First Finishes for 2019

No one was more surprised than me when I looked at the last date that I blogged, October 25th!  I don't think I've ever skipped an entire month since I started blogging, let alone nearly 3! All is well at my house, just busy with the holidays, some traveling, and some company.  Happy times.

Thanks to all who checked on me, I should have posted a quick blog update that all was well and to check back in, I just kept thinking I would sit down and write up posts on my latest finishes.  I do have some catching up to do but to just get things rolling I decided to blog about my first finishes for the year, I"ll go back and update the last of my  2018 finishes another day.

This is Lifetime quilt # 240 and my first finish for 2019

The pattern is from the Christmas Figs Book and I used the Christmas Figs fabric too.

This quilt finished at 79" x 79" and has approximately 1,753 pieces.

Those blocks finish at 16" and were fun to piece, the pattern instructions were wonderful.

I started this project early December with hopes of finishing up before the end of the year, but when  January rolled round and I still had Christmas decorations to pack up plus this quilt to finish I was tempted to put it in a project box, I had had enough of Christmas.   Instead I stuck with it, finished it up and am now so happy that I did.  I'm not one to have UFO's hanging around and I didn't want to start the new year with two.  Two?  Yes, I thought this pattern would make a nice quilt for the Christmas festival that auctions one of my quilts each year.  I loved the pattern and thought it would make a great quilt for the event but knew it would be a hard one to giveaway, so I made two of most of the blocks as I progressed through the book, one for me, one to donate.

The pattern calls for 5 rows of 4 blocks, for a quilt that finishes at 79" x 97", that's a little big for my taste, so for my quilt I just went with 16 of my favorite blocks.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 241, the quilt I plan to donate to my local hospital and that has 20 blocks, like the pattern. 

It finished at 79" x 97" and has approximately 1,980 pieces.

I swapped out a couple blocks and changed one but for the most part it's like the pattern.

I'm so happy to have it done so I can get it quilted before my deadline this fall.

Both quilts use the same background fabric, the difference in colors must be the filters I used on my phone.

I think this book is great, if you didn't buy any of the Christmas Figs fabric this pattern would work for any fabric, I don't think it has to be Christmas themed fabric.  The book also has about a dozen small project patterns that are just as cute as the quilt.  If you've not bought the book it's available here.

Next up is to finish my Fig Tree Autumn Splendor BOM, I just received the last month in the mail.  This top is the quilt I plan to donate to my hometown library for their annual raffle, which is in June, I need to hustle.  But then my sewing obligations for 2019 will be met and it will feel great.

More frequent blogging to come, I promise.

Read more

Peppermint Lane Finish

I met my goal of piecing 6 holiday quilts this year for some special friends and family.  This is the quilt that got me to 6.  

The pattern is Peppermint Lane by It's Sew Emma for the Fat Quarter Shop.  I made just a couple of changes.

First, I substituted brown dot fabric for my gingerbread men

And I replaced the gingerbread house in the pattern with Bonnie's Santa hat, which I fell in love with while making Christmas Cheer. I'm thinking next year I should make a quilt top of nothing but Santa hats, festive mittens, and maybe a mug of hot cocoa thrown in for fun.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 236 - Peppermint Lane

The pattern is by It's Sew Emma for the Fat Quarter Shop.  (available here)

The fabric is mostly Vintage Holiday by Bonnie and Camille for Moda

It finished at 55" x 69" 

It has approximately 884 pieces.

I'm leaving off that outer border called for in the pattern.  I like the cleaner look this top has without it.  But to add a little sparkle I'll use the silver stripe fabric from Vintage Holiday for the binding.

I now have one week to piece my traditional October halloween themed quilt, I don't know what it will be, other than fast and easy.

Read more

Christmas Cheer/Peppermint Lane Mash-up

Here's my latest Christmas quilt finish.   I started out making Christmas Cheer by Bonnie for  Cotton Way.  But once I got a few blocks made I looked at the finish size of that quilt and decided  I didn't want a quilt that was 77" x 88", so I omitted a few rows of blocks from Bonnie's pattern and added a couple of blocks from It's Sew Emma's Peppermint Lane pattern and a tree block I put together myself.  

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 235

The patterns I used are Christmas Cheer by Bonnie at Cotton Way and Peppermint Lane by It's Sew Emma for the Fat Quarter Shop.

The fabric is all Bonnie and Camille for Moda

It finished at 70" x 71"

It has approximately 932 pieces.  

Bonnie's pattern is available here.

Peppermint Lane is available here.

Here's how I pieced the trees, each strip is 2 1/2" wide.  You need 5 green rectangles, 2 1/2" x 4 1/2", 2 1/2" x 6 1/2", 2 1/2" x 8 1/2", 2 1/2" x 10 1/2",  and 2 1/2" x 12 1/2". You also need ten 2 1/2" background squares for each green rectangle. Add two 4 1/2' background strips to the first row, two 3 1/2" background strips to the second row, two 2 1/2" background strips to the third row and two 1 1/2" background strips to the 4th row.  The tree trunk is 2 1/2" x 2", add two 5 3/4" background strips.  Each tree  block should measure 12 1/2" x 12 1/2".

Just one more Christmas quilt top to go to meet my 2018 goal.

Read more

Another Red Letter Day ?!?!?

I'm still needing a few more Christmas quilt finishes if I'm going to meet my goal of giving Christmas quilts to family and friends this year.  Here's my 5th Christmas quilt finish for 2018. 

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 234

The pattern is Red Letter Day by Camille Roskelley for Thimble Blossoms. 

The fabric is Overnight Delivery by Sweetwater for Moda

It finished at 68" x 68"

It has approximately 657 pieces.

This pattern packs a lot of punch for such a small time commitment.  I pieced this top in 4 afternoons.  I thought it was a good choice for the Overnight Delivery fabric, the big block pieces allow the festive prints to really shine.

This is the third time I've used this pattern.

I made this fall Red Letter Day version for my brother and his wife.

And this summer version that I made 4 years ago has been on my bed every August since.

Two more Christmas finishes would be nice, but all the Halloween projects on social media are calling my name, maybe I can squeeze in one more Christmas finish before October.

Read more

Dessert Sampler Finish

One of my quilt bucket list items is to piece a quilt top using nothing but solids, make that more than two solids, since I do have a few red and white quilts.  

Last year a friend selected this beautiful group of Moda Bella Solids for me as a YoT birthday present.  That was the hardest part of piecing a solids quilt, selecting a pleasing assortment of solids, and I didn't even have to do it. 

I love a good sampler pattern and decided Moda's Dessert Sampler Quilt pattern was a good fit for my solids bundle.

I replaced a few blocks with some of my own and rearranged the placement of a few others, but I think is still looks very similar to the original.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 233

The pattern is Dessert Sampler Quilt by Moda

The fabric is all Moda Bella Solids

It finished at 70" x 78"

It has approximately 2,082 pieces.

Next up, I need to whip up about 3 Christmas tops, Christmas in September, doesn't quite have a motivational ring to it, but thinking about giving the quilts for Christmas presents is motivation enough. 

Read more