Monthly Archives: January 2017

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I've made it through another one week quilt challenge. And I'm not even posting about it at the very last minute! There are eleven whole hours until the deadline. This week's challenge was "Carolina Lily." Let me back up a little first. I follow Leasa on Instagram and love her Sew My Stash inspiration. (Side note: I've purchased no fabric in 2017.) She posted recently about using the good stuff and issued her first 2017 Sew My Stash challenge to use our coveted fabric. So, last week, before the Project QUILTING prompt was announced, I declared that whatever it was, I would use my Tula Pink fabric. It's the collection of fabric that goes most untouched in my stash. Okay, back to the challenge. The Carolina Lily is a beautiful orange flower. It's also the inspiration for a very traditional quilt block of the mid-19th century. First thing was first, I chose some fabrics from the Tula pile. The most obviously chose was this print from The Birds & the Bees. I love that it reminds me of the speckled pattern on the Carolina Lily.

I used appliqué in my last challenge and was determined to not go that route this time. I debated an improv pieced Carolina Lily, but in the end I decided to traditionally piece the block. Except that I redesigned it to only have one tricky inset seam. (Photo below.) Here's my initial fabric pull. I added some Alison Glass fabrics to the project, because I love her fabric and Quilting Jetgirl is hosting an Alison Glass challenge this month, too! So there we have it, three challenges in one little mini quilt!

I would have loved to make a larger, scrappier quilt that encompassed more of these fabrics, but it's a one week challenge and I'm also working on three other quilts at the moment. I had to simplify. My final piece featured two Tula prints (the above print and the green print), two Alison Glass prints (orange print and the grey background) and a Kona solid. My center block is 5" finished. Here's the inset seam and the finished block.

With borders the quilt finished at about 7" x 7". It's quilted with Aurifil 50 wt. #1133 (Burnt Orange), #1114 (Grass Green), and #2605 (Grey).

And the back.

P.S. Three years ago today, I posted my first blog post. I've had such a wonderful time and I've met so many lovely people throughout this journey. I'm celebrating by kicking off my pattern writing business, starting a newsletter, and a couple other upcoming blog changes. Thank you all for visiting!

I'm linking up to Project Quilting 8.2, Quilting Jetgirl Alison Glass Challenge, and Sew My Stash 2017 First Challenge (via IG).

Project QUILTING online voting will begin Sunday 1/22 around 11am PST.  There are over 70 projects linked up so far. Check out these beautiful quilts and vote for your favorites. (Mine is #72.)

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Last June to October I took part in the Star Light Star Dark quilt along with Jess from Quilty Habit. I even started quilting it promptly... but then some other projects got in the way. I finally got back to the quilt this month and I've finished quilting it and sent it off to it's new home. You can see the nod to Jess in my orange peel quilting in the center  of my large light purple star. Orange peels are her signature. :-)

To recap, I chose to make the smaller, four block, two color quilt which finishes at 51" x 46". Purple was obviously going to be one of my colors. I opted for yellow and orange to be my second color, pulling lights and darks of each of these. In the end, I chose to set my blocks with like colors on the diagonal from each other instead of having the purple half all together.

This was such a fun project. The quilt top went together very quickly and I love the giant size blocks. I opted to use a different free motion quilting motif (some more dense, some less dense) in each section. It's such a great way to test out or practice different motifs without committing to a larger area. Clearly, I like this strategy.

My husband gave me Shape by Shape Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters for Hanukkah and I made excellent use of this new resource in finishing this quilt. How did I not own this book yet!? And more importantly, when am I getting Volume 2?

I quilted each quadrant in a different color of 50wt Aurifil thread, Yellow (#2135), Light Lilac (#2510), Dark Violet (#2582), and Burnt Orange (#1133). Here are a few shots after it was washed and crinkly.

I backed the quilt with fabrics from my stash. In a "make it work" moment, I pieced two different prints that coordinated with the quilt top. The orange star print also appears in the top surrounding the large yellow star.

I always label my quilts. And I attach the label before I quilt them so they get really well attached. Unfortunately, this means that sometimes the label is made the month I think I'm going to finish the quilt and then... I don't. Do not let the label fool you. This quilt was finished January 15, 2017. The label lies. ;-)

My binding plan started out by choosing my purple remnant binding and I quickly decided I wanted to make it scrappy. I know I did calculations (way back in September) and made additional purple, yellow and orange binding. The completed binding was then set aside for months. This week, I got it attached to the first side before realizing I had way more binding than I needed. WAY more! The quilt required about 200" of binding. When I was done I had 340" of extra binding. I'm unsure what went terribly wrong with my calculations, but let's just say you'll be seeing this binding again. Or I will get tired of looking at it in the remnant binding box and give it away. ;-)

Overall, I love the bold color and especially the texture of the quilt. My favorite part may be the area around those little purple stars. I'll be using that FMQ again soon!

I had some little helpers for my photo shoot. I don't usually have quilt holders, especially the wiggly variety, but we had fun. They really enjoyed running around the courtyard while I took all of the shots of the quilt on the ground.

Thank you for visiting! I'm linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday, Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF.

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UPDATE: Projects that have been finished since this original post are linked to. Click on project title to see the finished quilt.

Oh boy! I totally threw down the "I'm gonna finish twelve WIPs" gauntlet last quarter. Let's just say, I didn't even come close. November was rough. For the quarter, I finished six quilts and five others have moved on to a better place. ;-) At least that means that I am finished with 11 quilts, even if I didn't see them all to completion myself. How many of us feel like we have more quilts we want to make than we'll be able to in a lifetime? I decided it was time to prioritize. I'm passing a few on to one guild to be finished for charity quilts and taking in two (that I'm calling "one large project") for the UFO swap at another guild.

I can at least say I've been good at not starting new projects. That won't last as I have some new quilt patterns in the works that I'll be stitching up in the coming months and I've opted to participate in this season of Project QUILTING. There are six one-week challenges over the first 12 weeks of the year. Challenge 8.1 is done and I'm awaiting details for the next challenge. Inspired by Leasa to Use the Good Stuff, I've already declared that Challenge 8.2 (sight unseen) will feature my Tula Pink fabrics.

Additionally, for the first time, I'm challenging myself to participate in the All People Quilt UFO challenge. #3 on this list is my January goal for that challenge. Without further ado, here's the entire project list:

Quilts

  1. Star Light Star Dark. From the quilt along with Quilty Habit. I'm having a lot of fun quilting this one! It's 75% quilted and will be finished and off to it's recipient today or tomorrow!
  2. Project QUILTING challenge 8.2. Before the challenge comes out, I've decided I'll be using my precious Tula Pink fabric for the upcoming challenge. Here's a peek at some of my Tula stash. 
  3. Color Strata Quilt. This month's OMG UFO goal. I've cut up my strata and decided on a rough layout. My next task is to do the math to make sure I have enough background fabric to achieve my vision. 
  4. Hazel the Hedgehog Mini for Hazel Mania swap. Fabrics selected.
  5. MQG swap mini. Fabrics selected, some piece cut.
  6. Creative HST project from Jeni Baker's class at QuiltCon. I'm close to 144 units. Here are some of them.
  7. In the Middle quilt. From The Bee Hive #beehiveswarmtisha.
  8. Cotton & Steel (and low volume) HST Quilt.
  9. Meadow Mystery. With Meadow Mist Designs. We were given the instructions for the final blocks this month. Here's my progress through Decembers instructions. 
  10. Ocean quilt for my daughter. I need to replace this fish and add some more fish.
  11. Midnight Mystery Quilt. Finished Quilt top. 
  12. Patchwork City Metro Area Quilt. I've made myself block kits for a handful of blocks. 
  13. Batik SCVQA philanthropy quilt. I just need to quilt it. It's embarrassing how long I've been saying that. :-/
  14. Memory House Vol. 1 Quilt (2 houses complete) 
  15. Swoon Quilt. 
  16. Primary mini quilt. Same pattern as my Cotton & Steel mini swap. Hoping to get better at adding those bias edge triangles to finish it. 
  17. Rainbow Chain. The pattern is Autumn Chain from The Bee Hive quilts. 
  18. My Floating Squares improv project. (from The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood.)
  19. Rainbow Remix from Rebecca Bryan's class at Quiltcon. Blocks are all done. Next up, the big job of piecing together irregular blocks.
  20. Wonky Cross quilt from Rossie Hutchinson's class at QuiltCon. I added a second palette of fabric that I thought worked with the first. Here are the blocks I've completed so far.
  21. Quartered Log Cabin quilt from Rossie Hutchinson's class at QuiltCon. 
  22. Purple Royalty quilt. 
  23. La Passacaglia. No way I'm finishing this anytime soon, but including it so my list is complete. 

Other Sewing

  1. Zippered Pouch with my EPP hexies from Johanna Masko's EPP class at QuiltCon.
  2. Frog shirt for my son. Bowling Shirt (pattern by Scientific Seamstress). 
  3. Winnie the Pooh Skirt/Shorts for my daughter.

Stats: Since my list is long I like to look at the progress. This shows the makeup of my list over the last year.

  • Planning Stages (pre-fabric pull): 4 (Q1), 0 (Q2), 2 (Q3), 0 (Q4), 1 (Q1)
  • Fabric Pulled: 1 (Q1), 1 (Q2), 2 (Q3), 2 (Q4), 1 (Q1)
  • Fabric Cut: 1 (Q1), 0 (Q2), 0 (Q3), 2 (Q4), 1 (Q1)
  • Piecing in Progress: 15 (Q1), 20 (Q2), 20 (Q3), 21 (Q4), 16 (Q1)
  • Quilt Top Completed: 7 (Q1), 9 (Q2), 7 (Q3), 7 (Q4), 3 (Q1)
  • Quilted: 0 (Q1), 0 (Q2), 0 (Q3), 1 (Q4), 1 (Q1)

Bucket List: Because I need more projects, right?

  1. Triangle Squared quilt.
  2. Equilateral triangle quilt, perhaps Chopsticks pattern.
  3. Raspberry Kiss lap quilt.
  4. Technicolor Galaxy.
  5. Polaroid quilt.
  6. Chopsticks quilt.
  7. Pirate Quilt. (I have fabric, but no firm plan on design yet.)

I'm linking up to the Q1 Finish-A-Long. Thank you to all the co-hosts for this year! I'm very thankful for Finish-A-Long helping me stay organized and motivated.

Thank you for visiting!

Also on my to do list at the moment is my new newsletter! This month I'm starting a twice monthly newsletter dedicated to inspiring your color and design choices for your quilting projects. Click above to stay in touch and receive modern and contemporary inspiration direct to your inbox! The first edition will be out by the end of the month.