Wowza, It's Been Awhile

So after a very long sewing funk (well, everything funk), I finally got back into the swing of things. And I've realized that I have more to say than I should plague my instagram followers with. So here is a little catch up on what I've been working on lately.

I started working on some baby clothes. Girl baby clothes. This adorable pattern is from Peek-A-Boo. I worked it up with some orange Briar Rose strawberries and a soft orange knit. It didn't take too terribly long, but since it takes about a yard of knit it definatly isn't cheaper to make your own.

I also made some quick Just Hatched leggins from Made by Rae. One with fancy bow cuffs from a tutorial I found on Pinterest and one with little knee patches.

I picked up these adorable Grey Abbey fabrics about the same time Kelby Sews posted her Easiest Chevron tutorial. It sewed up very easily and I quickly had it quilted and bound. My first try at FMQ flowers and I'm rather proud of them! I don't have a plan for this quilt yet, I may put it up on my etsy shop soon.

But soon after this we found out baby number 3 is a boy, I decided I needed to make all 3 boys quilts with the same color scheme. So I pulled together of baby blues and greens and picked out three patterns: a churn dash, and Cluck Cluck Sew's Touchdown and Scout. Here are a few that I picked up from Hawthorne Threads.

I cut all the fabric all at once. Touchdown and Scout needed 4" strips and churn dash needed 4.5" strips so I cut one of each from about 20 half yards. I power sewed all the footballs in one week and have been slowly working on pieces for the churn dash. I almost started strip piecing for Scout this afternoon but I started work on a different project.

A finished top!

My recent trick for getting a lot done lately is chain piecing through the day then pressing and ironing at night in the living room while watching 24 with my hubby. We just finished season 1 tonight! We've been so excited about the new season that's on, but bummed that we have to wait so long between each episode.

Another little project I've been working on is the Lua Sleep Sack. I decided to try quilting and love the effect. It's like a quilt dress for a baby. I can't wait to try it out on Little Peanut in our Wyoming winter. Here is a close up of the buttons. I have enough fabric for three more. I may give two to some friends who are having boys in the coming months. Boys are so hard to sew for.

I picked up this thick navy and white decor weight fabric from Joann's and knew I wanted to make a Weekender. I've been wanting to make one for awhile and the inspiration just hit to get it done for our little Memorial day weekend trip. I have the outside all put together. I somehow could not get a 1/2 inch seam allowance with the piping, so the center strip and the outside panels didn't fit together properly. I ended up folding it over on one side and there is soe puckering, but it was better than ripping out a ton of seams. I need to finish the lining tomorrow so I can sew it in during my nightly tv watching.

But my biggest accomplishment these past few weeks? I finished my queen sized rugby stripe quilt. But that I will save for another post!

I can leave you with a little sneak peak though!

December is overwhelming...

I started a list right before Thanksgiving of how many things I needed to finish and December and was so overwhelmed. And then I had to pack most of my house by myself with my two toddlers in tow. Luckily I put them in day care a couple of days and had some awesome friends to help out, but I won't be doing that any time soon. Anyways, I am finally back with my husband in Little Rock, Arkansas! The high was 40 degrees for the first week here. Coming from Florida where it had been reaching 80 it has taken some time to get used to. But that has meant a lot of time indoors sewing! And I am catching up on my list. Let's see...

I got my Crazy and Twisted addition finished and sent on time:


This sewing machine pattern is from Charise Creates. It wasn't terribly hard, just a lot of odd shapes. I enlarged the pattern 50% so it finishes (after having to trim it down square) at 17 inches.

I added 1" squares on either side and stipple quilted it on below the initial block. And added some buttons in the button jar!

I also finished up my Cookie swap!


I made this Mini Swoon and embroidered it to make it like a big ornament! The green scallop is from Scrumptious and the red snowflakes are from my NEW local quilt shop. I've only found one close by, but I'm sure there are some hidden gems around town that I haven't found. I made some Christmas wreath cookies--my favorite! Basically rice crispie treats but with corn flakes and green food coloring. And I thought this tin from Hobby Lobby matched beautifully. My partner has commented that she likes it, I hope she likes it as much in person!

I also finished and sent my November and December Simply Solids bee blocks. I didn't grab a picture of either of those because I was in a rush to get to a doctors appointment before I went to the post office. I am still working on my Nov. and Dec. Hex Bee blocks. For some reason hand work has been super slow for me this past month.

Next on my list is a Granny Square quilt for my Granny. She is my mom's grandma and has always supported my crafty adventures growing up. She is spending a lot of time in the hospital or stuck in bed lately. So for Christmas my mom asked me to make her something with pretty colors and flowers to enjoy. I just finished the top and just trying to decide on borders then hopefully quilting it up this afternoon.

I am excited to get some finishes finished up to share with all of you. It's been slow going since Thanksgiving and then being away from my sewing machine for 2 weeks. But I am all set up now and cruising along. My lovely husband even bought me this cute China hutch for all my fabric! I love it, but totally plan on refinishing it soon.

MMQAL Addition

Thanks for coming over from Penny's! Have you been having as much fun with the Marcelle Medallion Quilt Along as I have? As I was getting close to the last border on my Marcelle Medallion I was getting excited about finishing (finally!) but then a little voice in my head said "that's it?" I mean I've spent the last few weeks almost exclusively and it's just shy of 60" square. So I looked around Instagram and saw that others had added borders of their own and decided that's what I must do! I fell in love with the churn dash blocks on the Midnight at Oaisis quilt and it was a quick decision after that. So with a stoke of luck I fell upon the best measurement to make these teeny tiny churn blocks fit. Border 7 ends at 57.5" and taking into consideration the seam allowances I found that 19 3" churn dash blocks will fit perfectly on one side. So I put together a mini tutorial for these tiny churns.

For one 3.5" unfinished churn block you will need to cut:

From main color - 2-2" squares

                             2-2x1.5" rectangles

From background color - 2-2" squares

                             2-2x1.5" rectangles

                             1-1.5" square

For border 7 you need 76 churn blocks plus 4 cornerstones. See the bottom for a special hint on the cornerstones!

If you are cutting scrappy you will need 152 each of all the 2" squares and rectangles, but only 76 1.5" squares. I hope that makes since. I cut almost always from yardage so I like to count how many low volume prints I have (say 15 for this round) and then I will try to cut about 5 churns from each print-give or take on a few. 
So once you have all of your squares cut it is time to start assembling your blocks.

Put the rectangles right sides together and sew down both the short sides. Where I have drawn a line here: (ignore the squares for now) 

Once both sides are sewn bring it to your cutting mat and cut 1" down the middle (parallel to the sewing lines. 

Once pressed open they should measure 1.5" square. 

Next take the 2" squares and make Half square triangles (HSTs as they are usually denoted.) place two right sides together. Sew down either side of the diagonal. Press then trim to a 1.5" square. 

Once everything is pressed and trimmed you can lay them out as so:

Looking good! I like to bring them over to my machine and chain piece as much as I can. I haven't figured out how to do multiple at a time, but I assume lots of organization. 

Sew the squares into rows:

Then the rows together to complete the square!

I've also tried pressing open and to the dark side and neither one seemed better than the other. Maybe a little easier to sew through on the open seams, but quicker to press to one side. 

 For the cornerstones:

I will be using an inverse churn block! Using the main color as background and the low volume as the main print. As you can see from above. If you don't want to make those extra 4 churn blocks, you can simply use 3.5" squares for some rest amid the craziness.

Time for a check up!

Anyone with a toddler will know I've been watching too many cartoons. But it is so easy just to turn on the tv to get some free time to sew away. I've been instagraming (follow me at cleargirl811 over there!) a lot these past weeks but no updates over here. So here's what I've been up to:

This is my center for my latest venture: crazy and twisted quilters. A traveling bee where I start my quilt and then it travels to four other ladies who add some quilt as you go around my center. I am excited to see the next addition. 

I finished up this beautiful modernized disappearing 9 patch with Glimma. I will write a whole post on it someday. Here is a snap from my grandparents vacation on the beach. 

I made a peplum top from the lady skater dress pattern. I basically used the pattern pieces and assembled it my own way. I've just finished up a beautiful long sleeve black dress that I will be wearing to my husband's graduation on Friday so hopefully I will get some good pictures of it then. 

I've really been busy working on my Marcelle Medallion! It sure is growing. I technically only have one more border to go, but I will be posting a tutorial up soon (here or at pennypoppleton.com) for an additional border with 76 of these cute little guys:

They finish at 3" square and I am so in love with them. 

I've missed sharing with you guys, but I've been so busy just trying to keep up with my monthly bees and other random sewing commitments. 

September's Goal

I was going over my list of things I need to finish this month, and it is quite large! And then I was thinking about all my WIPs and asked myself "why do I do this?!" I have so many projects started or fabrics pulled. I made a list:

First up is my Crazy & Twisted starter. I am looking forward to this travelling quilt bee, but not too much for the shipping prices! I've started here with this fabric pull: It's due to ship off by the end of the month.

Remember this star quilt? I finished quilckly and have all the fabric for backing, but I still need to get it together. I think I will straight line quilt in the main star so I can tackle it at home.


On Monday I am taking this simple patchwork quilt and trying my hand on a long arm machine! An old family friend just moved close and said I could come try it for free! I think I will pay her to finish if I don't get it all done myself.


I have this cute constellation fabric cut into 4" squares just waiting to be sewn together, but I just haven't had the time between bee blocks and other projects I've been obsessing over.


I also need to...
1. finish quilting my Bella Hex Quilt (almost there!)
2. Buy a backing and quilt the Modernized D9P (top done)
3. Put together my LV octagons (Blocks complete)
4. Finish my "Home is..." hand worked wall hanging (in the hoop)
5. Work on my sister's Christmas wall hangings commissoned by my mom (fabric pulled)
6. Briar Rose Inside Out quilt top (fabric pulled)
7. Chicopee Scrappy Trip (all cut!)

But for the goal this month I really want to finish the quilt top for my Granny. She is going to dialysis and I know she really could go any day although she has kept kicking through a heart attack, amputation from diabetes, and kidney failure. She's a fighter. So I want to make this flower filled quilt to brighten up her days indoors and keep her warm during treatments. Here is my inspiration from Canoue Ridge Creations:

Granny Square Quilt by Canoue Ridge Creations on Flickr

Linking up with Fiber of all Sorts for my September goal.

A Little Koi

I was so pleased last week when I received an email from Amy Smart that I won her giveaway from Honey Be Good. I chose to receive the 13 fat quarter bundle of these delicious organic fabrics Koi for Coud9. I am so excited to make something great with them.

I do have a plan in mind: this adorable pieced hexagon quilt from Rashida Coleman-Hale who also designed the fabrics. So once these goodies came in the mail I ripped them open and took some pictures as part as the Quilt Photography Workshop link up over at Plum and June. 




I take all of my pictures on my iPhone. I know they aren't the best quality, but my only other camera is a 5-year old point and shoot and I just don't have time to take it out then upload them. And to tell the truth, my phone is just as good. Hopefully next year I can get a nice camera and take a class how to use it! I am completely lost on all things like that, but I would love to learn.

So I will stick with my iPhone photos for now and just enjoy the simple click and shoot and easy editing right on my phone. And I upload them from my phone too. 

Don't you just love this line? I love these blenders above. I can see the fish-inspired scales, but it doesn't look fishy. I was expecting the main fabric with the koi on it to be a little more navy, but it is a beautiful deep royal purple. So I won't be making a boy quilt with this stack, too many pinks and purples. 

I most of my pictures right in front of my back sliding glass door. I love the wood texture as background and all the natural light that comes in during the afternoon. 

But I must say my favorite print is this charcoal plus print. I want to buy the voile yardage and make a fun dress.

A Finished Airplane Quilt: For Charity

May was my month to quilt for the group Inspire at do. Good stitches. I chose to make red, white, and blue airplanes. It is so easy to make baby girl quilts, so I am trying to do boy quilts and mainly older ones. So I received all these wonderful airplanes from some lovely ladies all over the country.



I actually had 2 too many! But I decided to leave them out because it was easier to make the 4x5 configuration for a nice sized toddler quilt and fit better with the minky backing.



I did free-motion loops and clouds quilting on the top with the batting. My machine has been having tension issues and I was afraid to free-motion on minky. So this was the best choice. I think it turned out great. I love all the texture on the front. Here is a close up of the quilting: Loops and Clouds! I just went for it and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I love the solid red minky on the back and the nice textures on the top. And no binding! I always procrastinate on binding, so I decided to skip that part too. It seems like I did a lot of short cuts, but this had just as many steps as a normal quilt.

Here is my finished quilt with my lovely husband taking a break to hold it up for me. He's so sweet with giving me extra time to sew and staying up with me late while I try to finish. It has been raining every day here, so trying to get a picture has been difficult. So dreary and no sun!



And trying for inside wasn't any better. These little monkeys wanted right on it. I guess it's a hit! I hope so because this quilt is my Lovely Year of Finishes August goal (goal setting here). I am also entering it for the 100 Quilts for Kids at Swim Bike Quilt.
Updated: I handed off this quilt to my local Linus Project coordinator and she is finding an appropriate recipient .
Quilt Stats:
12" Blocks pieced from the wonderful ladies at Inspire at do. Good Stitches and tutorial from Badskirt
Pieced and quilted by me on my Bermimi with light blue thread (a Bernina 330)
Finishes about 45"x55"