Aviator | Up and Away Quilt

Several months ago, my friend Emily (CrazyOldLadies) asked me to make a quilt for her to display in our local quilt shop using her most recent fabric line, Up and Away.

Naturally, she picked Lella Boutique's Aviator pattern.  Aren't the airplanes the cutest?

I loved this pattern, by the way.  It's written so that it uses the ENTIRE fat quarter, which I LOVE (also - detailed cutting instructions for the win!).  I hate it when fat quarter patterns have tons of excess left over.  I'd rather just use it all up. 

This quilt told me it wanted crosshatch quilting in the airplanes and swirly/billowy air currents in the backgrounds.  It was a bit of extra work, but I obliged. Thank HEAVENS for matching thread (wink, wink).

To save time (and because this fabric was perfect), we used the same fabric for backing and binding.  I used Cluck Cluck Sew's life changing tutorial and just folded the backing to the front. 

And there you have it!  I made something that is going to hang in a quilt shop!  It was so much fun and I hope I get to do it again someday.  Any quilt shops out there want to hire me?  ;)

Quilt stats:

Started: February/March 2017

Finished:  April 2017

Fabrics: Up and Away by Emily Herrick (plus one or two blenders)

Batting: Not entirely sure - I'm guessing Warm N Natural

Finished size: Approximately 48" x 65"

Recipient: Corn Wagon Quilt Co. (for now)

Methods used: Piecing, straight line quilting, FMQ

Binding: Backing to front

Time to Make: About 14.5 hours

Lisa's Baby Quilt

Yay for baby quilts!  And yay for new babies!

I was so excited when my friend Lisa announced that she was having her first baby.  :)  I immediately hounded her about her nursery colors/theme so that I could make her a quilt.  She requested navy, gray, and lime green with elephants.  Here was the fabric pull I put together for her:

Her husband worked for Boeing for a little while (I think), so the airplanes were perfect.  The castles print reminds me of Lisa because she has been lucky enough to travel in Europe a few times.  :)

She even had a triangle quilt on her Pinterest board - probably for the colors, but I decided to run with that.  Equilateral triangles have been on my bucket list for awhile and I had just gotten a triangle ruler for Christmas, so maybe it was meant to be?

I used this cute (and SUPER SOFT) minky for the back.  Since baby was due in the spring, I decided to try skipping the batting on this quilt.  It worked okay.  I like the light, drapey-ness (why can't that be a real word?) of it, but I almost went bonkers trying to hand sew the binding.  I think next time I'm just going to use batting.  Or maybe a layer of flannel?

Since the greens in this quilt didn't end up quilt as lime-y as I wanted, I picked this bright lime green for the binding.  :)

And there you have it!  My first triangle quilt.  It was fun!

 Quilt stats:

Started: January 2016

Finished: March 2017

Fabrics: Dear Stella (pluses), Up and Away (green airplanes), Flight (navy airplanes), Magic (castles), Equestrian (arrows), and some others I can't remember

Batting: NONE

Finished size: Approximately 44" x 52"

Recipient: Lisa and Baby Boy

Methods used: Triangle piecing, straight line quilting

Binding: Hand Stitched to the Back

Time to Make: About 8.5 hours

WHW RS Sampler Quilt FINISHED!!!

Okay, so this has been finished for awhile now.  I've just been putting off taking pictures.  I now have these two, so we can call this officially finished, right?

For those of you who don't know - back in 2016 I taught a beginner's quilt class to some of the ladies in my neighborhood.  It was tons of fun and I'm hoping to do it again sometime.  Just giving the hubby a little time to recover from all those evenings putting the kids to bed on his own.  ;)

I have an entire page dedicated to this quilt class, with posts and links for every block and every step of the way.  CHECK IT OUT HERE. 

Participants made 12 blocks, each utilizing a different skill which we learned in class that week.  They had the option of making their blocks 12" or 9".  I also wrote up instructions for alternate blocks - different blocks using the same techniques learned that week.

For my quilt, I used a fat eighth bundle of rainbow fabrics from a swap (again through the guild).  There were times when I wondered if all those colors were going to come together in the end, but ultimately I'm calling it a win because it's finished. ;)

I would have arranged my blocks differently, but I REALLY wanted them to be in the same order we made them. 

I made all of "regular" blocks in the 12" size.

I also made all of the "alternate" blocks in the 9" size, for a double sided quilt.  I added the patchwork top/bottom borders to this side to bring it up to size.  I kept the quilting to a simple meander, and bound it with a couple of multicolored prints. 

And there you go!

 Quilt stats:

Started: March 2016

Finished: December 2016

Fabrics: A variety of rainbow prints from a Fat Eighth swap

Batting: Pellon 80/20 Cotton/Poly

Finished size: Approximately 44" x 58"

Recipient: Me.  I'm saving this one in case I teach this class again

Methods used: EVERYTHING!  regular piecing, sliced (disappearing) blocks, strip piecing, HSTs, flying geese, stitch and flip triangles, raw edge applique, foundation paper piecing, EPP, straight line quilting, free motion quilting

Binding: Hand Stitched to the Back

Time to Make: ROUGHLY 20-25 hours?  (NOT including pattern or blog post writing)

2017 Q1 Finish Along Time!

Hi friends!  I still need/want to write a 2016 year-in-review post (I think it was a pretty good year - very busy for my Etsy shop in the last quarter, although I still have SO many quilts still waiting to be made).   But for now I'm enjoying my new-found free sewing time (YAY no more orders!).  I would much rather be sewing than sitting here at the computer!
But since I've got all these new projects on the brain, I figured I could take a minute to write up a list and link up with the FAL.  :)  I have so many plans!

SO.  Here is my current list. I am making monthly goals on Instagram (find me at @tiffsewinsomethin), which so far is going super well.  But THIS.  This is my master list.  I have organized it according to level of progress:

Blog/Photograph:

1. WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class quilt.
It's finished!  YAY!  I finished binding this two days ago, but we can't call a quilt finished unless it's photographed and blogged, right?  (What do you think, hosts - can I still count this one?)

Bind:

Nothing in the queue at the moment.  Whew!


Quilt:

2.  Sweet Life Kaleidoscope
The SID lines are finished, I just need to figure out how to quilt it.  It's a little strange to think that this might be one of the last quilts I quilt on my domestic sewing machine!  (Oh!  Did I mention I scored a used quilting machine/frame for Christmas?  It's not as fancy as you think, and the machine is in the shop at the moment, but I'm excited to see if I can get it to work!)

Baste

3.  Moda Row Quilt

4.  Purple Runner
I don't really like the way this one turned out, but I might stick it on the aforementioned quilting frame for practice.  Do charity organizations accept table runners?

Assemble:

5. Do.Good Stitches December Quilt
All blocks have been received!  I'm planning to slice these blocks into quarters and stitch them back together into a quilt top.  I just need to decide if I want to slice vertical/horizontal or diagonal...

6.  Churn Dash Swap Quilt
I'm participating in a Churn Dash block swap with some friends.  We are each making 4 churn dash blocks for each member in the group, in their chosen color scheme.  I'm going against my normal bright, rainbow colors (well, mostly) and requested dusty/muted/burnt rainbow/fall colors.  I'm SO EXCITED!  Here is a photo of all the blocks I have made for my friends (mine are the ones along the top row).  We're swapping in February.

Piece:
7. Summerfest Hexies
I started this one on a long road trip and now it is my long term slow-stitching project.  But I really love it, so maybe it won't be so slow...

8. Swoon in Blushing.
Just in time for the #swoonalong on IG!  I'm about halfway through making these blocks.  :)

9. Be My Neighbor in B&C Basics.
I really wanted to participate in a quilt-along this year, but none of the current quilt-alongs appealed to me enough, so I picked one from 2016 that I never had time to join.  I'm using a bundle of B&C basics I won from Happy Quilting on Giveaway Day.  I'm shooting for two blocks a month.

10. Jelly Roll Race in Joel Dewberry True Colors
I've always wanted to try a Jelly Roll Race quilt and I figure this will be the perfect quilt to practice quilting with my new machine.  Fast to put together, with lots of busy prints to hide quilting, and lots of straight lines to divide the quilt into sections for practicing different designs. Here's my progress after one hour:

Cut:
11. Noah's Growth Chart.
Maybe I'll make him one for his 2nd birthday.  :D  I've got some Mixed Bag scraps set aside and the background is even already cut.

12. Apron for me.
Someday?

13.  Chunky Windmill in Little Miss Sunshine.
Again, I'm looking for a fast quilt I can practice quilting on.  I've got a layer cake of Little Miss Sunshine just begging to be made into THIS quilt.  I like that the blocks aren't set into a "background," making it easier to hide quilting mistakes.  :)

14.  Ombre Diamonds in the Deep.
I had so much fun making my Orange Diamonds in the Deep, I immediately went out and bought some ombre fabrics to make another one.  I have big plans.  I just need more time!

15.  Criss Cross in Summerfest.
I've got half a jelly roll left over from my hexie project and I'm going to see how many of April's Criss Cross blocks I can get out of it.  :)

16.  Moroccan Tiles.
I'm thinking of using my Pie Making Day bundle for this.  Or maybe one of these groupings a got in a destash from a friend.  Also - I purchased this pattern as part of the "May is for Makers" campaign (back in May).  Did anyone else participate in that?

17.  Triangle Quilt.
I've always wanted to make a random scrappy 60 degree triangle quilt.  Well, I got the ruler for Christmas, now I need to decide which of these bundles (or which of my many charm packs) to cut up.

18.  Goody Goody Binding Kit.
I NEED ONE OF THESE!  Who wants to make me one?

19. Easy Charm Quilt for the shop/quilting practice.
I keep collecting these charm packs (not pictured: Prairie) and they are begging to be used.

20. Quilt for Lisa.
A friend of mine is finally having her first baby and we are SOOOO excited for her!  As soon as I can figure out her color scheme, she's getting a quilt from me. :)


AND NOW.  Not only do I have crazy ambitious plans in my personal sewing life, I have plans for my Etsy shop.  This year I am going to focus on preparing one specific line of products roughly each quarter.  Most of these product lines will be old things remade, and some of them will be new.
For the record, here are my plans:

February:
Quiet Books (at least 8)

April:
Card Holders (12)

June:
Bibs (birthday, boy, and girl sets - about 18)

August:
Quilts (puff, charm, whatever I can get finished - hopefully 6-12)

August:
Stockings with plain cuffs for personalization (10)

September 
Rummy Mat Gift Sets (9)


OKAY!  Enough of this!  I've got some sewing to do!

Linking up:

Quarter 4 Finish-Along List

Last quarter, I finished 3 of my 12 goals for the Finish-Along.  But THIS quarter is going to be super productive because, hey, Christmas is coming!  RIGHT?!?!  To be fair, most of the things on my list last quarter were pretty long term and I would have been surprised to get to many more of them.

SO.  I'm creating another big huge list this quarter with the hope that some of them can get crossed off the list.  Here we go:

1. Swoon Sixteen.  I'm about half way through piecing the blocks - this is my back burner project at the moment...

2. Kaleidoscope.  I just finished piecing the top!  I can't wait until I can carve out some time to finish this one.

3.  Moda All-Star Row quilt.  Needs basting/quilting/binding.  Someday...
4.  I might pull out this table runner and finish it up.

5.  Growth Chart for Noah.  It's looking like this will be a Christmas present after all, now that his birthday is past... (it was supposed to be for Christmas last year).

6.  Baby quilt (or puff quilt) using either one of my charm packs (Wishes, Noteworthy, Summerfest!, Hello Friend, Bump to Baby, or Just my Type - okay, I'm addicted to charm packs...  I know there are a few I haven't listed here.)

7.   Eight Rummy mats (gotta be ready for the Christmas rush in my shop) - I've even got about 12 of them cut and started. 

8.  New samples of at least 6 of my quiet books for the shop.  I've been using a new brand of (higher quality) felt and I need to remake some of my books and update the photography for my shop.

9.  More bibs.  :)  These are great for whenever I need a quick fix and I have a few layer cakes set aside for some cute bibs. (Dream and a Wish by Riley Blake and Suprise by Riley Blake - I even have a cute Christmas layer cake somewhere)

10.  Apron for myself.  This one is very low on the list because I never seem to find the time for it, but dang it - I'm NOT taking it off!

11. Quilt Class sampler #1.  Quilt class is almost done!  We've assembled our blocks, all we have left to do is learn how to quilt and bind them.  :)  Here is my 12" block sampler:

12.  Quilt Class sampler #2.  And her is my 9" alternate block sampler, waiting to be pieced together using my alternate sashing method...

13.  And lastly, I want to stick this on the list because I'm afraid I'll forget about it if I don't.  I bought this fabric with the intention of making another Diamonds in the Deep quilt.  It's going to look AWESOME in ombre.  Don't you think?

Linking up!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Improv ABC

It's Bloggers Quilt Festival time again!  (If you don't know what I'm talking about - check out this link HERE.)

I have two recent finishes to share with you this time around.  They are very similar, and yet very different.  I'm excited to show them to you.  You can see my other quilt HERE.

 So.  A little bit of backstory.  Every quarter or so, the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild issues a challenge to its members.  Our most recent challenge was to make letters or words out of fabric.

 A few days after the announcement was made, I saw a DARLING post on IG (this one, right here - by Quiltingmod).  She had the awesome idea to make an ABC quilt using novelty fabrics - each letter represented by something that starts with that letter.

 If you know me at all you might know that I sort of LOVE I-Spy quilts (check out this one HERE).  WHY DID I NEVER THINK TO MAKE ONE LIKE THIS???  I was instantly inspired.

At our next guild meeting, one of our lovely and amazing board members gave a presentation on how to make letters - improv style.  Good, good.

 And then a few days later I was the lucky winner of a giveaway on IG (from the amazing Sweetfeetstitches) - a whole pouch STUFFED with novelty scraps. 

Obviously I was meant to make this quilt.  I had a TON of fun picking out fabrics for each letter and then making each block up as I went along.  (Don't you just love those toasters?)  Let me just say - I learned a TON about improv piecing while making this quilt.  Who knew uppercase Ys were so hard to make?  (Hence the lowercase y in my quilt... And thanks Sonia for helping me figure out which fabric to use for that elusive letter y.)

I was originally planning to sash these blocks so they could float on their own, but when it came time to assemble them, they wanted to be smashed together.  So I smashed them all together and I think it turned out pretty cool.  The bottom row was struggling a bit, so I made an exclamation point (from a text print! - thanks to Natalie for the idea) to go with it.  In case you couldn't tell what that was (the dot got chopped off in the quilt trimming process).

As for quilting, I knew all along that this quilt wanted to be quilted with straight lines.  And that it wanted to be bound with the same grunge fabric I used for the background.

 Unfortunately, I didn't have enough grunge leftover for the binding, so I used this cream texty print instead.  It's pretty close.  :)

Even the backing has letters on it.  This Scoot fabric has been in my stash forever.

Wouldn't this quilt look amazing hanging on a wall in a nursery somewhere?  (Obviously my wall isn't big enough, sigh).

 I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this in the long run, so I'm listing it in my Etsy shop to see if anyone bites.  :)  (Check it out HERE.)

Quilt stats:

Started: June 2016

Finished: September 2016

Fabrics: novelty scraps, moda grunge in cream

Batting: Pellon 100% Cotton

Finished size: Approximately 42" x 42"

Recipient: ???

Methods used:  Improv Piecing, Straight Line Quilting

Binding: Hand Stitched to the Back

Time to make:  Roughly 13.5 Hours

This quilt could fit into so many categories, but I decided to enter it in the Modern Quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.   You can see all the modern quilts HERE.  Check out all the quilt categories HERE.

This quilt is also #3 on my Finish Along list for this quarter.  Wahoo!  When the time comes, I'll be linking up here: