KQAL Update and New Things

This morning I spent some time sewing together my blocks for the KQAL. I want to get them together over the weekend (preferably today due to another project I'm doing tomorrow) so I can get to hand quilting them next week. I do still have to do the pieced back as well and want an idea of how big I need to go with that.

I am so behind on working on the ZZQAL. I haven't even cut my strips to start sewing them together. Instead of tackling that tomorrow, I've decided to join in on the Christmas Quilt-a-long being hosted by Qubee Quilts tomorrow. I am going to use charms Jovial by Basic Gray as the focus fabric and Kona solids for the top. The backing is a print I picked up at Joann's.

Last night before I fell asleep I also came up with some other ideas for projects. For now, they are going to be secret, as they involve me learning a new skill before I can even start. I love when ideas just come to me, from out of no where. Anyone experience this? I get most of my ideas right before I fall asleep, in the shower, and when I'm driving to and from work (long-ish commute). I think it's the passive thinking that's the key.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a little something to show off as well.

Quilt-a-Long Updates

I've been meaning to update on these sooner, but I was waiting on the postman to deliver my fabric for the kaleidoscope quilt. Look at the pretties he brought me:

A nice bundle of 1001 Peeps and Kona solids! I ordered the purple colorway, but there was an error and was sent the dusk colorway for one of the prints. However, the mango Kona didn't look so orange on my monitor, so now it has something to go with in the rest of the quilt. A happy accident.

I have additional purples from the bundle that I purchased that will go into the back if all goes as planned. I'm hoping I have enough fabric from the top and the extra 1/2 yards to do a pieced back. After I do the cutting I'll have a better idea.

I sketched out my color layout for the quilt. I'm not going the scrappy route and want an orderly pattern so this was very necessary for me.

As far as the zig zag quilt, I decided on how I'm going to make the backing (another pieced backing) so I went shopping for fabrics. Apparently I have an aversion to solid backings. Here's a scan of my sketches, with the final choice being the bottom one.

Since I haven't shown my plan for the top yet either, here's a scan of that sketch:

And finally, the rest of the fabrics for the zig zig quilt:

The blue, white, and red are for the backing. The eagles with flags are for the appliqued stars and the stars are for the binding.

Cutting for both of these will happen either tomorrow or Monday. This may make a good task to do while watching NASCAR with Chad in the afternoon.

I'm thinking I may have to split updates on these two quilts into different posts from now on, as I'm not going to be working on both of them on the same day. This may be the start to some kind of schedule for myself.

Finally, an update

I'm not going to lie and say I finally have found time to blog. Honestly, spring semester was over mid-May, and after catching up on life, I could have been posting for the past month. It boils down to not being in the habit of doing this. I do want to share what I create with more people. Currently my creations are viewed by people in my real life, and here and there on Facebook.

At any rate, I'm going to commit to posting here every few days. To help me with that, I've decided to jump into a couple quilt-a-longs. First is the zig zig quilt at Cut to Pieces. I love the rainbow theme, but want my quilt to be used on our bed and Chad is not a rainbow kind of guy. I pondered a color scheme for a couple days before coming up with a patriotic quilt. Here's the fabrics I have for the quilt top:

I will be appliqueing stars on top, but don't have the fabric for it yet. I also need to figure out the back. Next post I will post scans of my sketches for the top and the back.

The other quilt I'll be making is Don't Call Me Betsy's kaleidoscope quilt. I just bought my fabrics today and will be using the purple colorway of 1001 Peeps. This one is all for me so I have to use my favorite color of course. :)

That's all for today. Tomorrow I'm planning on doing the cutting for the zig zag quilt, as well as some mending I've been putting off.