Spam Sushi, Anyone?

I finished Tamiko's block for the cocorico bee. Her month was October (yes, I know ~ hanging my head in shame). Her theme was Hawaii. She had a list of different ideas and one of them was Spam. I had seen something about Spam and Hawaii a long time ago on Netflix, maybe it was Bizarre Foods or No Reservations?? I can't remember now but I thought it would be fun to make Spam into a bee block. I drafted SO many blocks for this it's silly. Then I thought maybe I'll make something else, like Elvis or a ukelele, but  I kept wanting to make a paper pieced can of a Spam. I just could not get it to look right. So then I decided to just go with the Spam rolls. I think their proper name is musubi. Although these still are not paper pieced I think they came out pretty cute. If Spam can be cute. I think this block feels hawaii-ish. I hope she thinks so too.

Free Log Cabin e-book from Fons & Porter

Recently I was asked to review a free e-book from Fons & Porter. Build Your Best Log Cabin includes many pictures and detailed instructions for making traditional and variations of the Log Cabin quilt block. The book contains 24 pages packed full of Log Cabin history, layout names and ideas, strip measurements for 5 different block sizes, full instructions and measurements to make several whole quilts, tips for organizing your strips, and tips on quilting and binding. I think it's a wonderful e-book. Here is a link if you are interested in the free download.

Free Log Cabin Quilt Patterns from Fons & Porter

*disclaimer : : I am not being compensated for this review. I like Fons & Porter. I think this is a great e-book and think many quilters, from beginners to advanced, will enjoy it.

Scrappy Trip Quilt Top

I was able to put together my Scrappy Trip quilt top over the weekend. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. My plans are to baste, bind and quilt it this week. I'm thinking aqua binding will set the aqua diamonds off just right.
We are busy here with school and baby appointments but I have a review coming up this week for a free e-book from Fons and Porter so check back for that. Speaking of baby appointments, I have been controlling my Gestational Diabetes with diet and exercise and after turning in my blood glucose numbers this week I now only have to test every other day. I am so grateful for that!!! Thanks to all of you who have sent me messages, prayers and well wishes throughout this pregnancy. I appreciate them all more than you know.

Here's a pic (not the greatest) of what is now our "ice cream" around here. Frozen fruit (berries), a splash of 1/2 &1/2 and homemade whipped cream (all sweetened with just a sprinkle of stevia). Toss all in the food processor and voila! Lower in carbs, high in fiber and antioxidants and so fresh and yummy! This was wild blueberries, red raspberries and strawberries. My favorite is made with only red raspberries!

Have a great day! 

Scrappy Trip Progress ~ 9 Blocks Finished

I was able to make more scrappy trip blocks this weekend. I really love seeing this quilt come together. I have to repeat some of the lighter prints because I'm running low on them. I've decided that this will be the baby's quilt. I was going to use my stash of Bliss, Ruby, and Vintage Modern by Bonnie & Camille for her quilt. Then I started making these and thought they would be perfect for a little girl. So far I'm thinking of a 4x4 layout (16 blocks) so all of the aqua diamonds are complete. I plan to keep working on it and get it finished before the baby is born. Only a few weeks to go :)

These are my two favorite blocks right now. I didn't use the strip technique for these 2 blocks because the fabric was already cut into 2.5" squares. So I pieced them. I've said over and over again through the years on this blog that this is my absolute favorite fabric. It's Sweet by Urban Chicks for Moda. I only have scraps left. I use them very sparingly. I will be sad when it's all gone.

Scrappy Trip Progress

Yup, it is as addictive as I heard it was! And so fast and fun. Guess you know what I'll be doing on this snowy weekend :) Hope you get in some sewing time too!!!

I caved...

By now most of you have probably seen all of the Scrappy Trip quilts that have been the recent craze in quilty blogland. I've really liked all of the ones that I have seen so far. Still, I was trying not to start anything new. I wanted to finish up some quilts, bee blocks, use up those leftover blocks I found, etc. Then I saw Charise's blocks for her Scrappy Trip quilt and it was all over! I had to make one "just like hers". I have quite a few of the same prints that Charise used and I hoard them. I decided it was time to use some of them. I pulled my fabrics today and this is my first block. I'm using up the very last of some of my favorite fabrics. I had to piece a few of the strips for this block which you can see in the top right corner with the American Jane red w/ white flower print and the graph paper print. I can see why this quilt along caught on the way it did. These are so easy and fun to piece. I know I'm really late to the party but I am glad I joined in!

Solids Baby Quilt

When I was looking through my unfinished projects for blocks, to make the next baby quilt to give to my midwives, I found the solid blocks I had started way back here. I thought some of them might work as a baby quilt because they were nice and bright and because some mamas aren't into the cutesy baby stuff. They might want something a bit more modern looking.

For the quilting I wanted to do something different than my usual stippling. I decided to quilt random lines from each side for something different (for me). I wasn't sure how I felt about it until it was bound and washed and then, of course, I loved it!

All of the solids were Kona. Kona Cottons have the best names, don't they? I bound the quilt in Kona Ash. I thought that it framed all of those bright colors rather nicely. For the backing I used a print that one of my sisters-in-law gave me a few years ago. All of the stars in the print went pretty well with the blocks on the front.
I really like the instant gratification of making these small quilts. Especially when the blocks are already made. It's also really nice to use blocks that would otherwise sit and not be used for who knows how long.