Finish It Up Friday: Sleepy Supernova Top

As I type this, it's nearly midnight on Thursday night. I had a CE dinner (continuing education) after work today, so I wasn't home until around 9pm. After catching up with the hubs and chasing the cat off the couch because he kept trying to eat the blinds, I snuck upstairs, already tired before my work even began. Despite being tired, I settled in fairly quickly and was enjoying myself as I sang along to my music (rather badly, I might add. Lol). The clock struck 11:30 as I pressed my last seam and got to appreciate my Supernova top in all its glory. :)

I don't know about y'all, but KY is pretty dark at 11:30pm. Also, I don't have many places I can lay a quilt top this size out flat in my apartment and get a picture of it. This meant my pictures are kind of craptastic not quite as good as I'd like. But I managed to clear off the bedroom floor and lay things flat and snap a few pictures. At one point, I just held the camera above my head in an effort to get a picture of the entire top. I even kicked a pile of unfolded laundry into a pile so I could stand on it. Hahahaha!

I'm stoked with how things turned out with this top! I was nervous from the start with my fabric choices, but this turned out just perfect in my eyes, which is what matters most, right? :) I need backing fabric and batting, so I'm not sure when this lovely will get quilted. If I can find a good coupon, I might drop by Jo Ann's soon since I've got a gift card burnin' a hole in my pocket. ;)

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Finish It Up Friday, and TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday: Supernova Progress!

 Hump Day once again, y'all! I'm so happy to announce that all the Supernova blocks have been pieced! I don't know how it happened, but I was finding little snippets everyday where I could sneak off to my sewing space for a while and piece...and piece...and piece some more! By the time this gets posted, the top should already be partially done and will hopefully be finished by the end of the week.*ETA: I actually got a few columns sewn together before I took progress pictures, so you get a teeny-tiny sneak peek if you can overlook my filthy floor. :P

I had all the squares stacked up so nice and pretty, everything organized just right...then I started piecing the top and it looks like a hurricane blew through and knocked them everywhere! I barely tidied them up before snapping this picture, but I wish I had vacuumed all those stray threads and scraps out of the floor! Lol.Even my seat cushion ended up in the floor, though I'm not entirely sure how...

Thanks for stopping by y'all, have a great week! Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

Snapshot Sunday

 

Little Black Cat has been cheering me on as I work on Supernova blocks lately. :)

 Happy Sunday y'all!

Not a Finish Friday, But There's Eye Candy!

Howdy y'all! No finish here today, but I have some progress and some eye candy! First off, I finished some of the improv squares for my Supernova quilt. After working on this for a couple of days, I'm more confident with my fabric. It's looking better now that it's coming together I feel like! I think I might be a quarter to a third of the way done now, but I'm not sure. The instructions are upstairs and I'm too tired to trek up there to double check. *hides under lazy quilt*

I'm having fun with this stitch and flip technique! It's so fun to just put fabric together and sew, not worrying about precision or rules. I just make sure I have the right colors in the right corners and let 'er rip! Once I got into a groove, I had a little assembly line going for my squares. :)

And onto the eye candy! A squishy bag of happiness arrived in the mail today and I literally squealed for joy when my husband threw it at me. I don't buy much fabric online, usually because of prices and because I'm still not too confident in matching colors on a screen. But Connecting Threads has a nice sale section and I might have fallen in love with the mermaid fabric. I immediately knew it needed to be made into a quilt for a little girl ASAP. Granted, I don't have a little girl to make a quilt for, but I knew it would find a home if I made it. :) So into my cart went the mermaids, narwhals, and seahorses, joined by that yellow print that reminds me of sand dollars.

How could I say no to the cutest little duo ever?

Then I found the Cotton and Steel. I've never actually bought Cotton and Steel fabric before, but I've been crushing on it so hard, I couldn't resist. The third fabric over (the navy with multi-colored fronds) isn't C+S, but I tossed it in there anyway. I like the print and it was dirt cheap on a really good sale. I'm behind the party with the arrow fabric, but better late than never, right? Hahaha. I also tossed some of the little critters in there too, aren't they darling?

I just want to squeeze their little cheeks!

I've never been one to save selvages, but Jenn over at A Quarter Inch From the Edge is a selvage saver and has made some cool stuff with them! So I snapped a quick pic of the ones that were actually cool. I love the C+S one about leaping. :)

Have an awesome weekend y'all, thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday

WIP Wednesday: Not A Lot of Work...Not A Lot of Progress

Happy Hump Day y'all, hope your week is as nice as you are pretty! So on Friday, I was so stoked to have time off to be able to sew and do what I want over the weekend...guess how that turned out? Life got in the way, of course, and suddenly everybody needed me to go here or there, run errands, and do everything besides what I had planned. So is life, right? I did manage to cut ten billion (okay, not really but it felt like that many) squares for my newest quilt.

I saw the Supernova quilt in the book, Quilting Modern. The book has some awesome techniques in it and some really cool quilt designs. I've actually rented this book 3 times from the library in anticipation of getting to start this quilt!

I'm still not 100% sold on my fabric choices if I'm honest. Some people can pick fabric out almost effortlessly and have great taste. I am NOT one of those people. I struggle with fabric matching and coordinating like no other. My pictures aren't showing the true colors (the lightest yellow really washed out and some of the blues are showing up super dark), but I wish Jo Ann's had a wider selection of blue fabrics. On the plus side, I finally purchased some Kona solids! :) I can't remember what the gray background is, but the blue is Riviera I believe, and the yellow is Corn. Thank goodness for sales and coupons!

So here's to hoping I actually get some sewing done now! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with Work In Progress Wednesday

Finish It Up Friday: Scrappy Pouch!

TGIF y'all! For the first time in forever (any Frozen fans out there?), I get the ENTIRE weekend off! I plan to use that lovely time off for sewing and reading since the weather is supposed to be less than superb in my neck of the woods. Despite that, I stayed up late Thursday night to finish this pouch for today! I used this tutorial to use the slab I showed you guys from Wednesday.
 I ended up adding some more to it to make it taller because I was a bit of a dum-dum and bought too big of a zipper. Derp!

I found another little bird in my scrap bin!

I was also a bit lazy and didn't pin or baste my zipper in place before sewing because my pins were downstairs and I was tired of tromping up and down the stairs getting this-n-that. And, surprisingly, I don't think it looks too bad. I could have gotten a bit closer to the zipper teeth, but I was worried about hitting the teeth and destroying my only zipper. I also trimmed a little off the ends of my zipper thinking it would reduce bulk, but it actually made it sit kind of funny afterwards. Lesson for the books when I make another one!

Aren't those polka dots darling?!

I knew exactly what I wanted to use for the lining of this colorful bag! I wanted it to look like a rainbow puked on it, inside and out, so these cute dots were the perfect choice for me. It was a fat quarter I picked up at...well...Walmart. Do quilt bloggers buy fabric from Walmart? Most of the bloggers I follow seem to be online shoppers or buy from their LQS. My budget isn't quite up to that standard yet. When I saw this little fat quarter, I couldn't pass it up, it was just too darn happy!

One last shot with a little pitcher I made in a college ceramics class. It helped the pouch catch the kitchen light juuuuuuust right I feel like. It made that blue zipper pop too! So what about you, any fun plans for this weekend?

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday , TGIFF, and Finish it Up Friday

WIP Wednesday: Trying out Quilt As You Go

Happy Hump Day y'all! The beginning of my week has been busy at work, so my feet and knees are already sore. Luckily, I got Wednesday off, so I get to have a little fun today. On Monday and Tuesday, I worked on this little QAYG (Quilt as you go) slab using this tutorial from Svetlana at S.o.t.a.k Handmade. It's a great tutorial, you should definitely check it out! I've never tried QAYG and was able to make this slab without any problems. Then, much to my delight, Svetlana also posted a tutorial on how to turn that slab into a pouch. If you've seen her pouches, you can understand my excitement! They are gorgeous and, no matter how many you look at, when you see one of hers, you know it's hers. It has a sort of...distinction?

My favorite part of the slab is this wee fox! :)

I couldn't resist sliding a little shark in too! He's from a quilt I made my cousin for Christmas. :)

Anywho, back to my slab! I've got it made, but I didn't have a zipper to start making a pouch. :P Thankfully, I'm having a shopping trip, armed with Jo Ann's coupons, so I should be coming home filled to the brim with crafty goodies. Yay!! See you back here Friday with a finished pouch (hopefully!)!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced!

Sunday Snapshot: Mother's Day Flowers

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, whether your kids are old or young, still on this earth or up in heaven, human or covered in fur (or feathers or scales!). Bless you for your courage and love. Thank you for kissing boo-boo's, filling bellies, telling stories, and getting your children through the scary challenges and trials that life throws at them. I'm getting ready to spend part of my day with my Momma, but I thought I would leave you with a couple of pictures. I planted flowers around my birthday and prayed that at least one would bloom for my Momma for Mother's Day. I asked for 3 if it wasn't too much trouble (for a couple of other Mom's I would see on Mother's Day), but one was what I truly wanted/needed. I left for church this morning and, wouldn't you know it, 3 petunias were bloomed on the patio. Have a good Sunday y'all. :)

Finish It Up Friday: Follow Your Arrow Wherever It Points

Happy Friday y'all! Hope your week has gone well, mine hasn't been too shabby. I got to work a little bit on that lonely arrow block on Wednesday and Thursday night. I'm sad I didn't get better pictures, but by the time I was finished, daylight was long gone. This pillow is inspired by a song by Kacey Musgraves called Follow Your Arrow. The video and song are kind of silly, but I love the line I quilted onto the pillow.

This started out as a gift from my Mom. I use the word gift loosely because she was actually going to toss out this old throw pillow from her and Dad's bedroom. It got a mysterious, ugly orange stain on it and wasn't useful to her anymore. She knows I like refashioning and reusing stuff when I can, so she offered it to me before throwing it away. I gladly accepted and it sat in the closet forever until the lonely arrow block was made. I feel like the size and shape of the pillow fit the block perfectly!

I wanted to try some new quilting on this, but wasn't sure what. I looked online and found a darling little bird that I decided to try. I had to pick out the little head once because it was lopsided, but after fixing it, I think he turned out pretty well. :)

As you can see, I'm about a 1/4 inch too small on the back. :( It doesn't bother me enough to rip everything out and fix it since it is just going to be sitting on my couch with me and Little Black Cat. I'm just learning my lesson for next time so I can improve!

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday and Finish It Up Friday!

WIP Wednesday: One Lonely Arrow

After finishing up my quilt last week, I had to accept a sad fact...I don't have enough fabric to make a complete quilt anymore. However, my birthday fell on Sunday, so I got some money from my lovely Dad for my own shenanigans. So I'm hoping for a trip to Jo Ann's come Saturday! Until then, a smaller project would have to hold me over. :)

I took a gander at my overstuffed Pinterest boards (it's truly an abomination how much time I spend on there. Hahaha!), trying to decide what seemed fun to make. I love the look of scrappy feathers, but since I don't have a printer and wasn't feeling up to drafting up my own pattern pieces before my weekend kennel shift, I decided on an arrow instead! I stumbled across this tutorial and figured I would give it a whirl! It seemed simple enough, so I drug out my fabric and got started.

Tip #1 for myself if I, or you, do this in the future: Don't be stingy with your fabric! I tried to make a shorter pieced section to cut from and, of course, it turned up too short and I had to start over. Thankfully, I had enough fabric to retry without having to substitute anything, so no harm, no foul. :) Also, between both tries, I have a lovely little stack of scraps to work with!

This was my first time making flying geese (is it a flying goose if it's only one??). I didn't have time to look up proper techniques, so I just sort of winged it. I feel like I do that far too often, but it seemed to work out well this time! I'm hoping to add to this some and turn it into a pillow, which is something I've actually not done before. So what do you guys make when you need to/have to make a smaller project? I'd love to hear about it! Happy Hump Day y'all!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced! 

Can One Person Make a Difference?

Happy Monday y'all! I worked the weekend, so today is technically the beginning of my weekend which is why I'm so peppy! My goal was to not get too wordy on this blog, but this post required a little story time for me to get to my point, so please bear with me.

Back in February when my neck of the woods was being pummeled by snow, I was snuggled up in bed in our spare bedroom. I was nice and toasty, most likely with a full belly, watching the snow fall. I remember being so glad that I wasn't outside again; I had stayed outside after getting off work one night to shovel our cars out of the snow drifts. And then I got thinking about the people who didn't have a warm bed to snuggle into like I did. Or a roof over their head to protect them from the below-zero temperatures and blizzards. I felt enormously thankful, but also, kind of sad. And then I wondered if I could do anything to change that?

Little Black Cat was in a photobombing mood today, so all of the pictures have him in it. :)

Since graduating from college, I've been plagued by the thought of I'm just one person, what can I do to change anything? I laid there a little bit, rolling all this around in my head. I couldn't shake the nagging feeling in my mind or my heart that I couldn't just let the issue drop. And that's when it hit me. Maybe I could make a little difference? And so I jumped out of bed and scrambled for the computer, researching (aka Pinterest-surfing) and came to my answer. I could craft a difference!

Just a few of the scarves I have ready to donate.

So I started that night. I made baby hats for the NICU and started a scarf that would hopefully keep somebody less fortunate warm in the blistering cold. I made a goal to make things all year long to go towards different charitable causes because, let's be honest, my yarn stash is *deep breath* too big. I try to make at least 1 baby hat a week, but if I'm settled in for the evening, I can crank out a few depending on what size I make! I've been using this free pattern. After I make quite a few, I'm planning to give them to one of the hospitals in my area if they will accept them. If not, there are organizations I can mail them to. So no matter what, I can do some sort of good and make a small difference hopefully. :)


What about y'all? Do you craft for charities? If so, what do craft and for who? I would love to hear about it!

-Jennifer

Finish It Up Friday: Giant Lone Star Quilt

Happy Friday y'all! Hope your week has been awesome. If it hasn't, at least it is coming to a close, right? For my first Finish It Up Friday, I have a Giant Lone Star quilt! I saw this design on Pinterest and, for reasons I can't remember, knew I had to start one immediately. Also for reasons unknown, I wanted this very specific color scheme, which is nothing like what I normally pick. I like it, so I guess even a weird gut instinct can be right? Hahaha.

 Anyway, I didn't find a very clear tutorial with the inspiration picture. I had measurements for the diamond pieces, but other than that, I was kind of on my own. Which was actually really fun! So I dove headfirst into things and pieced the top together. I probably did things in a roundabout way, but I had nothing but straight seams, so it wasn't too hard! I couldn't get all my points to match up, which is a bummer. But that's something I'm working on with each project, so it's a work in progress.

 I used the leftover fabric to piece a backing together as well, which is my usual technique. I had originally planned to make this quilt bigger, but midway through sewing, I decided to keep it small and square. After squaring it up, it ended up around 50 inches square. One thing you'll find if you stick around this blog is that I love LOVE scrappy bindings. They're like icing on a quilty cake of goodness. It's just so happy and bright! I'm going to link up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!