Modern Mini Challenge entry

Here is my entry to the Modern Mini Challenge hosted by Ellison Lane Quilts. I'm so excited to finish up such a little cutie. The quilt has a vintage modern vibe, from the layout to the fabric choices. It's quirky in the fabric and color choices, giving it a lot of personality. Each side of the hexagon measures about 8", and each little triangle has less than 1 1/2" sides.

The patterm: I've never seen this block before although surely someone must have done it before. I drafted my own foundation piecing patterns for it after doing a sketch of what I wanted. Those triangles are itty bitty! There is no way I could have done it just with regular piecing and been this accurate. I plan to make it available on my blog soon, if anyone is interested.

The fabrics: all of them were from my stash. (Woot woot!) There are a lot of Denyse Schmidt and American Jane prints mixed in with others that were a nice complement. Three of them are from a couple precious fat quarters I got in Australia. Over all, the prints are heavy on polka dots of various sizes. I love mixing lots of dots together. None of the fabrics in the scrappy little triangles repeat.

The quilting: I wanted it to be a little looser and curvy, but to still play up the structure of the quilt.

Now I just need to figure out where exactly to put it.

Big bold prints vs. basics

I just pulled these fabrics for a new quilt and realize how much I love them—small prints, many one or two colors.

Anyone else gravitate towards big, graphic prints on the bolt, then not know what to do with them in a quilt? Sometimes I have this problem.

On one hand, they look fabulous in big pieces and can make for a quick quilt. (Living Large and Living Large 2 are books with some of my favorites, Swoon is another pattern that can work)

On the other hand, I'm starting to realize that many of my favorite quilts or blocks use medium to small scale prints.

I would say it is time for stash enhancement of basics and small prints, but my wallet says otherwise.

Anyways, time to get cutting! Some of those fabrics have been patiently waiting to see the light of day for years. I think there is some Sandy Klop fabric in there from 2003. Funny thing is that I only want one tiny triangle of each fabric for this particular quilt. Don't you think they're just begging to be used in another bigger project too? If only there were more hours in the day.

Swoon blocks: 4 & 5

I had a fabric fiasco. I was going to use the blue/aqua dotty beans for the center of every block. I miscalculated how much yardage I had of it and I only had enough for 8 out of 9 blocks. Aaack! I searched etsy and eBay with no luck. I decided to do 5 of the blocks blue and 4 of the blocks green. I have to say I think I like it. What do you think?

Lots of things have been keeping me busy lately so it took me a while to get to these blocks. Actually, one of them was done a week ago but I didn't have time to blog. One of these days, I need to get a shot of them in better light. The sun is always setting when I finish one. That's because I always finish one during my daughter's afternoon nap. I've got it down to one block per nap. Hopefully I'll finish another 1 or 2 this week.

Swoon block: 3

That took me an hour and a half, but I had all my fabric cut and the 8 half square triangles already sewn. Whew!

Swoon block: 2

I could have gotten a lot more done if we'd just be a little more healthy around here! Until this weekend, I'd never had a raging head cold AND the stomach flu at the same time. Let me tell you, it isn't fun. Hopefully the next few blocks will be getting done a little quicker.

Pin addiction

One of my favorite boards: Quilts!

I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of Pinterest by now. I have to say I LOVE it. I'm finding a way to bookmark all my favorite tutorials, project inspiration, recipes, home decor and fun little tidbits of whatever in a way that works for me. Really, the at a glance with the photo is perfect. The networking aspect of it just makes it all the more fun. It is so much better than my list on the right of my blog, which may disappear or move, depending on time and/or willpower. (You know how that is!)

In case anyone is interested, you can find my boards here.

Please let me know in the comments if you have one! It's great to share inspiration!

Also, how do people make those Pinterest collages that link out? I tried to google it but I ended up with boards of photo collages. <<< Edit: so apparently I live in a fantasy world where I *swear* I saw this. I was probably confusing the collage like this from Flickr with the captions sourcing images from Pinterest like this. Thanks, Melissa!

Triple wrap bracelet

Making this bracelet was so much more fun than watching the Broncos game Saturday night. Not that I don't enjoy watching a football game once in a while, but that was hardly a game. Better luck next year, Tebow and friends.

My best beading friend and neighbor (and Patriots convert--should have waited another year!), Deb, showed me how to make it. It takes a bit of time but it is really easy.

I'll be making more for sure! They would make great birthday/Christmas gifts.