Sew Modern blocks for June

I was able to finish my blocks for the Sew Modern Bee for the month of June today. Miss Sarah,  Issabella the Cat, requested wonky quarter log cabin blocks from this tutorial by Quilt Dad.

These are really big since she requested 15.5 inch blocks! I've never done wonky before (at least on purpose) so this was fun to step out of my comfort zone. It was really addicting once I started.

The only thing I had a problem with was that I didn't have any strips bigger than about 2 inches so it was hard to do a lot of wonk. Also, it was hard for me to see all the waste created by cutting the wonk. But overall I really loved doing these.

She also requested a fabric flower of any type. I had bookmarked this tutorial a while ago and decided this was the perfect time to try it out! I also happened to have the perfect button in my stash. I hope this flower survives the trip back to the UK!


Here's the flower on the block for sense of scale.

Hope you like them Sarah!

Jay McCarroll speaking at Philly Modern Quilt Guild!

We are having another speaker at next months Philly Modern Quilt Guild Meeting. None other than Jay McCarroll!

If you were following Modern Madness on Fat Quarterly you'll remember his line Habitat was the final winner. It's such a cool line. I'm really looking forward to hearing him speak!

His talk will be on June 21st. If you want more information check out the PMQG blog.


And don't forget, we've got a lot of our own quilty talent in the guild. Julie of Jaybird Quilts, fabric designer Jessica Levitt and Liz of Lizzy B Cre8ive are just a few, so you never know who you might meet! Come join us if you can!

do.Good Stitches June blocks

For the June Bliss group of do. Good Stitches Megan of Canoe Ridge Creations requested bow tie blocks in rainbow colors.

Here are the two blocks I came up with for her. I hope she likes them!


I'm really excited because I signed up to be a quilter. That means that instead of just making two blocks, I'll be the one to pick the blocks and then put it all together. I start next month already! I'm working on my test blocks and hoping I like the color combo I've picked! Excited to get started.

WIP Wednesday {30}

Really? Is it really week 30 already! Amazing. So here's what's on the table this week.


Finished: nada


In process:
Today's big project is cleaning up my sewing room. :(  No pictures because I'm way to embarrassed at how it looks. In addition to my own stuff, my husband has dumped a few boxes in there also so it's a bit crowded. My current sewing room is also the dining room and tomorrow we are getting our dining room furniture back from the old house. So I need to make it work in that room with all my stuff. Should be interesting.

I found the binding for my first quilt.  It was in one of my scrapbooking piles in the guest room. Whoops! Now I just need to get it attached.

Very little progress on the Weekender bag. Well, it was a lot of work, but doesn't feel like a lot of result. I got all the cording done- all 5 yrds! With some advice from Cindy at Live a Colorful life, I decided to use Steam a Seam to fuse it instead of sewing it together. Apparently you sew over the cording several times and each time you get closer and closer. So if you start too close, you can run into problems.

I got 4 blocks done for my mom's Bird Bath quilt. And running out of ideas to photograph these blocks every week. lol

Cutting is done for my Baby Carnival quilt. I need to get this one moving. I realized this friend is having her baby in 3 weeks. Although she doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl and I do have the potential girl quilt ready. Let's hope it's a girl!

I did manage to fix and finish the quilting on my Baby Bicycle quilt. Just need to get the binding done. I've chosen polka dots for that one.

I haven't mentioned the Sew Modern Bee in a while. This month we are doing Wonky Log Cabins and she's requested a fabric flower to go with it. That will be a fun addition. I received this beautiful fabric to work with. I haven't even unwrapped these because I don't want them to get lost in all the shuffle the next few days.

And last but not least, my do.Good Stitches blocks. It's Megan's (Canoe Ridge Creations) month and she put together a tutorial for a bow-tie block. She's requested a rainbow of colors, so here is what I've pulled (and have since ironed).

In addition I've been doing some planning and prep work for a few future projects that I don't have photos of. Should be able to post them soon though!

Total WIP's this week: 7


Head on over to Freshly Pieced to share what you've been up to this week!

A little off topic.

Totally not sewing related today. But I know a lot of you are big readers like me. Did you read the Sweet Valley books when you were younger? I was obsessed with them. So I was really excited to see this....

Yup - she wrote a book about Jessica and Elizabeth as adults! And this really cracked me up. When you open the book, this is the inside cover.

That brings back some memories. haha! Just thought I'd share for any fans out there.  It's definitely a light and fluffy book, good beach read. (sorry for the crappy pictures, not sure what's up with my photo skills today).


That is all.

Spray Baste FAIL - a PSA

When I'm quilting I always use either Warm and Natural or Warm and White. I think it's pretty standard for most of us. I've never had a problem spray basting with those battings.  At the last PMQG meeting I was lucky enough to win some batting that Julie and Candi brought back from Quilt Market. I know it was from the Warm Company, but I got rid of the packaging and can't remember what it was. I'm thinking it was Soft & Bright? But don't quote me on it.

Either way, it's more polyester than I'm used to. And apparently polyester doesn't stick with basting spray. Maybe this is already common knowledge? I'm not sure, but I'm putting it out there in case you don't know either.




I attempted to spray baste my bike quilt. My first step is always to quilt around the outside to stabilize it all. I didn't realize the backing wasn't firmly basted until I was almost done.

Can you see the big lumps around the edges?  Guess me and my seam ripper are getting friendly tonight! Then I'll be basting this with pins. Hope I've saved someone from the same fate. ;)

WIP Wednesday {29}

Okay, it really feels like more than a week has passed here. We had our house buyers fall through, then come back. Our A/C at the new house needs repair... the list goes on but I won't bore you with it! On to the fabric and sewing.

Finished this week:
Boppy Covers 

In progress:
Baby Bike Quilt. After I posted asking your opinion last week for blue or gray I went back and laid all my fabrics out. I realized that the inner border was a blue polka dot and would be too much blue if I used the blue as the 'neutral' also. Sorry for not giving you all information! I did manage to piece the whole top and it's currently waiting for basting. Any suggestions for quilting?

I did already find a use for some of that blue linen though. I started cutting my Amy Butler Weekender Bag. I had no idea what a bear this bag was when I started it and I've since seen a ton of posts about how hard it is. So I'm pacing myself on this one. I've just been cutting the pieces - and there are a TON!  I've run out of fusible interfacing so I'll be going this morning to get more. Back to the linen, I've decided to use it for handles and piping on this bag. Here are some of my cut pieces.

I was able to get done more of the king size Bird Bath blocks. I have 25 total. There are 24 in this picture because my mom still has the trial block in Florida.

I've had a moment of panic with this one. I usually don't pre-wash my fabrics and didn't in this case. Has anyone worked with the Kona black before? It's so saturated I'm now terrified of washing this quilt. It's white and black and kind of too late.

I started a new project, cutting fabric for another baby quilt. This one is using Jaybird Quilts Carnival pattern and Lily and Will II fabric. Because yes, I have more friends having babies!

Also back on my list is my first quilt which I just got back from quilting. This will be a whole post to itself. But at the moment, I can't find the binding I made for it!! You know, I put it "here" so I wouldn't lose it.

Waiting for my attention:
The curtains - looking for the perfect hardware
the bathroom - it's all prepped, I just need time to paint.

Total WIP's: 7 (not too bad)

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday which is actually being hosted by Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy this week. Go check it out!