If you are my mom or grandpa, DO NOT LOOK!

I am too overwhelmed by all I have to share on my blog. To help me get started, I'm going to post pictures today and the correlating text will come later (I hope). Ready... ?
















Hope you enjoyed the eye candy! Happy holidays :)

Oopsies!

Man, I am so lazy! Not only did I do basically nothing to promote my giveaway, I didn't even get around to drawing the winner yesterday! It's kinda embarassing, really. I don't think I'll be attempting a giveway again anytime soon. I really wish I would have known about the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day sooner too! I found out about it the day before and assumed it was too late to enter. I found many awesome blogs over the past 3 days hopping around that!

Alright, so... 4 numbers in a hat and the winner is... new follower (hey I got 1 new follower, right?) Elizabeth! I've sent you an email :)

Okay, now on to quilty things:

Here is my finishsed Parisville quilt top



This whole thing is kinda improvised. I had no intentions of cutting a bunch of 5.5" squares for this, but I made a cutting mistake with the very first cut into the fabric and had to change my plans. I just started cutting squares with no real idea. I added the border when I decided the quilt wasn't big enough. This finished top is 55" x 65". What do you think? I like it!

I actually started quilting this last night so the final product should be here for viewing pleasure soon! Oh and I'm using a polyester batting (Soft and Bright) and I love it! I don't know why I avoided poly batting for so long. It's light by sturdy and my quilt sandwich feels pretty cuddly already. And it's cheap too (I actually got 3 queen size for $21 on Cyber Monday--heck yes)!

Stupid flannel!

I should have asked someone where to purchase quality flannel before taking a chance on this stuff at Fabric.com. Of course you can't really be sure about how nice (or totally NOT nice, as the case may be) it will be until after it's washed and dried (and completely non-returnable). Here's what I got:



Look at all that crappy piling. This stuff came out looking like an old, rotten Care Bear flannel sheet set from when I was 4! So dingy, thin and just gross! I wish Fabric.com had reviews; I wonder how many people before me have wasted their money on this stuff. Sad face.

(deep breath) NOW I will ask: Does anyone know where I can get high quality solid flannel OR fleece? I'm looking for a dark turquoise (not the color of the flannel above which was settling for something close) or charcoal. Oh and nothing against Fabric.com! Most of my fabric comes through them. They have awesome sales pretty much all the time and their customer service is the best! I actually would bet they'd give me my money back if I complained about this flannel, but I don't want to do that. Okay, moving on...

I totally forgot to share the fabric wreath I made until I saw Little Bluebell's post about her cool scrappy wreath! At first I wasn't sure I liked all the white in my fabrics (mostly because our door is white and I didn't consider that beforehand), but now I don't mind it at all. I quite like this hanging on our door. I like seeing it all of the 2 times I leave the house during an average week.





Pretty easy and fun to make too. The tutorial for it is over at Picadilly Peddlers for it. Go make one!

Folksy Scrap Giveaway!

Okay, real quick... would anyone like/have use for these Folksy Flannel scraps? There is a 12" square and a 5ish" and some smaller rectangles and strips. It's a small bundle, but if nothing else, these are really great to look at and pet.



To enter, just leave me a comment telling me about your favorite winter time comfort (a quilt, Christmas movies, hot chocolate, etc.). I'll choose the winner one week from today (December 15th). Have a great day!

I'm still here!

I keep feeling guilty about not updating this thing. And as time has passed, I have 9 million things to update about! I need to try harder to update each day with whatever I've got going. New Year's resolution. I wouldn't want to disappoint my 12 followers, HA. But really, I couldn't update for awhile because everything I was working on was a Christmas gift for a family member who might read this blog. I'll share all of those goodies after the holidays.

Okay, so I finally finished this Folksy Flannel quilt top. I hate flannel. So much. Nothing I tried with my sewing machine made the fabric feed evenly. It just stretches so badly. Hate. Anyway, it's finished (thank the heavens) but the size of it is making finding quilt backing difficult. It's a 67" square. I wanted to use a fleece blanket, but a twin isn't wide enough and buying anything bigger than that is more expensive than just buying yardage. Knowing the size of this quilt top I still managed to purchase 2 blankets that weren't big enough! I shyed away from buying flannel backing because I know it's hard to find good quality, but I ended up buying some online with fingers crossed. It should be here tomorrow.



I don't plan on quilting this on my machine because that might kill me. Instead, I think I will try tying it at each seam corner and in the center of each square, like a tuft. I have no idea how to tie quilts though, so I should probably start researching that.



I am also 98% finished with a Parisville quilt top using Pomegranate FQs I bought over the holiday weekend (with other goodies that I'll share in a moment). I'm waiting for a tiny bit more fabric to arrive so I can finish the border. Here is a sneek peek:


Pomegranate mint cream. Yum.

In addition to the Parisville bundle, I got an Innocent Crush bundle in the Swept Away palette and a Hope Valley design roll. I love looking at these, so they're still sitting out even though I don't have any plans for them yet.


Drool.


Mmmm...

I've also been thinking that today would be a good day to start using Twitter. I have an account, but feel like I'm not part of the coolness crew there and don't understand who would read what I post... I'm kinda feeling really old, like I don't get how it works still. You know, like trying to explain email to your grandparents or something. Kinda embarassing, but whatever. If you want to follow me there, you should: sew_wonky. I will do more than just retweet for fabric giveaways soon, promise.

Lots of progress, but not much to show...

In case you're curious, here's what I've been working on for the past week or so:

about 9 billion mug rugs, tops and backs, but no actual quilting has taken place yet...

fabric circles for a Christmas wreath...

Folksy Flannel quilt (but I need more yardage and am waiting for a sale or coupon, because I'm cheap...)

I feel like I need to complete something to feel a sense of accomplisment here. Also, I won't let myself start another quilt until all of those mug rugs are done.

Oh, but last night was Saturday and so I thought I'd get wild and crazy, put on pajamas, cozy up in bed at 10 and make a wishlist at Above All Fabric! Do I know how to party or what?? Remember getting the Toys R Us catalog and circling everything you wanted and dreaming about winning a shopping spree... ? Well that's what we have here. Melanie of Above All Fabric is hosting a giveaway for $100, $50 and $25 to her store! Visit her blog for details on how to enter yourself. I actually plan on playing the wishlist game a little tonight before bed too... it helps ease me into a happy slumber (no really).

I've always wanted every color of Sandi Henderson's Henna Garden print. That print has the ability to be awesome with just 2 colors. It always catches my eye and looks good with so many different fabrics. I'm also quite interested in getting my hands on some of Tula Pink's new Parisville collection. I love every color way equally... I want them all in a bad, bad way...

...okay, time for chores and then off to dream about fabric!

My First "Mug Rug"

I just discovered these little guys (remember, I'm still new here) and they are addictive. Therefore... everyone gets mug rugs for Christmas!

I probably have family members reading this now thinking "Oh great, what the hell do I need a mug rug for?" and the truth is that nobody needs a mug rug, but I made this one for myself today and every time I catch it out of the corner of my eye, I am filled with happiness! This is probably because I'm a fabric addict, quilt addict and made it with my own hands, but... have a look:





Are you filled with happiness too?? Look at all of those neat, tidy little squares. See that one next to the blank white one? Doesn't that fill you with JOY?? What about the tiny little hot pink polka dot scrap in the binding?!

No? Well then certainly the back of this puts a huge grin on your face...



Oh the sad reality is that I will probably get far more joy out of making these things than my family members will receiving them, but I gave up on the equal-value-gift-card-exchange years ago ("Oh you got me a $50 gift card to Lowes? Well I got you a $50 gift card to Home Depot!"). We've been doing handmade xmas gifts for years now and it helps us enjoy Christmas more (I am easily stressed and find the holidays to be pretty draining... and I'm a cynical pessimist). I hope it helps a few others enjoy Christmas more too... ? I mean really, if you want something at Home Depot, you'll go get it yourself, right?



Ahhh... a nice little piece of comforting, creative success :)

Nick's Quilt

Double shabam! Another finished quilt! This one has sat around without binding for a few weeks. I made it for my husband and while it's not necessarily "manly", I don't think anything about it is soft or feminine. The main focus was on the color scheme. My son's shirt happened to match, so I let him get in this pic (like I had a choice).



I used the Turning Twenty pattern (but did the 12 fat quarter version), which I love! The instructions for cutting and constructing these large-scale blocks goes so fast, and I like any pattern that can show off a lot of the fabric design.

This quilt is full of whimsy and nature. It has birds, birdcages, birds IN birdcages, hummingbirds, moths, bees, guitars and owls. I love every single print in this quilt.



I wasn't sure about this binding. In fact, I actually started binding it with Kona Ash. I was attempting to machine bind, even though I know I don't like it (machine binding, that is), and it got pretty ugly. I ripped it all out and rather than go to Joann's and buy more Ash, I grabbed this really bright Bella turquoise I had on hand. I didn't have quite enough, so I threw in a couple of scrap pieces from the quilt. Each one ended up near a corner. If you look on the right edge of the quilt in this picture you can see where one just happened to end up on the same fabric print. I like that.



I quilted this with wonky lines about an inch apart and I LOVE it. My favorite so far. Actually, I quilted straight lines 2 inches apart with masking tape and then did a wonky line down the middle of each of those. I don't like marking lines on my quilts, so I'll pretty much always be using something else as a guide. This worked well, I think.



The backing is Kona Coal and I had planned to piece some of the scraps into the back, but I got lazy. No good excuse here, but I think there's plenty going on in front for interest. My husband seems to really like it; he slept with it all night <3

Treetop Fancy quilt!

Shabam! Out of nowhere! If I don't blog for a couple of days I guess it's safe to assume that I'm busy completing a project. Introducing: my Treetop Fancy Quilt!



I made the quilt top for this a couple of months ago when I was first starting out but was unmotivated to move further. I thought I didn't like the fabrics, but I lovc them now! Too bad this quilt isn't for me; it's a Christmas present for my in-laws (I don't think they know about my blog). I am really happy with how this turned out. The best part is that I didn't use a pattern. I knew I wanted to make a stacked coins quilt, and I just went with it. I had a Moda off-white jelly roll, so I used that for easy sashing.



I also tried something else new this time: wavy line quilting! So easy and so pleasing to look at. I just quilted a free-form wavy line down the middle of each coin horizontally. I finished the quilting in about an hour.



I think my most favorite part about this quilt is the backing: a print! It's like 2 quilts in one. The fabric is actually from the Fairy Tiptoes line, but since it's Tina Givens, the colors matched perfectly. I bought it on sale for $2.49 a yard so it was like under $8 for printed backing!



I totally forgot to measure this, but it's lap size. Probably should have taken a picture of the entire back too...

Blogger's Quilt Festival + Castle Peeps quilt

• I just found out about the Blogger's Quilt Festival and it's pretty awesome! To enter, you have to blog about a quilt you've made. I'd like to talk about the quilt I made for my son.

  
  

  

  
  

  The obvious inspiration for this quilt was my handsome boy (I apparently only know how to make this photo gigantic or tiny; I chose tiny):

  
  

  

  
  

  I made this for his first birthday, which was October 9th, but couldn't resist giving it to him as soon as I finished it. Before this quilt, I had really only made 1 other serious quilt (I made 2 awkward baby blankets before that that had my "unique" interpretation of what binding should be, and I doubt they're even still in one piece now). This was the first time I bought fabrics because I truly loved them and not just because they were on sale. I wanted everything about this quilt to be of the highest quality too so I bought Gutermann cotton thread, Kona Ash and Coal for the backing and binding and Warm and Natural batting. These were all the names I heard a lot.

  
  

  

  
  

  With this quilt I really learned how much patience pays off. I really took my time making sure everything was cut and pieced perfectly, and I think it definitely showed in the end. Everything went together so much more easily too (no forcing seams together). I also hand-stitched the binding, which I hadn't done before. I discovered that I actually enjoy sitting down and stitching at night. It was nice to be able to bring my work-in-progress with me to bed and work on it while watching TV or a movie. I also really prefer the look of the hand-finished quilt.

  
  

  

  
  

  I also pieced the back of this quilt (hadn't done that before) and was proud of the little design I came up with. I bought 6 different prints of the blue Castle Peeps fabric, but the pattern only called for 5. I really wanted to use them all though and this specific print seemed to need it's own space. I don't think it would have been so nice cut into small pieces in the quilt top. So this little broken panel idea worked well. Sometimes I think I like the back of this quilt more than the front (I really fell in love with Kona Ash for a neutral solid)!

  
  

  

  
  

Not sure if I'm loving this...

So I finished my blocks last night and here they are all laid out:



I see now why it might be kind of important to keep it one color ("Orange Quilt") because I feel like this looks too messy. I tried to just pick fabrics from one color scheme, but I loved them all so much that I ended up with 13 different prints from all over the place! What do you all think? I really don't see myself buying more of this fabric and making more blocks to switch around, but I also don't want to end up with a quilt dud. Even though I may not love this quilt, someone else might (there is a certain someone who needs a Christmas present)... ?

Sloppy Tote + Modern Meadow Quilt Beginnings

I finished (almost) the pleated tote I mentioned in my previous post last night. I have to be honest: I didn't love making this. Besides sewing a straight line, my sewing skills are probably below the beginner level. Cutting patterns, transferring pattern markings, using fusible interfacing... I kinda suck at these things. As a result, this bag is kinda sloppy, though my husband said he never would have noticed any of the flaws had I not pointed them out. Anyway, I guess I'm glad I have this now because I've been in need of a new bag for awhile (something besides the diaper bag) and being able to make one from stuff I already had here at the house from a free pattern was pretty great. I will also say that the directions for this bag are clear and easily understood.

The only thing missing is a button for the closure. I know I have extra buttons somewhere, but I can't find them. I can't imagine anywhere in our tiny house that they could be either, so... I might actually have to buy a button. There are some things I feel I should never have to buy and buttons for craft projects is definitely one of them, but oh well.

(The exterior and interior fabrics are from the "Brooklyn Heights" collection by Kitty Yoshida. The straps are made from Kona Mulberry.)



I am happy to go back to sewing blocks for my latest quilt using Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow fabrics:



This quilt is based on Cluck Cluck Sew's tutorial for her Orange Quilt. I originally intended to follow this exactly, but somehow my blocks were coming up a little short and I found it easier to square them up to 6.5" rather than 7.5". This worked out well since I have a 6.5" ruler, but not a 7.5". I also decided last minute to add some wonk to these (also easier if I'm cutting off more).

I'm making 100 of these to make a 60" x 60" cuddle quilt for us to snuggle under this winter. I think 60" x 60" might be my ideal quilt size. I can't wait to see how my new machine handles it.

Brief Intro + The Goods

Hi, my name is Amber and I'm a stay-at-home mom with a little boy who just turned 1 and I like making quilts. I discovered designer fabric and modern quilt making in August of this year and am completely head-over-heels in love! Since this discovery, I have spent pretty much all my free time quilting. In future posts I'll show all of my completed quilts and get us all caught up. I'm very new to all of this (sewing/quilting/blogging). I started this blog hoping to connect with some of the awesome and inspiring quilters out there and so... here I am!

Yesterday was a gooood fabric day! I received an order from fabric.com which is overloaded with lime and fuschia even though I thought I was over those colors. Most of these are from the "Timber" collection by Jessica Levitt and there are a few from "Brooklyn Heights" by Kitty Yoshida, as well. The Brooklyn Heights fabrics are disappointingly thin and cheap feeling (not sure if that's how all Bernatex fabrics are or what), so I'm going to be using them to make a handbag (this pleated tote, actually) instead of in a quilt. Quilts deserve higher levels of quality than handbags.

I also participated in a scrap swap over at Talk About Fabric and received my surprise bundle of scrappy goodness from my partner . Nothing like fabric surprises sitting in your mailbox while the baby sleeps! The funny thing about this particular exchange is that she gave me some of the same fabric that I almost gave her. I took the scraps out just before sending thinking I may need them since I haven't finished the project yet. Anyway, scrap swaps are neat :)

Lastly, I received 2 charm packs I won on eBay (for about $6 each, yay eBay). Momo's "It's a Hoot" and Urbn Chiks "Dream On". I picture baby quilts for both of these, but somebody needs to have a baby girl soon...

 

Oh, oh and Nick (husband) finally helped me finish my TV Tray Pressing Table! I can't seem to get past my fear of the staple gun, so he took care of that part. The best thing about this project is that we found the tray on the side of the road, the batting pieces were left over from quilts and the fabric was free from fabric.com (I ordered it not realizing it was home decor fabric and when I asked to return it, they just told me to keep it and refunded me for it. A+). FREE table!

Isn't it cute?

Wait, wait one more thing! One more BIG thing. My new machine is here and it is amazing! Previously I was sewing on a little, modest Kenmore that wasn't cut out for quilting. I bought it a couple of years ago not realizing I would become a quilt-freak. Most of the problems I had with it were during the actual quilting of a quilt, but now that I have this new machine, I realize that my problems with piecing were the machine and not me! I might actually have some okay sewing skills afterall.

Ahhh, I love it so much!