Check out the Quilt Class 101 going on over at Chasing Cottons!    You can find the button for it in my sidebar over here: ----------------->
It has been fabulous so far and I will definitely be following along for the whole thing.
If you are even considering learning how to quilt someday, bookmark this blog!  I am so excited!

I decided to use flannel for backing, but skipped the batting.  So this tablecloth only has two layers but the back is nice and soft.  Which, I'm sure will be useful for when we are eating dinner on it...  If I decide to allow that...

I tried a couple of different quilting styles.  I started with swirls in the sashing:

I did a couple of sections with pebbles.  I thought this heavy quilting design would make the thing stiffer, and even though this particular section IS stiffer, it is also particularly bumpy.  But it's in the middle.  I think it looks good.

I got tired of pebbles (they are SO time consuming), and did a couple of sections with a simple tight meandering.  NOW I understand why most people just use this design on their quilts.  So much easier and faster!

Then I got the great idea to try a couple of straight line sections.  These sections lie the flattest and have the least amount of bumps.  If I were to do another tablecloth (hey - Mom just said she wants one!  Christmas will be easy this year), I will definitely do the whole thing with straight lines.  It is also quite time consuming, but if I did a more overall design, it would be okay.  Plus, it just looks/lies SO much better for a tablecloth!

And there you have it!  It looks a little retro, but I think I like it.  Plus, the browns and greens kind of match some of the decorations in my kitchen!  And I TOTALLY LOVE how it actually fits our little table!  No more folding tablecloths on one side for us!

This is probably a silly post (and I have been posting a LOT lately - with even more to come), but I am so excited right now. 
I went to WalMart today to do some routine grocery shopping.  You know.  Milk, bread, new seam ripper.  The usual.  My old seam ripper somehow got shoved in a drawer it didn't want to be in and this is what happened:
It was a sad day.  Even sadder - I've been using it like this for months now!  Well, I got fed up with it and bought a new one.  I KNOW you want to see a picture of it.  It's purple:
And it comes with a lid!  I had forgotten seam rippers were supposed to have lids...

Anyway.  That is not the point of the story.  The point of the story is that while walking (quickly) past the fabric section (I wouldn't want to get distracted), I noticed a whole section of fabric on sale for $1.50 a yard!!! Unheard of!!  SO, I bought my groceries and came back to check out the selection.  I ended up getting a whole bunch of yard cuts.  Not sure EXACTLY what I'll use them for, but I'm sure I'll find something.

Remember THIS post?  Well, I have recently discovered that there are quite a few people out there who still buy the cheap fabric over the more expensive, name brand, high quality fabric.  That was nice to know.  It looks like I will continue buying cheap fabric most of the time, with an occasional splurge on something I REALLY want (like the PURE charm packs I used to make THIS quilt).
However, this fabric isn't exactly "JoAnn" cheap - it's "Walmart" cheap.  And I am totally aware that the quality of the fabric is not as great as it could be (especially with those pinks and blues - they are very thin).  But for $1.50 a yard?  I just couldn't pass it up!
I'm pretty sure I bought enough fabric to make at least 2 baby quilts (tops AND backs) and one large quilt.  All for less than HALF the amount I spent to make THIS quilt!   Maybe I should go back for more.  I tried to find some greens and yellows, but there wasn't really THAT much to choose from.  I'm still just in shock.
Now, I hope I haven't offended anyone - particularly those who sell fabric online.  Someday, when I am a professional quilter, :)  I PROMISE to buy that Moda or Robert Kaufman, or whatever kind of nice fabric I have had my eyes on.  But for now, this is the only way to fuel my hobby...

Want to see what I got?  Well, okay.

These are going to be added to my ever growing stash of pink and blue "baby quilt" fabric.  Except, one of them is purple.

I bought these because I wanted to buy something NOT pastel.  I have always wanted to make something black and white with only one other color thrown in.  Looks like it will be red!  I'm not a huge fan of leapord print, but that's okay since I will probably be cutting this into lots of pieces when I figure out what to do with it.

This one I just like!  It will probably match NOTHING, but it has a very nice thick texture and I just like it.

All in all, I ended up with 11 yards of fabric for $17.  You would be excited too.


On a side note, I won a couple of giveaways!  Yay!  (I'm as shocked as you are...)

I won this from Staci at The Confused Quilter:

And THESE lovely fabrics are from Kaelin at The Plaid Scottie.  She calls it her "Saturated Rainbow" fat quarter bundle.  I LOVE it and the colors are right up my alley!  I think the purple is actually my favorite, since I have NOTHING purple yet.  Plus, Kaelin is from New Orleans!  Anyone who knows me personally will understand why that is significant. 
 I can't wait to make something with them!

I finished another project... a Ruffle Bag!   I love it!  Hubby bought me this fabric for Christmas.  He knows just what I like.  I made/designed this bag all by myself with the help from a mish-mash of online tutorials.
It wasn't too hard, though, and came together fairly quickly.  My inspiration came from THIS bag and I found THIS website to be amazing!

 I just love the ruffles!
 And the fabric on the back is my favorite!
 Instead of using fusible interfacing, I used some cheap burlap (picked up from the remnants bin at WalMart) for the lining and it is stiff enough to keep its form.
 I wanted to make this bag wide enough to carry all the books/school stuff I usually haul back and forth between school and home (usually that's all I do with them - haul them back and forth :) - but at least now I can do it in style!)
Turns out this bag is PLENTY wide!  Love it anyway.  I think there are 7 or 8 books in there right now.  Much better than either the oversized backpack or the undersized purse I have been using!
I love it. 

I'm linking up to Clover and Violet today.  Which is a little scary because they are like the queens of bags...  But this project came entirely from my stash!

IT'S SPRING BREAK!!! YAY!!!  I have a huge list of things I am planning to SEW during my free time.  This morning I slept in while the hubby got up and went to work.  It was great.  I think I'm actually glad we are not going anywhere for Spring Break this year.  The relaxation and free time will be MUCH appreciated!  Hopefully I will be ready for the home stretch (testing) when school starts again next week.

Anyway.

I finished my first BIG quilt!  It has been a long time coming and I have already posted lots of pictures of it in it's various stages of completion.  But now it is officially FINISHED!

I started this one in the summer - probably July or August - back BEFORE I had my own rotary cutter and mat.  Can you believe it?  All the pieces for this quilt were cut BY HAND.  With SCISSORS.  I must have been crazy!  I was tired of borrowing my mom's stuff, but I was still new to quilting and didn't own many supplies.  Plus, my birthday is in August and I was pretty sure I had convinced mom to buy me a cutter and mat - I figured it would be dumb to go out and buy some myself when I could just wait for my birthday.  However, I did NOT want to wait to get started on this quilt!
 SO, using THIS pattern (hence the name "Taffy Pull Quilt") as a starting point and a couple of fat eighth bundles from Joann's (because I was still afraid of mixing and matching my own fabric combinations and had to have someone else do it for me - I'm still not sure if I'm completely sold on these colors though), I meticulously planned, measured, and cut so that I could get the absolute most out of my fabric.  And I think I did.  Look at what I had left over!
(Do you think my hands are wrinkly?  Hubby always makes fun of me for my old lady hands, but I think they are just normal and HIS hands are the funny looking ones.  I promise, I am most definitely NOT an old lady!)

I also took a leap and pieced the blocks randomly.  I put all of the different colors in bags and randomly drew for each block.  Of course, I couldn't give up complete control and chose the colors beforehand - just not which print in that color.  Still, it was a pretty big leap for me because I tend to plan things out to the finest detail.  To me, that's part of the fun in quilting.  But I'm learning that spontaneity is also fun.  I did end up with a few repeat fabrics right next to each other that I didn't catch in time... oops!
I put off the quilting for the LONGEST time because I just couldn't decide how to quilt it!  Finally, I decided it was just too big to do anything fancy and tried my hand at straight line quilting (I think I was inspired by Rita's blog - she does a lot of straight line quilting and it just looks so clean and fresh).
 Maybe straight line quilting was a bad idea, because there are TONS of puckers!  All over the place!  I must not be very good at basting.  But the hubby said he couldn't see any puckers and even though I'm pretty sure he was just trying to make me feel better, I decided NOT to do it over again.  Sigh.  I figured, once I washed it, it would get all puffy anyway and the puckers wouldn't stand out so much - right?
I did learn a new trick while quilting this one.  When I was rolling up my quilt to fit it under the machine, I had the brilliant idea to pin quilt roll as I went!  I wish I had taken a picture, cuz to me it was pure genius.  Probably nothing new to most of you out there, but it sure made my life easier.
 I found out that it is very hard to take pictures of such a huge quilt!  I suppose I could have gone outside - but I didn't.  (This is my ironing board, by the way...)
I did find one place that was big enough for the whole quilt.  Doesn't it look nice on my bed?
I tried my "traditional" picture on the couch, but the quilt just didn't fit like the other quilts I have made, so I had to improvise.

And here it is fresh out of the drier!


Whew!  NOW.  Do I keep this quilt for myself, or give it to someone - a sister, perhaps?