Best for Last?

I think I've pieced all the quilt tops I can manage out of the Gingiber Merrily and Merriment lines.  This makes the 7th finish using that fabric, a record for any fabric I've ever worked with.

But I do like this finish and think I may keep this one.  My inspiration was the Fig Tree pattern Stars in the Woodland.  I made mine just a little bigger, because I had so many animal panels in my stash,  and I added the red and white squares, because you know me and red and white,. 

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 297

The pattern is Stars and Animals in the Woodland by Fig Tree and Thelma

It finished at 48"x 55"

The fabric is Merrily and Merriment by Gingiber for Moda

It has approximately 888 pieces

Here are the other quilt tops I made using this fabric

Lifetime Quilt Number 210 - Merrily - Library Raffle Quilt

Lifetime Quilt Number 232 - More Merrily - gift for great nephew

Lifetime Quilt Number 221- Merrily - gift for niece

Lifetime Quilt Number 211 - Tucker's Merrily Christmas - grandpup's quilt

Lifetime Quilt Number 294 - Wooded Whimsy

Lifetime Quilt Number 296 -Starry Eyed II

Now on to something that's not Gingiber fabric!!

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Finishing the year with a finish

I finished a quilt!

This was a fun project, great pattern, Christmas themed stitching during the month of December, and allowed me to continue my current obsession with trees, but even with all those pluses it still took every ounce of concentration and focus that I could manage to get it done.  I don't think I ever sat down for longer than 30 minutes anytime I was in my sewing room. But now it is done and I'll have a new Christmas quilt to enjoy next year. 

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 294

The pattern is Wooded Whimsy by Coriander Quilts by Corey Yoder

The fabric is a combo of Merriment and  Merrily by Gingiber for Moda

It finished at 65" x 65"

It has approximately 1,029 pieces. 

This is the pattern.

The pattern has 6 rows.  You may have noticed my version has 5.  Hello, my name is Thelma and I'm addicted to square quilts. 

I have no quilt plans for 2021,  no long lists of quilts to make, I've never been so lost in the 15 years I've been quilting.  I'm thinking  I'll start off the year with a good sewing room reorg.  Maybe I'll look through all my books and patterns and come up with that list and a plan.  It's been ages since I've participated in a sew along, maybe some camaraderie is what I need.  Whatever it takes I am determined to make 2021 better.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, I know my posts have been infrequent, I'm hoping for more enthusiasm for everything in my life in  2021. 

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Basketweave Star - A Finish

Well it took awhile but was worth every minute.  This project reminded me of an old quilt saying, "quilts take a long time, when you don't work on them".  That was definitely the case for this project.  

I made this basketweave star block in 2016 using some Sundrops honeybuns.  I liked the block but was not in the mood to make more blocks so I threw everything in a project box.  Every now and then I would  open the project box and mull over my options of finishing, tossing, or doing nothing.  Doing nothing won out until this summer.  

Having very little motivation to work on any project I thought, "if not now, when?"

So little by little I pieced these 12 inch blocks

And decided 16 was just the right number of blocks.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 287

I've name it Basketweave Star

The pattern is Basketweave Star by Nydia and available here 

The fabric is Sundrops by Corey Yoder/Coriander Quilts for Moda

It finished at 52" x 52"

It has approximately 1,033 pieces.

I really like that secondary star pattern created by the background fabric.

I am among the most fortunate in the coronavirus crisis, my loved ones are healthy and we are sheltering at home.  But like everyone else my life has changed dramatically.  I love the amount of artistry, sense of purpose, and perseverance being shared on social media by this wonderful quilting community.  I look forward to the day that my creative spirit is recharged and that my sewing time is my happy time, until then thanks to all who continue to brighten our days with their creativity.  

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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Swell Santa

I immediately fell in love with the Moda Swell Christmas Santa kits when they were revealed at market.  I pre-ordered 2 kits and patiently waited for them to be delivered.  (Is it just me or sometimes does the time between market reveals and market arrivals seem forever?!?!) Once the kits arrived I finished what I was working on and started some fun Christmas in July sewing. 

I admit to being warned about the size of that Santa head, but it wasn't until I took it out of the box that I truly appreciated its ginormousness.

 I always prep my jelly roll strips, just a good spraying of starch then an overnight stay on my drying racks.  And yes, the strips do shrink, some more than others, although I have no explanation as to why.  I am jelly rolled challenged and trim my strips down, so a little shrinkage does not bother me.  I am never able to get the required width when sewing untrimmed strips together.  I think the strips are to be lined up and sewn tougher using the outermost pointed edge, which I tend to miss.

So I trimmed my strips to 2 1/4" wide.

This resulted in a finished log cabin block of 12 1/4", the pattern block finished at 14".

Since my blocks were smaller I made my quilt top larger, going with 6 rows of 5 blocks and not the 5 rows of 4 blocks from the pattern.

Before sewing the log cabin blocks together I lined up where I thought I would place the ginormous Santa head.

Then I replaced the pieced log cabin blocks completely covered by the ginormous Santa head with some leftover white fabric.   I just didn't see the point of sewing over such cute pieced blocks.

When it came to appliquéing the ginormous Santa head into place I followed the pattern instructions exactly.  Except I added nonadhesive stabilizer to the back for my machine appliqué stitches.

I took my time and used a large table to pin the ginormous Santa head into place before setting the fusible.  I started pinning from the center and worked my way out.

I was worried about this step in the project but it all worked out perfectly, no wrinkles, just a nice flat Santa head.   If you look closely you can see the remaining pieced blocks showing through Santa.

But once the back was trimmed away he looked perfect.  I trimmed within an 1/2" of the seam.

And here he is, a quilt so nice I made it twice.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 228 and 229

Each quilt finished at 62" x 74 1/2"

The fabric is Swell Christmas by Urban Chiks

Each quilt has approximately 310 pieces. 

All I had to work with was the two kits, I added no yardage.  And even though I trimmed my strips and made more blocks I had all these strips left over.

One quilt will be donated to my local hospital's annual Festival of Trees fund raiser, the other one a nice Christmas gift for a friend or family member.

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Spa Day Finish

I did not instantly fall in love with Piece N Quilt's line of fabric called Thrive.  It wasn't until I saw the fabric in person that I did fall in love, the colors and prints made me feel like I was walking into a day spa, so soothing and peaceful.  

I decided to use the free pattern Authentic Etc. Ocean Waves, a Moda pattern for Cake Mix Recipe 4.

I normally don't use the low volume prints included in a family of fabric.  I have a stack of these type of prints that I've pulled from families of fabric that are currently collecting dust on my shelves.  But I like the low volume prints in this family and decided to use them all, scrappy background, defiantly a change of pace for me.

Once I started playing around with the hsts I decided I liked the look of a smaller hst and went with 3" instead of the 4 1/4" blocks in the pattern.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 224

I've named it Spa Day

It finished at 60" x 60"

The pattern is Authentic Etc Ocean Waves by Moda (click here for free pattern)

The fabric is Thrive by Quilt N Piece for Moda

It has approximately 972 pieces

Next up, I'm playing with that bright and happy Harmony fabric by Sweetwater.   I've narrowed my Harmony project down to two patterns,  but am thinking if I use my fabric wisely maybe I can piece them both.  It is still dreary and cold here and we have a chance for snow again this week, I've given up on thinking Spring will ever arrive, accept in my sewing room.

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