Paper-piecing Heaven

So there happens to be this neat woman named Janeen who designs Amazing! paper-piecing blocks. I'm an avid follower of her blog called Quilt Art Designs.
Come on, I'm sure you've seen her designs popping up all over.
She happens to sell her patterns on Craftsy, featuring well over 100 patterns as well as complete themed pattern collections in eBooks.
Anyhow, she's up to something wonderful tomorrow (March 1st!) marks the start of her
2014 Art Quilt Q-A-L!!
It's called "Girl in the Wind"

isn't this incredible?!?!?!

This is a paper-pieced art quilt and I am simply melting with desire to start working on it! Completely affordable and given in weekly installments, it'll be a breeze to keep up with this!
If you'd like to join in at any time, visit her page about the quilt-a-long here.

Can't wait to share the process!!
Happy paper-piecing!

Joining In & Keeping Busy, Sunday Stash #1

I wanted to share my list of things I'm going to "Participate" in.
Take a look, you may want to join in the fun too!
Shall we dive in?


Globetrotting designed & hosted by Pat Sloan
This one is very interesting with the videos from Pat and history highlights behind each block. I'm making the first block (center square) in this creamsicle/gray color pallet. Flickr group can be found here.

"Fiesta de la Flores"2014 applique BOM with
Reeze of Morning Glory Designs

I just discovered this woman and her incredible applique work! Amazing details! I'm really excited to participate in this BOM and do some relaxing handstitching. My grandmother loved to do applique as do I. Here's what I've pulled for the first block, using scraps of course! *A heads up, the patterns are only available for free during the current month. If you miss a block, she sells them for a very reasonable price.*

Aurifill Designer of the Month Challenge
Each month a different designer, block and chances to win!
I have yet to sew with any Aurifill, so I am really happy to follow along and have a chance to win some thread! Plus, each month is a designer feature with really indepth interviews. I love learning about other quilters! January's block features 'Spools' and a neat tablerunner project. Here's my color pallet for this one, again using up my scraps! Flickr group can be found here.

Pantone's Color of the Year Challenge

This year's color, Radiant Orchid. Which happens to be one of my favorite haircolors! There have been some fabulous posts by Pantone on pinterest. I just might be up for the challenge!

Classic Meets Modern with Erin at Sew at Home Mummy
A wonderful quilt along featuring a classic block each month and a challenge to participants to give it a "modern" twist. The results will be inspirational! I'm making the January block in a mulberry pallet (scraps!). Flickr group can be found here.

And of course, the Finish Along 2014 hosted by Katy of The Littlest Thistle. You can read my post about that here.

This is just a small list that I'm going to work hard at following along with. I know there are more, leave a link here if you've got BOM's or QAL's to share and I'll update!


I'm also sharing some sewing supplies/fabric purchases of this last week and linking up with another newly found linky party, Sunday Stash with Molli Sparkles! The bling is so much fun!

A trip to the Salvation Army and a 50% off coupon for the whole store from my mother, I scored! Found doll hair, a scrapbook album, some amazing vintage weaving books and yes, over 20 embroidery hoops, various sizes. Those were a steal....way less than a dollar a piece!

And my sewing bounty from a trip to Joann's. Fat quarters, muslin yardage (for new dolls!) and APQ magazine for the Tone-It-Down pattern. Not pictured (but purchased!) are the batting and stuffing which was all I really needed. You know how a trip to the fabric store goes.

Off to make some blocks!

Happy Stitching!

Peaceful Weekend

I'm really happy I was able to relax and get to work on some things this weekend. I set up a little sewing corner in a friends downtown studio. I was quite enthralled in cutting up fabric and working on doll pattern tests.

I tried my hand at adding gussets to the doll pattern I had drafted years ago. It was tiny tiny work. And as much as I dislike using pins ( i stab myself too much!), this was the only way to do it. Slowest sewing I've done on the machine in such a long time.

I realized after an hour of tiny piecing that I probably should enlarge the pattern a bit and give myself a break. Duh! What's with me and teeny tiny project attempts. Especially later in the evening. Am I trying to drive myself batty or what? Needless to say, I did take a break from the doll project after successfully putting in a head gusset. And I jumped right into cutting more 5in squares because apparently I have half-square triangle patterns on the brain. 

I am really into rearranging them on my design wall. I like the fact that when I throw a bunch up there, I can move them around and around and have a different look each time I step back. Which is not helping me make any decisions mind you. But it's fun and quick! I admit, I do have some friends and relatives having babies in the near future, so technically I am doing something productive. I've been toying with the idea of making a Beginners Quilt Class as well, and these HST quilts are simple enough that I might make this the class project. Here's the latest one that I still have on the design wall.

Though I've already rearranged it twice, I'm still liking this first take. I think it may end up looking like this. A viewer says it looked "too sophisticated" to be a baby blanket and that it reminded him of old man socks. I agreed with the sock reference, but perhaps someone out there has a "sophisticated baby". Hahaha. It made me laugh. I love getting input. I've got green and orange squares cut up now for today's HST quilt project! I'm on a roll!

Also! I'm very excited to have come across another quilt-a-long with an AMAZING project! The Perv-Along, (love the name) hosted by Charlotte at Displacement Activity.

The quilt is going to be amazing!!! It reminds me of a cosmic burst. And of course, I'm kinda hooked on the solid fabric quilts. So here's what I pulled for this perv-a-long.

I feel a bit odd not having "brand name" fabrics with cool color names like "papaya" or "moss". I generally find most my fabrics at swap meets, thrift stores and yard sales. Very rarely do I buy new fabrics. I love all the new prints and collections and I'm sure I have a nice smattering of them in my stash. But I've a complete novice at being able to name the designers and such. When I do buy solids, they are just a store brand name and nothing that exciting. Oh well. I'll get there someday. Kona's solids look delicious!

 How was your weekend? Hope you make something awesome!

Clearings

I've been spending my time trying to tackle all the half finished projects i have piled around the studio. It's a lofty attempt, but I've been making good headway. And the rewarding feeling of finishing something is excellent fuel to the creative fire. So this weekend, I finished the last four blocks of the Summer Sampler QAL i started in...duh, summer, and with such good intentions.
But with a huge sigh of relief and a beer of course, i am celebrating finishing all twelve blocks! Whoo hoo! This quilt i started with the idea of making something for myself finally, and i still love it. This is the first all solid quilt and how addicting! I have since added to my solid stash heavily i tell you.
I still have to edge most of the blocks in black to square them off at  12 1/2 in., then i think i will still add more black in boarders around each block.....
I haven't even begun to think about the back or the quilting details.

The best part about this quilt.....all the paper piecing. I'd never tried that before, and the results were amazing. I'm kinda obsessed with the option of precision and paper piecing can fill that craving.
Though many of my blocks are not perfect, they're so close it hurts! And especially on my first go of it. Sooooo in love with paper piecing!

Very easy and with amazing results!

Happy Sunday and Cheers!

xOxx Mammalia

DoorNail Kinda Dead

So i have been in a sweep of busy. Too busy to work on my two QAL that have now ended. My goal there is to at least finish them both before i go back to work in two weeks.
Being busy means i have a constant flow of current and future projects in the works. It isn't bad to be busy, I just would like it to feel a bit more orderly.

These are the last two blocks i made, about five days ago, feels more like a month.

At some point my anxious mind will rest and pick back up where it left off.

I did really enjoy a quick little project, this Fox, for a friends son on his 2nd birthday. Such fun doing itty bitty patchwork! More to come.

Wednesday

Blocks 1- 4, a photo by amandamillar on Flickr.

I had every intention of sharing my long day of Block sewing yesterday, but alas, I passed out instead. The two on the right were done yesterday, and now i'm almost caught up with one quilt. Today, the other. Tiny Tiny stars and a new row of house blocks.
Keeping myself busy I am.

Contemplation Day

It's one thing to be lost in your thoughts, but to build your thoughts while doing a repetitive motion, that can be like a trance.
So i meditated while working on the RRQAL project, trying to catch up, Jon came over to work on his computer, and there was just music.
I finished two of the four blocks for the second row and am very nearly done with the last two.  Seven hours. Three real 10min breaks. Creation.

Here

The last two TINY star blocks waiting to be assembled

And I spent that time contemplating the many paths at my feet. There's a lot of spinning in decisions, not that i'm uneasy, but rather noticing how I've only been trying to align things that can align on their own, in their own way. I realize how much time i spend thinking unnecessary thoughts, so i thought useful thoughts today. Filled to the brim with inspiration. My mind filled with book projects, quilt designs, business ventures, and color feeling projects. 

Isn't the beginning the hardest part? 

I just think of continuous walking through continuous doorways. Unlock the flow. Do.

Business of Business

I've been swept up in a lofty idea coming to fruition. It involved a pre-interview and then almost 8 hours of technical research, personal essay writing and resume building. Pheww. I thought i was going to loose it. Now i get to just wait for it. I'm not sure which level of anticipation is worse.
At least i have plenty of other activities to keep me busy.
I've lost total track of this week. But here's my nice 2nd block from the Summer Sampler Series quilt along. I'd better get jump started on the third!

On Flickr

And among all my sewing projects, i've completed two tailoring jobs this week, And....started an enormous curtain project that will be officially the largest patchwork i've created to date. I can't wait to make something even bigger. That gallery space is awesome.

on flickr

Oh! And since this is a running list of where i've been and what i've been doing, I wrote another little Zine  called 'Changing Energy - Plenty of Action But no Control' yesterday at the Blood Orange Info Shop, which is another amazingly awesome space. Like a tard, i spent three hours making the zine and playing with a baby instead of taking any sort of photos. But i'll put the zine up soon.

Alight. Back to work.

Crazy Mind

My yesterday was filled with mental floating. I attempted some patchwork and was successful in finishing the block, but without a single seam matched. Lovely and wonky. I am in some serious need of practice, and attention to my machine, because i somehow forgot to set my needle at the 1/4" and was just eyeballin' it.

Well. Although i love the colors, I am truly amazed at how off my points and seams are.
This was the first block for the Summer Sampler Series, another is out today at Fresh Lemons. I've decided to push on, I'll leave this first block as is, till the end.

So i'm onto the next Block today, with more luck hopefully, now that i remembered that little button on my machine. I'm swirling with projects at the moment.
More photos later. And actual Shop updates! Which i don't even want to think of how long it's been since i added new merch to the store. How sad i am sometimes.
Ciao!

Keeping Upon My Path

I enjoyed spending my morning finishing up the first row of the 'Rockin Robin Quilt Along'. The patchwork and quilting challenges i've given myself are proving to stir up my fabric obsession. Yumm!

This fabric is an extremely old loosely woven pillowcase. Its not very sturdy and i caused myself more trouble than worth, but i was in love with the ashy grey green color. Done. Challenge met.

I tried out a blue boarder, but felt the raciness took away from the more mellow tone of the block.

Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the first block of the 'Summer Sampler Series' shown here at Swim, Bike Quilt!. Here are my fabrics i've picked, finally. It did take me three days to decide and then another two to get a good picture. Ha!

L-R : Sunshine, Seafoam, Sky,
Turquoise, Peach, Cherry, Mulberry,
 Goldenrod, Raw Sienna , Black
(my own names)

I also had a bit of fun yesterday doing a little repair project for a dear friend. A custom closure flap made with Deer hide on a backpack.

Nightnight.

Sunday Swapmeet Treasure

Found good stuff today.

I have photos of my first row of blocks for the Rockin' Robin QAL and I chose my fabrics for the Summer Sampler Series starting tomorrow, but unfortunately at this hour, i have a serious lack of photo skills and i am not happy with the color. So tomorrow for those.

So. Till tomorrow, with better photos, because i am SUPER excited to be tackling two quilts at once.