Kate Spain - and A Few Other People

I have a deep and abiding love for all things Kate Spain. I took part in a Kate Spain charm swap this Spring and wondered what do to with my collection of fabulousness. Then I got just the push I needed from Ms. Midge and her Kate Spain Charm Along. She organized it for her fellow Aussies who participated in a charm swap of their own. The purpose was to motivate them, with prizes, to finish something with their charms. I asked if I could play along, even though I'm from Iowa, USA, and she happily obliged. I started as soon as I finished the Wedding Quilt on Monday the 28th and it's now over halfway quilted. In between the crazy sewing I've spent probably too much time and money shopping. So you'll get a preview of the great things to come.

So, after that crazy long intro...

Here it is! It's huge! This quilt top finished at about 81" by 95" and followed the Charming Stars pattern from the Moda Bakeshop. I made mine bigger though with a 5 by 6 layout instead of a 4 by 4. I used my 112 charms from the swap as well as three charm packs I had on hand and a few other charms I had sitting around. There are 270 squares total (including the gray).

Here's my favorite block. I love how as a surprise on the swap we got two charm squares from the new Horizon line. I'm fairly certain that every line (other than her Christmas ones) are represented in this quilt.

I love this angle and can't wait for the whole quilt reveal! I was thinking about doing random at first and then decided to do groupings of warm and cold then alternate them in the layout. The setting squares were a purple Cuzco print that I happened upon in my quilt shop. I'm binding it in that same one.

The quilting is going really well. I adore straight line quilting and these are really adding to the quilt. I did them 1 1/8" apart. It's kind of a crazy number but I wanted to divide the blocks a certain way and that's how it worked out. My awesome Juki came with a quilting seam guide and that thing doesn't wiggle at all so I can just set it where I want it and go! I've been checking every few seams and it's right on every time.

To continue on with the Kate Spain theme I'll be recovering my dining chairs in the awesome Good Fortune Laminate. This is my ALYoF goal for August. I didn't actually set out to do this all Kate Spainy but it was the best and cheapest laminate I could find. I don't even need to tell you why this had to happen. It's only been a few years since I recovered these last time but I used some home decor from Joann's and the stuff just won't come clean. With five kids eight and under they are just not going to stay clean and the laminate is so wipe-able.

Okay, one more Kate Spain project coming up and then I swear I'll move on. I'm doing the Supernova Friendship Swap with the amazing Izzy of Dizzy Quilts and she sent me this adorable Cuzco mini charm. She may have picked up on my favorite designer. So I'm going to pair it up with my awesome purple Cuzco print and this cute teal zipper to make an awesome Quilted Patchwork Pouch.

I also had to jump on the Cotton + Steel bandwagon. I've had a revelation that I should only buy fabrics I love and not the whole line if I'm not obsessed with it. I could save so much money and come out with only stuff I love. Thus these three picks. The middle one is actually a Dear Stella but it went so well. The arrows are canvas and feel so great! These are all going to be combined in different ways to become bags and zipper pouches.

Speaking of only getting stuff I love... I adore most things Bonnie and Camille. There are a few prints and lines that I let pass me by. It honestly never crossed my mind until recently that I could just pick and choose which ones I wanted from a line. So, when I thought of that I instantly thought of Vintage Modern. I loved about half of the prints but the others were really not my style. Now I have the ones I love in the colorway I like. I have no idea what I'm going to make with this yet but it's pretty to look at.

In other news I'm going to start spreading myself around a bit more. I adore scrapbooking but all of my free time has gone to quilting lately. I went to a CTMH garage sale and picked up these lovelies to get me back in the scrapbooking groove. I can't wait! I just want to finish my Charming Stars quilt first.

So that's me: past, present, and a hopeful future. It should be exciting times around here and I can't wait to create and share! I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday and am so glad it's back!