Busy Blocks: The quilt top is DONE!

Aside from lots (and lots and lots) of ironing, the quilt top for Busy Blocks is done!

E kept walking in front of the camera so I readjusted it to include him in the photograph. This won't be the last photo of E and his quilts! Perhaps I should start taking suggestions for my next pattern/project?

You didn't think I was going to leave you with a just one little blurry photo of E, did you? He's been nonstop ever since he took his first steps on Halloween at about ten months old.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you—E is wearing a different outfit.
I didn't get around to taking a full shot of the quilt top until this morning.

I finished the quilt top yesterday afternoon and after a close inspection by E, we drove straight to The Quilt Patch to choose backing fabric.

Since I came it right at closing and didn't want to occupy a creepily-silent fabric shop in the dark all by me onesies, I went straight to the flannels, in search of a bright bolt that match the colors and "personality" of my quilt.

After little to no internal debate—which is weird for me—I cut off three yards of the cherry-red flannel chevrons from Ann Kelle's Remix Flannel fabric collection by Robert Kaufman. (If you love this fabric as much as I do, there's still ten yards or more left in-shop and online.)

It's very youthful and matches the red and white Dear Stella confetti dot on the quilt top like a dream. (It doesn't really look like it two photos ago, but the reds are nearly the exact same shade.)

All that's left to do is decide whether to quilt it myself or let the long-armers work their magic. I really do want to quilt it myself, but I don't think I can have it done by Xmas or E's birthday (which are only two days apart). Either way, I have to make a choice very soon.

What would you do if you were in my shoes? That shouldn't be too hard since I'm sure every quilter has felt the time crunch around the holidays and been torn between projects! I really, really want to work on my TARDIS quilt and have it done by Xmas too. Decisions, decisions...

Sshhh---don't tell!

I've been working on a quilt project so secretive I'm not technically supposed to be writing this very post until after December 25, but I have to share just one blurry iPhone photo!

My sewing room does triple duty as my home office and Eddie's play room. You'll also notice it's a fine space to pass out on nearly-completed quilts after eight hours of on-and-off sewing, stitch ripping, and pinning.

Can you guess what it is? (Hint: It's an extremely geeky.)

For you non-Whovians, it's a TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) in flight! The time machine piloted by the Doctor in Doctor Who is instantly recognizable among geeks (myself included).

So this whole thing started coming together about a month ago when my younger sister, Kylie, was going on about how she couldn't think of anything really cool to get her boyfriend of two-ish years for Christmas. After two hours of Etsy shops and nerdy Tumblrs, she was starting to seriously consider making a quilt (which she's never done before) from a pattern she insisted Kathy and I could draw (which I had never done before). After a little hemming and hawing, Kylie and I were on our way to The QP to ask Kathy for her input. She was game on for a quilting challenge—as always—and we drew up the pattern just hours later.

Unsurprisingly, I started pulling fabric for my own TARDIS quilt not long after seconds after Kylie started filling one of the cutting tables with the bluest blue bolts for further inspection. As sisters do, we quibbled over the perfect shade of TARDIS blue (she won) and purple backgrounds (I won) until we had two stacks of fabric, a roughly-sketched pattern, and a cutting list. Did I mention that I'm just learning how to quilt and my sister last touched a sewing machine in high school? Talk about the blind leading the blind!

I'll share more details about our quilting adventure and show you some shots on my quilt when it gets a little closer to Xmas (so there'll be lesser chance of spoiling Kye's fantastic gift).

Busy, Busier, Busiest

Things got a little hairy at the end of 2013, and I couldn't spare one iota of time for my blog or, really, much else. With E's first birthday came a year's worth of cleaning crammed into three days and the stress of planning our first child's first birthday party. (Tip: Don't give birth to children in late December.) On top of all of that we attended a bunch of holiday gatherings while juggling E's sensitive (read: terrible) and unpredictable (read: super terrible) sleeping schedule.

Alas, we made it through the hurried madness of December and are getting back on track, taking deep breaths of the polar vortex-y air of a new year. I've spent the better part of 2014 busy, adding new inventory to the website, but it's hard to keep up because new Moda collections are (seemingly) delivered every other day! Which is your favorite?

• Giggles by Me and My Sister Designs (yardage only)

• Sweet Serenade by BasicGrey (yardage + pre-cuts)

• Wishes by Sweetwater (yardage + pre-cuts)

• Weave by Moda Fabrics (yardage only)

• SoHo Chic by Sandy Gervais (yardage + pre-cuts)

• Daydream by Kate Spain (pre-cuts only)

• Kansas Troubles Favorites II by Kansas Troubles Quilters (pre-cuts only + a couple bolts)

I'm planning to finish up adding more yardage and two more pre-cuts—Charms and Mini Charms—of SoHo Chic today, and beef up our stock of BasicGrey fabric with our favorite picks from their newest line, Little Black Dress 2 (UPDATE: AVAILABLE NOW!), a really lovely collection of neutrals that reminds me of wallpaper (in a good way). (: If I'm really on it, I'll have layer cakes, jelly rolls, charms, and mini charms of Sweet Pea by Kansas Troubles Quilters added this weekend, too. 

Oh, and I PROMISE photos of Busy Blocks and my Doctor Who quilt are forthcoming. You might even get to see it first if you follow me on Instagram. ;) Speaking of my DW quilt, it needs a really good name since it's an original and will be available as a pattern (in some sense) within the next couple months. I've referred to it as 'TARDIS in Flight' to a few people, but the moniker lacks the nerdy oomph I crave. Suggestions?

Also coming soon to a computer or mobile device near you is an extensive bias binding tutorial to accompany our popular YouTube video on the same subject.