Pineapp-O-Lantern Pillow

Aloha y’all. It’s October and that means one thing, and one thing only. Halloween. If I still lived on the mainland, I’d probably be sewing pumpkins right now, but I’m in Hawaii so…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The pineapp-o-lantern is a beginner project – nothing more than squares, half-square triangles and a couple of quarter-square triangles. I’ll be adding the full pattern in the next couple of days but here’s the layout for now. Grab a stack of 2.5″ squares, click on the link below and get started. 🙂

Pineapp-O-Lantern

Some Tools I used

• Electric Quilt 7 (pattern design)
• Accuquilt Go (cutting)
  • Value die included with machine (Square and half-square triangle)(2″ finished square)
  • Quarter square triangle (2″ finished square)
• Brother Innovis VQ 2400
  • MuVit Digital Feed walking foot (for spiral quilting)
  • Zipper foot (for cording)

My, How Time Flies…

Aloha y’all. It’s been a whole year since my last blog post. Wtf??? I suck. In my defense, I’ve

• moved into a new house
• started a new job
• had one kid move in
• had two kids move out
• got a new puppy
• yada, yada.

 

Say hi to Teddy, then let’s get back to quilting.

I am STILL working on Chaos Theory, but I have new motivation and determination. That’s because I finally bought EQ7, so I should have my first published pattern soon. Yay. Here’s what my old design process looks like…

And here’s a section I designed in EQ7.

Its SO much easier. I love it. Now I just need to finish sewing this monster. I can’t wait to show you the finished product.

Don’t You Want to Pinch Their Cheeks?

I love the entire quilting process. Well, maybe not the cutting-out part. But the rest of it, I adore. My absolute favorite part, however, is the design stage. This evening, I’ve been playing around with a new concept that will employ some piecing, some appliqué, and a little freehand machine embroidery.

These chubby critters would be fun for a scrap quilt, but I’m planning to use a cute mustache print I picked up at Joann about a year ago. At least for the first iteration. It should be easy to find some coordinating prints.

I realize the mustache craze has come and gone, but that’s ok. I’m always a little behind the times, and I really want to use this fabric. I’m trying to be a good girl and pull mostly from my stash this year. Hahahahaha…

So far, I’ve come up with birds, a whale, a cat, a bunny and a frog. I’m thinking these would make fabulous journal covers too. Hmmm…

I’ll post more as the project evolves. Mahalo, y’all, for stopping by.

I Need a Bigger Bed…

Current Work in Progress – Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory is coming along nicely, except for one thing. It’s too big to lay out on my queen-sized bed. In fact, there’s not a space in my house big enough to lay out the entire quilt. When finished, it will measure a whopping 96″ square. I don’t know what I’m going to do. For now, I’ll just keep sewing.

I have completed seven of the 16 sections. Only 1,296 small squares left to sew – sooooo – I better leave you and get back to work.

Go Home Purple Geese…

An Original Design

Last night I finished the design for a new project. I’m calling it, Go Home Purple Geese, You’re Drunk. I realize I didn’t use purple for the geese on my first draft, but I decided to change to a different color scheme before I sew it up.

I haven’t bought any quilt design software, so for now I’m doing it old school – graph paper and colored pencils. At some point, I’ll turn it into an actual pattern.

I’m anxious to start cutting and sewing this one, but I haven’t finished the top for my last design yet, so it’ll have to go on the back burner for now. In the meantime, I need to decide if I’m going super-scrappy on this one or choosing a few fabrics from my stash.

My current design, Chaos Theory, is a monster project. It has 16 sections. Each one is 12 by 12 squares. When I’m done, I will have 2,304 small squares. Here’s a look at Section 13. It doesn’t look like much until you see all the sections together, then the underlying pattern shows through.

I haven’t finished all of the previous 12 sections. I’ve been skipping around. It’s easier to disperse the fabrics evenly that way. Also, I get bored and skipping around helps.

Here is another section…

At this rate, I’m not likely to have a finished top to show you for several weeks. I think I’ll try something easier next time. 🙂

Mahalo, y’all for stopping by.