new york food

While in New York City for work this week, I managed to eat some delicious food:

Vanilla latte from Stumptown Coffee, located in the lobby of my hotel. 

Huge sesame bagel from Brooklyn Bagel, devoured on a bench on The High Line, the perfect place to eat breakfast. 

Pork tacos from Choza. 

The most delicious zucchini and mozzarella sandwich from 'wichcraft. 

A much-needed vanilla custard cone from Shake Shack, eaten on a shaded bench in Madison Square Park just before leaving for the airport.

do. Good Stitches: July Blocks

For this month's do. Good Stitches blocks, my circle, the Wish Circle, made postage stamp blocks for Alyssa using Rita's tutorial over on Red Pepper Quilts.

I pulled a bunch of scraps from my bin and pieced these together (the first project I've tackled in my new sewing space!) while watching Gossip Girl (it's so addicting and so good!). I'm pleased with how the blocks turned out and am excited, as always, to see the finished quilt.

You can see my past do. Good Stitches blocks here.

two pea[nut]s in a box

This weekend, in between packing boxes and drinking iced lattes to stay cool, I made a second Peanut to accompany the first. Both are now safely packed up and on their way to Minnesota to meet two soon-to-be-born babies!

LMP+QG june challenge: pinwheel duvet cover

Each month, my friend Kait and I are making a project from the book, Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts ("LMP+QG" for short). You can see previous projects here. 

Thanks to an impending move (next week!), I've been thinking a lot about how I want to decorate our new space. Inspired by the purchase of a huge yellow lamp off of Craigslist, I decided to go for a yellow and gray color scheme in our new bedroom, and a new duvet cover, this month's project, seemed like a great starting point for changing things up. To make the duvet, I used extra wide white muslin and a Lotta Jansdotter print I picked up from the Portsmouth Fabric Company during a trip to New Hampshire earlier this month. I love the Scandinavian print and how well it translated into pretty and fresh bedding.

You can see Kait's version (and her magenta bedroom wall!) here.

Coming up next month: Little Bits quilt

do. Good Stitches: June Blocks

A few weeks ago, I joined the Wish circle of do. Good Stitches. [You can learn more about the group, which makes quilts for a variety of charities every month, here.] I was so excited to get started that as soon as the request for the first set of blocks went up, I immediately got to work.

My fellow circle member, Erica, asked that we make kaleidoscope blocks [from this excellent tutorial] using purples, oranges and pinks, with a gray/neutral background.

I pulled a number of things from my stash, including many Spoonflower prints, and quickly put the blocks together. They were surprisingly easy to make, and I love how they turned out. I can't wait to see them pieced together into a quilt with my fellow circle members' blocks!

LMP+QG may challenge: summer breeze

Each month, my friend Kait and I are making a project from the book, Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts ("LMP+QG" for short). You can see previous projects here. 

For the month of May, Kait and I decided to tackle the Summer Breeze quilt---just in time for summer picnics and trips to the beach.

The top came together quickly, though choosing fabrics was the hardest part and took the most time. I eventually settled on a DS Quilts print to use as my focus fabric, and pulled a number of coordinating prints and solids from my stash. I paired everything with a chambray I scored from the $2.97/yard table at G Street Fabrics in Maryland.

My plan is to baste, quilt, and bind this in June, so that I can bring it on our next picnic in Duke Gardens. I'll be using this vintage floral sheet for the backing, which I picked up from an Austin thrift store a few years ago:

Any tips on how I should quilt it? I'm thinking some variation of straight lines, though I'm open to any and all suggestions!

You can see Kait's pretty Summer Breeze here.

Coming up next month: Pinwheel Duvet Cover

umbrella prints trimmings competition

After the rush of getting ready for this month's craft fair was over, I finally had a chance to sit down and work on my entry for the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition. [Umbrella Prints is an Australian textile house, specializing in hand-printed fabrics.] After staring at the neutral scraps I was sent (pictured above), and rejecting a number of ideas, I finally decided to try out Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic tutorial, a technique that I'd been interested in, and one that my swap partner Valerie used when she made me a pillow last summer.

I laid out all of the scraps and sewed and sewed until I had a mini quilt, approximately 9 x 12 inches. To add a bit more interest, and in keeping with the improvisational feel of the piece, I did free-motion echo quilting, creating curves all over the surface. I love how the quilting turned out and can't wait to try it on a larger quilt.

Starting May 31, all of the Trimmings Competition entries will be posted to this Pinterest board. Be sure to re-pin your favorite!