New Month, New Quilt . . . .

It's February, already, time to hang a different quilt in my living room. I don't think I've blogged about this quilt since it came home from the quilter. This quilt could not compliment my living room decor any better.

This is Lifetime Quilt #67 named Olde World Stars. The pattern is Root Beer Float by Hyacinth Designs and the fabric, Olde World Style by Monique Dillard for Maywood Studios.

This quilt went through some ugly stages, (click here) but sure turned out nicely in the end.

The last time I blogged about a finished quilt I got a request for a close-up of the quilting, here's my best attempt at it. The quilting is simple and sparse. I'm usually a "more is more" type of gal but in this case "less is more" and it works perfectly. Dawn at the Sewing Basket quilted this top for me.

Here's a view from the back, you can sort of see some of the quilting. This is the fabric that I originally was going to use as a border but then decided against it, it makes a super back.

Another update, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later but I must admit I was not prepared for what I found on my kitchen counter today,

EEEEK, my first leaf off my $4.99 Miracle Home Depot Poinsettia.

Isn't that just the saddest thing you've ever seen, I suspect there are going to be more sad days to come. For now, I'm going to focus on the pretty blooms on the top. Besides, with this unusually warm temperatures we've been having, I'm bound to have some things blooming in my yard real soon, the circle of plant life.

Have you noticed we get an extra day this year, and that day comes this month! A whole extra day, what a wonderful gift. I think we all should decide to make that one day something special, a day to do whatever we please. I've not nailed down the details in my head yet, but I think my day will involve no make-up, pjs, sewing, and cupcakes. If I could just get Starbucks to deliver. Have you given this any thought because I'm open to suggestions.

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My House is Full . . . . . .

Just in time for the parade, my finished "Full House" which I have named "Christmas in the City".

My project finished at 41" x 42" and has approximately 423 pieces.

The fabric is Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater.

The pattern is Full House by Carrie Nelson for Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

This is Lifetime Quilt #79 and my second finish for 2012.

My first two projects of the year have a total of approximately 1.422 pieces.

I got a few requests for my town house pattern, here it is:

The roof is a 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" - For the roof cut a 5 1/2" square diagonally twice use one piece- for the sky cut a 3 1/4" square diagonally once, use both pieces. Trim to correct size.

Door - red in picture - cut one 2" x 2 3/4" piece

Windows - green in picture - cut five 1 1/2" x 1 3/4" piece

Siding - black dot print in picture - cut three 1 1/2" x 4 1/2" pieces, one 3" x 1 1/2" piece, three 1 1/2" x 1 3/4" pieces, and five 1" x 1 3/4" pieces.

Once all the pieces are correctly sewn together you get a town house that is 4 1/2" wide x 10 1/4" long.

Someone left a comment saying that my town houses reminded them of Meg Ryan's town house in the movie "You've Got Mail", one of my all time favorite movies. I bet I've watched that movie nearly 50 times. No wonder I thought I needed some town houses!

Additional Note on Sweetwater's "The Neighborhood" pattern - I just received the pattern in the mail, those cute little cottages are appliqued! I thought they were pieced. I'm not in the mood for an applique project now but am thinking maybe I can convert the applique patterns into pieced patterns, stay tuned for further updates!

Melinda at Melinda Quilts has made the pattern and said the applique wasn't that hard, she machine applied her cottages. Click here for a looksie.

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All In A Row . . .

I got my town houses done . . .

I just loved the look of the snowflake print on the roofs of my town houses so that's what I went with for all of them.

And my Carrie houses are done too. . .

I decided to mix up the roofs on these houses.

This pattern is gong together very quickly, even with my small adjustment. I think you still have time to make this pattern and join in on Sherri and Sinta's Full House parade, even if you haven't started yet!

I enjoyed making Carrie's houses so much I looked around for some other houses,

I think I like the looks of this Sweetwater pattern called "The Neighborhood", it has a summer beach town feel to it. I've noticed that there is still plenty of Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda fabric available, and several online stores have it marked down. There's something to be said for being the last one to jump on a bandwagon!

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Another Year of Schnibbles . . .

I'm so excited Sinta and Sherri decided to host another year of Schnibbles sew along, or as they have named it, "another year of schnibbles". Catchy title don't you think, right to the point!

For the first Schnibbles sew along I managed to finish 3 out of 12 and not a one made as called for in the pattern, but I love them all.

The January sew along pattern is Full House.

I love this pattern and after seeing Carrie's Christmas houses I decided to make my Full House using Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater for Moda to go in the guest room with my Countdown to Christmas quilt.

I love this pattern so much I didn't see me making any changes, it's hard to improve on perfection.

So I made my first house then got to thinking maybe I wanted a more of a "Christmas in the City" theme.

And wouldn't some townhouses look nice . . . . maybe I'll be making some changes to this pattern after all.....stay tuned!

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First Finish for 2012 . . . . .

My Starry Eyed quilt is done. Although, I'm not calling my project Starry Eyed, mine is called Countdown to Christmas. That's just what I've always called it in my head, I know, that's the fabric name not the pattern name, but when this quilt is out, I'll be counting down to Christmas so I think it suits.

The last time I blogged about this quilt someone left a comment about my wonky stars not being so wonky! I followed the directions to a "t" but somehow mine all came out looking the same!! I'm a neat freak even when I'm not trying to be a neat freak!

Just in case you missed my earlier posts regarding this project here's the lowdown:

I used Angela from Fussy Cut's Moda Bake Shop pattern, Starry Eyed. The pattern called for 16 inch finished blocks, 4 across by 5 down. I increased my block size to 18 inches and went 5 blocks across by 5 blocks down. My quilt finished at 90" x 90".

The fabric is Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater for Moda. It took an entire fat quarter bundle plus almost 4 yards of background fabric to make this quilt.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 78 and my first finish for 2012.

This quilt has exactly 999 pieces.

I usually come up with some change for most patterns I sew, sometimes just a little tweaking, other times a complete overhaul. I felt that this pattern was perfect just the way it was, so other than changing up the size a little, my quilt pretty much looks like everyone else's, which drove me crazy. So I made one little change, just to be different, but I won't tell you what it is, see if you can spot it.

I made my quilt bigger to fit my guest room bed, once it's quilted I think it will be a near perfect fit.

One of the reasons I bought this bed was the interesting feature of being able to change the fabric in the headboard. I bought additional yardage to cover the headboard when I have this quilt out.

I decided to go with this piece of fabric.

I looked forward to making this project from the first time I saw it, last summer. It was a fun project and went together quickly and easily. I asked Angela about creating a site where we can see all the quilts made using her pattern, a popular request according to Angela. She plans to share the photos as soon as she has time and will blog about it when it's ready. I can hardly wait to see some projects made with fabric other than Countdown to Christmas.

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