July do.Good Stitches

The colors for our July do.Good Stitches block were so pretty that I couldn't put the fabrics away until I cut up bunches and bunches of it! My groupmate MsMinnesota (link to her blog) selected a palette rich in blues with pops of grey, green-mustard and burnt orange. Almost everyone in our group has an abundance of blue... not me, I'm all about teal but I have made an effort to select different blues to add to my stash since joining the group.

I would not have thought to put these all together but they worked beautifully! She selected the big multicolored plus block below - another block I haven't made before. It was very easy to do and I can't wait to see what she does with it!

While considering whether or not to put the fabric away after finishing my blocks or just letting it sit in the middle of my sewing room I couldn't help but note that these colors would make a great boy quilt... And boy colors are tough to pick! So I selected cluck cluck sews Scrappy Summer pattern which I've admired since Alison blogged about it and whipped up a bunch of these blocks in no time! I'm developing a bit of a habit with these do.Good Stitches blocks and color palettes. I did the same thing for May's do.Good Stitches blocks which were done in red, blue and navy also great masculine colors. Trying new things is one of the fun things about being a part of do.Good Stitches.

 

The Scrappy Summer patter is such a wonderful pattern! It goes together very quickly and works great for scraps. I used Kona White to make the four-patch blocks which are all strip pieced. 

I assembled 30 blocks and arranged them in a crib size quilt measuring about 40x48 over the weekend. Next up is backing and binding additions. I've been hanging onto these little jellyfish guys for just the right boy quilt...  not sure if this is the one or not! 

And these too - running low on blues again I see! Not sure when when I'll be back to finish this quilt as my son in finishing up his Marines training and we'll be off to see him before he heads off to California to his next duty station.

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Free Motion Quilting

At February's modern quilt guild meeting last week I brought home a charity quilt top that needed quilting. Members can take home blocks to be pieced, quilt tops to be quilted, and/or quilts to be bound. The finished quilts will be donated to a local charity. I'm in need of some serious free motion quilting practice so I chose a quilt top that needed quilting.

This charity quilt is made up of 15 large squares in different shades of grey with pops of bright colors. I selected an Aurifil thread in a very light blue/grey which goes well with all of the blocks. I'm planning to quilt it using motifs that I've never put on a quilt before. It was just me and Angela Walters Free Motion for Beginners this weekend. So far I have practiced concentric circles (the type that are supposed to touch), pebbles, flowers, loopys, and paisleys. I have to say that some of these seem to look much better in photos than in person! So far the most difficult for me is the paisley. My thread kept breaking on this fmq design, likely because of my inconsistent speed and/or wild changing of direction while quilting. It's also easy to get trapped in a place that you can't get out of with this pattern. I ended up missing a few big areas and had to go back fill in later too. That said, I can see using this in small spaces again because it does look pretty good.

I started with the pebbles in one of the wonky star blocks. Pebbles take forever! I can't imagine doing pebbles in that scale all over on a large quilt - if I decide to do that on an entire quilt its going to be stones or large rocks for me! On the plus side they look good and were pretty easy to do for a beginner. The one motif that I really want to perfect is the concentric circle. For me it isn't easy to get those circles to touch... and I never quite get close enough to the edge so I have big gaps that I end up filling in later... and usually in a strange way. I also have several enormous circles... how'd that happen?! I'm thinking each row will need a few circles because I'd like to add that to my list of 'go to' free motion quilting patterns.

I think I perfected the flower pattern. I could see using this design on a large quilt. It's easily the most fun pattern so far. 

And the current 'easiest' free motion quilting pattern so far is loopys. I've seen this fmq pattern on many full size quilts and wanted to use it for awhile but never had just the right quilt top for it. I would use this pattern again, its quick and effective. I imagine it will be even better once its washed and crinkly.  

I have eight blocks finished so far. One of the things I noticed after an afternoon of quilting my muscles started to fatigue, once that happened most of my control went out the window... my lines were shaky, I couldn't stay within the boundaries, round things were square, square things were round, you get the idea... even though I had more energy mentally, my muscles were done and I had to take a break. 

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Promise Circle February Blocks

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was invited to participate in do.Good Stitches Promise Circle and I’m still pretty excited about that! My month to be the quilter is February which came up really fast! Yay, so glad it’s here already! I wanted to keep it simple since I only had a few days to come up with a color scheme and block. I decided on improv log cabins in two variations. I first dove into improv log cabins when putting together my pink log cabin pillow – those three little blocks were super fun. Promise Circle quilts benefit orphaned children through Threading Hope.

I selected colors in hot pink, mustard, white, navy and mint/light teal.

One of my 2015 goals was to put together a quilt with different sized blocks – making a quilt with several other people seemed like a good opportunity to get at that. The ‘large block variation’ is 12.5x12.5 unfinished. I started with a 3 inch square in the middle and added strings in varying widths between 1 - 2.5 inches with no particular rhyme or reason although I did alternate colors at each turn and kept the logs somewhat straight instead of wonky.

The ‘small block variation’ is made up of 4- 6.5x6.5 unfinished improv log cabin blocks with a total unfinished size of 12.5x12.5 just like the large block. I started with a 2.5 inch square in varying colors and used the same pile of strings for the large block variation using mostly 1 - 1.5 inch wide strings although there were a few that were wider.

Each bee mate will make 2 blocks. I plan to let my bee mates decide which block variation(s) they want to make. That way it will be a fun surprise to see what shows up! I’ve never made a whole quilt with improv log cabins as it seems daunting but I have always admired them. The finished quilt will be donated to charity and should be ready in April.

If you are a beginner to improv log cabins take a look at the tutorial by Heather Jones at Sew4Home My blocks are a little more scrappy and had smaller beginning center squares but the general idea for construction is the same. Do what you like bee mates – it’s going to be amazing no matter what!

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Silly String Quilt In Progress

Just before the New Year I started a 'leader and ender' project using up a few pink and teal strips from other projects.

After a lot of hmming and hawing and moving pieces around I finally decided on a layout. An original design, yay! I shall call it Silly String. Just because.

I selected a cute print from Life is Tweet by Stephanie Marrot, for the backing and basted it. These polka dot feathers are so cute! The lime and purple give the quilt a little more color too.

And then wouldn't ya' know I couldn't make up my mind how to quilt it. At all! I even took to instagram to get some insta-feedback! Still nothing. I've never had a quilt sit and sit just starting at me for days before....  Phht. Last night I had a few minutes and thought darn it, I'm just going to meander this thing and get it off my floor.... I seriously need some meandering practice anyways!

Not too bad - hardly any square loops this time! I had purchased a Supreme Slider from Amazon and used it for the first time on this quilt. Wow, I have been missing out - no wonder I had square loops, I haven't been able to move my fabric very well. It's hard to know the difference until you quilt with it and without it. I had initially bought the Supreme Slider for quilting with minky which is a little harder to move than cotton fabric. Hope it works this well for minky too! Maybe I can even tackle the pebble or bubble quilting someone had mentioned!

Now onto the binding... which I had selected quite awhile ago while I pondered the quilting. I was thinking of a teal with white pin dot - same fabric in the quilt top.  Although now seeing the backing with the front I'm wondering if lime or purple might work and bring it all together.... Or if that would just be strange?!  I might need to hold an instagram binding audition.

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January Guild Meeting

Last month I joined my local modern quilt guild and have two sewing projects in progress for the upcoming January meeting this week. The first is our January block for block lotto. I'm not exactly sure how block lotto goes but I gather we bring blocks (or a block) using a specified quilt block and color palette. A winner is selected and then the person gets to keep all the blocks to make something. Sounds like fun! This month we kept the block simple doing HSTs in red, aqua and tan with white. I'm not too sure how many we are to bring so I just did a few until I got bored...

Pretty! I had not thought of bringing in tan with red and aqua before. Learning already!

Some time ago (last year?) the guild did name badges. The group was 'warned' to wear them to upcoming meetings - I hope the warning meant something good is going to happen! Since I'm new I didn't make one with the group but figured I better go ahead and have one... plus no one knows my name so probably a good idea.

Mine is kind of an eclectic mix of my favorites. Lots of cute fabric scraps in solids, polka dots, birds and whimsy prints from some of my favorite designers like Dear Stella and Art Gallery, plus others. Mustard, teal and pink of course! I even broke out the fancy stitches using my Pfaff, haven't put that on a quilt before! Pow!

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Holiday Mini Improv Quilts and Dog Progress

Lots of catching up this week after the holiday last week! I've made quite a bit of progress on one of my dog quilts. The grass and sky have been pieced. I've cut all of the applique pieces using Wonder Under 805 which I have used since Steam a Seam II disappeared earlier this year although it looks to be back now; if anyone has given the new stuff a try I'd love to hear about it. I have just a few applique pieces left to attach including the eyes which are the most difficult to place. Temporarily I'm using scotch tape to attach them... and hoping I don't run over the tape with the iron!

This gal had some pretty floppy ears with the left one laying flat and the right one flipping out a little. I decided to give the right one a little dimension and added some fluff between the layers. I had worried about the batik dog fabric as I don't use a lot of batik but I think it really works here.

I do my applique with my Pfaff (love her!). It can be a slow process especially on rounded corners where the fabric needs turned every couple of stitches. Maybe I won't do such round-y letters next time!?! I'm using both Mettler and Aurifil threads to do the applique.

This will be my third time making this quilt. So far I'm really liking the 'Hildy' version!

Holiday Mini Improv Quilts

Just before Halloween I did a custom set of mini Ghastlies quilts for a client. Now there is a matching set of Christmas Ghastlies mini quilts! 

I love doing improv with the Ghastlies; you don't really know where you're going until you've arrived. They are all different but coordinate well together. They have been shipped off just in time for the holidays! I can't get over the gold polka dot fabric by Dear Stella; I lucked out and had a few large scraps of the gold and red snowflake fabric that went really well the the gold polka dots too.

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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! 

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Doggone Progress

I've still been playing catch up from our trip to California last week. My family did Thanksgiving last weekend so we were out of town again. Hoping to catch my breath this week! I did manage make a trip to the grocery store, the first in three weeks! And make some progress on my current dog quilt

I've been struggling with selecting the base for the dogs so I've left it off for now. The rest of the pups should be finished by the end of the week so I've got to figure it out!  Below is the base for the dogs; it sort of acts like a colored sashing. Here's a pic from the last time I made this quilt.

The base is a pretty major component since it's repeated in every block. Below are a couple of options I have auditioning on my sewing room floor aka center stage at my house!

Coral solid or print

Mustard solid or print with teal

I think both the mustard and coral prints are a little bit busy for this quilt. I'm also still thinking about the borders and binding. Usually I have all these things pulled together before even starting.

There are a number of green, teal and blue colored dogs and hardly any coral, grey or mustard which is why I'm leaning towards the less dominant colors as the base. I've also considered doing bases of all different colors??  Thoughts? Which do you like?

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Wonky Work In Progress

It has been a busy week! Hardly any sewing, boo. We have been in California - our son graduated from Marine bootcamp, yay! We had a few days in the sun before returning to the cold weather. Thankfully no snow yet. Before I left I did manage to decide on my next project and even sew up a block to see if I liked 'the plan.'  I stumbled across the wonky pinwheel tutorial by Greenleaf Goods; I really liked the idea and saw a number of variations on Pinterest. It took me awhile, seriously days, to decide on what I wanted to do here. I finally decided on solid Kona Navy surrounded by teal prints. Yum!

I like it! I'm thinking about doing a larger starting square; these were 3.5 inches and seems like it might take forever and ever before a quilt would emerge. My test block above is 6.5 square, it will be 6 when finished. The benefit of using the smaller starting squares is that you can use up even small scraps... a trade off, forever and ever before a finish or using up small scraps. Don't know, gonna have to ponder this one.

Using the dark centers is really no trouble at all, I just used my pink sewline to mark the lines

I can't wait until this is finished. I don't know what it will end up as but I'm excited to see! In the meantime I'm doing another dog quilt that will hang in a dog rescue! Instead of pastels the request for this quilt was 'bright and fun.' I had a couple of ideas, Lily Ashbury always comes to mind when I hear 'bright' but didn't think her awesome florals would work here. I decided on V and Co Simply Style. These fabrics are bright and fun and not too girly or boyish. I think the colors will really pop against a bright white background. I'm planning to use Kona White as the background fabric. I'm working on a plan for the background and borders.

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Limeade Chevron Quilt and Bonus Projects

What I really wanted to call this quilt was Margarita... the bright pink and lime colors, yummy! But this quilt is for a toddler soooo I think I better save that for another day! I've been working on the limeade chevron quilt since my Gumballs and Elephants post. The top is done, backing is pieced, and quilt has been basted. Just waiting for some inspiration for the quilting.

Bonus Pieces 

While I'm waiting for the inspiration arrow to strike I'll share a little more about bonus projects. This is one of of those quilts with tons and tons of leftover bonus pieces to make bonus projects. Here's how I make bonus pieces for this particular quilt:

This chevron pattern is made up of flying geese blocks using rectangles and squares. My rectangles were 6.5x3.5 and squares measured 3.5. Two squares for each rectangle. I mark the center of the square pieces as normal for this block, on the wrong side of the fabric. Then using a 1/2 inch ruler I mark a second line off to the side. If you don't have a 1/2 inch ruler, just move your ruler over half an inch and mark the second line.

Do this for all of your square pieces.  

Align your square and rectangles, right sides together. Stitch on the center line as usual to make your flying geese block. Chain piecing is a big help here! Once you've finished with your chain, remove the entire chain and feed it through again this time stitching on the second line you drew. You don't need to snip in between pieces until both lines have been stitched. 

Now cut right down the center of your two lines. You will have your flying geese block and your HST bonus piece! Repeat with another square to complete your flying geese block. The great thing about using this method for flying geese is two bonus pieces for each block, yay!

And each quilt will make mounds of bonus pieces! All ready to go just need ironing and squaring up! These HST measured 2.5 inches after squaring up.

Bonus pieces aren't limited to flying geese blocks. You can use this method anytime that you're cutting away a corner. I use it often when making star blocks. It's easier to piece HSTs while they are still part of the square. Once you cut the corner away if you want to put the two triangles back together again you'll end up sewing on the bias which is tricky since the bias is stretchy and the corners always seem to get sucked into the sewing machine while trying to piece them.

A few projects I've made with bonus pieces when making this quilt

Chevron Doll Quilt

HST Pillow Sham

My argyle pinwheel pillow was also created using bonus pieces from a star quilt. There are about a bazillion things to do with HSTs!

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