Is anyone sick of this lovely limey color yet? Me neither. It has been popping up all over the place the past few days (gosh, like it’s spring or something?)…
:: in this month’s blocks for do. good stitches
:: dresses! I made 2 on Saturday to go in the shop (+ plotting to make many more), as soon as the zipper and neck facings are in.
:: and even in my mailbox. Golly, how did that get there?
Today’s forecast called for a 100% chance of something called wintry mix. If you’ve never experienced this, I’m very happy for you.
The Good Folks quilt returns! It is so delicious…the perfect thing to brighten up the bedroom in a rented house. I’ve (miraculously) sewn the binding to the front of the quilt, but hand-sewing it to the back is, shall we say, a work in progress.
March is my month in the Rosey Little Bee, and I have my heart set on creating something with this fun little stack of fabrics. I’m on the hunt for more solids and gray dots, too, and I think I might have found just the ticket.
The focus fabric is from a line of cult favorites called Munki Munki, which are sold as pajamas, then purchased, dismembered, and distributed by adoring Heather Ross groupies (I can say that ‘cause I’m one of ‘em).
When we got home from errands today, the girls rushed out to stand in ice-chunky, ankle-deep water. ‘Cause, you know, it’s fun.
(Wonh, wonh. I’m feeling witty today.)
R had to be at the (indoor) firing range with his guys last night. I spent a few happy downstairs in my little cave, rocking out, stitching away, and leaving all my scissors out. Ha!
I have some major catching up to do for the quilting bees I’m in. I loved doing both of these blocks. Above: a QAYG block for the Vintage Sheet Bee. You sew the block and quilt it all at once. It’s really easy and fast; I’m thinking of making some mini quilts for my (almost naked! shocking) studio walls.
The other blocks are for the do. Good Stitches bee. Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! is the quilter this month, and she had us make aqua and gray blocks using her Mod Mosaic tutorial. I love the clean, fresh look of these blocks — she asked us to stick to pure blues and grays (no competing colors), which I think is super smart (she is kind of a color genius).
Two more blocks to go — I’m hoping to crank them out tonight, but it probably won’t happen — when R is gone for more than 12 hours, we chatter and gab like chickens into the wee hours when he comes home. Which is awesome, because one of my big fears of getting married was that we’d run out of things to say to each other. Not a problem so far.
There is so much I want to share with you on this New Year’s Eve-Eve. So I think that bullet points would probably be most efficient —
This wonderful song from The Prince of Egypt has been stuck in all our heads for the past three days, making R and I spontaneously break out into hora-esque dance steps on occasion. The core message of the song has taken root deep in my heart, and on Sunday night, I thought up this little wall hanging as a future reminder.
I’ve been thinking about rainbow quilts and mini quilts and embroidered quilts for a while, so it was nice to see it all come together. Although I clearly need some help with thread color choice, because you have to be standing about 12 inches away from it to see what it says.
I spend so much of my days and nights looking at my life “through the eyes of man,” where I usually find dissatisfaction, frustration, and selfishness. But during those quiet moments when I’m mindful and present enough to “look through heaven’s eyes,” I feel a quiet, smiling tug — a gentle pull — a friendly little elbow in the ribs, reminding me to sit down and read with my kids. To make my voice kinder. To carry on, making the pathway bright as I go.
If it doesn’t make you jump up and do the hora, I hope you’ll at least tap your toe and sing, “Lie la lie la lee-lie-lie…”
More coming, but I just wanted to post a couple of photos of the quilt blocks I made for the do. Good Stitches quilting bee. August’s theme is red + aqua + straight lines, and I absolutely love it! I’m thinking that the craft/reading/play room in NY might get a hefty dose of red and aqua.
The aqua is a little darker/richer than it looks in the pictures (oh well!). Photos of the other blocks in the bee here, and instructions for the block I used (it’s called Bright Hopes — very easy and very fast) here.
May was my month for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee. I’ve received almost all of the other participants’ blocks in the mail, so this morning I laid them all out together for the first time. And oh — they look so happy!
When Lizzy ambled over to take a look, she exclaimed, “Ooooooh, look at Mommy’s pretties!” (Anything involving Mommy’s fabric = “pretties.” I love it.) I haven’t decided whether to put a little sashing between the blocks. It would probably look better, but it would also take more time/effort. Any thoughts?
All the blocks are so perfect — each one unique, each one beautiful. I think the wonky parts of the crosses look like they are reaching out to snuggle with their neighbors. Aawww. Thank you, bee friends!
I found this quotation this morning and loved it –
Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied. –Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859
Here’s hoping you’ll get some time to be at home with your heart today — whether that involves sewing or some other happy occupation!
Did you hear about Ms. Horner’s new project, Rainbow Around the Block? It’s an open group quilting project designed to provide quilts for those who lost their homes in the Tennessee floods this year. My favorite thing about it is that, to participate, you don’t have to make a whole quilt — just as many 12.5″ blocks as you want, whether that’s 1 or 100 (see full details here). No commitment, no pressure. I’m into that.
The project will be going on for some time, so I hope to make a bunch of blocks — here a little, there a little — starting today. I spent part of naptime cutting strips for some blue blocks. Remember when my fabric stash got an unexpected jumpstart? There were a few fabrics in there that, while pretty, aren’t completely my style — so I am happy to have found a good use for them.
If you would like to get in on the action but need a jumpstart to your stash, shoot me an email at themodernmarigold [at] gmail [dot] com with your address, and I will send you some strips and instructions to make a couple of simple blocks. Honestly — if you can sew a straight line, you can do this. I’ll post a tutorial here in a few days, too.
Let’s get our booties rainbowing around the block!
I had no intention whatsoever of writing a tutorial — or of even quilting — tonight, but earlier today, in an idle moment, I wondered, “Hmm, I wonder which quilt block the May hostess of the Vintage Sheet Bee will choose?” — and I realized with horror that the May hostess is me!
Needless to say, some frantic research ensued. I’ve been feeling really inspired lately by all the wonky cross/addition/X quilts popping up in blogland lately. I think a bit of the craze can probably be traced back to Kelly’s beautiful pattern. Here are a few more favorites to chew on.
There are some other tutorials out there for this type of block, but I’ve been sort of itching to give tutorial-writing a whirl lately. So — here’s my (very un-scientific) method for how to make some quick add-it-up quilt blocks. Luckily, this block is very forgiving, so don’t worry about doing it “wrong.”
First, choose some fabrics. You don’t want your plus signs to get lost in the sauce, so be sure there’s a little contrast.
From your plus-sign fabrics, cut two strips per fabric, each measuring 11 inches long and between 1.5-3 inches wide. You choose how wide to make them; I plan on making a variety of widths for my quilt. But for this tutorial, I cut them 1.5 inches wide. From the background fabrics, cut two rectangles measuring 10.5 inches by 5.5 inches.
Using a 1/4-inch seam allowance, sew one plus-sign strip to one edge of its background rectangle (and for heaven’s sake, don’t pin). Sew the other background rectangle to the other plus-sign edge. Press.
Using a straight edge and a rotary cutter, slice through the block vertically. Make it perfectly vertical, make it angular, put it in the center, put it to one side — it really doesn’t matter, so long as the cut itself is straight, know what I mean?
Using the same method as before, sew the remaining plus-sign strip into the block.
Press, trim up to 10 inches square, and you’re done!
Now I just have about a billion yards of binding to attach. Anybody have some fantastic movie recommendations?
