Darn near bigger on the inside…

I tried to spend all day Sunday sewing, but somehow my charming kiddos managed to flood the bathroom and my afternoon was spent on damage control. Sigh. That’s right- while everyone else was partying at Quilt Con, I was home mopping up toilet water. But before the water started dripping through the ceiling, for real, Annie and I got this far.

We have continued with our system: she does the layout and I do the piecing*. I am so proud of myself- I have barely rearranged any of her squares. It’s kind of liberating to just not worry about what print is next to what, and are there too many polka dots here or too many dark purples there. The blank spots are where the few non 2.5″ squares go. I have to do some- gasp- math to get those bits right, so they’re waiting till I piece the rest.

*so much piecing. I have refrained from actually doing the math the would tell me exactly how many 2.5″ squares are in this thing- but- it’s a LOT.

This is what my sewing life has looked like for the last few weeks. 9 patch after 9 patch after 9 patch. But truly, I find them SO satisfying to work on. I have a system, and it’s been working.

I stole a little extra time tonight and got some more done- SO close now!

I’m having the worst time getting decent photos at night in my sewing room. The purple squares are really NOT this pink.I can’t wait to get this sucker together and get it into daylight for some decent photos…

Meanwhile, I thought you’d like to see my other helper. I was going through my stash of licensed Doctor Who fabrics (from the oh-so-glamorous JoAnns) to see what we might use for the back… And George wanted to offer his opinion. This was AFTER we busted him on the dining room table- he waited until we finished eating and were clearing the table, and climbed up to devour the ranch dressing. I’ve never had a cat as obsessed with people food as this guy…

But, but, look at that face. He’s innocent, he swears.

I’m linking up at Sew Cute Tuesday, Fabric Story Tuesday, and Let’s Bee Social. Here’s hoping YOUR helpers were more useful to you than mine were to me this week!

I double-dog-dared me

Last year I had fun making a pair of coordinating-but-not-matching baby quilts for some frolleagues (that would be colleagues who are also friends…) Their baby boys were due mere days apart- though one decided to be as late as he could be and so they’re slightly further than that- but still within the same month.

I finished the quilts, and got photos, and gifted them and everything, but never blogged them. So without TOO much further ado, here are my final finishes for 2015.

Baby Boy #1:

(pardon the lousy cell phone photos snapped early in the morning before giving it away…)

Both quilts were focused on the doggy batik fabric- and also the remaining pieces of the rainbow batik roll that I used for my favorite quilt of last year. Both quilts were made up of pieced HSTs that came from this tutorial by Amy at Stitchery Dickery Dock. Quilt #1 got a backing made from some very very vintage Anna Maria Horner and remaining batik.

Quilt #2:

Same squares, same border, same binding, same quilting, different layout: totally different feeling.

This one got different backing, too.

I love it! Rainbow dog treats. So happy- and so likely to hide any stains a baby boy might make…

My heart totally melted a few weeks back when I saw Mr. Quilt #2 in his 3 month photo on FB- on the quilt… Hooray!

Linking up with TGIFF and Finish it Up Friday.

Still not quite bigger on the inside…but closer!

The Tardis is growing! Perhaps not as quickly as I would like, but still… My assistants (pictured below) and I took advantage of the day off from work/school (Presidents Day) and got some more done.

The very helpful assistant at work doing the layout:

The not-quite-as-helpful assistant picking out squares:

Speaking of  the squares- look at how pretty my kid makes them look while she’s working!

Of course, we can’t leave them there because of that other assistant, the one who thinks I spent hours cutting them out just so he can nap on them… They get picked up and put away between layout sessions.

So Annie worked on adding more rows to her layout, and I sewed. And sewed. And sewed.

Look how far we got! It’s really starting to look like a Tardis…

And here’s a closeup so you can see just how much fun we’re having with out fabric choices. Look for tentacles, unicorns, skulls, bunnies, butterflies, dolphins, and more. (Possibly not all in the shot below…) Because, truly, it wouldn’t be a quilt of mine without some silliness!

Whee! Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday, Fabric Story Tuesday, Let’s Bee Social, and Needle and Thread Thursday.

Gifted Greys

Life got away from me, and I never showed you this lovely finished baby quilt. I got it bound and washed just in time for the baby shower, and even managed to snap a few photos before gifting it.

There’s that pop of aqua that I used for a binding- I really do love how it finishes the quilt off.

Can you see how I chose to quilt it? I echoed the shape of the star, and since it is off center, I really like the final look. The lines aren’t as straight as I might have liked- this was my first time using my new quilting bar, and I’m still getting the hang of it. I used a purple variegated thread that has been in my stash forever- I don’t think you can really tell, but it made me happy…

I quilted the white star in soft grey thread, and I am really happy with the impact of the lines inside the star. You can see it on the back as well…

I love this backing- it’s a perfect companion to the front, it works with the binding, I like the play of the stripes with the quilting lines- AND- it was on sale!

The baby shower was truncated (it had been scheduled prior to the Broncos making the playoffs, and was going to overlap with the Patriots game… so it was moved up and ended early as so many people needed to leave to go watch the game. Me, I couldn’t care less…) But! There was still time to open gifts and I can happily say that the quilt was well received. Phew! (And mom-to-be already got a lovely thank-you note to me- so I know it was truly appreciated…)

Linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

Not bigger on the inside…yet

For what seems like FOREVER, I’ve been saying I’m going to make a Tardis quilt for my daughter Annie, inspired by this original design by piecedgoods. I love the simple elegance of the design, and the possibilities of so many different tiny pieces of fabric…

I put out a call for some blue scraps, and several of you were so generous!  Annie and I also had an awesome girls’ day out, where we hit several LQSs in our quest for the perfect blues. And our background is going to be purple, not yellow/orange- to look more like a space nebula. In fact, the color palette of the quilt coordinates very well with Annie’s new hair color…

Her hair is ALSO inspired by nebulae- sense a theme?

This quilt is a team project. So I started cutting the approximately 10 billion 2.5″ squares, and when I had enough ready to go, Annie started playing with layouts. (Pardon the lousy cell phone photos to come…)

I think she’s got a pretty decent eye!

We’ve got a very sophisticated system going, with piles of tiny squares on the ottoman.

It was working well enough- until we started finding squares scattered throughout the house. Seems George the cat has been dragging them around- oops! Now they’re in a safer place…

I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of seams in my future, so I decided to approach it as a series of 6 patch blocks. And when I had three rows of 6 patch blocks, I sewed 6 patch blocks made from 6 patch blocks. Except the numbers don’t quite work, so the final section is 4×3 patch blocks…

Once I got a full section sewed together, I started really being able to see where we’re going!

It’s working! I can see the Tardis starting to emerge from all those squares. Soon, Annie will have to finish the layout… but meanwhile, the 132 squares that are ready to go should keep me busy, right?

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday and Let’s Bee Social.