Quilts with lots of white...

Lately I seem to be on a kick of making quilts with tons of white.  And one of them is everyone's favorite quilt.  This quilt get's more use than ANY of the other's.

It's huge, it's soft and it's super duper comfy.  And it gets used and used and used. And washed and washed and washed.

And the other day I looked at it closely and it's yellowing.  It was looking REALLY bad.  The two year old lays on it, DH lays with it, it was a fort, it's been comfort and a picnic blanket.  And it was dingy and unhappy (I wish I would have snapped a pic so you could have seen it!)

Enter Mrs. Stewart, the greatest thing for white laundry since the advent of bleach (which isn't an option here!)

Bluing is my friend. Bluing took the dinge out of the whites and added a sparkly shine that had been missing a long time.  Bluing isn't for everyone nor every quilt, but if you have a quilt with a lot of white, and a lot of dinge, I suggest adding a few drops (you want to turn the rinse water a sky blue) to the rinse cycle.  And prepare to be wowed.....

(my only word of caution is do NOT get this directly on fabric.  I dilute it in a glass and then put the glass under the water as it goes into the tub.  Only in the rinse water.)

Oh LaFrance how I dearly miss you....

The Reunion Picnic Quilt

Winter is over, spring is giving way to summer and summer around here means nights in the park listening to the Long Beach Municipal Band (or the Elm Street Band) and having a picnic!

That meant we needed a new picnic quilt....meet the Reunion Picnic Quilt made with charms of Reunion by Sweetwater for Moda.

The quilt is a simple four patch framed in unbleached muslin.  I love the simple colors of Red white and blue (with touches of green, yellow and gray!) and the homey comfort of the unbleached muslin.

Here is a little peek of the back, a Robert Kaufman print that I found in the flat fold at M & L for $2.49 a yard.  It matched the red/white/blue theme and was dark (for hiding the dirt stains from the grass at the park!) 

and lastly here is my picnic quilt in it's natural habitat....

Now...if only June would get here so I'm 1-off work and 2-the concerts in the park start so my picnic quilt can get some use!!!

Happy Quilting!

It's FRIDAY!!! And a Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

It's finally Friday *cue bad country song here* and after this week I am READY for it to be Friday.  I had two twelve plus hour days at work and the peanut has decided that this is the week for sleep regression!

In that vein I've done very little sewing.  I am squaring up HST's for the next of the round and round block, but that's slow going....but slow progress is still progress so I'm looking at the bright side.

AND I got several very sweet comments and one amazing email showcasing a block made in a similar style that was gorgeous. (And something I think I might emulate!)  Thank you to everyone who entered!!

The winner of the Honey Bun (and two random patterns) giveaway is

BethApril 17, 2013 at 4:06 AM

Just because give aways are so fun!
I love honey buns - don't see them around very often. They are great for making log cabins!

Beth I have emailed you!

Have a GREAT weekend....I plan on finishing the top for my Round and Round quilt so I have something fun to blog about next week!!

WIP Wednesday April 16, 2013

It's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!!

Before I begin I must bemoan my fate a bit....my computer got a rather nasty virus and is currently being revived by the most awesome of friends.  However in the mean time I've been trying to blog on an ipad.  It sucks.  So I haven't blogged much and there have been some random posts that I *think* I've managed to delete!!! For that I apologize!!!

Now on to the fun stuff!!!

First up....Today I bought a ticket to Sewing Summit!!! It will be my first conference or venture out into the quilty world/blogesphere beyond the Long Beach Quilt Festival.  I'm a true newbie!! I wanted to go last year but was still in the middle of chemo.  I'm quite excited!!!

Recently I received a pair of charm packs of Bonnie and Camille's Happy-Go-Lucky and Thimble Blossoms Round and Round Pattern #156.  To say I'm in love is an understatement!!!

I paired the charms with Robert Kaufman's Spot On in Navy and I sewed....and I cut....and I got this:

Then after MUCH cursing and lots of seam ripping (because I didn''t follow directions....oops!) I got this:

And I am in LOVE.  I love this pattern and it's not nearly as complicated as it looks :) Just follow the very well written directions....as I did not do!!!

Next up....I have a give away.  I was reading CraftyFox amanda on IG and she is doing a giveaway just because.  And I thought....it's time for a "just because".  And so I have one fun give away for one lucky winner.

I'm giving away one Honey Bun of Aviary by 3 sisters.  This line is long since discontinued and it's lived in my stash long enough!!

Just to make it fun, I'll also throw in two paper patterns from my collection of unused patterns! :) (I have tons!)

Just leave me a comment and make sure you aren't a no reply blogger.  Winners will be chosen Friday at Noon PST.

The Big Girl Room!

Our little peanut is growing up.





It's tough on mama too....she's 2.5 and she's a TALL girl and was growing right out of her toddler bed...so Papa and Mama decided it was time for a big girl room. At Christmastime we had been at Pottery Barn and I fell in love with a gray and white little girls room, so we've done our very best to recreate that.


Her name is on the wall in white letters, the flowers are from Bed Bath and Beyond (they are quite cool, they go into the wall like a push pin!) and the bedspread and sham were made by mama.

It's part of the ps i quilt postage stamp quilt along from loooonnnnggg ago. Made with a jelly roll of Sunkissed by Sweetwater and a jelly roll of Kona Snow. The borders are Robert Kaufman dots and the back is something in the flat fold from M & L (i.e. it was 2.50 a yard). It was a little bit windy today when I took this pic, but you can see just a hint of the back if you look really closely.

It's quilted with a simple cross hatch in the white squares....and lends a very pottery barn look to the room.

The sham was made with the same fabric as in the border, and white ric rac. I LOVE how it's going so far. Now I just need to find a few small pieces of art (or fabric canvas') to go in that blank space above her bed....

WIP Wed 3/20/13 Another Finish!!

It's WIP Wed!! AND I have another finish.

Who knew I'd be so darn productive in 13?!?!

Unlike the other post, I'm not going to photobomb you....this only has a few pictures.  I had two layer cakes of Bonnie and Camille's "Marmalade" flannel and wanted to make a new flannel throw for the couch so that I don't have to fight for the one that's there now...so I cut into them on Thursday night and then Friday during my beginning sewing classes I sewed while the kids drafted patterns and pinned their fabric. 

I did a layout and finished the quilt during lunch as we were heading out to the river last weekend and I wanted something to clip in the truck during the 4.5 hour drive each way....

and I finished!!!

this was a truly random quilt....I had my TA make piles of 5 fabrics and then I used the left overs to make the setting squares.  I love the look of the "brick path" and will totally be making more of these in the future!!!

Before I sign off, I leave you with this....I love it!!

WIP Wed 3/13

It's been a while since I've blogged or done a WIP wed....but I have a BIG OLE FINISH for today's WIP Wed.  I am so so so so so so darn excited too!!

Why wait....let's jump in (warning, picture heavy post!!!)

WHIRLPOOL is DONE!!! as in DONE DONE.  As in ALLLLL FINISHED.  Whoop whoop

I put the quilt on my neighbors beautiful wood fence to photograph it, but the top was cut off. 

Of course it was a windy day so she was blowing allll around

I call this one chicken wire.  It was overcast and raining until I went out to take photos....then it was sunny.  You can see the circles on the back thru the fabric....hence why I think it looks like chicken wire....

A close up of the miles and miles and miles of straight line quilting that I did.  I wanted to give the illusion of water rings echoing out

This quilt is made from one honey bun of Tula Pink's Neptune plus lots of kona white.  Borders are kona (I don't remember what colors) and the border is Kate Spain's Honey Honey.  I have been asked for a tutorial (I didn't make one) and the backstory of this quilt is somewhat funny.

I started this quilt over a year ago.  I have no idea what I intended to do, but I sewed six strips together and then cut them out into half square triangles.  Fast forward to a few months ago I was cleaning the sewing room and found a bag of HST of strips.  NO idea what I intended to do with them, but I brought them to a quilt meeting and asked my cronies what they thought.  One suggested putting them together to make "steps" but I didn't have enough of them to make a decent size quilt, so I put a white HST on the other side and squared them up....then played around with the design until I got this and VIOLA! Whirlpool.  I knew I wanted to straight line quilt (next time I think I want to straight line quilt an entire quilt, echo quilting no less, hit me up side the head) Regardless I love this quilt so so so much.

I'm also working on this beauty for my daughter's new "Big girl room"

This is a photo from pin basting fun last week......I will finish it tonight or tomorrow and post pictures in the very near future!

Happy Sewing!