I've moved!

Hi all!

I've moved my blog over to my own site!  Go find me at www.seemaryquilt.com!

WIP Wednesday!

The whole place is trashed!  I normally try to keep my sewing stuff to the left side of the dining room table, but I just have so many things going that I've migrated to the right.  Family may not get a decent meal here until I leave for QuiltCon.

I've been sewing up some new clothes.  I know I don't really need any more, but it's kind of fun to make clothes where you'll be around people that will really get it.  And any excuse to buy fabric is a good excuse.

So far I've done one horrible muslin and scrapped that entire pattern.  Then I went back to the old standby, the Washi Dress.  One needs a hem, and one is finished.  I just have that Brambleberry Ridge fabric in the back there to go.  I'm thinking of adding some short sleeves to it, just so they aren't all complete duplicates.

And, I've thrown together a lanyard and a new business card holder.  I'm debating whether I should make a new bag for Con, or just reuse one of the many I've already made.  For now, I'll wait, but if I get the itch, I may end up elbows deep in interfacing in the middle of the night.

And when I'm not sewing these days, I've been working on this Corvallis Cardigan for my son.  He's pretty excited about it and keeps checking in on my progress, but I'm so BORED of it!  He just wanted a green sweater, so there's no stripes or color-changing yarn to keep me interested.  And I realized too late that I should have put something in, a cable or an interesting stitch, but I didn't.

I think at this point, I'm so close I just have to finish and remember for the next time.  I'm so close to the bottom ribbing and then it's just sleeves.  (Thank goodness this pattern has you knit the button band as you go, so that's one less step between me and finished!)

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday and Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

Moonlit Layers of Charm Quilt with the Fat Quarter Shop

I got an email a few months back from the Fat Quarter Shop to try out one of their new patterns.  I of course said yes.  I picked out a layer cake of Rashida Coleman Hale's Moonlit and an icy blue Bella Solids charm pack, then commenced some very secret sewing.

The pattern is called Layers of Charm (aw!) and you use one layer cake and one charm pack to make it.  There's no cutting fabric, just sew charm to layer and trim.  It went really fast and then I got to do the fun quilting part.

One of the great things about this quilt is that it's such a big blank palette for quilting!  I loaded it up in the long arm thinking I would do some graffiti quilting, then had second guessing time where I pondered all the other ways I could quilt, then eventually went back to the graffiti.  It's so much fun, and kind of like a crossword puzzle for quilters because of the thinking that goes into it.  I love doing it.

I've been cuddling under this quilt for a while.  It's so fun to look at, because the quilting looks so different in all the big squares, some really highlight the quilting, and some squares let the fabric take focus.  Every time I use it, I find something new to love.

For the back, I pulled out my stash of Ikea Britten Nummer.  I found it in a store last summer and rationalized buying ten yards.  This was the first time I convinced myself to pull it out.  It's a pretty thin fabric, but very silky, so the quilt is more for summer night cuddling rather than winter polar vortex cuddling, but I do it anyway.

And the binding is super scrappy, cut from a handful of Cotton and steel fat quarters I had in my stash.  So many seams, but it's so fun.

Puppy is also a fan.

Go check out the Fat Quarter Shop's video to get the pattern!  And hop around to see all the pretty quilts!

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday and Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!

Finish It Up Friday: Schnitzel and Boo Tula Mini

I was so excited to get my partner's information for the Schnitzel and Boo Swap.  She seemed pretty much my quilty twin, so I decided to just make something that I would love to receive.

On the long list of designers that we had in common, Tula Pink was right on top.  And I just happened to have been hoarding a pile of Tula from my time working at a fabric store.  I pulled a fun pile of all my blues, purples, and teals, yellow for a pop of color, and added in my raccoons.  She also loved Anna Maria Horner, and I needed some navies, so I added the feathers and coordinates.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the block I would make.  I've loved minis where the blocks make secondary patterns where they meet, so I scoured the internet.  At first I thought I would do nine blocks that were six or seven inches square, but then I found this block and decided that it would look cooler with just four blocks.  Also, the center would be perfect for the raccoons if the block was bigger.

I went a little crazy with the quilting.  When it's such a small space to quilt it's pretty tempting to quilt all the little spaces to death, which I did.  I only left the raccoon alone because I couldn't figure out how to quilt them.  And once it was all done, I thought it looked nice without quilting.

And here's the mini I received.  My partner saw that I loved Latifah Saafir and when she looked into her, my partner fell in love with the Big O quilt.   I love the idea of passing on quilt inspiration!  She did a really great job; it's bright and graphic and has my favorite Carolyn Friedlander print all over it!  Can't wait to figure out where I'm putting my mini wall so I can hang all my new minis.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Leanne for TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday: Snow Day Number Two!

So it snowed all day yesterday.  Sure everyone knows about the blizzard, and everyone got snow, but it never stopped!  I don't think we've ever had a storm that didn't at least take a 20 minute break in the midst of snowing.

Yesterday, while we were all penned into the house, I managed to get a binding done and a bunch of pressing but today I decided it was quilting day!  Last night I pulled backing and batting and got it all loaded up on the long arm so I could just start as soon as the coffee kicked in.

And of course I waffled about how to quilt it.  I spent an hour scrolling through Instagram, then watched video after video on YouTube, then flipped through my sketchbook.  I finally just decided to do more graffiti quilting practice.  (Which was my first idea, so I don't know why I didn't just trust my gut instead of wasting hours.)

Luckily, once you get started, it's pretty easy to just keep going.

And one more picture of the snow.  Lucky has decided she likes the snow in the North better than the heat of the South!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social #57!

Friday Finish: Pixelated Pinwheels

I've had this quilt by JeliQuilts pinned since she made it.  I loved the colors.  I loved that it was based on something from Ikea.  I have a thing for triangles.  Basically, I've just been waiting for the chance to make one of my own.  So when it was my turn to pick a block for my do. Good stitches group, I thought this would be perfect.

I asked each member to make a block of nine HSTs in warm and cool colors.  I requested solids, but any saturated, tone on tone print that read as a solid would do.  While they were doing that, I made a pile of single HSTs that I used to blend the two groups together.

Once I had the top pieced, I sent a picture to the group's Flickr page.  We're putting on a special exhibit at QuiltCon, and I just knew this quilt would have a good chance of being selected.  Luckily, it was! So I had to get it quilted and finished so I could send it in time for the show.

I struggled with what do do for the quilting.  The triangles are so angular, so I wanted to do something curvy to offset that, but I wanted something that I would be able to accomplish quickly and successfully.  Somehow, this pattern of tall archy squiggles popped into my head.  (if anyone can think of a better name, you'll win a gold star.)

I love that the straight lines don't take away from all those triagles, but because the squiggles are of random length, it's fun to look at.  I can't wait to see it hanging in Austin.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it up Friday!

Friday Finish: Instagram Mini Swap!

I spent a lot of time being a mini swap avoider.  I just didn't get the appeal.  I would join fabric swaps and block bees, but why would I want a mini?  (It's not like I enjoy quilts and have an abundance of blank walls in my house.)

That was until I saw all the awesome things that were being made during the second round of the Schnitzel and Boo swap.  Seriously, every single mini was awesome and I wanted them all.  But it was too late for that swap, and while I was being sad, the IG Mini Swap started up.  I signed up immediately!

After a stressful wait, I finally got my partner's info.  I was a little bummed, because she wasn't one of those super active Instagrammers.  I worried that I wouldn't have enough to go on, but I started pulling together some ideas.

My partner liked aqua and gold, triangles, asymmetry, and her website looked very clean and modern.  So I pulled all of my gold and aqua fabrics, added some gray for good measure.  I went with a cream for a background color, because the white just looked to harsh.

I sketched out a doodle of this, then cut triangles out of paper that were the size that I wanted.  I laid that triangle on the fabric and cut 1/4 inch past the paper triangle, stitched them together in rows and was shocked that it seemed to work.  There are a few spots where I lost triangle sides, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I bought some heavier gold and aqua thread with the plan that I would background quilt in white and then do some hand stitching in color, but once I had the mini basted, I just didn't like that idea anymore.  Instead, I went with wavy lines over the whole thing, mostly with the white, but with stripes of the gold and aqua threads here and there.   When I was done, I realized it was wind blowing over mountains!  Aw!

Now this mini has a home on the wall in my partner's sewing space.  It perfectly matches her wall, and it looks very happy there.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Val for TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday!

So my job today is to get these quilts bound.  Both are gifts that are long overdue, though no one is expecting them, so no one knows they're so late!  Ha!

There's also QuiltCon supplies to gather, more quilts to quilt, and swap extras to make before popping my Schnitzel and Boo mini in the mail.  So I'll probably just go and get to it!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

While I Was Gone...

So I kind of fell off the internet.  It's that Christmas crafting rush, but mine starts before Thanksgiving, and then I'm just pooped.  I make things, but just don't feel doing the last step, blogging them.  Luckily, I kept up with the photographing, so now that I have my mojo back, I still have pictures of stuff that I've sent away.

So now I can show you what I was up to when I was away!

This was the second center I've worked on for our Round Trip Quilts Bee.  (The first one is here.)  Jenn, from  Never Just Jennifer, and I was in love with it the second she posted it to Instagram.  I was glad I didn't have to wait long to get my hands on it.

She's a fellow New Hampshire-ite, and wanted a quilt that was all about our awesome state.  Her notebook was full of great ideas, like those maple leaves, mountains, snowflakes, and flying geese.  I got this at the height of geese migration when all the fields are full of flocks coming and going, so I had to do some flying geese.

I first added that strip of red to tie in the red maple leaves Leanne had added and then started pulling all my bright and low volume scraps to make the geese.  I really didn't have a solid plan or pattern, just made geese in a bunch of sizes, then moved them around until I got a pattern I liked.  (My one regret, is that pointed the geese flying out of the corner, and not into it in proper flying "v" formation.  Next time!)

The last step was the corner.  Red again to mirror that red maple leaf, and some Anna Maria Horner blue.  It's called Migratory Lace, so I kind of had to use it prominently, and it reminds me of trail maps, and NH has some great hiking and skiing trails!

I love this one, and can't wait to see what happens to it next!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day: Two Hawthorne Threads Scrap Packs

*** Congrats to lucky number 109, Sandra!  Your Scrap Packs are on their way! ***

It's that time of year again!  Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day!  I love visiting all the blogs, finding new ones to follow, and the chance of winning some great stuff doesn't hurt.  And once again, I'm pretty excited to get to join in myself.

So if you've visited before, you probably know all about my love of scraps (and if you're new, welcome!).  I love looking into the bin and seeing all the colors.  It's so much fun to mix and match because you can pull a little bit of everything out, without emptying all the shelves of fabric.

This is a picture of the bin months ago (though the working bin, not the bin I've given up on.  And not the mini scrap bucket, because those have a home elsewehere).  It's gotten more packed and I don't even bother trying to force the lid on, but I get really excited when I finish a project using only these little bits!

1.  Catvent Wall Hanging  2.  Pebbles on the Beach Mini  3.  Orange Peel Vines Hanging

So down to business.  I'm giving away two scrap packs from Hawthorne Threads.  They have really great fabrics, and you get some fairly generous cuts.  I absolutely love getting them, because it's a little surprise every time, and always a good one.  The packs come in Warm, Cool, and Fresh.

How to enter the Giveaway!

Leave a comment telling me which TWO you'd like for a chance to win.

Followers, old and new, get a second chance to win.  Just leave a second comment telling me how you follow.

This giveaway is open to US entrants only, and will remain open until Friday, December 12, at 5 p.m. (PST).  If you're a no-reply commenter, make sure you include your email address so I can contact you.

Thanks for stopping by!  And be sure to check out all the great blogs participating in Giveaway Day this year!

Friday Finish: Pebbles on the Beach Mini

I have totally fallen in love with needle turn applique.  I've always loved a good hand stitching project, and these projects have turned out a lot easier to do than I thought and I can stitch shapes that I like without having to deal with machine sewing curves.

Our guild (Seacoast Modern!!) had a mini swap with another guild.  The theme was a "Sense of Place" which completely threw me for a long time.  I seriously would try to figure out what I would make, brain would turn to mush, and I'd avoid thinking about it with a different project.

Then, I bought a copy of Savor Each Stitch by Carolyn Friedlander.  I was completely hooked by this book; great projects, a good read, and pretty colors.  So I tried to see if one of the minis in the book would apply to the swap challenge.  One of the best thing about the seacoast is the beach, and one of my kids' favorite things to do is find pretty shells, rocks, or sea glass, and Aerial Grove kind of reminded me of pebbles lined up on the beach.

So I pulled a rainbow of scraps and started stitching them down to my "sand" fabric.  I had thought to put them upright as a center column with blue ocean to the right and green grass to the left, but it just looked to busy, so blue ocean won.  I used lighter colors close to the sand to get a waves crashing effect.   Then I quilted it all over with a wave pattern.

And of course, you need a label.

Once I finished that mini, I started right up on one that I would get to keep.  I think in the new year, I'm going to start work on a whole quilt of needle turn, as my big 2015 project.  

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Quilt Matters for TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday: A Very Do. Good One

So August was my turn again to lead our circle, and I wanted something a bit easier than my first (Pyramid Scheme turned out great, but was a bit more work than I realized).  So while I was scanning Flickr and Instagram for ideas, I came across this quilt by Jeliquilts.  I loved it, and figured blocks of half square triangles had to be easier.

All my bee-mates sent a nine-patch of warm HSTs and cool HSTs.  I waited until I got the blocks in, then made single HSTs and made strips of them to better blend the line between warm and cool.  I'm hoping to get to the quilting this weekend, but I was to excited to not share an early picture of the top (and also get it in to be eligible for showing at QuiltCon 2015!).

Also in the works this week, was getting these blocks done.  They're for the October round of do. Good, but I'm just a tad behind, but they're in the mail!

And that pile of yarn from last week, I finished one cowl out of it, then started on some Endpaper Mitts, realized there wasn't enough contrast to see the pattern, ripped it all back, and started these Diamond Mitts.  They're a really quick knit, especially because I cut down the ribbing quite a bit, so I'm hoping to have them done by the end of the week when the weather really gets cold.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

Friday Finish: Chicopee Plus Quilt!

Here's an old finish for Finish It Up Friday.  I'd finished this quilt a while ago, but didn't want to over share it in case the new owners decided to check my blog.  You never know, and never want to ruin a surprise.  Anyway, I downloaded the pictures to the computer and completely forgot about them until a few days ago when I decided to tidy up my folders.  Yay!

This was a kind of joint collaboration between my mother and I, one of my cousins got married recently and she decided that a quilt would be the perfect present.  Luckily, I was already thinking about a quilt, so she helped me with some of the supplies and then let me have free rein.

I went with Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee line because it just works together, but seems to have a little of all the colors.  I wasn't sure what my cousin would like, so I wanted to give them all of them, in a way that wouldn't blow their eyes out.  And Chicopee does this really weird thing where it's loud and subtle, masculine and feminine, large prints and small prints, retro and modern.  I don't know how it's possible, probably magic.

I modified a pattern for neutral pluses on print backgounds, though for the life of me I can't remember which pattern I used.  And I'm really glad that I gave all those prints some room to breath.  Bonus, it gave me a lot of negative space to quilt!

I used Aurifil Spring Green and a discontinued Isacord in teal.  I would quilt a little in one color, then switch when I got bored.  The effect is subtle on the Essex Yarn Dyed Black linen, kind of like green and teal shadows.  (I really wish I'd gotten better pictures, but it was a rainy week, and my only chance for photos was a half hour window at the reception when it wasn't pouring, on the soaking wet ground.)

I rotated between a handful of quilting patterns in the pluses, all in, more or less, coordinating thread.  This star pattern ended up being one of my favorites, that will get put into the usual rotation.  It's super fun, and doesn't have to be exact to look nice.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!