Star Trek Uniform Block

I’ve been looking at trying some more paper piecing blocks since I finally learned how to do this technique, and I came across a site called Fandom in Stitches. It’s really spectacular how many blocks these designers have made with cultural ties – movies, books, music, disney, etc. They are hosting a Summer of Stitches, having a theme for each week for which people can design and submit blocks for.

Out of the themes left, I noticed Star Trek is on the list, so being the big fan I am, I wanted to design a block. Of course there is already a com badge on their site, three of them in fact, as well as a ship, Borg cube, and a Vulcan harp, but I did think of something I could make. Uniforms! Specifically The Next Generation versions… for now.

WIP – Granny Square Quilt

This week, I have been working on making some squares for a granny square quilt. There’s a tutorial that I have been following on the Moda Bake Shop by Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches. I am using a jelly roll of Middletown Place by Windham Fabrics and some Porcelain yardage of Bella Solids.

I haven’t had time to do too much work on it with our move approaching in less than two weeks, only 10 of the 20 squares are finished. There are two of each of the squares shown below. Even if I do manage to get the squares finished, I won’t be assembling them until after we get settled in.

WIP Wednesday

While it doesn’t feel like I managed to get a whole lot done this week, I did make some progress. I made a backing for my baby sized Juicy quilt, started organizing my fabric scraps, tried my hand at paper piecing.

The backing has this 20″ x 10″ rectangle I put together from scraps I had left over from the front. I used a white muslin I had on hand to enclose it, placing it off-center. This quilt will have to wait to be quilted until later since I don’t have the batting I need for it, and I won’t be purchasing anything else until after we get moved and settled. For now, the quilt top and backing has been folded up and put into a storage bin.

WIP – Juicy Baby Quilt

I found a link on Pinterest for a quilt called Juicy made by Monica at Happy Zombie that I really wanted to try. While checking it out, I realized I have never made an hourglass block! Well that needed to change, so I grabbed some scrap fabrics from my stash and got to work. I want to be able to use a charm pack and some yardage to make a small version of this quilt, so I did some quick calculations as to the sizes of squares and blocks I would want and then tried a few out. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to mess it up terribly and that I made the right size cuts for all the parts.  Then I made a few more….

Then before I really planned anything out, I made up my mind to go ahead and try a full practice version of the quilt out with these trial blocks. I mean, no need to waste them since they turned out okay!

I did realize that I wanted one more color in here, so after I took a trip to the LQS, I was able to add in some green swirls.

After I had this laid out I needed to make the borders, which includes flying geese, of which I had also never made before. It didn’t take long before I had it finished up, but somehow I had made a four extra of each kind of flying geese, which I might use to help piece together the backing.

I was hoping to finish the top off, piece the back together, and baste it by today, but as you can see in the corners of some of these photos, we are packing to move and time is limited for sewing at the moment. My family will be moving in three weeks across the country from California to Ohio. I expect this little tidbit will be the last thing I finish before we go. It is going to be approximately 36″ x 36″ when finished.

Linking up for WIP Wednesday.

 

Winter’s Outdoor Quilt Show

This weekend, my husband and I went a town over to Winters, CA to the Winters Outdoor Quilt Show. The show was sponsored by City of Winters, Winters Chamber of Commerce, and Cloth Carousel – the LQS.

The Cloth Carousel is a fantastic shop. Whenever I mention my LQS, this is the store that I am referring to. I love going to this store. It is well laid out, the staff is knowledgable and kind, and their selection is really good. While you can’t buy from them online yet, I know that they have plans to do so in the near future. If you ever get a chance to visit them, don’t hesitate! They are lovely!

Sunday Stash – Mod Geek

I went to the LQS on Thursday to get some fabric for a border and came home with a few extras. This fabric is all from Robert Kaufman. The one on the right is from the Science Fair line, and the remaining four are from Mod Geek. I am really infatuated with the Mod Geek fabrics, and the addition of any of the Science Fair fabric was just icing on the cake.

I also picked up some solid taupe for bordering fabric for a new project I wanted to try. I made some practice blocks with larger scrap pieces I had, but didn’t have the right color green, so I went back and grabbed some green swirly fabric ( I think it’s from Timeless Treasures), which I’ve already cut up.

I’ll be posting more about this practice project next week, as well as posting some pictures tomorrow from the Winter’s Outdoor Quilt Show.

Linking up with Molli Sparkles and Mary Emmens for this week’s Sunday Stash.

 

 

Crossword Finish

This morning, I finished up my crossword puzzle wall hanging. I had started it earlier this week, and if you recall, I had a bit of trouble with the letter blocks being awkward.

I ended up running to the LQS to grab some matching fabric from the line to make a border. They had a small gingham that I thought would work well, so I picked it up and a few other fabrics that caught my eye.

I used the rest of the green fabric I had left over to make the binding. I backed it with some plain cream fabric, since its likely no one will be seeing it, and attached a sleeve for it hang it on.

The wall hanging measures approximately 27″ x 38″, and is made using PotLuck by American Jane of Moda Fabrics.

Brought to you by the letter J

This post is brought to you by the letter J. Sort of….

I planned a crossword wall hanging for my husband’s grandparents to include all of the names in our family. After looking around, I decided to order some Potluck by American Jane of Moda. I liked that they had preprinted panels of alphabet letters that I could get and just piece those together in a charm square fashion rather than having to make each letter into a block. 

Autumn Woods Fabric

My husband and I are using a quilt on our bed that his great uncle gave us for a wedding gift over five years ago. (Thanks Uncle Carl!) We am extremely happy to say that his eighty-three year old uncle is in pretty good health, very active, still drives, is extremely well-mannered and good-natured, and still so very spry. My husband and I love him to PIECES.

As for the quilt, this is the first one I can ever remember owning before learning to sew. I feel like I may have dishonored his gift because we have used it so much and worn it out so terribly bad. It’s literally coming apart at the seams. :}

Color Block Finish

I managed to get my last WIP finished yesterday, the girly version of the Color Block Quilt.

The pattern is from Bijou Lovely, finishing at 40 x 55. I love that it is simple, giving a wide space on which to change designs while FMQing.  I used the Celebrate Seuss 2 fabric from Robert Kaufman I picked up at the LQS a while back and paired it with some random fat quarters I picked up on sale.  The binding is made from scraps of a Tea Rose solid from Connecting Threads.

The quilt was already pieced and basted previously, so it was just a matter of quilting, then making and attaching binding.  I practiced some different FMQing designs, since the one I am the most consistent at is stippling.

 

 

 

 

 

I tried some swirls, which are… well less just say less than fantastic, but I am still learning and I am sure it will get better with practice. They are all sorts of inconsistent and the spaces aren’t exactly filled well.

 

 

 

 

The same goes for the stars and loops. I just didn’t hit the mark with the FMQing on this quilt. It is finished though, and I am sure whomever ends up using it won’t mind. In fact, I’d like to pretend some little one might even grow to love those handcrafted mistakes.