Something Pretty

I'm working away at my Loulouthi Tiles quilt. It is the largest thing I have ever made. I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully it will be pieced by next week. It is a happy way to spend a Friday nap time. Have a great weekend!

Modern Triangle Quilt

I'm so happy with how this quilt turned out!

Ben had to demonstrate how to use it. He likes to play on it, but he doesn't want it on his bed.

I pieced the back with scraps so it could be reversible. I used this tutorial for quilting without binding (I find the binding process frustrating) and I'm so happy with the results. I think it adds to the modern look of the quilt. It's quilted all over with more triangles. This is my first time using a walking foot for quilting - definitely a worthy tool to have! I should stop being surprised how good tools make a big difference, but I always am.

All Laid Out

I've been working on a modern quilt on and off for a few months. I got some pre-cut fabric packs for Christmas (the triangles and the 2.5" strips). All the prints are floral, so I picked out the most graphic, modern ones because it's for Ben. Since most of the prints are rather small, using all of them would have looked to busy for the effect I was going for. I am quite pleased with how it looks laid out, but I'm worried about some of the slightly wonkier blocks.

Ben "helps" me sometimes. He's actually really happy to sit and take the pins out of the finished strips and put them in the pincushion. He knows the quilt is for him and he even picked out a fat quarter of extra fabric and demanded it be included. It was black and white, who was I to argue?

Warmer weather always makes me want to drop my knitting and sew. I ordered the Loulouthi Morning Quilt bundle today. Aren't the colors and prints so happy? The plan is to make it for our bed.

You can find the free pattern at Stitched in Color.

Texas is on Fire

 As you may have heard, we are experiencing some serious wildfires here. The map above shows the situation as it was when I woke up at 7 this morning. (Real time fire map here) The fire in Bastrop County is 16 miles long and as wide as 6 miles in some places. If you are not familiar with Texas geography, East Texas is a pine forest. A huge, very dry, pine forest. It's a perfectly terrible situation for fire. There is no rain forecasted for the next ten days.
My husband and I figured out an evacuation meeting point, and a backup meeting point in case the first place we picked had to be evacuated as well. I packed a "go bag" and gathered all of our important documents so I could grab them in a hurry if need be. We're nervous. It's surreal to look out your window and everything appears fine but know that less than an hour's drive in any direction, there's fire.

Now, as I write this around one pm (the above map shows the current situation), things are feeling slightly less scary. The fires that were within 10 miles of our house are under control or out. The winds have died down. I've heard FEMA is supposed to be here today. 

But our resources are maxed out. All reports are that fire-fighting capabilities have been stretched to the breaking point. There is no guarantee that some idiot won't toss a lit cigarette, light a BBQ or drive a hot car over dead grass and start another massive fire. We are just trying to be safe and ready to go if need be, and to help out our Central Texas neighbors anyway we can.

You can help too, by making a donation to the American Red Cross of Central Texas . The last report I heard said 475 homes in the area have been completely destroyed and many more damaged. Every little bit helps these people in their time of need.

Meanwhile, I finished a quilt top this weekend. Crafting is always soothing.

Quilt Inspirations

1. Yellow Brick Road Back, 2. Yellow Cross Quilt, 3. red and yellow stripes, 4. Cross quilt, 5. deutsche quilt finished - front, 6. bubbs quilt top, 7. Orange and Yellow Zig Zag Quilt back, 8. Yellow Blanket Throw Roses, 9. Orange and Yellow Zig Zag Quilt

You know it's summer when you start thinking about...quilts. Ok, maybe that's just me. But lately I've been thinking a lot about making my son a quilt. Yellow is his favorite color, I've been wanting to try to make a zig-zag quilt, bam! I should do it.

But yellow is probably my least favorite color ever. Orange might be worse, depending on the shade. Warm colors are just not my thing. This is not for me though...but I also have to look at it.

What to do? Anyone have any favorite yellow fabrics out there?

Tilty Quilt

This is my new quilt project, the tilty quilt. I'm making it up as I go along...I'm not sure how I feel about the colors...on the one hand, it's autumnal. On the other, it's kind of rag bag 70's leftover hippie-ish. We'll see, I guess.


The leftover scraps are pretty.