July and more...

This was how I was supposed to spend the fourth of July:

Coleman Vacationer 2-Room 10-Person 15' x 10' Cabin Tent

My tent stake bag that I mentioned in my previous post was to protect our new tent from the stakes and it got put to use! And I LOVE our new tent. I'm totally in love with it. I was so excited that I even made a new pillowcase to take with me camping:

Erin McMorris Wildwood Checked Floral in Green

We did end up here:

Unfortunately, the day we got there fire restrictions went into effect... so there was no campfire.  I brought huge Giant Roaster Marshmallows for my S'mores so I was incredibly disappointed.  I had no S'mores.  This depressed me.  Then I got sunburn on the first day (accidentally), then I managed to jam a super long splinter from the picnic table into my pinky finger (my husband: "It was stuck completely in her finger and when I pulled it out it was at least a 1/2" LONG!"), then ravens that ravaged our collapsible water jug, then an incident with some sickness that caused me not to be able to use my precious pillowcase on the first night, and a morning of using the laundry facilities (I just happened to be at the only campground I know that has laundry facilities?!).  So we left a bit early, but we swore to return to make up for this trip. :)

In the spirit of the fourth of July... here is our "Freedom Cupcakes" that I made a well over month earlier:

My friend is having a baby... so I'm squeezing that into my long list of to-do quilts before the end of the year.  This is the new super cute Alphabet Soup line by Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake:

I'm still working on my Kona Challenge Quilt!  I've had the top pieced for like a month now.. I just need to sandwich, quilt, and bind it.  I plan on finding some time in the next week!  So exciting to almost be done with another!

A Home For My Tent Stakes

While I was pondering over what to do for my No Prints Allow Kona quilt I became camping season obsessed. I think I bought a whole store.  One of my purchases was a new tent (more like a condo) and heavy duty stakes to go with it.  I don't trust the stakes anywhere near the new tent so I made it into a quick day-project to make a tent stake bag and get my mind off the Kona quilt.

I used Amy Butler home dec fabric lined with fusible fleece.  The interior is left over scraps of a sheet that I also interfaced.  It's super thick and I'm hoping it's enough to not let them poke through and get anywhere near my precious tent.

August Fields Fresh Start in Forest

I plan on this getting dirty so I covered it in Scotchguard.  I'm sure that light interior won't be clean for long, but as long as it holds up then I don't care!

On a side note... we celebrated my husband's birthday!  Check out this Double Chocolate Carmel Cake made by our friend:

One bite of that and you're pretty much done.

And as a quick snack.. he made a vegetable plate.  I think it's adorable just to look at.  He says this is easy, but I couldn't make it look this nice if I tried.

And check out the tulip carrots!

I have been working on quilting projects...  I finished most of my Kona quilt top and I'm in the middle of my Map Quilt.  I love this fabric panel:

I'm still deciding how to quilt it.  I'm not sure if I should meander all over or do some straight line quilting following the border.   I thought about following the state lines in the center but I don't know how that will look on the back.  (The back is the world map panel)  Thoughts?

Pillow Progress

These random mod mosaic chunks from last time...

...finally had time to turn into this:

I chopped the above mess down to a 21" square and will eventually be a pillow cover for a 20" insert.  After I quilt it I will trim it down to its final 20 ½" before assembling the pillow.

Hand Stitchin' Some Binding

Binding has always made me nervous.  I've never hand stitched... anything.  I'm too impatient for it.  I've always machine stitched my binding... and I have tried a bunch of different methods.  It's still not perfect but they're getting better.  With my small potholder project I decided to take a stab at manually attaching it.

It took me a while to figure out the 'quilter's knot'.  Most of the instructions I ran into were:

• Step 1: wrap thread around needle
• Step 2: ????
• Step 3: profit

I found this little video which finally made sense to me: How to Tie a Quilter's Knot.

I figured out how to start the sewing, and sewing up the corners was easy, but all the tutorials had no instruction on how to finish it!  When I ran out of thread and had no idea what to do.  I found this video and followed it.  Does anyone have any other suggestions?  Is there an easier way that I don't know about?  Also my fingers hurt from pushing that stupid needle through. I'm assuming I need a thinner needle - but is there some type of tool that can accomplish this?

Finished:

This is Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow with Kona Coal, Medium Gray, and Ash.  They measure approximately 7.5" finished.  Inside is a 2 layers of Warm and Natural sandwiched around a piece of bottomweight-canvas.

I wanted to play with the fonts again... so I added a bit to the back.  These are for our friend, Chef Greg, who's response to all cooking related questions no matter how complex is "It's really simple! You just..."

Saturday Night Sewing

Last night was dinner/sewing/Portal 2 night at our place.  And even though I would have loved to play Portal, the motion sickness factor is pretty much instant in that game for me (boo), so I stuck to sewing and teaching my friend how to make a quick little minky blanket for her daughter.

I really don't think minky is the easiest to sew with as a beginner, but she did great - especially since this is her second time sewing ever!

Here's her finished product!  I added the little strip of text because I'm still having fun trying out the fonts - and she totally loved it :)

(Measures approx 36"x44")

At the April Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild meeting, we used Elizabeth Hartman's amazing Mod Mosaic tutorial to make blocks. This will eventually be another pillow, but here's what I have so far.  They will all be smushed together after I have enough to make a 22" square.

Ironing Board Cover

A little while ago I finally got around to making a new cover for this:

I just use a mini-size ironing board so it doesn't require a lot of fabric to recover.  The old one was getting pretty disgusting:

All I did was remove the old cover and use it as a guide to cut the new shape.  I cut about 2" larger around the old one.  I doubled folded the edges and sewed around to make a pocket edge.  Then I used the string from the old one and fed it through the new one. I added a couple layers of warm and natural on top of the old batting - which was still in good shape - to stop it from making squares all over my fabric when I ironed. :)  I yanked the strings tight back over the frame and I was done!

I have all my fabric chopped up for my Love quilt...

...and I've been piecing it all day!  I'm hoping to have it for our Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Thursday, but since it's a queen sized I might not have all of it done in time.  (but I will try!)

On my to-do list...

Since completing the turquoise new wave quilt, I've been dragging it around and using it everywhere.  I love it so very much.  I wish I could put it on the bed, but it's not quite queen sized. (not that it stopped me)  So just as I was contemplating making a bed quilt, there in my feeds the next morning was the Naked Bed Challenge.  I figured it was as good as time as any!

I've slowly put together my Amy Butler Love collection knowing that I wanted to use these specifically for a bed quilt... and I've been staring at them for the past week figuring out what pattern I want to use.  There's a lot of large prints in the mix so I want to have it focused on that and not chop them up too small.  I still want it simple so it doesn't go all 'color vomit' as my friend likes to call it.

On another note.. at the recommendation of basically everyone in the LVMQG, posts in my feeds, and apparently the rest of the internet (how do you time that so well internet?!), I bought my first Aurifil cone today over at my local quilt shop: