I did it!

One of my main goals was to finish my dad's quilt before our baby arrived. Thankfully, I was able to have all but a few feet of binding left to stitch when I went into labor. Hooray! I was able to finish the rest up that following week and threw it in the wash on Christmas Eve to wrap and give my father on Christmas day - exactly one year late. It worked out perfectly actually since his actual gift for this year arrived in early December.

When my dad opened the box and saw that it was his quilt he was so excited and surprised. It was great! It felt so good to be done with it and to see him to happy to receive it. He proceeded to use it for the rest of the afternoon! According to my mother, he had been using it as often as possible since Christmas and does not let anyone else touch it!

All in all, this is one of the most time consuming quilts I have made. The finished size is roughly 70" x 90". That means there are 63 of those square in square blocks that required a lot of cutting, sewing, pressing and trimming. I'm quite happy with the look but I'm not sure I'll be making one of those again in the near future. If I do, I might consider being less anal retentive and forgo the trimming after each ring. I think the quilting looks perfect for the quilt. I don't have a photo to show it so you're going to have to trust me on this one! I did straight lines running 1/4" off the outside seam of each block and then one line diagonally through each block in both directions. It is minimal so it let's the pattern show and keeps it cozy. I initially wanted to stick to only horizontal and vertical lines, but I know that, even with all that trimming, the inner seams world never line up enough to make the quilting look straight(ish).

The blocks are made with various varieties of four different color combinations to represent my dad's favorite Detroit/Michigan sports teams: the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and the Michigan Wolverines.

For the back I used licensed prints of all of the teams except the Tigers. Surprisingly, quilting cotton for the Tigers is not available. As expected, my father liked the back more than the front. Figures!

All in all, I'd say this quilt was a success! As many are aware, I was highly skeptical when I embarked on this endeavor. I'm glad it worked out that both me and my father were happy with the result.

New Projects

I love starting new projects.  I love looking at a stack of fresh fabrics.  I love sitting down and figuring out the pattern.  I love math required to figure out how everything is going to come together.  I love when I can begin cutting the pieces and laying them out together.  I really love quilting.

To finish or not to finish

I have been contemplating whether or not to make more blocks for my spiderweb quilt.  In its current state, the quilt is 5 blocks by 6 blocks.  This makes it roughly 50" x 60".

Please excuse this horrible photo.  My condo has terrible natural lighting
and on top of that, it's dreary and snowing outside.  Sadness.

The plan is to make the quilt a lap quilt to give as a gift.  I typically like a generous lap size quilt, which this is.  However, it's really only a one person lap quilt.   If I add 2 more rows of blocks, it would make the quilt roughly 60"x70".  That would make it a better two person snuggle quilt.  It would also require me to make 12 more blocks.  Although I do enjoy making these blocks, I'm not sure I have 12 more in me.  That's a lot!

So, here is my question to you: what size do you make your lap quilts?  Would you call it quits now and finish it up?  Would you keep going?

Pinwheels for Christmas

Ever since I gave my mom a quilt for her birthday last year, various members of my family have been requesting quilts.  This year for Christmas my grandma was the lucky lady.

I started working on the pinwheel sampler early last year.  After being sidelined for several months, I decided to finished it up for a Christmas gift.  I love the prints in this quilt and the classic pattern.

The original sampler quilt-a-long only called for 16 blocks, but I think a rectangular quilt is nicer than a square one, so I added 4 additional blocks.  I also decided to add those little pinwheels in the sashing.  I am so glad I did too.  I think they really add a little something special to the quilt.  There was a lot of talk of how much of a pain in the butt they are to make in the Flickr group, but I didn't find them painful at all.  I actually kind of enjoyed making them.  After making all of more intricate larger blocks, it was a bit refreshing to whip up a bunch of simple ones - even if they were only 3.5" square.

I don't prewash any of my fabric since I like the crinkly look.  This quilt washed up so lovely.  Look at all those crinkles!  Doesn't it make you want to just snuggle up in it?!

The backing and binding were prints of the same line that I found on clearance at the Fabric Shack for only $3.99 a yard!  It was such a great find!

 It's one of the more traditional quilts I have made, but I love it.  I am so happy with how it turned out.

Girly

When I first posted about this quilt, I affectionately dubbed it the "trial quilt" since it was, in fact, a trial run for the quilt I made for my adorable little niece.  It sat with about 12 inches of binding unstitched for over a month, but I finally finished it up on our trip to Ontario.

Since the backdrop looking over Lake Erie is so pretty, I figured I should take some photos there to show it off.  Unfortunately, the lighting was a bit off since I took them a bit too soon after sunrise.  It was freezing and Shawn and I were antsy to make our snowy drive home.

The pattern is my own - using 8 prints in various sizes of squares and rectangles.  While reorganizing my fabric I realized I have a large stack of pink prints and have never made a pink quilt!  I chose these prints to remedy that situation.  I still think I need to make about 10 more pink quilts to reflect the amount of pink in my stash!  The white sashing is this bamboo cotton blend I purchased inexpensively by the bolt a couple years ago.   I like it because the price is right, it's softer than Kona cotton, and threads don't show through like with muslin.

To go along with the pink theme, the back in a pale pink Kona solid.  I think it's pale flesh.  Since some of the pinks are pretty bold in the top, I wanted to be a little more subtle for the backing.  The binding is from Good Folks and I think it makes a great binding.

All in all, I'd say this trial quilt was a success.

193

193 hexagons look like a lot more when they are in this box:

as opposed to this box:

It looks a bit sparse.  It gives me room to grow, right?

It's a good thing because I'm liking what I see!

Little me- Featured!

Earlier this month I was contacted by Jocelyn of the Fat Quarter Shop to ask for permission to use a photo of one of my quilts for an article she was writing for Sew4Home.   What?! Me?! Sheesh!  Of course I said yes! 

Last week the article was posted!  She was writing about Moda precuts and featured this photo of Wonderland quilt using charm packs.

Here's a link to the article for this of you who are interested:  Jelly Rolls to Layer Cakes: A Lesson in Fabric Pre-Cuts

Settlers of Peacock Isle

And here it is.  The quilt for my niece is finally complete!  

For those of you who haven't been around this overly documented quilt creation, my sister-in-law asked me to make a quilt for her 5 year old daughter.  She wanted something in the colors of a peacock.  I thought Amy Butler's Love line fit the bill.  After an extensive amount of deliberation, I opted to use the half-hexagon pattern for the top.

Please ignore the wrinkles.  :)

The back is Kona Ice Frappe.  Now this is the second time I have used this for a quilt back and I still love it.  The color is so soft and versatile.  I should purchase an entire bolt.  Yes, I'm serious.

Par usual, the quilting is an all over stipple.  I like to keep it easy.  This is the largest quilt I have made.  Wrestling it through the machine definitely make me glad I purchased the quilting machine with the extra large neck and it came with a table.

It is a well known fact that my nieces loooooooves green.

See, I told you.  St.  Patty's Day was a dream come true.  In honor if this, I decided that the quilt needed a green binding.  The Love Sunspots in Olive were the perfect choice.

The finished size is 86"x90".  Interesting tidbit for you, this quilt shrunk 8" in width and 5" in length.  I don't prewash my fabrics so I knew there would be shrinkage, but I'm pretty surprised about how much!  After "finishing" the top I began second guessing myself that it would be too small after washing.  I wouldn't recommend doing this with the hexagon pattern, but I am so glad I made the extra effort.  The quilt would be too small otherwise! 

For maybe the one person out there who picked up on it, yes, the title of this post is a Settlers of Catan reference.  If only I had made an all blue border around the entire quit. 

Chickies

I recently acquired a charm pack of the Chick-a-dee Chick-a-doo line. It is absolutely adorable, by the way. Since I only had one charm pack, I had to get a little creative at how to incorporate these into a quilt. I saw this quilt on flickr and decided to give it a go.

It's basically just a disappearing nine patch with some white sashing.  After Christmas in a moment of obscurity, I bought an entire bolt of white cotton/bamboo blend fabric.  This is my first time using it.  I think it turned out pretty nicely.  It definitely has different feel than 100% cotton.  Much softer and it has a different drape. I haven't washed this quilt yet, so I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.

For the blinding I purchased a bit of striped yardage from the line. I'm a fan of all of those stripes. The back is Kona Cotton Ice Peach.

I decided to go with the loopy quilting again.  At one point I purchased a spool of pastel variegated thread. I was a local quilt shop and thought it looked pretty and would look nice with this doll quilt, so I decided to buy it. Little did I know that spool was $8! Sheesh! I have been looking for a project for it ever since. I'm not completely in love with how the quilting turned out, but I do think the colors in the thread compliment the fabrics quite nicely. I'm just not sure I would use it again with a quilt sashed in white.

On a separate note, recently my camera has been habitually underexposing all of my photos. I can't figure out why. I have a Canon XSi. I tend to shoot in RAW so I have more control over the final product during post-processing.  Unfortunately, I have found adjusting the exposure too much distorts the colors too. Has anyone else had this problem?  It makes me sad because I think it makes my photos look like poo.  Yes, I said poo.

Tops

Despite being quite busy the past couple of months, I have managed to be quite the productive little quilter as well.  I'd say it is a combination of procrastination, denial, and just enjoying quilting so much I like to squeeze it into much of my free time.

I finished this top just after Christmas actually.  I originally bought a Wonderland layer cake and cut it up into charm squares.  I planned to blog about this quilt and my last Wonderland quilt together.  However, when I finished the last quilt this top was still collecting dust on my shelf, so that post idea was scrapped.

Since I liked the last one so much, I opted to reuse this pattern.  It is two charm packs and some Kona Cotton in sable and snow.  I plan to quilt it the same way.  I'm not sure what to do about the back right now.  I originally bought some Wonderland yardage, but miscalculated and now I do not have enough.  It seems that math errors are a common theme this weekend.

This week I also finished up my "On the Road to Spring" top.  I was unsure about it after I finished it.  Although as I was taking pictures I decided I really like the colors in this quilt.  They're really pretty! 

Now I just need to get the back together for this and I'm good to go!

Sew In Results

Last night I had a few friends over for a Friday Night Sew In.   While I had a great time hanging out with friends, I did not accomplish a whole lot.  But really,  productivity wasn't the reason I invited friends over anyway.

I did manage to finish up my January blocks for the Quilter Bees.  Theresa sent all of us some Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley and asked for some Kaffe Fasset jewel squares.  The fabric is really beautiful and I really like how most of the blocks turned out.  In retrospect, I should have done more advance planning and math before cutting and sewing.  Unfortunately, I made several math errors that resulted in more fabric waste than I hoped. 

I also finished 11 more nine patches.  I'm up to 43 total for my second nine patch quilt.  Not too shabby considering I haven't worked on these since the last Friday night sew in.  I'm over halfway there!

And then I did some pinning for more flying geese for the Christmas quilt.  While pinning hardly seems like blog worthy progress, it makes me feel better knowing that I am one step close to making the extra geese I need to finish up this quilt.  I have made a personal deadline that this quilt must be finished by Thanksgiving.  If I keep pressing forward, maybe I'll actually accomplish this.

Finally.

I hate to admit it, but I don't think I have ever been so glad to be finished with a quilt top. 

I'm thinking simple is going to be the name of the game for the back and the quilting. 

Springy Blocks

Since I don't have enough things to do already (insert sarcasm), I decided to get moving on cutting my fabric for the "On the Road to Spring" quilt-a-long.  They're simply squares and rectangles, so it was easy and mindless activity while I was catching up on the past episodes of Glee.  It was really a win-win situation.  

On the Road to Spring

If you haven't noticed yet, I am a sucker for a good quilt-a-long.  I like seeing the fun patterns people share.  I have also found that it is a nice opportunity to learn more about the quilting process.   It seems that every quilter does something a little differently and I enjoy seeing that.  As a self-taught quilter, I am always looking for new tips and tricks.

 

I saw that Randi at I have to Say... was having a quilt-a-long a few weeks ago.  I liked the pattern, but decided I had too many projects in the works and was going to pass.  Then I ordered some great fabrics and they looked so good together.  Then after I added a few from my stash, I couldn't resist any longer.

Wonderful Wonderland

During the 4 hour drive to Chicago, I was also able to finish up the binding on a second baby quilt.

I loved the several Ashley at Film in the Fridge made, so I decided, why not?  Those 5" squares are just so easy!  I love the straight line quilting Ashley does, however, I have not had very good luck with straight quilting lately.  After the fiasco with the Shady Zig Zags, I preferred to take steps to avoid more time with the seam ripper.  Stippling was the easiest (and safest) option.  I like how the stippling turned out a lot anyway.  Take that straight quilting!

The back is one of the prints from the Wonderland line.  I bound the quilt using the Kona Cotton solid in Berry.  It really is such a pretty color.

Shady Zig Zags

On our drive to Chicago last weekend, I finished up the binding for the Shade Garden quilt.  You might remember my sadness the last time I posted about this quilt.

After the hole in the top, I proceeded to remove all of the quilting.  I then went on to remove all of the top pieces I needed to get to the one piece with the hole.  Luckily, I had plenty of leftover pieces from when I made the top, so that part was easy.  Then I just needed to sew it back together and I was back where I started.

And now, here you have it.  The final project. 

For the back, I used three of the prints from the Shade Garden line by Michelle Engel Benscko. 

I opted for loopy quilting to mimick the loopy pattern in one of the prints.  It seemed appropriate.

It is bound with Patty Young's Ta Dot in Teal.  I'm a huge fan of the Ta Dot fabrics.  They have such wonderfully, rich colors.  I actually have purchased several more recently and have them set aside for some upcoming projects.  Very exciting.

Pre-Vacation

This weekend Shawn and I are heading to the Chicago-area to spend some time with his family.  I decided to take today off work to get a few things done around the house and to have a little relaxation before heading out for the weekend.


I figured this was a great time to make some progress on our niece's quilt.  You know, the one with the colors of a peacock.  :) 

Even after the sexy hexy debacle, I decided that I still liked the hexagon idea.  Only this time, I opted for half hexagons.  Much easier and much less craziness.  I used the method shown here at Comfort Stitching.  The only difference is that I decided to use large hexagons to better show off the prints.

I think this is coming along nicely- if I do say so myself.

Sew In Results

Last night I participating in Heidi's Friday Night Sew-In.  In the past when she has planned these I organized some friends to sew together.  However, all of my sewing buddies were busy last night.  Sadness.  It did end up being for the best though.  I spend considerably more time than anticipated making enchiladas to take to friends who recently had their first baby.  So while I didn't make nearly the dent into the to do list that I was hoping for, a couple new parents don't have to worry about cooking this evening.  A worthwhile trade off.

I did accomplish some things though.

I completed another Quilter Bee's block- this time for Lisa.  Lisa's month was actually November, but because of life's craziness we are all just now working on her blocks.  She picked the Churn Dash block and send us some lovely reproduction prints.

I also started working on another 9 patch quilt.  My mom's birthday is December 27th and I decided I was going to give her a quilt.  I had another quilt in mind, but since all she did was swoon over my last 9 patch quilt, I decided I should really give it to her.  After all, that's the one she loved and actually cried when she opened it.  But alas, it was quite a sad break up.  I miss the 9 patch quilt quite a bit as it was the perfect snuggle size.  So now it begins, round two.  I am roughly halfway through making the blocks.

Also, as a reminder, you still have time to enter in the 100th post giveaway!

The Best Laid Plans

My intention was to have photos of a finished quilt for you today.  I have had this past week off work and it has been wonderful.  I have been sleeping in and doing lots of sewing.  It has really been glorious.

Back to this quilt.  I put together this lovely stack of fabrics.  It is mostly Michelle Engel Benscko's Shade Garden with a few other patterns mixed in.

I opted for a baby sized quilt using a zig zag pattern and some loopy quilting.  The quilting was going quick, but about the quarter of the way through my thread ran out.  I discovered the end of thread was knotted around the spool (why???) and that ultimately lead to a broken needle.  Unfortunately, before I could realize what happened the blunt end of the needle had done its damage- there was a small hole in the top of my quilt.  :(

So now, as I'm off to go spend several hours with my seam ripper, I'll leave you with this.

On a more exciting note, check back soon as my next post is my 100th and that calls for a celebratory giveaway!  :)

So Blue

Just in the nick of time, I finished up one last quilt for 2009.  This quilt is made from Amy Butler's Daisy Chain line.  I bought this fabric over a year ago.  I cut the fabric to make this quilt.  Unfortunately, once I had all of the fabric cut, I hated it.  I had the blue and the silver color ways mixed together and it just wasn't working.  I proceeded to stack the pieces and leave them on my bookshelf for several months.  I recently decided to revisit only the blue pieces, add a little white, and viola!  Here you have it. 

I'm really happy with how this has turned out.  I think the boxes and the little bit of white help bring some organization to the busy patterns.  I opted to go with the border to confine the business of the center.  I think it finishes it off nicely.  The finished size is 64"x54".

I was feeling a bit lazy, so the backing is Kona Cotton Ice Frappe.  The binding and inner border are both Kona Cotton Azure.  I'm a big fan of the azure.  It's such a pretty color.

Please excuse the lackluster photos.  Winter has decided to arrive here in Michigan and that means the sun is hiding. :(