another plus quilt

Plus quilts are always a win!

I made this one using this free pattern by Jeli Quilts as a guide.  I had an odd sized bundle of Rae Hoeskta's Lotus Pond that I cut up into 4" squares.  I added a few more rows and columns than the pattern directs.  For the background I used  Painter's Pallette from Paintbrush Studios in Aluminum.  Super soft and in my stash - win, win!  Have you tried these solids?  They're wonderful.  

For the back I found a cut of the green print from the collection on sale at Stash Fabrics.  I needed a little more than a width of fabric (of course) so used some of the odd sized scraps that were leftover to make a colorful strip and pieced it in.  This green will go well with grass stains for summer concert-in-the-park goers - win!

I marked a grid following the lines of the pluses.  Then I free motion quilted this all-over pattern.  I washed the  quilt before photographing to erase all the blue lines.  Quilter's Dream cotton select loft batting.  Look how crinkly and cozy it looks - win!

Two labels for this quilt. My usual (with the year on the back), and because all the prints are from the same collection I used a bit of the backing selvage and included a second label.  (Rae's name is on the backside.)

Rolled and tied just in time for gifting.  Win!  

Happy holidays to everyone!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.

summer sampler 2017

My Summer Sampler 2017 quilt is finally finished!

I enjoyed last year's quilt along along so much I signed up again this year.  First up was choosing our fabrics.  

I won this purple bundle in the Dog Gone Cute QAL.  It matched perfectly with the 4+ yard cut of Anna Maria Horner I grabbed on sale awhile ago.  All I needed was a background.  Originally I choose a light gray.  I looked at it for about a week and it just wasn't singing to me.  At the time I was working on a baby quilt and a piece of twinkling star fabric happened to fall on the purple bundle.  BINGO!  

I realized early that photographing the blocks each week would be a challenge.  I tried to capture each block with a bloom or something that would show the season progressing.  Capturing the purples to show as they do in real life while showing the twinkling star background was beyond my photographing ability. 

Still, some pretty pictures!  

We finished all the stars in September then got the final instructions for the filler blocks and putting it all together.

I think I spent at least three weeks on these fillers.  I considered counting up how many total pieces were in this quilt.  Then I decided probably better if I didn't know!

Finally it was time to put this puzzle together.  This was definitely the most involved quilt I've ever made.  It's also the most photographed.  I've taken it out 3 times trying to capture it and I just can't.  

Here's a close up of the twinkle star background.  So much prettier in real life.

It was not too hard to line up the print when sewing this backing together.

I used Warm and White batting and quilted this with a simple stipple.  

I used Aurifil 2021 for both the piecing (50wt) and quilting (40wt).

A frosty morning finish!

The IG hashtag is pretty huge but you can see some of the other finishes here.

You can buy the pattern here.

I will be linking up with:

Crazy Mom Quits for Finish it up Friday  

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

a pillow

A big, scrappy pillow!

THE Amanda Jean Nyberg came to town to teach and share her quilts from No Scrap Left Behind.  I was able to attend the trunk show on Friday evening and an all-day class on Saturday with other members of our guild.  For the class, everyone was able to choose any quilt in the book and Amanda wandered the room helping, suggesting, and cheering us on.  She is an absolute delight and if you get the chance to meet her you should.

I spent the week before the class devouring the book and deciding which quilt I would work on.  I was all set until the trunk show when she unfolded her Mini Nines quilt.  I quickly changed my plan and re-sorted my scrap box in preparation for the next day.

I made all my mini 9-patches with bright solids and bordered half with colorful prints and half with a white on white solid. 
I had a 24" feather pillow form packed away so I made 49 mini 9's and am pleased to have a finished project in one week!  

For the back I chose this canvas Cotton and Steel print that was in my stash.  I love the dark contrast with the brights on the front.

My only purchase for this project was an invisible zipper.  I really resisted heading to JoAnn's on a Saturday afternoon but it had to be done.  I really wanted the zipper in the seam so when people use this I can tell them to "use the dark side" and there won't be a zipper in their way.
I must admit I haven't installed an invisible zipper since making my wedding dress.  While not really invisible, this navy one does just kinda disappear.  Really easy to do, too.

Super fun project and super fun memories of a super fun day!

Of course I'll be linking up this finish with CRAZY MOM QUILTS!
I'll also be linking this sewcial fun project with Let's Bee Social.

Go buy the book and start sewing your scraps!

zebra stripes

I had so much success with my giraffe quilt that I decided to make one with a zebra theme.  I started by making a few Zany Zebra blocks.  Unfortunately, mine weren't nearly as cute as Lorna's so I went another route.

Simple and modern!

I paired a wavy black and white stripe from the Follie collection by Lotta Jansdotter and a bold solid to make a row of 9 blocks. Then I added a top and bottom and started quilting.  

I used Quilter's Dream wool for the poof factor and this organic grid to create some fun texture.

For the binding I wanted the stripes to wrap around the quilt so I had to cut my strips with the length of grain.  No stretch or give in the fabric created some new challenges for me. These edges don't lie completely flat.  Hopefully the baby won't mind! 😜
Soft cozy flannel zebras for the backing!

Here's to fun tummy time!

Linking up with Finish it up Friday and Let's Bee Social

giraffes

My dear friend is all about giraffes.  I'm not sure why but she is.  She is expecting her first grandson soon so when I saw Lorna introduce her Giraffes In A Row pattern I knew immediately what I would make the baby.

I choose solids from my stash for the giraffes and Andover chambray in black for the background. 
Reminder:  when you use a fabric where the warp and weft threads are different you need to pay attention to which way you place the fabric.  I may have had to re-do a few of those ears to keep everything going the same direction...worth it!

I adjusted the heights of my giraffes to make a long narrow crib sized quilt.  This one finishes at 39" wide by 50" tall.  Super easy to adjust this darling pattern.

I used a thin Hobbs cotton batting that I found at a sweet quilt shop when we made a quick stop while traveling through Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Their Row by Row license plate reads I Pine to Quilt.  If you've ever traveled through the UP you'd totally get it and would probably have bought one too!
Back to the batting - it quilted beautifully and I will definitely be using it again.

I quilted this with what I'm now calling jagged little lines.  It's time consuming but not hard and I really love the texture and look it produces.  

For the backing I used this alphabet print from the Baby Jungle collection also by Andover.  
I didn't have enough of any of the solids I used in the giraffes for the binding and couldn't find anything in my stash I liked for both sides so returned to this tutorial for a two sided binding.  Again, the extra effort was worth it.

One of my favorite finishes ever!

Linking up with:

Lorna's Let's Bee Social

Pam's WIP's With Friends

Amanda's Finish it up Friday

two tangos

In January I decided 2017 would be a "sew my stash" year.  I've been quilting and growing my stash for 3 years and it was time to finally cut up some hoarded bundles and play with them.  With a new grand baby due before the 4th of July I decided I'd make each grandchild their own boat quilt.  It was January...I had plenty of time!

So, I untied several Cotton & Steel bundles I purchased with a gift certificate I won while participating in the Wallflowers QAL hosted by Bloomerie Fabrics, and started cutting.  I chose the Tango pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.  Allison's patterns are easy to follow - you can count on a successful finish.

I just matched fabrics and made blocks.  These were all about playing with fabric.  Cotton and Steel fabrics really do all go together.  You just can't miss.

I made 84 blocks and then divided them into two piles.  42 for one quilt that leans green/blue/teal/turquoise...

...and 42 for one quilt that leans pink.  

I finished all the blocks and put the quilt tops together during one long January weekend.

Then I hung them neatly in a closet with several other quilt tops that need quilting.

In June I decided remembered I needed to get back to them.  
I chose Cotton & Steel double gauze for the backings.  It quilted beautifully and is of course super soft.  Bloomerie still has some available here.

I used the thin Quilter's Dream request loft for these summer quilts.  You can't tell here but the pink quilt is quilted with straight lines on the diagonal.  It completely distorted the quilt and this is the first time I ever blocked a quilt.  (Sorry, no photos.)  It's a lot better now but still not perfect.  Oh well, my granddaughter doesn't care.

Here's how they look in use!

This little guy really loves an evening cruise!

Thanks for stopping by.

Linking up with:

Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social  

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.  

lots and lots of blocks

For almost 2 months now I've been participating in the #100days100blocks quilt along with Angie @gnomeangel.  We're using Tula Pink's City Sampler book to make and post one modern block each day for 100 days.  That's a quilt along marathon!  This week we hit the half-way point with block 50 so I thought I'd join Lorna's Let's Bee Social linky party and share the blocks I've made so far.

Tula sorted the blocks by their make up.  Here are all the crosses, blocks 1-15.  I'm using all Carolyn Friedlander fabrics.  Several of the other participants are as well.  We've created our own hashtag so we don't miss each other's posts. 

Blocks 16-30 are all rectangles.  I've been saving every bit of fabric I cut. Some of these pieces are very small and I'm finding a place for all my scraps.  Yay!

And here's the entire triangle section.  I've been working ahead and got two of my blocks mixed up in the daily postings.  Can you tell which two?  Hint:  I'm working to vary the colors day by day.  

Now that I'm more than 1/2 way through I'm starting to plan for how I'll put them all together.  

I hope you're finding something fun to work on this week.

a geometric slide

Last week I shared the first of two gender neutral baby quilts I've made for sisters due within weeks of each other.  I wanted to make each quilt individual and completely different from the other.  Here's the second quilt...

This baby's parents are both engineers and I wanted an organized pattern of form and color so I made a Geometric Slide.  Pattern by Faith Jones and available in her book Vintage Quilt Revival.   I altered the pattern to make this baby sized.

Who doesn't love squared up blocks and a pretty pile of trimmings?  

Since I was using only one print for each color I chose to alter the starting point of the slide as well.  I didn't want the colors all lined up like in Faith's beautiful scrappy version.

How perfect is this backing?  After lots of searching I found this Wooden Blocks print online at Stash Fabrics.  It's by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller Fabrics so I knew it would be super soft.  I had never seen this before and wasn't sure how true my computer monitor was showing the colors but I was running out of time so I crossed my fingers and placed the order.  After a short delay by the USPS my order finally arrived and matched absolutely perfectly.  Yay for happy endings!  
I had originally planned to use one of the prints in the blocks for a binding but was so happy with the backing fabric that I decided to use it for the binding as well.  I like it!

I free-motion quilted this to death with tons of jagged lines and shapes.  Have you seen those labels you can buy that say, "This took me for-ev-er"?  This was worthy of one of those! 😉

You can see the quilting a little better on the white.  For me the challenge is keeping all the quilting similar sized - easier on the white background than the colorful blocks.  It's so hard for me to ignore the shape of a block and keep things random.

I used Quilter's Dream Cotton Select loft batting.  

Doesn't it make a nice backdrop for these adorable hats my daughter knit for the cousins!

So for this second gender neutral quilt I switched up grays and neutrals for bright colors, a timeless block for something modern, and straight line quilting for dense free-motion.  Rest assured, however, that equal amounts of love have been sewn into each. 

And everything has been gifted with lots of prayers for healthy, happy babies!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Sew Fresh Quilts