Inchie Postage Stamp Quilt Preview

I made two additional 1 inch postage stamp blocks this week. Translation: I got off my but. Plus, this picture helped me be a little more motivated.

I have made a total of 11 blocks and nine are shown here. It almost covers the bed and will be 80 by 80 inches. I chose a fabric from Laurie Wisbrun's Brrr! collection to make a beautiful backing. I will be cross-hatching the white squares in white and hopefully this pattern will blend well with the thread.

The green and red stripe in that collection will make a sweet candy-cane like bias binding edge. I can taste the finish line of this marathon. Yay for having a productive sewing week!

Super Mario QAL Progress: Mario and Luigi blocks

I love pixelated video game quilts. I saw this QAL and realized it had to be on my bucket list of quilts and toute de suite. The first two blocks are completed.

I took the pattern and broke it into small blocks, planned ahead where I was going to press the seams, and sewed the completed rows of blocks together. It doesn't use Pellon, because I can't afford it right now. You know already I am also working on a postage stamp quilt and I want to finish this quick. I made do and I certainly hope I captured the feel of the pixels.

Mario:

Luigi:

I placed Mario down wrong side up and used that to flip the image. Only the head and cap need to be reversed. A simple strip of aqua on the body moved from the right to the left as well.

Here are the Kona colors I am using from Robert Kaufman.

From top left clockwise: Forest, Jungle, Clover, Kiwi, Sour Apple, Canary, Corn Yellow, Orange, Tomato, Medium Grey, Ash, White, Cream, Wheat, Earth, Mocha, Chocolate, Royal, Pacific, Aqua, Black.

There are a few extra, but I tend to experiment as I go. I was lucky since some were in my stash and many are fat quarters.

The advantage of using this method is if my husband walks in on me, sewing a section, he won't have a clue what I am working on. "manical laugh, manical laugh, manical laugh..." ;)

Super Mario Brothers Quilt Along

I am trying to keep this a secret! Of course blogging about it will not do. However my husband will more than likely never read this. So don't spill the beans, K? Angela at Cut to Pieces has come up with a QAL for gamers. It's called the Super Mario Brothers QAL. Freaking awesome! Do do do, do da do...

via flickr @Cut to Pieces

This is my loft and you can see why this quilt is begging to get made.

The Nintendo, the 8 bit video game system from 1985, in all its glory, resides in our tv cabinet too. 

Of course I was all excited to finally start today. My machine really does need some attention. I had some fabric from stash and I just had ordered a few more. However this needs to be done by Christmas, and I realized I was missing some FQs when the order came today. (My mistake and not theirs. This shop is awesome!) I order all my Kaufman Kona from FabricShack since my LQSs don't seem to carry any and it is a wait of another week to send in another order. I was irritated and mumbling to myself about my error on my bed, with my Kona card, and while my husband was in the room. Remember it's a secret so I can't outright whine. I look at him and blurt out, "Dammit. I forgot the nuetrals and a Shade of Grey." He says, with a snarky grin, "Not sure I can help you that." Sigh... I am sure there is a joke in there. And no, I haven't read that book.

Take Out

A little bit of of this and that this summer and nothing too serious to be made. Just some portable projects to take out on the go and be played with. I will say I will have two big hand quilted beauties to be finished by the end of August. I know the actual quilting part should be done in winter, but I love my air-conditioned house and 112 is way too hot to venture out too much.

So some new hexies for a fall linen bag...

And some yo-yos for my stashbuster...

That's it for quite a while. Just enjoying the sunny weather and hopefully some more rain in the desert. You really get to love rain when you don't have it. The kids got all wet before lunch yesterday running around in the backyard like crazy little people. :)

My Happy Picnic Quilt was in Michelle's Sewing Trends article over at Sew Mama Sew this week so be sure to check out what seems to be the newest trends. I love the picture she used from my post.

Oh and if you're a Heather Ross fan you need to check out her new fabric at Hancock Fabrics here. I know! It's quilting weight too. Don't pay crazy etsy prices, because it's 5 a yard!!! I'll let you know how they are next week when they arrive at my door. Yes! Did I enable any of you? Well... you know you want to buy some.