the start of a gingham quilt

Well, summer "vacation" is in full swing and the adjustment has been interesting. I'm sure we will find our rhythm eventually. To cope, I decided to start a new quilt for my king sized bed. Sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? I started this project on Saturday and I've been slowly picking away at it as time and energy allows.

I'm only using 3 colors: white, pearl pink and pink flamingo. All of the fabrics are Kona cotton. Pink flamingo, as you may know, is the Kona color of the year. It's quite pretty! I was thinking about making a gingham quilt with pink flamingo for a few months. When I found 5 yards of the pearl pink in my stash, which matches quite nicely, I took it as a sign that the gingham quilt needed to be made. Hahaha!

It's rare that I cut out a quilt completely before I start sewing, but that's exactly what I did this time. It's good to change things up!

It took me over an hour to sew all those strips into pairs. It was a lot of fun to feed so much fabric through the machine at such a rapid pace.

 Chopping everything into segments took quite a while!

The rows are LONG when you are making a king size quilt! Holy moly!

It was quite exciting to see the first several rows sewn together. It's going to be such a fun quilt! Now that I look at it, I probably should have picked a darker shade than the pearl pink, but I still think it's going to be fine. And hey, I'm using my stash, so that counts for something, right?

I cut the strips for this quilt 4 1/2", so the squares will finish at 4". If my math is correct, the quilt will be 108" x 100" finished. (That's a BIG quilt!)

I actually made another gingham quilt in gray and white... way back in 2011! It's fun to be revisiting this pattern again. It's been much less frustrating this time around, mainly because I learned that a short stitch length is essential when strip piecing. It sure makes a difference!

I hope to have a finished quilt top to share with you soon!

big nines--a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I finished up the hand binding on my big nines quilt this morning! My kids are done with school for the summer, so I have quilt holders available during the day now. That's pretty exciting! (For me, at least....I'm not sure that they are so thrilled about that. Hahaha!)

Yesterday morning I pieced a back and basted the quilt. It didn't take very long to quilt it, which was great. I kept the quilting simple by doing some free motion wavy lines to form a grid. I love this type of quilting. It's easy and quick and forgiving. It also adds a nice texture to the entire piece.

Most of the solids are Kona cotton, and the bright aqua on the right is a cotton couture by Michael Miller. ALL of the fabric came from my stash. (Hurray for that!)

This fabric is from my good neighbors collection. It matched perfectly and works very well on the back.

The quilt measures about 48" square. This is my 11th quilt finish for the year! Not too bad. :)

There is a simple tutorial for the big nines block here, if you care to make one of your own.

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you for joining me for Finish it up Friday! Hope you have a great weekend! xo

finish it up Friday, 5/26/17

1.	Matching Game + Carry Case	51.	Jayne's Quilting Room
2.	Sewing Basket - Secret Sewing Project	52.	Elena - Cosiendo Sueños
3.	Hedgehog FPP	53.	maggie f
4.	Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl	54.	Pomada
5.	Tanya Quilts in CO	55.	unbeehaved
6.	Diann@Little Penguin Quilts	56.	My Imperfect Life
7.	Sylvia	57.	Pineapple - Elm street Quilts
8.	Heather P	58.	Heide D
9.	Finished or Not Friday Link Up | Pretty in Pink	59.	Karen
10.	Knit 1, Make 2	60.	Rachel S.B.
11.	Katy@KatyQuilts	61.	Stars for a Star @ pursuing joy
12.	Handwrought Quilts	62.	Kelly Grace
13.	Mary at Fleur de Lis Quilts	63.	Huntspatch Quilts - Dreamweaver quilt
14.	Color Dash @ Savor Every Stitch	64.	Romany Quilting New Zealand Native Birds
15.	Easy to Please wall hanging	65.	Pantone Challenge - Nature's Neutral Mini Quilt
16.	Vera @negligentstyle	66.	Brenda@scrapsandstrings
17.	DonnaleeQ	67.	sadies dream for a cure-bag @aaseevana
18.	Cactus Quilt Top	68.	Sew Together Bag | mell-meyer.de
19.	Gretchen's Little Corner	69.	AngelaA @ betterndogbiscuits green blocks
20.	Emily Bailey	70.	Alison@thechainpiecer
21.	Bookshelf Quilt @ Sapphire's Stitching Stanza	71.	Love Turquoise! @ Grace and Peace Quilting
22.	Luna Lovequilts : Pencil pouches	72.	Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
23.	Quilting is more fun than Housework	73.	Cathy Tomm Slab quilts
24.	Laura	74.	Elaine/MuddlingThrough
25.	The Inside Stori	75.	Karen @runsewfun
26.	Row by Row + TGIFF - Slice of Pi Quilts	76.	tisha @ quiltytherapy
27.	Kat & Cat Quilts	77.	Suzy Webster
28.	Gail	78.	something rosemade
29.	Brooke@SillyMamaQuilts	79.	Circle Quilt Finish Pink Doxies
30.	Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty	80.	Arabesque Scissors - Tilda One-a-Penny Quilt
31.	gretchen @snug harbor quilts	81.	Jan Ochterbeck
32.	Ruth @ Stitching Impressions	82.	Sandra@mmm! quilts
33.	Chevron Zig Zag Baby Quilt - Christine	83.	pat in wi
34.	Eye Candy	84.	Hippy Chick Wonky Wallhanging
35.	Chris @ The Art of Making Blog	85.	Strip quilt for Charity - Karen
36.	Bernie @ Needle & Foot-1	86.	Fishing Line Quilt
37.	Bernie @ Needle and Foot - 2	87.	Małgorzata
38.	Julie in GA	88.	Chezvies - Mickey Mouse Wallet
39.	alidiza	89.	inch-art: Cushions
40.	Baby Coverlet	90.	Kay Sorensen Gorgeous Ice
41.	Debbie @ A Quilter's Table	91.	Janice@singreadsew
42.	Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts	92.	Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts
43.	Frankie Baldwin	93.	Kay Sorensen finished quilts on bed
44.	Janice @ Color, Creating, and Quilting	94.	Gentrie
45.	Cheerful in June	95.	Christine
46.	Q-Bits - Wild Side Pillow	96.	JanineMarie @ Quilts From the Little House
47.	Eva-Bambi	97.	Quilting Pipeline
48.	charlotte@GrammieQ's	98.	Little Pink Purse with tutorial
49.	AlyciaQuilts	99.	Treadlestitches Taming of the Scraps
50.	Susie

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WIP Wednesday--moody and focus

I've been recovering from quilt market by spending some couch time hand stitching on my focus blocks. (Templates are available here.) It's been gloomy and cold here, too, so that's about all I want to do! Thank goodness for cute fabric and time to recharge (at least a little bit!) before the kids are done with school for the year. Only 1 more school day left!

I decided to pin up all the focus blocks that I have finished on the design wall. I needed to see what fabrics I have already used and what colors I need to make more of. I love this block arrangement, with the triangles separating the hexagons. Can I tell you how much I love this quilt??? (Kind of a lot!)

I stitched up as many blocks as I could for my moody quilt. I ran out of background fabric, so I'm at a temporary stand-still until I can purchase more background fabric. This quilt needs to be at least lap size, because I am loving it so far! (More details on this quilt can be found in this post.) I had to laugh at the colorful log cabin blocks peeking out from the top of the photo. Such contrast to this quilt, but I like them both.

I also wanted to let you know that I will be traveling to Indiana (near Fort Wayne) next month, June 15-17, 2017 to give a trunk show on my new book. I will also be teaching on Friday and Saturday. The class I'm teaching is called "Spin Class-Make Your Quilts Your Own" and it's based on my book No Scrap Left Behind. Each student will be able to work on a project of their choice from the book, with hands on guidance from the teacher. (That's me.:)) The Friday class is full, but there is still room in the Saturday class. To sign up for the trunk show OR the Saturday class, email Teri for more info: ISEtrunkshow@gmail.com

That's it for me today! I hope you are having a great week!

spring quilt market 2017

Last week/weekend I had the opportunity to go to spring Quilt Market in St. Louis, Missouri. Quilt market is a twice-yearly trade show which is only open to people in the quilting industry. It's a lot of fun, but it's also tiring and completely over stimulating. I went to promote my new book, so I gave a schoolhouse presentation and I did a few book signings. I roomed with my long time blog friend, Thimbleanna. All around, it was wonderful!

(I actually remembered to take a quick photo before the signing started! Hurray!)

This booth by Sandra Clemons was amazing. There were hundreds of butterflies folded and individually pinned to the booth. It was really stunning. I wish I would have taken a close up shot of a butterfly, but I completely overlooked that. I would have loved to talk to her about the process, too, but she wasn't in the booth at the time that I was there. I'm glad I have a few photos!

And if the previous photo wasn't stunning enough, there are hundreds more butterflies in front of this quilt, too!

This quilt called Patchwork Garden by Sherri McConnell caught my eye. I'm sure that comes as no surprise! I love all of those little squares!

Sorry for the poor photo of this quilt, but I wanted to share it anyway. It's called Girl Next Door, by Louise Papas, who I've "known" through the blog and Instagram for a long time. It was hanging in lovely Jen Kingwell's booth. It was fun to see the quilt in person!

There was a bit of a shoe theme at market. Starting with this quilt called Girls Night Out by Terri Degenkolb.

This quilt is called "Kicks" by Latifah Saafir. I really, REALLY want to make this one.

And there was also a roller skate quilt in the Cotton + Steel booth. So fun!

Lori Holt always makes cute quilts. This one called Bee Happy is going to be a sew along quilt this summer, I believe? My local quilt shop is going to be participating in it, so I think I just may join them.

I need another project like I need a hole in the head, but the cute little plaid thermos detail was most certainly the tipping point for me. EEEEP! SO cute!

 I loved this basket of rolled up quilts in Lee Chappell's booth!

 These two quilts from Sue Daley caught my eye. I would love bed sized quilts of both of them!

 I really need to try a clam shell quilt someday...even if it is just a mini.

Amy Smart had her first booth to promote her first line of fabric called Gingham Girls for Riley Blake. We were twinning, so we had to get a photo! It was so fun to see friends from the blog in real life again and catch up! It's definitely one of the best parts of market. (I'm on the left and I'm wearing my washi dress! Amy is on the right and she's wearing a tova tunic.)

My friends talked me into going to sample spree, which was QUITE an experience. Below is what I purchased, which shows incredible restraint if you consider the temptation and the excellent prices. One of the bundles is for a friend of mine. I've got plans for the pink flamingo Kona cotton that I'm pretty excited about!

Since I did a schoolhouse at market, I took 7 quilts to show during my presentation. Anna and I slept under different quilts each night. Hotel beds never looked so good! (All the quilt patterns are in my book, No Scrap Left Behind!) I'm so very glad that I made these quilts big enough to sleep under. That was my original intention, and it's nice that it paid off.

Night one...

Night two....

Night three...

I apologize for the quality of some of the photos in this post. The lighting in the convention was truly awful, but I hope that the photos are inspiring nonetheless.

I'm mostly deadline free at the moment, which is super exciting. It's been awhile and I'm excited to sew FOR FUN again. It's going to be great!

Happy Monday to you!!!

big nines-a completed quilt top

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm not completely sure, but I think the month of May just might be the end of me. Man, it's been busy! If I've been sewing, it's mostly been something that I can't show yet. So, for sanity sake, I whipped up this little quilt top. I needed to see something completed, and quick like! Something bigger than a pincushion. Hahaha!

I used 10 different solid fabrics from my stash in this quilt. The white blocks are Kona cotton (Snow) and the solids are from a variety of different manufacturers, but mostly Kona.

The blocks finish at 16", so the quilt should finish at about 48" square. I'm excited because I already have a plan for quilting and binding. Figuring out a backing shouldn't be too hard.

You can find the block tutorial here, if you care to make one of your own! I think this would be super cute done up in subtle prints, too.

That's it for me today! Now, it's your turn. Please link up your finishes, and thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

finish it up Friday, 5-19-17

1.	Pincushion & notions pouch @ Knit 1, Make 2	50.	Kaleidoscope Quilt Top - Quilting stories
2.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle	51.	Jeanmarie- Faux Weave block
3.	Quiltygirl - Cats Cats Cats	52.	Kitty Wilkin | Night Quilter
4.	Katy @KatyQuilts	53.	Scrappy Happenings
5.	Eva-bambi	54.	Alison@thechainpiecer
6.	The Inside Stori	55.	Liz Rehrauer
7.	Hourglass quilt - the lilac cat	56.	Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
8.	Erica @ Kitchen stable Quilting	57.	Tammy
9.	A finish and a giveaway	58.	Torina in Tubaville
10.	Pretty Posy | Quilted Blooms	59.	Bridie Dunderdale
11.	DonnaleeQ	60.	Kat & Cat Quilts
12.	Chris @ The Art of Making Blog	61.	Yanicka Hachez
13.	something rosemade	62.	Wendy's quilts and more
14.	Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs	63.	Karen @ runsewfun
15.	Mari @ The Academic Quilter	64.	The Knitting Quilter
16.	My Imperfect Life	65.	Happy Cottage Quilter
17.	Jayne :: Twiggy & Opal	66.	3050 Miles of Quilt Shops
18.	Brooke@SillyMamaQuilts	67.	Color Creating and Quilting
19.	T-shirt Quilt Top @CreativeChicks	68.	Traverse Bag | Factotum of Arts
20.	A Tale of Two Quilts	69.	Cathy Tomm Spring Tulip Quilt Finished
21.	Mama Spark's Baby Big Foot	70.	Kay Sorensen's More Glorious Colors
22.	Machine applique fail	71.	Jennifer @ Glinda Quilts
23.	Unbeehaved	72.	Jess @ Quilty Habit
24.	Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty	73.	kris@SewSunshine
25.	Gretchen @Snug Harbor Quilts	74.	Gentrie
26.	Frankie Baldwin	75.	oneweebird
27.	Heidi @ Buttons and Butterflies	76.	Debbie @ A Quilter's Table
28.	Gretchen's Little Corner - Making Progress	77.	Sew Fresh Quilts - Love Birds
29.	Carie @ Space for the Butterflies	78.	Romany Quilting Christmas Smorsgabord
30.	Bigfoot Beer Mug Rug Pink Doxies	79.	Boundless quilt @ dittencraft
31.	Sylvia	80.	inch-art: Xanadu
32.	Karen	81.	Татьяна
33.	Quilting is more fun than Housework	82.	Scrappy Pincushion Tutorial With Free Pattern
34.	Ariane Quilts	83.	Małgorzata
35.	Em's Scrapbag	84.	steffis hobbys
36.	Maryse@MaryseMakesThings	85.	dj
37.	Kathy @ Allikatquilts	86.	Stitchin at Home
38.	Shauna T	87.	Kathy S.
39.	Elaine from Emily's Cupboard	88.	maggie f
40.	Judy B	89.	Suzy Webster
41.	Snowcatcher	90.	Stacey @SLOstudio - Mini quilt - Blue Carolina
42.	Star Crossed Rainbow Free Pattern	91.	kate @ katiemaequilts
43.	Sue T.	92.	Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts
44.	Smiles from Kate	93.	Mary at Fleur de Lis Quilts
45.	Our Land - Elm Street Quilts	94.	Mihaela
46.	Małgorzata/The Owls by night	95.	Victoria @ Justice Pirate
47.	Grunge Hits The Spot	96.	Improvisational piecing @ Creatin' in the Sticks
48.	Huntspatch Quilts - A Baby-size New Star Rising	97.	Janice@singreadsew
49.	Ruth @ Stitching Impressions	98.	The Flashing Scissors-Binding

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moody quilt-the beginning

Well, I've started another WIP. That's a few in one week! It's a very good thing that I was on a finishing bender earlier this year. Ha!

For this quilt, I'm using Kona shadow for the background and a variety of mixed substrate scraps for the triangles. Many thanks to my friend, Anna, for the beautiful scraps! (Most of them are Essex linen, chambray, or lightweight denim.) I love the pairing and the moody nature of this quilt so far!

The pattern is based on my chain of diamonds quilt, which can be found in my book No Scrap Left Behind. For this version, however, I upsized the blocks so I could finish this quilt sometime in this decade. :) I cut the background squares 4 1/2" and the triangles are made from 3 1/2" squares that were cut on the diagonal once. I may or may not add in some navy and very dark blue solids for a little more depth.

I'm excited to see how it all comes together in the next few weeks! Hurray for scraps! :)

big nines-a quilt block tutorial

I get asked all the time, "If you always make scrap quilts, where do all the scraps come from?" That's a great question. Many people pass along their scraps to me, and I enjoy sewing them up. The other part of that answer is, I DO make quilts from the stash from time to time. Here's the start of one! As much as I love tiny pieces and sewing up scraps, sometimes a "palette cleanser" quilt is in order. This is a super easy block that, while simple, is still big on impact.

This is directly opposite from my mini nines quilt. This block will finish at 16"!! (color is Kona peapod.)

I thought I would share the measurements for the quilt block, in case you want to try one of your own. I bet you could whip one up in under 30 minutes! I didn't time myself making just one block, but I wish I would have.

For each block, you will need a fat quarter of background fabric and a 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" strip of white fabric. (If you are using yardage, you will need 1/3 yard of each color, and you will have some scraps leftover.)

From the white:
Cut 5 squares 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"

From the solid color:
Cut 2 pieces 5 1/2" x 16 1/2"
Cut 2 pieces 5 1/2" x 6 1/2"
Cut 4 squares 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"
(Cut the largest pieces first.)

 Sew 2 1/2" squares together into three strips, as shown. Press seams toward the darker fabric.

Sew 3 strips together to make a 9 patch block. Press seams toward the center strip of the block. (This will prevent as much shadowing as possible without pressing the seams open.) The block should measure 6 1/2" unfinished.

Sew the 5 1/2" x 6 1/2" pieces to either side of the 9 patch block. Press seams toward the outside of the block.

Sew the 5 1/2" x 16 1/2" pieces of fabric to the top and the bottom. Press seams toward the outside of the block. The block should measure 16 1/2" unfinished.

Easier than pie! :)

When I was making the blocks this morning, it occurred to me that it would be fun to mix up the colors of the 9 patch and the borders. It would produce a fun, but different, look. So many possibilities!

a great weekend

I had the opportunity to speak at teach at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in Cedarburg over the weekend. Many thanks to the wonderful students that attended my class and lecture on Saturday. It was a very fun day!

The museum is a lovely little place in an adorable town that I've visited once before, when I took a workshop from Densyse Schmidt. The museum changes the display 4 times a year, I believe. This quilt caught my eye immediately. It was absolutely stunning and it drew me in!

The little cross blocks were pieced from a variety of solids. Each pieced block finished just over 1"or so. (I didn't measure. I didn't touch the quilt, either. :))

I loved reading the artist's description. There are 6,300 pieces in the quilt. (Which just goes to show you that I'm not the craziest quilter around. Hahaha! I mean that with absolutely no disrespect to the maker.)

I've been dreaming of immersing myself in a study of scrap play in solid fabrics for months now, so this quilt really struck a cord with me. I don't think I'm going to go this tiny with my piecing, but I thought it was very inspiring!

When I got home LATE Saturday night, I walked into a clean house, roses on the table and a pile of presents on the bookshelf. My family spoiled me for Mother's Day and it was a wonderful welcome home. I hope YOU had a great Mother's Day weekend as well.

Happy Monday to you!

nine mini nines

Welcome to finish it up Friday! Is it just me, or did Friday come around awfully quick this week? ;)

I carved out some time to finish up the (9!) mini nines pincushions that I started a few weeks ago. I really dislike production line sewing, but having this many pincushions to photograph at once makes it ALL worth it!

I hand stitched the openings closed on half of these while my younger son was getting some teeth pulled, and I finished up the other half of them when I was waiting for my older son's band concert to start. Hurray for portable sewing! :)

I love the combination of the bright solids paired with the natural Essex linen. I'm ALMOST tempted to start another quilt like this.... almost!

One of my favorite parts about making the pincushions is picking the backing. Actually, arranging them in color order has to be the most fun! Picking the backing has to be a close second. :)

There is a tutorial here, if you'd care to make your own! You can see the entire quilt I made from this block here.

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. I hope you have a GREAT weekend!

finish it up Friday, 5/12/17

1.	Michelle's Romantic Tangle	51.	Frankie Baldwin
2.	Yanicka Hachez	52.	Jeanmarie @randomjeanius
3.	Carie @ Space for the Butterflies	53.	Another finished top
4.	Melissa Corry	54.	Quilting Gail
5.	Eva.Bambi,Johansson	55.	Gail
6.	kate @ katiemaequilts	56.	tubakk Norway
7.	Kat & Cat Quilts	57.	Emily Bailey
8.	Liberty Scrap Quilted Pouch Tutorial	58.	Heather P
9.	Handwrought Quilts	59.	Judy -a finish and some starts
10.	Charity Quilt @ Dresden Lane	60.	Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
11.	The Inside Stori	61.	Nancy
12.	Jayne :: Twiggy & Opal	62.	Lisa Schmidt
13.	Nonnie Anne's Peruvian Village Quilt	63.	Finding Joy - thread catcher
14.	Katy @ KatyQuilts	64.	Nicole @ Mama Love Quilts
15.	Gretchen @ snugharbor quilts t-shirt quilt	65.	Kathy S.
16.	Shannon @The Flemings Nine	66.	Ute - Textile Werke
17.	Hallowedding Quilt by Mama Spark	67.	Kathleen McCormick
18.	Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty	68.	kris@sewsunshine
19.	Karen	69.	Finished Mini Fair Isle by Allison P
20.	Snowcatcher	70.	karenbbsnow
21.	Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts	71.	Bridie Dunderdale
22.	Sarah @ QuiltModerne	72.	May Quilt
23.	tisha @ quiltytherapy	73.	Meeting Bonnie Hunter
24.	Kristin @ Gumdrops	74.	Vintage Singer Bender Pink Doxies
25.	something rosemade	75.	The Latest Quilt News
26.	Scrap Dance Two Step Update	76.	Terri Faust Quilts
27.	Татьяна	77.	Laura
28.	Veronica Norris	78.	Arabesque Scissors - Tutorial Patchwork Bib
29.	Bias Strips	79.	Suzy Webster
30.	Mermaid Tail	80.	Lucy ~ Charm About You
31.	Gretchen's Little Corner	81.	Christina @ Christina's Handicrafts
32.	DonnaleeQ	82.	Little Black Cat Quilting
33.	Brooke@SillyMamaQuilts	83.	Karen @ runsewfun
34.	Finished or Not Friday Link Up Party	84.	Double Star Quilts
35.	Smiles from Kate	85.	Stacey @SLOstudio - Case for knitting needles
36.	Kay Sorensen's New Ice Dyed Mandala	86.	dj
37.	Heide D	87.	maggie f
38.	lindasquiltmania northcott block	88.	Jen @ Jennifer Under The Juniper Tree
39.	Debbie @ A Quilter's Table	89.	Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting
40.	Johnna @ Yellow Bird Stitches	90.	Hobbies Up To Here
41.	Sew Fresh Quilts - Birds of a Feather	91.	Nancy in NV
42.	Ready to Weave - Slice of Pi Quilts	92.	Liberty Log Cabin Baby Quilt - Christine
43.	Quilting is more fun than Housework	93.	Elaine from Emily's Cupboard
44.	Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing	94.	Pomada
45.	Bernie @ Needle and Foot	95.	helen midget gem quilts
46.	Jess @ SewJess Handmade	96.	The Colorful Fabriholic
47.	Tote bag for Russia - the lilac cat	97.	Color Creating and Quilting
48.	Kelly Cline Quilting	98.	Angela @ betterndogbiscuits
49.	Wapiti	99.	The Flashing Scissors - Mini Sewing Kit
50.	Cathy@Big Lake Quilter	100.	Mary at Fleur de Lis Quilts

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