Project Quilting Challenge 3 - Sweet Treats - brainstorming!

The third challenge for Project Quilting, Season 5 was posted on Sunday at noon CST.  We were busy prepping for superbowl festivities - but I read through the challenge quickly so that I could be brainstorming while chopping veggies, making salsa & guac, and maybe a little bit during the game.  {though most of the game was spent cheering on our awesome Seahawks to their superbowl victory!}

This week's challenge is "Sweet Treats" - read more about it here

While I really enjoy chocolate.... if you give me a choice between chocolate and fruity / sour / gummy candy - I will pick the fruity / sour / gummy candy 9 times out of 10.  Skittles are a fave for sure - also on the list?  Hot Tamales, Gummy Bears, and Rips.

Photo from bubblews.com

The timing of this challenge couldn't be more perfect!
a) thanks to the Seahawks star running back, Marshawn Lynch (aka Beast MODE) - and his love for Skittles - my 3-year-old has been running around the house for weeks now hollering "Beast Mooooooooode!" and "Skittles - - - Taste the rainbow!!!"

Photo from www.Seahawks.com

b) I have really wanted to make a rainbow quilt - but haven't had a reason to sew one.
c) My goal to challenge myself even more than each PQ challenge requires us to will fit perfectly this week!  Last week, my creation was far from my comfort zone - a funky, abstract creation.  This week...... rather than putting together a rainbow quilt using squares - or even half-square triangles (HSTs) into a chevron (which was my original plan for the rainbow quilt - prior to reading this week's challenge post) - I *plan* on working with CIRCLES!

I posted this photo {it's a cell phone pic!} to the "Challenge Quilts" facebook group - at this point I was about halfway through cutting out all the 8" diameter circles (not all pictured here).  A friend of mine sent me a text not long after - "What are you doing with those circles?  How do they connect?"  Yep.... my brain is not the only one that has to stretch when thinking outside the square!

By this point, my hand was RAW from cutting out circles {I have a circle cutter.... but the repetitive nature and the fact I think my blade is a *bit* dull were definitely working against me!}.  And both of my boys refused to take naps in the afternoon.  So I headed upstairs to try and do the dinner / play / bedtime routine..... which took for.ev.er. last night!  After the usual books / songs routine with Little Man #1 and a handful of trips back into Little Man #2's room (for more songs, or snuggles, or a little more milk, or....?!?!?!) - I headed back downstairs to cut the rest of the circles, iron them all again, and get to work.

Last night I sewed two "rows" of my quilt.  They are test rows - I need to see if the concept I'm considering is really going to work.....

*Fingers crossed* for better sleepers today / tonight so I can really give this idea a try and get some work under my belt!  Don't worry - I'll take lots of pictures along the way just in case this concept works! :)

Want to join in on the fun?  Check out Project Quilting and challenge yourself, too!!!

{itty bitty squares} - a finished project

A little while back, I shared a sneak peek at a project I was working on.  With a simple sketch and some pretty fabrics, I started sewing.  I cut strips that were 1.5" wide and sewed them together, cut them apart, and sewed them together again - working toward 1" squares in a mix-and-match patchwork design.

But I wasn't loving it.

You see, this project is a special one.  A friend of mine's mom is fighting breast cancer - - - she is currently undergoing chemo and this project is for her.  So this couldn't just be "okay".... I needed to LOVE it.

So I thought a bit more about my fabric choices.... and pulled a few more pinks.  Setting aside the strips I had already pieced together, I got to work again.

The finished item is a quilted tote bag.  I used a variety of lighter pink-based fabrics for most of the bag - and used a darker pink ribbon fabric to piece together a heart shape for the front.

I quilted simple squiggly horizontal lines through the body of the outside of the bag.

And since I still loved the fabrics I originally pulled, I thought I'd line the bag with something other than pink :)

The bag is definitely fully reversible.  The body of the "outside" of the bag (the patchwork / quilted part) is lined with flannel to give it a little more body and to allow me to quilt it with a bit more texture.

Oh... and those original 1" squares?  Instead of setting them aside for "another day" - I used them to make a quilted coffee sleeve.  My mom has had a few friends go through chemo, and they say their fingers get REALLY temperature sensitive - which makes it hard to drink hot coffee / tea, or cold sodas, etc.  I thought a coffee sleeve might be a nice little addition to this care package!

Wishing my friend's mom all the strength and perseverance it takes to fight this nasty cancer... and hoping they feel surrounded by the love of family, friends, and complete strangers.

Vice Versa BOM - January Blocks

The Vice Versa BOM (Block of the Month) is my very first sew-along / BOM.  I picked it because I really liked the contemporary look - and as a math nerd, the inverse concept {each month, we'll make two blocks - one traditional, the other the inverse of that!} really intrigued me!

Picking out fabrics was TOUGH!  I knew I was going to be picking from fabric I had on hand {Thanks to my 100 item challenge} - and much of my fabric lends itself more to clothes / larger items, not as much traditional quilting.  But that's okay - - I am in no way traditional, so it's only fitting my blocks / fabric choices wouldn't be!

I tried to pull fabrics.  I pulled various color schemes.  I thought about what / who the finished quilt would be for.  I pulled more fabrics.  I got stuck on the "solid" color "requirement" (for the background) - as I do NOT work in solids (I like them.... I just don't have them... and I can't buy fabric!)

Then I took a step back from my cutting table and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a fabric I've had stashed away for a "someday I'll sew for ME" project.  Ah-ha!  Alexander Henry's Mocca in red.  I think I bought it not long after I opened Eggo in the Oven.  I've sewn with it a few times, but then stashed away the last bit of what I had - for "someday".  It's a beautiful combinations of browns, creams, yellows, aquas, and reds.  I just love the bold floral print and the color combination!

So.... then I had my base - and from there I pulled various fabrics / color combinations until I came up with this:

This selection includes a bit of Riley Blake's Verona (first two photos on left - leaves), Riley Blake Fly a Kite (yellow flowers), Michael Miller's Ta Dot in Teal, a brown / white dotty flower fabric from Joann Fabrics (reminds me of spirograph flowers!), and Alexander Henry's Mocca.  Since I likely don't have enough of the Mocca to use it for all of the blocks, I plan on doing some with that and some with the spirograph fabric.  It's possible I'll need to pull in a few more fabrics if I run out of any of these - but we'll see if / when that time comes!

Today I found time during little man #2's morning nap to cut and piece together my January blocks!

Two pretty blocks - they measure 9.5" square (will be 9" square when in the quilt)

The "traditional" block

The inverse!

I was very excited about how quickly they sewed up - and how they turned out!

This quilt-a-long will DEFINITELY be a test of my patience {I don't have much!} - doing just a *little bit* of the quilt each month?!  Waiting a whole year for the quilt to be finished?  Ahhhhhh!

Good thing I have just a few things going on to keep me busy!

Oh.... and in case you're curious - I'm counting these blocks as ONE item for my 100 item challenge - and they are item #22.  Not bad for less than 5 days in! :)

Want to join in on the fun?  It's only $15 to sign up for the year-long project - - - and the patterns are emailed to you as PDF's each month.  There's a great flickr group where you can see others' blocks, ask questions, etc.  Click below for more info!

"String along with me" - day 1

Yippee!  Project Quilting Season 5 has started!

This week's challenge: String along with me - you can read about it more here...
Each week's submission MUST include at least one of the following: patchwork, applique, or have 3 layers stitched together by hand or machine

This week, we also have the following requirement: the entire project must be made from strings {strings are defined as strips of fabric no more than 2.5" wide}

Almost immediately I had an idea... and so I took a picture of my "inspiration" and got started!

I had a general idea.... and sketched out a few concepts - but I'm not going to share those here {mainly because my "sketches" look like something my 3-year-old could have drawn.... but also because the concept has changed a few times since, and I want you to see the creative process, not me creating an end result you already knew was coming!}

Next.... I spent at least 15 minutes sorting through my scrap bin.  It amazed me how many scraps I had to pick from.  On a pretty regular basis, I send scraps to a friend who makes hair accessories, etc., so I was sure I was going to have to cut some "scraps" to supplement.  Nope!

As I sorted I grabbed out smaller scraps in the colors I planned on using: orange, yellow, green, blue, brown, grey, black, and red.  Once I pulled the scraps I took the (HUGE) pile back to my inspiration piece and decided to remove the red and black.  The picture below is about 1/3 of the pile of scraps I was considering

Then I headed back down to the dungeon my sewing studio and did my least favorite job - - - Ironing all of

 those little scraps.  As I did that, I sorted the scraps by color.

Awwww.... don't they look pretty all ironed and sorted?!

Next, I moved from color to color cutting the scraps into "strings" - no bigger than 2.25" and no less than 1" wide.  I needed pieces that were at least 6" long for what I have planned for them.

Ooooh - look at how nice those oranges look all trimmed up and ready to sew!

Then, I sewed each color of strings together completely randomly until I felt like I had a big enough piece.  I ironed each seam open {bleh, more ironing!} which produced this nice array of colors.

But what's going on with that bolt of solid blue fabric?  

.... guess I have more sewing to do!

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