The Nifty Foodie's Life

Man, I can’t help but LOVE Amy sometimes. No, not me. I mean, I do love ME, but really… I ::LOVE:: this Amy a lot, because her fabrics are so great!

A good while back, I took a quilting class in the NOLA area and the project was a simple fat quarter quilt. Thankfully, we got to choose our own fabrics, so when I saw the Amy Butler table in the shop, I went a little nuts. I wanted an Amy Butler quilt!

It took me way too long to choose the 6 fabrics that I wanted on the quilt, though. I’m really really slow when it comes to choosing fabric combinations, because I’m constantly second guessing myself. However, I’m super happy with the results, because I really love turquoise/aqua colors involved.

(I really need to work on taking nicer overall quilt pictures, eh? ::sigh::)

While making this quilt, I found that I totally fell in love with one particular fabric on this quilt.

I love this fabric SO much…so much. I ended up making it the backing and the binding for the quilt, and I bought additional yardage for projects. I’ll be nice and link to it. I just love the grey/taupe background with the aqua and chartreuse. It’s so spring-y and just lovely.

Here’s a picture of the binding against the other fabrics.

So so perfect.

I’m just so happy that this quilt is finally finished. It cheers me up when I stare at it, and since I’m cold in our house all the time (silly hubs), I’m staring at this quilt a lot!

Do any of y’all love Amy Butler fabrics as much as I do?

I absolutely cannot believe how my scraps I’ve accumulated over the year. So many fun projects, and when I look at these scraps, I can remember what I made with each piece of fabric. Ah, memories…I’m a sentimental junkie.

I thought about what to do with these scraps. Should I just trash them? I mean, they’re scraps, right?

However, The most difficult thing about throwing them away is that these scraps represent my first year of sewing. Uh, majorly sentimental, no?

So, I ::have:: to make something with these to remember my year with my Singer.

::enter Go! Baby machine::

I spent a better part of my evening cutting ALL of my 2010 (cotton) scraps into these itty bitty 2.5″ triangles. This picture is only half of the scraps, actually.

I’m making a 2010 quilt. A quilt is a great way to cuddle up and remember the year, right? I’m not sure about how I’m going to sew all of these baby triangles together yet, but that’s what grid paper is for!

And yes, I know this quilt is going to take quite some time, but I think the finished product will be definitely worth it.

Are you a sentimental junkie like me? Or do you think I’m insane to even go for this?

Ever since I quit my Etsy shop, I’ve been itching to get back into quilting. One of my weaknesses with quilting, however, is cutting straight lines. I always mess up on a few pieces after getting in a groove and there’s nothing more aggravating than re-cutting fabric!

Enter Accuquilt Go! Baby…

I’ve been lusting over this since I heard about the Accuquilt Go! fabric cutter. Unfortunately, at about $300, there was no way I was going to spend that much on a fabric cutter. After a while though, the Go! Baby came out, which retailed for HALF the amount of the Go!

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So, I used up some Christmas money and finally purchased it! I’m so excited to dig into my fabrics and make quilts again, now that cutting should be quicker and just overall, more efficient! I ended up buying this value pack as far as die cuts go.

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This cartridge cuts two 2 1/2″ triangles, one 2 1/2″ square, and one 4 1/2″ square. I have a big project in mind for those triangles involving this huge stash of scraps from 2010!

While you can’t really see the size of this, I will say the fabric fills up one drawer in this cabinet. Seriously…all scraps!

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By the way, this file cabinet is PERFECT for sewing. I store a good bit of fabrics (and scraps, obviously), notions, manuals and patterns in this thing. It doesn’t take up that much room either. It’s smaller than you think, and for $40, it’s quite a bargain for organizing!

I can’t wait to get my Go! Baby and get to cutting. I’m itching to make this quilt that I have in my head.

What kind of crafty things did you get for Christmas?

Once upon a time, I helped to host a quilt block swap.

Soon after…way too soon after, since time flies and all, I had a bunch of ::awesome:: squares in my hands. I knew/hoped all of the participants would be happy, because I sure was!

Then, a little idea popped into my head.

I printed grid paper, used most of my mechanical pencil’s eraser, but my little idea ended up on paper.

I started sewing up part of a charm pack that I bought months ago to start making my little idea a reality.

My little idea is starting to look good.

My little idea isn’t a quilt, though.

As you can see in the bottom left corner, I did the math wrong, but I fixed it in Picnik.

Surprised?

I hope you don’t mind.

I have a problem. My personal craft to-do list. Can I admit to you that I have a cross-stitch sampler that I owe to a good friend for her baby. I’ve been working on it since she got pregnant….and uh, the baby is now 1. (Worst crafter EVER, right? I’m working on finishing this one though, I swear.) I also sort of wanted to make a college scrapbook for myself. Well, I graduated college over 3 years ago…fantastic.

At random times, though, I’ll finish a project I’ve had my sights set on.

Well, now I have ANOTHER project I want to do, because I’m so competitive. This contest. Chances are solid that I won’t win, unless no one enters or anything. The prizes are drool-worthy though, and maybe no one will enter? Heh.. Also, I think I’m going to attempt free motion quilting with this one. Eep!

I bought my fabrics at Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday, which are LSU colors. I tend to lean towards the blues/greens with my quilts, so I wanted to do something different color-wise.

I chose to do this pattern from Oh, Fransson!. It’s a wonky quilt…another first for me, but the tutorial looks simple enough. I just hope I don’t end up with a heap of fabric on the cutting board, and me drowning my sorrows in a pint of ice cream. Ha!

I can do this in a month, right? LOL…not like I have other quilts to do. (sarcasm)

So…here goes. I might be attached to my sewing machine by the time this is over…Christmas Quilt Block Swap Quilt, this quilt, my Etsy projects and my handmade Christmas gifts to family/friends. Oy..I’m a little cah-ray-zee.