red and white trees!

I made the first block for this quilt LAST year on December 20th, because I'm brilliant like that.....hahaha! Over the weekend I finished the last two blocks and assembled the top. It was a TREAT to have only 9 blocks to sew together to make that happen. Woohoo! The plan is to back it with the red and white polka dots (shocking, eh?) and one of the red fabrics shown will be the binding. I hope to finish it up this year yet and hang it in my entryway. The nice thing about the restrained color scheme is that I can get away with leaving it up well into February. Or all year round, really. The pattern is called Trees! and can be found here or here.

Are you doing any Christmas sewing? If you are, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. If you are already done, I'd love to hear your secrets to making that happen! ;)

Happy Monday to you!

arithmetic quilt complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

 

Today I'm very happy to share with you my first completed quilt of the year! I went on a little photo field trip yesterday, so I'll share those first and then I'll go over the quilt specifics at the end of the post. I don't think that I've mentioned it lately, but man, finishing feels good!

 

 

 

Patttern: Arithmetic by Jeni Baker
Fabric: Tag by Cheryl Arkison for Connecting Threads (I bought a kit, but some of the yardage is still available here.)
Backing: Scraps from the front plus Good Neighbors yardage
Binding: Timeless Treasures stripe
Quilting: FMQ Loops done on my Juki
Thread: Aurifil 2615 (50 weight)
Size: 64" x 88"
Started: November 8, 2017
Finished: January 14, 2018
Fun fact: I've learned to spell "arithmetic" because I've typed it so many times when posting about this quilt. Hurray for learning something new!

I'm so pleased with how this quilt turned! It was a fun project, fairly quick to make and beautiful results. I think I want to make another arithmetic quilt,  but next time scrappy! Shocking, isn't it???

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! I hope you have a great weekend!

gingham quilt complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last Saturday evening I finished my gingham quilt!!!! I waited until I completed the coordinating pillowcases (all 6 of them!) to put the quilt on the bed. Otherwise I would procrastinate for at a least a year or two to actually sew them up. Ha! I put everything on my bed last night and I'm soooo pleased with how it all came together!

The quilt uses only 5 fabrics: White, Pink Flamingo and Pearl pink (all Konas) for the top. The binding (lotta dots in coral reef) and backing (apron in coral reef) fabrics are from Connecting Threads. That coral color is super hard to photograph, but trust me, it's really pretty!

It was pretty fun to back an entire quilt with my fabric. :) This is my largest quilt to date, finishing at about 108" x 102". I'm very happy that this quilt, which features the Kona color of the year, is actually finished before the year is over. Woohoo!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

moody quilt complete!

Welcome to finish it up Friday! I hope all of you in the U.S. had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to finish the moody quilt this week! Woohoo! It's amazing what a deadline (self-proclaimed or not) will do. Hahaha! I finished the quilt at 12:15am on Thanksgiving day. I gave it to my brother in law to sleep under that same night (morning, actually...) which was a was a LOT of fun! He was surprised!

The pattern is called chain of diamonds from the book No Scrap Left Behind. I enlarged the blocks so they finish at 4" rather than 2" as shown in the book. The quilt uses chambray, linen, denim, and the like for the chains and Kona shadow for the background. I love the combination and how masculine the quilt turned out.

For the backing I used Kona solid in the color overcast (I love that name!) along with a strip of scraps leftover from the front. I do love a pieced quilt back!

I auditioned several fabrics for the binding, but landed on this stripe from my good neighbors collection. (It's out of print, I'm sad to say.) I love that a little bit of my own fabric made it's way into the quilt.

It really is the perfect binding fabric! Look at how well it ties the front and the back together. I designed the stripes with binding in mind, so using them for that reason (again) was delightful. I machine bound it (using this tutorial) for a quick and sturdy finish.

I quilted it on my Janome Horizon with straight lines. Nothing fancy needed! The quilt measures about 64" x 84".

Some of you requested it, so here is a quick picture that I snapped of Curt with his quilt. I know that he likes it a lot! Hurray for a happy finish.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday! Thank you for stopping by and for reading. It means a lot! Happy Friday to you!

change of plans

Last weekend, as I was working on a quilt back for my mostly moody quilt, it occurred to me that if I hadn't put the yellow pieces into the quilt top, it would be the absolutely perfect quilt to give to one of my brother in laws. He has been hinting (not so subtly) over the years that he would like a quilt, so it's been on my list, but it just never made it to the top! He's planning on visiting for Thanksgiving, so I figured the timing couldn't be better.

I started by doing quilt surgery. I ripped out all the mustard pieces and decided that I would sew in the replacement pieces with partial seams. It sounded like a good plan, but since the pieces were wonky to begin with, it was quite challenging! Nothing like seeing 21 holes in your quilt top to invite a little panic. Ha!

I persevered and I eventually got the quilt top sewn back together. I felt much better once the quilt top was complete. (Again.)

THEN, I decided that I needed to add a few more rows to the length of the quilt. Now it measures 64" x 84"....not quite a twin size quilt, but a decent lap size. I'm so glad that I went to the trouble to alter the quilt. I love it and I think my brother in law will, too. It will be nice to have this quilt go to a good home rather than adding it to the finished pile. (What a concept, huh? Ha!)

Instead of cleaning, cooking or preparing for the house full of people that will be arriving in a few days, I pieced a quilt back and basted it this morning before the crazy begins. Nothing like a deadline to get things done, right?

The quilt pattern is based on my chain of diamonds quilt, from the book No Scrap Left Behind.
Background color is Kona Shadow. Scraps are various chambray, linen and denim fabrics. Each block finishes at 4" square.

tag arithmetic quilt top complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Well, the new project that I started this week DID help my focus, believe it or not!

I'm so happy to have a completed quilt top to share today. It felt amazing to make this in a day and a half. Woohoo! I really like what Andrea said in the comments of the last post about quilt kits being like paint by numbers (in a good way!). I have to agree!

At the last minute, I decided to add in one fabric from my good neighbors line (which is from a few years ago), even though the greys don't match exactly. They are close enough! I thought it would be fun to have Cheryl's fabric and a little bit of my fabric play together in the same quilt.

One thing that I did differently than the pattern was to cut the horizontal portion of the blocks into 12 1/2" strips, rather than cutting everything into 4 1/2" squares. It went together more quickly AND the prints are not chopped up as much. Win/win!

The quilt top is a twin size, measuring about 64" x 88". I really love how it turned out!

The pattern is available here, if you care to make one of your own.

I also wanted to mention that I'm having a sample sale over on Instagram. My kids are raising money for our church to support missionaries and I wanted to help them out, so I've listed a bunch of stuff for sale: from pincushions to rag rugs to quilts. All proceeds will go toward Speed the Light, which is a part of AG Youth Ministries. I plan to add more items throughout the weekend. Thanks for looking. :)

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

marmalade quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

It's an exciting day! I finished hand stitching the binding on my marmalade quilt this morning!

This is the first quilt finish I've had since May. That's like 6 months! (WHAT???) I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. I guess it really doesn't matter that much. It's not like I'm running out of quilts or anything. Hahahaha!

The pattern is called Cartwheels, which is free on the Moda Bake Shop. I made this version with a layer cake instead of a jelly roll. Because of that, I had to cut some extra squares from my stash for the top and bottom borders. I thought about leaving them off, but my friend Mary talked me into adding them. I'm so glad she did. The few extra inches on each end means it's a twin size quilt rather than a lap size. Perfect!

The fabric is called Marmalade, which is an OLD line by Bonnie and Camille. I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and sewed it up rather than to continue to hoard it! What a concept, eh? ;) The background fabric is Kona snow, which was a perfect match.

I quilted it on my Juki with a simple stipple in white Aurifil thread. I look forward to washing it soon to get that wonderful crinkled texture.

The backing is a wide back from Connecting Threads. It's called Picnic Gingham. It's the second time I've used it on a quilt back and it probably won't be the last! It's so happy!

The quilt measures about 64" x 88". Can I just say it....finishing feels GREAT!

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

my crayon challenge quilt

Earlier this year, the Minneapolis MQG held a crayon challenge. Each person that participated had to pick between 2-4 crayons (blindly) from a brown paper bag. The directive was to make something (anything) using those colors, with permission to add one other color to the mix. I was pretty pleased with the crayons that I drew from the bag. I was able to make my quilt top entirely from the stash, which is always a great feeling!

The colors I chose were violet red, cerise, sea green and sky blue. I added a creamy white background to the mix. I actually used two different prints of the creamy white, (both Carolyn Friedlander prints) because I didn't have 4 yards of one print, but you would never know it unless you looked really closely. 

The pattern I used is Emma's Sitting Room, except this time in the large size. You can see the small version here.  Isn't it crazy how different a quilt can look just by changing the fabrics? That, to me, never gets old. Never, ever! (Someday I need to do a round up of different quilt variations from one pattern. I bet I have close to 20 examples in my own collection of quilts!)

 

It was a gorgeous day for photographing this quilt today. I was happy to see those brilliant blue skies. Pretty amazing for the end of October!

This backing fabric was a lucky find at a quilt shop in Missouri. It was only $4.00/yard! I bought the rest of the bolt, naturally, knowing that it would make a great quilt back...someday. Wouldn't you know it? I finished the quilt top the next week and I had JUST the right amount of fabric to back the quilt. It was definitely meant to be! The binding came from my stash, too. This has got to be one of my favorite binding/backing combos ever.

I quilted it on my Juki with loop-de-loops all over in a cream colored Aurifil thread.

The quilt finishes at 80" x 75"....a nice large lap quilt. The pattern is available here, if you care to make one of your own.

It's so nice to finally share this quilt. I looked back and I finished it in April!

marmalade quilt top

Welcome to finish it up Friday! Boy, that came around fast, didn't it?

I pieced most of the blocks for this quilt at a retreat this past summer. A few weeks later, I assembled the blocks together. This week I added the borders on the right and the left, increasing the size just enough to make it a twin size quilt. Woohoo!

I used a much hoarded layer cake of Marmalade fabric from my stash...it's old, but it's so good! It was finally time to use it! (Fabric was designed by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.) Background fabric is Kona snow. The seams are all pressed open, which isn't my favorite method, but it will make quilting it easier at least!

The FREE pattern is called Cartwheels and you can find it here. You can see my first version made from Strawberry Fields fabric here, if you care to. I'm excited to get this one finished up!

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

this quilt needs a name and Maine morning mitts

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last evening my machine was humming because I was in a race to beat the sunset. I wanted to capture a decent photo of the quilt top before the light escaped. It's a tricky game to play, as my son says, but I'm thankful that I won. :)

You guys! I'm so happy with this quilt top! It needs a good name, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

If you've been following along with the quilt along, you already know that this is a slightly smaller version of my June quilt from my book No Scrap Left Behind.

The top measures about 51" x 68" or so. I'm pleased that the top is done, just as June comes to a close. Hurray for finishing the top! Boo for June being done. (It's one of my favorite months!)

I had another finish this week....a pair of Maine Morning Mitts. Knitting hand warmers in June is totally reasonable, right? My daughter actually wore them for a few days. Silly girl!

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Iowa for my niece's graduation party, so this is one of the projects I took along to work on in the car. I have been stalled out on this project because they needed thumbs and I hate knitting thumbs! My motivation? I wanted to use the leftover yarn to make knit pincushions. Hahahaha!

I'm so glad I had the motivation to finish them!

They are for my daughter and she LOVES them. Also, she was a willing model and the last photo was her idea. It was a lot of fun to photograph them with her!

The pattern is Maine Morning Mitts, which can be found here.

Yarn is by The Yarns of Rhichard DeVrieze. The colorway is Kimberly. (Worsted weight, knit on size 7 needles.)

Tomorrow is July 1 and I decided that I am going to revisit my one a day pincushion challenge. I had so much fun with it last year and I'm super excited to try it again. I hope you enjoy following along!

Just a quick note....I've decided that from here on out, I will keep the link up open for two days rather than one, so you have a bit more time to share your finishes. I hope that's helpful!

Now, it's your turn. Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

ring me

Welcome to day 4 of the No Scrap Left Behind blog tour! Today Bernie of Needle and Foot is sharing progress on her very own version of the ring me quilt. When she was planning out her quilt, she asked me what I thought of using a dark gray background instead of the white. Being a huge fan of gray, I thought it was a great idea. Although, I must admit that I get very nervous about being responsible for other people chopping up 5 yards of their precious fabric. So, I encouraged her to piece some scrappy strips and do a trial run before she cut into her yardage. It looked amazing on the gray background and she is well on her way. You can check out her progress here..... it is STUNNING! She is also sharing her very organized scrap storage methods and offering up a free copy of the book. I hope you go check it out!

I love BIG quilts made from small pieces. The overall visual impact is second to none!

This is a twin size quilt and it is made from scrappy strings that finish at 1" wide. I love quilts that are made from pure scraps, but I also love quilts that use negative space.

Some of the strings were pieced from tiny little pieces. (Most of them were, because yes, I AM that crazy.) Some of the strings were strip pieced, then cut into segments and sprinkled throughout the quilt top. That method is a little bit faster. :)

After all that piecing, I felt no guilt at all about sending it off for some professional long arm quilting. Steffani did a beautiful job quilting it with a squared off stipple. It was just the right treatment to finish this one off. I don't think that I'm supposed to pick a favorite, but today, I'm pretty sure that this would be at the top of that list!