new york beauty quilt along

I'm very excited to announce the New York Beauty Quilt Along! This quilt along is all about paper piecing. If you've never done paper piecing before, it might sound a little bit scary, but trust me, you can do it! The quilt along will feature step-by-step photos and instructions for each block by some very talented quilters, to give you the confidence to get off and running!

New York Beauty block from Kati of From the Blue Chair

We will be working with 10 New York Beauty blocks, and you can get a preview of the blocks here. Each block instruction makes one 8" x 8" block (as shown in the graphics); you can either assemble 4 of the same block to make one large 15.5" x 15.5" block (as pictured above), or you can mix and match to make something beautiful! Here are the approximate fabric requirements if you are planning on making all ten 8" x 8" blocks: - 10 fat eighths for main fabrics (or 5 fat quarters or scrap fabric) - 1-1/2 yards background fabric

<center><a href="http://www.amylouwhosews.com/2012/02/new-york-beauty-quilt-along.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Sew Sweetness" src="http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab257/bluemerleboutique/newyorkbeautybutton.jpg"/></a></center>

And here is the schedule for the block tutorials:
March 5 - Kim from My Go-Go Life {Block 0}
March 12 - Sara from Sew Sweetness {Block 5}
March 19 - Megan from Canoe Ridge Creations (Block 1}
March 26 - Kati from From the Blue Chair {Block 8}
April 2 - Jeni from In Color Order {Block 7}
April 9 - Amy from Sukie Don't You Know Who I Am? {Block 6}
April 16 - Katy from The Littlest Thistle {Block 3}
April 23 - Lee from Freshly Pieced {Block 4}
April 30 - Amy from amylouwho {Block 2}
May 7 - Lindsay from Lindsay Sews {Block 9}

 If you are thinking about participating, please join the Flickr Group! We'll be sharing fabric choices and help along the way!

(This announcement brought to you by Sara of Sew Sweetness!)

sew & tell v3.20: the beginnings of a quilt

So I was feeling the itch to work on brotherlouwho's quilt recently. I feel like there's always sewing to do for my family and then other stuff gets in the way.  So when I asked him if he wanted to help me, he was all sorts of enthusiastic!

I was gifted these lovely Heather Ross fabrics and some Katie Jump Rope by sweet Kim from My Go-Go Life over a year ago, and they've been begging me to play with them.  So during babylouwho's nap the other day I had him help me fussy cut some more 5.5 inch squares for the blocks.

 

I let him sit on my lap and help me sew the blocks together.  My seams may or may not be that straight.  But it's okay, he was having a ball!

When he saw the first block completed he said, "Mom! It looks like a picture frame around the fishies!"  Loved it! He's caught the vision.

And now I've found a cure for my procrastination, just ask for his help with my projects.  He asks everyday now if we can work some more on his quilt.  And we've gotten several more blocks finished!

 

Yesterday when we were sitting at the machine together he said to me, "Mom you're a good artist at sewing."  Are you kidding me?  I'll keep him, tantrums and all. 

I'm working on this quilt in an improv sort of way.  I have a lot of the middle squares cut and I'm cutting the sashing strips as we go.  I have no idea how big this quilt will end up being or how many squares I need.  It's fun to let him help me pick everything out as we go. It's also nice to not spend hours cutting a bunch of fabric out.

These blocks start with a 5.5" square and 2.5" strips (2 strips at 5.5" sewn to the top and bottom.  2 strips at 9.5" sewn on each side).  A classic square in square design.  My plan is to sort of alternate orange and blue the whole way through.  I like the direction we're going so far.  And when he just saw these pictures up here, he said, "Hey mom, can we work on this some more today?"

Your turn to share ~ Show us what you've got finished!
Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

sew & tell v3.19: scrappy fish quilt

Hi sew & tell-ers!  I have a fun treat of a guest today.  I met Leigh through my current Quilting Bee - Bee Tweet.  I was able to meet her in person last summer when I went to Utah.  She's a great friend and amazing quilter.  I hope you take a minute to check out her blog at Leedle Deedle Quilts.

*****
Hi everyone! So I joined the Scrap Attack Quilt Along hosted by Rachel of Stitched in Color. Truthfully I had other ideas for my scrap quilt, and I still may try to execute those plans, but for now - this quilt turned out exactly how wanted it to.

I made it for my sister's new baby boy in colors that I thought my sister would love.

For the quilting I just did a curvy/straight line (is there a name for that?) with my new walking foot. I have a Brother sewing machine and I've never had good luck with the walking foot it came with. Kati had the same problem and started using a generic walking foot and had much better luck. I bought a new generic one and I'm happy to report that my straight quilting is the best I've ever done. If you've had trouble with straight line quilting, I'd look into getting a new/different walking foot.

You can see more about this quilt on my original post.

******
Thank you Leigh! I love orange and blue together for little boys! And this is such a fun modern design.

Your turn to share ~ Show us what you've got finished!
Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

thank you

Dear friends thank you for your sweet and supportive comments. Writing it down helped me feel better. But you all made me feel like I can do it.

And lucky me, mrlouwho came home three days early from his training yesterday! Whew.

a little behind the scenes

alternate title: the one in which she explains that she's pretty much a mess and not superwoman.

Hey friends! I've had a blog post brewing in the back of my head for quite some time now.  I have so much going on right now, so many things I want to tell you about, some that I can't, and not because I'm have some super secret news (no I AM NOT pregnant nor am I debuting a new fabric line - although, that would be fun!).  We are just busy trying to keep some normalcy around here.

If you didn't know, mrlouwho is a United States Marine.  He been coming and going a lot lately.  They are doing training exercises for an upcoming deployment which means he will be gone for the better part of the year. There's something called OPSEC (Operational Security) which is basically guidance for military spouses and families to refrain from oversharing possibly sensitive information.  This is the main reason I haven't said much lately.  I probably won't talk about it much more, but I just wanted to keep it real and let you know why I've been so out of touch lately.

I'm a little frustrated with myself.  The constant upheavals of the coming and going have been difficult.  I can't find a rhythm and I'm not doing as much as I would like, I'm not sleeping enough, and I sort of feel like I'm waiting around for the dreaded day of the real departure.

I have great plans in my head of being super productive, super housekeeper, super mom, and super field trip planner. Only I can't seem to find the cape that comes with all that super.

But the reality is more like I'm just keeping afloat until the end of the day when I can sit in the messy nice quiet house and watch more TV than I'm willing to admit.  Although, I don't consider Downton Abbey a waste of time. (check it out!!)

I tell you all of this, not to ask for sympathy, or to hear "You're so strong" "I don't know how do you do it!"  The fact is, I don't feel strong and I get through it like any of us get through hard things.  I grit my teeth (ask my dentist), bear down, and plow through.  It's not always easy, but I've got a constant shadow of sunshine helping me along the way. 

 Actually, three.

Just know that I miss being more in tune with what is going on in my world of sewing bloggers, but for now, I have other things to focus on.  I'll still be here.  Like I said, I have things to share. I just have to make the time to do it.

Sew & Tell will still go on!  In fact if you are interested in guest posting for sew & tell leave me a comment (with an email attached) and we'll chat!

And thanks for being my friends and understanding.  I miss you! 

I hope you get lots of sweet kisses from your loved ones today.

sew & tell v3.18: a tooth fairy pillow

Hey friends!  I hope you have all had a great week!  It's been super busy over here!  I was so excited to entertain my fun friend Karen I met blogging several years ago.  She traveled here to pick up her husband who was coming home from a deployment to Afghanistan.  It's a long fun story about how we met, and in short, I was reminded of the blessings of sweet friends that we may find in unexpected places.

So, I didn't get any sewing in.  But my fun friend Summer of Artfulife has been busy making these adorable tooth fairy pillows!

I love how she fussy cut this darling fabric to make this sweet little pillow.  She has the story of her own childhood tooth fairy pillow as well as a tutorial to make your own.  Go check it out!

And as a side note, Summer and I met online a few years ago.  Somehow she and my friend Karen that I mentioned earlier got to be friends on facebook.  Then the three of us plus another friend (that none of us has met in person yet) started up a little photography project blog (that's on hiatus currently - but maybe not for long!) and I just feel so lucky to know these ladies.   I am strongly reminded often of the blessings of like-minded friends and kindred spirits and I thank you all for being here!

I should have some finishes to share next week.  I'm so close to finishing up several things!


Your turn to share ~ Show us what you've got finished!
Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

sew & tell v3.17 - a small finish is still a finish!

Hey friends! We've had a busy crazy week around here and even though I have 3 mini quilts almost finished, I didn't work on any of them.  We were busy celebrating brotherlouwho's 4th birthday so I made him a birthday shirt!

Really, these are so easy to make and fun to wear. 

I just made a template for the number, cut it out (All-Star Stripe from Riley Blake), used fusible hem tape to hold it in place and straight stitched around the edges.  It's a good thing it didn't take long, because I almost forgot to do it!

He wore it two days in a row and would have worn it all week had he not gotten it so dirty!                                                                       

Your turn to share!  Show us what you've got finished!
Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!