A Couple of Recent Quilt Finishes...

As we near the end of the year, it becomes more and more apparent that my quilting accomplishments for 2013 are all but over.  However, I do have a couple of finished quilts I haven't shared here, so I thought I would share them today.

First, I finally finished my Bento Blocks quilt, and I really like it.  A lot more than I thought I would.  It is so colorful and bright that it just makes me happy.  I had thought I would probably donate this one to Project Linus, but I may have trouble parting with it.

I just quilted this one with a basic stipple.  Funny how sometimes it's nice to go back to basics.  I love how the red polka dot and plain white borders tone down the madness of the bentos.

And best of all, this is a 13 in 2013 finish.

I also finished my Wonky Cross quilt.  These are the blocks I won in the ECMQG block lottery last summer.  I finished it off with a gray (yes, gray!) border and a fabric I really like called Peacock Gardens from the ModKids collection by Patty Young at JoAnn's.

I quilted it with swirls in the body and a herringbone in the gray border.  It's pretty hard to see the quilting in the Peacock Gardens border, but I tried the Bernina #4 stitch that I've seen people use, and it turned out OK. 

Here is the back, so you can get an idea of what it looks like.  It's a pity it doesn't really show up on the front.

I really love the way these blocks coordinate and how great they look together.  I appreciate the effort the ladies of the guild put into these blocks.

And now that Christmas is over I can share the quilt I made for my daughter for Christmas.  The pattern is Wallflowers by Allison Harris (Cluck Cluck Sew.)

The fabric is mostly Lush Uptown by Erin Michael which I purchased from my favorite fabric shop, with a bit of Denyse Schmidt Florence and a couple of random color collection FQ bundles from Pink Chalk.

I wanted to highlight the motifs from the Lush Uptown collection and the Wallflowers pattern was perfect for showcasing the lovely designs in the fabric.

 It is king size, so I sent it out to the fabulous Sarah Russett for quilting.

So that's it for my most recent quilty adventures.  Once my Christmas company leaves, I hope to get started on some new projects, perfect for the new year.

All the best!

WIP Wednesday

I am sorry to report that I have made virtually no progress on any of my WIPs this week.  I have been sewing - a little - but these are not what I have been working on.  I had hoped to get several quilts sandwiched and ready to quilt at the ECMQG meeting last Saturday, but since I didn't get the backs made, I wasn't able to get that done.  I love the big floor in the fellowship hall of the church where we meet.  It has a lovely indoor/outdoor carpet that holds the quilt very well until I get basting pins in it to hold it together.  So, the Modern Maples quilt is still in the WIP pile, waiting to be finished.

The good news is that I now know exactly what I'm going to do for the back of this quilt, which I didn't know on Saturday, so maybe it's a good thing that I waited.

The bookshelf quilt is also languishing in the WIP pile, and for the same reason.  Since I took this picture I have added borders to the ends to make it just a tad bit bigger.  My friend Leona gave me a bit of this fabric (I think I have called it by several different names, but it is Santorini, by Lila Tueller) that I plan to put on the back, along with a coordinating solid, I think.

I decided that the Wonky Cross quilt needs borders too, since it's just not quite big enough to be useful.  Oddly enough, the borders will involve gray!?!  I'm going to get that done very soon (I hope) and then make a back for this one - maybe one large wonky cross?  It could be cool.  We'll see.

The Bento Quilt top is done too, and just needs a back.  AFTER I finished this quilt top, I found several blocks that I missed because they weren't in the bag with the other and which didn't make it into the quilt.  It's kind of a shame, because if I had seen them before, I might not have needed borders at all.  But, rather than take it apart again, I think I will use the extra blocks on the back for a little pizzaz.

Oh!  I almost forgot this baby...  This one still needs the fill-in piecing around the points of the stars, and then maybe borders.  Amanda says she put borders on one of her quilts of this pattern but not on the other, and I think it is almost big enough as it is, so I may just leave it, as it is quite large without borders.  We'll see when I get that done.

I actually dug these ancient (from 2010) blocks out of the basket last week.  This was one of the very first modern-ish quilts I ever started.  The fabric is Breath of Avignon by American Jane.  The pattern is a Moda Bake Shop picnic quilt called - oddly enough - Avignon.  These were among the first charm packs I ever bought.  In fact, it was kind of my return to quilting piece, and I started making the blocks on my old machine before I realized/remembered that my foot was not 1/4".  Putting this one together may be a bit of a challenge.  The good news is that the blocks have finally seen the light of day again, and I hope to put the top together soon.

So there's what's going on in my WIP pile this week.  We;ll see if I make more progress than I did last week.  I'm hoping I do - maybe it will get me motivated again.

Meanwhile, I have a question (well, technically, several questions, but they are all related)...  Do you use pins to baste your quilts?  If so, what kind?  Or do you spray baste?  (I've never tried spray basting.)  What are the pros and cons, as you see it?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Progress?

At the Emerald Coast MQG meeting on Saturday - our 2nd birthday, BTW - I was lucky enough to win the block lottery... 41 luscious wonky cross blocks in shades remiscent of days (and nights) at the beach, befitting our Emerald Coast heritage.  So, Sunday night, while WH was watching football, I decided to head into the sewing room and putter around.  I messed around with arrangements of these blocks on my design - um... - floor, pinned them in rows, stacked them all up and put them in a pile.

Since I wasn't really into the football game, I dug around in the WIP basket and decided to put together what I thought was my September goal for ALYOF - my bag of string blocks. 

Having those pinned in rows and piled up ready to sew, and knowing I was behind on my 13 in 2013 goals, I decided to get out the bentos and lay them out.  Done and done.

Football still taking over the den, I laid out my starflower quilt.  It took up the entire floor, and I even had to weave blocks around the legs of the ironing board, but I ended up with a layout I liked.  (It's gonna be awesome!!)

Then yesterday, starting about 8 am, I decided I was going to make it happen.  I sewed for about an hour and a half and the string blocks became a quilt top.  Easy peasy.

Another couple of hours, and the bentos became a quilt top.  I was cookin'. 

After a fun lunch date with my friend (and former co-worker) Shandra, and a nice long nap, I came back and put together the wonky cross quilt. This one was a bit more of a challenge since I had to make an extra block and fix a couple of size issues, but eventually it was done also...  And it was still light outside.  (I should have gone out immediately to take photos but it was getting dark and threatening rain, so these blurry, poorly lit I-phone shots are all I have at this moment - sorry.)

Ha!  Three quilt tops in one day!  I was pretty pumped so I decided to try putting the starflower quilt together - especially since I was afraid to pick it up, so it was still on the floor, being walked on, rolled on, and stepped over.  Amanda's directions are easy to follow and my first hexagon/star combo went together like a dream. 

So I decided to put the first two stars together.  Definitely NOT as hard as it looks.  Amanda's instructions are really quite good, and stars and hexies went together perfectly.  I ended up with the first row entirely together (which was good, because now I won't have to roll over blocks with my chair any more.)  And it was only 8 pm. A truly productive day. 

It wasn't until this morning that I realized that there was just one problem...  My goal for September was Bow Ties.

Oops!

Teal We Meet Again - Again

Last Sunday, I actually had a chance to take my Teal We Meet Again quilt outside and take some more pictures.  I'm clearly not a great photographer, and I wish I could rig a way to hang my quilts so they weren't so disproportional, but this photo will have to do.  It's better than the ones taken in the living room - at least I've got a little room to move around.

This quilt has several really fun blocks, and I thought I would show them off a bit.  They make me smile.  Maybe they'll make you smile also?

This Amy Butler block is super fun.  I love the anchors paired with the blue.  Reminds me of the ocean.

And I really love the shoes.  This one is from the swap, and I don't know who made it, but it's totally fun!

And a little Bliss is always nice, don't you think?

And aren't these dress forms just totally appropriate?  (And that's a little lantern bloom for the cross.)

And I have no idea who made this block, but the fabric in the center just pops.  Love it!

And here's a little Tufted Tweets mixed with Central Park for your viewing enjoyment...

And finally, I really liked this diagonal plaid from Ready, Set, Snow.  In fact, I liked it so well, I used it as my binding fabric.

 This style quilt is a great way to showcase fave fabrics, don't you think?  I never thought I would be so jazzed by modern-style quilting, but I have to say that while I still like traditional blocks, they are often just so boring.  Nothing boring about this baby!

And now, I'm really getting cold.  I think I'll go cuddle up in a nice warm quilt.

Teal We Meet Again - WIP Completed

Several months ago, I joined a Flickr swap called Teal We Meet Again.  The swap was to make cross or "+" blocks in red, teal and white.

 I made 10 blocks to swap...

And kept 20 blocks (because I made them the wrong size.)

I got 10 blocks in exchange for the ones I made...  And made another 10 to make the quilt the size I wanted.

And put them together into a quilt that I really, really like.

There are some really fun fabrics in this baby, and every time I look at them, they make me happy.  There are high heeled shoes.  And dress forms.  And Bliss.  And some other random red and aqua fabrics. 

This is a very "positive" quilt (Get it?)

I thought I might give this one away, but I don't think I'm going to be able to part with it.

Teal We Meet Again

 

This was intended to be a sewing weekend and here is what I have to show so far for this weekend's effort.  These are the wonky cross blocks I made for the Teal We Meet Again block swap.  The tutorial for these blocks is here.   I am pretty pleased with these overall, although I think all my crosses pretty much go the same way.  Perhaps that is a good reason for swapping with others, aside from the different fabrics that other swappers provide.

I only have 10 blocks to swap - I made the others too small.  I hate to waste fabric, so I cut the outer blocks smaller than the instructions called for.  So maybe this is really a lesson in following instructions!  Anyway, I think this will be a very fun quilt, once I have all the blocks.

Can't wait!