Wednesday, January 31, 2018

fussy cut sampler - chapter 1

i'm sitting here, mostly in disbelief that today is the last day of january!
i don't have any mega finished projects to share, but i do have my first four blocks from the fussy cut sampler i am participating in.  my first 3 blocks are pretty subtle, but block number 4 is quite a change in color.  originally i was going with just blues & greens as well as gray as a neutral, but i felt like it needed a little punch of a third color in there.  so what better color to pair with blue & green but some yellow?  i may have gone a little intense with this one, but i intend to also include some yellow throughout as well - especially since some of the dinosaurs have yellow in it as well.
i'll admit, i've been doing a lot of sporadic shopping for these and so i have a LOT of fabrics to mix in... or not... but since i love these colors, it is all good!  anyways, without further delay, here are january's blocks.
the next chapter starts in a week, and i'm excited to see what happens with those blocks.
i know stripes are involved!

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

january so far

i figured it would probably be a good idea to do an update post of sorts mid month, since i don't have any finished projects to share yet... and that some of my plans have already changed a bit!  nothing too drastic, just that things have switched around here and there.
we had our first smqg meeting this past weekend, and got off to a great start for the new year!  talked a lot about what we might want to hear about and played an ice breaker game where we asked someone a question in relation to quilting.  someone asked me how my stash is organized, and i was glad i was able to say that it actually is at the moment!  a week or so, i would have been saying that there was fabric in piles all over my floor by color.  which was 100% true.  there was NO floor to be seen on 2/3 of the floor around my bed because of fabric.
speaking of smqg, we also had our first block party this past wednesday!  darryl (who is also on the guild board) hosted at his home, made us soup & salad and we chatted a lot and made him some half square triangles for his project.  a solid 3 hours of sewing and chatting was a wonderful way to spend a wednesday evening.
my fussy cut block of the month is coming along quite well, and i currently have 3/4 of the blocks for the chapter done.  i find myself buying more fabric that fits my theme quicker than i actually use it.  oops.  but with my colors being blues, greens & yellows, i know they'll get used at some point in my quilting life.  i did the makelight year of colour analysis for my instagram account, and the biggest dot on my "map" was of course, a shade of blue.  i'll probably be working on my 4th block next saturday, since that seems to be when things fall in to place for working on fussy cutting.
now my stashbusting and sew alongs currently go hand in hand.
i had thought about joining the elizabeth hartman all the animals sew along with gnome angel, but it slipped to not being my first priority.  some other things came up that i cannot quite share just yet (good secrets, i promise) and so the fancy foxes weren't on my list of must do right now.  instead, i've (crazily) jumped in to schnitzel & boo's candy cats quilt along on instagram.  she's using the candy cat pattern by unicornharts for this super fun sew along.  there are prizes, which also perked my ears!  how am i stashbusting for this, you ask?  all my cat parts i already had.  the only thing i've purchased is the background fabric, because i wanted that to be consistent.  my plan is to make 16 of these cats and have a 4x4 grid.  it has an intended home, but i don't want that secret to get out until it is time :)  here's a peek at my first 3 kitties!
i'm using greens, oranges, reds & yellows for the cats with this denim-ish blue looking fabric for the surrounding.  hopefully, none of my colors will repeat (if my method of the ear color becomes the next cat's body color works)  my mom suggested pete the cat fabric for the back of the quilt, which the more i look at these cats, the more i think it is a great fit!
want to join in the fun?
you can get the pattern here: candy cat on craftsy
p.s. it's FREE
so far, i feel pretty confident in what i've gotten done so far (i also have a quilt basted to be quilted... i really need to get on that...) and what i have yet to come.  so far, no over sized queen size quilt projects on the brain for this year, which is a good feeling!  but then again, there wasn't one for last year either, then my cousin moved his wedding date up.
i'll check in again soon with my fussy cut blocks before month 2's class begins, so stay tuned!

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

welcome to 2018

2017 was a very successful year when it came to reaching my goals for the year!
i took a lot of classes at meissners with angelina mckenna, jenny lyon, and natalia bonner about different quilting techniques on my janome as well as the long arm machine.
i've been a certified long arm quilter for just over a year now, as well as a member of the sacramento modern quilt guild since last january!  it has been great taking these first few steps in to the local quilting "scene" and i hope to continue that more this year.  with no plans to go to quiltcon this year, i do have a few plans for how i'll be involved in the local quilting community.
smqg-
in order to get more involved this year, i've accepted the position of vp of communications for the sacramento modern quilt guild!  i'm really excited to get to know more of those that have been involved with the board in previous years and really learn more about it all.
maker monday-
every third monday of the month, i've been attending "maker monday" at meissners, which was something i stumbled across after hearing a few talk about it.  generally, it is the same group of ladies, coming together to hang out, snack & sew for a few hours.  last month, we had an extra long holiday sew day, complete with a full meal of grilled meat, veggies, potatoes and cornbread.  even though we work on our own projects with the occasional sew along, its fun to just hang out, chat and sew with others and inspire each other.
fussy cut block of the month-
this year i'll be participating in a block of the month class that will be a new experience for me.  fussy cutting hasn't really been something that i'd thought to do, but once angelina completed her own fussy cut sampler quilt last year and lisa having done her english paper piecing la passacalia quilt parts, i was intrigued.  then, it became part of the calendar of classes and i was on board.  i attended the info session and then january kicked off the first class, and i've currently got 2 of the 4 blocks done!  a gal named ashley, who is in smqg with me, is also in the class, and i felt like we had a good time chatting and helping each other out with our first few blocks.  i'm looking forward to this adventure, and seeing how the end result comes out.  the photo on top is a peek at the blocks so far!
block party-
the current vp of our quilt guild sent out an invite for a monthly "block party" at his home once a month to get together, chat and sew.  i'm not one to gather people i don't really know, so being invited to this was a great ice breaker for me.  each month, one of us gets to pick the block and color scheme for what is being made.  i haven't quite decided what to do for my month yet, but i'm looking forward to trying something new.

other things this year
stash busting-
i mean, for real... i need to make this a thing!
over winter break, i made 25 pillowcases and donated them to uc davis children's hospital for the children's surgery center.  it felt great to do something good for kids in need as well as free up some space in my fabric storage.  i found i had some very random things in there, and while i did have to purchase a few "filler" fabrics, i was able to free up about 15 of the comic book boards i had in my cabinet.  i spent new year's eve putting together a quilt top i had in block form and donated it already to my parent's church, so here's to hoping i can get a one or two done a month!  it will definitely help my spending (and helping my rent payments!)
vlogs-
i've tried a few so far with my month of me projects, and had a good time chatting about what i was doing.  it is weird to watch and hear myself, that's for sure!  either way, i'm hoping to try a few more about what i'm doing, and maybe even talk about some specific topics.  this could just be a phase, but i won't know until i give it a good go!
sew alongs-
i do enjoy the occasional sew along, and hope to participate in a few this year.  i saw that gnome angel is hosting the "elizabeth hartman all the animals" sew along, and it seems like the perfect one to join in on at first.  i still have plans to make one of the kittens quilt, and possibly even another fancy foxes quilt!

a little bit of rambling, but here's to another eventful year of quilts, sewing and all around socializing!