Happy Derby Day!

Kentucky Derby day is a red letter day in this household, which I am glad of because it means no house painting today!  What it does mean is that I can sneak off to my sewing room and work on the baby quilt I need to make for the Quiltsy team Baby Quilt Challenge!  I have half a yard of this sweet fabric to use in a baby quilt:

If you would like to see some of the quilts that have been made so far check out our team Pinterest Board - Lewe the Ewe Quilt Challenge.  Some serious cuteness going on there!

I also want to finish up a custom order for a bible cover.  She had me use the word Trust for the cover and I am loving it!

I've been thinking of making myself a cover for quite a while, so I think I may just make myself one while I am at it!  I was a little intimidated by trying to edge stitch these skinny appliques, but a size 10 needle and Aurifil 50 wt thread in red did the trick!    Now I am going to quilt the pieced background in swirls and I will be ready to assemble the cover. 

Here is where we finished up on the house yesterday.  I'd say we've got less than a quarter of the front to finish.  The garage was terrible - it faces west and was sooo dry with the paint falling off of it!  It really soaked up the paint and looks so much better now - we'll be doing a second coat over the summer, one side at a time.  We'll also be trimming those hydrangeas back and painting behind them...for now we just did around them as best as we could.

We have definitely learned a few things from this process, and yes, they apply to quilting as well!

1.  Don't put off the inevitable.  You are going to have to do it sooner or later, might as well start now.
2.  Don't be intimidated by something hard.  You are capable of more than you think! 
3.  Don't worry about perfection.  Finished but flawed is better than unfinished.

Think about all those UFO projects - can you apply these lessons and get one of them done this month?  Give it a try!

Twinkle Star - Finished at last!

Instead of concentrating on UFO's this year, my goal is to create no new UFO's!  Ordinarily this quilt would have gone in the UFO drawer right away because I didn't really have a good reason to get it quilted up right away. Instead I now have a finished quilt listed in my Etsy shop - which is way better than a top in a drawer, right?

This is Twinkle Star made in Island Batik (Alpine Jingle)  These fabrics were provided to me by Island Batik in my Fall Ambassador box last year.  These fabrics are currently available, so make sure to look for them in your local quilt shop, or online!

I was a little hesitant to choose this color of Aurifil Thread, but I knew from experience that the 50 wt thread is so nice at blending in that I went for it.  It perfectly matches the border fabric and I was delighted at how it looked almost metallic when I used it to machine stitch the binding!  You know what a pain in the rear metallic threads can be - using Aurifil cotton is so much easier, and it has a nice sheen that really looks great.  This color is called Light Cinnamon.  This thread was given to me by Aurifil thread in the latest Island Batik Ambassador box.

 It has been a delight to work with both companies in their Ambassador Programs - Aurifil is currently accepting applications in their Aurifil Artisan program, so make sure you apply if you want to spread the word about their fabulous threads:

Aurifil Artisan Application

Back to the quilt!  

The binding is fabric that I received in the Stash rolls - two 5 inch by width of fabric strips was just enough to cut four strips and I had another little scrap for that extra few inches I needed (phew!)  

I pieced the back using some strips and chunks from my stash of Island Batik fabrics.  I love this one:

It's hard to use these fabrics up, but my boxes and bins are overflowing at this point, so it's time to let go and put them to use, even if it is on a back.

I've been working at taking better photographs of my quilts, and have come to love a nice close-up - you can see how nice that thread looks here, even on the light areas.  Just enough contrast to show off the stitching!  I could probably do this swirl in my sleep, it is one of my favorite quilting designs.

Well, that's my quilt finish for this week - now back to the prom dresses.  I will be glad when the dresses are all done and I can concentrate on my quilting!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday, and with Myra of Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or not Friday - come see what other fabulous finishes have been posted.

Try a Technique - Conversion quilt

One of the best things about being an Island Batik Ambassador is the monthly challenges!  (and Island Batik also provides the fabric for said challenges)  The challenge for March was to try a technique that we've never done.  Many of us had a tough time with this challenge!  The great thing was in discussing and coming up with ideas a whole new world of ideas opened up for me.

I went through my Pinterest Board of Quilts I Want to Make, but didn't really find any interesting techniques that I hadn't done before, so I started working on a new board:  Quilting Techniques to Try
I really loved the idea of making a rainbow quilt, but the fabrics I have to use didn't really support that very well, so I kept looking through my boards and found that I have pinned quite a few conversion quilts.  Well, that looked like fun, so I decided to give it a try!  I found some simple directions online and got started.

I picked out four half yard pieces from my blenders bundle - (three were from the most recent ones I received, and the teal was from an earlier box)

I decided to cut the largest possible squares from my fabrics and decided on where to place them.

After doing the vertical cuts and shuffling the pieces I had this...really loved how it was looking!

Then I made my horizontal cuts and this is what it looked like.

At this point I wasn't really delighted with it, so started playing with border ideas.  (And forgot to take pictures!)  I think that I should have placed the darker fabrics across from each other diagonally so that the lighter ones weren't right next to each other.  I decided to frame the center with a contrasting flange and use the four prints for in the border to bring out the colors more. 

I had the perfect pink in one of the StashBuilder rolls.  Those things are so handy to have on hand for when you need just a bit of a color!  The way I did the border was also a new technique for me.  I usually either make a pieced border or a simple plain border.  I ended up offsetting the seams on the border in order to make the most of the strips I had cut - but that adds a little more interest to the quilt, I think!

Now I was almost ready for quilting.  I pieced a back out of some odds and ends of other Island Batik fabrics I had left from previous projects.  For the batting I used a piece of cotton I had in my stash that was just the right size (yay for using up some stuff!)  I was debating on what color of thread since I have a blend of light and dark fabrics, so I went with a thread in a medium gray tone.  This is a color that was provided in my Ambassador box from Aurifil Thread.  The color is Earl Gray (6732) and it was perfect for this project!

I mostly use 50 wt thread for piecing and quilting because I love that it is strong, yet fine and really blends in without showing too much, even on contrasting fabrics. 

Isn't it nice?  I quilted paisleys in the center, then did hook and swirl in the border.  I just love the fact that you mostly see the texture and not the thread!

After the quilting was finished my final challenge was the binding.  I didn't want to use one of the fabric in the quilt top because it would match one of the corners of the border and I knew that would look a little strange.  I thought I would use pink, but I didn't have enough of any of my pink fabrics to make the binding.  I ended up cutting some strips from the rapidly dwindling leftovers from the top, and used a third technique I have never done and strategically pieced the binding so that the seams met the border seams!  Tricky!

I made four strips of my binding fabric, but did not sew them together.  As I sewed the binding to the quilt, I joined the binding pieces with a straight seam where the seams in the border were.  This would have been a little easier if I had sewn the binding to the top of the quilt, but I like to machine stitch the final fold of the binding to the top so I can do my No Hand Stitching binding technique!  So I had to do some careful judging of where to cut and sew, but it came out pretty well!

Now I will show you the finished quilt - it ended up being almost 36 inches square and used up most of four 1/2 yard pieces of fabric:  

I wasn't the only Island Batik Ambassador who made a convergence quilt!  You can see Nancy's version at Masterpiece Quilting.  We even did our borders the same way, but we used very different fabrics.  

This was a fun project, and I can see how making these Convergence quilts can be addicting.  Now I am going to add a hanging sleeve to my quilt so I can hang it up.  Hope you enjoy your weekend - and wishing you a Happy Easter!

Kissin' in the Pumpkin Patch

I am delighted to say that I have finally finished the top that I made for the Island Batik Ambassador challenge in October!  The fabric is Pumpkin Patch and I used this as an opportunity to spruce up my Lover's Kiss pattern.  (The fabric for the top was provided by Island Batik in my Fall 2017 Ambassador box )

My original version of this pattern only used twenty one 2 1/2 inch strips and had a plain border.  Now, I have included a piano key border option that uses the remaining strips - a much better use of a strip pack!  You can also make this pattern using fat quarters, because I just love a pattern that gives you options.

I found a rich brown for the backing, and quilted it with leaves and loops using Aurifil 40 wt thread in a lovely reddish brown color that looks wonderful on both the front and the back.  I really like the 40 weight for quilting - it gives the quilting a nice definition without being too heavy.

I love the beautiful colors in this line, and the focus fabric is so lovely with such pretty details.  This is a perfect quilt for fall!

The piano key border is really wonderful, I think - and I love that I could use every last strip in the package.  This quilt is now available for purchase in my Etsy Shop, and my pattern is available there as well!  The cover now features Salt and Pepper by Island Batik.

Pumpkin Patch Quilt

Lover's Kiss Pattern

I'm happy to see that the enormous piles in my sewing room are slowly being whittled down!  Still have a lot of projects in the works, but they are starting to get cleared off the list, one by one.

Hope you have a happy day - go do some quilting!

Project Quilting 9.5: A Stitch in Time...

Despite a very busy week this week, I managed a finish for this week's Project Quilting Challenge.  I loved the theme, and thought of going in a number of directions with my quilt.  My first thought was that I wanted to incorporate "A Wrinkle in Time" since I am very excited about the new movie coming out soon, but I really couldn't come up with a good inspiration for a quilt with that idea. 

Then I thought about doing a quit with hourglass blocks, did a google search, found a tutorial for a Disappearing Hourglass (how appropriate!) and knew that's what I wanted to work with!  I had a perfect clock fabric in my stash, and found some 10 inch squares that I could use with it for my blocks.

These blocks are very fast and easy to make - I was quite pleased with the results!

Four blocks was a nice size - I wanted to do some hand quilting on this one, and a week isn't long to finish a quilt by hand!

I decided to try the 12wt Lana Wool in my Aurifil Artisan box.  I've never done any sewing with wool thread at all, and saw that it was recommended for big stitch quilting, which was my plan.

My plan for quilting this was to use circles.  I found a mixing bowl for tracing around...and traced 9 circles!  I love the way the stitching looks as the lines intersect! 

Isn't the backing bright and fun, too?  I also used this fabric for the binding.

I added a line of stitching in the border as well, and called it done!  A stitch in time saves nine, you know. 

Stitched in Coos Bay, Oregon, this quilt measures 30 x 30.  I've decided to call it "In the Stitch of Time" 

Sometimes good things come in BIG packages!

Where has this week gone?  Gosh, it seems like it was just Monday morning and I was looking forward to a relatively quiet week, and now it's Saturday already!  There was indeed some excitement in my week - I was shipped a new box of Island Batik Ambassador goodies.  That was definitely a highlight!  Island Batik is very generous to provide us beautiful fabric to work with and show to our followers on social media!  Aurifil thread and Hobbs also provided us with some wonderful goodies as well, and I am so appreciative of their generosity as well.

First of all, though, I got two quilt tops pieced.  The first  one was a shop sample for an owl quilt featuring Forest Owl from Clothworks fabric.  We only ordered two of the coordinating fabrics, but I found lots of other fabrics that worked with the beautiful colors at Threads That Bind.  I ended up changing my original design slightly to make it easier to put together.  I didn't really want to try to write a pattern with 12 partial seams!

Super cute!  It is going to get small borders in the orange fabric to frame it, then it will be ready for quilting.

Then I also got the top ready for the class I'll be teaching in March.  Still getting the pattern finished up, but that should also be available quite soon.  This is a quilt I designed last year while I was doing my Quilter's Recipe Box block of the month and I think it will be a great beginners class.  We cover regular piecing, strip piecing, half square triangles, block assembly, top assembly and borders!  All this in four weeks.  Should be fun!

I guess that kept me busy so that I wasn't pacing the floor waiting for that lovely Ambassador Box to arrive!  When it arrived on Thursday morning I couldn't wait to show it off, so did a video, complete with exercise clothes and crazy hair!




And now I know how to flip the video so it won't be backwards next time!  I didn't realize that there is a way to do that in the live video settings, so I'll tell you how so I won't forget!  All you have to do is tap the little magic wand at the bottom left side of the screen, tap the little tool icon at the bottom right, and at the left you tap the horizontal flip button!  No more backwards videos!  Yay!

So, the contents of my box were very exciting!  I've been petting my fabric and dreaming about what things I can come up with.

I'm checking out patterns to use that lovely rayon fabric.  I can see a couple new tops in my future!

I was shocked to see how much thread I've used from the cone I was sent this spring in my Aurifil Artisan collection!  I love that neutral, it really works well on just about everything!

These fabrics have been cut to pieces and are becoming a couple of projects.  I'm enjoying working with the pink and red right now - puts me in a happy mood :)

Time to get out into the sun and walk - we've had a nice week of lovely weather, I'll take some pictures of the cherry trees that are blooming right now, you will love them!

Have a wonderful day!


Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for finish it up Friday, and with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Strip Pieced Baby Quilt finish!

I've had a busy week in my sewing room.  I'm gearing up to work on some custom quilts using baby clothes and needed to get some loose ends tied up before I get myself going on those.  But before I get into that - let's have a winner for my giveaway from Monday!  I had 16 people leave a comment on my blog post, so I went to random.org and plugged in the numbers...and the winner was comment number three!

Congrats, Mary O - I sent you an e-mail so you can let me know where to send that pretty spool of thread :)  Thank to everyone who took the time to enter - I appreciate it!  I'm having a little difficulty with blogger not sending notifications of all the blog posts to my e-mail so I couldn't answer all the comments :(   But I do appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to do that, and for reading my blog.

So - one of the quilts I've been working on this week is made from 2 1/2 inch strips.  I finished the top earlier this spring, but haven't had time to get it quilted, so now seemed the perfect time to get it out and finish it up.  I found the backing in a pile of fabrics I had purchased for a different project that ended up differently than I originally planned - yay for using up some stash!

Aren't the colors fun and cheerful?

It took almost exactly two bobbins of thread to do the machine quilting and the binding for this quilt.  I used Aurifil Natural White (2021) 50 wt because it just blended in so nicely with all the brights, giving this quilt great texture in a subtle way.  I did loops and heart quilting because it's so much fun!

It's hard to get a good full on shot of it, but you can see how fun and colorful it turned out!

I have this quilt available for sale in my Etsy shop - you can just click the picture to go there!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and get to do some quilting!  I have a stack of quilting ready to go for my weekend - so I'm off to get started.