Suggestions?....a (very) brief update, and Aurifil!

I've shared before that my machine sits on an old Singer treadle that belonged to my grandmother.  For piecing, it's great as a sewing table because not much work space is needed and there is very little fabric weight needing to be supported.

When it comes to sewing together larger sections or rows it becomes a bit more of a problem.  Yesterday I put a T.V. tray beside on the left and it helped a lot, plus I can move to my dining table in those cases (which I need to do for machine quilting anyways), however....

....the Singer has this awesome folding extension table that I so far haven't figured out how to make use of because there's obviously a big hole where my Baby Lock would need to sit!  Can anyone help me think of something thin, but very strong that I could place over that section that would be able to support my machine for times that I want to use the extension??

In other news, the Frankie top is finished!  

And finally, for you Aurifil lovers out there who purchase online, I recently heard about Pumpkinvine Corner via Katie's Quilting Corner podcast (which I recommend!).  Pumpkinvine Corner sells the 220yd spools for $3.69, the 1422yd spools for $8.79, and the huge cones (6452yds!!!!!!!) for $33.99.  Anyone know if the  huge cones can be used on a regular ole sewing machine?

Happy weekend everyone!

W.I.P. Wednesday

Another week has passed by, and I've actually had a lot of progress!  The backing fabric for the Reunion cushions arrived last week so I was finally able to assemble them.  The tops had already been pieced and quilted, so the final assembly went really fast.  As usual, I used this tutorial for a basic cushion cover.

Last week I mentioned for the love designs, in particular the Frankie pattern which I had started cutting for.  The quilt is only comprised of two different blocks, and chain piecing them together was a breeze.  The top isn't quite done, but all of the blocks are finished and probably half of them are sewn into sections.  Here's a peek of one of the sections, which incidentally is hanging sideways!  The fabric is Freebird by Momo for Moda, with Kona Ash as a background colour and a little Sweetwater Reunion thrown in (lower left).

Lastly this week is this sweet little hexagon flower.  This is for Chelsea, who is hosting this month in the bee I am participating in.  She already has a hexagon quilt in the works and has requested each bee member to reach into our own scraps and make her a few flowers to add to her top.  I made a whole ton of hexagons last summer on our road trip to Disneyland and haven't made any since, but I seemed to remember how and these came together in a few evenings.  I still have a few more flowers in the works for Chelsea.

I still have quilt tops waiting to be quilted, but I don't feel like re-hashing that every week!  So for now, I'll leave you with this photo showing my new sewing spot!  I used to be tucked in a corner of our living room, which was fine, but my ironing board is generally on the other side of the room and I was walking back and forth constantly so we rearranged things so that my machine could be in front of the window.  I love it!  So much more light, fresh air, ahhhhhh. :)

'Reunion' pillows

Our living room cushions were in serious need of a re-do, and this is what I came up with {click photo for a larger view}:

It was a lot of fun coming up with ideas for each pillow!  Obviously I used the same fabric for all ~ Sweetwater Reunion paired with Kona Coal ~ then tried some designs that I'd never tried before for the pillow fronts.  Clockwise from top left, the inspirations {I say inspirations because none of these were exactly following a pattern or tutorial} for them are the following: Snowball blocks, Jenelle's 'Hello Spring Cushion', Stack & Whack Wonky Blocks, & Dresden Plate tutorial / Krista's pattern.

It feels so good to get these done, and better than just getting them done is having these lovelies on our couch!  Ahhh, much nicer.  :)

P.S.  Anyone else missing all the action in the past few weeks, between the Blogger's Quilt Festival and the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day???  It's awfully quiet in my inbox these days!

Linking up with:
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways 
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

A new-to-me designer, and some WIP's

Before I get to my works in progress this week, I wanted to let everyone know about a quilt pattern designer that I just found out about via Toni's quilt festival post.  I'd like to direct you to for the love designs ~ Lu has a wonderful pattern collection with fun and unique designs, and as far as I can tell, for the most part her patterns are beginner, and pre-cut, friendly.  I couldn't resist, and purchased "Frankie", "Nina", and "Brody".  P.S.  Lu is offering her full collection of patterns for Giveaway Day, go here to enter until Friday May 25/12.  {all photos used with permission}

Alright, now on to my W.I.P's this week.  I have one finish since last week; my Fast Forward quilt.  It had been a completed top for quite some time now so it feels good to cross it off to list.

I started a new project today as well, in fact it is the Frankie quilt pattern shown above.  I'm using these lovely almost FQ's that I won on Jess' blog a little while back, and will need to supplement with a few solids or see if I can find some coordinating prints as I don't have quite enough fabric.  I spent a lot of time cutting today while my youngest guy was home sick, and a little bit of time sewing this evening.

I still have two tops waiting to be quilted ~ the Pure strip tube quilt, and the scrappy postage stamp quilt.  No progress on either this week.  In addition to those, my Sweetwater Reunion cushion covers are still not finished because my backing fabric is taking its time getting here!

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Fast Forward

One project off the "to be quilted" pile!  This is the 'Fast Forward' quilt, named by my son Levi.  :)  It is entirely constructed out of half square triangles, made from scraps.  

Finished size: 33" x 40"

I used scraps from many projects for this quilt, and just for fun I took note of just how many.  The list includes  Swoon, Chrysalis, Sparkle, this chair cushion, Modern Quarters, Owen's quilt, my mom's apron, my Little House mini, and a few others!  Full of project memories, but this one is going to go to our local hospital foundation, to be handed out in the NICU.

I quilted it on my home machine with a bit of an organic wavy vertical line design, using Aurifil 50wt cotton thread.  Very happy with the results, and I will do this sort of wavy line quilting again for sure.

The quilt is backed with this super sweet print from the Genevieve line by Henry Glass Fabrics.  Just perfect for a tiny baby.

{Sew Mama Sew} Giveaway Day!

Comments are now closed, and the winner is #112, Alison! 

First, I'd like to say 'welcome' to anyone who is visiting my blog for the first time via Sew Mama Sew.  I hope you'll stay and have a look around! 

My giveaway today is for 3/4yd of "Man's Best Friend" by Leanne Anderson for Henry Glass Fabrics.  This is a 100% cotton quilting fabric that has not been pre-washed and is coming from a smoke free, pet free home.  Also in the giveaway is one 1200yd spool of Connecting Threads Essential 100% cotton thread in the colour "Slate".  Both items will go to one winner.

In order to enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave one comment letting me know what your favourite thread is.  Just 'cause I'm curious!  International entries welcome.  This giveaway will be closed for entries on Friday, May 25th at 5pm PST, and I will use a random number generator to choose the winner.  

**I will notify the winner by email so please be sure that an email address is in your comment OR is accessible through your profile.**

Good luck!