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:

Quarter 3: GOALS!

It's time to set some goals and make some plans for Quarter 3 of the Finish Along!

I actually had a lot of finishes last quarter, which is awesome because my baby was born last quarter.  :)  Just in case you wanted to see him, here is a cute picture of him at 2 months.

 I LOVE HIM.  It's so nice having just one baby to snuggle with (don't get me wrong, I love my twins.  But it's not the same as having one baby).  And he is SUCH a good baby.  And obviously he is eating well.  ;)

And now for my goals.  Let's start with the ones I'm carrying over:

1. Blocks From the Past Quilt-Along. This one is pretty much finished, but I've decided I need to add more quilting.  And take lots of pictures of it.  It's not finished until it's photographed, right?

2.  King Diamond Ripple Quilt.  I've actually worked on this one a lot, but haven't really taken any good pictures yet.  Here's one from my phone...

3.  Puff Quilt #6.  Either using Mixed Bag, Noteworthy, or some awesome Flannels I picked up at a local fabric swap.

4.  Do.Good Stitches I Spy Bubbles Quilt.  Just needs binding and better pictures!  This one is SO COOL!!!

5.  Seasonal pillows for June/July/August.  I'm thinking something with stars for July.

6.  Rummy Mats/Quiet Books for the shop.


And a couple new projects:

7.  I need to make a mini quilt for a swap.  I think I've finally narrowed down my ideas and will probably shamelessly copy this quilt:

PHOTO SOURCE

8.  Growth Chart for Noah.  I plan to use leftovers from his Car Seat Cover.

9.  Stocking for Noah.

10.  I just received my first COMMISSION!  YAY!   I'll be making a Queen/King Wedding quilt in black/white/gray with just a touch of Tiffany blue.  Fabric is in the mail still, but here is the design I'm thinking about:

It's been so nice having my Etsy shop semi-closed for awhile.  Pretty soon Once the commissioned quilt is done, I'll be opening it back up again, so things are going to get busy around here again! 

Linking up:

Pillows: April and May

This is just a quick post to share with you the pillows I have made in the past few months.  My goal is to have a new seasonal pillow for each month.  Here's what I came up with for April:

I knew I wanted to make something with clamshells (I'm hoping to practice a new technique each month), but I also wanted something somewhat Easter-y.  So I threw that little chick in there with all the Easter Eggs.  I'm not totally in love with it (I wish I had placed the chick a little better - he looks like he's floating), but it is what it is.  And I got to try Amber's Applique technique again, which I like. 

And May:

This poor pillow form is getting pretty smashed.  I use this pillow EVERY DAY.  I should invest in a really awesome pillow form.  Any recommendations?

 I've been feeling Dresdens lately, which is a bit of a surprise, since I used to think they were WAY too traditional for my tastes.  But it turns out they look awesome in modern fabrics.  :)  I even had just the right number of charm squares left over from a pack of Joel Dewberry's True Colors.  I like to work with fabrics all from the same line because the coordination is already done for me.  :)

I tried some cool modern quilting in the circle, but it's really hard to see the patterns.  I was going for feathers along the outside, a ring of pebbles, and more feathers mixed with swirls.  Maybe I'll get another chance to try this again someday.  I didn't use any backing fabric on this piece, and I wonder if that's part of why the quilting doesn't pop very much?

I like the back of this pillow kind of a lot.  I've been holding onto this print for a long time - I don't know what it is - does anybody else?  It's so busy I can't really use it with anything else, but it's pretty on it's own.  I just didn't have QUITE enough of it and had to supplement with the gray.  I also love the look of the edges on this pillow (it's bound like a quilt).  I'll be using this technique again.

NOW.  It's officially July and I still haven't made a pillow for June.  I suppose I could blame that on the new baby, but really it's because I waited all month for inspiration to strike and nothing did.  I guess it's time to hit Pinterest again!

The April pillow was Finish #8 from my Q2 Finish Along List.  Wahoo!  Linking Up:

Puff Quilt #5: Giggles!

I finished another puff quilt!  I started this one back in October because I made an identical one for my sister's baby shower.  Time started to run short, so I didn't get to finish this one until recently.  It's made using Me and My Sisters' "Giggles" fabric.  And it's listed in my shop.  :)

This was Finish #5 from my Q2 Finish Along list!  Wahoo!  Linking up:

Blocks From the Past: Week 24

It's my turn on the Blocks From the Past Quilt Along again!  Check out my previous post HERE.  Check out the schedule and intro post HERE.

We are getting close to the end!  Only a few more weeks to go!

This week I am in charge of the Lemoyne Star block (page 55), the Oak Leaves block (page 84), and the Crossed Canoes (page 92).  Just like last time, I made each block twice so that I could try two different methods for each block.

First up is the Lemoyne Star:

This block is made using set in seams (y-seams) - yikes!  I was a little nervous, but excited to try a new technique.  Of course, for my first attempt, I just jumped right in and followed the limited instructions in my book.  But the pieces are just so darn tiny!  After awhile my block was looking so horrible that I had to scrap it.  And then I went to the internet for some more in-depth tutorials.  :)

I found a set of AMAZING video tutorials featuring Edyta Sitar on the Fat Quarter Shop Youtube page HERE and HERE.   Seriously - I learned a ton from these videos.  The block came out super flat and my center points came out perfectly!  Of course, my block somehow still ended up too small, so I had to add a little bit to the top and side...

For my second version of the block I decided to try paper piecing.  I found a free pattern HERE, which I sized down to six inches and it worked GREAT!  The points didn't turn out quite as wonderfully, but the block ended up the perfect size - yay!


Block #2 is the Oak Leaves.  It's an applique block and I knew I wasn't going to try needle-turn applique again.  Fortunately, I know lots of different applique methods, so I was still able to try two new ones on this block.  :)

For the first block, I simply applied Heat N Bond to the back of my fabric and fused it onto the background.  Then I stitched around the raw edges using a fun veriegated thread and a fancy stitch on my machine.

For the second block, I followed THIS tutorial to make my block using reverse applique.

The last block for this week is Crossed Canoes.  It's a paper pieced block.  Normally I'm a huge fan of freezer paper piecing (tutorial HERE).  But for this one, I decided to go the normal route with normal paper since the pieces are so tiny.

Now, I've done paper piecing a fair amount of times (check out my Storm at Sea quilt HERE), but this one was a little different.  It took some real practice in precision to get the little sections to line up correctly.  You can probably tell which sections I completed first...

For my second version, I decided to throw caution to the wind a completely reverse my solids and prints.  I like it, but I'm not really sure where it's going to fit with all the rest of my blocks.  :D

Now I just need to make a few more filler blocks and decide how to pu them together!  This quilt-along has really been a good challenge for me.  I'm learning (or rather, realizing that I need to learn) a lot about piecing tiny units, and about contrast.  Usually the biggest issue I have with my blocks is that the prints get lost in the tiny pieces and I end up with a block that reads all muddled together.  Hopefully I figure it out soon! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Stuff

The past few months around here have been all about baby!

Meet Baby Noah.  He arrived on April 28th and he's the sweetest baby. 

And in case anyone was wondering, having one baby at a time is WAY easier than having two. ;)  Of course, I love my twins and I wouldn't trade them for anything (well, most of the time - wink, wink).

Before Noah arrived, there were a few other baby things happening around here.
First of all, the sweet ladies in my Do.Good Stitches Charity Bee all got together and made me this super awesome plus quilt!  I had NO IDEA they were doing it and I am so touched!  And the quilting on this one is so cool.

And THEN a bunch of local guild friends got together and made me this log cabin quilt!   Once again, I was totally surprised and floored by the awesome gift.  Aren't quilty friends the best?  Noah is definitely spoiled.  :)

But before even any of that, I had a burst of creative baby-stuff-making (for some women, "nesting" means "clean all the things."  For me, it's "sew all the things").  I cleared out my shop quite a bit so that I could take a few months off Etsy orders to focus on baby and it has left me with some glorious free sewing time.  It's been so nice making whatever I want to make lately, without having to finish priority projects first.

So I made Noah a few new bibs/burp cloths, and a onesie.

And then I couldn't stop myself and I made a whole slew more to add to my shop.  :)  Bibs are so fun and easy to make.  I love adding little bits of quilting to mine for added character. 

Up until a few weeks before Noah was born, I was watching my friend's little girl twice a week.  We really loved having Adele with us and miss her so much already.  She turned one right around the time we stopped taking care of her, so I made her this fun quiet book.  I've been wanting to try a book that is more appropriate for really little kids - everything is fully attached so that there are no choking hazards for little ones.  There are also lots of different textures and things for little fingers to play with.  And since I can't seem to make anything without following some sort of theme, I went with colors again (and shapes, actually.  I just realized you can't see it in any of these pictures, but every page has a different shape hiding behind the felt square flaps).  I was so excited to give this to sweet little Adele!

Noah is already a month old and I can hardly believe it!  I'm already back in the swing of sewing as much as I can - hopefully I'll have some awesome quilty things to show you soon!  Thanks for visiting!

P.S. The bibs and quiet book just happened to be part of my Finish Along Goals (#2 and #12 - original list HERE).  Wahoo!

Linking up: