Start Your Own I-Spy Quilt

This morning I cut up some 3.5" I-Spy charms and put them in my Etsy Shop.  Included in each charm pack are 30 unique fabrics.  Some of the prints appear twice in different color ways.

If you alternate the charms with a 3.5" solid squares there are enough charms to make a quilt that is 30" x 36" 21" x 28".  Add a small border and it is the perfect size for a baby quilt.  Or continue collecting fabrics for a larger quilt.

I cut up 12 sets of charms but I ran out of a few fabrics at the end and had to substitute some even cuter fabric for 6 of the charms in two sets.

If you are interested, click here to purchase.

I Spy With My Little Eye...A Finish!

I am always amazed at how much I can get done if I actually work on something.  I started collecting fabric for I-Spy quilt 4 years ago and finally finished it yesterday.  It all started when I saw Amy Smart's vintage inspired I-Spy quilt.  I had always thought that type of quilt was too busy, crazy and (I have to admit) cheesy but her fabric choices made it super cute.

The neighbor girls helped hold up the quilt.  Thanks!
I didn't feel like I should be too picky about foot and hand placement since they weren't my own kids/husband.  :)

So I bought one of her 3 1/2" charm packs and started collecting fabric.  I swapped some fabric for I-Spy type prints, used some from a Japanese fabric exchange and found quite a few in my own stash.  There are almost 200 different fabrics in the quilt.  Insane!

I pulled the bag of charms out from under their layer of dust this winter and used them as leaders and enders, but last week I just decided to work on it full time and finish it up.

If I had it to do over I would probably choose a light tan for the background squares like Amy did so the whitish blocks would stand out more, but then again maybe not.  Most of the blocks do look great against the white.  I would also have removed any fabrics that I didn't absolutely love.  I thought it wouldn't matter if I didn't personally like every print included, but it bugs me.  Not a deal breaker, but something to keep in mind for other quilts.

All in all, I still think I-Spy quilts are busy and crazy but this one is my type of busy and crazy.  It will be fun looking at all of the different fabrics because while there a few I don't like there are Tons that I Love.  (I'm looking at you Heather Ross, mushroom and fairy tale prints.)

Finished size:  Approx.  57" x  69"
Fabric:  3" (finished) charms and Kona unbleached PFD (my favorite off-white)

Linking to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

Sometimes We Are Our Own Worst Critic

In January I pulled this stack of fabric for a quilt.  It was totally "me" in terms of scale (small) and print (tone on tone and dots) but it was more monochromatic than I usually go.  But my friend assured me that it looked good and really, how can you go wrong any fabric pull that includes Flea Market Fancy?

I sent fabric packets off to more friends to test block patterns for me.  I got their amazing blocks back, made a few more blocks and started to lay them out.  I want to make it very clear at this point that my friends' blocks were perfect and wonderful and that I would never, ever, ever have gotten this quilt made without their help and that the feelings expressed in the next paragraph are me being crazy not a critique of their blocks.   So....

I got to this point in the layout and started to freak.  Why had I chosen those colors!?!  Those blocks* stayed on the living room floor for a week (much to the dismay of my husband) and I would move a block here or there each time I would walk by.  I finally sucked it up and decided it was what it was and started sewing it together.

And it wasn't as bad as I thought.  Then I added the borders and it looked better.

Then I quilted it.  And it looked good.  (I really like that section of quilting!)  It wasn't my favorite quilt, but I knew wasn't embarrassingly ugly either.  So I turned in my quilt to AQS and went on with life.

And then I saw this.  I realize that the American Quilter's Society Quilt Week header shows just the edge of what could be any quilt but it is the quilt that I stood in the living room and cried over because it was so. embarrassingly. ugly.  AQS has no shortage of quilt edges to photograph and they. chose. mine.  To say I was excited is a huge understatement.

Then this flier for QuiltWeek came in the mail.  I think I am going to have to laminate it.  Not just because they say my quilt is beautiful ;) but because it's message is one I think we should all remember - especially when we are being hard on ourselves.

Your quilt is beautiful.

Really, it is.  

You've poured your heart and creativity into your quilt.

Now it is time to let it shine! 

I think we are our own worst critics.  And to paraphrase a Jillian Micheal's exercise video, "This isn't about being perfect.  Perfect is boring.  Perfect sucks!  This is about pushing yourself and discovering what you can do.  When you push yourself that is when change happens." 

I know I'm not going to stop being a neurotic perfectionist overnight, but I am going to try to keep things in better perspective from now on.  So, love your quilts, love yourselves, be happy with your quilting and have the best weekend ever!

* I don't know if you noticed, but some of those blocks are from the Skill Builder Sampler!  More info on that next week!

Christmas Quilt

I finished something!  And I love it!  I bought the fabric last fall (thanks for making such cute Christmas fabric Micheal Miller!) and I think I will have it quilted by December.  That's pretty fast turn around these days.   :)

The fabrics and design are totally copied from this quilt by Amy Smart at Diary of a Quilter.  I love the gnomes, the retro ladies, the dots, the snowflakes, the reindeer, the red flannel polka dot backing fabric....I love it all!   I can't wait to finish it!

What I Am Working On

Last week I made the backing for my star quilt.  I used up the leftover challenge fabric that I knew I wouldn't really use anywhere else and some larger cuts of fabric that I knew I wasn't going to use in a quilt anytime in the near future.

I think quilt backs are a great place to use up those cuts of fabric that you don't love anymore or just don't quite know what do do with.  There are just over 2 yards of fabric in that back - that's a lot of stash used up!  They are also a great place for me to use up those large scale prints that I love, but just don't know what to do with.

Last week I also worked on the Christmas quilt.  I have sewn all but two of the twelve rows (I need to cut more fabric for the last two).  Not bad for an afternoon!  I am always surprised at how much I can get done if I just sit down and sew for an hour or two.  I love quilting, but sometimes it seems overwhelming and like it is impossible to finish anything.  But if I just get sewing (instead of checking my email or other blogs)  I can actually get a lot done.

Another thing that seems overwhelming right now is the garden.  You won't be seeing any pretty garden pictures here because our huge garden is a royal mess.  I was out picking tomatoes and weeding with the kids and I kept telling them to just focus on pulling the weeds that were taller than their knees.  Don't worry about the short ones!  I pulled tons of 3-4 ft tall pig weed and the beets are much happier now that they can see the sun.  :)

Even with the garden being a weedy mess, we managed to get a ton of tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, squash and potatoes.  But that means I have been spending time making salsa (38 quarts so far!) and freezer pickles and trying to keep the fruit flies at bay.  I think I have the last major haul of tomatoes and cucumbers sitting on the counter right now.  I just have to motivate myself to do something with them.

Maybe sewing all day tomorrow can be my reward for spending today working on tomatoes.  And it will go faster if I just stop blogging and start working on it, right?   :)  I hope.  help!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and The Purge at Stitched in Color