Monthly Archives: October 2017

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I really appreciate whoever came up with "quilting and collecting fabric are two different hobbies." While I actually have a very usable stash for the type of quilting that I generally do, I have been collecting Halloween fabric for quite a few years. And every year October 1st rolls around and I wish I had a Halloween quilt. Then I very accurately realize there's just not a high likelihood that I could start and finish a Halloween quilt before Halloween.

You've heard of Christmas in July, right? Many crafters who make handmade gifts begin making those items in the summer. Last year, I decided that if Christmas in July was a thing, so was Halloween in April... and I marked my calendar for April 1st of this year to start my Halloween quilt. Surely, if I began a quilt in April could have it done by October.

April came and went and I finally started the quilt in May. I chose the Strip It Down pattern by  Quilt Theory. It's a great pattern that could easily go together in a day, except of course that I work on many projects at once and I had to order my background fabric. I had a finished quilt top by the beginning of September, so I selected the backing fabric (which I didn't photograph, but you'll have to take my word is an awesome purple polka dot on black) and sent the quilt to Tami for longarm quilting. I chose a computerized spider web panto that I'd seen her use on another quilt, and a variegated orange thread. I'm thrilled with how her quilting jazzed up my quilt.

The large panels in each strip are a great place to feature fun prints and there are no seams to match up. The background panels are great for a solid fabric to feature an interesting quilting motif or a nice patterned fabric. I'm a firm believer in using a striped binding whenever reasonable and I'm happy I went with this black and white stripe. It made me a little dizzy to look at the yardage, but these skinny little strips are just perfect!

 

You can see my goal in this post. Linking up to OMG October Finish Link-Up and TGIFF at Anja  Quilts. I've also linked up to the 2017 Q4 Finish Along link up. See my whole Q4 list here.

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I'm pleased to announce that my first self-published pattern is available on Craftsy! (Update: You can now purchase the PDF pattern directly from me in my pattern shop.) Last Fall, I designed the Zoom Zoom quilt that I gave to our 4-year-old friend who had just become a big brother. The race car fabric was from my stash and I designed the cuddle quilt to feature the fun print. From that design I created the Back and Forth baby quilt pattern for you. This new version features Guppies for Lunch by Michael Miller Fabrics and coordinating Kona Solids. It would also be lovely featuring a different novelty or floral print.

The Back and Forth baby quilt pattern is designed to feature a medium to large scale print, surrounded by coordinating fabrics. It works well with a variety of solids or blenders. It's the perfect size for a baby or as a cuddle quilt for a toddler.

The quilt goes together in a day and the instructions are thorough enough for you to easily complete this quilt with no prior experience sewing partial seams. The pattern includes quilting ideas as well as instructions on creating straight and bias binding. The quilt finishes at 35 1/2" x 41". Consider using my machine binding tutorial for a super fast finish!

Below are my original Zoom Zoom quilt and the Kaffe version that Laura created when she tested the pattern.

 

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Nothing like updating the WIP list each quarter to cement what is languishing in the sewing room. Like #2 and #3 that just needed binding three months ago... and still do. Eek. To be fair, most of Q3 is summer break for my kids and I'm always overly optimistic about what I'll get done in the sewing room.

In Q3, I helped my kids each complete the end of four rounds of the Kids Quilt Round Robin, and I finished off my 100 blocks in 100 days. I completed five quilts, three of which were on our my Q3 list, samples for my Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares workshop and my Back and Forth baby quilt. Plus I designed and completed Vincent's Ear and Fall Fleurish.

Here's my comprehensive project list, categorized by stage of the project. My OMG October Goal is obviously to finish my Halloween quilt. It's quilted and trimmed. I just need to finish making the binding and get it bound. Maybe I can have "binding day" and get the binding on all three of those!

Just Need Binding

  1. Halloween Quilt 
  2. Meadow Mystery, Lap Quilt.
  3. Midnight Mystery, Lap Quilt.

Finished Quilt Tops

  1. Very Hungry Caterpillar Twin Quilt
  2. Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, Greenery Lap Quilt.
  3. Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, class sample Mini Quilt #2.
  4. Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, class sample Mini Quilt #4.
  5. Planned Improv: Playing with Angles, class sample Mini Quilt #1.
  6. Charity baby quilt. 
  7. Feathered Star... pillow? 
  8. Memory House, Mini Quilt.

 

Piecing in Progress

  1. Variation of Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, Wall Hanging.
  2. Planned Improv: Playing with Angles, class sample Mini Quilt #2.
  3. Tula Pink City Sampler. 
  4. Improv Abstraction, Small Quilt. 
  5. Creative HST project, Lap Quilt.
  6. In the Middle quilt, Lap Quilt.
  7. Cotton & Steel (and low volume) HST Quilt, Lap Quilt.
  8. Ocean quilt for my daughter.
  9. Patchwork City Metro Area Quilt.
  10. Swoon Quilt. 
  11. Rainbow Chain. The pattern is Autumn Chain from The Bee Hive quilts. 
  12. My Floating Squares improv project. (from The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood.)
  13. Rainbow Remix from Rebecca Bryan's class at Quiltcon. Blocks are all done. Next up, the big job of piecing together irregular blocks.
  14. Wonky Cross quilt from Rossie Hutchinson's class at QuiltCon. I'm up to 50 blocks and they are now all trimmed up.
  15. Quartered Log Cabin quilt from Rossie Hutchinson's class at QuiltCon. 
  16. Purple Royalty quilt. 
  17. La Passacaglia. No way I'm finishing this anytime soon, but including it so my list is complete. 
  18. My daughter's Kids Quilt Round Robin project.
  19. My son's Kids Quilt Round Robin project.

 

Planning Stage

  1. Flying Geese Challenge for Quilt Con. Design is drafted.
  2. Michael Miller Our Yard Fabric Challenge. Obviously, fabric is chosen. ;-)
  3. Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, large scale.

 

I'm linking up to Finish Along Q4 goals and OMG October.

Thank you for visiting!

 

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