This quilt started with 11 quilt blocks from my fellow Craftster members and 2 blocks from a Flickr friend Sew2bed. You can see who made which blocks on this picture on Flickr.  I decided to make a bunch more star blocks for a total of 25 stars for a bigger quilt.

Here are the tutorial links to some of the blocks I made:

• Whirling Star by Quilter’s Cache (great website for free quilt block patterns!)
• Eight Pointed Star by Piece N Quilt (lots more Star Quilt tutorials!)
• Star Variation by Piece N Quilt
• Star Quilt Along Week 10 by Crazy Mom Quilts (great Star Quilt Along!)
• Ribbon Star by Fresh Lemons
• Love in a Mist by Modify Tradition

I made the majority of my star blocks last summer and decided to sash all the blocks with Kona Ash for a very modern and sophisticated feel. Thanks to my Flickr friends for helping me decide on Ash because it’s perfect! I finally got around to finish the 3″ wide sashing recently which frames each star block nicely. The little star cornerstones just kill me with cuteness! I made 8″ wide outer borders because I’m dying for Natalia to machine quilt feathers all over the borders.

Here’s a close up on some of my favorite blocks:

For the back, I used some large scraps from the front to make a Giant Star with wide borders. I did some math to make the star even bigger which would have been awesome but I didn’t have enough fabric to make it. The background is Moda Bella solid in Robin’s Egg which I love! It’s the perfect crisp and lovely aqua which gives the back a huge vibrant kick that’s missing from the soft colors of the front.

I’ve sent this quilt top and backing to Natalia to work her magic long arm quilting all over it! I’m too excited!

I think by the time I finish this one, I’ll need to give it a better name than “Lap Quilts for All Swap #5 Quilt”!
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks and Have a lovely weekend!

I picked up this project again recently because of all the #medallionalong quilts on Instagram where lots of people are quilting along to the Marcelle Medallion Pattern by Alexia of Green Bean Patterns. There’s no way that I could join along and join the new medallion along when I haven’t finished my old one! So over the last two weeks, I cut red, orange, and pink equilateral triangles using this tutorial from 3.5″ stripes and sewed them together for my 7th border! For the corners, I winged some tiny triangles in a square blocks that kinda look like little butterflies. I have lots of triangles leftover that are destined for a pillow or some other small scrappy project. The top is about a 56″ square now!

The white checkerboard 6h border seems a bit too white and plain to me but it gives the eye a break from the crazy riot of colors everywhere else. I should have added more contrasting colors to the equilateral triangle border cuz the reds, oranges, and pinks kind of blend in with each other from afar. But at least they look nice up close.

Now what to do for the next border?

I don’t have much time to sew personal projects between my full time job and Mochi Studios, but it was very easy for me to find a half hour here and there to sew up a block or two so this was the perfect project for me to kick off the new year! I admit, I’m a bit of a fabric hoarder so I had some kawaii fabrics I had bought and saved for years that I decided to finally cut into for this project. I’m glad I did because it’s even more satisfying to see your favorite fabrics used and sewn together into a future treasured quilt. You’ll find mushrooms, Care Bears, Hello Kitty, storybook characters, smiling flowers, deer and mushrooms from Toyland by Bored Inc. and other cute precious prints that I’ve been saving for the perfect project like this!

18 days later, I made 42 blocks! That’s 1,512 tiny squares! 2 days after that I finished piecing the quilt top! That’s seriously, the fastest I’ve ever made a quilt top AND it’s the biggest quilt top I’ve ever made! What? This has never happened before. I usually start a quilting project, sew about 20 percent of it before I start another quilt or get distracted by life. I haven’t finished a quilt top in three years and I finished this one in less than a month! Trust me, this quilt comes together very quickly! Sonja finished piecing her quilt top in 3 days! Katy is already finished her fourth Scrappy Trips quilt since Christmas! I’m super slow compared to them but just as happy with how quickly my Scrappy Trips came together!

For the back, I didn’t have 6 yards of any fabric and the whole inspiration for this quilt was to use up my scraps so I played around with my scraps and made a giant wonky star in a star in a star for the back using Quiltville’s Maverick Star technique. I pieced the back in one day and I love it just as much as the front!

I sew on a very small Janome machine that I’ve never used for quilting anything bigger than a baby quilt so instead of ruining it with my amateur quilting, I decided to splurge and send it to my friend Natalia at Piece N Quilt to long arm machine quilt it for me. I’m soooooo happy I did because I can’t get over how amazing her beautiful quilting is! I love her graceful baptist fans and it’s seriously stunning in person! It’s the perfect pattern for this scrappy patchworky quilt! I chose Dream Wool batting too which is so squishy and luxurious, I can’t wait to wrap myself up in it!

For binding, of course, I had to go scrappy! The binding couldn’t have been more perfect. I had some leftover strips from making the quilt blocks that were 2.5″ wide, which is the same width for binding, so I sewed them together and added a couple other 2.5″ strips for 330″ of cute scrappy binding! Hand stitching down the binding is one of my favorite parts of quilting that I rarely get to do since it’s so rare that I actually finish a quilt. I love these lil binding clips from Clover I got recently too. They’re much better than getting stabbed all the time with pins. Binding is perfect for after-dinner TV-watching sewing.

And here it is! My Kawaii Scrappy Trip Along quilt finished in less than 2 months! OMG! I’m extremely proud of finishing this quilt and can’t wait to wash it and snuggle up in it tonight and every night! Thank you to my wonderful fiancé for taking these amazing pictures!

Pattern: Scrappy Trips Around the World by Bonnie K Hunter aka Quiltville
Size: 72″ x 84″
Backing: Triple Maverick Star using Bonnie’s technique
Fabric: Kawaii fabrics form my stash
Batting: Quilters Dream Wool
Quilting: By Natalia at Piece N Quilt
Binding: Scrappy scraps
Flickr set: Scrappy Trip Around the World
Inspiration:  Artisania, I’m a Ginger Monkey, Happier Than a Bird Quilts, Lucy & Norman, Crazy Mom Quilts, Sweetfe
Started: January 2nd 2013, finished February 28th 2013.

I’m incredibly proud of finishing this quilt, the biggest quilt I’ve ever made, in less than two months. I couldn’t have done it without the inspiration of my online quilting buddies. If it wasn’t for their inspiration and encouragement, I probably would have sewn only a handful of blocks and got bored. This quilt was definitely a labor of love dedicated to my inner child who’s full of joy at all the cute fabrics sewn together over the last couple of week. Thanks to all the new friends I’ve met through this #scrappytripalong journey too! I’m on a quilting high and can’t wait to tackle my older quilts in progress!

Check out everyone’s contributions!

• Amy E – cute modern baby quilt pattern
• Candy – beautiful hand-dyed fabrics
• Amy W and Amy E – perfect quilt top piecing
• me – appliqué (see pics below!)
• Vicki – lovely quilting and binding

And thank you, Vicki, for taking these fabulous pictures of my appliqué!

 A shot of the full quilt top with the background fabric underneath it:

Close up shot of the piecing and appliqué:

Super close up shot of my appliqué:

 See the final quilt and Baby Brayden at Natalia’s blog Piece N Quilt!

Our quilty group made a baby quilt for Amy W’s Babylouwho a couple years ago too!

I wonder which of us will have a baby next! I’m not even married yet so it’s probably not me!

Bazaar Bizarre San Francisco Holiday Show
Saturday December 1st & Sunday December 2nd 2012
Concourse Exhibition Center EAST HALL
620 Seventh St. (at Brannan)
San Francisco, CA 94103-4901
Saturday & Sunday 11-6PM – FREE TO ATTEND

Here’s a sneak peek at what I’ve been sewing!
Follow me on Instagram for more plush-in-progress sewing pics!

 Onigiri Plushies!

Ghostie Plushie!

Two Nerd Peas in a Pod Plushie!

What else would you guys like to see me plushify?

Thanks and see you guy at Bazaar Bizarre!
The Mochi Studios Etsy shop will reopen after December 2nd!

 Here’s my humble contribution ~ Three Friends in a Log Plush!
Hand-sewn and hand embroidered blue owl, pink bunny, and orange foxy in a snug log!
This is a one of a kind plush made just for Pablove One Another!

 (Please forgive the messy background! I’m still unpacking from my move!)

Check out all the amazing artists contributing to Pablove One Another!!

64Colors, Andrea Kang, APAK, Axelhoney, Belinda Strong, Bored Inc., Bubblefriends,  Bubi Au Yeung, Cakespy, Catalina Estrada, Charuca, CJ Metzger, Conduct Happiness, Crowded Teeth, Cuore, Em & Sprout, Gaston Caba, Gemma Correll, Helena Garcia, Hsinping Pan, Jannie Ho, Jennifer Davis, Jeremiah Ketner, Julie West, Kali Meadows, Kit Lane, Laura Berger, Lilidoll, LouLou & Tummie, Love and a Sandwich, Luli Bunny, Miss Mindy, Mochi Studios, Monster Factory, Mr. Toast, Noferin, Patty Variboa, Peskimo, Piktorama, Pretty Little Thieves, Rilla Alexander, Rosey Cheekes, Silvia Portella, Steph Says Hello, TADO, Team Kitten, and Yipori.

Here’s more artwork contributed by other talented artists and other blog posts about the event!

• TokyoBunnie: “Pablove One Another” sneak-peeks!
• Supahcute: Preview: “Pablove One Another” at Leanna Lin’s Wonderland
• Laughing Squid: Pablove One Another, An Art Benefit To Help Fight Childhood Cancer
• Vinyl Pulse: Leanna Lin’s Wonderland Presents: Pablove One Another (09.08)
• SpankyStokes: Leanna Lin “Pablove One Another” show with 64 Colors, Jeremiah Ketner, TADO & more!
• Bubblefriends: Painting for “Pablove One Another”
• Love and a Sandwich: Monster
• TADO: Our pieces for the Pablove One Another show
• Chickengirl Designs: Pablove One Another
• more to come!

Hope you get to visit the art benefit in LA!

Aaaaaand the randomly selected winners are…

(yeah I can totally make tofu plushies! I love tofu!!)

Entry #78 – Joanie L. who “Liked” Mochistudios on Facebook!

You win a Mini Baby Blue Narwhal Plush!

Thanks, Kori and Joanie! I will email you two for your mailing addresses! Thank you for entering the giveaway and congrats on winning!

Thanks also for all your feedback and ideas for new plushie creations! Some people suggested plushies that I already make! Here, take a closer look around!

Octopus!

Foxes!

Bunnies and chicks and pandas!

Bats!

Mochi!

Owls!

And much more!

I will update my website to better showcase my plushies soon!

Thanks, everyone! Come back to see more new plushie creations soon!

Sewing is my secret life – a part of me I hide from coworkers at my full-time high-stress job and something that only my closest friends know about. And even fewer people know that I quilt, and I absolutely love it. I love the thrill of starting a new patchwork project and the petting of precious beautiful fabrics and contemplating what lovely things to make with them. I enjoy the slow process of quilting and learning new ways of manipulating fabric. I can really get into a peaceful mood and sit quietly in a sun-warmed armchair taking small stitches in and out of a quilt. I used to be really deep involved with the online quilting world where I learned lots of techniques on my own through following cool tutorials on quilt blogs so I’m ever grateful for this awesome quilting community online for sharing their inspiration and knowledge. I took a break from quilting to start sewing plushies for Mochi Studios but recently got back into quilting for leisure and fun! And I’m beyond happy that my friends in the quilting world are still here and are still supportive of me. One such friend is the lovely Sonja of Artisania. Couple years ago, I first “met” Sonja through the Lap Quilts for All swap on Craftster and we stayed connected via Facebook and Flickr and she’s been an ever encouraging support of Mochi Studios and I’ve seen her own popularity grow in the quilting world with her really cool paper piecing tutorials and amazing patterns and featured publications in quilt magazines! Early this year, Sonja asked for volunteers to test her new “I Heart Sushi” pattern, I leapt at the opportunity to help her and I really do love sushi!! Here is my process in pictures on Flickr. I’ll write a more detailed review of her pattern later. It is very easy to follow and quick to make! I had so much fun and I’m thrilled with the sushi quilt I made with Sonja’s pattern! This is also my first quilt finish since my last Bloggers’ Quilt Festival submission in Fall 2009! This is all thanks to Sonja!

I couldn’t help but embroider in the Tuna and California Maki Rolls!

” I Heart Sushi “

Quilt Pattern by Sonja of Artisania
Started February 2012
Completed March 2012
About 37″ x 43″
Paper pieced, machine pieced, free motion quilted, clean edge facing

Thanks to my friend Sonja, for your virtual friendship all these years and being a constant source of support and inspiration! Look out for Sonja’s release of the pattern soon on her website so you can make your own I Heart Sushi Quilt! Thanks for dropping by from Amy’s Bloggers’ Quilt Festival! Go check out the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival to see more awesome jaw-dropping quilts!

Thanks for dropping by! I’m Rita and I love to sew cute happy plushies! I also have an Etsy shop where you can adopt plushies for your special someone! As part of Giveaway Day, Mochi Studios will be giving away one Blue Whale Plush to one lucky winner!

But that’s not all!

 A second lucky winner will win a Mini Baby Blue Narwhal Plush!

(sorry, macarons and hot chocolate are not included)

Please enter this giveaway below by posting a comment below, tweeting, following, and sharing about Mochi Studios for more chances to win! I will ship internationally too! Contest ends on May 25th at 5 p.m. PST so please disregard the Rafflecopter countdown! I will randomly select the winners the night of May 25th and check that each entry is valid.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please also visit my Etsy shop to adopt your own plushies handmade by me!

Thanks so much and may the odds be ever in your favor!