All around the world

If you ever visit my blog outside of GoogleReader, you've probably noticed those little icon's on the right side of my page that relate to sewing. See the one that says Fussy Cut Bee? Well, that little icon has been getting me all kinds of excited lately!

Let me give you the one paragraph explanation of a quilting bee. Basically, there are 12 people from all over the states (sometimes out of the country) and each person gets a month. When it's your month you send out fabric to the other 11 and they will sew you a block or two and send it back. Then you can sew them into a quilt, make pillows, do whatever you want with them. Comprende? 

 Well May is my month, so the end of April I sent out a little bit of these fabrics to the other 11 people. One package even went all the way to London. This quilt I had seen online was the inspiration (created by Alissa)

 And I'm starting to get blocks back in the mail. I am in LOVE with them, and can't wait until I get enough to put it all together! Here are a few that my lovely bee members have created for me

Aren't they gorgeous!? The first two were made by Jane over at Fancy Two she has two adorable little girls that keep her busy! The other four (I know, FOUR, wow! Thank you!!) were made by Lynette, you can visit her Etsy store here. Two very talented ladies! I will be sure to share once I get my blocks from all 11!

The modern quilting community is gaining quite a presence online... it's amazing how far quilting has come since the days of our grandma's and great grandma's! I urge those of you who aren't crafty to check it out next time you're in the market for a new blanket or baby gift, there's a lot of gorgeous handmade pieces all over Etsy!

Adding to the stash

For Christmas, Chrischris gave me a gift card for one of my favorite LQS's. I was SO pumped to use it, but I had been doing a few commissioned quilts around that time, and had been to the store so many times, that once I had my gift card there was nothing I wanted, I was tired of looking at all of it! (I know, gasp!)

I have been showing admirable will-power the past month and a half, and haven't visited, as to ensure a great new selection when I went.

It worked! I not only got all the fabric for my Fussy Cut Quilting Bee but I also got some other goodies!

(Note: pictures from Fat Quarter Shop, although I love them I didn't get my fabric here!)

Some Verna by Kate Spain. I won't lie, I wasn't that impressed when I saw this line online, but in person I fell in love. Imagine that ;)

And some Blush. I worked at a scrapbook store while I was in high school, and Basic Grey was one of my favorite paper designers, I was really excited to learn they were designing fabric too!

I also got to see Moda's new(er) line Oz, I was uncertain about this one online, but I have to admit, it's pretty darn cute!

However, the one I fell hardest for was quite a surprise to me. Not usually my style, but it's absolutely GORGEOUS! 

Love love love loved it. They only had about half the line though, so I decided to wait.

With all of this good fabric you would think I spent the evening sewing. I didn't!

I've been bonding with this lil lady....

Oh man I love her. She has my heart wrapped around her finger! I'm off to bed now though, I hope to get some serious sewing time in tomorrow... way too many new goodies not to play with!

Stash!

Something good did come from my blah mood the other day.... I pulled a pretty fun selection of fabrics from my stash! I plan on doing all improv blocks, and almost have the first done (give me a break, I was in a blah mood! Not conducive to creativity or sewing!)





It's already been deemed the pee & poop quilt. Yes, we have the maturity of 2nd graders around here!

Fabric picked out!

We got our month assignments for the Fussy Cut Bee last week - Ive been hunting for the perfect fabric ever since! My month isn't til May, but I still was anxious to pick some out!

I didn't want to use a Heather Ross print, even though she is like the quintessential "fussy cut" fabric goddess and have been trying to find something else. I don't have a pattern picked out yet, I might just send the fabric and let people do whatever they desire. Regardless, I love love LOVE my fabric... here it is...

Ah I die. Look at that gorgeous face hidden in the flowers! And the eye in the apple in the bottom right corner. Fussy cut written all over it! I can't wait to get it in the mail and match it to some coordinating prints!  I got this "Lady in the Canyon" beaut from the ReproDepot, at $11.95/half yard it was a bit steep but, cmon, doesn't love know no bounds?!

I'm off to get ready for my Lovey Dovey day suprise with ChrisChris! Hope you all have an awesome day!

Saying ByeBye to the Friendship Stars

I have this little problem of getting myself into WAY too many things at once! I've always been this way, and I don't see it changing anytime soon! I'm not one of those people who can lay around on a couch all day, I HAVE to be doing something otherwise I get really anxious.

I finished up one of the projects for charities earlier this week -

My friendship stars for Cancer is Sew Done that I wrote about here. These lil cuties are getting sent off in the morning!

Now I'm off to finish up sewing the knickknacks on my apron for the Martini Madness Apron swap. This thing has been stressin me out for sure! I will post pictures soon. A few of the girls had added pictures of theirs to the Martini Madness blog, and let me tell you... I wouldn't be upset if I received any of those!

I better get to work now!

Finish the Bolt (and 50% off Kona Cotton!)

I wanted to write this post to tell you about something one of my LQS's does. It's called a Finish The Bolt discount. Shiisa Quilts gives you 40% off if you order 3 or more yards of select fabrics. I got some great Amy Butler Midwest Modern a few weeks ago to use as backing for a WIP that has been sitting for about a year now (terrible, I know!)
They offer very reasonable shipping to, so I totally recommend it if you want to stock up on some cheap yardage!

Another great resource I always use is a blog called Mommy Saves Big, they always have coupons you can print off and use at Joann Fabrics, this week there's a 50% off coupon and a 40% coupon (and yes, you can print off ten and send your husband and 8 kids in with you to buy others!!) I always use them on Kona yardage. While I love supporting my local quilt store's I can't justify passing up deals like this (that just means I can use that saved money towards designer fabric goodies!) The link for Joann's Printable Coupons is here.
(If you feel a lil uneasy using these, don't worry- they are the same coupons that get sent out if you are on Joann's email list). They have a ton of other coupons and online offers there too!

Circle, circle, dot, dot

I've decided it's time to branch out from squares... Hellllooooo circles!





Yep, me & AB are making our rounds (hehe sorry corny I know!)

I've been tracing an old cd & cutting with my normal rotary cutter. Aside from looking like a dog chasing my tail, it's relatively easy.

I'm using 1/4 yards of 10 different prints, and it's looking like it will become a decent-sized throw!


I am following Make It...A Wonderful Life's Simple Circle Quilt Tutorial it's very easy to follow so far and although I'm only using 10 diff quarter yards I think I shoudl be ok, because I'm holding off on the border until I see how the top turns out (her tutorial has you save strips for the border as you are cutting circles)

If anyone else wants to join in on the fun or has made a simple circle quilt before I'd love to see it! I always enjoy some good quiltin' company.... linksies please!

A Spoon-ful of yum

Have you ordered from Spoonflower before or are you one of the swooners like me who just lurks around drooling on everything (good thing it's an e-store... I'd probably be banned from a brick&mortar store due to leaving a trail of saliva!)

I'm thinkin of placing an order one of these days. I know, first I overcame my fear of ordering fabric online, now I'm talking about ordering custom created fabric. YIKES what the heck has gotten into me!? I kid, I kid, but really... $18/yard isn't the sort of party I waltz right into, it requires a little standing shyly in the corner first.

You better believe I've picked out some favorites though!

Magnolia Little Gem - Sage

Candy Coated Numbers

Birdies Galore 

 

Spoons & Flowers

Little Neighborhood - Tan

I really love the houses and the numbers, they're so dang cute!

Chelsea is SEW done procrastinating

Well... I'm starting to be done procrastinating! I dug out my ziploc baggies of Lotus-love to start working on my charity blocks for Cancer is Sew Done (blogged about here).

These pretties will soon be part of friendship stars.... and you already know that since I'm a newly self-diagnosed Kona Cotton Addict, I've already picked out my coordinating solids and am cutting my heart out (wait... not that way. I mean, I'm cutting to my heart's content) just as soon as I close my Mac.

By the way, Tracey added new groups today, so if you haven't joined yet there's still time! You can visit the site today to find out more.

I'm a little late, but thanks Santa!

They're pretty aren't they? Santa brought em for me this year. Two big bundles of Kona Cotton love, straight from his heart! While I can't wait to cut into them... I am also hesitant because they look so pretty and colorful as sit on my table! That and I can't decide what exactly I want to turn them into yet... ideas are welcome!

Santa Baby

Think of all the fun I've missed...

Think of all the jelly rolls I haven't kissed,
Next year I could be just as good (at making cute quilts)
If you check off my Christmas List.

So hurry down the chimney tonite! And into my mailbox for every month following perhaps?


I've joined in on Fat Quarter Shop's Deeeeear Santa fun. A membership to the jelly roll club is on my list.
C'mon Santa, I bet you like jelly rolls just as much as cookies! Right, right?!
But really, I've never joined any of the "we-send-you-good-stuff-every-month" clubs, and I think 2010 is going to be my year to give in!

Sneak peak

I'm spending my Sunday night crinkling a quilt and baking cookies (yes, that is actually the only thing I do in my free time- bake- or so it seems! Haha)

The commissioned baby quilt, my first quilt I've ever sold (and only the second I've ever quilted) is in the wash, it makes me nervous. I always imagining opening the lid to the washer and have a tye-dyed stained mess.






Here's a little sneak-peak-a-roo. I'm in love with that deep teal binding against the orange and brown. Yummy!

All solids are Kona, the front is a mismatch of different designers.

I am really beginning to enjoy the quilting process. Ask me again after I tackle somethin larger than a baby quilt though!!

Time to go put 'er in the dryer. Wish me luck!

Chels

A thought on backs

I really love the look of pieced backs... But I just can't bring myself to get too wild with them. I usually keep it relatively simple with one stripe (a pieced stripe, yes, but just one!)

I see so many photos around blogland of these amazing backs that are about as intricate as my fronts!





This is my most recent back, I'm not gonna lie- I kind of love it. Even though it is super simple, it makes me smile!

(Those animals in Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo are so darn cute!)

How do you decide what your back looks like? Do you dive on with a plan or just start sewing and see where you get? Just curious!

Back to the cutting mat-
Chels

Strippin a King!

I cut, I sewed, I ironed, I repeated. Whoa. After a few hours I now have 5 coin strips long enough for a king size quilt!

I will DEFINATELY be taking this to someone with a long-arm to quilt once I get the top finished!

(those aren't scraps by the way, that's a portion of the pile resulting from a chain piecing bonanza!)

Sunday [Fabric] Funday

Hello hello!

It's another beautiful, sunny day here in Indy. I woke up in a great mood and couldn't wait to dive into this pile that I've been mulling over for the past few months. I jut couldn't decide on a pattern. This plagues me so often - I have piles of pulled fabric sitting everyone but don't dare to bring a rotary cutter to it until I decide on the perfect pattern.

So here she is... a fun lil collection of teals, greens, whites and browns. I'm planning a coin quilt of sorts, but with a little bit of a twist. More to come later! ;)

What's on your agenda today?

Boisenberries and plums, cherries and red hots!

Check out this stash of lovelies that were waiting on my doorstep when I got home from work yesterday.
I've been dreaming of a reddish, purplish, pinkish, rich, warm, perfectly cozy quilt for months. After many disappointed trips to Joann fabrics (they never have the Kona colors I want!), I ordered a handful of 1/2 yards from Pink Chalk Fabrics.

I have nothing but good things to say! I ordered them on Tuesday (along with about 12 other fabrics but I will share those at a later date) and they were here on Friday. That was my first time ordering fabrics online, boy was I nervous. They came perfectly packaged and I dug into them like a 6yr old on Christmas morning!

What exciting things do you have planned for this pretty fall weekend? (Indy is sunny and 40's today, what a welcomed break after a week of rain). I'm spending today fabric shopping for a commissioned baby quilt and sewing!

Sew somethin' sassy! -Chels

I'm a follower

I've done it. I've hopped on board the wonky wagon. I've been dreamin about wonky blocks for weeks now- I see em on everyones blogs & flickrs and I finally joined the in-crowd!

And for someone who's as much of a control freak as me, that's a big step. Cutting into fabric for a pattern is bad enough, but hackin up perfectly good strips and blocks. Phew. Stress me out! Took a good 10min to wonkify the first strip!!

But... Alas I prevailed. And I LOVE IT! Why haven't I been making these all along?! Next time a hip improv trend comes along can someone make sure I join a heck of a lot sooner?!





I honestly have no idea who designed my beautiful fabrics, they were a fat quarter bundle that I had purchased a few years ago when I first began quilting. The blues, purples, teals and grays seemed fitting for the rainy weather we had today though. (If you can help identify please do, I would love to get more!)

I'm off to chop and sew a few more with Bernie before calling it a night!

-Chels

Santorini gone wrong

I come bearing both good news and bad news.

How do you want it? Good news first? Perfect... I've got 36 finished blocks ready to be sewn into rows. Fantastic, huh? Great work just like I planned. Right??
Wrong. Ready for the bad?

... I laid out the blocks and let me tell you, I'm not a fan. After I put 2 rows on my floor I was all "ehh.... Maybe it'll grow on me" but once I got every last block down, nooo way. No growing here! Everyone else likes it, it's a very cute pattern (from the Living Large book- see photo below) and I loved the fabric but somethin just ain't doin it for me.







But I guess on a good note, what better way to transition into selling my goods than with a quilt I'm not head over heels for?!


-- C is iBloggin from her iPhone

Santorini bound!

I wish that title was true! I'd love to visit Greece one day. Those beautiful white buildings perched atop the deep blue sea. Ahh

Back to reality! I'm spending some quality with Bernie today, bought a layer cake of Moda's Santorini a few weeks ago and now that I've finally decided to quit admiring it and cut into it I've got quite a jumpsart on some super cute blocks.









I'll post more on some new projects and fabric ive been pulling later. How are you spending your Sunday?

-- C is iBloggin from her iPhone

Anticipating

I've been browsing the web the past few days looking at yet to be released fabrics, I've added some of my favorites that I'm eagerly awaiting!

1. Chinese Takeout by Sheri Berry for Northcott Fabrics (coming any day, via Fat Quarter Quilt Shop) I'm eager to get a look at those first two.... they look super cute, I'm still a little unsure about the rest though....

2. Dolce by Tanya Welan for Free Spirit, expected at Fat Quarter Quilt Shop in November. Birds, flowers and hexagons - OH MY! I'm a sucker for bright graphic prints! Look at the beautiful gray and pink floral in the second row. Mama likey! I'm getting so many great ideas for these prints!

2. Polly Goes to Paris by Henry Glass Fabrics. This has wonky blocks written all over it, with the girl & her poodle staring in the middle of each block! Very cute bgq (baby girl quilt) potential..

4. And lastly, what's a wishlist without a little Amy Butler?! Her new Love collection by Westminster has some real lookers



I better start saving my pennies (and nickels... and dimes.... and quarters!!