The Kelp Quilt

It's finished!  It took a sew-in to get my binding butt in gear.  I cut the binding and machine-stitched on the front and hand-stitched some of the back during February's sew-in.

(I'm second-from-the-right)

The quilt then hung out in my living room where I would pick it up and stitch while watching TV.  By the way, check out Awake if you haven't already, you can catch up on Hulu.


And finally, it was finished!


Monet (of Stripes and Solids) helped me get some shots of the quilt.  It is so much easier to haul a quilt out in public, clip it to stuff, and take pictures when you have a confederate!


The straight-line quilting was done by Bernie O.


The binding is Kona's Candy Blue (I think this color is discontinued.)


I hand-dyed the reds and oranges using a variation on Simply Robin's flat-dyeing method.
They were pieced by myself and the lovely members of the Mid Mod Quilt Bee.
The purple fabric is a 100% cotton sheet that I bought at Meijer (Michigan grocery store).

Remember when this was a doodle and a stack of fabric?

It's so cool to see it finished!



*I've had some requests for a tutorial on this block, which I will try to get to you soon.
 **Also, I apologize for watermarking my photos, which I realize can be annoying.  However, given how rarely Pinterest users attribute their images to their sources, I think it is important to stamp my images.

sometimes...

Sometimes, I don't make it to my computer.
And I don't blog.

But I do make it to my sewing machine.
And I sew.

 And I go to Brenda's house and play in her shop (Pink Castle Fabrics).  I was over there for a few hours this weekend helping her fill her pre-orders for Flea Market Fancy.  It was a massive operation--many people, tons of fabric!

(That's her dad, who came to town to help cut up FMF.  Isn't that adorable?)
While I admire Flea Market Fancy, I took just two small pieces home (really, they were from the remnants pile!)  I'm cultivating the skill of admiring without acquiring.  And when it comes to fabric, I've realized, that I like a lot of fabric, but really only want to quilt with a pretty limited subset (blenders, prints with few colors, 1-way prints, luxury solids).

Anyway, I am contemplating a blog post about my new-found fabric pickiness.  But I also need to show you my recent projects (finishes, things in progress, more). I'd like to write tutorials for a couple of them, which is, I think why I am delayed.  It takes FOREVER to write tutorials!  I'm so impressed by people who churn them out all the time.

Let me leave you with this:

Homemade Shamrock Shake

Add to blender:
1 scoop high quality vanilla ice cream (I like the Kirkland stuff from Costco, or Ben & Jerry's)
1/4 cup milk (I use Silk Vanilla soy milk)
2 drops of organic peppermint flavor.


You may have to add slightly more milk depending on your blender and the size of your ice cream scoops, but I trust you can figure it out.


Blend.
Serve.

So much better than the fast food version.
No food coloring.
Easy portion control.
Delicious, subtle flavor that you control!