Life

You know when life gets crazy and time just gets away from you?  That's where I am.  I have been sewing, I have just been forgetting to take pictures as I go!!  I have a quilt that is almost finished (2-3 hours every couple of days does not make for a speedy piecing job!) and then I will post pictures.  I promise!!! Pin It

Creative Process - Accomplished!!

Here are some pictures of the finished product for my friend's baby quilt!  It turned out so cute.  I love the polka-dots.  I think baby Greysen will like it!

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Almost Done

Have you noticed?  I LOVE black and white quilts with just a pop of color.  This one is a take on Camille Roskelley's Little Man quilt.  I needed some more practice with applique so I put the hearts on.  I should probably take close-up shots of each heart, because each one is sewn on differently.  But, I'm not going to.  They look so cute from far away.  I don't anyone to see how bad they look up close.  I haven't figured out what I am going to do for the back yet, so for now it will remain a finished quilt top on my to finish pile!

I really loved this stack-n-whack as I was cutting and sewing. . . I am not so thrilled with the finished product.  I think it is the little pinwheels in the sashing.  Too many angles or something.  This one is in my to finish pile also.

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The Creative Process

A friend of mine is going to become a grandma in July.  It is a boy and she wanted me to make a quilt for him. His nursery is going to be light greens and tans with monkeys.  She wanted something to match that theme.  Other than that, I had full creative control!

So I found the cutest fabric that met all of her specifications, it couldn't have been more perfect.  I wonder if her daughter got the nursery idea from this fabric?? (I love the little monkeys!). 

I kind of had an idea what I wanted to do with it, so I laid it all out and just started cutting.

and sewing.

Then I had some designing to do.  What did I want to do with these 3 inch strips.  How did I want to accent the large monkey print.  Here are some of my ideas.

After making some decisions, the sewing started again! (Unfortunately there was some seam ripping to do.  Silly me for not double checking) 

More layout decisions

In the end, I found what worked best for this quilt top.   

The monkeys are obviously the theme, but (to me at least) they are not overwhelming!  I can't wait to see what the quilt looks like all put together and quilted. Pin It

A Larger Version (FINISHED!!!)

So, I had the top of this quilt all pieced together.  Then I spray basted it (my new favorite trick in all of the world!!) and had it ready to quilt.  As I started to quilt in the ditch around the edge, wouldn't you know it, the my stinking small but sturdy sewing machine bites the dust, throws a fit, politely tells me it isn't going to quilt this quilt.  So, I start browsing new sewing machines.  I did a lot of research and found one that I LOVED, then I got my head out of the clouds and looked at my budget.  Luckily for me my budget included overnight shipping.   I got my new sewing machine and got the quilt done.  My friend LOVED it and can't wait to give it to her granddaughter on her birthday.

I have to say, my new sewing machine is AMAZING!  If a lower price range machine sews like this, I can't even imagine what my dream machine would sew like.  SOME DAY!!!!

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Paper Piecing block #2

This is the 2nd block in the New York Beauty (Paper Piecing) quilt along. (You can find it at Sew Sweetness).  This block just about killed me!  I kept forgetting that you have to think backwards.  You are piecing it face-down instead of face-up.  It took forever because I had to keep re-doing sections.  BUT, I got it done!!!!   Now that I am done, I really like this block.  I may actually do the full circle for this one.  We will see how much time I can find.
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A Larger Version

I was asked by a friend to make a larger version of my Spring is Here quilt.  So I went through all of my black and white scraps and made this quilt for here.  I think it turned out so cute.  The back is going to be bright pink with little white flowers.  I can't wait to see the final product. Pin It

Large Bags

Folks have been clamoring for a larger version of my small tote. So, today I got to work and granted their wishes.  Here are two of my large tote bags.  They are about 24 inches tall (deep) and about 18 inches wide at the base.  They have pockets on the inside and sturdy straps that are long enough to go over your shoulder easily.

You can find them for sale in my store Curlytop Quilts on esty.com

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Small totes

My newest creations.  I thought I would like the brown and blue one, but the purple and green turned out to be my favorite.  I love these small totes, but I am going to expand and see how bigger ones look and sell.  We will see!!!

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Paper Piecing 101

As I was blog hopping the other day, I found a quilt along that looked challenging and fun with some pretty amazing results.  It is over at Sew Sweetness.  It is called the New York Beauty Paper Piecing Quilt Along.  I admit that I have tried paper piecing before, but with disastrous results.   I usually ended up throwing the whole mess away from exasperation.

Well, this quilt along came with super-detailed instructions.  Right down to the size of the piece of fabric you needed for each section.  Easy right?  It was!!!  After a few false starts (my own fault for not reading ALL of the directions).  This is what I ended up with!  I also realized that paper piecing isn't as bad as I thought.  I will be continuing with this quilt along.

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Applique

Ok, I hate, dislike, don't appreciate applique.  So, it's just like me to create a pattern that requires not one, but two applique patterns.  A flower and its center.   And of course it couldn't be easy applique, it is flowers that have petals!!  UGH!!!!   First you applique on the flowers and then you applique on the center of the flowers!  I must have been crazy when I designed the crazy thing.  But it turns out so cute!!!

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My Creation

Once upon a time I created a quilt for my niece.  This is not at all what the quilt was supposed to look like, but I ran out of time and had to have something done for her birthday.  This is what I got.  

Well, she loved it . . . and so did everyone else.    Everyone that sees this quilt just tells me how much they just love it.  So, I decided to take this quilt and jump into the world of selling online patterns.  With the help of family (thank you to my sweet hubby and SIL for your editing skills) I posted the pattern on several craft websites (Etsy and Craftsy) and it has just taken off.  I decided, to get my name out there, that I would sell it for the bargain price of $1.49.  Feel free to take a look (buying it wouldn't hurt my feelings either!).  If you do buy the pattern and make the quilt, I would love to see a picture.  I have a Flikr board dedicated to Spring is Here by Curlytop Quilts

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Newest Projects

While browsing blogs, I found a pattern that I thought was really cute, so I made it.  When it was done I thought "cute, but useless".  So, I adapted the pattern to my liking and made a cute little bag.

It turned out cute, but smaller than what I wanted.  So I adapted the bag and made it bigger and (in my mind) more useful.

Look at some of the uses!

I really liked the pattern, so I kept going.

They are for sale on my Etsy site (see side bar).  I am continuing to make them.  So if there is a color you don't see, let me know and I am sure I can get it for you!

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Another "A-long"

One of the blogs that I love had a beautiful pattern that I just fell in love with.  It is called Swoon and it has become a VERY popular pattern  So, like many quilters, I bought the pattern and then debated and debated about what colors I wanted to use.  Then came the "Swoon a-long" on Flikr and I got some ideas and ran with them.  I chose to use some bright, fun colors.

These are the first three blocks!  Each block measures 24 1/2 inches!  It is going to be a big quilt!

The second three blocks.  See what I mean about bright, fun colors?

And we're done! (with the blocks). Now I just need to add sashing and borders.

Here is what it looks like all put together.

It is not the greatest picture and it isn't finished. 

 Here is a better picture!  One of these days I will get it quilted and then I will show it off!

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Giveaway!

One of the blogs that I love, Sew Kind of Wonderful, is having a giveaway on her site.  She created this ruler that helps you cut curves for your quilt.  Then she designed all of these quilts using the ruler.    Her giveaway is for one of the rulers and one of her patterns.  How cool!  On top of it all she has a longarm quilting service called Jenny's Doodling Needle.  She is amazing!

The Pattern

The Ruler

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A little more quilting and blogging

As I browse the quilting blogs I love, I have found a couple of "quilt a-longs"  As people finish their blocks or quilts they post them on Flikr (a web photo album).  Click on the pictures below to see the "quilt a-longs" that these two quilts belong to.

This quilt, Granny Squares Scrap Attack and it's tutorial can be found here on Blue Elephant Stitches.

This quilt, Swoon is a pattern by Camille Roskelly.  You can get the pattern here in her shop.  I will blog about it in my next post!

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