Herringbone Quilt, Final Fat Eighth Bundle Project

After making two triangle quilts (here and here) with a fat eighth bundle of Coquette by Chez Moi I did something a little different and made this girly herringbone quilt. It has been quite a while since I used a lot of white in a quilt so it was fun to revisit something familiar. This quilt was featured on Quilt Story!

I pulled out all of the green and blue fabrics from the bundle leaving just shades of pink, purple and yellow. The blues ended up in a herringbone pillow, the greens are just orphaned to the scrap bin for now.

The backing is pieced in purple and yellow - I was a little nervous that I wouldn't like how it turned out but I'm really happy with it.

I especially love the chevron pattern on the back left by the quilting! I followed every row on either side of the seam using my walking foot. I used white thread since I was using a big dash of Kona White in this baby quilt. I used just under one yard of white for this quilt which measures 36x38.

When making my rainbow herringbone quilt last year I worried that it would be difficult to line up the seams but it is actually a very forgiving pattern. You can grab a link to the herringbone tutorial on my pinterest tutorials board.  I modified it some but the instructions are really good. My cut pieces were 2.5 x 9 which makes this a jelly roll friendly pattern too! I did have a little trouble with the rows not lining up this time around - there is a good dash of 'eye-balling' that goes into this quilt when piecing the rows. At first I thought my seam allowances were off but it ended up that my eye-balling was the issue. I must have had beginners luck when doing the pattern the first time because I didn't experience this issue the first go around.

I'd love to say this is the final installment of my fat eighth bundle but I have a huge pile of scraps so I'm not quite finished with these fabrics. I've used them so much I might just add them to my overflowing scrap bins.

Fat Eighth Bundle Projects 

Just to recap my projects from one fat eighth bundle and 1 1/4 yard of white 

Herringbone Crib Quilt, 36x38, plus 33 inches of white

Herringbone Pillow, 18 inch square, plus 10 inches of white 

Triangle Baby Quilt, 31x31

Triangle Crib Quilt, 36x42

A small mountain of scraps!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to Show and Tell Tuesday Sew Fresh Quilts My Quilt Infatuation crazy mom quilts Whoop Whoop Friday Sew Cute Tuesday and Quilt Story 

Three Quilts One Bundle!

Gosh I love deals, especially fabric deals! So much that sometimes I buy too much, way, way too much! When I jumped back into quilting a few years ago I bought an inappropriate amount of fabric; it's normal to buy a couple hundred yards of fabric in a year right?? Right....  I have seriously curtailed my fabric intake this year. The neatly folded fabric has spilled off my shelves into piles on the floor which is not neat at all! In an effort to make a little room I decided to devour a fat eighth bundle of Chez Moi Coquette I bought from the Fat Quarter Shop which has had a birthday or two here. In case you are wondering you can make at least three baby quilts from a single fat eighth bundle!  Here is my first finish

After my recently finished postage stamp quilt with a gazillion tiny squares, a few angles were necessary to keep me straight! This is my first triangle quilt finish. I've dabbled in triangles before with my triangle pillow but this was the first usable quilt with nothing but triangles.

I'm constantly admiring them and I quickly realized how tricky the triangle points can be. By the time I finished this quilt I decided that pressing all seams open was the best way to save them. I did have a couple of 'point casualties' but there is always a couple!

For the quilting I decided on light pink 50wt Auriful thread following each seam. I really love this design partly because it creates stars all over the front and back

Pretty, pretty, pretty! This crib quilt measures 36x42. I was also able to create a triangle baby quilt and a herringbone quilt that hasn't quite taken form yet from this fat eighth bundle! Who knew so much fabric was stuffed into those neatly folded bundles?!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to Whoop Whoop Friday crazy mom quilts LAFF Sew Cute Tuesday i have to say and My Quilt Infatuation 

Up Parasol Sherbet Baby Quilt

Oh jelly roll, how you get to me every time... I know I'm not the only one who finds it tricky to use jelly rolls but they keep me on my toes that's for sure! I had a bunch of leftover strips from when I made my rainbow burst mini quilt from a jelly roll of Up Parasol by Heather Bailey. I love the large scale prints in this line but it's hard to showcase them when they've been cut into 2.5 inch strips.

I added in some odds and ends from the Birds and Berries collection by Jessi and Lauren Jung. These two bird loving fabric lines went together just perfectly! The sweet oranges, pinks, greens and teals meshed so well! I could not help but think of sherbet ice cream the entire time I was working on this quilt!

With my deep affection for teal and orange fabrics it's no wonder that I drawn to the two of these collections. I'm so glad I was able to pull them together into one baby quilt! And use up part of my jelly roll.... although I still have a bunch of strips leftover so more jelly roll pondering in my future.

I didn't wash it but I can imagine it with all its crinkly quilty goodness. That pop of hot pink gets me every time!  And darn it, I do love plaid, I was just telling my hubby that I need more good plaid in my life... err, stash.

With all of the busy prints in this quilt I chose a solid binding from Art Gallery Elements.  The backing is by Kate Spain's Joy collection in Mint - although it was part of a holiday collection, it goes perfectly with this spring baby quilt!

I've been a meandering machine lately and again did a meandering quilting pattern.  I'm still perfecting my meandering - the pattern is so quick and universal that I just want to do it over and over!!

If you are wanting to make your own jelly roll squares quilt the center squares are 2.5 inches, followed by 6.5 strips and then 10.5 strips. It does require 'squaring up' after each square is complete. This baby quilt measures 40x40 and goes together super fast!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to My Quilt Infatuation LAFF Whoop Whoop Friday Quilt Story Show Tell Tuesday and crazy mom quilts 

Star of the Show Rainbow Mini Quilt

It is no secret that I’m pretty much in love with V and Co Simply Color line – her first line ever, by the way. It would be okay with me if she just did that line over and over… The fabrics are so bright and colorful. I used it on my rainbow herringbone quilt and rainbow quilted pillow cover last year. I came across a bunch of Simply Color fabrics just before the New Year and bought them up! The first item to be made from my coveted stash is this rainbow mini quilt, a special request from a client who needed a ‘star of the show’ for her mini quilt wall! This mini quilt was featured at Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday!!

Yum! This mini is a redo of the rainbow pillow cover although this one needed to be a little larger as the pillow was an 18 inch square and the client was needing a 20x20 for her mini quilt wall. The adding of one more row going across and down proved to be a challenge! I did use a few scraps from my stash and a number of fabrics from V and Co Simply Style line which has many of the same colors.

I decided on a rainbow binding, although any of the colors probably would have worked out well and if it were for me I would have done teal or mustard… or maybe the plum because it is gorgeous! For me to say that about a purple is really something; I have almost no purple to speak of in my stash, it just isn't something I’m drawn to, but these purples are amazing!

Since I machine stitch my bindings to the front and back – first I stitch the binding to the back and then flip and machine stitch to the front – I had a rough time deciding on the color of thread to use on the front binding with the rainbow colored binding; I didn't want the thread to be overly obvious against some of the fabrics and blend right in with others… I nearly went with white which would have stood out on most but decided on grey at the last minute and was really happy with how it turned out. Last fall I attended Madison Quilt Expo and listened to Weeks Ringle speak and recall her saying that if she could only have a few colors of thread she would choose grey, tan and white… and maybe a few others but those are the ones I can remember! Good call on the grey Weeks, good call!

My first go hanging a quilt with washi tape; works! Well, just long enough to take photos and then it promptly fell down… that’s ok, I work fast! 

Just for fun I did a pieced backing with fabrics from the front. I even tried to place them so the straight line quilting would line up same as the front. It was very close. Close enough!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts Quilt Matters Richard and Tanya Quilts Whoop Whoop Friday Show Off Saturday and My Quilt Infatuation 

Rainbow Baby Quilt Top

I've been working with an etsy client on this personalized baby quilt. I do love a rainbow quilt! The top is all done and was made with Good Morning fabrics by Me and My Sister Designs from Moda. The pattern is another one from Three Times a Charm, book 2 by Me and My Sister Designs. That book has so many cute patterns for baby quilts. And these fabrics, wow, they are so bright and cheerful! This quilt top was featured at Quilt Story: Fabric Tuesday!!

The backing is going to be an adorable owl print by Timeless Treasures. The owls will be all used up after this quilt - I need more. The teal squiggle is one of my all time favorites by Tim and Beck from Bungle Jungle.

We were auditioning fabrics for the personalization and ultimately went with the pink on pink print for the baby name. I used wonder under and appliqued with my Pfaff to attach the letters. You can take a look at the finished rainbow baby quilt here.

I was also asked to join do.Good Stitches, a charity bee, this week! Umm, for sure, I am in! I joined the Promise circle, which benefits orphaned children through Threading Hope. This month we are working on Jacobs ladder blocks (mine are all done) and I've got to come up with a block as I'm going to be the quilter for February which is coming up super fast!  Eek!  I'm thinking mustard, mint, navy and hot pink fabrics - sounds yummy! But I change my mind a lot....

I also finished another dog quilt this time for a Bichon Frise! You can check out The Sophie on my instagram

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts From Bolt to Beauty Quilt Story and Whoop Whoop Friday 

What's In a Name

I had a tiny handful of WIPs unfinished in 2014 and my name tag for my guild meetings was one of them. I did manage to finish it up just in time for our January meeting!

I didn't have much of a plan in creating this. I started with a small white rectangle of Kona white, apx 3.5x5, and just added my favorite scraps until I was happy with how they looked. I moved the whole mess onto a piece of scrap batting and backing. I free motion quilted the little scraps in place starting with those closest to the back. There was a little deconstructing and reconstructing involved with that. I free motion embroidered my name to the dark teal solid with a piece of stabilizer behind it and then attached it to the top of all the other scraps using the special stitch, which reminds me of bird footsteps, along the bottom and straight stitch around the top and sides. That was my second attempt at my name... the first attempt had a better R at the end but messier is other places. Hope its legible! Or close enough! I mean really, its the fun colors and prints that matters the most isn't it!?

And look, there's that design wall I was yacking about awhile back. Seems like a good place to hang it up so I don't forget to take it along... we'll see if that works anyways! Sort of brightens up the space too!

I don't think the Kona white was entirely necessary but it forced me to stay within my limitations otherwise I would have just making it bigger and bigger - I had lots of other 'favorite' scraps waiting in the wings. As it is I'm already going to need a bigger chest to display this beauty! I didn't think to measure that...

I backed it with more little birds and attached a scrap piece of teal binding... always love a teal binding!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts Quilt Matters My Quilt Infatuation and Whoop Whoop Friday 

Well that's it then

The sun has finally came out here in Wisconsin and with it frigid temperatures... that's ok, I'm staying inside sewing! I took out a few bonus HSTs from a chevron project earlier this year and whipped up this orange and grey pinwheel pillow

The HSTs were already assembled from the chevron pillow which was made flying geese style, perfect for bonus projects! I just ironed and squared them, and played with them on my design wall for a little while until I had something I liked. I was three HSTs short.... rather than take some out I added the fun low volume pinwheel in the center! I kept the quilting simple and did straight line quilting on each diagonal which created a diamond pattern on the front.

I had just the thing for the backing, I picked up this great bicycle fabric from Erin McMorris by Free Spirit at a lqs during the summer quilt shop hop and had to use it here. Those little baskets carrying flowers are so cute! The orange comes from High Street by Lily Ashubry for Moda.

And of course I just had to install an invisible zipper... how could I not? The pull matched just perfectly with the little bikes... It's like I had to!

This pillow is small just 16 inch square and has been added to my etsy shop which is in need of some new things after a holiday of custom orders!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the link parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to Richard and Tanya Quilt crazy mom quilts Quilt Story My Quilt Infatuation and Quokka Quilts 

Quilty Christmas Haul and Finishes

Whew Christmas is over - we survived again! Although it was a busy time I did have some sewing time that allowed me to finish three quilts, two minis and another dog quilt!

This little pup was an orphan block from a past dog quilt; it's been on my design wall long enough so I just bound it in Dear Stella peony confetti dot and did tiny loopy loo quilting. In all honesty I wanted to practice the tiny loopy loos on this block before using it for the dog quilt I finished this week. The backing of the mini has teal polka dot bursts on white.

I'm calling this a throw back version as I have made this quilt using these exact fabrics earlier this year. Well almost, this time I used Kona Bone instead of a bright white on white print for the background fabric. I think it softened up the look a little. The rest of the fabrics were all from Coquette by Chez Moi from Moda. I'm nearly out of these great fabrics - I will miss them when they are gone. Over Christmas we had nothing but cloudy days and rain, no snow for Christmas... hardly ever happens in Wisconsin, we always have snow! The rain and clouds are no good for picture taking.

I also turned the little heart balloon block into a mini quilt- another orphan. I love this tiny quilt, I did put it in my etsy shop but I might have to keep it all for me! The backing is hot pink with great big white polka dots. Heart was appliqued and free motion embroidered. I love this technique and hope to do it again soon.

Aside from these finishes this week I also have a couple of WIPs that have my attention, my mini for the rainbow mini swap on IG and my wonky pinwheel quilt in navy and teal. As if that wasn't enough to work on my hubby gave me several quilty gifts this Christmas that are really tugging at my attention!

Pretty threads and much wanted Swoon patterns in mini and full size! Yay! These really aren't the best gifts of all; he also made me a thread holder. It's so amazing and it's deserving of its own post... another day, after it gets put up in my sewing room!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to Sew Many Ways Sew Fresh Quilts Sew Cute Tuesday and Show off Saturday 

The Hildy

She’s finished! One down, two to go! I was able to send this quilt off to her new home this week, well almost home, she is a Christmas gift. She needs to make a stop for wrapping and inspection first. I hope she passes! This quilt was featured on Richard and Tanya's Link a Friday Finish!!

I did free motion quilting throughout using three different patterns, one for each section of the quilt. Tiny loopy loos for the white background, Moda Bella White.

Meandering in the sky because it sometimes reminds me of poufy clouds! Meandering is not my favorite fmq pattern, but it works here.

And swirls with great big flowers for the grass. Love!

The plaid binding fabric is by Denyse Schmidt, it was so perfect for this quilt. The oat colored backing is from Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille and was just the thing to pull it all together and was selected by her new owners along. Wouldn't you know I ended up with an adjoining piece of binding right at the corner, agh! At least it was only one corner on this quilt. I've had quilts where every corner was tricky because of the extra fabric. Maybe I should roughly lay out the binding before I start attaching to prevent that problem in the future?! I say with a chuckle, I’ll never learn!

A final head shot! The eyes are always tricky on this quilt but I think I've gotten it down. Basically 2 white jelly beans layered with 2 smaller brown jelly beans. Instead of free motion quilting them in place this time like with the Jake quilt I slowly did a straight stitch around the outside of the white and black in coordinating thread.

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the link parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to Richard and Tanya Quilt Show off Saturday Quilt Story i have to say Sew Fresh Quilts and Whoop Whoop Friday 

First Timer

I just signed up for my first mini quilt swap! Kate - @katebasti on Instagram - is hosting a Rainbow Mini Quilt swap. Hurry over registration ends on December 11. I believe the mail date is around March so plenty of time to come up with a great idea! The wall behind my sewing machine is bare, no more! Need inspiration for the swap? Here’s a rainbow pillow sham I completed this summer before starting my blog. This pillow was featured at Quilt Story: Fabric Tuesday and My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday!!

It was made with scraps from my rainbow herringbone quilt and a few pieces from my scrap bins. The squares are 2 inches finished. The pillow cover fits an 18 inch pillow sham. The fabrics are Simply Color by V and Co, my most favorite rainbow collection ever. I've mentioned that before, I know! I posted this a couple of weeks ago on Instagram, you can find me at @modernpartiquilts

I kept the quilting simple with straight line quilting going on both sides of every seam. The pillow cover has a solid teal envelop style backing.

I'm super duper excited about my first mini quilt swap!!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts Quilt Story i have to say Sew Fresh Quilts My Quilt Infatuation Quilt Matters and Sew Cute Tuesday

Fabric Watchers

In addition to having a great Thanksgiving with family I was also able to get some sewing in with our niece who was visiting from Indiana. Together we made an American Girl doll quilt and pillow for her American Girl doll. She picked out the fabrics all by herself and I think she did a great job!

The backing fabric matched the fun white fabric on the little pillow we made. The white fabric was from JoAnns. She also chose fabrics from Riley Blake and Art Gallery. We did some free motion quilting with loopy loos and little flowers. He dog Sophie even got in on the free-motion action – I can say that I wasn't expecting that!! She stuffed her little pillow perfectly! 

Fabric Watchers

No, not like weight watchers for fabric addicts although I could totally use that! I was able to snap a couple of photos of my fabric watchers, Laci and Peanut, while shooting pictures for my fabric inventory just before Thanksgiving. This is Laci, the little princess of the house. 

And Peanut. As you can see, they take fabric watching very seriously!

They may actually have been watching these little birds! I guess they won't be getting paid for fabric watching this week... 

WIP

Speaking of dogs, I’m in the middle of more dog quilts! I've had a run on custom dog quilts for the holidays this week. Here are a couple of the fabric pulls for a pair of ‘dog siblings’

Hers. Art Gallery fabrics including Girly Girl, Rapture, Nouvelle, Nature Elements and Oval Elements Collections plus the pink heart fabric from Sandy Gervais Flirt by Moda.

His. More Art Gallery Oval Elements, Nature Elements, Modern Affair Collections, plus the cute plaid from Denyse Schmidt which goes perfectly with these! The light blue paisley is from Noteworthy by Moda. 

An Unrelated Dog. This particular quilt is actually a memorial pet quilt that will be gifted for Christmas. Fabrics from the Noteworthy line by Sweetwater from Moda. Plus the blue batik. These should probably keep me busy in between baking, shopping and decorating for Christmas! 

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to Stitch by Stitch Twelo Quilt Story Show and Tell Tuesday Sew Fresh Quilts Freshly Pieced My Quilt Infatuation and Blossom Heart Quilts