Monday

Spent about 5 hours doing bookwork/computer stuff today, and that seemed like a marathon.  I spent an hour sewing after that, and it was much more enjoyable.

(this shows the next border being added, but before the batting for this round has been added)

I added on another round to my Salt Water Squares quilt. 
If you're wondering what I'm doing, it is quilting it in pieces, from the center outward, so that it is easier to maneuver at the sewing machine.  I did another quilt this way one time, and talked about it  here.  It is a good technique to use for when you want to do some special free motion quilting.
I hope tomorrow I'll be able to spend a good chunk of time quilting on it!

On the weekend, I started  another project using this line of fabrics:

 It's one of the free pattern downloads on Tula Pink's website.  here: 

It is called Shoreline.  It seems that the center is a bit smaller than the grey parts, due to my less than perfect quarter inch seam.  However, maybe if I just quilt it more densely in the grey parts, it will all come out okay.  From this angle, it sort of looks like highrises:

(Molly, I'm glad you picked up your fabrics,  I'm sure that your little person will love what you make from them!)

WIP wednesday

I'm making progress.. yesterday I quilted the little baby quilt size of the new pattern I wrote called "Fallingwater".  This morning I finished sewing on the binding, so that's all done!

 I put minkee fleece on the back, which makes it really soft for a little person.  The quilting is all straight lines using a walking foot.

 I'm also ready to add another round to this quilt, which has no name yet. 

 the next round will be the grey and the coral colored squares again,

 I'm adding sections as I go, so that the quilting will be more manageable.

 I'm tempted to make it up in another colorway...

I'm coming along on cutting down the number of works in progress that I have.  Partly this is by finishing some projects, but mostly it's by giving away some projects to the Serendipity group.  I'd like to have fewer things sitting on my shelves and more things out in the world being used.
Do you give away a lot of your quilts? If so, to who? 
This is the link to the Needle and Thread Network WIP round-up  here.

 It is number 80 this week!  
Thanks for visiting!

Ambitious Quilting

 I started my quilt using Salt Water fabrics by Tula Pink.  I am quilting it in sections so that I can be a bit more ambitious in the free motion quilting areas.  I find that it can get quite unwieldy to twist and turn a piece if its too large.

The central section is pretty colorful, so I used a straight line diamond pattern:

 I drew it out to scale beforehand, so that I would know where to place the lines.
The pale gray sections were the place to do free motion,

 I decided on a pattern of seashells and seaweed, with little pebbles to fill in the side areas.
First I did the central swath, then I filled in the pebbles on the sides

 Before I started, I got inspired by leafing through "In the Studio", by Angela Walters, who has some really good information about how to plan out your quilting designs, especially with a view to "modern" quilts:

 One of her suggestions is to sketch out ideas before hand, so I tried that.  I did find it helpful, especially to figure out some seashell designs.

 I also warmed up by doing a little swatch

I enjoyed the whole process, and now I am ready to add another section when I come back to this project; it will use the turquoise fabrics, plus more gray!
I'm not quite sure how large I'll make this quilt.  part of me wants to make it large enough to use on the bed, but that's pretty big!  we'll see.

I'm linking up again to the WIP website, here , so be sure to click on that link to see what others have been doing this week!  Also, hello to all you who are visiting from there!

Start, Finish, Repeat

I started a new project today, but then again, I finished one as well, so I'm holding steady in my number of ongoing projects.

( I am linking up with the TGIFF group today!  If you're visiting from there, welcome, if you want to check out what lots of others have been finishing up this week, press here, TGIFF

I am so loving the new Salt Water fabric collection by Tula Pink for Westminster Fabrics.  There's just something about the color combination that I am drawn to right now:

 coral, pale grey, lime green, turquoise, teal,
Yes, they really are the colors of the sea,

 this is the start of a new quilt I am sewing,

 but if you are interested in other quilts using this collection, you must see the five free downloads that are available!

i don't know which one I like most...

Shoreline...

 Color Blocks

Anchors Aweigh:  

Tranquil Waters:

 In addition to the free patterns, there is a kit for the Salt Water Hexie quilt:

(we have several of the kits in stock, they have 1008 pre-cut fabric hexagons, paper pieces, and the pattern)

And I finished sewing the binding on to this quilt,
 It is a Yellow Brick Road pattern, with some large fussy cut pieces of fabric blended in with the pieced blocks. 

And finally, this is the current state of my Color-blocked Chevron strip quilt,