Celebrate Color Finalist

Woo! The monster hat I made for my son was selected as a finalist for Celebrate Color. :)

Please head over and vote on all the wonderful projects!

<3 Kelsey

First 4x5 Bee Block

Here is my very first block for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee. This will be my first time participating in a bee where I get to do whatever I want with the quilt in the end. I love helping others, but I am super psyched to have a quilt all my own as well. So far we've given away every quilt I've made lol.

This first block is for The Busy Bean. She requested red & aqua for her color scheme.

The pattern is the entry from Quilt Dad into Quilt Uber-Fest earlier this year. I slightly modified the pattern to remove one seam in the arrows to keep the raindrop print from being broken up as much.

One down, four more to go. :)

<3 Kelsey

My little monster

I have another crochet finish to share with you all today. Sticking to my orange and blue fall color scheme of choice, I made my little man a most awesome hat.

I used this pattern from The Train to Crazy, with some slight modifications.

First, instead of crocheting the hat to fit his cute little head, I made it much larger using a wool yarn, and felted it down to the correct size. This gives it a different look and feel compared to the original.

I also decided to put the spikes down the back, rather across his head.

I added a little yarn chin strap so he'd leave it on his head for more than 2 seconds (though not without trying to get it off yet). He still hasn't quite figured out hats.

My husband has already put in his request for an adult size version. :)

<3 Kelsey

This is my last entry into Celebrate Color.

San Bruno Quilt Update

First, and most importantly, my husband's coworker mentioned in this post was released from the hospital shortly after the accident with only minor injuries, including some burns.

Here are all the blocks (and one partial block) I received as of 11/20/11 laid out together on my floor. Pardon the terrible lighting, but I didn't have a space large enough to photograph these outside. I'm still behind notifying people that I've received their block - I'm a bad organizer and will catch up on that soon.

I'm hoping to finish up the blocks and begin assembly on the top this weekend, with the white sashing between the block that is missing in the picture above.

One generous volunteer offered to send an entire baby quilt for the recipient family's upcoming baby.

 I absolutely adore the quilting on this one.

Thank you again to all of the generous volunteers who have contributed to this project, I know it is going to be a special gift for this family.

<3 Kelsey

Autumn Sky

I love fall colors. The beautiful reds, oranges, and golds are so bright and rich. But the fall days that really leave me in awe are when the sky is that crystal clear blue - the contrast with the warm colors just makes them seem that much more vibrant. Like this beautiful photo I found on Flickr:

Click through to see the original source.

So when I won a gift certificate last year from the generous Zibeline Knits via Momma's Kinda Crafty, I had to get this beautiful yarn:

From the Zibeline Knits shop.

Doesn't it just scream fall? I didn't get a chance to use it last fall since I was busy with a newborn, but this year I decided to take the time to crochet myself up a nice scarf.

The yarn was self-striping, and through a little playing, I was able to work it so one row was exactly one repeat of the yarn, so it created consistent stripes all the way along the scarf.

I felt this way I could really see the vibrancy of each color. I love the way the stripes look wrapped around my neck. I feel like I am wearing a sunburst.

That's me!

I'm entering this into the last month of Celebrate Color. There are always so many fantastic entries (I never even place lol) - do go and check it out if you want to be inspired by fall.

<3 Kelsey

The 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge

I'm in!

<3 Kelsey

Heather Ross Fabric on Spoonflower for a Limited Time!

Hey guys,

Just wanted to pass on that Heather Ross has posted a few fabrics up for purchase on Spoonflower for just a couple of days: Under Water Sisters, Busses, Horses, and Wild Flowers. You can find them all here.

Already ordered myself some Under Water Sisters! :D

<3 Kelsey

UPDATE: Sale over.

do. Good Stitches November 2011

This month we were asked to do Modified Bento boxes in Americana colors: "turkey reds, faded reds, dark blues, dusky-grayish blues, tans, beiges, browns, an occasional gray or black". This was a real stretch for me since, as many of you know, I am generally drawn to bright, saturated colors. I also discovered I have almost no reds in my stash, and the few I do have are florals or juvenile. Note to self: keep an eye out for more modern reds.

I ended up going with mostly solids to stay true to the color story. For some reason, the natural beige keeps showing up too white in the photo. I promise its really a nice beige color keeping with the theme.

These will get cut up and reassembled, similar to the quilt below (click through for reference).

It's always good to stretch ourselves, right?

<3 Kelsey

Want some Lark?

Been thinking about buying Amy Butler's newest line, Lark? Quilt Taffy is having a 40% off sale, including her fat quarter bundles of Lark. That means it comes out to just $1.92 at fat quarter! ($2.10 if you count shipping just the one item in the US.)

Sale price is $57.57

There are tons of other great goodies 40% off over there too, like FFA3 guitars, Echino, Secret Garden by Sandi Henderson, etc.

Just wanted to pass the info along in case some of you were considering buying. :)

<3 Kelsey

Pillow Talk Swap 6

Here is my pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 6. I don't want to give away too many details about my partner since it is still a surprise for him/her, but suffice it to say, I'm pretty sure they like Parisville, so the whole design was based on how to feature that line.

Here was my original design as I first brainstormed:

But as I was sewing, I felt like this was getting too busy. Plus, I was running out of fabric. :P So I presented two alternatives to the group to see what people liked more:

I felt like I liked the way the left side looked more, but then it lost the chevron effect it had in the original and began to look more like log cabin quarters. I also thought the solids on the right might give the eye a place to rest, though I think that they weren't big enough to really have the effect I was picturing in my mind. Turns out the internet was divided, so I just went with the one that I felt was most aesthetically pleasing.

So, without further ado, here is my first pillow for PTS. Please pardon the fact I didn't have a pillow form and have just shoved a regular bed pillow inside folded in half. 

I kept the quilting light with a little hand quilting around the cameo with perle cotton. There was already a lot going on without adding to it.

Major accomplishment this project: my first Y seams! I had never had to do these before. Going slow and precise seemed to be the biggest help in getting these right.

I sure do hope my partner likes it. Off to the post office!

<3 Kelsey

A Call for Help

Hi Folks,

I'm looking for some volunteers who can make one or more blocks.

My husband has a coworker whose house was destroyed by the gas line explosion in San Bruno last year. (www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/12/san-bruno-explosion-pho...) He had just arrived home when the explosion happened right in front of his house and he had to flee. His wife was mere moments from home and would have been killed if she was just a little bit earlier. Their house was annihilated, the car in the driveway destroyed, and their pets never recovered. All of their wedding photos, clothes, everything, was gone.

Then this morning on the way into work, his car was T-boned by another car who ran a red light, and he is currently in the hospital. He and his wife are expecting their first child in December.

I would like to make him and his family a quilt to provide some comfort. I know if it is just me, it will take a long time for this quilt to be finished, so I was hoping maybe some folks might be willing to donate one or more blocks. I'd like to make a quilt inspired by this quilt:

using this color palette:

along with grays and a white background, using modern, masculine fabrics.

If you are interested in helping out, please leave a comment below or email me at krw1243@gmail.com, and I will send you a mail with instructions.

I'd like to get this together as soon as possible, so I'm hoping to have all the blocks here two weeks from now to ensure there is enough time for it to be finished before the baby arrives.

<3 Kelsey

P.S. Don't have time to make a block? Fabric and scraps in the above colors would also be most welcome. Or perhaps take a few minutes to help spread the word. Anything and everything helps!!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2011

Twice a year, Amy of Amy's Creative Side hosts an awesome virtual quilting show called Blogger's Quilt Festival, which involves a *ton* of quilters each linking up a quilt to share. There are always hundreds of amazing entries. This festival I'd like to feature the quilt led by me and the ladies of the Faith do. Good Stitches circle. For those who have been around a little while, this will be a repeat, but for those just joining us, I'd like to do a small recap.

do. Good Stitches is an online charity bee where each month we all work together to make a quilt for charity. The Faith circle donates through our local churches specifically.

For my month, I  chose to create quilt for a sweet family in our church that just seems to give, give, and give. They had recently had a set of beautiful twin boys, and were moving near family since that the father had finished school. Since most everything they own needs to be for two (double strollers anyone?), I thought it'd be cute to have A Quilt For Two. :)

Each baby gets their own side.

Some clear shots of the front and back:

Rachel of StitchedInColor made the lovely circle block on the back, and I sort of made up the design on the back as I went. I love how it turned out.

I just wanted to thank the ladies of the Faith circle of do. Good Stitches one more time. You all did such a wonderful job and I know this quilt is being loved by its family in their new home now. :)

<3 Kelsey

P.S. See the original post with more details about the quilt here.

do. Good Stitches Swoon Quilt Finished

Remember this Swoon post? Rachel has now finished putting together the Swoon quilt made by the FAITH circle of do. Good Stitches. Head over to StitchedInColor to check out the awesome finished quilt!

<3 Kelsey

Pretty Little Pouch

I signed up for the most recent round of the Pretty Little Pouch Swap on Flickr. My secret partner loves Mendocino, and I wanted to create her a pouch featuring the fabric. I started sewing after this line already became hard to find, so I had to turn to other Flickr members for help. Luckily, I was able to swap for and was outright given some scraps from some very generous ladies in the { DESIGNER } Fabric - Stash - Swappy - Poo Flickr group.

Soon after settling on Mendocino, I thought it would be awesome to embroider a mermaid around the zipper. Turns out I am not the first person to think of embroidering a Mendocino mermaid (Aneela Hoey used it in this hoop), but I loved the idea enough I decided to go ahead anyways. At least I thought of it independently. :)

This is my first time using a zipper in a project. Of course, I never do anything half way, so it is an invisible zipper with lining. I am quite pleased with how it came out.

I lined the bag with Giant Octopi in brown. I liked the contrast form the light colored outside, and it should hopefully hide any stains from anything stored inside. :)

Now I just need to get together the extras and some packaging and it will be ready to ship! I sure hope my partner loves it as much as I do - this is definitely the hardest item I've made to let go of yet.

I am entering my pouch into the embroidery category in Celebrate Color.

<3 Kelsey

Linking up to sew & tell, So Creative, and:



 

One More PTS 6 Possibility

One more possibility for my partner. This is a modified form of the Swoon pattern. What do you think partner? Does this make you happier than my last two options?

<3 Kelsey

PTS 6 Possibilities

I drafted up a couple of possibilities for my partner for round 6 of the Pillow Talk Swap.

The first uses up more pieces of a Tula Pink "design roll" I won several months ago. (Some of which went into my do. Good Stitches blocks here.)

The second is all solids and is based off of this awesome miniquilt made by Leona. Seriously, go check hers out, it's awesome. This draft is closer to hers than the final result is likely to be as it'll be my own improv piecing, but I figured it gets the jist across.

So partner, do either of these strike your fancy? Or shall I go with something a bit more literal from your mosaic?

<3 Kelsey

A little inspiration

Just looking at this mosaic makes my heart go pitter-patter.

I keep stealing looks at it while I work. <3

do. Good Stitches, September 2011

This month was Rachel's turn to organize for our circle in do. Good Stitches. For those who aren't familiar, each circle in this bee makes a quilt for charity each month. (See my turn leading here.) Rachel selected the popular Swoon pattern for our circle, which was generously donated by Camille. Here is a picture of the color inspiration Rachel gave us to get started, to be grouped with an off white, such as Kona Snow:

And here is my block:

Pardon the sun spots. It was either sun spots or sneaking up and using a neighbor's patio that was in full shade. Because that wouldn't be awkward/creepy. ;)

Making this block was a lot of work, but so worth it - the results are just stunning. I definitely want to make a whole quilt using this pattern some day! I did get to use my new Baby Go! I won from Amanda for the HSTs. I used the four inch HST die and cut them down to size for greater precision. Overall I was really pleased with how my points matched up. 

Check out the other lovely blocks from our group posted so far:

Can't wait to see the final quilt!

<3 Kelsey

UPDATE: Want to see more Swoon goodness? Checkout all the Swoon blocks and quilts in the Thimble Blossoms Flickr Pool.

Celebrate Color

Have you seen Celebrate Color, being hosted by StitchedInColor? It's a celebration of the beautiful, rich colors surrounding us in the fall. For my entry, I decided to embroider a table runner for the Needlework category.

This is my first time doing a big embroidery like this, and the design is my own. I used a mix of backstitch, stem stich, and cross stitch.

I decided to go with a very traditional fall color palette, using red, burgundy, gold, and a touch of pine green. I used linen in natural for my base fabric. For some reason, this shade of linen just screams fall to me. It has a lovely rich color and texture.

I love the cross stitch leaf. :)

Be sure to go over to celebrate color and check out all the other wonderful fall projects!


<3 Kelsey

The Best Laid Plans

If you remember, I was having difficulty deciding what fabric to use for my FWQAL. I even put together this survey to help gather some feedback. I was worried I wouldn't get very clear results, but fortunately there was a clear winner.

Orange and aqua was the clear favorite as soon as people started voting. Here it is again to remind you of what it looked like:

I started to plan. I selected Kona turquoise and orange. I was only a little hesitant because I already have a orange and aqua quilt in the works and it'd be a bit redundant, but hey, I like orange and aqua. Then I got an email from fabricworm, and I saw this fabric bundle:

Source: fabricworm.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

It felt at once both fresh and sophisticated, and yet very different from the color combinations that I usually see around blogland. I know purple isn't for everyone, but I liked it. :)

So I ordered my bundle and patiently waited. I printed out my paper piecing templates. I've decided to go in the order they are presented in the book rather than numerical order, since I didn't feel like searching around the book for each block. This meant that my first block was #26, Cut Glass Dish:

FWQAL Block #26 - Cut Glass Dish

That was a LOT of tiny pieces for my first block! It took me two long evenings to get it together with all those little points (mostly) lining up. (Do note that I am not going to trim my blocks to the precise 6.5" until I am ready to assemble them, so unfortunately the edges will look uneven in these pictures, but then hopefully will be more accurate when it comes to putting the top together!)

The second block was #53 - Kitchen Woodbox:

FWQAL Block #54 - Kitchen Woodbox

This block was MUCH simpler and easy to assemble.

And here they are together:

FWQAL Week #1

The greens in these pictures still aren't quite right - hopefully I'll figure out how to get the color to show true soon. The greens are much close to what appears in the fabric bundle above.

2 blocks down, 108 to go!


I'm linking to Quilt Story, see my party page/sidebar for their button

<3 Kelsey