Tag Archives: stash building

Life

Introducing Baby Finn: My Epic Friday Finish

June 8, 2015 kittywilkin 42 Comments

I am so excited to introduce the newest member of our family: Finnian Steven Wilkin, born at 5:59am on Friday June 5th. He weighed in at 9lb 3oz and 21 inches long, and has been warmly welcomed by his big siblings (even if his big brother insists his name is “Taco”)! His birth was smooth and completely natural, and we are all doing great!

Finnian's first photo — Finnian’s first photo

For those of you on Instagram and Facebook, you’ve already been introduced to baby Finn as my epic Friday finish. I’ve been doing a whole lot of cuddling and snuggling and nursing, and as Finn sleeps peacefully in his daddy’s arms, I figured it’s a perfect time to share our happy news here.

What better way to introduce you to my newest bundle of joy than through photos? Here are a few photographs of Finn at 3 days old.

Since Finn’s birth, I’ve been thinking that he really needs a quilt. I’ve decided to make child sized rainbow quilts, since Maddie loves hers so much. I have a few design ideas in mind, and plan to pair rainbowy goodness (which we know is in good supply in my fabric stash) with either low volumes–for one design idea–or black–for the other design idea. I probably will go with both designs since Max still needs a quilt, too.

Here are a few of the new stash additions that I plan to use in these quilts. They definitely need to be properly photographed and described in a stash post, but that will come in time. I’m eager to put all of these to good use and create more beautiful things for my children.

I really can’t wait to put this rainbow fat eighths roll to use in some quilts!

Now begins my transition back to snuggling a newborn, and sewing in very small increments. I will focus on appreciating every moment, and remembering that creating 20 minutes at a time results in a finish eventually. I’ve learned that taking those 20 minutes to create each day is so essential to my balance, and being happy and balanced will benefit my whole family.

As I enter this next phase of my journey, know that I read and appreciate every single comment on here, even if my responses dwindle or are quite delayed in the coming weeks. I will still try to reply to all of you, but baby snuggles trump all (as we all know!). Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I look forward to sharing the new inspiration that comes with every big change in life!

For the fun of it, I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday this upcoming Friday, and Molli’s Sunday Stash–does adding a baby to the family count as stash building!? If not the baby, then I’ll count this sneek peek at my new fabrics that have yet to be shared as my stash building!

Stash Building

Stash Building: Renaissance Ribbons

May 24, 2015 kittywilkin 8 Comments

Over the past few months, I’ve been growing my stash here and there but haven’t had a chance to adequately photograph everything so that I can share it with you. Now that I’ve actually completed all of my pre-baby sewing goals (and still no baby), it’s time to remedy that, and what better way to start than with some winnings! Around my early April birthday this year, I was lucky enough (literally!) to win a few giveaways. One of them was an Instagram giveaway by Renaissance Ribbons, from which I won some of the new Tula Pink ribbons.

I won a yard each of Lantern Ribbon in burgundy and Flower Bud Ribbon in black from the Tula Pink Renaissance Ribbons line. I haven’t yet decided what to do with these beauties, but I’m so excited to add them to my stash!

I’ve worked with Renaissance ribbons only two times before (I made a zipped pouch, and a thread catcher and pin cushion), and they are SO gorgeous and easy to work with! The colors are bright and bold, you can pin the ribbons during sewing and not a single sign of the pin hole remains once the pin is removed, and they are wonderfully thick and sturdy, not to mention the wide variety of patterns and designs, some of which coordinate with fabric designers’ fabric lines. What’s not to love?

I don’t have a specific project idea in mind yet; what would you make with these gorgeous ribbons?

I’m linking up with Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash.

Life, Quilting

The Big Push

May 13, 2015 kittywilkin 15 Comments

As much of the quilting world prepares for Quilt Market, urgently pushing to complete those finishing touches on booths, accessories, new bags, business cards, etc., I share that energy as I try to get a few last projects from my work in progress pile into the “finished” pile. My deadline is not the impending Market, however. I am entering the final week(s) before having a baby. Amazingly, I’m feeling pretty hopeful that I will be able to complete the quilting projects that need to be finished before baby arrives (let’s not even talk about the projects around the house, though–priorities, right?), and I’m trying hard not to take on more projects in the meantime.

Two of the big quilting projects are no strangers to you loyal readers, so prepare yourselves for yet another look at the Pinkalicious Hazel Hedgehog baby quilt I’m working on for my sister-in-law, and the Alison Glass Prismatic Medallion mini quilt I’m finishing up for my partner in the Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram.

Thankfully, I’m on the final binding phase for the Prismatic Medallion mini quilt. I’m binding it with my new favorite: Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen blend in Charcoal, with coordinating 50wt Aurifil 1246 – Grey. I used straight-grain binding and next time will use bias binding, since I’m finding that the backs of the corners are a bit off kilter. Since the front corners line up perfectly and look nice and crisp, I’m not worrying about it, but I’m still searching for that secret tip to making perfect corners on the front and back when binding a hexagon. I’m in the process of setting up a skype date with Carla from Granny Maud’s Girl way over in Perth, Australia, since she says she knows the secret to binding hexagons–how awesome is this technological world and the quilting community within it!?

I’m hoping to have a mini finish to share soon!

I also need to finish quilting Hazel. I ordered the coordinating Aurifil from Hawthorne Threads, and now that it’s here, that can go back into my project circulation. I’m planning to do simple outline echo quilting on Hazel’s face and body with Aurifil 2423 – Baby Pink, since it is just a *little* bit pinker than her face and will add the texture without detracting from her features. The lighter pink color will be a fun addition to her bright pink legs and body. I ordered 40wt this time, since I love the added thickness that helps the quilting pop.

I’ve decided to try my very first matchstick quilting in the heart, since it’s a small enough space I don’t think it will be too crazy to complete before baby. Plus, I am going to try to quilt the baby’s name–Reagan–into the heart via negative space. For this, I’m going to use Freezer Paper for the very first time! I bought a big roll over a year ago when my late quilting Grammy said that it was an absolute must for paper piecing. I’ve never used it for paper piecing since I strongly prefer the foundation paper method, but I’m hoping to cut out freezer paper letters spelling Reagan, iron them onto the heart, and then matchstick quilt within the heart, but NOT on the letters. Is that as clear as mud? I promise I’ll take photos of the process, and fingers crossed that it works the way I envision!

I ordered my very first spool of variegated thread for the heart matchstick quilting, and I think the color is perfect–it’s Bubblegum variegated 3660! I ordered 50wt this time and very well might keep my panacea Dove thread color in the bobbin since with matchstick quilting, I’m afraid of running out of thread before I’m finished.

I also have another project, a pattern I’m developing, which I’m trying to finish before baby comes. For now, I can’t show you much, and the progress is not nearly as close to complete as these first two projects. Getting Hazel and the Prismatic Medallion into the finished pile will certainly help me focus on the new pattern, though, so little steps it is!

Finally, I thought I’d share my last and greatest work in progress, heading to the “finished” pile at an unknown impending date.

Here I am between 38 and 39 weeks pregnant with my third baby, a boy. He’s still in progress, but should be joining us on the outside world (aka finished cooking) in the coming weeks. Makers gotta make!

I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced’s Work in Progress Wednesday, and Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash, since I added some more Aurifil thread to my stash to finish these projects.

Quilting, Stash Building

Pinkalicious Hazel Hedgehog Baby Quilt Beginnings

April 20, 2015 kittywilkin 10 Comments

My pink-loving sister-in-law is having a baby girl in June. When I say she’s pink-loving, note that that is a dire understatement. I mean, she loves pink. Pink on pink on pink with an accent of pink is her signature style. As a long-time pink avoider who is just recently embracing the joy that pink conveys, I am planning to work a *little* out of my comfort zone for the sake of making a quilt for her baby girl that she will love. I’m making a pinkalicious Hazel Hedgehog baby quilt, with one giant sized super-pink Hazel.

Hazel will be completely pink, with the lightest pink for her face, the bright pink her body, and the swirly magenta-pink as hair. The majority of you who commented on my last blog post about this project voted for the grey face and body and pink hair. As much as I think the grey face and body would look awesome, too, I just didn’t feel like the resulting giant grey-bodied Hazel would be pinkalicious enough for my sister-in-law. So pink it is. The turquoise Stitch Circle by Michael Miller will be the background, and my aesthetic anchor. I have to admit, I’m quite excited!

My sister-in-law’s baby shower is this coming weekend, which means I’m giving myself a typical time-squeeze goal of completing the quilt top before her shower. This is also my ALYoF goal for April, so it’s a good thing I’m finally getting started on it!

So far I’ve finished cutting for Hazel and her immediate background, which finally gave me a great opportunity to use the numbered pins my husband got for me for Christmas. They are called Marilee’s Numbered Q-Pins (*Amazon affiliate link) and are super useful. They can also be purchased from the Quilting Pins website, and you can visit them on Facebook. (Tell them Kitty aka Night Quilter sent you!) I took the advice of the little sticker on the back of the pins that suggested customizing the backs with letters, colors, etc. if more than numbers were needed. Elizabeth Hartman’s Hazel Hedgehog pattern clearly lays out the cutting and piecing instructions with letters, so the pins were perfect for keeping track of pieces.

With 20 numbered pins, I was able to create letters enough for all the Hazel pieces, while letting the letters correspond to the numbers (1 = A, 2 = B, etc.). This lets my OCD side rest easy knowing that my letters will be as easily organized and found as the numbers.

I also did a TINY bit of fabric buying for this project, so I’ll show you another addition to my stash. While auditioning fabrics, nothing worked better for the background than the little scrap of this Michael Miller Stitch Circle I had remaining from a previous project. I scoured local shops and the internet and finally found some at FreshStash on Etsy. I ordered the 1.5 yards needed for this project, and added in 1 yard of Essex Linen Blend in Smoke.

I love the look of stacked fabric!

I’m hopeful that since this Hazel is ginormous, it will be quick to piece. Quilt top in a week: totally doable, right?

I’m linking up with Monday Makers, Design Wall, and Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash!

Stash Building

Stash Building: Sun Prints

March 3, 2015 kittywilkin 9 Comments

Before heading to QuiltCon, I promised myself I wasn’t going to go crazy with buying tons of fabric and notions, etc. Truly, I stuck to my word–probably more because I simply didn’t have time to browse the vendors as much as I would have liked, but still! The one fabric line that was on my list of “definitely buy” was Alison Glass’s new Sun Prints. I am signed up for the Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap, so really, I needed to buy some anyway. However, in my mad dash through the vendor booths on Saturday afternoon, I discovered that many booths were getting cleared out. When I arrived at Pile O’ Fabric‘s booth, they had only ONE bundle left of Sun Prints Mercury and Grove, the two that were on my must-buy list. I was planning on seeking out fat eight bundles, but these were, um…. half yard bundles. Close? I bought both, my only non-food purchases the entire trip.

alison glass sun prints fabric rainbow — Grove on top, Mercury on bottom: Half yard bundles of Alison Glass’s newest Sunprints from Pile O’ Fabric.

I love how this gorgeous pile of fabric has a Pile O’ Fabric tag on it. What a great name for a fabric store!

I’ve had my eye on the new Sun Prints since they were released for preorder. The saturated, bright colors and tone on tone nature of this fabric line falls right into the “Kitty ~~must have it~~ loves it” category. I admit I did hesitate before buying both half yard bundles, since it’s the largest one-time fabric purchase I’ve made to date (yes, I’m that frugal when it comes to buying fabric). I KNOW that these fabrics will be loved and used, though, so carpe diem, right?

With all these gorgeous colors, I had to arrange them in a rainbow for some serious photo shoot yumminess. Mercury, meet Grove. Feast your eyes on these beauties!

I had my usual helper during this photo shoot, and I will be astounded the day he doesn’t want to “help” by being right smack dab in the middle of the photos. As per usual during our sunny day playroom photo shoots, Max took turns taking photos and posing in the photos. In my opinion (and I’m sure in Grandma’s opinion, too), his cute mug just makes the photos that much more perfect.

I seriously love this kid!

And I love the rainbow gorgeousness of these fabrics. Here, I’ll take you for a little stroll down Rainbow Way:

Now that these lovelies are officially part of my stash, I just have to figure out the perfect pattern to make for my mini partner. And then decide what to make with the leftovers!

What pattern would you use to let these gorgeous colors shine?

I’m linking up with Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash, since if he can be a bit late, I can, too! Tuesday, Sunday… eh, it’s close enough!

Stash Building

Stash Building: Happy Mail!

February 8, 2015 kittywilkin 6 Comments

I made it to the post office yesterday five minutes before they closed. Five minutes! It’s a good thing I did, too, because our mailbox has been out of commission due to height and volume of snow, so I had quite a stack of happy mail to pick up. (Including a little something something for a giveaway on Monday… yes, you really want to come back on Monday. Trust me. wink wink)

Anyway, happy mail:

First up was my Fat Quarter Back Sneak purchase from Mariner’s Compass during Superbowl weekend. I’m not much into football and didn’t even watch the game, but I certainly couldn’t resist 10 fat quarters for $15! It’s my first Cotton + Steel bundle: the pink Mustangs by Melody Miller and some Basics.

While I’m really not a fan of the actual Mustangs (please don’t tar and feather me!), I love the arrows and really love the basics in pinks and shades of grey. Mariner’s Compass even threw in an extra fat quarter. I guess they were feeling especially generous since the Patriots won. Mariner’s Compass is a quilt shop in Bath, Maine. I met Amanda, the owner of Mariner’s Compass and organizer of the Maine Quilt Shop hop last April during the shop hop. It felt great to support a Maine LQS while also building my stash in an epic way.

I also received my winnings from the #FabricForward event on Instagram: a charm pack of Storybook by Kate & Birdie Paper Co. for Moda. Thank you so much to @simplybekah for this #happymail! (Since the giveaway event was entirely on Instagram, I felt the need to write all of that in @ # IG style. Right? Right.)

It looks like such a darling collection, and perfect for a baby quilt. I love looking at stacks of fabric, don’t you?

What are some of your go-to charm pack quilt patterns? I’m a newbie at using precuts, so I’d love to add some to my arsenal.

I’m linking up with Molli’s Sunday Stash, since he’s “in the future” in Oz so I can link up even in the wee hours of the morn here in Maine, USA.

Life, Quilting, Stash Building

T Minus 16 Days Until QuiltCon!

February 2, 2015 kittywilkin 9 Comments

In my early planning phases for QuiltCon, I didn’t realize how much preparation would go into the trip. Now that February is actually here, reality is hitting. I initially mentally blocked off February as “QuiltCon Prep” thinking it would mostly involve creating and ordering business cards, making a cool bag, and psyching myself up for my first public quilt-world appearance.

I’m registered for two awesome workshops at QuiltCon–Playing with Value with Cheryl Arkison and Off the Grid: Creating Alternate Layouts with Lee Heinrich–not to mention lectures by Carolyn Friedlander, Heather Jones, and Meg Cox, which means that my first quilt conference experience is sure to be amazing, but also that I have a lot of work to do before I head to Austin! So far, I’ve narrowed my QuiltCon to-do list down to:

~~Order pin-back buttons~~
~~Download QuiltCon app~~
Prep for classes
–~~Buy fabric for Alternate Grid~~
-Make blocks
-Cut scraps for Playing with Value
Make Super Tote
Make quilted belt for QuiltCon AlterEgo
Order business cards
Make Noodle-head pouch for holding buttons
Buy a new moleskin notebook & micron pens
Make a lanyard?
Make a list of people to meet (let me know if you’re going and want to me added to my “stalk until I meet them” list!)

As you can see, I’ve crossed a couple things off my list but still have quite a bit to do. For Lee’s Off the Grid workshop, we need to take 5-20 premade quilt blocks in addition to other bits of fabric for sashing and background. I’m wicked excited (pardon my Northeast terminology there), and really want to create something fabulous. I also don’t really have any stray blocks hanging around (a side effect of being a newbie quilter?) which meant one thing: new project!

To put my mind a bit at ease, I snuck in a stop at my local quilt shop (LQS) Fiddlehead Artisan Supply before today’s big snowstorm got going and picked up some half-yards in my color palette of choice.

I’m planning to work out of my white and grey background comfort zone and go with a navy blue background and negative space with these gorgeous pops of color. I probably will add more turquoise and perhaps a bit of light grey as some low volume additions, but I’m going to shop my stash as much as possible for those. I have not yet decided on a block design, although I’m leaning toward making five or more different blocks with this similar color scheme. If you have a favorite block you would suggest, I’m definitely still open to ideas!

fabric and noodlehead super tote pattern — from L to R: Alison Glass Sun Print Bike Path in Magenta, Joel Dewberry Bungalow Swallow Study in Lavender, American Jane Pindots in Leaf Green, Alison Glass Sun Print Bike Path in Leaf Green, Cotton and Steel Basics, XOXO in Dandelion, Super Tote pattern by Noodle-head; bottom: FQ of unknown teal thready fabric

I also want to make a Super Tote for carrying all of my ~~crap~~ precious supplies around QuiltCon, so I picked up the pattern while at Fiddlehead. Now that I have the pattern, I can begin to wrap my head around what will be involved in making it. I have not yet decided on what fabric I will use for the bag, but I’m going to try to shop my stash as much as possible for that, too. I want to have a little budget left for shopping at QuiltCon.

What am I missing? Are you going to QuiltCon? Any tips for a first-timer?

Quilting, Stash Building

Stash Building: Botanics, Two Ways

November 30, 2014 kittywilkin 5 Comments

I finally, finally have the full line of Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics, in two forms!

Botanics fabric, two ways. — Botanics, two ways.

I have two secret sewing projects in the works, which is fairly new for me. Normally, I may have a sort of secret sewing project since it’s a gift for someone, but these are two entirely new experiences. One is my Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt for the swap. It’s fun since it’s quasi secret, but peeks are allowed (and there are lots of them on Instagram). The second is a completely secret project, which you’ll get to see mid to late January. (intrigued? ;))

Either way, these fabrics came into my stash for my secret sewing. They are technically on standby, but I figured having them would NEVER hurt, since I’ve been wanting the full Botanics collection since it came out. As much as I’d love to buy a bolt of each, charms and layer cakes will have to do for now.

Look at those gorgeous colors! Oh, I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to have these fabric packs in my possession, and I can’t wait to make something fabulous!

I also added little bits (a fat quarter and scrap piece) of these awesome fabrics to my stash. I gave in to an instagram destash by my Schnitzel and Boo group momma, Sandra at Small Town Thread.

I’ve been in love with the typewriters since seeing this mini made for Holly at Bijou Lovely. The bicycles are just too cute to pass up. I can see bits of both of these making their way into smaller projects, or as feature bits in larger quilts. I’m already plotting my first little project with them.

I’m linking up with Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash. What’s new in your stash?

Quilting, Stash Building

Stash Building: Alewives Greens

November 16, 2014 kittywilkin 7 Comments

A couple weekends ago, I traveled to one of my favorite “local” fabric shops, Alewives Fabrics, about an hour and a half drive away. I went primarily for the Color for Quilters Class and my first ever Maine Modern Quilt Guild meeting, but also, of course, for the fabric. I knew that in a store like Alewives, I could easily buy enough fabric to fill my trunk, so I went to the class intentionally with the idea of building the greens in my stash, but without a giant fabric shopping list. (If anyone wants to fund my fabric buying budget, I’ll be happy to give you my paypal email address and you can direct deposit as much as your generous heart desires–haha)

I couldn’t resist the feathers on blue or the yellow newsprint fabric, so I let those slide into the mix. I also bought my first ever (gasp) Cotton and Steel. Here’s the (mostly green) fabric goodness I took home with me (from left to right):

1/2 yard of What a Gem by Allison Cole for Eugene Textiles
1/2 yard of Wee Wander by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller Fabrics

and fat quarters of:

Collage “Newspaper Stripe” by Carrie Bloomston of SUCH Design for Windham Fabrics;
Unknown (but awesome) Fibonacci Fabric in green;
Vagabond Parquet Moon Dial by Parson Gray for Free Spirit Fabrics; and,
XOXO in Picnic Gold by Cotton and Steel House Designer for Cotton and Steel

While I was looking through Alewives’ awesome fat quarter bins, I stumbled upon the amazing Fibonacci fabric. Not only was it green (my color of choice for the day) but it is totally math-geek friendly. As a complete closet–or maybe not so closeted–math and science geek, there was no way I was going to leave that shop without buying the Fibonacci Golden Ratio fabric.

I have no idea what I will do with the fabric yet, but I sure am happy to have it in my stash! If anyone knows any of the designer/manufacturer information for this fabric, please let me know.

I’m linking up with Molli’s fabulous Sunday Stash.

Quilting, Stash Building

Stash Building: Fabric Shoppe Winnings

September 2, 2014 kittywilkin 7 Comments

I don’t always enter giveaways on Instagram since I don’t want my feed to be swamped with reposts, but every once in a while there’s one so gorgeous that I just can’t help but enter. A couple weeks ago, I reposted, tagged, and followed @fabricshoppejody in the hopes of winning this lovely Carried Away bundle. And I actually won! Carried Away was designed by Zoe Ingram for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and features some of my favorite colors, not to mention feathers!

Thus, my fabric stash grew a little bit last week when the lovely bundle arrived in the mail. Thank you so much to Jody from the Fabric Shoppe for this awesome giveaway, and for adding the very first feather fabric to my stash–I know, hard to believe I haven’t bought any feather fabric yet!

This weekend, we finally had a somewhat sunny day on which I attempted to capture its beauty.

Of course I had my usual helpers around, and my son wanted to be in the thick of the action more than usual.

I just love the feather prints and I’m trying to decide what to make out of this bundle. I’m dreaming of finally attempting a Sew Together Bag, but I’m also terrified. Four zippers?! How many pockets?! A BAG!? I’ve only really attempted quilts and one extremely basic, somewhat flimsy shoulder bag. We shall see. Either way, I’m super excited to add this bundle to my slowly growing stash.

What would you make with this bundle?

I’ll leave you with one last photo of my little helper, since he’s awfully cute. Then again, I’m biased.