One of the really great things that has come out of Sew South was meeting some great people! A group of us decided to stick together by mail and work on some traveling medallion quilts. We each made a center "medallion" block and it will travel from house to house with each person adding a border. We're calling it the Drunkard's Medallion-Along.

This is the center block that I mailed to Christen. I added some fabric in case anyone wants to use it. I'm hoping for bright happy colors with some black and white. I can't wait to see what people do with it. In about 6 months, I should have a finished quilt top made by these amazing ladies!

I'm linking this to Show and Tell Tuesday!

So, we're finishing up spring break around here and although I have been doing a lot of work over spring break (I am working on my school administrator license and interning for my principal), there was some fun too.

Kid Starfish and I went to Lake Norman for a few days. Oh, the view, and the water, and the quiet!

There was some organizing of fabrics for a Supernova quilt:

I've been hoarding the remains of my Mendocino fat quarters and think it's time to use them. This is still my favorite fabric line ever (those sea horses!) but really, what am I waiting for? I have a fat quarter of the magenta sea horses as well. They didn't make it into the picture.

I also started some log cabin crosses:

I loved the look of this quilt by Ashley at Film in the Fridge. I wanted my plusses/crosses to be chunkier so I chose the log cabin style. I think I'm going to love this once there are a lot more and it's all quilted. I'm going for 25 blocks in all.

It's gorgeous here today and the weather is looking great for the next few days. What's new in your world?

Oh, this sewing weekend was so much fun. Three whole days of sewing, meeting new people, chatting, eating, learning, and hanging out with creative, kind people. I am so glad I went and put the craziness of this semester on hold for a while - I needed it!

I made a few things.

This is my first metal frame clutch. I probably won't use it myself but I love it. I love how neat and professional looking it is, I love the navy chevron, and I love the pop of color on the inside:

I also tried my first ever paper-pieced block:

There are several problems/mistakes but I was actually pretty pleased for my first time. Not quite sure what happened with that purple point being so close to the edge there. Oops!

We got such amazing swag at the end of the weekend from sponsors. Here is the fabric that I received in my goodie bag:

Ahhh, the pretties. That's some Lucky Penny, Asbury, Michael Miller, and Notting Hill, among others. I will blog about other goodies (books! thread! batting!) in another post. I am so grateful for sponsors like Pellon, Oliso, Dritz, JoAnn Fabric, Fabricworm and all of the others that make this so much fun!

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I dusted off my sewing machine and busted this out today:

It's from this pattern at The Cottage Home.

I still love Tula Pink and everything except the linen is from her Parisville collection.

It will look more full once I have a full pad in there. This one is missing a lot of sheets!

This was a great tutorial and easy to make with scraps I had on hand. Maybe I'll make some more. Teacher gifts? Stocking stuffers?

Hand applique. I love the look and always thought it was kind of above me. I took a class with an amazing local teacher (Kathleen Baden) and made a small, simple project and thought.... I can do this!

I'm taking another class with Kathleen. This is a five month class and hopefully I'll finish with a whole quilt top! Yikes! None of these pieces are stitched down yet but honestly, I think that's the easy part! The prep on each piece kills me! I think I'm going to love this, though. I'm taking some creative liberties. The background is supposed to be pieced but it just seems so busy to me that way. It's also missing 24 berries but again, so much going on. I may add some but not all.

The applique fabric is mostly Crazy Love which I have been hoarding for a while.

What do you think so far? What are you working on these days?

I posted an almost-finished picture of this quilt on Instagram (I'm paperstarfish) and it got a good amount of love.

Honestly, this quilt gave me "problems" from day one and if it wasn't a commissioned piece, it would have been abandoned long ago. I'm glad I stuck with it though because it taught me a lot.

It measures 48" square and contains several of my favorite prints including that meteor shower print by Tula Pink. I used this pattern by Stitched in Color and modified it a bit to work out the way I wanted. Great, clear pattern. The problems came from me and my modifications!

I'm gearing up to sew my first garment! I think I'm going with the Socialite Dress but I also have the pattern for the Schoolhouse Tunic. Thoughts?

I picked up some muslin to try something out before I hack into something gorgeous!

I also finished a quick little baby quilt:

It's shipping off to a brand new baby in Massachusetts. This green and gray combo is still growing strong with new moms. The size is 36"x48".

Here is a look at most of my projects from this year. It's kind of fun to see them all in one place! I'm looking ahead to several projects already started and plan to really finish up some things that are sitting in the UFO pile. A few may just be abandoned and that's okay, too. I hope to finish up even the things I don't love. My quilt guild donates to a local charity and that's always a good cause.

My plan for 2013 is to finish or abandon:

1. Constellation quilt
2. Children at Play quilt
3. Swoon quilt
4. Kid Starfish's hat (almost finished)
5. Downton Abbey mystery KAL
6. Terrain baby quilt
7. Gray and Green crosses (almost finished)
8. Rainbow Wheel quilt
9. Hand applique needlecase
10. Woodlands Sampler cross-stitch

Whew! I'm tired just looking at that list! What about everyone else? What's your crafty plan for 2013?

There is evidence of my big kid growing up all the time but this one hit me where it hurts! He needed a new hat and I said I would knit him one. He has always worn adorable (if I do say so myself) hats - dinosaur heads, long stocking hats with even longer tassels on the ear flaps, etc. This time we went through Ravelry and he picked a straight-up ribbed beanie with one little conservative stripe.

No animal heads or crazy designs. He said he's "getting older" and wants something "more plain". Second grade. Is this when it starts? *sniff, sniff*

On a completely different note, I'm working on another baby quilt for a new mama. Her nursery is gray and green - a combo I have worked with before. Here's what I have so far:

I think this is going to be 12 blocks with no sashing but I'm not sure yet. Maybe a border?