Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilts

Y’all.  IT’S HERE.  I’m going to try to put into words how much I love this quilt, but it’s going to be hard!  Doing this Round Robin style bee with Renee, Laura, and Jess has been the most freeing experience ever.  It’s taught me that not controlling projects can be beautiful, and it’s shown me just how wonderful they are as friends.  (Which I knew, but seeing how much they “get me” has been such a fun experience.)  (To see Jess’ finished quilt top, go here.)

 Yesterday I got to meet up with Jess so she could hand it over in person.

We enjoyed catching up and talking about our other bee mates.  We truly wished we all could have been together yesterday!  I was like a little kid in the candy shop seeing my package.  There has been so much love and thought put into this quilt.  Unfortunately it was incredibly windy yesterday so we didn’t get any shots of us looking at it outside like crazy quilt ladies, but the second I got home I was laying out the quilt and looking at the next border that Jess and I collaborated on!

HELLO!

Up next is a border or orange peels.  I will be making the other two sides and then putting it all together.  I might be adding a thin border in between these two borders, but that will come as soon as I make all of the orange peels!  I’ve pulled out the mustard yellows and low volume fabrics I plan to use from my stash (hence my link up to Sunday Stash!) and now I just need to print off the template.  Ahhhhh.  It’s so close to being done!

I’m leaning towards doing just oneeeee moreeee border, but we shall see.  Last night I had so much fun going through all of the fabrics in the quilt and looking at the details.  They truly turned this quilt into something extremely beautiful.  I can’t get over how much thought they put into each border, and I love how they colors play together.  These three ladies were the three bloggers that I commented on first when I started this crazy adventure 1.5 years ago, and I couldn’t be happier that we’ve done this bee together.  I love having a piece of each of them in my house.  This quilt is going to be a family heirloom forevaaaaaaa.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Renee, Laura and Jess.  I love you ladies more than Chicopee.

Disclaimer: Ignore any threads on my rug.  A quilter lives here.

Sunday Stash

I love this Sunday Stash.  Afterall, who doesn’t LOVE gifted fabric?!  A few weeks ago, Alyce and Molli Sparkles hosted a giveaway to celebrate having 1,000 (one thousand!) followers on Instagram.  Yes, yes they are just that awesome.  Well, the fabulous Renee entered us to win – and lo and behold, WE DID!  These.fabrics.are.awesome.  Let’s let the pictures do the talking, shall we?

 

 

 

Don’t you just want to make a quilt out of all of these together?!

My favorite red is second from the right.  Hand holding  – I die.

These oranges!  Yes.  Those little flowers.  The dots.  The words!

The yellows are my favorite.  Check out the nine-patchy inspired fabric.  Third from the left.  

Love.

So, this Sunday Stash goes out to four of my favorite bloggers.  Yes, four.  Congrats to Alyce and Molli – you are both fabulous!  Thank you to Renee for her winning mojo!  And, shout out to Nicholas, my favorite email friend, for hosting Sunday Stash!

Sunday Stash

This Sunday Stash is a reminder of how much I love this quilting community.  There is something very special about everyone I’ve met through blogging and quilting, and put simply it is this:  we are kindred spirits.  While many of my favorites were hanging out in Nashville, and I was insta-stalking them, they were picking out fabrics to bring back and share with me.  What I love most is that they thought to ask me if I would like them to look for something, and then that they picked out the perfect fabrics for me!  Then there was the rainbow charm pack from Beth, that when my husband saw it he said, “That’s so you – you’re really going to love using that!”  Yes, yes I will!

Melanie got me an amazing scrap pack from AMH’s studio.  She also bought herself one, and we already have a scrappy pillow planned to make together.  As soon as my students rock out the state test in three weeks I am looking forward to making a project that will always remind me of one of my favorite quilty teachers!

She also shared some of the fabrics she got from AMH’s new line – um HELLO.  That pale blue – holy cow.  Love.  I can’t wait to use the sunflowers in my gypsy wife quilt.  Love.

Here’s the rainbow charm pack from Beth.  She’s the reason I’ve found so many wonderful quilty friends in this state, and I’m so thankful for the first time I walked into her store, Rock Paper Scissors.  

She knows me well!

Then there’s the ridiculously perfect bundle that Michelle chose for me.  I must make my favorite colors pretty obvious, haha.  From the moment I saw this on instagram I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this bundle of goodies.  Especially the yellows.  Ah, the yellows.  They are so gorgeous.  I’ll love having these fabrics in the gypsy wife quilt I’m making through Michelle’s quilt along.  

As much as I love these fabrics, I love the women more who generously shared not only this fabric with me, but their friendship over the past year and a half.  Quilting has brought so much joy to my life – because I get to share it with such talented, kind, and creative souls.  Thank you for being such an important part of my life.

Sunday Stash

Y’all.  Michelle over at Factotum of Arts is a fabric godmother.  She recently sent me a fabric gift card to Hawthorne Threads (that happened to arrive on my birthday, HEY) and I finally made my choices last weekend.

Get ready for some serious fabric love.

Fabric stacks make me happy every single time.

I needed a few more Kaffe Stripes to finish another patchwork quilt:

 

Really, I just want to buy yards of this stuff.  

More cerise fabrics for my stash.

 

Those dandelions.  I can’t.

Some Prism in Primary:

 

Nicole over at Modern Hand Craft is to blame for that purchase… 😉

A gorgeous text print:

 

Get ready, Stephanie, this is going in your sisterhood quilt!

And, finally, some MORE AMH for my Gypsy Wife quilt:

I have a feeling that before this is all said and done I’m going to have quite a few AMH quilts in my possession.  Ain’t nobody complaining about that!  Be sure to check out all the other gorgeous fabric being linked up over at Molli Sparkles.  Surely we all need more temptation to buy more fabric…

(Thanks, Michelle!!!!!)

Sunday Stash

Today’s Sunday Stash is dedicated to a sweet bundle that Amanda from Westwood Acres Fabric sent me as an Instagram giveaway.  Love.  She put up a giveaway where she was going to randomly send fabrics, and I was one of the lucky winners.  She did an excellent job putting together a bundle of fabrics that I love.  Love.  You have got to check out her shop – I love all of her bundles.  

Hello, the only Good Folks I own!

I spy original Flea Market Fancy!

So many great text prints!

I can’t get over how much I love this bundle.  I’m keeping it all together, but I already have a plan for some of the text prints!  Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilts, I’m looking right at you….

Also, all you Gypsy Wifers, don’t forget to link up your March blocks!  I’m drawing the winner tonight!

Linking up with everyone’s favorite – Molli!

Sunday Stash

So, I said that if I accomplished all of my February goals, I would treat myself to fabric.  Anna Maria Horner’s True Colors line, to be exact.  I almost finished my goals, but overall my February was extremely productive, so I bit the bullet and put in the order.  Plus a low volume fat eighth pack.  Just for the record, is there anything sadder than a fat eighth pack?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love it.  But now I want YARDS of these fabrics.

Y’all.  AMH’s true colors.  I just can’t.  How am I even going to cut these?

I can’t wait to start adding these prints to the Gypsy Wife quilt, and I have to say – it’s getting to the point where I’m going to be able to make quilt a few AMH quilts.  Which is definitely not a problem.

The scissors?!

One of my fabric goals this year is going to be to build up my low volume stash.  I know that you like my idea of a fabric goal.   hahahaha.

Sunday Stash

HELP!

It’s time to start using some of my Chicopee.  A collection which has grown even larger than this picture and is spiraling out of control.  In the best way possible.  Here’s where you come in.  I’m now in three bees.  ScrapBeeLicious, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilts, and a Block Party with NJMQG.  I’ve already received my blocks for the ScrapBeeLicious group (the are fantastic).  I still need to make my center medallion for the traveling quilt – I have too many ideas.  AND, I just bumped myself up from August to March for the Block Party quilt.   Mercy.

Since I’ll have to cut out the quilt, I need to start thinking about it quickly and commit to an idea.  I want to use Chicopee as the main fabric line.  This fabric goes so well with our house colors, my husband and I both love it, and it’s the perfect way for me to keep my favorite fabric for eternity.  So, today’s Sunday Stash is dedicated to what block I should do to showcase my the fabric love of my life. (Oh the mellow drama of a young quilter!  hahaha)

Here are some of my thoughts so far:

• X-Plus quilt
• Swoon quilt
• Kaleidoscope Quilt where the blocks alternate between the Blue and Pink lines to create the circles. 
• Drunkard’s Path

And, yes, I’m fully aware that I already own a Chicopee quilt.

When I made my Chicopee Stripes quilt, the purpose was so that I could learn to quilt.  I need to practice quilting a larger quilt, and now that I feel more comfortable with my quilting, I want to showcase the fabrics in a fabulous way.  Since I keep it wrapped up in it’s plastic, I want to give it the special treatment.  Hit me with your best shot – I always love your ideas!

Sunday Stash

First, I just have to say that you all have had me laughing since Friday over How Quilters Annoy Their Partners.  There are so many good ones, and later on this week I’m going to compile them into a complete list – they are just too good to live in the comment section.  If you want to laugh even more, be sure to check out the hashtag on Instagram: #howquiltersannoytheirpartners  So. many. good. ones.  I have my favorite that I’ve looked at twenty times, and it makes me laugh every single time.  It’s so funny.

Onto the fabric, another great way to annoy your partner.  Keep buying more of it.  This week, AMH has again found a new home.  I found a great deal on a Dowry bundle, and I just couldn’t pass it up for my Gypsy Wife quilt collection.  It wasn’t until the bundle made it to my home that I realized just how beautiful some of the prints are.  They are stunning!  

I mean, look at those colors.

These were my favorite prints, and I need them in yardage.  Now.

 

I hope I have lots of leftover scraps from these…

 

I absolutely love the colors in these prints.  I can’t handle how much I love her fabric.

 

The Gypsy Wife quilt box is looking pretty good these days!  just in time to make my February blocks!

Be sure to head over to Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash to see others’ beautiful fabrics.  It’s such a great way to finish the week!

 

Sunday Stash

I mentioned this before, but Anna Maria Horner and I are about to make up for some lost time together.  It might have taken me a while to come around to her fabrics, but now we’re set.  And I might have just ordered some more last night…

Well, here’s my latest addition to the stash.

 

Hand. Drawn. Garden.  Stop it.  These colors.  When the bundle arrived, I thought of my mom.  Over Christmas I asked her to tell me what kind of quilt design she liked… she told me that was too much pressure.  I told her to put on her big girl panties (no, no I actually didn’t.)  Then she found this quilt from Angela over at Brooklyn Quilting Co.  Go ahead, click on it.  It’s worth it.  Divine.  I mulled over guessing the dimensions, etc. but I decided that all quilters are nice people so I emailed her and asked if she could help a sister out.  Using much better writing skills than that, I might add.  Not only did she email me back with help, but she also mentioned that she might be putting together a tutorial – let’s all encourage it!  So, now I have the dimensions and a new quilty friend.  Go check out her blog – her style is very colorful, vintagey, clean – I love it!

So now I get to cut these beauties into 3 x 2 inch rectangles.  Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of TV shows ready to go on my laptop!

Here are some of my favorite prints:

And this is my mom’s favorite print:

And, yes, I promise I’ll iron the fabrics… gahhhhhhh.  Why do they have to freaking crease?!  The struggle!  Oh wait, Just read that Molli Sparkles iron caught on fire. in his hands. while quilting.  Nope. I knew the iron wasn’t safe.  What are you waiting for – go check out the other stashes this week over at Molli Sparkles.  We all need to love on some fabric today.

 

Sunday Stash

Well, well, well.  I usually shy away from the Sunday Stash posts because, well, sometimes a girls gotta keep her fabric purchases a secret.  You know what I’m saying?  But, now I’m all, “Well, girl, ain’t no shame in your fabric game.”  Plus, the hubs is still well fed and clothed, so we’re doing all right.

Over Christmas I received a gift card to quilthome.com.  As if that wasn’t the most perfect gift ever, they were having a 30% off sale and free shipping.  I mean, what?  It was like Christmas on crack.  I had been eyeing the Kaffe Fassett stripped shot cottons since last summer, so I decided to take the plunge.  And, well, since I had oogled them for months, I knew which ones I wanted.  Fabricaholic.  I know.

The box finally came – and I just couldn’t wait to open it.  Of course I had to Instagram my happiness first.

And how funny is Laura from Little and Lots?  That comment got me, especially since I’d be linking up with Molli Sparkles today.  So what was inside the box you ask?  Enough Stripped cottons to make two quilt tops, and two fabulous quilt backs from AMH.  I’m late to the AMH band wagon, but I’m about to make up for a lot of lost time.  

Hello, delicious.  That top checked fabric is the binding for both quilts.  I die.  These colors.  Let’s break it down.

Here are the quilt backs and binding.  AMH is my new quilting guru.  I recently bought the Hand Drawn Garden.  Hooked.  We can talk about that next Sunday.

And the stripped shot cottons.  Y’all.  Is this not the yummiest stack of prints ever?  I’m obsessed.

This box of fabric has got my quilting mojo all excited for what’s to come.  Did I mention that Big Bertha is in the shop?  Things might be slowing down a bit around here, and I’m about to lose my charm if she’s not back soon.  Separation from your sewing machine is too much to handle.

Can’t wait to see what you’ve been stashing – and don’t forget – my giveaway closes tonight!  I hope to add to your stash!

Be sure to go check out the other stashes over at Molli Sparkles!