Spring Has Sprung!

I love Spring!  The temperature is rising, the air is fresh and everything is sprouting!  Of course that means those pesky weeds too!  I've spent the past week weeding like a mad women!  It also means the windows can be open all day long.  Good-bye stale winter air...spring is here!

Spring.  It inspired me to make some thing springy.  Light, airy and fresh.  Too bad it didn't work out! Or did it?!

Have you ever began something with great confidence only to realize too late that you messed up?  Maybe you back tracked and fixed it, or maybe you didn't.  Maybe you thought it won't make that much of a difference (or will it?), so you decided to power through and hope for the best.

That would be me!  I needed to make a gift, something I have made a couple times before and really didn't think it would be such an ordeal!

Hazel the Hedgehog.  Oh Hazel.  With Spring on the mind I carefully picked fabrics that were light, airy and fresh.  I began feeling very confident, after all I've made Hazel a few times, and I was sure I had it in the bag even before I started.

I was careful.  I knew there was one step that always tripped me up, but I aced it!  I made it through without a hitch.

But my cockiness was short lived.  I screwed up!  What the heck was I thinking?  I missed one step, but had sewn and trimmed before I realized it.  At this point I was at a cross roads. The right thing would be rip it out, re-cut and start over.  The right thing.  

I may take a little heat for this, but I totally didn't do the right thing.  Rationalizing, I decided to move on and hope it would all come together and look fine.  

What did I do?  Where was the mistake?  Look at Springy Hazel and now look at my previous Hazels...

   
See the dark strip between the ears?  I forgot to add it.  I missed that step.  I was betting it wouldn't make that much of a difference.  That after adding the glasses, it would be fine.  

I'll let you be the judge of that!  In my mind, she still turned out to be a winner, a keeper.  

I know most everyone would take the time and make it right.  I should have.  But plain and simply...I did not.  

After adding the glasses, and they did help, I finished her up with the usual straight line quilting. Naturally highlighting her highlight!  

The question is:  Was I wrong or was I right?  Is it okay or is it not?  I don't know that there is always a right or wrong way.  How many times have you modified a pattern to make it easier or different?  I feel like I should have gone the extra mile and fixed the mistake.  Then again, she doesn't look bad either!  

LINKING: 

TGIFF

Lessons Learned

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Second Try, Nearly Perfect

Determination.  I knew I would have to give this design at least one more try.  This was my first try:  Playing With Highlights.  The second time was nearly perfect, but there is room for improvement.

With the last stack of Peppered Cottons, fresh templates, hot iron and my glue bottle, it was time to give it another go.

28" x 37"

I may have run out of the main colors, or was it planned that the side pieces are a different color?  Okay, I didn't have enough so I had to improvise!  It's a test, right?

The quilting is very similar to the first piece, except I didn't go quite as dense with this one.  I used Pink, Purple and Grey thread and as always, it makes for some 'pretty' on the back!

The back is Moda Black Cross Weave.  It was the perfect size.  I'm surprised at how slippery this fabric is.  I ended up spray basting (and I never, ever do that) because I thought it would stay in place better.  It did and it didn't.  I think I should have used more spray!

With every design, there is a learning curve.  A slight change here, a little adjustment there. It may work, it may not.  I'll keep trying, plugging away.  You never know, I may get lucky or it might even turn into something completely different!

For now it can be put on the back burner.  I'm itching to jump into some Improv!!

Linking:

Let's Bee Social

Sew Cute Tuesday

Quick Project ~ Pixie Basket

Are you looking for an easy and fast project?  Every once in a while we like to have a little distraction.  Something to give us a kick in the pants, jump start our day or get us out of a slump.  I believe I found the perfect solution!

Pixie Basket
2" x 3" x 4 1/2"

I first saw this the Pixie Basket on Debbie's blog: A Quilter's Table.  It looked adorable and promised to be simple to make.  With it filed away in my mind...I was waiting for the right time to pounce!

The pattern/tutorial is available here:  Pixie Basket Tutorial , courtesy of Fabric Mutt!  

It came this morning!  I was in the mood for something quick, easy and functional is always nice too!  Viola!! The Pixie Basket hit all three of my criteria.

Maybe the hardest part is picking the fabric. I had to go with Anna Maria Horner 'Echinacea'! This is going to be my new thread catcher, it had to be gorgeous!

  
From the second I started the first stitch, this basket took 30 minutes!  Yep!  You might be able to finish it quicker depending on your skill level...me, not so much!

I forgot that the majority of the print would be lost on the bottom!  But it's a gorgeous color none-the-less!



























It turned out really cute!  So...you should go and make one for yourself!  30 minutes!  Think of it as a warm up, muscle stretching start to your quilting for the day!

We all love a quick project!  What is your go to quick and easy project?

LINKING:

TGIFF

Crazy Mom Quilts

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Did You Know This?

It's always nice to learn something new, right?  Sometimes it's the little things that surprise us the most!

I think many of us are big Aurifil fans.  That's pretty evident on a daily basis.

Yesterday, I discovered something I never knew about Aurifil!  And please, tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this!  I follow Aurifil on Instagram and saw this post:

The bottom of the spool comes off!  A simple twist and viola! it's off!  The question is why? One person said they put the bottom on the other end because it works better in her machine.  Alex Veronelli said that that's where the beginning of the spool is.  

Interesting, don't you think?  I may be a complete dork, but I find it interesting!  And then I thought...

You know when you store your thread and the end comes undone creating a big mess? Or your off on retreat or sew-a-longs, toss some thread in your sewing kit and it unravels?  Now you can avoid that!  Pop the end off, place the end underneath the spool and screw the bottom back on. 

No more mess!  I'm beside myself with this new discovery!  I'm a dork, it doesn't take much to excite me these days!  

I know I'm not the only one who didn't know...come on...who grabbed a spool and popped the top off?!