Decisions...decisions...

How in the world does anyone decide on what fabrics to take to a quilting class???

I am perplexed!!
I am lucky enough to be going to FOUR Gwen Marston classes next month and I feel like I will need to take a large piece of luggage for my fabric choices alone...
And seeing that this is the first time I have ever attended a quilting class, I have none of the proper "quilter's luggage" I've seen many of the women in my guild prancy about with...
but nothing I can do about that...I need to decide on fabric!!

She outlines for each class how much/which fabrics to bring, and then says to err on the side of too much fabric, well, I think I've done a good job on erring on the side of caution...behold my tentative stacks!!

Abstact quilts in solids class

 Liberated Log Cabin...I was going for a more masculine feel for this quilt...but I might have gone overboard.

 Liberated Baskets:

 Small Quilts.  ha! laughing at myself with this pile...nothing small about this stack!!  I was going for a "quiet, neutral" quilt...but then feared I didn't have enough contrast so threw in all the Kaffe spots...

OK, who out there can help me focus????

birthday quilt

My friend, Krista recently had two quilts published in Quilting Arts special publication 101 Patchwork Projects & Quilts.  I knew immediately I would need to make my husband a version of "Rolling On Through".  Finally got around to doing just that this weekend for Kent's birthday. 

My daughter helped with all the fabric selections...and that was harder than you might think.  She wanted to add all the little novelty fabrics she could find...but I love Krista's use of mostly solids...Colette and I found a happy balance that pleased us both.

I had a lot of fun quilting this little guy.  Although, I think I need to head back to the quilt shop because the darning foot I bought in August doesn't fit my machine....grrrrrr.  I found that out last night at 1015pm!!

I think this little quilt will head to work tomorrow with Kent and hang in his work space.

I'm linking this project at Clover and Violet: Stash Project of the Month!

a birthday gift

I trust my sister will not read my blog at least until tomorrow night...I am gifting her a laptop sleeve tomorrow.

She originally wanted some Amy Butler art nouvou-ish type fabric for the exterior and I am SO glad she found this Alexander Henry print from Alewives.  Not only is it a light canvas weight and more appropirate for the type of bag, I think it's a great print!!

 The interior print will be a surprise to her.  I'm guessing she will either love it or hate it...but she owns 2 guitars and L*O*V*E*S Eric Clapton so my fingers are crossed that she will love it.  I do.

I used a tutorial by Oh Fransson at Sew Mama Sew.

sorry that my pictures are a bit dark, but when using a flash, it really washed out the pink dot in the exterior fabric...and I just wanted to give you a shot with the true colors!

Have a great evening...weather has been great here in Indiana...and supposed to continue a few more days!

100 Quilts for Kids

 Finished my tumbler quilt this weekend. This quilt is part of 100 Quilts for Kids.  It will be donated to my local children's hospital pediatric cancer unit.  It always feels so good to donate a quilt to these kids.

I need to give a bit shout out, *thank you* to my flickr friend, Patti.  She has an Accuquilt cutter, and since I can't seem to win one :) I sent her the fabric and she cut it for me!!  What a doll.  She has a huge yo yo quilt project going and I sent her lots of scraps for her project.  Win Win for me!  I got rid of some more scraps and I cut tumblers pre cut!!

it's taking over our house!

So my quilting can no longer be contained in the sewing room!

I have the backing for my 1974 postage stamp quilt laying over a quilt rack in the living room....

 I am working on backing for my neutral quilt...I really wanted the riding clothes for the entire back (it is SO soft) but I don't have enough of the gray fabric, so I'm going to use some of the textured solid blue for the other half....now I need to find a quilter...I think I want this one quilted in fans...very traditional, but it appeals to me.

 Let us continue upstairs into our bedroom where I'm working on my quilt for 100 Quilts for Kids.

and finally...my fantastic score of vintage fabrics and feedsacks from an auction this weekend.  I think some of these might be headed to ebay to cover my costs and sedate my husband a bit...

so do you even want to guess what the sewing room looks like???

Playing favorites

I'm playing along with Molly and Suz today.

We are showing bits and pieces of our favorite fabrics, or those fabrics that are down to scraps yet you still adore!

The top piece in the picture is a Timeless Treasures print.  I once located a shop that still had some, yet I didn't buy more???

The middle scrap, I'm told, came from JoAnne Fabrics a few years ago...something about the fabric appeals to me so much!  I love neutrals, and this reads as a neutral to me, yet adds a sweet kick of color!

and the last scrap is my holy grail.  It's an out of print Alexander Henry called Bite Size.  I have managed to locate a 1/2 yard of it in pink, yet it's this blue color that I would like to buy by the bolt!!

So stop over to Suz's blog and look around and share your favorite bits!

for Amy

If you are like me, you read quilting blogs and feel like you get to know the person posting every day or every week to their blog.  And you probably also know that the quilting/crafty community is very generous.

A blog friend recently lost her husband to cancer and Sarah put a call out for quilt blocks.  These are the blocks I sent. 

I hope to have a finished quilt top to show later this week.  I decided after putting the flimsy on my bed that I wanted it a little bigger...so back to the cutting board!