Catching up

It's been while!!  I moved apartments and with all the packing, unpacking, sorting, etc, I haven't had much time to "waste" on sewing... but I'm slowly catching up!  Let's start with my Vice Versa BOM... I've managed to sew three months in the past few weeks.

And here's how it looks so far with all 6 months... halfway there!

Weekend Update

So it's been exactly a month since I last posted here.  Not on purpose... I just happened to look at the date and realize that I haven't written anything since EXACTLY a month ago.  What's NOT a coincidence is that I'm writing this on a Sunday, after a fairly productive weekend (I found a new place to live and just signed the lease!).  I also found some time to do a "little" sewing :)

First up, let's go ahead and show what I just finished... this month's Vice Versa blocks.  

 
I've never done the bear paws before, but I already love HSTs so these were just fun!  The bold colors also really make me happy.  Here are the close-ups:

It's going to be such a happy quilt!

Next up is the other BOM I'm working on, Lucky Stars.  

I have to admit, I'm not sold on this one.  I actually don't like the match-matchy look of the grey and yellow, and I think the mint in the corners is kind of atrocious.  I am clearly still having challenges combining colors (something I spend a lot of time on, I'm not sure it really comes naturally for me).  However, when I look at it with the other two blocks so far, I start to like it a little more.  In fact, it's not so bad having this grungy block, especially if I end up adding a few more florals in future blocks.  I don't want the final product to look TOO pretty, and this block certainly does the trick there.  And at the end of the day, I'm not doing it again, so it's here to stay.  Here's where it breaks up the prettiness of the others... see?  Not too bad I guess...

And finally, I made a pillow!  I finally used the LouLouthi velveteen from Anna Marie Horner I've been hoarding for a while, and whadda ya know, it's not that hard to make a pillow.  And this fabric is GORGEOUS!  It really stands out on all my neutral old furniture.

That's all for now... happy weekend!

February Vice Versa Blocks

I finished up this month's vice versa blocks in short order this morning- I like the half-square triangles so this one was a breeze. I'm really liking all the colors together!  What a great way to finish up the weekend. 

Lovely piles of squares and scraps:

I even got to practice a little chain piecing:

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

January's Vice Versa Blocks

I finished these a while ago but forgot to post them- January's installment of the Vice Versa Block of the Month.  

It's intended for solid colors, and while I think they can be spectacular, I just can't bring myself to not use prints so I have a spectrum of "blenders" to achieve that effect.  I just love the simplicity of the blocks and how crisp they came out (see my last post for a little insight into how angsty I get when centers don't match up). 

A close-up of vice...

And a close-up of versa...

Happy Wednesday!!

New Year, New Projects, Part 2

So I messed up!  Actually, I didn't so much mess up as change my mind.  Yesterday I posted about one of two BOMs (Blocks of the Month) that I'm doing this year.  I decided first to use the Nordika selection below for my Vice Versa BOM from Gen X quilters.  But then I started working on the fabric selection for my second BOM, Lucky Stars from Don't Call Me Betsy, and I realized the two were perfect for the opposite ones!  So I changed my mind, or rather the fabrics showed me how wrong I was to begin with.  

So here's the revised selection for Vice Versa:

You can see how that's going to work really well with the 5-color scheme in the quilt:

And here's what I'm going to use for the Lucky Stars paper piecing BOM:


The colors really lend themselves to the shading, and the blacks and grays are really going to pop.  I don't know what I'm going to do with the prints yet, but I just can't put them away, so you'll definitely see a few mixed in.


It's going to be a busy year and I can't wait to see how they both turn out!

New Year, New Projects, Part 1

Fabrics #viceversabom, a photo by hipsterquilter on Flickr.

I don't have a cool retrospective for 2013, since I really just started this blogging thing, so I thought I would just go straight to what I have planned for 2014. First, I signed up for a couple of Blocks of the Month, or BOMs. I've never done one before, so now I'm doing two! First is the Gen X Quilters Vice Versa BOM.  Besides having the greatest blog name ever (I TOTALLY should have thought of it first), I really like their blocks and I'm excited to work with solids (and some patterns, as you can see above... I can't resist). I'm going with Art Gallery solids in Nordika-themed colors with some Nordika thrown in. I haven't decided yet, but I'm probably going to have to get one of the cool panels that comes with the collection. I have a year to decide :)  I already love the Art Gallery fabrics, both solids and prints are soooo soft and the colors are so rich. I can't wait to dig in and see the blocks come together.

Here's the link if you want to join in:

Almost the weekend, so hopefully I'll have something to share by Sunday. Unless the Federal Government gets overwhelmed by a few feet of snow suddenly tomorrow morning and I find myself with lots of time and nowhere to be. Fingers crossed!!!