Some More Merriment and Merrily

I've been sewing more frequently this year but not with much enthusiasm, but that's OK, I'll get there, and I am finishing some projects which always feels good.

After I pieced my Wooded Whimsy tree quilt I noticed I still had a lot of Merriment and Merrily fabric by Gingiber for Moda, particularly the animal panels.  I couldn't think of another quilt that I wanted for my house using that fabric, and I already pieced 3 quilts for family members from those lines, but I do get requests for quilts for auctions and raffles and the like so I decided that making a donation quilt would be a good use of my time and the fabric.

For the pattern I decided to use Starry Eyed by Angela Mitchell.  It's a free Moda Bakeshop pattern from 2011!

This is my first Starry Eyed quilt using Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater for Moda.  One of my top 10 favorite Christmas fabric lines of all time. 

I added a few of the small animal panels to Starry Eyed II because they're my favorite aspect of these lines.  That Gingiber really knows how to draw some  endearing winter forest animals. 

So here is Lifetime Quilt Number 296

I've named it Starry Eyed II

The pattern is by Angela Mitchell and available here. 

It finished at 80" x 80"

The blocks finish at 16"

The pattern called for 5 rows of 4 sixteen inch blocks (20 blocks total), I went 5 x 5 (25 blocks total), because I like square quilts. 

It has approximately 951 pieces. 

Here's Starry Eyed I, Lifetime Quilt Number 78!!!  It's still one of my favorite Christmas quilts and gets used every holiday, an oldie but goodie.  It's hard to believe I've pieced over 200 quilts since piecing this one.  

I used some of the bigger animal panels for the backing of Starry Eyed II, it's ready to be quilted and when someone says "Hey Thelma, do you have a quilt to donate to our cause?", instead of panicking and sewing 20 hours a day for a week and begging a quilter to quilt the top to meet a deadline,  I'll happily say, "why yes I do".  

I am so behind on my blog but am determined to get all my quilt finishes from the last couple of years documented, so be on the lookout for some posts about quilts you may have seen on Instagram but not here.  

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Ribbons 'n' Bows

I have a problem in my sewing room, I have several FQ bundles of beautiful fabric just waiting for me to find the perfect pattern for them.  And I also have several great patterns that I'm eager to make, but not the perfect fabric for those!  I've finally decided to stop waiting for perfect and just go for good enough.  I've had a bundle of Weekends by Erin McMorris for Free Spirit setting on my shelf for over a year now.  I love the prints and the colors, and not only does it have a weekend feel to it, it has a summer weekend feel to it.  I decided that fabric was going to be my next project and went on search for a suitable (no longer perfect) pattern.

I was looking for a pattern that had a summer and fun feel to it, and I wanted some pieces that were at least 2 1/2 inches wide so the adorable bicycle print fabric would look its best.  

Do you ever check the Moda Bakeshop for free patterns?  My Countdown to Christmas Quilt is one of my favorites and it's a Moda Bakeshop pattern called Starry Eyed.  I keep a Bakeshop link in my Favorites list, it's always at the bottom because for some reason it doesn't update when a new pattern is posted, which is several times a week.  So I check it all the time.  There's some great inspiration on that site.  And that's where I saw this pattern, Simply Woven by Jessica Kelly.

This pattern was posted in October of 2012, an oldie but goodie!

So I got his far and decided that breaking up all those stripes would maybe be fun.  And as luck would have it I had just gotten Heather Peterson's Angles With Ease 2 book and those petal blocks on the cover popped into my head.

You can make the blocks various sizes and with or without the center circles.  I made my blocks 12 inches, the same size as my woven blocks, and without the center circle.

I was so tempted to go with just one block, that one little surprise in that top, but they were so fun to make I ended up making 6, but went with 5.

Cathy at Quilting on Main Street named the quilt for me, she said it looked like ribbons and bows!

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 159

The pattern is Simply Woven by Jessica Kelly

The fabric is Weekends by Erin McMorris for Free Spirit 

It finished at 72" x 72"

It has approximately 388 pieces.

I think this quilt turned out better than "good enough".  I also like this fabric so much better in a quilt than on my shelf. Now on to the next bundle!

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