I made this quilt from my most favorite fabric line ever.  It’s called Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket for Moda.  I used Kona Sable for the sashing which I think gives it a warmer feel.  I quilted this one on my friend’s long-arm, too.  Just a large meander on this one.

This isn’t a great picture, I had to take this one inside too because of all the pollen.  PS-that’s my cat Fisher sticking his big head in the picture at the bottom.  With 2 cats and 2 dogs, pictures taken indoors will almost always have a fur kid in them!  I really loved the print that I used on the back of this one.

It’s a great graphic print and unfortunately, I used every scrap I had for the back.  You can see that I still had to piece together the corner using some of my other scraps.

This little typewriter is great.  I wish I had some more of this print!  I really like this quilt, but I’m not thrilled with the pattern I chose to use.  I wanted to showcase the great prints in this line with the big hexagon pieces.  I didn’t want to have to sew Y-seams and this pattern eliminated that.  However, it put a seam right in the middle of the hexagon.  If it was a different print, it may not be as noticeable, but it really shows up in the prints with text.  I’m hoping that when I wash it, the crinkles will kind of blend it in a bit.

I also made a bag using this fabric line that you can see here.  I’ve used it so much that I’ve already had to reinforce the straps on it.  I will be so sad when it wears out and I can’t use it anymore.

Tomorrow I’m going to a quilt retreat hosted by the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild.  I am all packed and ready to go!  I am so excited.  I am taking 5 projects with me to work on.  We’ll see how much I get finished tomorrow!

Alison

I’m so excited!  I got my FQ bundle of Millie’s Closet today!  It’s so pretty!

I can’t decide which color way is my favorite.  I love all the prints.  Especially the purse and dress prints!

I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with it yet.  For now I’m am just going to look at it for a while!  Oh, you can get some for yourself here.

Alison

I finished these two quilts over the weekend.  I’m sending them to my nephews for Easter.

These quilts went together super fast.  I used charm packs so cutting was really easy.

This one was made with Ten little things by Jenn Ski for Moda.  I love the bright colors in this line.  I saw the print with trucks and knew it would be perfect for the boys.

This one was made with Fox Trails by Doohikey Designs for Riley Blake.  I love all the cute little animals and camping scenes.  My brother is a big outdoors man so I’m sure the boys will be too!

I backed both of them with this green Minky.  It made them soft and cuddly.

I quilted 1/4″ on each side of the vertical seams.

I bound both of them with this great stripe by Robert Kaufman cut on the bias.  I was happy that the colors matched for both of the quilts.  I think they turned out great and hope the boys like them!

Alison

I am really happy with how this quilt turned out.  I used this pattern from Moda Bake Shop.  It was designed by Lee at Freshly Pieced.  This was a great pattern and very easy to follow.

I was originally going to use the same fabric featured in the pattern, but my LQS was sold out.  I decided on the Urban Cowgirl line by Urban Chicks for Moda.  I’m glad I did.  I love every print in this line.  I love the muted colors and the vintage-y feeling of it.

I had a hard time choosing the background color for this quilt.  I knew I didn’t want to use white, so I pulled out my Kona Color Card and decided on Sable.  I think that it really coordinated well with the line and gives it a cozier feel.  Also, the darker color is better at hiding pet hair!

I used the back to showcase a few of the great prints.  I used my friend’s long arm to quilt a pretty loose loopy design.

Funny story about this quilt.  I am a member of the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild and am used to seeing these kinds of quilts at show and tell.  I recently visited a more traditional guild meeting and took this quilt for show and tell.  One of the older ladies made a comment that I liked the “funky” quilting style!  I didn’t think this one was too funky!  It made me laugh and I enjoyed my visit there.

I’m off to put this one in the wash to get that nice crinkle!

Alison

I have recently discovered Lori Holt from Bee In My Bonnet and have developed a huge crush!  I love all things vintage and everything she designs is right up my alley!  She designs fabric for Riley Blake and has great patterns and tutorials on her blog.  (I am patiently waiting the release of Millie’s Closet!)  I recently purchased her Daisy Cottage line (charms packs) and some Kona Snow from my friend Andi. (check out her store…she carries great stuff!)  I loved all the prints and didn’t want to cut them up, so I arranged them into groups of four and alternated with solid white blocks of the same size.  I turned them on point and ended up with this:

Please excuse the fold lines…should have thrown it in the dryer before pictures!  I usually like to take my quilt pictures outside, but our pollen count is about 9000.  I did not want yellow stuff all over my quilt!  It measures 60″x60″.  Here is the back:

I am 90% happy with the way this quilt turned out.  The 10% I’m disappointed with is mostly due to operator error!  I used a water soluble blue pencil to mark my quilt lines.  Even after I washed it, some of the lines were still visible.  I’m not sure if these will eventually come out with multiple washings or not.

The other trouble I had was my fabric bunching up at the intersections while I was quilting it.  I spray basted it and usually don’t have this problem, so I’m not sure what I was doing wrong.

I thought that all the bunching would ‘come out in the wash’ after it got all crinkly.  It did help a little bit, but my quilt didn’t crinkle as much as I had hoped!  Even with all the imperfections, this quilt will still be loved and used a lot.  Besides, nothing handmade is ever perfect, right?

Alison

I have been really busy between last weekend and this weekend.  First, I finished this little hexie piece that has been sitting around for about a year.

I had to finish sewing the back on it.  I also added a little bit of hand stitching around each hexie.

My husband calls me honeybee so I wanted to make something from this fabric line.  Right now, this little pretty is under our digital picture frame.  I also finished 4 quilts this week!!  I went to my friend’s house to use her long arm again and finished up two tops that I had.  I also got some fabric from my friend Andi and finished another top that I quilted on my machine. I’m working on two more quilts for the boys to send them for Easter.  I have one finished and the other is cut and ready to sew together.  Here’s a sneak peek of what I’ll be showing in the next week.

I will share more details soon!

Alison

Last weekend, my favorite cousin got married.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend, but sent them this quilt.

This is actually a kit that I bought a couple of years ago.  It has been hanging around my sewing room waiting for the perfect owner.

I was thrilled that the Denyse Schmidt fabric I got for the backing coordinated perfectly with the colors on the top.  I remember buying this fabric at JoAnn’s and using a coupon to get it at 50% off!  I had just joined the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild and had no idea who Denyse Schmidt was!

I was able to finish this quilt on my friend’s long arm machine.  Boy, do I wish I had one of those!  It only took me a little over an hour to finish the quilting!  I did a very loose loop pattern.  I wanted the quilt to be nice and snuggle-y, so I didn’t quilt it too densely.

Congratulations to Laura and Preston!  I hope you enjoy your quilt for many years!

Alison

I got this layer cake yesterday.  I immediately brought it home and cut into it.  I used this tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.  The line is Vintage Modern by Moda.  It is so cute.  I just love it!  You can get some from my friend Andi at her store.

I decided to make something to enter into the Modern Mini Challenge at Ellison Lane Quilts.  I chose to participate for several reasons.  The first reason was that I had never done a mini quilt before.  Now I may be addicted!  They are so fun.  You get the satisfaction of finishing a project without the commitment of making an entire quilt.  The next reason is that I wanted to try some new techniques.  I tried my hand at fusible applique and was also able to practice several different FMQ stitches.  I was very happy with how it turned out.  The last reason is that there are great prizes!  So here is my entry. It measures 18″ x 23″.

I have been contemplating doing this design on a larger quilt, but I’m quite happy with the way the mini turned out.  I find that the more I practice my FMQ, the easier it is and the better I get.

Here’s a close up shot of the little bird.

I also wanted to experiment with doing ‘embroidery’ with my machine since I can no longer do hand embroidery.  I’m delighted with how it turned out.  Here is a close up of my letters.

I’m glad that I entered this challenge and even if I don’t win, I have a great new mini quilt to hang in my sewing room!  Good luck to everyone who entered!

Alison

I’m so excited to be able to share my new sewing room with you.  This has been in the works since October.  My old sewing room consisted of a small table in half of a bedroom.  This is what it looked like.

I was very quickly outgrowing this space.  We had another bedroom that was being used as our guest room.  It was really more of a room where we threw things that we didn’t know where else to put.  That room looked like this.

A few days before my birthday back in October, I came home from work and my husband had taken the day off of work and had his friend come over and they completely switched the two rooms.  It makes sense.  We only have one or two guests a year, so I don’t know why we were keeping a whole room available for them while I was sewing in half a room!  The next few months were spent cleaning, organizing, painting and building.  My wonderful husband and his equally wonderful best friend built me the most awesome sewing table and pegboard.  So without further ado…..here it is!!!

I am so stinkin’ happy with my new room that I could spit!  I love all things vintage, so that’s kind of the direction I went in my sewing room.  My friend Tammy and I spent more than one weekend scouring antique stores looking for the perfect accessories for my room.  It was torture!  I debated for a long time on how I wanted to finish my table.  I finally decided to paint it.  I used a retro green color and put a ton of polyurethane on the top.  Here is a close up of the sewing table.  I’m so tickled that they built it so my sewing machine sits down into it and is level with the table.  It makes it so much easier to sew and do FMQ.

On the bigger, cutting part of my table, I only painted the legs.  I had an idea to decoupage old pattern pieces on the top of it and am thrilled with how it turned out.

Under the end of the table is a bookcase where I keep all of my larger pieces of fabric.

Underneath the table is where I keep my scraps.  They are organized by color in each drawer.

This little table in the corner was my old cutting table.  Now I use it to put my very old tv on and hold other necessary quilting and sewing items.  It has a shelf underneath that I store other supplies and all of my works in progress.  It’s not very pretty, so I put the curtain up to hide it all.  I used a wonderful Denyse Schmidt fabric for the curtain.  I used this same fabric to re-upholster my desk chair and a little bench.

The shutter, sewing drawer and other accessories are treasures Tammy and I found on our adventures.  One of my favorite things in the room is this little wall arrangement of vintage sewing accessories.  I love that little iron!

Here is a close up of my pegboard.  It is huge and it is awesome!  I can keep everything that I need right at my fingertips.  I love being organized.  I also made those ‘sew’ letters on top of the pegboard using vintage patterns.

Here’s a close-up.

I already had this desk in the room, and it just so happens that it was already painted to match my room.  I keep all my quilting books and magazines here.  It’s also where I write my blog and spend hours on Pinterest!  I was so excited to find that hatbox that said ‘Robinson’s’ on it because that was my maiden name.  It was the right color and at $5.00, definitely the right price!  Right now, it is currently holding scraps.

My friend Tammy makes all kinds of cute crafty things and made these awesome desk accessories for me for Christmas.  She used an oatmeal container, a soup can, and a tuna can.  They are so cute and match my room perfectly.

So there it is.  My awesome sewing room.  My husband and his friend worked really hard to put this together for me and I am so thankful.  I love this room so much that I kind of want to sleep in it.  It’s a great space and I will hopefully be making many, many wonderful things here.  Thank you for stopping by!

Alison