WiP Wednesday - I Heart Halloween edition

It's my most favorite of favorite days. 

I'll be filling the house with the lovely scent of pumpkin pie.

And lighting my pumpkins for one more night.

I went after my pumpkin with a Dremel. It was magical.

Except for the thick layer of pumpkin dust. Next year I'm wearing goggles and an apron. 

 My Doctor Who inspired pumpkin.

Love the way it lights up. 

The Mr. carved his out to produce a brighter glow.

He's pointed out that his is brighter than mine.

Twice.

I've still had time for fabric in my pumpkin mayhem. 

Roundup: 

New:
Swoon:

It's finally happening. There's been an enormous amount of cutting for my Swoon quilt. All the background pieces are cut. And enough prints for four squares. Then I ran into a bit of a glitch. I'm six FQs short and completely at odds with what to do about it. 

I could order more Outfoxed. Maybe some jewels. Or mix prints in from other lines. 

I'm just not sure at this point. 

Ongoing: 

ZZQAL:

I'm just as surprised as the rest of you that this quilt has made an appearance. While wondering what to do about my Swoon I needed something mindless to do. So I grabbed the baskets and started chain piecing like crazy. 

That's the pile I ended up with.

That's a lot of ironing to do. 

No Progress:
WWC
Bottled Rainbows

Coming Soon:
Police Box
Scrap Vomit
Hush Bella
Mario QAL



Finishes: 0
New:1
WiPs: 4 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's that time of year again!

I've been thinking all weekend about which quilt to enter this time around. I couldn't seem to come to a solid decision. So Sunday night I decided to sleep on it.

Then I went to bed and watched my husband grab the Grape Soda quilt and wrap it around himself like a burrito (we have two quilts on the bed...to avoid the blanket wars...which I usually start...okay okay, I always start them).

Suddenly, it didn't seem like that hard of a choice at all. This quilt was made for me. I broke into my precious Tula Pink stash. Ordered the purple fabric with the little pindots from rather far away. I even ran a whole QAL around it.

Then when I finished it, the Mr. stole it. He stole it with such conviction that I couldn't take it back.

I'm not upset in the slightest.

Grape Soda
Measures 70" x 85"
Made during the Summer of 2012 for the Soda Pop Quilt-a-long on my blog.
Pattern by Katy Jones from the book Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters. 
Quilted with purple thread on my home machine.
Best categories: Applique, Home Machine Quilted

Close up of the quilting:

Be sure to stop by the Blogger's Quilt Festival to see all of the entries! I know I'll be browsing them for the rest of the week. 

Swag Winner!

I completely forgot that yesterday the Mr. was taking me out for a early Anniversary date!

I hope y'all will forgive me for being away from my computer.

The Shakespeare Tavern was calling.

Ready for a Swag Winner?

I counted...and then counted again just to make sure and the winner is:

Oh HAI! 

I'll be emailing you ;) 

Thank you everyone for entering! And thank you for the comments! I read every single one of them even if I didn't get the chance to respond. 

I do try to respond to ever comment left here but that gets a bit tricky with giveaways. 

Something Wicked This Way Comes!

I'm so excited to be part of this month long event!

If you haven't heard about this paper piecing party, what have you been sewing all month?

Every day in October some really great bloggers have been offering up Halloween Paper Pieced designs for free.

It's been so great to see all of the other designer's blocks and now it's time to share mine!

Witch's Cauldron Paper Pieced Block

Block finishes at 10" 

Note about the PDF: 

I've designed the PDF where you can either foundation piece the block or cut all the pieces out and piece it the traditional way.

If you cut the pieces out then you'll need to add your 1/4" seam allowances to your fabric. 

Also, if you do choose to foundation piece, then your block will end up a mirror image of the one above (stick will be on the left). 

Witch's Cauldron PDF

The PDF is four pages. The first page is not to scale. I've left the note on the bottom that reads it's 74% of original size. I scaled the block down for the first page so that you have a reference point. (I always end up printing out pages to color on when picking fabric). 

The block is designed to be pieced in rows then the rows are joined together. The next three pages of the pattern are your rows.

Each section is lettered and numbered (ex: A1, A2, etc). Start with section 1 in each row and piece from there. 

A is your center cauldron panel. B is the bottom of the block including the cauldron feet. C and D are the top row. Because of the angle of the stick, the top row is split in half. Piece C and D separately and then you join them together to make the row. 

I can't wait to see your blocks!

Please feel free to contact me if you need any help at all. 

Don't forget to check out Whims and Fancies to get a look at the weekly prizes for the hop!

And upload any finished blocks from any of the designers in the Flickr group. 

Farmer Friday - The One with a New Deadline

If you're looking for the Sewing Summit swag Giveaway click here!

----

It's become pretty obvious that I won't have my top finished by Halloween.

While I am a bit sad, I'm still gonna keep working towards that finished top.

Maybe by Christmas, yeah?

Would be a rather nice present to myself.

I put together blocks 71 & 72 this week.

I'm not so sure about the clash of purples in 71 now that it's put together.

That mix of stars, though?

That just makes me happy. 

Feel like some Summit swag?

This Giveaway is now CLOSED. 

Why yes, it has taken me this long to get properly unpacked.

And do laundry.

Then there was a bit of decision making on my end. When I got home I noticed that I was super close to 200 followers. So I was thinking of splitting this swag up into two groups: one to give away now and another (specifically the book) for when I hit that magic number.

That just seemed silly.

So how about a Share-the-Summit-Love-Plus-I'm-Almost-at-200-Followers Giveaway.

AKA: There's too much swag for one house.

Included: 

-One messenger bag

-Holiday issue of Stitch Craft Create

-an issue of Mollie Makes

-Generation Q Fall 2012 issue

-Gabby's Sleepover Jammies Pattern by Izzy and Ivy

-Debonaire Pattern by It's Sew Emma

-One-yard Overlap Apron by Indygo Junction

-Spoonflower Swatch Book

-FQ bundle of Dear Stella

*and*

-One copy of Ruby Star Wrapping by Melody Miller and Allison Tannery

Whew. That's even a bit to type out. 

Rules:

-This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. 

-It'll be open from Weds. Oct. 24 to Sunday Oct. 28 at noon EST.

-Winner will be chosen by Random.org and posted no later than Monday Oct. 29th

-If you are a no-reply blogger please leave your email address in your comments.

-Entries without a way to contact the winner by email will be voided and a new winner will be chosen. 

To Enter:

- Leave a comment. Any comment. You can tell me your favorite cartoon character. Or your favorite fruit. Or even just say hi. 

Bonus entry: Followers are eligible for a bonus entry. Simply leave a separate comment letting me know. 

WiP Wednesday - Summit Edition

Going to break from the normal routine this week.

My normal list seems too overwhelming at the moment. I'm still processing the amazing time I had at Summit and re-organizing my calendar to fit in some great projects.

For this WiP Wednesday, I'm focusing on the things that I just want to get finished this week. 

The majority of the list contains projects started at Summit in classes that I want to complete. I think wrapping up those will help organize my post-Summit thoughts.

Maybe.

To Finish: 
Curves Mini:

Thankfully I managed to get my single blocks finished and one row pieced together during class time. I'm considering turning mine into a pillow rather than a wall hanging. 

Boo Bee Block:

No pic of this one. I got the package right before I left and then promptly tossed it on my desk so I wouldn't have to hunt for it when I got home. 

Stash Bee Block:

Wonky star! It'll be fun. I love a good wonky star. 

Aurifil Oct. Embroidery: 

I'm hoping to wrap this one up today. There are embroidery plans in my future so I'm trying to work on some small projects to practice my stitches.

Foundation Block:

I cut the good stuff for this class. 

Another piece that will more than likely become a pillow. I'm in a pillow mood. 

To Work On:

Paper Piece Pattern

Spring Carnival Pillow

That's a lot of pillows planned. Not including my Pillow Talk Swap project. 

When did I catch the pillow bug? 

Home

It's hard to figure out exactly how to decompress from a trip like Sewing Summit.

The moments before I was waiting for my plane (at 5am, mind you) I imagined coming home and jumping into my studio with momentum and joy.

Life out of the exit gate didn't give me much time to switch gears. There was a necessary trip to the grocery store, dishes and cat litter boxes all waiting for me.

Certainly not as glamorous as I imagined.

I think that I might approach wrap-up a bit differently than I originally planned. I've got my hands-on projects to finish. So each one of those will get a post and I can use that space to talk about that particular class.

I'm sure the overall experience will come out in bits and pieces over the course of the next couple of months.

There's no shortage of reminders in my terribly over-packed bags that need sorting.

I started with the good stuff:

Some bought, some swag, some gifted to me by others. 

I expect that I'll be setting aside a stack to giveaway here later this week. 

For now, I'll continue today's glamour by heading to the post office. 

There's absolutely no doubt that I'm home. 

Insert witty title here

I believe most of y'all know where I am. I've seen you in the lobby of the hotel.

Just in case, I wanted to at least mention on here that there will be a lack of posts/comments while I'm at Sewing Summit.

I'm already so excited to go back home and sew. New Halloween fabrics are crammed in my suitcase. New projects are being sketched.

That jelly roll? I have no idea what to do with it. But it was $20 and then I got an additional discount. It had to come home with me.

And I'm gathering up goodies to giveaway when I get home.

<3 to you all. Sooner than I know it, I'll be home trying to catch up with everything I missed.

First Things First - October Prep Party

It's the first Sunday of the month so it's time for some Prep work!

I'm finding that I'm having a really hard time thinking about projects for the month with my trip so close.

My brain space is all eaten up with remembering tickets and car reservations and whether or not I should pack rulers.

At this point there has been a lot of "I'll shop when I get to SLC" decisions. Lucky I'm getting in a day early.

As of right now my prep consists of:

Packing -

And nail polish decisions - 

I'm leaning towards the orange....

Prep ADD

It hit me yesterday that I'd be traveling in less than a week.

I've still been trying to work on pattern tests and commission projects up to this point so I wasn't exactly sure how prepared I was.

Today I started to pile things together.
There were piles everywhere.

The only class I've gathered supplies for is Katy's EPP class. Fabric and templates got packed up into their own pouch:



This little patchwork whale has been hanging out on the edge of my desk for a bit now. I keep knocking him on the floor and picking him back up multiple times a day. But if I don't leave him there on the edge then I'm afraid I'll forget the pouch I want to make and put him on.



Then there's this boxy bag for Mom that hasn't been made yet:



I think the most noticeable prep/travel mess, though, is this pile here:


It's fat quarters for someone that I need not forget. My entire Hush Bella supplies are in the big pouch. There's a present for someone. A zip bag for swap.
And the Ziploc bags.
I Spy Charms.
Color Wheel Charms.
Mystery Fat Quarters.
Bee Blocks.

I think I need to label everything with a Sharpie. Especially since this weekend I'll be making Ziploc bags of class supplies.

In fact, I think I'm going to go do that right now before I get distracted by silly things.

Like food or laundry.