Q1- House pouches finished

This is my third post in a row with Q1 FAL finish. You can check my full list here. Nothing works like time pressure for me :-)


I precut the fabrics for these pouches probably a year ago. It is my fav project from the book called Zakka style. I have adjusted the pattern a bit and trying all kinds of embellishments. You can check the House mania page to see the rest. They are all different but similar. I keep the windows and door shape the same. I add grass or snow and many kinds of flowers.

This B&W combo might be my favorite ever. The flower has B&W bead in the center and cute little bird charm on the window.

On the other hand this winter one is my least favorite, lol. It's boring. The turquoise/red combo doesn't work for me anymore. I used some plastic snowflakes (cheap Xmas deco) and white polyester sees through for the bottom line.

I do like these purple flowers. There are just few French knots in the middle and green polyester for the grass section.

The last one turned out all right as well. It is probably the first time I used different fabrics for roof. There are large dots on the other side. I only added buttons on few flowers.

Phew! My current score is 7/10! Yay me! Feels good to have those old projects done. No idea what I'll do with them. I used to trade them for fabric scraps but I learned it is so hard for me to combine scraps so should I open up a store? :-) Just kidding.

That is how the back sides look. See those giant dots. So tell me which one is your fav?

Linking up with TGIFF

Q1 - Animal blocks into bag

I looked at my FAL list - here to see if there is something else I would be able to finish. The end of March is approaching fast. I would really like to get rid of those animal blocks I made almost two years ago. One of my fav patterns to use is lunch bag by Ayumi. I make different sizes based on the fussy cut or in this case block size. It turned out a bit tall though.

I ran out of fusible interfacing I'm usually using so on one side I used non fusible batting and quilted it. I love the puffy look the pig gained.  For the bottom section I add extra layer of interfacing to give the bag sturdy shape. The bag is empty while taking pics. It stands nicely on its own. I do not use any interfacing on lining. I use cheap local cotton fabric which works just fine.

So that's my finish #6 out of 10.

Not all my projects are coming to an end. My March goal will be a failure. I sewed the triangles together so I have half hexagons now. I plan to incorporate some cubes into the layout and it'll take more time. I started with the easiest one. It might look big on the picture but the size of triangles used is a bit more than 4" and this layout is only a half of the required size. 

I also played with fire and prepared few flowers for some house pouches in progress. The grass is ready as well. I only need to get my act together :-)

Q1 - BoM blocks

As part of my Q1 list I wanted to find some use for my Skill Builder BoM blocks. The easiest thing to do was to turn them into cushion covers. That means another finish, yay! You can check the full list here. My current score is 5 out of 10. Eeek.

As usual I wanted to practice FMQ on them but I decided to join Triangle QAL so I quilted triangle grid instead. The back is plain one fabric layer with hidden zipper.

My fav part is hand stitched triangle. Just simple three lines in three different colors.

So have you heard about the Triangle QAL? I always liked the look of triangle quilts. I thought the fabrics I used for these BoM blocks would be fine. There are some scraps and some local fabrics and it'll be challenging for my aesthetics to find decent layout. I learned I'm not really able to do random scrappy look so it might be another warm against cold. I might need to add something in. We'll see. Let's wait patiently for the cutting instructions :-)

I'm linking up with

Follow the white rabbit

I took the kaleidoscopes off the wall and it means - no progress. I can only show you the fabrics from Grunge line I'm going to pair it with.

The color wheel has pins all over and I haven't touched it for a couple of weeks. I'm still not in the mood for FMQ exercise. Am I going to do straight lines instead? Not sure. Those worked for my two Skill Builder BoM blocks. As they are ready to become cushion covers.

Yesterday I seen cute bunny design by nanaCompany so I downloaded the pattern and made them right away. I actually downloaded it for my girl but I couldn't resist making some too.

She hasn't finished hers yet. The idea of white bunny is all hers but the line "follow the white rabbit" would suit as well :-) I simply followed the rabbit. I think there is a mistake in Matrix somewhere making me want to do those things I actually don't need nor have them on my list.

Plus there might be secret code in fabrics with dots. They seem to sneak in most of my projects. Is anyone familiar with dotty language?

I like to participate in Across the Pond SAL. The theme for March is shamrock. That's why I put it on.

So, how about you? Are you going to follow the rabbit?

Another proof there is something wrong with Matrix lately. I was in local Irish pub celebrating St. Patrick's Day drinking green beer! Someone please reload or reset my file to get me back on track. If you don't hear from me in few days I got deleted instead ........

Pantone quilt challenge - top

When the Pantone Quilt challenge was announced I had number of ideas. If you seen my entry for the mini category it'll be no surprise for you that I like optical illusions. I have a book called The World of Optical Illusions. It is not a quilting book though :-)

I was looking for something doable in fabric. This one on page 22 seems to fit the bill. The chapter is called Distortion.

I started piecing the strips first. As I'm not very good at patchwork math they ended up longer than desired and I didn't have enough fabric to put the top together.

At that point I decided to finish and submit the mini instead. I was thinking about adding some neutral background and forget about the orchid color. 

It kept sort of bothering me and I sent the pics to my friends to ask for their opinion. One of them bought the exact same fabric for the challenge and she offered me hers as she had no time to make her project. So the orchid strips are pieced and I managed to finish the quilt top.

My wall is next to balcony door and there is no direct light. The weather does not cooperate. It is rainy and very windy so these are the only pics available at the moment.

I was aiming for clean modern look with maximum visual interest.

Used fabrics: MM cotton couture SC5333-ORCH-D and SC5333-CHOC-D plus no brand white solid.

Measures: 39x48"

Have you heard of new linky party called Sewjo Saturday? Check it out and I'll see you there :-)