WiP - Snippets

  It's the end of the month crush, with a t-shirt quilt and two swap minis needing to be packed up and mailed by tomorrow. So, while that's mostly what I've been working on this past week, you're only going to get to see snippets until the reveal posts.

So...t-shirt quilt snippet! Isn't that backing fantastic? My kind of girl.

Mini quilt snippet! Those "toes" finish at 1/2". Tiny and adorable, much like...well, not CC. She's hardly tiny. She weighs in at 13 pounds now, while poor Tycho dropped down to eight. We switched his diet food again, and he likes this stuff much better, so hopefully he'll be back up to fighting weight soon.

And Ripples and Reflections! Not really a snippet, but not much to see - I made eight economy block border units. Took three hours, twenty minutes, and added 220 pieces. I think that's the most pieces added in one step, so I'm not feeling so bad about the time now.

And lastly, I finally finished off the piecing of Sail Around the World just in time to quilt it along with the t-shirt quilt this weekend. It has no deadline {the recipient has no idea she's getting it} so there's less rush to bind it.

And Jennie's palette of the week is...movie posters! Summer movie I'm most looking forward to is....duh. Notice how my boyfriend Cap got the front spot over Ironman? Who's got the more successful {recent} stand-alone, hmm? One month to go!

See also: Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, BoMs Away at What a Hoot.

WiP - Adult-ing

  Whew. This past week was filled with taxes and other business stuff that made me feel like an adult. {I have business cards in the mail - business cards!!} Which meant a little less sewing time. But now that I'm caught up on being an adult, I feel a little more organized for this coming business year. Which is a nice feeling. And should be rewarded with Starbucks.

Anyway, when I did sew, it was a t-shirt quilt...

...which is waiting for its utterly fantastic backing to come in the mail. The binding is made, quilting is scheduled...shipping is slow.

And I made these lovely blocks for Jennie's latest pattern release, Fresh Air.

And I finished off the top for the Cat Mini Swap. Those paw prints are only 2x2.5" finished! Next is embellishing a bit before quilting. Oh, and I have no idea how to quilt it.

I got a couple more strips together for Sail Around the World, and organized everything else so hopefully the final pieces come together quickly.

And finally, I started working on the second to last step of Ripples and Reflections. All the economy blocks are done - I just need to get them in the right color order and assembled with the right triangles. Wish me luck on that one.

And the color palette is...spring! It feels like spring here - warm and rainy - but it doesn't look blossomy yet. I'm ready to see growing things!

See also: Oh Scrap @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, BoMs Away at What a Hoot.

Fresh Air - a Porch Swing Quilts Pattern

  Once again, it's time for a Porch Swing Quilts Pattern! This one, Fresh Air, was a joy to test. I didn't think I really loved it at first, but I put together a test block and it just looked so cheerful. Its friends soon followed.

I haven't assembled the quilt yet - this one, as well as Flower and two of the fall releases, are destined to be Christmas quilts for nieces and a nephew, so there's no rush. Plus, I was able to cut a little more efficiently because my fat quarters were slightly longer than normal, so I'm thinking about cutting into some different FQs for the cornerstones. Because I have an appalling number of quite a few Dr. Seuss fat quarters.

Jennie used Daysail in her version. And she cuts the binding from the fat quarters, so it's scrappy and you don't need to worry about figuring out binding at the end!

I think my favorite part of this pattern is that all the background pieces are the same size. Flying geese, bird in the air - all the same. Four patch and bird squares? Same size. Don't get me wrong, I loved Flower, but it can be a pain in the rear to try to remember which piece goes with which part.

Organizing. Easier said than done. #flowerquilt #catsthatsew

A photo posted by Kate Starcher (@katiemaequilts) on Feb 4, 2015 at 8:30am PST

Because cats don't care that you're trying to keep a lot of pieces organized.

And not to let a post go by without CC as well - a moment of honesty. I'm getting {slightly} better at using proper backgrounds and lighting and whatnot. Sometimes that's a piece of fleece and waiting for someone to flick her tail out of the shot. After shoving all the toys off to the side.

Ahem. Anyway. Fresh Air is on sale for $5 this week! Buy it and whip up a baby size quilt in a day, or a lap size in a weekend! There's also going to be a Maxi pattern next week, and she's finally cracked under the pressure and decided to release Mini patterns!

WiP - Some {Shockingly}

  We've had a slightly busy two weeks, which has led to less sewing and more family time - which is certainly nothing to complain about!

My husband came home from deployment, so we went over to Glacier National Park. Gorgeous. I can't wait to come back when the buses can actually park here.

I did some quilt planning and shopping while we were away - buying a book on borders and trying to come up with a sashing plan for my churn dashes. I always use the same sashing and borders, so...I need to shake things up a little. Of course, avid pinning and graph paper sketches don't make the greatest pictures for blog posts.

So, you're left with what I'm actually working on - a t-shirt quilt all in rows...

...and my Sail Around the World. I spent weeks trying to get the layout/strip sets/seams straight, and finally I just turned to the good old computer. Shockingly {not really} this all goes together much faster when you're just following across the line.

And that's pretty much it. I bound a swap mini and worked on the borders for another one as a leader/ender project, but I'm trying to only keep the two main projects at the machine until they're done. Shockingly {not really} I'm finding it easier to work that way.

Oh, and today's color palette is the Dude's birthday cake that I had to special order from Dairy Queen, because chocolate in Oreos? Good. Chocolate crunchy stuff between layers? Good. Chocolate ice cream? POISON. But he managed to have his birthday on Free Cone Day, so who am I to complain about having to go pick it up?