From A - WIP Wednesday

Finally back from my epic 5-week vacation/delayed honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand, I was so excited to be reunited with my sewing machine that I managed to cover the house in fabric and WIPs in about 2 days. While I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things at home (and get caught up with all of the glamorous things like laundry and housework), I thought I'd share a quick looksie.

On my ironing board: A mix of prints from Heather Ross' Briar Rose and Far Far Away 2 collections that I can't wait to cut up.

On my cutting table: Various Lotus Pond fabrics all cut up and ready to sew into yet another baby quilt.

In my machine: A long standing WIP that I'm trying to finish off.

It's good to be back and hopefully I'll have some meaningful progress to share soon! Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

From K - 241 Tote

During my last modern quilt guild meeting, I stumbled across some new woven Lecien prints in my LQS that I immediately swooned over. Without much deliberation, I decided I suddenly neeeeeeeded some of it in my life.

Enter Noodlehead's 241 Tote (and my new love!).

While searching for a good pairing for my bag, I kept coming back to a print from Sarah Watson's new line Arcadia that I just adore. Herb Garden in Multi, - I might need this print in an obscene amount of yardage.

With some help from great quilty friends (ie. enablers), I chose two Sarah Watson Arcadian prints for my primary and lining fabric, as well as two Lecien wovens for side panels and straps.

Noodlehead's pattern is so extremely well written and easy to follow, I would recommend it to even the most novice bag maker. I love the finished size, and how easy it is to customize. I am already narrowing options down for a second 241!

Also the lining has little mushrooms. I mean how can it get better than that?! So much whimsy, and I'm lovin' it.

From K - Around The World Blog Hop

Last week Julia of Jada's Quilting Adventures nominated us to host the Around the World Blog Hop, so today I'm going to share a bit more about my current work in progress (while Amanda finishes up her travels down in Australia - lucky lady!).

 

For anyone who is visiting our little corner of the blogisphere for the first time, we are cousins (Kelsey and Amanda) living in different cities (Alberta Canada and California USA), who blog about quilting, sewing, knitting and travel. We have explained a bit about ourselves on our blog before - here is a link for those of you who want to know more about us and our crafting journey.

Now why don't we get to the good stuff and jump right into the questions!

1. How does my quilting process work?

Everyone has their own process, but for me, it always come down to fabric selection. I often have an idea of a pattern or design that I want to make, but it will never ever start until I have settled on the bulk of the necessary fabric to use.

I recently pull a selection of fabrics from my stash (dusty lime, sunshine yellow, gold and mustard) for a baby quilt I was planning, only to realize the next day that it was destined to be a modern maples quilt instead. I added some orange, grape, plum and brown, then tossed in some neutrals, and a new quilt plan was born.

2. What am I working on?

I'm a restless crafter, always needing a few options to choose from. Over the past few years I have learned that I do better with a few rules: a) limit my UFO and WiPs to 3 quilts, 2 knits, 1 bag/garment at any given time, and b) some form of deadline is a must, even if it's often self imposed.

Today I thought I'd share some progress shots of how this fabric pull is sewing up and taking shape.

You might have noticed that when I cut my fabric, a few new fabrics were added to the roster, and a few prints fell off. While I like making an initial pull, I do tend to tweak and refine as I go along. Even the most well curated fabric selections need a little help sometimes so don't hold yourself back if you're second guessing your choices.

 

We chose to bend the rules a bit on this one by deciding not to nominate any one blogger specifically, rather we would encourage anyone to jump on this blog hop who wants to participate. If you decide to join in, please send us the link so we can follow along!