Summer Sampler Series: Quilt Retreat Progress

It was an amazing weekend at the Austin Modern Quilt Guild Retreat at the Quilt Ranch in Wimberley, TX. It was the perfect venue for all of our crafty shenanigans, and piecing blocks in their spacious, well-lit workroom has inspired me to get my sewing room (aka The Clubhouse) in order. The tidy Clubhouse will have to wait for another post, though. Here's an overview of what I accomplished at the retreat.

Ka-Pow! 

I doubled my number of Terrain Summer Sampler Series block in 48 hours. Not too shabby. 

I got out to the Quilt Ranch Friday evening and tore into my Terrain layer cake. I was overwhelmed with all the new fabric I had to work with, but I started to put this Mosaic block together. I wasn't happy with the orange I wanted to include originally, so I cut the pink to include instead.

Of course the Olympic opening ceremonies went from 7pm to 11pm that night, so I ended up making some headway on Rose Star blocks with the gals in front of the TV. I did finish my Mosaic block before I called it a night. I started making mistakes like sewing the wrong sides of my fabric together. I was exhausted, and I was not the last one to call it a night. 

With one block behind me I was ready to move on to a little paper piecing with directional prints for a Star block. I was so excited to have more orange and pink Terrain fabrics that I jumped right in with them. The footpath fabric in the background isn't perfectly up and down in every case, but it's good enough for me ;-)

I'll give you a rundown on the rest of the blocks later this week. August begins tomorrow! Are you ready?

I'm linking up with Sugar Bee Crafts, The Blackberry Vine, Type A Decorating, Shwin & Shwin, Creative Itch, and Quilt Story.

    

Austin Modern Quilt Guild Donation Quilt Back

I'm loving every minute of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild retreat that we're having this weekend, so I wanted to pop in with a status update!

I had great plans of finishing this quilt back yesterday, dropping it off at Remnants to be quilted, picking up some QuiltCon challenge fabric, and heading out to the retreat. Shocking news: piecing the quilt back took longer than expected.

Jessica at Remnants helped me pick this multicolor Ti leaf batik from the closet of donation fabric at the store. I was wary, but I do love me some Ti leaves. Ultimately, I was fine with the fabric, but it wasn't enough. I pulled some grey and black from my stash to help me piece some sort of weird back together.  

I wish I hadn't overcomplicated it. I don't love this back, but it will serve its purpose as a back to this quilt, and go off to brighten someone's life as a donation quilt with blocks made by the members of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. 

I wanted to post this yesterday, but there were internet issues. I'm so pleased with what I'm getting done this weekend, and I can't wait to share!

I hope your weekend sewing is knocking your socks off :-)

WIP Wednesday: Terrain Summer Sampler & Rose Stars

I'm still waiting on my Layer Cake of Kate Spain's Terrain fabric to be delivered. It was last reported to be somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but USPS says it will be here tomorrow. I can't wait! Here's where I am with the blocks so far:

Terrain Summer Sampler Series Blocks

My Terrain charm pack has been mostly decimated, and I only have yardage in a few prints. The layer cake will help me mix it up so the rest of these Summer Sampler Series blocks aren't made from six prints ;-)

Rose Star Blocks

I've got thirteen of these done, and I feel good about it. The mosaic really gives you a sense of what the colors look like together. This quilt is scrappy, so the blocks will be all over the place. Here's the most recent one.

If you want to make some of your own, Claire's got a great English paper piecing tutorial at selfsewn.

Ruby Star Rising Ironing Board

If you didn't catch it yesterday, here's a long overdue project that I wrapped up in an afternoon. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out! These are the Ruby Star Rising Viewfinders in Pink by Melody Miller. I'd LOVE some in the Multi colorway, though. Ok, fine, I just love all of her fabric ;-)

I can't wait to see everyone's WIP updates. I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced, Sew Much Ado, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Rae Gun Ramblings, and SNAP!

   

Ruby Star Rising Ironing Board Cover

Boy was this project long overdue! I bought some of Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising ages ago with my ironing board in mind, but I procrastinated. I procrastinated until my ironing board reached the pinnacle of ugliness.

Fetching.

Ok. I ditched the cover and the nasty foam pad, but I saved the cotton cord to reuse for the new cover. I used this tutorial to guide the creation of a new pad. Then I jumped in and crafted up a new pad out of a batting/wadding scrap, some grosgrain ribbon & seam tape, and elastic - a-like so:

Then I made the cover following this tutorial. Taadaa!

How stinkin' cute is that? Ok, I did think heavily before cutting into the Ruby Star Rising. I considered using some much cheaper fabric at first.

Then I trusted my initial instinct and jumped right in. The pink print at the foot of the board is from the Whimsy line by Heather Mulder Peterson and Deb Mulder for Henry Glass & Co. The gray strip is a Kona or Bella solid. This is a huge improvement. Even Mr. Pins was impressed :-)

I hope you take a leap of faith today and love the crafty outcome!

I'm linking up with Sugar Bee Crafts, The Blackberry Vine, Shwin & Shwin, Creative Itch, and Quilt Story.

English Paper Pieced Rose Star Block 13

Taadaa! Ok, here's the other blue block I designed. I really do love me some blue, but I don't want to this to turn into an all-blue quilt. I've got to keep my color preferences in check ;-)

I've been asked how many of these blocks I'm going to make, but I don't really know yet. I guess I have to decide first if I want this to be a bed quilt or a throw. I laid out the blocks I've made to see how it's going. If I want to make a throw that's about 63"x73," I'd need ten more blocks, plus some half blocks to fill in the spaces on the edges.

Who knows how it will end up :-) At least in the meantime, it's a lot of fun to work on these blocks during found time.

I'm linking up with Sew Happy Geek, Polly Want a Crafter, and Keeping it Simple.
   

Summer Sampler Series: Star of Virginia

I've got some more of Kate Spain's Terrain fabric on the way from Etsy, but I couldn't just sit and twiddle my thumbs today. 

I had to get a little creative with this Star of Virginia block from the Summer Sampler Series. I only had a 5" charm pack square of the center print, but I really wanted to feature it in this block. I used some of my Terrain yardage to beef it up before building it in with the orange Seedpod print.

I don't know how I'm going to hold out until that Terrain layer cake comes in. I really want to keep sewing!

I hope your weekend projects aren't running into any roadblocks ;-)

Summer Sampler Series: Greek Cross

It was so nice to finish a block in an hour for a change! All of these paper pieced blocks have been beautiful, but they are a multi-hour commitment.

I've got some yardage in a few Terrain prints, but I've been pulling apart a charm pack for the rest of it. That's the same Terrain charm pack that I made most of a quilt from earlier this year. I was running low on different prints to work with, so I ordered a layer cake from Etsy that was on sale. Yay! This will definitely help, since I don't want the rest of the blocks to be made out of five different prints ;-)

I hope your stash has everything you need this weekend!

English Paper Pieced Rose Star Block 12

I finished most of this Rose Star block in the car over the weekend. Gotta love a little road trip action for the prime hand sewing time!

I do love me some blue, but I wonder how this all blue block is going to fit in with the finished quilt. Maybe I should do some other blocks in one color so this guy doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. With any luck, I'll have a nice scrappy look when I finish this quilt one of these days years. In the meantime, it's nice to have some hand sewing to keep my hands busy!

How much do you love those Half Moon Modern scissors? I wish I had yards and yards. If I had the cash, I'd stockpile them by the bolt. Alas, I only have a few fat quarters in various colors. I also love the ovals print in the pieces surrounding the scissors. They're from the Half Moon Modern line, too. Pardon my drool ;-) Oh, fabric love!

I hope you're sewing pretty things today with fabric you love!

I'm linking up with Somewhat Simple.

 

WIP Wednesday: Kansas Dust Storm Block

The love affair with Kate Spain's Terrain fabric continues this Wednesday.

Terrain Summer Sampler Series Blocks

Kansas Dust Storm

I added another one of these blocks to the design wall this week by finishing this Kansas Dust Storm block. This block is the last in the Summer Sampler Series, and now I know why ;-) I worked on it in two or three different sewing sessions over a couple of days. It was tedious and didn't turn out like I intended.

I picked a print for each of the outside diamonds, but I forgot that they would switch positions when I sewed the prints to the opposite side of the template. Fail. Oh well, it still looks great. I'm pleased with how my points came together in the middle, but just for fun, here's a poorly photoshopped version of what I wanted it to look like.

Oh, well. It's a neat block, and I'd love to make it again sometime, but there are so many other things on the to do list right now, that it may be awhile before we see another version of this one!

Rose Star Blocks

I've got ten of these done, now. I pieced all of the blocks I cut in May, so now it's back to the Olfa mat to prepare some more. I cut pieces for another two blocks this week. If you want to make some of your own. Claire's got a great English paper piecing tutorial at selfsewn.

I can't wait to see everyone's WIP updates. I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced, Sew Much Ado, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Rae Gun Ramblings, and SNAP!