T-Shirt Quilt Finish

 I am happy to introduce to you the first official finish of 2021!  About this time last year, I was approached by a friend about making a T-shirt quilt.  This was my first time and the process was much easier than I had anticipated.  Confession...one of the things that made it a tad easier was, I didn't actually iron all those shirts to the stabilizer.  My friend volunteered to do that part.  It was a bigger help to me than she will ever realize.  I was so focused on piecing this one that I didn't take any shots of the making process.  There is always the next one.

Once upon a time, this pattern was a freebie over at Craftsy/Blueprint.  It was one of Angela Walter's The Midnight Quilt Show quilts.  As of writing this post, I could not find a working link for the pattern anywhere.   I'm really glad I snagged a free copy when I did.

One thing I will say about a T-shirt quilt is that with the addition of the stabilizer to the back of some of the blocks, it is a little heavier than your average quilt.  Not crazy heavy but you can definitely notice when you are pushing it around while quilting.

 For the actual quilting I decided to do a simple stipple in Aurifil #2600 Dove.  Honestly, I was looking for a fast simple finish that would leave the quilt super soft.  Stippling was a perfect choice. 

To finish things off I decided on a flange binding.  In my head I envisioned a fun pop of silver flange with the dark purple binding.  What I got was a little bit different than what I had in mind.

 I vaguely remember being engrossed in a  Netflix show and managed to cut my binding strips flip flopped.  I ended up with a purple flanged that blends in and a silver binding.  Not that big of a deal.  The verdict...it stays.

I absolutely loved the backing fabric!

And I wasn't the only one.

When the resident once feral cat breaks his no lap policy, you know it's good.

Last week the quilt was officially delivered to its new owner.  She was super excited to receive her quilt.  I hope that it brings her lots of warmth over the years and allows her to remember all the great times she had earning all those T-shirts.

UFO Busting #133

 It's Satur-yay!  Time to talk about all the fun quilting things we were up to this week.  This week I am celebrating a non UFO finish that happened right before Christmas.  Oh, those Christmas Squirrels.  It's just hours before the jolly guy comes to visit and you are sewing as fast as your elf fingers will go.

This is a mug rug I gifted to a good friend of mine.  You can read more about how this little fellow came to life here.

This week I also snapped pictures of the finished Tshirt Quilt and delivered it to its new owner.  He was more than pleased with it.  I will share pictures this week.  I also hope to slow down and do some actual quilting.  It feels like a month since I worked on something.  

I will also be testing a new quilting product very soon and can't wait to share more details with you and how you can get one too!  I think it is something that can really help those wanting to learn to free motion quilt or improve on their quilting skills, but more on that later.

Right now, lets see what you've been up to this week.  First up we have Yvonne at Sew Yummy and her scrap quilt finish.

Every time I look at a scrap quilt, they make me smile.  You know, each little fabric probably has a story or a special little memory.  Make sure you visit Yvonne and congratulate her on this bright fun finish.  It sounds to me like another scraptastic quilt just might be in her future.

Speaking of scraps, I know a quilter swimming in them and who would love to help you make your stash larger.  Who you ask?  Why our dear friend Melva over at Melva Loves Scraps...and she really does.

She found her self in that spot we all find ourselves in...doing some scrap soul searching.  Like dust bunnies, but much much better, scraps multiply at an alarming speed.  I'm pretty sure they are in the oryctolagus cuniculus family...

Melva has decided it's time to share the scrap love.  Swing by to say hello and find out how you could adopt some of her beautiful scraps.  This is one critter we never want to fix...puppies and kitties yes. 

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been up to this week.

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Squirrel! I mean...Raccoon!

 

Ho! Ho! Ho! This post is only almost a month late.  The dapper little fellow above is actually a squirrel.  I know.  I know.  I haven't lost my mind.  It's actually a raccoon.  But once I spied Mary's (Made By Marney) pattern in a quilt magazine, it stole my heart (much like they steal trash from a can) and ran around my head in full squirrel-make-me mode.  I knew it would become a Christmas present for a friend of mine.

If you aren't familiar with Mary's patterns, she has a ton of the most adorable paper pieced critters in her Etsy shop.  I would say before the year is out, I will find myself making more.

The pattern stitched up pretty quickly, once I had a fabric pull from my stash.  For the quilting I went with my favorite grey thread, Aurifil 50wt 2600, Dove.

With Christmas only like 3 days away, I kept the quilting super simple with straight lines 1/2 inch apart.

All that was left to do was sew a few buttons.

And pair with a nice cat themed mug and gift my present.

I'm happy to report, my friend LOVED her mug rug.  Though she refuses to use it as a mug rug.  She has had it framed and now hangs on her wall.  Remember when I mentioned that I foresee myself making more of these paper pieced cuties?  Yeah, she's totally declared she needs more to hang with this handsome trash panda.  And being that they are all totally darling, I will be more than happy to stitch my heart out.  

UFO Busting #132

 

Welcome back for another Saturday!  It was a cold one this morning.  I have to admit I didn't want to craw out from under those warm quilts, but another day another dollar.  Work was calling my name.  This week any free time I've had was focused on the T-shirt Quilt.  I have a deadline of Tuesday.

All that is left to do is sew the binding to the front of the quilt, so I will more than make my deadline.  It wasn't until I starting sewing the binding to the back that I realized I cut my strips wrong.  It was suppose to have a silver flange and purple binding.  That's okay, no one but me and now you will know.  I can't wait to deliver it.  I think they will love it.  

After this finish, I think I will focus on the house and finishing up the baby quilt I started late in the fall.  It's time, because she is here!  She made her debut Monday and is so cute!!!  But for now, let's look at what you've been up to this past week.  Let me grab some candy to munch on and by candy I mean eye candy.

First up we have Anja at Anja Quilts and her UFO finish of Salt Water Taffy. 

If this doesn't cure your sweet tooth I don't know what will?  And I just love the loopy meander she quilted it with.  Make sure you pop over for a piece and find out how you can get one of your own.

Next up we have Chantal at At the Corner of Scraps and Quilts.  2021 is the year she wants to work on some of those UFOs and I'm right there with her.  She's pulled out two and they are fun fun fun.  My personal favorite is the M&M Quilt.

This quilt just screams party!  Make sure you stop by and check out both her projects.  I'm pretty sure they will leave you hungry for more. Plus 2020 may not be the only thing turning 21...but you will have to visit her to find out.

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and tell us what you've been up to this week.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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UFO Busting #131

 It's Saturday!  Time to see what everyone has been up to.  Sorry for the disappearance last weekend.  Things were a bit chaotic and Saturday came and went without me even realizing I missed it.  My daughter and I both had virus exposures at work and found ourselves hiding out in quarantine until tested and given the green light to work.  We were both fine and returned this week, but it did allow some time for quilting.  I decided to pull out a long term UFO...Moda Modern Building Blocks.

I'm well over half way done piecing this one.  I'm just stuck piecing a ton of 6" blocks.  I'm making it even harder for myself because I'm not following their instructions and I'm doing it differently.  I'm hopeful, it will see itself pieced before February.

When I started this project several years ago, I began collecting fabrics to use in it.  Well that monster grew into 3 small totes...okay maybe 4.  By finishing up this project, I can empty those totes!  Less stuff in the quilting room!

I've also started quilting on the T-shirt Quilt again.  I probably only have about 30 minuets more of quilting to go!

So that is the long and short of my quarantine quilting.  

Hopefully, you are still with me and everyone is having a fabulous New Year!  Link up below and show us what you have been up to.

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UFO Busting #130

 

Happy Saturday!!!  I hope everyone had an amazing holiday!  This week, I celebrated the finish of my Red, White and Blue Stars and Stripes quilt.  You can read more about it here.

My main focus this week has been working on my two versions of the Out West Quilt.  With the help of many Christmas movies, I was able to get all the bits and pieces for the quilts put together.

My focus now will be to finish both quilt tops before the end of the year.  Now I need to decide if I will participate in the 2021 mystery quilt.

While I'm contemplating that, lets take a look at last week's party.  Celebrating a finish last week we have Kathleen at Kathleen McMusing and her finished Barn Quilt. 

I love everything about this one!  The colors, the blocks and of course the quilting.  This was a quilt that could have very easily became a UFO thanks to 2020, but Kathleen persevered and is celebrating a beautiful finish.  Make sure you swing by and check out this beautiful quilt and congratulate her on her finish.

Next up we have Gail at Quilting Gail finishing up her last UFO finish for 2020 and it is a cutie!

I love the orange peel design in the four patch blocks and all the different motifs in the background blocks.  Make sure you hop over to Gail's and congratulate her on this UFO finish.

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us if you made the nice or naughty quilting list this week.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Star and Stripes--Finish

 

I'm super excited to share this finish!  With Christmas right around the corner you would think I would be showing you a holiday themed quilt.  And you are right, just the wrong holiday.  I beat to my own drum.  I purchased those lovely blue fat quarters back in the spring and wanted so badly to turn them into something.  With a little help of the 101 Fabulous Small Quilts book and some stash fabrics, this little wall hanging was born.

Before quilting could start and I to decide on over all or custom quilting.  Since it is so small I went when custom with matching threads.

I found the perfect colors in my Aurifil thread stash, #2021 Natural White, #2783 Medium Delft Blue and #2260 Red Wine (my personal favorite name)

All of the ruler work was done with Natalia Bonner's 4-N-1 Mini Quilting Ruler.  I love that it allows me to easily switch from stitching straight lines to curves without stopping to look for three other rulers.

When it came to the white stripe I knew I wanted to do something a little different, thread wise.

So decided on this spool of Aurifil #3852 Liberty to create the chain of wonky stars.

And for a little finishing touch, I had to go with a flange binding.  It is my favorite way to finish off my quilts.

I'm not exactly sure what I will do with this one.  Gift it?  Sell it?  What I do know is that I had a ton of fun creating it.