Thursday, October 31, 2019

October Themed Finishes

To say I'm a little bit behind on documenting my finishes on my blog is a gross understatement, but here are some October themed finishes, a start on getting caught up.   I like to piece a Halloween themed project each year, this year I'll be adding 3 new finishes to my collection.


This is Lifetime Quilt  #262
The pattern and fabric is All Hallow's Eve by Fig Tree
It finished at 72" x 72", my favorite size
It has approximately 977 pieces
This quilt pattern reminds of Toulouse by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co, LQ# 55, that I finished in February of 2010, always loved, but only get to see once a year, because it's a Christmas quilt.


This is Lifetime Quilt #263 
I've named it Ghoulie Girls 
The pattern is Boo by The Pattern Basket
I used miscellaneous fabric from my stash, some Halloween themed some not.
It finished at 54" x 64"
It has approximately 721 pieces 

The ghosts in the floral prints are my favorite.   I studied this pattern for weeks before attempting a ghost block, there are around 40 pieces in each ghost!  It took me an entire afternoon to piece my first ghost, but once I understood how all the pieces fit together my speed improved.  It's a very clever pattern, don't let the details scare you off, just follow the step by step instructions and pay attention to the illustrations and you'll get it.


This is Lifetime Quilt # 269
It's just a mini version of the Boo quilt I pieced above.
It finished at 45" x 50"
It has approximately 414 pieces.

When my daughter saw my finished Boo quilt she ordered a smaller version.  She also requested a white ghost with a black background. I hadn't thought of reversing the fabric but I think it was a very clever idea.



This is Lifetime Quilt #264
The pattern is Happy Harvest by Primrose Cottage Quilts
The fabric is All Hallow's Eve by Fig Tree for Moda
It finished at 34" x34"
It has approximately 173 pieces

I whipped this table topper together in an afternoon using scraps from my All Hallow's Eve medallion kit.  I've heard Moda is reprinting this family of fabric and I'm thrilled with the news.  I've seen several finishes using All Hallow's Eve that I love, I've started my October 2020 to do list already.


Monday, August 5, 2019

A Little Fabric Play . . . . .

Earlier this summer Gerri Robinson asked me if I would be interested in playing with a new fabric line she had designed.  Gerri said she would send the fabric my way and I could make anything I liked.  Who would turn down that offer?  Plus I had pieced several patterns designed by Gerri in the past so I felt good about liking the fabric she would send.



The fabric is Gem Stones by Planted Seeds Designs for Riley Blake.  There are 30 different pieces with this line.  The design is a gradient strip with a small diamond design in an alternate color.

There's a variety of color schemes, like  lovely neutrals  that run dark to light or dark to light to dark, in the same color.
 
Bold gradient colors in the same color way, 

and other pieces that changed gradient and color.

My favorite piece is named Multi Blue Raspberry.  

I decided a pattern that would show off the different pieces and the gradients would be the best use of the fabric.


This is Lifetime Quilt Number 255
The fabric is Gem Stones by Gerri Robinson for Riley Blake
The top finished at 55" x 73"
It has approximately 269 pieces.

Here are a couple of closeup pics to give you a better look at the fabric detail.


The fabric is very rich looking and has a wonderful feel.



This is the type of fabric that does all the work, this is a very simple pattern that really comes to life using this fabric.  I don't think this fabric could make an ugly quilt.

To get a better look at all the pieces in this line click here.

Gerri has designed a sampler quilt and 4 other quilts using this line of fabric, click here to view.

This fabric is available in the usual precuts and yardage now.  Look for it at your favorite quilt shop or online.


Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Ho Ho Ho, My First Christmas in July Finish . . . . .

I'm off to a great start on my Christmas in July sewing.  


I've had a quilt with nothing but Santa hats floating around in my head ever since I pieced Bonnie's Christmas Cheer quilt pattern.  (LTQ # 235). 


I didn't have a good idea of what I was going for when I started, so I just pieced Santa hats and threw them on my design wall until inspiration hit.


I thought the hats needed some separation so I added the "Ho Ho Ho" and thought I was done.  I liked the nice clean look, but the size bothered me.  It was too long for the width for my taste.  And I thought adding a hat to create rows of 5 hats would overpower the Ho Ho Ho.


So I decided to add some little presents to each side to increase the width.  


And thought it would be fun if the presents danced.  I pieced enough presents to dance down both sides, but decided I liked the look of just the presents on the left, and called it done.


This is Lifetime Quilt Number 254
I've named it Ho Ho Ho
It finished at 62 1/2" x 75 1/2"
It has approximately 546 pieces
The red fabric is Sno by Northern Quilts for Moda
The silver stripe fabric is Bonnie and Camille Vintage Holiday for Moda
The Santa hat pattern is by Bonnie at Cotton Way
The present pattern is a freebie from Moda Bake Shop called "Christmas Present" designed by Kristina Brinkerhoff.
The "H' is 11" x 7", the "o" is 6" x 5".  It's just a font I copied from my computer.  

Feel free to copy my idea and make your own Ho Ho Ho quilt, you'll just need Bonnie's pattern for the Santa hat block. 

I'm really motivated to piece as many Christmas tops as possible this month, the more I make the more I have to giveaway.  I have a long list of family and friends waiting for a Christmas quilt, but I'm keeping this one!


Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Latest Finish

I've had this pattern in my to do pile for ages.  It's by Emma Coutancier and the pattern was in the Simply Modern magazine.


The pattern used templates and was in centimeters so I substituted 3" x 5 1/2" fit to be geese and it all worked out fine.


This is Lifetime Quilt Number 253
It finished at 54" x 60"
It has approximately 593 pieces
The pattern is from Simply Modern and is by Emma Coutancier
I didn't see a name on the pattern so I'm going with "Geese a Go Go"
The fabric is by V and Co for Moda

A nice start to my summer sewing.





Friday, June 14, 2019

Loving the red, white and blue . . . .

This spring @redrainbootshandmade started a Stars and Stripes sew-along.  I pieced this quilt designed by Camille for Thimble Blossoms two years ago, Lifetime Quilt # 204.  I enjoyed piecing the quilt and loved having such a patriotic quilt on display for holidays, like the 4th of July, Labor Day and Memorial Day.


Since I had some time to spare before my annual mother/daughter vacation, I decided to sew along, knowing several friends and family members who would also enjoy this quit.  And remembering how easy it was to piece my first Stars and Stripes quilt, a perfect fun and easy diversion.

In the rush of packing and errand running I forgot to take pics of my finishes before sending them off to the quilter.  But today they came back home, thanks Abby at Latimer Lane Quilting, you're the queen of wavy lines and fast service.


Here are Lifetime Quilts 250, 251, and 252.
Each quit finished at 56" x 71", has approximately 138 pieces,  and is made from fabric by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.  The pattern is Stars and Stripes by Thimble Blossoms and available here.  Back just in time to pass along to their new homes before the 4th of July.

Besides my quits arriving home I just got home myself.  If you're a longtime reader of my blog you know that I take an annual vacation with my daughter.  Over the years we've  seen some amazing sights, eaten some delicious food, and laughed our way all over the globe.   This year we visited Peru, a first for both of us.


We saw llamas, alphachas, and lambs aplenty.  We hiked every day and went white water rafting, a first for me.


The weather was absolutely perfect.  Cool in the mornings and pleasant throughout the day.   This was my morning breakfast view at the Sol and Luna Lodge in Sacred Valley.


We could not have picked a better day to visit Machu Picchu.  We had the place to ourselves, which really surprised me.  I had read about and was dreading the reported crowds visiting this amazing lost city.


 This is my favorite pic of the over 1,000 pics we took.  If you've not visited Peru add it to your list.  The people, food, landscape, and history of this country make it worth your time.  We traveled with Adventures by Disney.

When I got home my clothes dryer died on the 2nd load of the 19 waiting to be cleaned and the sewer decided to back up in the basement, real life, real quick.  But things are back to normal now and I'm happy to be home and back in my sewing room with the memories of another wonderful adventure with my daughter, making me appreciate how lucky I really am.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Fig Tree Red and Cream BOM . . . . .


I finally finished my 2018 Fig Tree Red and Cream BOM.


This is Lifetime Quilt Number 248
It finished at 68" x 68"
The pattern is by Fig Tree
It has approximately 983 pieces


I pieced the majority of the blocks in 2018 so finishing this one up took no time at all.


Fig Tree is selling the red and cream bom pattern, click here, which is unusual for their block of the month programs, so you can make your own Red and Cream sampler quilt.  I think this pattern would look great in blues too.

This is my last UFO, hurrah!  I don't like having unfinished quilt projects hanging around.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Summer Love Finish . . .

I love basket quilts and try to piece one new basket pattern every year.  When I saw Bonnie at Cotton Way's latest basket pattern I new it would be my next basket quilt.

The basket blocks are ginormous, they finish at 16". 


This is Lifetime Quilt Number 247
The pattern is Summer Love by Bonnie at Cotton Way
The fabric is all Bonnie and Camille for Moda
It finished at 84" x 84"
It has approximately 622 pieces

The quilt top is prettier in person, I've not seen the sun in months which has resulted in dreary photographs.

This is the first block I pieced and it's my favorite.  That doesn't happen very often, more often than not my first block doesn't even make it in the quilt top, but I never could top the fabric combo on this one, even though I tried every time.




This pattern is available from Bonnie at Cotton Way, click here.

I have a Fig Tree Red and Cream BOM that I started last year that I plan to work on next.  I don't even remember how many blocks I pieced or how many I have left to piece, I can hardly wait to open that project box, it's my last UFO.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Hope Chest, a finish . . . . . .

When I use a fat quarter bundle for a project, the first thing I do is remove all the low volume prints.  I then use a plain background fabric with all the remaining colorful prints.  Since I've been quilting quite a while, I have accumulated a pretty large stack of low volume prints.  I decided to use a few of those prints on my next project. 

I selected the pattern by A Quilting Life, Hope Chest,  to use of some of low volume prints. 



This is the first block I pieced and I immediately thought, what a pretty block, why have I been avoiding my low volume prints.



The pattern calls for 4 rows of three blocks, but I like a square quilt so I pieced 16 blocks, 4 rows of of 4 blocks.



I enjoyed piecing these blocks and loved the look so much I decided to make my quilt even bigger, 5 rows of 5 blocks.




This is Lifetime Quilt Number 246 - Hope Chest
The pattern is by Sherri at a Quilting Life
The fabric is an assortment from Sherri and Chelsea for Moda
It finished at 83" x 83"
It has approximately 985 pieces.  

I still have a stack of low volume fat quarters, but I don't think they'll be growing at quite the fast pace as they have in the past, after this beautiful finish I plan to use them more often. 




Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Oh Baby - A Finish . . . . .

After steadily working for over 6 weeks on my red and white adventure I was ready for something speedy, and what's quicker to piece than a baby quilt?

The mama to be requested a quilt of navy, turquoise, pink, and coral.  Using an assortment of Bonnie & Camille, Fig Tree, and Sherri & Chelsea fabric I was able to pull together what I think is a pleasing palette for a sweet baby girl.   

The navy on white background fabric is Blossom by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake.  There are several colors in this line, I'm using the red on white for the backing on my red and white quilt.   I'm fussy when it comes to background fabric, I don't like directional prints or any print that looks messy when it's cut apart and then sewn back together.  The random design of this print checks all my boxes.  


This is Lifetime Quilt Number 244
The fabric is an assortment of Moda by Bonnie & Camille, Fig Tree, and Sherri & Chelsea.  
The pattern is Oh Baby! by Heather Mulder Peterson from her book Little Quilts 4 Little Kids
It finished at 42" x 46" and has approximately 99 pieces. 



Oh Baby!  has a couple of fabric choices, I went with the scrappier version,  and I agree with Heather, it's great for a boy or girl.




There are 10 patterns in this book, all of them cute.  The book is available here.

I'm still not ready to commit to another large or time consuming project, another quick and easy is coming up next.


Friday, March 15, 2019

Memories of a Masterpiece - A Finish . . . . .

If you're a regular follower of my blog you know my most favorite quilts are red and white quilts.  I usually make one red and white quilt each year.  When this Red & White Quilts book was announced by Martingale I immediately preordered my copy, and that was based on the cover quilts alone. 


When I received my book and was able to see all the patterns I was not disappointed and knew this would be a book I would use for several upcoming projects.  But one quilt stood out above all the others, Memories of a Masterpiece by Lisa Bongean.  I knew I would make this quilt first. 


Lisa's quilt finished at 76" x 76" and is made up of 3,272 one inch finished half square triangle units.   Lisa used a tone on tone red print and a cream background fabric with tiny red dots.

I love this quilt but the vintage vibe is not my style so I decided to change it up a little to maybe give it a more modern feel.

First off, I used solids for my red and white fabrics. I went with my favorite red, Christmas Red by Moda.  It's a nice bright red.  My next change was to increase the size of the hsts.  Mine finish at 1 1/2", I went 1/2" bigger.   And lastly, since my hsts were larger, I made my quilt top smaller, which meant I only needed 2,296 hsts.

To make my hsts I used the Easy Angle ruler.  I cut my triangle units 1/8" larger and squared them up after piecing.

When I started this project I had the notion of just piecing my hsts until I couldn't stand to piece  anymore, then take a break, making this a project to stretch out over the year.  


 I started making my hsts the beginning of February during a very cold weather stretch when the only thing to do was stay in and sew.  In 4 days I had 1,400 finished hsts.  

Once I had enough hst units to work with I started piecing the quilt top.   I also trimmed 100 to 200 hsts daily.


To make this process easier I set up a trimming station on the kitchen table, allowing me to trim units throughout the day and in the evening while watching TV.  I think getting such a big jump on the volume of hsts the first few days, then cutting back to just a 100 or so a day  kept me interested in continuing with the project and not stopping due to hst overload.


The center was a breeze and a delight to piece.  It felt so good to start taking hsts out of the basket while putting more in.  I pressed all my seams open for this project.

The outside border units came together, slowly.


I just had to take my time and live with the fact that not all my points were going to be perfect.  I did some resewing but not a lot.  I found that my sewing machine was happier and the seams better aligned when I used a bigger stitch length.  I usually drop my stitch length down a couple from the factory preset since I always press my seams open, so the thread doesn't show through.  I just went with the regular length for this project.

I pinned each seam on both sides of the seam.

And in what really seemed like a relatively short period of time I was done, no break required.  I found this to be a relaxing project, it was just simple pinning and sewing.  And as I mentioned earlier, the weather was my best friend, there was nothing else to do but sew and listen to books.


This is lifetime quilt number 243
The pattern is Memories of a Masterpiece by Lisa Bongean from the Martingale Red & White Quilts book.
The fabric is Moda Bella Solid 9900-16 Christmas Red and 9900-98 White.  I prewashed the fabric (the color catchers picked up no red during the wash), dried it in the dryer, then soaked it with starch and let it dry on racks. 
My quilt finished at 90" x 90", the pattern finishes at 76" x 76"
I did not add the outer row of geese, I was happy with the 90" size and loved the fresh look without them.
There are approximately 5,141 pieces in this quilt top.
My husband says this top makes him dizzy.   

My top may not have the wow factor of Lisa's quilt, but I think it makes its own statement, it packs more punch due to the bright red, is more me, and I could not be happier with it. 

For the backing I'm going with this fabric,



it's Red on White Blossom by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake.

If you love this quilt pattern, but are intimidated by the volume of pieces or perceived work, don't be, it's not a hard pattern to piece, you just need start, and before you know it, you're done.  Like my friend Vicky always reminds me, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."  Just take that first bite.

Next up, I need to make a baby quilt, I'm really looking forward to working on a smaller, faster project.  That may be my theme for the next several projects.