WIP: Scrappy squares

I've been a little blue, lately.

WIP scrappy squares: Mitten to Apple original paper piecing

:) Sorry, I couldn't resist! I've been putting together scrappy squares in various shades of navy for a project I have in mind.

WIP scrappy squares: Mitten to Apple original paper piecing

I love the preciseness that paper piecing creates, so I created a few of my own templates on my computer, printed a million, and got to work.

WIP scrappy squares: Mitten to Apple original paper piecing

While I've made 84 blocks so far, according to my idea, I'm only about a third of the way done... so I'll be blue for a while longer!

WIP scrappy squares: Mitten to Apple original paper piecing

 Thanks for stopping by - I'm linking up to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday, so I can't wait to see what everyone is up to these days!!

WIP: Coral+Turqoise

Coral+Turquoise: Mitten to Apple inspired by In Color Order

 I have a new work in process: Coral+Turquoise.

Coral+Turquoise: Mitten to Apple inspired by In Color Order

I've finished the inner portion of the lap quilt, but I've yet to add the borders and other accents I have in mind.

Coral+Turquoise: Mitten to Apple inspired by In Color Order

So far, I'm loving the look of this little project! I've admired Jeni Baker's In Color Order Arithmetic Quilt for quite some time, and when I received a bunch of eighth yards for my birthday in various tones of coral and turquoise, I immediately wanted to create my own version of her popular design.

Coral+Turquoise: Mitten to Apple inspired by In Color Order

So I paired those beautiful colors with some beautiful Robert Kaufman Quilter's Linen- swoon! Then, using some math (to figure out how best to utilize those eighths) and graph paper, I figured out exactly how many squares I could make out of my gifted fabric, and I filled in the missing "pluses" with the quilter's linen... so simple!

Coral+Turquoise: Mitten to Apple inspired by In Color Order

I can't wait to finish this baby up - won't be long I now (<famous last words, eh?)!

*I'm linking up to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday!!

Wonky Stars: top completed

When I started my quilting journey a few months ago and began searching the internet for accessible quilting tips and ideas, one of the first blocks that jumped out at my was the wonky star. As a first-time quilter, I was drawn to the idea that the finished stars weren't supposed to line up (for obvious reasons) -  so I scored some Heirloom (by Joel Dewberry) fabric on sale at The Little Fabric Shop (along with the background blue The City Quilter) and got to work.

I don't have a fancy design wall , but thanks to some painter's tape and an almost empty wall in my NYC apartment, I was able to hang my blocks as I completed them to make sure I had enough variety in my star shapes (I was about 40% finished at when I took this photo).

And after lots of cutting and piecing, I finished enough blocks to make a top for a comfy lap quilt.

I love all the bright colors in this top (I'm obviously just a kid at heart), and I can't wait until it is finished. I've decided to take a crack at quilting it myself (yikes!) so I'll pots photos as soon as I'm finished!

WIP: English Paper Piecing

I recently purchased my first set of English paper piecing templates. I was anxious to try them out (having only read about them online), so I pulled some fabric from my stash and started playing.

I recently snapped up two fat quarters of Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt's, and paired with a couple of solids from my stash, I got to work.

I'm having an absolute blast and can't wait until all of these little pieces become something!

Work in progress: pinwheels

I'm working on a new project that will eventually be a gift for someone. I will be back to share photos of the finished product as soon as I've gifted it, but in the meantime here's a sneak peak:

Pinwheels on display

As you can see, I used more of the Hobby Lobby fabric I have in my stash. The yellow isn't quite as "golden" as it looks in these photos, I promise!

Something new...

I love to create! And thanks to the unwavering support of my family, the past few years I've enjoyed all sorts of creative endeavors. So I've begun this simple blog as a record of the things I'm up to these days.

To start things off, here's my first quilt: In Color Order's Patchwork Chevron Quilt. Of course, I didn't think my first "real" sewing project would be a quilt (I could have made something a little smaller, right?), but while visiting a fabric store with my mom recently I fell in love with the Paradise Blooms collection by Hoffman Fabrics. So I purchased what I needed according to In Color Order's super helpful tutorial, and set out to finish my first quilt top.

To be honest, I didn't think I'd ever finish it, but wouldn't you know it... I did!

In Color Order's Patchwork Chevron Quilt - process photos

As you can see from the cell phone photos above, the steps to creating the top were really simple and the top is finally finished. A family friend is taking care of the quilting for me (thank goodness - I definitely wasn't ready to tackle that yet), and I can't wait to get it back... once the quilting is complete and I sew on the binding, I'll be back with a final reveal, because I'm very proud of my first quilt!

Quilt top and backing