A Wee Gift...

Can you guess what I am making??? Those colours sure seem familiar...hmmm...

Here I will do the last bit of rotary cutting and maybe that will help...

Aha Pencils!!!!

And even better...PENCIL pencil cases. Hee hee!!! Inspired by this adorable one I saw by Amy at Badskirt last night while blog reading. I loved it so much, I pulled the fabrics before I went to bed and sewed them directly after I dropped off the wee man at school this morning. Noooo, I am not obsessed with them. Ok, maybe a little (big) bit.

One is for keeps and the other one is filled with sewing notions and chocolate and being sent off to a sweet bloggy friend who did something awfully nice for me. It's a tiny thank you for a kind gesture.

If you would like to make one too, you can find the tutorial here at Gwenny Penny.

Happy weekend all!!! Linking up with 'Finish it up Friday' at Crazy Mom Quilts and 'Let's get Acquainted Monday' hosted by Ange at Heart of Charnwood.

~Lisa

PB and J - a New Adventure

I work with a woman who is just amazing. And to thank her for sharing her amazingness with me and the kids (I am a teacher) each and every day that we work together, I want to make her a (surprise, surprise!!!) quilt, of course!!!

What better fabric than a little PB and J?!!! Exactly - just perfect, I thought so too. You see...it has the alphabet, which is soooo fitting for what we do (we work with little people). But it is not kids only fabric - it has grown up elements too, like its lovely flowers and patchwork and really great colours (love the denim blue). So I chopped up a pile (and added a few from stash)...

Did some chain piecing...

And ended up with a log cabin-ish type of block. I just went with colours and proportions that looked good to my eye.

Now I have this vision for a scrappy, tone on tone, herringbone sashing of sorts. Not sure how I am going to make this happen yet - going to sleep on it.


What are you working on lately? Hope it's making you smile like these did for me today - this was some much needed sewing time - always relaxes the soul.

Linking up with W.I.P. Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

~Lisa

Black and White and Red all Over

What is black and white and red all over??? (Or should I say 'read' all over). The newspaper! Hahaha - this is the first joke I remember telling and actually 'GETTING' as a child!

Hello pretty 

And on to other news...

Yay me!!! The K Quilt is complete - isn't that just the best feeling??!!! I began this quilt in February. It is for a friend's birthday at the end of this month. I have previously shared my creative process here and a progress report about this quilt here. This quilt makes me happy (I seriously CANNOT stop touching it) because I have learned so much from it.

Favourite block

This quilt has taught me more about myself as a quilter than any other quilt!
Here are some of the things I have learned while making this quilt:

1. That I can push my creative process until I am in love with what I see, I really need to FEEL what I see on my design wall.

2. That the *CLICK* will come - I will eventually create a design that speaks to me. 

These first two points are really important for me - I noticed that as I went through the design process on this quilt and then the next quilt I designed (this is new for me, as I have always followed patterns before) each time there was a period of fret and worry like - 'OMGOODNESS I have ruined all this fabric and don't like what I see' - and when I continue and really challenge myself, I have been able to realize a design that I truly love.

3. That the following quote (that I discovered while trying to sew very precise seams on this quilt) gives me confidence as a quilter - "It does not have to be correct the first time you sew it, only the last time" (Sally Collins). RIGHT??!!! So true! Hello seam ripper! 

And even better - for some reason this quote makes me feel less frustrated (as in 'OMG I made a mistake') when I am changing a seam and more like - I am choosing to improve upon my quilt. Which I see as a good thing!

4. How to fix skipped stitches - thank you so much for the suggestions ladies - your help really did help!

5. That I have finally perfected my 'Perfect for Me' binding. I am super duper happy about this. I have been documenting my binding technique on paper for quite a few quilts now. When I liked how a certain aspect of my binding turned out, I make a note of it and when I didn't like the way something turned out, I made a note of what to try next time. I was really searching for a way to make my binding look pretty to me each and every time - I wanted a PREDICTABLE sequence, so that I can follow the steps and get the same results for every quilt. Very demanding, I know haha!

I say 'perfect for me' binding because I had a very specific set of criteria - I like a skinny binding (2.25 in strips) and I really do like the look of machine sewn binding AND true to my 'organized, everything must be the same' kind of self - I wanted BOTH sides of the binding to be sewn so it looks the same. Phew! I did take pics of my process and have my notes - tutorial to come!!! My first!!!

So not only is this quilt for a special to me friend - it is also a very special to me quilt, for teaching me so much about the art that I love. Kind of fitting I think!!!

Happy Friday all! Linking up with 'Finish it up Friday' at Crazy Mom Quilts and 'Let's get Acquainted' Monday link up party hosted by Charm About You.

~Lisa

Progress

Aaaahhhhhh...the sweet, sweet sound of progress. Back at the K quilt.

Though, I have been having some troubles with skipped stitches. It's a first for me. I have fiddled and I have faddled and the skips will go away for awhile and then reappear. Have you had this problem? Any suggestions? A magical cure? Please share your spell! I would love some help.

Happy weekend all.

~Lisa