do. Good Stitches Finish

January was my turn again to choose a block for the do. Good Stitches Nurture circle and I chose a mini strip-and-flip. The girls did awesome as always!

9 blocks went on the front of the quilt and one on the back.  I decided to line up the colored striped vertically.  The quilt finished 55"x67".

For the first time in years I didn't use free-motion quilting. Instead I used a triple zig-zag stitch with a walking foot to quilt in the stripes with colored thread.  Suffice it to say, the experience didn't inspire me to convert back from free motioning :)

Since the thread colors are matched to the main part of each stripe, where it crosses over the "flip" section it contrasts.

Since about a year ago my do. Good Stitches circle has been supporting Covered in Love, which is such an honor!  I love seeing both our labels side-by-side.  The backing fabric looks a little washed out in the picture, but it's actually a pretty punchy orange with sprinkles of green.

Covered in Love makes quilts of comfort.  The latest CiL block drive just started recently and will run through April. If you want to help make blocks for grieving families jump on board here!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Listening to...RENT.

Lots to Do

Lots going on around here.  The faded quarter cabin block to Jan/Feb's Covered in Love block drive have been coming in and they look great! I've been experimenting with layouts and really like the one above.  There's still nearly a whole month left on the drive if anyone wants to jump in and contribute!

Nearly all of the blocks from my Nurture circle pals for January's do. Good Stitches bee are here. I have been experimenting with layouts. What do you think of the one above vs below?  They look kinda the same to me, even though they aren't...

Nancy R. gifted me some leftover black/white/bright paper pieced blocks that I've started peeling the papers off.  Going to see what I can do with these.

The actual goal for the week is to get the last of the corner blocks sewn into 2 tops.

Meanwhile, what I should be doing is studying this, but I don't wanna!

There were some great projects linked up to Sew Some Love last week. Remember to come back every Wednesday to check out what folks are sewing and link up any charity sewing you've got going on!

 Linking to Oh Scrap! and Design Wall Monday.

A finish and a Liebster (a wha?)

Hello! Happy Friday!  I finished my rainbow strip and flip this week. It's going to be going to one of my little cousins as soon as I make a quilt for her little brother, too.

I backed the quilt with a fluffy minky-type throw. Since it's double-sided I was able to skip the batting and just used some white flannel instead.

Quilting was stitch in the ditch on the left- and right-most sections (the "right side up" sections) and some FMQ hearts in the flipped section.  Quick, easy, and cute!

Also this week, the wonderful Jackie at NW Patchwork surprised me with a Liebster Award!  If you've never heard of a Liebster before, it's a blog award created to celebrate small blogs and help them to gain more followers.  I'm so thrilled to have been selected :)

Rules are the following:

• Post eleven facts about yourself.
• Answer the questions the nominee has set for you and create eleven questions for people  you’ve nominated.
• Choose eleven people (with fewer than 200 followers) to give this award to and link them in your post.
• Go to their page and let them know.
• No tag backs!

Facts about Me:
1.  I am an only child.  I still live with my parents and don't really plan to move out anytime soon.
2.  I started quilting at 21 on a whim and have been totally self taught.  My biological grandmother was a quilter, but she died long before I came along.  As people say, it skips a generation.
3.  I am just about to graduate nursing school and be an RN.
4.  I love to sail and have spent parts of 2 summers on the Hawaiian Chieftain. (Some pictures here).
5.  I am 100% a cat person.  Dogs are cute, but only from a distance. 
6.  I live in north-east Texas in the country.  My town has a population of 300 and my graduating class (from public school) was 38.
7.  I love to write. One of my personal goals is to be a published author of fiction and non-fiction.  (If YOU hope to write a book one day, I'm going to put in a plug for NaNoWriMo here.  That's where I learned to write long-form and wrote my first novels.)
8.  I once worked for a daily newspaper as a page designer, copy editor, desk editor, and opinion writer. I really enjoyed it and hope to do it again someday.
9.  I do a lot of community theater, usually as a stage manager. Basically the stage manager makes sure that when the curtain goes up a show happens.
10.  My first degree was from Texas A&M (of Johnny Football fame).
11.  I am a sucker for all of Basic Grey's fabric lines for Moda.

Here are my questions from Jackie:

#1  Are you going to "Sewing Summit"?
Unfortunately not.  I wish I were!

#2  What is your latest fabric purchase?
A couple of yards of white flannel to use as the "batting" in the strip and flip quilt.  Of course, some remnants also came home with me.  A nice yellow print and almost a yard of a blue, ribbed knit for baby blankets.  I am, without a doubt, a remnant shopper.

#3  Do you FMQ yourself or send them out to a longarm quilter?
I don't send my quilts away to a long-armer.  Maybe someday, but for now I just don't have the budget. I have straight line quilted with a waking foot on my small home machine for years.  I just started learning to FMQ this year (it was my New Years Resolution) and have been making steady progress.

#4  What is your favorite quilt block?
This is a tough one... I think I'd have to go with the good old fashioned half square triangle. It's just such a simple and versatile block.

#5  If you drink, what is your favorite cocktail?

Lol! I do drink, but I'm not sure I've ever even had a cocktail! How about a Dark and Stormy?  Good ginger-beer and dark spiced rum.

#6  What is your favorite TV show?
Mythbusters! I could (and do) watch reruns for hours.  Top Gear (UK version) is a close second.

#7  If you download music onto ipod,phone,ect--what was the last song you chose?
I downloaded a bunch of Macklemore's song the other day.  Same Love and Otherside are my favorites.

#8  If you Pinterest--what was your latest pin?
I don't use Pinterest, actually.  I don't need one more social media site in my life :)

#9  How many pets do you have?
Seven total!  Three dogs, big Labradors that live outside and roam the countryside.  We also have a ferret; she is the ruler of the roost for sure!  (There are some pictures of her in this post.)  Finally, three cats.  Elvis, Calley, and Wilson.  Wilson is my baby and the "special" one. He is allergic to cats! (More about the cats on the "Meet the Cats" tab at the top of the page.)

#10  Where do you sew?  Kitchen table? Bedroom?
I sew in my bedroom at an L-shaped test.  One side is for sewing and the other side is for the computer and school.

#11  How do you store your fabric stash?
I keep everything folded on shelves where I can see it all, sorted by color and type.

Here are the bloggers I am nominating!

QuiltinCats (quilting + travel + cats!)
No Airplane Here (a friend of mine from college who I have finally given the quilting bug)
Orange Crumpled Napkin (quilting with lots of life commentary)
Back River Designs (really creative and skilled techniques)
Made in Home (cute modern sewing projects + knitting)
Quilting Barbie (I'm stretching the "less than 200 followers rule" here just a bit but this blog is worth it.  She makes the cutest, bright, modern designs.)

Go check out these bloggers!!

And here are my questions for these ladies:
1.  Why/when/how did you start quilting?
2.  What is your "real job"?
3.  How many/what kind of pets do you have?
4.  Favorite TV show?
5.  Preferred source of caffeine?
6.  Favorite fabric line(s)?
7.  Are you a sweet or savory person? What's your favorite treat?
8.  Do you have kids?  Significant other?
9.  Movie star crush?  (PS, mine is Robert Downey Jr!)
10. Favorite place you've ever travelled?
11. What's your preferred quilting method? FMQ, straightline, or send it away?

So there we are, thanks so much to Jackie for the opportunity!!

Linking to Finish it Friday.

Design Wall Rainbow

Hello! It's design wall Monday again.  I was sick this past week; it's been a while since I've been that sick! I pretty much went to school and slept.  Fortunately, by Thursday I felt a little better and the first thing I wanted to do was sew!  I made a quick top this weekend from the "Strip and Flip" tutorial over at Cluck Cluck Sew.  I think once I get it done this one done it will be going to my cousin's little girl. Of course that means I need to make one for her brother, too :)

The top measures 52" x 38".  It was super quick to put together; I think the most time consuming part was selecting and cutting the strips. 

Linking up to Design Wall Monday!