The Last Citrus Quilt - A 14 in 2014 Finish!

At the ECMQG meeting a couple of weeks ago - just before I got so distracted by the Treasure Map Quilt - I managed to get four quilts sandwiched before I passed out from exhaustion.  This one is the first of those finishes.  And best of all, it's on my 14 in 2014 list, so I'm pretty excited!

The blocks were obtained from the Spring Citrus Surprise Swap on Flickr in 2011, plus at least a couple of rounds of the 3x6 Bee.

In my last post someone asked for better pictures of the individual blockss, so here we go!

This is the fourth quilt I've made out of these Citrus blocks and there variations.  You can see the others here and here and here and here.  As you can see, these blocks have been hanging out awhile.

I FMQ'd with just an all-over loops design.  I love loops because they go so fast.  You're done quilting almost before you know it.  I think this 48x60 quilt took about 1-1/2 hours to quilt.

And I really like sampler quilts.  It always amazes me how you can take all these disparate fabrics and patterns that have nothing in common except color, and combine them to make something that looks like it was planned.

In fact, it's kind of amazing, but several people actually used the same fabrics, which really helps tie the quilt together.

And then when I reorganized my studio a few weeks ago - after I had the quilt top together! - I found three more blocks.  That's a total of 54 blocks and 4 quilts from these citrus blocks!

And those extra blocks look pretty awesome on the back I think.  But I have to say, this just may be enough citrus quilts for me for awhile.

And since my fabrics are organized now - by color! - and visible, I was delighted to find the perfect binding fabric just sitting on the shelf waiting for me to put it to good use!  It was exactly what I wanted for the binding on this quilt.  It's really fabulous to find the perfect thing ready and available and just patiently waiting for the right project, especially when it's already in your stash.  (Kind of justifies hanging on to all this stuff, now doesn't it??)

So what pretty projects have you been playing with lately?

New Month - Old Goals

To show you how much I really don't want to sandwich quilts, I started a new quilt top last weekend.  It's part of Kira's Fresh Flowers QAL..  Of course she started on April 1, but I'm really not good at keeping up with quilt-alongs.  I don't seem to have the gumption to start when everyone else does or the patience to wait for all the instructions.  I seem to do much better when I start when it's almost over.  Somehow, I think I'm missing the point...  You know, the excitement of seeing everyone else's pictures on IG as they choose their fabrics, make their first cuts, sew their blocks step by step, and then finally piece the top.  Nope.  I just can't get on the ball to do that.

I'll post more on this quilt later, because I think it's going to be one of my all-time favorites.  In fact, I just love these fabrics. Most of them are right out of the scrap basket (sorted by color, if you must know - I fought it for a long time, but once I did it, I was hooked.)  Anyway, I went shopping last weekend because the drug store was having a sale, and who can resist 60% off???  And those aquas just grabbed me, and I had to use them right now so I started a new quilt. Makes sense, right??

If you haven't seen Kira's Fresh Flowers quilt along, you will want to stop by there and take a look.  I really think this is going to be a gorgeous quilt, and it's a lot of fun to make. 

Sadly, as I said, it's not helping me get my goals accomplished.  It's really time to consider exactly what I expect to accomplish in June.  And since I didn't finish anything in May...  AND since I'm going to go watch the grands at the end of the month...  I guess I'd better get on it.

I'm really hoping to get Shiny Brite quilted and finished.  That one shouldn't be too hard.

And I think I might be able to get the citrus quilt done.

That would get me caught up.  And I really don't want to rush through Single Girl.  I think I'd like to take my time with that one.

So now I have goals.  All of which start with sandwiching quilts.  Alice says I should have a sandwiching party.  Anyone game??   I'll fix dinner...  Guess what's on the menu?

Five Easy Pieces - Part the Third

Way back in the spring of 2011, I participated in the Spring Citrus Surprise Swap.  It was kind of an anything goes swap except for using citrus colors, so I received blocks of all kinds.

I created these blocks for my partners, and in return I got 10 blocks back.

I was so excited by this color palette that I used several rounds of the 3x6 bee to continue to collect blocks in these colors -

sometimes adding pink,

sometimes aqua, or both.  I ended up with more than 50 blocks. 

From all those blocks, last summer I made 3 totally different quilts.  I can honestly say that I liked them all.

These two went to Project Linus, and I kept the third one because Abby liked it best.

So now I have the 4th quilt top all put together.  I' ll get this one quilted soon and I think I will donate it to Project Linus as well.  It will be a delightfully colorful quilt for some little person, don't you think?

13 Finishes in 2013 - The Recap

Last January, I set a rather ambitious goal to finish 13 projects in 2013.  Call them UFOs or WIPs, or whatever, the truth is these quilts-in-progress were just languishing in a basket in the sewing room, taking up space and making me feel guilty.  Here was my original list:

 1. Jelly Roll Quilt - Finished March 9, 2013

2.  Fairy Tale Friends Finished - February 21, 2013.  Donated to Project Linus.

 

3.  3 x 6 Bee Blocks - I thought I had enough of these aqua & red blocks to make one quilt.  Turns out I had enough blocks to make two quilts.  I didn't quite get them finished to complete my May goal, but they were both finished by June 8, 2013 and both were donated to Project Linus.

4.   Citrus Quilts - I thought I had 10 blocks.  Turned out I had 48 blocks! so I ended up making 3 quilts and asking for a few more from the most recent round of the  3x6 bee so I could make one quilt a little larger.  These 3 were completed in August.  I have the final one on the list for 2014.  Two of these were donated to Project Linus, but somehow, I couldn't part with the third one. 

5.  Granny Squares Quilt.  These blocks were from a couple of online bees in 2011, so I had plenty of squares to finish this quilt. It's one of my favorites, in fact.  It's also the only quilt I've had the pleasure of quilting on a long arm (thank you, Marcy!)  This one was finished in April.

6.  The String Blocks Quilt  was finished in October. 

7.  The Bow Tie Quilt was finished in September.  I really had fun quilting this one.  I called the quilting motif a Double Daisy, but the ladies in the guild thought it looked like Sand Dollars.  Whatever it was, it is finished.   Yay!

8.  Bento Block Quilt - I finished this one in December.

9.  Breath of Avignon Quilt - I haven't made any progress on this one, so it will be tops on the list for 2014. 

 

 

 10.  Ari's anthropologie knock-off duvet cover was finished in April, 2013 as a graduation gift for Ari and her husband, Mitch.

11.  My Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt is really coming along.  I am actually amazed at the progress I've made on this one, so while it's not really finished, I'm not going to count this as a fail, either.  It's a great project for wintertime, since it's all hand-stitched, so I'm going to put it on the list for 2014 again and see how far I get.  I'm really pleased with my progress on this one.

12.  I have made 2 Weekender Bags from the leftover HSTs from the Swoon quilt, so I'm going to count this one as finished, July, 2013.

13.   I've made virtually no progress on my Basket Blocks quilt.  It's still sitting there in it's little zip lock waiting for some attention.  So this one is going to the top of the list for 2014.

There were a bunch of other finishes in 2013, and one day I will get around to figuring that out, but that's it for this list.  While I didn't get to everything, I'm not going to beat myself up about that.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with what I did accomplish, and that's good enough. =)

I'm debating whether or not to try to do 14 in 2014.  Is that too much?  Especially considering that my WIP pile is considerably smaller than it was last year.  There are these two unfinishes of course - the Breath of Avignon and the Basket Blocks.  

And then there are a bunch of others.  Some have been sandwiched.  Some are just finished quilt tops. 

And a few are just unfinished blocks - or blocks yet to be made.

It will be interesting to see what quilty pleasures 2014 brings, won't it?

Fun Mail

 The Sew Mama Sew Giveaway is here.  Today is the last day to enter!

You know, when you do a bunch of swaps, like I did this fall, you not only get to stretch your creative boundaries and make fun things, but you receive fun things as well.  It is so much fun to receive those squishy fun mail packages!  Even my husband has taken to yelling, as he comes in from the mailbox, "You have fun mail!"  I think he's as excited as I am.

But as awesome as receiving the fun mail is, I don't feel the same way about taking the photos.  I wish I was one of those people who could resist tearing into the package until I had taken pictures of the whole outside - and then photograph the process step by step as the wonderfulness inside is revealed.

But that's not me.

I wish that I was uber confident about taking the photos, and that I could be sure I would get a shot of the essence of the item, whatever it is.  I wish that I had a photographic "style" and I could take pictures people would love to see, that would really do the items justice.

But that's not me either.

So I tend to procrastinate taking the pictures.  The weather's gloomy.  I have too much to do.  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.  I've even taken some photography lessons - and my photos are better.  But I'm still not confident.  But maybe...  just maybe...  they're improving.  I hope so.

Enough of that.  Today I'm going to share some of the awesome swappy stuff I've received recently.  This amazing set of baskets is from Michelle (A.Quilter.2) in the FLiRTS3 Swap.  In this swap, you get to suggest several things that you might like, and then your partner gets to pick what to make you.  When I re-did my sewing room, I added some little cubbies, so one of the things I suggested was a basket that would fit in the cubbies and hold stuff.  Michelle didn't just make me one basket, she made FOUR.  Aren't they pretty?  I love that the two big ones have handles on the front.  And you can see that the two smaller ones are in use already.  I have the one on the left on my sewing table holding bonus HSTs from various projects.  (I like keeping these separate so that when I want to use them, they are all together.)  So thanks, Michelle - these are very helpful - and beautiful - additions to my sewing space.

One of the very first swaps I ever participated in - and one I look forward to every year is the Trim the Tree Handmade Ornament Swap.  This sweet little house ornament is from Veronica (Veronica A.M.) 

This sweet little crochet mushroom ornament is from Erin (whynotsewquilts?)

This adorable little gingerbread man was from Amy (nellieanddot) and came with his own little garland to help decorate the tree!

And the very pretty tree is from Kerri at (sewdeerlyloved). 

Kerri also sent along a lovely selection of fabric scraps with her ornament.

And here they are as a group.  Don't they look like they were all made to go together?

And along about the same time I received this fun package from Dorte in Denmark in the Super Swaps Swap.  She made me these traditional ornaments.  Check out the star - it's made with a tape measure!

Here they are all together.  I'm gong to have such fun decorating the tree with all my new ornaments this year!

I also played along in the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap.  This was from my partner Joey in Singapore.  This was the first swap he (or she?) had ever participated in, and he's new to quilting.  Isn't this cute!

I've been taking part in Sewing With Friends for a year or more now.  Every two months we have a new partner.  We started out with mug rugs, but this year, there  is a new project every month.  This time, needlebooks were the assignment.  This is from Mary (Mary P in TX).  It came with a package of quilter's needles and a cute pair of embroidery scissors, but I've already put those to good use

There's lots of room inside for needles and pins.  I like having a number of needlebooks, since I often have several projects going at once.  That way I don't forget and leave a needle somewhere I shouldn't.  For some reason, the husband objects when I do that!

These are three of the blocks I received in the 3x6 Bee (oops - I should have ironed them!)  I think they'll be awesome with the other blocks in my last citrus quilt!

I think this will be a fun quilt.  I'll put this one on the list to finish next year.  Maybe it'll be 14 in 2014?  I'll have to think about that.

And I received this awesome QAYG tool caddy hoop from Betsy Lynn in the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap.  I love the cute Aneela Hoey fabrics she used, and that she sent it FULL of goodies.  Aren't those little aqua clothespins just the cutest.  And if that wasn't enough, there are a ton of fun scraps there too!  I hit the jack pot on this one too!

And I got this awesome paper pieced pillow from Kim (KMJ Creations) in the Holiday Edition Pillow Talk Swap.  Turns out we were partners with each other.  If her favorite palette is gray and purple, I imagine she had as much trouble with my brights on white style as I did with hers.  But isn't this adorable?  I love the fabrics she chose, and the wonky tree, and the fact that Santa looks like he's standing on a wobbly stool.  Just too cute.

The pillow is beautifully hand quilted.

And even the back is beautiful!

And I love that Santa is putting a star on the top of the tree.  I love stars - Christmas stars especially.


There are actually a couple more  swappy things waiting to have their pictures taken, but they didn't make it into the photo gallery today, and this post is already long enough so they will have to wait for another day.

What crafty things have you been working on?





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