven't touched?  I honestly thought I had been stash-busting, but when I look at this list, it kind of makes me feel guilty. At least I'm stimulating the economy, right?  I'm just glad I haven't mentioned all the fabric I've bought and actually used in the last year.  I can't even do that kind of math.

And then I listed the quilt tops that are ready to be quilted.  Backings included.

 

And then I made the listing WIP/UFO's.  And kits I have yet to touch.

Oh, but wait.  As I sat there stuck with all these projects listed on this big sheet of butcher paper, I still couldn't find a single thing to work on.  About that time my husband stumbled into my studio.  He saw the list and my frowny face and quickly tried to solve my predicament by telling me to start with the WIP's & UFO's.  Yeah, right.  That's preposterous.  My friend Kim is coming this weekend for a couple days of sewing bliss, but unfortunately, we have made a little promise to ourselves, our loved ones, and our WIPs/UFOs to actually work instead of shop.  Preposterous. 

I guess I better set some goals.  Do you guys set goals each week, or do you just follow your inspiration?  Do tell.  Every time Kim and I set goals, we shop and buy something else to sew.  Maybe we should just get out our old goals:-)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I won my first giveaway!  PinkSuedeShoe had a giveaway, and I won.  Charlotte arrived yesterday in a little nest of batting and fabric strips, cozy as could be.  She's very excited to get out of that box and hang out with me while I work.

Quickly, Charlotte suggested we organize my scraps (she could clearly see I had scrap issues), and she knew just the plan.  Forget my son's toys-- steal his baskets and fill them with fabric.  Novel idea, Charlotte.  I can already tell we're going to be the best of friends.  Thanks so much, Pink Suede Shoe (FYI- not sure if I'm supposed to use real names or blog names.  Either way, I don't want to lead serial killers to your doorstep or anything.).

Fantastic Felines

I have been collecting Laurel Burch fabrics for years, it seems.

 

And at one of our mystery classes about a year ago, we had to bring 20 fat quarters.  So I did.

  

And then I found a stash of embroidered blocks (OESD Fantastic Felines) I had made a few years ago, so I brought them along, too.

Because they were too cute not to include.

And as it turns out we made "Turning 20 Again," so my little stash worked perfectly.

 

And here I am a year later finally quilting it.  I used a freehand edge-to-edge that I refer to as "Newton's Whimsical Balls." (don't ask).

1st Wednesday Swap

 My quilt block for the online quilting bee is on its way to Australia to reside with Felicity.  We received packages with black, white, and red fabrics and were asked to make a 12-inch star block.  I made the Ohio Star block.  Surprisingly, I haven't done this before, but I do love it.  Very traditional looking, which is not normally my style, but I like it.