Piecing - 2 Quilt Tops

No, these are will not be going into the same quilt top...

Just one of those days when you need 2 projects going at the same time...

A spring-inspired yellow quilt top I've started a little while back - piecing in the borders together.

...and a little star quilt I'm working on for someone special :)

Happy Sewing everyone!

WIP & A little Visitor

I've been busy trying to finish up some new quilts - this has been going on for....months??  It's a log cabin version of all jewel tones.  Totally need a break from some of the softer tones I've been using lately.  A nice welcome with some of these keep pretty tones.

I'm making several of these quilts - all in different sizes. So, about 20 blocks done and 100 more to go??? ;)

Good thing quilting is such a relaxing activity :).  I love how the colors are all working together even though they are all from different manufacturers and collections - a lot of colors I don't usually work with like purples and mustards.

On a side note, here a little visitor I found in the shop the other day:

Love my little princess :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

WIP - Just a Whole Lot O' Sewing

Just wanted to drop a quick note - I'm still alive...just a little busy piecing up some quilts.  Some personal, some for the shop.

Good times :) - have a great weekend everyone.  Be productive and don't forget to get some fresh air - that's what I keep telling myself at least.

WIP - Quilts In The Making

A few quilts all underway in my little sewing area.  Here's a peak on what's going on...

One of my favorite quilts to make - soft colors block quilt with off-white blocks.  A few more steps then this is ready for quilting.

A new quilt approach for me - a staggered stripe/block quilt ... more on this one...

Crossing my fingers I'll have some completed quilt pictures soon of these 2 quilts :).  Happy sewing everyone!

WIP and Diet Coke

Just a little post to prove that I am actually still making quilts ;).  I've been working on a couple of baby quilts to add to the shop.  I couldn't resist starting this project because I have been in love with this coral for a while now and have been itching to use it before I run out.

There's been a whole lot of trimming...

...don't you wish you could use these little pretty trimmings for something???  Does anyone use these?

...and Diet Coke drinking

I'll try to sneak in some more quilting time soon and hopefully get these quilts DONE :).

Just Sewing Up a Storm

There is something magical about sitting in front of a sewing machine in the winter time.  Maybe it's a soft cozy fabrics draped across sewing table...

Or the bright beautiful fabrics reminding me of sunnier days...

 

Perhaps it is warmth of finished blankets waiting to be wrapped for the perfect gift...

Whatever it is, I am loving it...even among all the holiday madness ;).  Just a few more projects to finish up before Christmas.

Happy holidays everyone!

A Custom Quilt

Once in a while I say YES to creating a custom quilt.  Maybe this isn't quite the right now (crunch time for the holidays, new baby, pending house remodel and all that sort of busy stuff ;)) but I can't help but to say yes to a worthwhile request.   

Here's the mission - create a quilt out of existing blocks (supplied by the requester) and try to incorporate some other fabrics also provided by the requester.  Quilt size - about a twin size.  Mission ACCEPTED :).

The blocks given were roughly 8"x8" - 35 of them.  There were some very cool prints and a few solids.  Most looks like there were remnants or up-cycled fabrics.  The blocks were all roughly hand-sewn together and the squares look like they were all free-cut without rulers.  So they all needed to be carefully squared off.

Some needed a lot of squaring off...but no worries, they all ended up looking mighty nice at the end.

After squaring them off, they were all just under 8".  I was careful not to cut off the hand sewing.

Started to piece the quilt top together, adding a fresh solid border sash to join all the blocks together.  Press and voila - looking nice :)

The quilt top is almost complete - just need to add the border to make it a full twin size quilt and we are off to start the quilt bottom.

Hopefully there will be more progress to share again soon.  Katie - Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to create this beautiful quilt for you and trusting me with all the precious blocks from your grandma. 

WIP - Binding and Binding

Yes I am over 8 months pregnant now and yes I should be resting more.  But what can I say, I'm a busy body and I can't sit still!  Though I am trying to 'keep it easy' until delivery day I find little stuff to occupy my time without going overboard with exhaustion.  The fabric shop keeps me quite busy but my husband has been a great help in moving fabrics around and delivery packages for me :) (yes I'm a little gal).  The boys have quite a regular routine now that the older one is used to Kindergarten and the younger one has gotten used to going to preschool without his older brother.

So once in a while I go sneak into my sewing room and squeeze in a project here and there.  I'm trying to finish up a couple of quilts:

 

 I've started these a while back and have been saving the binding (my favorite part of the quilt) for when I am less mobile. 

 

And trust me I am glad I am not in the sandwiching or quilting part of the project right. Just sitting in front of the sewing machine for more than 10 minutes seem a little straining right now. But I am glad I have these small projects to fill my time :).  I'll probably work in a few quilt designs for next year as well.  Hopefully I still have a couple of weeks before baby #3 decides to make her appearance :).

Happy sewing and creating everyone - have a great rest of the week and weekend!

A View From the Sewing Machine

I have been spending a lot of time in front of my sewing machine lately - YEH!!!  So I thought I'll show you a view of what I'm staring at most of the day.

Here's a glimpse of some little boy quilts I'm working on. Straight line against the seam quilting.  I love quilting this style - it's modern and very effective. 

My poor cutting table that is currently occupied by my computer and a bunch of bolts that I have some plans for... ;)

And here's a view of my ironing board currently - It is completely full of stacks like these.  Napkin fabric that is all cut and ready to be sewn.

Do you notice a theme here?  It seems like all my flat surfaces in my sewing machine is FULL.  I think I have maybe a corner of the cutting table that I could probably fit something on.  All this makes me fill productive and cluttered at the same time :).

Boy and Girl Quilt - PINS

Do you ever get the feeling that you have a hundred projects going on at once?  I feel that way right now.  For the life of me I don't know how it get this way.  But no complaints here ... as long as I could get some of these finished soon to de-clutter my sewing table ;).

Not along ago I decided to start some simple square quilts.  I had some cute boy and girl fabrics in and couldn't wait to get them cut.  These are finally ready for sandwiching and hopefully I'll get around to quilting them in the next couple of weeks - 3 quilts total.

 

 

One of the things I really enjoy during this process is getting out my big roll of batting ... yeah I don't know why.  But I love hauling it out and just cutting into it.  Sometimes I purchase pre-cut batting to size but because of the varying and improv quilts I make I like to get the big rolls most of the time. 

 Here's a closer look at the little boy quilt (most fabrics are from the Ten Little Things collection from Moda).  I haven't decided how I want to quilt this yet.

And a look at the little girl quilt ( fabrics from the Fresh Cut collection).  I think I want to experiment with the orange peel (tutorial could be found here).

Hopefully I'll have more to show very soon :).  Happy sewing everyone.

A Day of Piece (ing)

It's a nice relaxing summer day here in the Studio.  I took the opportunity to piece together a new quilt made from earthy floral that almost has a retro feel to them.  That are pieced together in the in a chevron design to give it a more modern look.  Here's a (tiny) peak of the progress so far.  More photos to share shortly once I have a chance to press out the pieces :). 

 

WIP and Garden Update

After a usually cold and rainy few days here in California, we are finally treated to some beautiful weather. That means GARDENING time...and some time for sewing of course ;).

My oldest, Asher, helped me pick some annuals to put into our new vegetable garden.  Here's a picture of the new flowers next to our little tomato plant.  

The strawberries has embraced the sunshine and turning a delicious red.

The zucchini seedlings has POPPED.  Wow what a difference a couple of weeks make...

And of course some time in the sewing room :).  Binding all cut and sewn for a quilt that is (almost) ready for showing.

I'm also working on a new quilt inspired by retro style florals.  I have a bunch of half squares cut and ready to be pressed.

...only 400 more to go!  Fun times :)

WIP - Little Red Child's Quilt - Quilting

I hope all the Mothers out there enjoyed a wonderful mother's day. I know I did. I had a great weekend with my boys and husband just enjoying each others company. A lot of outdoor time gardening (pictures to come) and even some sewing time :).

Here's a peak my new quilt made with Into the Woods fabric from Moda. It's all quilted now and ready for binding - feels good to be sewing again.

Ready for some free-motion quilting:

A closeup:

WIP - Weekend Piecing

This weekend of consisted of one stormy day full of rain, wind and lots of indoor time.  Second day was sunshine, warmth and ERRANDS.  Lucky for me, I sneaked in a bit of sewing on each day and actually got some projects to show off.  I know, they're not complete but I am happy to show them off done the less.

The first is a Walk in the Woods quilt I've started piecing a while ago. I like how all the warm and cool colors work together.  Can't wait to finish this quilt :)

This weekend I got the last of the quilt top completed - just some pressing and I am ready to put this quilt together :)!!! YEAH!

I also started a new project - a simple boy's quilt using squares. Here's a quick peak of the color pallet:

Have a safe and productive week everyone :)

Work In Progress - First Hour Glass Quilt

This is my first Hour Glass Quilt and I am loving it so far.  It's a great way to use fabric scraps and I LOVE any quilt pattern that I could make good use of solids.  I think solid fabrics make prints POP.  Here's a look at the piecing progress today:

I have enough blocks made to make a nice size lap quilt :).  Can't wait to finish up the quilt top.  I have no idea what to do for the quilt back yet... ;)

Wow - I Sew??

Seems like FOREVER since I've touched my sewing machine for something other than: mending kids' clothes, sewing napkins and used as a flat surface for random stuff around my craft room.  But guess what?  I actually used it for a QUILTING project :)

When was the last quilt I worked on?  According to my dear blog here, it's been almost ONE MONTH.  Yes I know, it's appalling considering that quilting was the main reason why I started this blog in the first place a couple of years ago.  A million reasons later, I have not used my sewing machine or posted about quilting in almost a month. 

Hopefully this is the post to break that trend.  Here's my proof that quilts are being sewed in my sewing room :)

Proof #1 - The beginnings of a couple of Hour Glass quilts

Proof #2  - Binding!  Yep that means that some other quilts are almost completed :)

Hopefully this trend could continue and I'll have lots (a LOTS) of sewing and crafting posts to come...and not to mention COMPLETED quilts to share. 

Checkered Flannel Quilt Progress

Progress at last! ...a little bit at time :) ... a sneak peak of the work in progress:

I'm gone from the studio most of the week on a business trip to Austin-Texas. I will be back in the studio tomorrow :). Super happy to be back and in the studio. All orders will be processed tomorrow and mailed out Saturday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

:)

When Life Gives You Scraps...

Make a QUILT! :)  I've been adding more and more napkins to JAQS Studio, so that means more and more scraps in the Studio to work with.  I think I have more than enough to make a whole quilt - yikes!  So I decided to sort through a few to start on my next scrappy quilt project. 



More pictures to come :) - gotta go back to more scrap sorting.

Have a great and productive week!

Boxed Zoo Orange Pinning

Starting to pin up Boxed Zoo #2 today.  I don't know which color I like more this orange dot one or the green dot one.  I have to have a side by side after I finish this one.  This orange dot fabric works really well with the current autumn feel - and you know how much I love autumn ;). 



The weekend is almost here :) YIPPEE! This week is flying by and the weekend is just around the corner.

Pins? Again???

Yep - time to break out the safety pins again.  This time isn't as bad as last time - it's only 2 mid-sized quilt this time **phew**

Quilt #1 - Modded - Zoo in Green

No pics for the golden version due to a [stupid] mistake in measuring the quilt backing ... it will need to wait till next week 'cause I am D-O-N-E with pinning.  On to quilting up the one pinned quilt and some binding from last round of quilting :) - Did I ever mention I love the binding process :)?