Fresh

Last week was our spring break.  We didn't go anywhere this year, which gave me lots of time to sew- always a good thing in my mind! 

I paired up the new Daysail fabrics I bought recently at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago along with my Denyse Schmidt prints plus a few other coordinating fabrics from my stash.

The pattern I used was Fresh from Camille Roskelley's Simply Retro book.  

I think it turned out really well.  It was a fun and fairly easy pattern- the hardest part was all the points.  Pressing the seams open really helps to keep the seams flat, which makes it easier to match up those points.

I've set it aside for now until I can get a backing and decide if I'm going to quilt it or send it out. 

Sunrise Table Runner

A co-worker of mine asked me to make a table runner for a mutual friend of ours.  Our friend recently redecorated her dining room, which included a new table that was 92 inches long.  

I had been looking for a project to make with Kona solids, and this gave me the perfect opportunity.  I used a cotton with a linen texture for the side borders.

The challenge?  Get the binding to match up with the main colors.  It was actually fairly easy.  I just made two bindings and started each around the corner and pinned it to make sure it matched.

The recipient loved it.

Bloom

I finished this Bloom table topper late last night.  

The pattern is from Lori Holt from Bee In My Bonnet.  It's in her Quilty Fun book.  I chose some 30s reproduction prints and a few other prints from my stash.

I had to make two of the flowers happy sunflowers.

And I had to use this happy green gingham for the binding.  It's the same fabric I used in my apples mini quilt.

This was such a fun project!  And just in time to bring some spring time because it looks like today was the last day of sunshine for the next week.

Let Them Eat Cake

My niece recently celebrated her 13th birthday.  I thought this cake would be the perfect thing to make for her in her favorite color-purple.  I made the Let Them Eat Cake block from the Snapshots Quilt Along by the Fat Quarter Shop.  The proceeds go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  

A sweet little gift for a sweet girl!  Happy Birthday Maddie :)

Black & White

I have a dear friend who loves black & white.  Her birthday is at the end of this month and I wanted to make her something in her favorite colors.  I added some red to give it a little zing.  I got all the fabrics at Joann Fabrics.  (My favorite is the red Jennifer Paganelli spiral.) 

Hope my friend likes it!

Apples

I love apples!  I have sewn, embroidered, cross stitched, appliquéd and quilted quite a few apples!  I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to everything apple-related that inspires me. So it's no surprise that when I saw Lori Holt's Row Along, I pinned it right away.  And when her book, Quilty Fun came out,  I loved all the projects but most especially the apples!

I finally decided I couldn't wait any longer to make myself some apples from the book!  I picked a few happy spring colors and went to work.  I needed instant gratification so I made just a small wall quilt.  But I'm thinking I have to make more of these again soon. 

But I also have my eye on this pattern...

Yep, this just might be my next apple project :)

Moda Love Mini Charm Quilt

Back in September, I was inspired by the Moda Love Layer Cake Quilt made by Vanessa of Lella Boutique.  But I especially loved her Mini Charm version.  You can see all of the three versions she made here.  I made mine with fabrics I had in my stash.  I used my new machine to piece this, and I still hadn't mastered the 1/4 inch on it- some of those points really got chopped!  Even so, I love the mint and coral together.  And now that I've worked with the machine some more, my 1/4 inch has gotten much more accurate.  

My next challenge?  Figure out why my walking foot isn't working the way it should.  I've had to pull out more rows of stitching due to  really bad puckering- no fun at all :(  I had done everything I could think of to correct the problem and finally called my machine dealer.  He said to lower the pressure foot pressure.  I was so hoping that would fix the problem- but no luck!  I'm starting to think the foot may be defective...