quarterly block sharing

Phew, it's been a whirlwind month of weddings.  We've been traveling near, far and in between and I must say that after hosting two for our daughters, it is a pleasure (and an honour) to be a guest!  Congratulations to Chris & Abby, Julie & Jonathon, and Mark & Lisa!

Now for some sewing fun - here are a few of the blocks I've been working this quarter:

This is Hazel Hedgehog by Elizabeth Hartman.  I used scraps of Peppered Cottons (my favorite fabric) for this trial block.  I am in love!!!

This is from a class I took in July with Andie Johnson.  I like where it's going I just haven't had time to make more blocks...yet.

Here are the next three blocks for the Aurifil Block of the Month quilt.  Honestly, I'm getting tired of these fabrics and wish I'd chosen a different color scheme.  But now that I've won the thread I'm feeling obligated to finish.

 I think this one for September has more seams than are in some quilts! 

Finally, a few blocks in honor of our amazing sons-in-law:

These are from the Touchdown pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. 

I used this free tutorial by MolliSparkles for this proportionally accurate Union Jack.  

The footballs and Union Jack are too cute to not use somewhere, I'll keep you posted!

a modern churn dash

I started this in April as part of a We All Sew quilt along hosted by Amy Smart.  

The first week was all about choosing fabrics.  After the l o n g winter we had I was in the mood for a bright springtime palette.  Most of these fabrics came from my growing (!) stash.

In this post I shared the finished blocks with you and the nested churn dash I used on the back.

Because this quilt is so bright and sunny I decided to use a thinner batting.  I experienced lots of tension issues and twice spent considerable time picking out quilting stitches.  Finally I decided to copy Amy.  I used my walking foot and quilted straight lines with an expanded zigzag style stitch.  

It was smooth sailing from then on.

All the frustration of quilting came out in the wash.  Now it's all soft and crinkly and a perfect summer weight.

And looking pretty in a field of early fall sunflowers!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

open wide pouches

I made pouches!  These are open wide zippered pouches from Noodlehead.  Find her excellent tutorial here.

I'm planning to make her Cargo Duffel soon so decided to practice with something simpler.  Good thing.  I learned newer sewing machines come with new fancy accessories.

The foot on the left is a new zipper foot.  While you can move the needle to either side based on which side of the zipper you're sewing, I couldn't seem to manage getting the zipper under the foot to continue sewing.  For the second bag, I used my old fashioned machine with it's old fashioned zipper foot (on the right).  With this attachment one can actually move the foot (along the bar at the top) to the other side of the needle and out of the way of the zipper.  This also allows you to sew closer to the zipper teeth.  It was much neater and required much less sweat and anxiety.

A great lesson because I love my new pouches and am not afraid to tackle more. 

This is making an excellent binding bag.  It holds everything I need: wonder clips, needle, thread, covered scissors, and a thimble!

a shooting star mini

A mini post for a mini quilt...

This is a pattern from Freshly Pieced.  I ordered it as a kit from Drygoods Design.  It was good paper piecing practice. 

I chose a different backing than came with the kit.  This is my first attempt at quilting swirls.  I think I read somewhere they are all supposed to be swirling in the same direction but I just couldn't work that out.  The winds around here swirl in all different directions.

Do you wish on shooting stars?


 

progress

These two quilts have been a year in the making.

Last summer I was inspired by this post from Twin Fibers.  So I started making bowtie blocks.  I learned a little about chain piecing and a lot about pressing, mostly by trial and error.  When I had two blocks of each print I decided that was enough and last fall put one of each into each quilt top.

The backs are (imitation) Minky.  (Note:  The orange from Hobby Lobby is much softer than the pink from Joann's.)

I quilted them last winter.  One with an all-over loop, the other with meandering.

This spring I finally got the bindings on.  I used this multi-color, odd-shaped stripe for both.  And just this week I finished sewing down the binding (with my new Aurifil thread...no twisting...yay!) 

Lots of trial and error went on in making these.  Originally I had intended to give them away.  But they are not worthy so I'm going to keep them as a reminder of how far I've come.

With still so far to go... 

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

yay!

I learned to never say never many years ago.  Here's an example of why... 

I won the Aurifil Designer Block of the Month giveaway hosted by Pat Sloan!!!  I know, I can't believe it either!  Aren't they beautiful?  Seriously, this is the best thread and the greatest giveaway ever.  It took a few weeks for the thread to get here because it came from Italy.  I mean really...does it get any better than that?

I'm actually using the thread, not hoarding it, and just made this block to donate to Anna from Life Sew Crafty.  She's collecting pink blocks For Pinks Sakes.  (This block looks purple on my screen but it's pink.  I promise!)  You can read all about it here.  If you'd like to help her you have until August 2nd to donate a block.

I've been busy cutting this week as well.  I finally have a plan for this Tula Pink fabric. 

 Stay tuned!

mending fences

I've been participating in the Scrap Basket Quilt Along hosted by Crazy Mom Quilts.  When I read about the need for quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest I signed up immediately.  Here's my finished quilt.

Amanda posted an excellent tutorial for a simple rail-fence block.  (Although you could make any pattern quilt you'd like for the donations.)  My scrap basket is not as full as some and I had mostly oranges and grays.  Since they are especially in need of quilts for boys I decided to add some blue.  (We were watching a Detroit Tiger game!)  

I didn't have enough navy so had to add some additional blue.  Out went the Tiger theme but I think they all go together here.  Besides, whoever gets this quilt may not be as big a Tiger fan as those in my house!

I put all the solid blues on the ends so I needed to make a pattern. I started with this:

It wasn't working for me so I  rearranged (only once!) then stuck with it.

I quilted it with my go-to...meandering.

I pieced the back with a few leftovers and a big piece of Kona gray.

 All washed and ready to be mailed.

Feeling blessed to be a blessing. 

Linking up today (for the first time) with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday!