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:

Diamonds in the Fire

Whew!  Time to blog about a few recent(ish) quilt finishes!  First up:  Diamonds in the Fire.

A few months ago, my local quilt guild (the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild) challenged us to make a quilt using only ONE color.  As soon as I heard about the challenge, my mind immediately went to THIS pattern by Bonjour Quilts.  This seemed like a perfect excuse to try it out and I had these grand ideas of doing an ombre gradient.

We each drew a crayon out of a paper bag to get our color assignments.  I got orange.  Obviously.  I don't particularly have a problem with orange.  I was a little disappointed because one of the quilts that made this pattern famous just happens to be done in orange (check it out HERE: Leland Ave Studios).  But I was still determined to make my own version.

I thought the challenging part would be to find enough contrast between all my orange fabrics.  I didn't want the pattern design (or the ombre effect) to be lost.  I planned and cut very carefully, and I was a little surprised that the design totally worked - even though I only used one color.  Granted, some of the light oranges have a lot of white in them, which helps.  And some of the oranges are borderline yellow, but trust me - if you saw them on their own, you would call them orange.  ;)

Turns out the hardest part was actually the setting triangles.  I've never made a quilt with blocks set on point before and because of the way this quilt is designed, the whole outside edge of the quilt was on the bias.  Yeah.  Kinda scary.

For the quilting, I ditched between the blocks first.  Then I quilted alternating circles/loops and straight lines (Angela Walters dot-to-dot style).  If you look super closely, you'll see that even the quilting is sort of ombre-ish.  The circle/loops get bigger as the lighter shades get more prominent.  :)

When the quilt top was finished, I decided the orange was just too overwhelming and I needed a tiny bit of something else for contrast.  So I backed the whole thing with this calming blue I've had languishing in my stash for awhile.

And then there's the flange binding.  See that little pop of dark blue sticking out from beneath the (ombre) binding?  Boom.   (Tutorial by Sew Fresh Quilts)

Since I don't really have anything to do with this quilt now, I've decided to list it for sale in my Etsy shop HERE.

 I already have plans to make another one!  This time using actual ombre fabrics - Blue and Green. ;)

Quilt stats:

Started: March 2016

Finished: April 2016

Fabrics: Various orange fabrics

Batting: Fairfield 80/20

Finished size: Approx. 39" x 52"

Recipient: ???

Methods used:  Piecing, Free Motion Quilting

Binding: Flange - Machine Stitched

Time to make:  Approx. 16 hours

Catching up!

Oh man, November and December were CRAZY!  My Etsy shop exploded, which is a good thing of course, but it kept me super busy trying to keep on top of all the orders.  Not to mention the commissioned quilts I started in October and finished in December (more on those later).  Whew!
But for now, here are a few quick photos of some of the things I made in November and December 2015.  :)

Korbin's Growth Chart
One of my long time/favorite customers on Etsy (who happens to be my sister-in-law's mother) ordered another growth chart for her newest grandson.  The mom requested red/orange/gray to match his brother's blue/green/gray growth chart.  I had fun trying to get some artsy shots of this awkward shaped object with my weaksauce camera and yellow walls and toddler helpers.  :)  But the best part about making this growth chart was getting to deliver it personally.  Korbin's grandma is one of the sweetest ladies I know.  :)

Starburst/strings pillow
I thought I had some pictures of this, but apparently I don't.  I've been using it for three months on my rocking chair, so I pulled it out for a quick photo just to prove I actually finished it.  ;)  More photos of it HERE.  I made this pillow as part of my guild's challenge to make something from scraps.  I pulled out my TINIEST scraps to make the two sides of this pillow.  I really want to make something bigger with my strings someday - I have a TON of them.




Noah's Stocking
Whew!  Now everyone in the family has a stocking.  I should have taken a picture of them all lined up.  It's a little embarrassing - you can definitely see the progression of my sewing skills over the years!


Camera Strap Cover
My sister is an avid Harry Potter fan and a self-proclaimed Ravenclaw, so I whipped up this blue and silver camera strap cover for her fancy new camera.   Tutorial HERE.

 I also made a whole bunch of these little tissue holders to give as gifts at a party.  I made a few extras for myself, of course.  Tutorial HERE.

Crayon Rolls
I made these for my boys' 4th birthday.  They LOVE these little notebooks, so I had to make a spot for them.  They are also obsessed with all things super hero lately.  (Although if you were to ask them now, they would say Darth Vader is their favorite...)

Lastly, Rummy mats!  I made 12 of these babies in 2 1/2 months.  Yikes!  Next year I'm going to make them ahead of time so I'm not completely swamped during the Holiday season.
I took this picture one day to show the difference between my very first Rummy mat and my 30th Rummy mat.  I would like to think that my skills have improved.  ;) 



 Wahoo!  These are finishes #2 (pillow), #4 (stocking), #11 (growth chart), and #12 (crayon rolls) from my Quarter 4 Finish-Along list.  Linking up!

2015 Swaps

I participated in my first swaps in 2015!  The first was for the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild (see more of that one HERE).  It was so much fun I promptly signed up for two more.  The #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap, and the #pillowtalkswapIGstyle, both on instagram.

I blogged about my SchnitzelandBoo swap HERE.


Here is what I made for the Pillow Talk Swap on IG:

I'm stealing Patti's photos because they are WAY better than mine.  She asked for a Christmas pillow and I was more than happy to oblige.  :)  I pulled out my long hoarded Kate Spain "12 Days of Christmas" charm pack and went to town.  The trees and pinwheels are 3D!  I used Moda's free "Jovial" quilt pattern (find it HERE) and made my blocks half size.  Try as I might to come up with a different idea for quilting, I just had to go with pebbles.  I like how the quilting looks like snow.  :)

For the other side, I cut the rest of my charms into 2.5" squares and pieced them together randomly, with the exception of the white section.  I tried to copy some of the many cute fonts from the fabric for the "Fa la la la la."  Then I quilted the two back panels with petals.  I love how the back turned out!

This pillow was pretty hard to give up, but I scored an AWESOME pillow in return!

This picture does NOT do it justice, but my partner totally made me a Christmas Cathedral Windows pillow.  And she sent me some awesome extras - my favorite being the ornament stuffed with the trimmings from this pillow.  It's darling.  :)


For my last swap of the year, I made this little Wide Open Pouch for our guild Christmas pouch swap.  Since I'm pretty much obsessed with Dresdens still, that's what I went with. 

Wahoo!  These were finishes #8 (pillowtalk swap) and #9 (pouch), from my Quarter 4 Finish-Along list!  Linking up:

A Couple of Quilted Hot Pads and some Bee Blocks

Last week I got to go to a bridal shower for my cousin.  Now that I have learned to make things, I love going to bridal/baby showers.  I love having the excuse to work on a fun, small project.  I couldn't decide between oven mitts and hot pads, so I compromised and made these hot pads with pockets.  I love how they turned out, even though they took quite a bit longer than I planned..

I did some research and found out that the bride's wedding colors are going to be mint green and silver (how gorgeous is that going to be, BTW?).  I immediately thought of this Lizzy house Pearl Bracelets print and since I didn't have anything remotely close to "mint green" in my stash, I went shopping!  I was super excited to find this Lotta Jansdotter Bella print that matched so well. 

The binding is from my stash - it's a little more mint blue, but I think it works.  And as luck would have it, the bride told me that these are her favorite colors, AND she loves polka dots!  I KNEW the Lizzy House print was the best choice.

I decided that I hated the original print I had used for the lining of the hot pads, so in the end I added the green/gray prints to the inside - that's why they aren't quilted like everything else.  Trust me, it looks TONS better!

I quilted one hot pad with pebbles and the other hot pad with echoes around the letter W (for their last name) and the big flower.

I didn't have quite enough fabric for binding, so I got to include a little pop of lighter gray in the corners and I like how modern it looks.  I stitched it down by hand because I really wanted it to look nice.  OUCHIE!  My fingers were sore after stitching through all of those thick layers!

I even remembered to add a loop for hanging!  Go me!

In other news, I have finished all of February's bee blocks!  Brittney asked for Ribbon Star Blocks in warm and cool colors.  Here are my two blocks:

I decided that I didn't like my original warm block.  I used some fabric from my stash for the background and I think it was a cotton/poly blend because it didn't sew very well and got SUPER wrinkly when I ironed it.  Sheesh.  No more cheap fabric for me!

Anyway, I felt bad for sending her a crappy block, so I made a new one - this one entirely from scraps.  Even the center is leftover from my Hello Sun blocks.   I like this one TONS better!

Also, I've been going to a new guild in my area.  I'm so excited that the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild has been formed!  It is SO much closer and more convenient for me to attend than some of the other modern quilt guilds I have considered.  I love it, even though I am obviously the youngest one there and there aren't a ton of ladies in my age range.  :p  It's all good though, we still have something in common and that's that we love to make quilts.  We have started a BOM for 2014 and here are my first two blocks.  The flower was done using needle turn applique - a completely new technique for me.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I might do it again, but I do love the ease and quickness of raw edge applique!  ;)  I'm using a couple of charm packs of Joel Dewberry's True Colors line that I won HERE.  It was an awesome win and I'm excited to work with the colors. 

The End.


Linking up: