A winner and the SGQA.

Here we go. The winner of the Cheater Friday 2.5" squares is

Jennifer

who blogs at marriedtoabmw.com.

And, get this, Jennifer is a fellow Texan! These little squares are only making a short trip to their new home. I'll send you a message, Jennifer, to get your address and get these on the way to you. Congrats!

So, I hardly need another project right now, but this is one I can't pass up.

Last year, I spent who knows how many hours (and money) chasing down the entire Katie Jump Rope collection to make the Single Girl quilt. I've had all the fabric, but the pattern seemed overwhelming with all those little templates. But no fear, Nova, Megan, and Katy have formed the Single Girl Support Group and come to my rescue. 

Over the past couple of days, I traced and cut out all the templates. My first thought was to stick with the KJR and use Kona stone for the background. But after looking around in the SGSG (Single Girl Support Group), I decided it's time to cut into some of my beloved Flea Market Fancy. I'm not jumping in with both feet this time, I only pulled FMF fabrics that I have more than one FQ of so that I'll still have a complete set of FMF. 

I want to make the king sized quilt for our bed, but I was worried about all the pink the FMF brings to the party. What would the hubby think? I called him in to the sewing room for his opinion.  

This one...

or this one.

He likes the set with the pink! Woo hoo! And I even fully disclosed that it was going on our bed. I'm not really that surprised, because he has good taste and isn't afraid to wear pink himself, but I was glad because I think that set with the pink on Kona stone is going to make a beautiful quilt.

If you've had the Single Girl quilt on your radar, but like me were intimidated by the pattern (templates, curves, etc.), check out the SGSG and jump on in!

Flea Market Fancy mini quilt

This little quilt is four firsts for me.

1. It's my first mini quilt, measuring 16.5" square.

2. The first quilt I've made using my Flea Market Fancy fabrics. 

3. The first hand quilted project I've finished. Emphasis on finished.

4. And, my first time to quilt with Pearl cotton. I used DMC size 8.

I got most of the quilting done poolside last night while Shea was at swim team. I probably looked like a dork quilting beside the pool (in the shade of course) but, oh well. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I really like quilting with the pearl cotton. It's quick and I love the look of the chunky stitches. 

I liked this little quilt last night when I finished it, but I love it this morning seeing it with fresh eyes. The quilting doesn't look as bad (crooked and uneven) as it seemed to me last night. I can't wait to hang this in my sewing room in the next house. There's something about it that makes me smile. I think it's the happy colors!

And, yes, the Flea Market Fancy is even better out of the stacks!

It's just fabric. Right?

I'm so close to finishing my quest to collect all the Flea Market Fancy prints. I was daydreaming earlier about what kind of quilt I'll make when my collection is complete. Some very talented quilters have created some gorgeous quilts with this collection. Among my favorites are this one, this one, this one, and this one. Breathtaking aren't they! I can't decide what I want to do with mine yet.

I'll probably mix some solids with the prints to make what I have go a little farther. Maybe I could get two quilts out of my stash by adding solids. After matching up a few prints to some Kona solids earlier, I decided to actually cut into some of the fabric as a bit of a primer to making the "real" quilt. Silly isn't it! It's just fabric! Anyway, I used Kona strips left over from the Paintbox quilt and some FMF scraps that I've acquired through swaps.

It turned into my first mini quilt! They are little improv wonky stars. Don't faint, but yes, that is actually polyester batting. I'm going to hand quilt this one and hand quilting through Warm 'n Natural (or other mostly cotton batting) is tough. Visually, I like the loft of polyester, so I'm going to try it out for this little wall quilt and see how I like the way it needles. I'll show it to you when I'm finished. Hopefully that will be sometime in the very near future.

Busy week!

We've been enjoying some warm spring weather in Texas! Spring is definitely here. I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. Mine was very busy!

The day I hurt my hand last week I had taken my sewing machine in for it's complimentary one year tune-up and I still don't have it back. There hasn't been much sewing going on around here without it. My finger is still unbelievably sore. What I originally thought was a large cut turned out to be a cut and a very deep puncture. Good thing I had that tetanus booster last year when I had the rotary cutter accident.

A few weeks ago I participated in my first big swap on flickr where I traded some American Jane Peas & Carrots (aka Mono Pez) for Flea Market Fancy. The swaps are still trickling in and I'm just giddy when I check the mail! I'm still missing about six prints that happen to be the hardest to find, but I'll keep looking. I want to make a quilt with all of this Flea Markety goodness, but I haven't decided on a pattern yet. I just love this one and this one! Oh, and this one!

I'm going on a Texas history field trip for the remainder of the week with my daughter's fourth grade class. We are visiting the Texas capitol and the Alamo among other historic Texas sites. I'm mostly excited about the hours and hours of travel time I'll have to work on my ripple afghan. I've been trying to sew hexagons together, but it's quite slow without my index finger. I've adjusted my crochet hold to work without my index finger, so crochet is still an option. I'm hoping to get another hexagon thoughts post together for this week but I need to get my packing done first. It's so great to see all the beautiful hexagons everyone is working on! Enjoy your week!

A good mail week!

Here's what the mailman brought me this week.

I think I finally have enough for a quilt!  Sixteen fat quarters and five half-yards.

I took this hexagon photo yesterday, and since then I've added more scrap squares and sewn a few more hexies together.  I like where this is going!  I love the bright, fun feel.  I cut all of the little squares above from fabric in my scrap basket.  I can't wait to see who else catches the hex bug!

And since I don't have anything else to work on...

It's Monday

Shea and I baked my favorite chocolate chip cookies tonight.

The recipe on the Ghiradelli semi-sweet baking chips bag is to die for! I slightly undercook them and they come out chewy, gooey perfect. 

I had a close call on Saturday. When the box below arrived in the mail, I was panicked! The crushed, open end of the box was soaking wet and the entire thing was sealed in a clear plastic "We're sorry" bag from the post office.  

Why the panic?  Because this...

is what was inside! Doesn't the USPS know that Flea Market Fancy is irreplaceable! Don't they know how much crazy women who quilt pay for this fabric!

Luckily, the fabric was tightly wrapped in plastic and completely escaped damage. I missed FMF when it was in stores and this was my first purchase. I don't have plans for it yet. I'd love to find some blue, green, yellow or orange to balance out my pink-heavy assortment. It's silly expensive on eBay, but a little more reasonable on Etsy, so I keep watching!   

Flea Market Fancy Giveaway!

Penny at Sew take a hike is hosting the most awesome giveaway!  Check it out here: