WIPs

I'm trying to make an effort to clear out some of my WIPs. My shelves are looking messy and frankly, I just don't like having unfinished projects laying around! Here's what I'm trying to work on this week:

 

Yesterday I finally sat down and quilted my Diamond Ripples. This quilt started back in 2012 with my month in the Modern Blocks Bee. I'd say it's about time this one was finished! I'm stitching on a facing instead of binding, so that's a new experience for me. 

 

This one is next on the list. I actually basted it last summer/fall sometime, then rolled it up and put it away. I un-basted it to take to my mom's but never had time to quilt it while we were there. So now it is sitting at the end of my hallway, quietly shaming me. Hope to re-baste it during nap time today.

 

If the kids sleep well, I might even get this one basted, too! This is an awful picture of it, but if I remember correctly that outermost color is actually Kona Cactus. It's a bright one.

 

I've gotten all of my Crown of Thorns blocks back from my That Stash Bee ladies so I've been playing around a little with the layout. I still need to make a couple more. I've also been thinking of setting them on point, but I'm really not sure what I would do in the setting triangles. Thoughts?
 

 

I've also been working on a baby quilt for a friend. It is a collaborative effort, so I'm waiting for a couple more blocks to arrive then I can start putting them all together. I'm excited about this one! I didn't specify a block size, just asked for stars, so it should be fun puzzling them all together! 

 

And just for fun, I made another Castle Block. Still no set plan for these, but I'm having a great time choosing fabrics for each block. 

Jill's Briar Rose Quilt

A few months ago I started another quilt for Jill. 

Well, when I started it I actually didn't have a plan for it. I just didn't like seeing my pretty stack of Briar Rose (and coordinating solids) from Amanda's shop just sitting on my shelf. I'm not a hoarder.

 

 It didn't take me long to decide that some kind of square-in-square block was what I wanted to use, and since I had just made some Lemon Squares blocks for a bee-mate I went ahead and used a slightly modified version of that pattern for Jill's quilt.

 

I actually bought this pink Minkee when I was pregnant with Jill with the intention of making her something with it before she was born. Obviously that didn't happen, but at the same time I also bought that pretty yellow gingham I used for the binding. I did get a crib sheet made out of it before Jill was born so I wasn't a total slacker. I think the gingham looks perfect here with the sweet Briar Rose prints. 

 

This is another quilt that I quilted on my mom's longarm while there for Thanksgiving. I'm actually really happy with my quilting on this one, except for the way that darn Minkee was pulled through with the stitches. I use a Microtex needle on my home machine when I quilt with Minkee and rarely have that issue. I used the thinnest needle mom had but it wasn't enough I guess. It really doesn't bother me that much, and I'm hoping that maybe after it goes through the wash it will settle back in a bit. 

The quilt finishes at roughly 48" square. A good size for Jill to use in her crib and for the next couple years. I did use a layer of white flannel as batting in this one so it will definitely keep my sweet girl warm!

Castle Blocks

When I saw the Super-Size Castle Block tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew the other day I knew I had to make it. A lot of times, I pin quilt ideas and think that I want to make them in the near future, but never has one block stood out to me so much and practically screamed for me to make it. 

I am a huge fan of Amy Gunson who writes at Badskirt. She is very deliberate in her fabric choices and always makes such perfect projects.  She did an excellent job on this tutorial as well. I've sewn Y-seams before but never anything to this extent and I truly enjoyed it. I know lots of people are nervous about tackling projects with Y-seams but really, once it clicks with you they are so simple.

So far I have only made these two blocks but I intend to make many more! I haven't added the corner triangles to these because I just can't decide what I want to do there yet. Maybe some type of Essex linen or one of those new Mochi Dots?

What are you working on today?

Recent Makes

Hey there! Happy New Year! Only what, about 10 days late? 

With all the snow and freezing temps here lately our Christmas Break was extended by an extra week. I've actually really enjoyed it, but it is definitely time to get back on some kind of schedule. 

Since we've really only left the house twice in the last week I've been able to get my January Bee blocks done...and even mailed! I'm usually pretty good about getting them done quickly, but always seem to wait too long on the mailing part. 

In That Stash Bee, Nicole asked us to make Kaleidoscope blocks in her favorite color scheme of oranges, pinks, and a touch of red. Isn't she going to have an awesome quilt? The tutorial can be found at Quilter's Cache and is an easy paper-pieced pattern. 

We had an easy block this month in Bee{Purposeful} making a yellow and grey Not Quite Sawtooth Star using Corey's tutorial. Her mom is actually the quilter this month and has a fun medallion-style quilt in mind.

 

January is my month in Always Bee Learning. My goal this year is to have Christmas quilts on all the kids' beds by December 1st, so I've asked my ladies to make Spiderweb blocks using this tutorial by Heather of A la Mode. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed making these blocks. Can't say that I enjoyed cutting the strips to send to everyone, but I'll definitely appreciate their help! 

 

I also agreed to take January in our do.Good Stitches circle. I always have so many ideas but then when it rolls around to my month as quilter none of them seem quite right. Anyway, I chose this beautiful "Color Taste" palette from Design-Seeds as inspiration and asked everyone to make one 21" Square-in-Square block. 

I'm not really even sure what the next step is with these blocks. I've always wanted to make a Bento Box style quilt so I may take that route, or a quartered Log Cabin, or maybe even something like Erica's Stacked Squares. Who knows?!?

Peggy's Quilt

Back at the beginning of November, when I was telling the ladies in That Stash Bee what I wanted them to make for my month, I said that there was a chance I would be using those blocks to make a quilt for my mother-in-law. Well, after seeing a few of the blocks they made I knew that I wouldn't be giving that quilt away. So instead she'll be getting this one.

I was very much inspired by this quilt by Allison of Cluck, Cluck, Sew. I feel like I say that a lot. She really does make some beautiful quilts! To make the blocks, I just used four 3.5" squares of Kona White, two 3.5" squares of my print, and one 3.5"x9.5" rectangle of my print. After laying out the blocks how I wanted them, I added a 3.5"x9.5" rectangle of Kona White between the blocks where it was needed to offset the rows. The finished quilt is roughly 63" square. My MIL is fairly short so I figure that's a good lap size quilt for her.

I wanted to make this quilt with a flannel backing so this grey herringbone sheet from Target was perfect. This is another one that I took to my mom's to quilt and as you can see I didn't do the most perfect job on the quilting, especially as I got close to the edge. But, it's good enough for me. I used a stripey Denise Schmidt binding that I've had in my stash for a couple of years and was seriously doubting that I would ever find a use for it. Glad I finally did!

Pineapple Blossom

October was my month again as quilter for the Imagine Circle of do.Good Stitches. I was inspired to choose the Pineapple Blossom block after seeing my friend Catherine's beautiful quilt that she made with the help of her Brit Bee ladies.

We used this tutorial from Quiltville to make the blocks, using the requirements for a 12" block and colors in a range of pinks, corals, salmon, golds, and apricots along with some low-volume prints. I have to say that I really love how this quilt turned out!

 

Sorry for the bad picture of the backing, but Rog and I ran outside really quickly yesterday when we got home from church to snap a couple pics. The wind was blowing and I was too cold to worry about waiting for the perfect shot!  The blocks we used yielded a few scrap HSTs so some of the ladies sent them along with their blocks. I had just enough to make this strip down the back, which in turn was just wide enough to allow me to not have to piece any more of the backing. Serendipity.

I took this with me to Iowa over Thanksgiving break so I could quilt it on my mom's long arm. So much quicker than trying to do it on my machine. I'm still not that great at it, but these loopy swirls are pretty easy and generally look good even when they're a little sloppy! I was also really glad to finally use that Meadowsweet print for something. I've had it forever but just never seem to find the right project for it, until I used it for the binding. And look, someone even used it in their block, too. I hadn't noticed that until I saw this picture.

Now I just need to sit down and stitch our label on, then send this beauty off to Threading Hope, the charity of choice for our circle.

Imagine Circle Swap

Some of the ladies in our do.Good Stitches circle decided to do a swap for fun and to try to get to know each other a little better. One of the items that my partner requested was a pillow so of course that is what I chose. I love making pillow covers. It is so fun to do a block or technique that you've been wanting to try, but don't really want to commit to a larger project. Plus, I'm a big fan of functional projects and who can't use a few more pillows in their life?

 

I think that paper-pieced blocks are great for pillows. They make such striking designs but are fairly time-consuming so I'm not really tempted to make a quilt with them. The blocks I used are called Star Jumps and were a part of the Desperate Housewives series by Quilt Jane. The pillow finishes at about 16".

 

I had a bit of a fail while making the back for the pillow, though. I had a FQ of this lovely print and knew it would be perfect for the back. I cut the two panels I needed, only to realize that I had cut them a little too large.  So I just whacked some off and hemmed. I didn't realize my mistake until I went to pin them to the front and couldn't line up the pattern. So, hopefully the mismatched design won't annoy her too much! 

I have seen some awesome projects on IG and Flickr that the other ladies in my circle are making, so I can't wait to see what ends up in my mailbox!