Hello. What's Up?

 This will go down as my all time favorite quilt packaging (from Sarah Made)!  Plus it seemed like a fitting way to start this post.  I swear I'm not going to declare, hey, guys, I'm back!  Because it seems like every time I do, life goes hold my beer.  So how about a quick post about the things I've been up to and then I'll start sliding right back in to quilting posts.  I miss you guys!  

The package above I just had to have.  I found Sarah from Sarah Made on the Instagram and fell in LOVE with her Hello Summer quilt. So I did the only thing I could do and ordered the quilt kit (to make eventually).  I'll do a post about the fabric later, but if you have a chance check our her Hello Summer quilt here.

Since moving to my new position at work, things have been banana bonkers busy.  Working longer hours left little time for quilting.  I found myself picking up my original love...cross stitch.  

One thing I love about it is that it can be super portable.  So, between customers I can sneak in a little bit of creative time.  My obsession at the moment is the Mini Masterpieces by The Sitch Patterns on Etsy.  

How can you not love tiny versions of famous paintings??  I hope to display them in a mosaic frame in my office for a conversation piece.  I think I need a total of 24 so I'm almost half way there.

So what in the actual quilt have I been up to since June?  Well, I pieced a quilt.  My big thing now is to make things to display in my office, as I just mentioned.  As soon as I ran across Lo and Behold's Summer Pop Quilt, I knew I needed it to hang in my office next summer.

Bomb Pops are summer to me.  The traditional red white and blue.  I have the top pieced.

I found the cutiest print fabric to go with it.  Now to make a decision...use it as a backing or, use it as a backing and do a border?

I am 100% open to suggestions.  Please let me know what you think.

I also found time to piece a small baby quilt for a dear friend expecting a grandson.  I actually finished quilting it this week and will share finished pictures as soon as the rain stops and a proper photoshoot can happen.  

So this is me easing back into quilting.  Life looks so much different than it did a few years ago and I'm looking forward to sharing the quilts again.  I hope to open the UFO Busting Quilt party back up if anyone would be interested.  I'm seriously thinking about issuing a challenge to myself next year to not piece any quilts.  The challenge would be to spend an entire year quilting the piles of UFO's.  Crazy?  What do you think?

  

A Roll of the Dice

 

Hello, everyone!  I'm back after what appears to be a 7-month hiatus.  Unfortunately, during my away time, not much quilting has gone on.  I was in training for a new position at work, cheering on my daughter while she is going to nursing school and reconnected with someone that was very important in my life.  Over the past few weeks, I dipped my toes back into the quilting world by pattern testing for a quilty friend and I feel like I'm finding peace in life again.  So when my dear friend Sandra (mmmquilts) reached out to me about her pattern release for A Roll of the Dice...of course I want to be part of your release party!  I can't think of a better way to come back.

Introducing, A Roll of the Dice!  Not only do you get instructions for a sweet little baby quilt, but she also included instructions for a bed runner and pillow.  The pillow could also be used as a tiny wall hanging.  I chose to make the baby quilt for the pattern release.  For my colors I went with soft mauve/pinks and green/mints.  Sandra's patterns never disappoint.

I love a quilt with variation blocks.  Each of the four star blocks have a different center.  And when you step back from the quilt you notice a large Ohio Star.

Another thing I love about this quilt, is that the block sizes are bigger and this nine patch of blocks comes together very quickly.  I was able to piece this quilt over a weekend. 

Now I'm looking forward to quilting those blocks.  Measuring in at 40" square, this would be a great size to practice free motion quilting on, especially if you are quilting on a domestic machine.

I think we can all safely say, most things in life are a roll of the dice.  However when you bet on this pattern, you are sure to win.  Make sure you visit Sandra's launch page here to check out all the other projects.  You can also find out how to grab a copy of the pattern for yourself.

If you've made to the end, I just want to thank you for stopping by.  I hope to be more vocal on my page soon.  Until then...happy quilting to everyone!

UFO Busting #157

 

Yesterday kicked off the first day of what I call Tishmas.  What is Tishmas?  It is the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas in which Tish wears a different Christmas themed shirt to work.  This year I kicked it off with this one.

Needless to say, I love Tishmas.  It also includes random small gifts to my coworkers.  They love Tishmas too.

As for quilting this week.  I did have a finish (that will be a Tishmas present) that I will share with you later.  And it was a UFO.

And in the spirit one goes off the list and one is added.  I purchased some fabric this week that will be a gift to an unsuspecting friend.

I love me some grunge fabric!  I can't wait to start piecing this one together.

Keeping it short and simple this week, it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you've been up to the past two weeks.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

And now I leave you with the pole dancing squirrel my daughter left on the Christmas tree for me.  She was quite proud.  It's the 21 year old version of a macaroni necklace or popsicle ornament.  It was left with love and laughs. 

UFO Busting #156

 

It's Saturday!  And you know what that means...party time.  This week I'm celebrating a non UFO finish.  I love those just as much as a UFO finish because it's like I saved a quilt from becoming a UFO.  I have completely finished the two Let Your Star Shine (pattern by Sandra at mmm!quilts)quilts I pieced back in July.

If you would like to learn more about the quilting of these quilts you can read more about it here.  In the post I break down the threads and rulers that I used and why I chose the motifs that I did.  Kind of a peak in side my quilting head...that's a scary place sometimes.  Or if you just need to look at pictures of quilting...I think you will still walk away happy.

So what next for me?  I've pulled a few UFO quilts that need quilting and I know I still have a dinosaur quilt to piece.  Fingers crossed I will find balance in both projects.

Now let's take a look at what you were up to last week.  Things have been flying over at Sew Yummy...it's like she's feeling goosey.  Why do I say that you ask?  Because of her recent Spurced Goose Quilt Top finish.

My favorite line in her post..."Please don't remind me I could have been working on a UFO."  Distractions can be a good thing.  Never feel bad for working on what your heart wants.  Make sure you fly over and congratulate her on her finish.

Now it's your turn.  Link up below and show us what you have been working on or even what you aren't.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let Your Star(s) Shine--Finish(es)

 

Back in July my good friend Sandra at mmm!quilts gifted me a copy of her recently released Let Your Star Shine pattern and I was bit hard by the make-me bug.  In one weekend, I ended up with two versions of the quilt.  I just couldn't stop!

I blame it on the well written, easy to follow pattern and the fabric selection the day I ran to the store.  Whatever the case, if you find yourself in the need of a smaller quick quilt, this is a perfect one.  Want to super size it?  Make four blocks and connect them.  Boom.  Bigger quilt and still super fast.

When it came time for the quilting, I knew I wanted to do something different with each quilt.  What will follow will be a picture overload of why I decided to quilt each one the way I did.  So let's break it down.

This one started with the black print with bright flowers and cute tiny blue birds.  I pulled my coordinating colors from the print.  My thread choice was to use one color on the entire quilt, Aurifil 50wt #2600 Dove.  Shades of gray are probably my favorite neutral.  This particular lighter shade, seemed to play nicely with each print without over powering anything...even on the busy black print.  I used one ruler, Piece and Quilt's Inside Out 4-in-1 Mini .  It's perfect for stitching in the ditch, straight lines and the curves in the center four patch block.

The rest was just free motion quilting fun, from the switch backs in the first pink/turquoise border to the pebble swirl filler.

I decided to do grid work in the first border.  For visual interest, I alternated the switch backs in the pink and turquoise fabrics.  You really notice it in the "mitered" corners.

I didn't go too crazy with the quilting in the black print.  It's so busy I knew you wouldn't necessarily see it unless you were pretty close to the quilt.  Some simple straight lines and a few curves to create a tiny bloom. 

The part that really stumped me was what to do with the second turquoise/pink border.  I'll be honest, nothing really spoke to me.  In the end, the decision was made to threat the outer border and white print as one background section...and I love it.  Straight lines helped to give the star the look of being bigger than it actually is and the pebble and swirl filler kind of mimics the small prints in the black fabric, pulling everything together.

And let's not forget the binding.  I'm a big fan of using a print that isn't in the actual piecing of the quilt...and that is the direction I chose to go for this one.  This tiny polka dot print added just another layer of fun to this already popping quilt.

Now let's take a look at the second quilt.  I hope you don't get motion sickness, because it's about to get curvy.

While the fabric for the first quilt was being cut, I noticed the purple/blue/pink print on the shelf and thought WAIT A MINUTE...I NEED THIS!  And so a second quilt would be born.  I love the curves and arcs in the print and decided this version would be all about the curves.  The more the merrier.  To achieve the look I wanted, I again used the Inside Out 4-in-1 Mini ruler accompanied by AngelaWalter's Squiggy ruler and Amanda Murphy's Good Measures Every Circle rulers.  Instead of using one thread color for all the quilting, I opted to match the threads to the fabrics.  So out came the trusty Aurifil 50wts #2588 Light Magenta, #2784 Dark Navy, #2510 Light Lilac and #2600 Dove.  Each color melted perfectly into the fabrics providing the perfect textures.

All of the quilting is about different versions of continuous curves. For the white(ish) background print, I marked out a 1" grid and let the free handed orange peels fly.

I marked the first pink/navy border into squares with diagonal lines and quilted orange peels around the lines.  For the outer pink/navy border I marked out on point squares with loops filling in the background.

The fabric in the larger star points is quite busy so again I needed to choose something simple as not to compete.  More large loops come together to form a sort of flower shape in each point.

For the binding, I chose to frame it in the large star point print.

A shot of the back of a quilt really shows off all the quilting.

So that completes the look inside my quilty head and my thoughts behind what I did.  I went into both projects not really having a quilting plan.  I started with the center stars and just kind of built from there, letting the pattern and fabrics guide me.  I'm really trying to turn my focus to finishes.  Obsessing and over thinking on the quilting only slows you down.  If I'm going to custom quilt something, I find if I can find one element to tackle first the rest will fall into place.  Just trust that.

UFO Busting #155

 

Welcome back to another Saturday of celebrating UFO's.  It's a time to celebrate finishing them, creating them and even ignoring them.  This week I officially started quilting on my version of Sandra at mmm!quilts Let Your Star Shine Quilt.

The quilting on this one is all about the curves.  It is actually the second version of this quilt that I have made.  I didn't really start with a quilting plan with either one of them, so its been interesting to watch them come together.  I will share full quilting details on both quilts when I finish this one later this weekend.  

Another project I haven't shared much about is my version of Cheryl at Meadow Mist Design's Macaroon Mystery Quilt.  

I'm always honored to pattern test Cheryl's mystery quilts.  It's probably one of the quilty things I look forward to the most each year and this year was no different.  There is plenty of time to join in before the final layout is revealed.

July brought clues for your fabric pull.  I took my inspiration from brightly colored macaroons.

August brought the excitement of cutting instructions.

September kicked things off with some half square triangles.

October found the flying geese migrating in.

And November called in more flying geese (you can never have too many).  November's instructions were just released this week.  So again, if you haven't decided to join in, there is plenty of time to grab some fabric and sew along.

That pretty much sums up the quilting fun for me for the week.  Let's take a look at what you were up to last week.  Nancy over at Grace and Peace Quilting was celebrating National Cat day (Oct 29th) with a special cat quilt.  

This is just a sneak peek of this beautiful and unique quilted hanging.  I love that it was a collaboration of international friends.  It would make any cat proud!  Make sure you swing by and congratulate Nancy on this beautiful finish.  Miss Caroline and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Miss Caroline hanging out on her section of the Sweet Sixteen.

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter