JJ's Polar Bear Quilt

This post is about the second quilt I made for my Aunt to give to one of her daughters (see previous post HERE)

This one was a lot easier to choose colors/fabrics for!  My Aunt says that this cousin LOVES polar bears and that her favorite colors are blue, teal, aqua, white and brown.  So I found this awesome polar bear print and decided to feature it with various sized squares.   I LOVE the colors in this quilt.  Don't you?

The quilt was fun to make - I just cut a bunch of strips from all my fabric and started making blocks with them.  Some are off centered, some are not.

The quilting was the hard part on this one - I couldn't decide what to do!  Finally we went with straight lines echoing the squares.  Next time I suggest doing this on a very big quilt - SOMEBODY STOP ME!  It turned out okay, but I just didn't feel like it was my best work.  The quilt was way too bulky to attempt straight line quilting with my walking foot (which I did for about 6 blocks), so I had to do the whole thing free hand.  I probably should have gone with a different quilting design, but as it turns out - this one really blended in and let the blocks themselves shine.  You really can't see the wobbly lines (which are ALL OVER THE PLACE) unless you are looking very closely.  :p

 I went with a solid brown, hand stitched binding.  Mmm.  Love this color of brown.  It reminds me of chocolate.  

The back is almost all flannel from my stash.  Woot!  (I had a few extra blocks left over, so they got to be on the back with the label.)  It's so warm and cuddly, I love it. 

Here it is on my Queen bed.  It's big! 

And here is it with its sister.  :)

By the way, my aunt sent me a video of the girls opening their quilts on Christmas morning.  They love them!  YAY!!!

Quilt stats:

Started: Late September, 2015

Finished: December 4, 2015

Fabrics: Polar Bears are Elizabeth's Studio.  The rest are from all over. 

Batting: Pellon Nature's Touch 60/40 Cotton/Poly (It's new and I LOVE IT)

Finished size: Approx. 84" x 96"

Recipient: JJ

Methods used:  Piecing, Free Motion Quilting

Binding: Hand stitched to the back

Time to make:  Approx. 25-30 hours

This quilt was #6 on my Quarter 4 Finish-Along List.  Linking up!

Brionna's Puzzle Quilt

After making THIS quilt for my aunt to give my cousin at her wedding, I decided I wanted more opportunities to make quilts to sell.  So I created a listing on Etsy and advertised it on Facebook.  And what do you know - another aunt got in touch with me and asked me to make 2 quilts for her adult children!  Woot!

It was really cool to work with my aunt to figure out what to make for each of her daughters (my cousins).  They live far away from me (well, one state away at least, which is kind of far when one state is Utah and the other is Idaho), so I really don't know them very well.  Apparently the older cousin is really into puzzles.  And also fantasy.  And a little bit of Star Wars.  And she likes fall colors.

I'll admit - it took quite a bit of work between me and my aunt before I had a clear direction on colors for this quilt.  The pattern I had picked from the very start.  Fabrics were harder.  Have you ever tried finding fantasy themed fabric that is appropriate for an early-twenty-something girl?  Most everything I found was too babyish.  And then I found a really pretty Pegasus/Unicorn fabric, but it just didn't go with the color scheme.  More on that later.  

In the end, I found an awesome puzzle piece print and a dragon print that went really well with the colors I had in mind.  (Oh yeah - and check out the red Star Wars print).  Nearly everything else came from my stash - WIN!
For the quilting, I went with a simple stipple.  Partly because I needed something fast and easy.  Partly because it fits so well with the whole puzzle theme.

 The binding is actually from April Rosenthal's "Best Day Ever" line.  Of course I stitched it by hand.  Even though it was early December and I was swamped with Etsy orders.  Bindings just must be stitched by hand.  Besides, I can't make Rummy mats while watching TV with the hubby, can I?

Now lets talk about the back for a bit.  My Aunt requested flannel, since they live in Idaho and it gets pretty cold up there.  SO I found a flannel version of that pretty Pegasus/Unicorn fabric and bought a yard of it (no WAY was I going to spend $12 a yard on an entire quilt's worth of BACKING FABRIC).  Then I supplemented with some solid flannels from Joann along with some flannel from my own stash.  

I had this grand idea to piece together a couple giant puzzle pieces for the back.  But I made some HUGE calculation errors (which I discovered AFTER cutting, of course) and ended up having to scrap the whole idea because there wasn't enough fabric.  So the back is really a mish-mash of random stuff because I was just trying to get it all to fit together.  :p  The quilt is SUPER warm and cozy, though!

Of course, I included a label.  I bought a whole bunch of printable fabric and I'm loving using it for labels.  

My Aunt requested large Full size quilts.  Here it is on my Queen bed.  I think it's big enough!

And here it is with its sister.  :)

Quilt stats:

Started: Late September, 2015

Finished: December 4, 2015

Fabrics: Timeless Treasures:  Puzzles, Dragons, Unicorns.  Star Wars.  The rest is from my stash. 

Batting: Pellon Nature's Touch 60/40 Cotton/Poly (It's new and I LOVE IT)

Finished size: Approx. 85" x 95"

Recipient: Brionna

Methods used:  Piecing, Free Motion Quilting

Binding: Hand stitched to the back

Time to make:  Approx. 25-30 hours

This quilt was #5 on my Quarter 4 Finish-Along List.  Linking up!

Finished: Blocks From the Past Sampler Quilt

It's finished!  Here is my Blocks From the Past Quilt-Along quilt:

Once I finished all of my assigned blocks (you can read about those HERE and HERE), I kept going and made more blocks until I ran out of fabric.

"Birds in the Air" and "Flock of Geese"

 

"Jack in the Pulpit" and "Corn and Beans."  That Corn and Beans block was INTENSE.

"Rambler," "Double Dutch," and "Double T"

Another "Double T" and "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul"

"Crossed Canoes, "Carrie Nation," "Windblown Square," another "Crossed Canoes," another "Carrie Nation," and "This and That."  Sorry these next two pictures are so blurry - I can't find my better copies. 
By the way, "This and That" is probably my favorite block of them all.  :)

These panels didn't want to be cut into little bitty bits, so I fussy cut and framed them.  

Here is my finished top.  I sashed them and put them together in a slightly staggered layout.

Since this quilt was all about trying new things, I backed it with with this fun orange Minky.  I skipped the batting because I wanted a nice drapey summer blanket.  The minky really wasn't that bad to work with - I would totally do it again!  Maybe it would have been harder with batting?
For the quilting, I just stitched in the ditch between every block.  I considered going back and adding something in the sashing, but never got around to it and now I've decided it's pretty good the way it is.  ;)

Again, in the spirit of challenging myself - I bound this one completely by machine.  I was actually pretty surprised and how straight and even my stitching lines came out, even though my binding has a funny waviness to it.  Also - the quilt curls up a little at the corners!  I'm not sure why, although I suspect it has something to do with my basting job and the minky fabric.  Oh well...

All in all, this quilt was fun to make.  I stepped outside of my comfort zone in a LOT of ways (green background, tiny piecing, old fashioned blocks, minky backing, machine binding) and learned a LOT - I especially got good at working with teeny tiny HSTs.  And I learned a lot about using appropriate and contrasting fabrics for teeny tiny piecing.  :)
I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do with this quilt, but for now we are keeping it and Noah is using it. 
I really do like sampler quilts, and I really do want to make another one someday - just with bigger blocks.  ;) I love the variety of making lots of different blocks rather than a million of the same block, although it does take a lot more time.  It's nice to sit down and make one block at a time - it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  :)  Sampler quilts are also a fun way to use a coordinating fabric line, in my opinion.  Hopefully I can try another one someday!  Thanks for hosting this QAL Marion and Natalie!

Quilt stats:

Started: January 2015

Finished: June 2015

Fabrics:"On Our Way" by Riley Blake - 1 Layer Cake

Batting:  None

Finished size: Approx. 37.5" x 45"

Recipient: Noah

Methods used:  Piecing, Applique, Paper Piecing, Straight Line Quilting (on my home machine)

Binding: Completely machine stitched

This quilt was goal #1 on this quarter's Finish-Along list.  Linking up:

Do.Good Stitches: Star Cluster Nine Patch

I have another Do.Good Stitches quilt to share with you!  Our January quilter ended up leaving the group, so I offered to take over her month.  I didn't have a lot of time to choose a block, but I've been dying to try this cluster star block for awhile so I went with it.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to test it out before posting it for all my bee mates to make and it ended up being a little bit harder than I expected.  Mostly because there are lots of tiny HSTs.  But everyone did such a great job, even though I know this block probably wasn't their most favorite to make.  At least the second block I requested from them was easy!
ANYWAY.  The tutorial for the star cluster block can be found HERE.  We made the 12 inch version, so I recommend the 16 inch version.  :)
I asked my bee mates to make their blocks in whatever colors they consider girly.  Since I'm having my third boy in a month or two, I figured it would be fun to play with girl fabrics for once.  :)  The blocks turned out amazing and they go together really well!  Here is the finished quilt:

I used a purple flower print for the back, but it's pretty busy so you can't really tell.

Of course I had to make a label:

For the binding I decided to go quick and easy and just folded the backing over onto the front.  Whew!

And now I want to talk about the quilting.  I decided that this quilt would be a perfect one for practicing lots of different FMQ designs.  I also knew that I wanted a good mix of straight and curvy lines, plus a good mix of large scale and small scale designs.  So I took Angela Walters' Dot to Dot Quilting class on Craftsy and used her designs for about half my blocks.  It was fun coming up with something different for each block, and I definitely got some good practice in!  It's also a good thing this a charity quilt and not a show quilt.  I know the recipient will love it either way.  :)
I used Aurifil 50 wt thread in white and it blended in REALLY well.  A little too well in some spots - you can't really see the quilting designs.  But sometimes that's a good thing, right?  (I'm well aware that my quilting is NOT perfect!)  I quilted a pebble/bead design in all the sashing and now I know that white quilting on white fabric shows up better than anything else.  :)  But I kind of love the effect.
NOW.  For documentation purposes (I will be boxing this quilt up tomorrow and will never see it again), here are photos of every single block.  I'll spare you the commentary.  ;)

And a few more photos just for fun.  The back is so busy that you really can't see the quilting on the back at all. 

I have really awesome bee mates.  They did such a great job and I loved seeing the different fabrics they used for their own personal interpretation of "girly."

This quilt will be donated to a Juniors House to benefit children who have been victims of abuse or neglect.  I hope some little girl loves it!

Until next time!

Quilt stats:

Started: January 2015

Finished: March 13, 2015

Fabrics: Various

Batting:  Pellon Nature's Choice 100% Cotton

Finished size: Approx. 45" x 60"

Recipient: Junior's House

Methods used:  Piecing, Free Motion Quilting (on my home machine)

Binding: Backing folded over and machine stitched to the front

P.S. this was my March goal for ALYOF (#106), so I will be linking up HERE:

This was also goal #2 on my Finish Along Quarter 1 List.   I'll be linking up HERE: