red and white trees!-a completed quilt

I finished my red and white trees! quilt last week. It took me a few days to get around to hanging it up, but I think it was worth the wait. I LOVE how it looks in my entryway!!! It's so nice to have a seasonal quilt hanging there and I'm thrilled that I was able to complete it BEFORE Christmas. Amazing.

(There is a free tutorial here for the snowflake pillow sitting on the fireplace.)

Most of the fabrics in the quilt are red and white dots, with the exception of the asterisk print, which is from my Emma and Myrtle line. Red polka dots were a natural choice for the back, and I used a little bit of red good neighbors fabric for the binding. The quilt was made 100% from my stash. That feels great! The quilt measures about 39" x 60 1/2". The trees! pattern can be found here or here.

I hope the last few days before Christmas aren't TOO hectic for you all....remember to breathe! Have a great weekend! Merry Christmas to you and yours! xoxox

magnificent maples quilt top complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm pleased to share my finished magnificent maples quilt top with you today! Almost all of our leaves are now on the ground, not in the trees, but at least I finished the top before the snow arrived. I'll take it. :)

There is 1" finished sashing in between each of the leaves and a 2" finished border around the outsides. I don't often time myself when doing certain quilt making tasks, but this time I did. The quilt top assembly took me over 5 hours! (That is after all the leaves were made and most of the sashing was cut.) That seems like a long time!

I'm thrilled with how it came together! The quilt top measures about 64" x 84" and it was made completely from my stash. Woohoo!

Did you know.....I started blogging 12 years ago today. (!!!!) That's so CRAZY to think about. Thank you (yes, YOU!) for stopping by and reading and being a part of this crazy adventure. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the month. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Hope you have an amazing weekend!

LOTS of work in progress

I've been working on a lot of different projects lately, and I'll share just a bit about each project in no particular order. I was trying to NOT add any new projects to the list for the past few weeks, but as you can see, I haven't been the most successful in that endeavor. :)

This pink pineapple quilt has been a lot of fun to work on! I started by working out of the scrap basket, but I had to supplement with the stash. (It's all good! I'm actually USING my fabric. Hurray!) I looked back at my photos to discover that I made the first block at the end of June. Funny, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago! The blocks will finish at 8". I'm using the creative grids pineapple trim tool. (I'm pretty sure that the ruler is smarter than I am!) I am planning on making 20 blocks for a baby quilt. The recipient is already 7 months old, so I'd better get moving on it before I have to make it a twin size. Hahahaha!

I had the very beginnings of this quilt on my design wall for months and months. Last week when I moved the blocks to make room for more maple leaves, I decided that I might as well start sewing them together as I moved them to the side. I added several more pairs of squares and now I have YET ANOTHER work in progress. It's all good, though! I'm using my robust stash of 2 1/2" squares that I have been cutting along the way for a "someday" project. I'm calling this one "two step". It's just as simple as can be, but I already love it so. Simple scrappy quilts are my all time favorite!

I'm almost there on my magnificent maples! I'm so excited that there are only a few more blocks to make. I'm also VERY excited that the layout is already determined. That will save me a lot of time when it comes to assembly. Hurrah! I plan to do very thin sashing to allow the leaves to have room to breathe, and I might add a wider border to it. We'll see how it shapes up. I am still LOVING this color palette.

That's all I have to share today. I hope your week is off to a great start! xo

magnificent maples quilt-the beginning

I started a new quilt last week. I've had the fabric pulled for well over a year--background fabric and everything. Last Tuesday was a BEAUTIFUL fall day, so I celebrated by whipping up this fun and easy maple leaf block, even though I only had 20 minutes to sew. It was time well spent!

I'm SO EXCITED for this quilt! I'm having a blast making the blocks and I am SMITTEN with this color scheme. I love that most of the fabrics are blenders, with a few louder (but not too loud) prints.

As of this afternoon, I have 25 blocks complete. I'm using Kona Natural for the background and each block will finish at 9".

Here is my original fabric pull. I've already edited out at least 7 fabrics and I've added that many more into the mix. I think it's funny how much my fabric decisions change once I get started. I've learned a long time ago that is usually the case, so I only cut a few blocks at a time to avoid chopping up a bunch of fabric that I won't actually use in the quilt.

Now I have to decide if I will repeat any fabrics or make each block out of a unique fabric. Either way, I think it's going to be magnificent...at least that's the hope! :)

Happy Monday to you!

broken dishes-a completed quilt

I've finished my broken dishes quilt! I started this at retreat in July, and here it is, end of September, complete. That feels great! All fabrics came from my stash, which feels even better!

 

This quilt is based on my Myrtle's Broken Dishes pattern, but this time I made 20 blocks rather than 12 and I skipped the borders. SO many half-square triangles in this quilt, but aren't they striking with the light background?

The background print is called "bedsheets" in the color butter, from my Emma & Myrtle fabric line for Connecting Threads. I did an all over "cinnamon roll" quilting pattern freehand on the baby lock Tiara that I currently have on loan. The quilting took a considerable amount of time (and concentration!), but I think it was worth it. After I got done quilting it, I thought, "I'm finally in the groove. I wish I had another quilt to quilt right away!" How crazy is that?

 

For the backing I used the red apron print, also from my Emma & Myrtle collection. I have to admit, it's pretty fun to back a quilt with fabric that you've designed! The red gingham binding is SUCH a happy finishing touch, isn't it? Initially I was worried that it would feel too light or too cutesy compared to the rest of the quilt, but man, I love it sooooo much!

The fabrics used for the quilt were bundles from Westwood Acres "I Want Her Stash Club" from a few years ago. They were curated by my friend Amy Smart and Denyse Schmidt. It was great to combine the two AND it was also a fun exercise to work with bundles selected by someone else. I would recommend it! :)

The quilt measures about 72" x 90", so a generous twin size. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  It actually has a lovely fall feel to it, doesn't it? Now I'm excited to wash it up so it gets that fantastic crinkle. I think I'll sleep under this one tonight!

This is my 11th quilt finish for the year!

broken dishes-a work in progress

Today I finished the last of my broken dishes blocks, bringing my total to 20 completed blocks. I thought it would be fun to photograph them on my clothesline for a change of pace. Aren't they soooo pretty hanging out there? I'm making another version of this quilt, except this time I'm making more blocks (20 instead of 12) and skipping the borders. I think it's going to be fabulous!

I'm using two bundles from the "I Want Her Stash" club from Westwood Acres, which were curated by Amy Smart and Denyse Schmidt. They have been curing nicely in my stash (I've had them for a few years) and I love how they play together. The background is my own fabric from my Emma and Myrtle collection for Connecting Threads. I love the vintage feel of this entire combination. It was a great exercise to use bundles picked by someone else for a change. I loved it!

a very purple quilt-completed

Welcome to finish it up Friday! I'm thrilled that the very purple quilt is complete!

As you may have read, I started this quilt on Monday. I put the last stitches in the binding, added a hand-written label and washed & dried it on Thursday afternoon. I plan to pop in into the mail later today! Time was of the essence, as this is a comfort quilt for a friend's sister, who is currently undergoing cancer treatments. A lot of stitches and prayers went into this quilt.

Once again, I'm amazed at what a little (or a lot) of focus can do! Don't worry....I still fed my family, did laundry, walked my dogs, tended a sick child and kept things going around the house. Oh, and I slept, too. :)

All of the fabric (except the backing) came from my stash. That felt amazing and I was happy to actually USE it, you know?

The backing is a chambray/cross weave fabric by Andover. I found it on clearance at my local quilt shop. (Hurray!) It's super soft and very calm compared to the front. Hahaha! In order to keep the back interesting, I added a strip of patchwork. I'm so glad I did! It was nice to use up some scraps on the back. If I were to use this quilt, I would use the back side up! It's certainly not the first time I've liked the back of the quilt better than the front.

For the binding I used a purple colored fabric that reminds me of grape jelly, but it is actually a Kona called Hibiscus. :) I like the way it frames the quilt.

A few weeks ago, I purchased some labels from the Dutch Label Company. I can't tell you how official I feel now! I really like them. I put off ordering labels for YEARS because I didn't want to make a decision. Now I'm wondering why on earth I waited so long. Silly, but true!

I sewed the label to the back (strategically placed) and then I quilted it. I figured that it would be better to have a little bit of quilting over the label, rather than to have the label sewn through all the layers of the quilt and have an awkward rectangle of straight stitching showing on the front. (I hope that makes sense...it's hard to explain.) I also added a hand written label with the recipient's name, my name, the date and a get well sentiment on it. Label overkill? I hope not!

I free motion quilted it on my Juki with a simple stipple using a light lavender thread. (50 weight Aurifil color 2560)

I didn't keep an exact tally of the hours that I worked on this quilt, but I estimated it was around 18 hours. (That doesn't include the time it took for shopping for the backing.) I think that's pretty reasonable, especially since that time includes hand binding.

It measures approximately 63" x 72".

While I'm still not a huge fan of the color purple, I enjoyed making this quilt and I think that it came together pretty well. I'm praying it brings a lot of warmth, comfort and love.

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

pink flamingo gingham quilt top

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I finished my gingham quilt top! Piecing a king size quilt in less than a week during the first week of summer break may not have been my smartest idea ever, but it's done! Hahaha! I love how it turned out!!!!

This baby is huge, measuring about 108" x 100". I'm pleased that there is plenty of overhang on the sides, so it should still be plenty large after quilting and washing/drying. I did not use a pattern at all, I just did my own quilt math. (It was pretty simple!) The individual squares finish at 4". I am very happy with the scale of squares in relation to the size of the quilt.... I think it's just right! The colors used are all Kona cotton: white, pearl pink and pink flamingo.

I've got an idea for the backing, but I'm still trying to decide how to quilt it. I was thinking about doing a simple stipple all over, but I'm not sure. If you have any brilliant ideas, I'd love to hear them! :)

Last week I had a few questions about what kind of thread I used to quilt the big nines quilt, so I thought I would answer that here. I used a 50 weight thread, Aurifil 2615, which is a lovely light gray color. I love it because it blends with all the lighter fabrics, but it's still not too stark on the darker fabrics. It's definitely a keeper!

Also, I plan to start the quilt along for the June quilt next week! It will be very laid back and informal. I'll share a few simple instructions each week, and you can sew along with me if you choose to. You can share photos of your projects on social media so we can see your progress. I think it will be fun! The quilt in the book measures 85" square, but I plan to share measurements for making a smaller sizes. At this point I'm thinking about baby and lap sizes. How does that sound?

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week! I've extended the time so that link ups will be open an extra day (ending on Sunday afternoon rather than Saturday afternoon, my time.) We will try that for a few weeks and see how it goes!

That's it for me today! I hope you have a great weekend!

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!

Monday, Monday

It sure feels like a Monday here. Good gravy, I'm sick of this cold. Winter is starting to really wear on my nerves. It's too cold to go to school again, and in MN, that's saying something! No school tomorrow, either. We may have to go to school into July if things keep up in this vein.

Ok, on to happier things!

I finished this little Irish chain scrap quilt last week. It's made from the trimmings from this quilt. The 9 patches finish at 1 1/2"! I started making them to add to my mini nines quilt, but they looked so cute on their own, they became their own quilt. I hand quilted it, very primitively, I may add. I started quilting it at guild while I was listening to a lecture on what it takes to win a blue ribbon at a quilt show. Ha! The irony of that still makes me laugh. This quilt will win no ribbons, but I love it anyway! It measures 8.25" x 11.5". It's scrap project #47/101.

Last Friday I made another trip to SR Harris. I really shouldn't have gone (it's like an alcoholic walking into a bar, I tell ya'), but I went anyway. This was me showing restraint. (Are you laughing yet? I don't blame you!)

My daughter had a birthday party to go to on Saturday, so I sewed up a few little zip pouches for the occasion. I used this tutorial for the larger one (although I boxed out the corners with a 4" measurement instead of 2"). The little one is just a copy of a coin purse I made years ago. From what I hear, they were a hit. The little pouch was made from scraps, so it's #48. Almost half way to my goal of 101. Sweet!

Happy Monday to you!

economy block quilt top

I finished my economy block quilt top this morning!
This will be for my oldest brother.
He's my only sibling that hasn't gotten a quilt from me yet.
(The other 5 have.)
I love the moody color scheme.
It's so appropriate for this time of year.
I made 88 blocks for an 8 x 11 layout.
It measures 66" x 91".

You can find the measurements for the blocks here, if you'd like.

Happy Wednesday!
xo

little connections redux

Last night I finished up this quilt top...a boy version of the Little Connections quilt. I LOVE this one! I added one more row this time around so it is more rectangular and I like this size a lot better. I had to bust out stash fabric for this quilt. I could have used scraps but hardly any of my scraps are that big. Ha! It felt good (really good) to use my stash. I need to do that more often, but always get so sidetracked by my scraps! Oh, the problems I have! :)

Today is a very happy day because I sent out my first wholesale order. That was one of my goals this year...to go wholesale with my patterns. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm slowly getting there! I'm happy to be venturing into new territory, even if it is exhausting and a bit terrifying. My husband and I have been talking a lot about risk these past few days/weeks. I am such a chicken and crippled by fear in so many areas of my life. It's good to be breaking free from that just a little bit. It's refreshing! Here's to more of that!

working (and buying) habits

Yesterday we talked all about scraps. Today I'd like to talk about using (or more specifically buying) fabric. One of the most common questions I get asked is "how much fabric do you buy at a time?" If you know me, you know it's not going to be a short answer...it will take an entire blog post. If you want to know the answer, read on. :)

When I am working on a quilt, I would say 85-90% of the time the entire quilt comes from my stash...backing, binding and all. When do I build my stash? When I travel, mainly. I have a few favorite local fabric shops, too. When I see a good sale, I stock up. I don't buy much fabric on line at all-I much prefer to buy in person. Shopping on-line can be dangerous and my husband does enough on-line shopping for the both of us. He admitted that himself.

Most commonly I buy half yard cuts. This is a great size because it is enough to bind up to a lap size quilt. It is also easy to cut into fat quarters, which are great for swapping. I've swapped fat quarters recently with my sister and a few friends. It's a nice way to add variety to the stash without spending any more cash. Notice that most of the fabric I buy is only one color and white? I find that I gravitate to simple color schemes, which tend to last longer in the stash. That's a good thing when there is a 2 year lag time between purchasing and actually using your fabric.

These are fat eighths. I LOVE this size and wish they were more readily available. When you use scraps the size I do (tiny), yardage feels more like acreage! A fat eighth is a nice size to buy because you can get a lot of variety for your money. And variety is good! I find that these are the easiest size for me to cut into.

These are all 1 yard cuts. I bought 5 out of 6 of these in one weekend. My theory? You can never have too many red and white polka dots! They could be my weakness. Some were on sale, some were a good price, and some were so good that I didn't mind paying full price.

I've started to buy mini charms here and there. A whole variety of a fabric line in a 2 1/2" square? Sign me up!

This cute fabric was on sale but there was a minimum of a one yard cut. If you are shopping with a friend, that is a good time to split a yard, if you can agree on which fabrics to buy. Sometimes you just have to get a whole yard. Because, c'mon. Smiling carrots? Hard to pass up!

This is a full yard, and it was full price, but I could see using it for labeling quilts. I've gotten so lazy about that step, so I'm using it as motivation to start labeling them again.

These were both on sale and both fabrics are ones that I could use in a variety of quilts. Or I could see using them on quilt backs. That is when the words "I'll take the rest of the bolt" slip out.

I am buying whole fabric lines less and less. The last entire fabric line I purchase (before this one, and not in a pre-cut form) was Chicopee. That was awhile ago! This line is Briar Rose by Heather Ross. I debated for a good while about purchasing it. I was trying hard to decide if I was going to buy it just because everyone else was buying it or if I was buying it because I really wanted to buy it! (Know what I mean?) I think I'm glad I bought it, but it will probably sit untouched for a good while.

Then I had to buy additional fat eighths of this stuff. I will actually USE these, rather than hoard it like the FQs. (Oh, it kind of hurts to admit that. But it's true!)

And sometimes (not often) I buy fabric as a reward for myself. These were on sale and I purchased  them the day all 5 of us spent 7 hours shopping for school supplies. I think (I know!) I earned them! These are 1/4 yard cuts. I didn't need a ton of each print, but I liked the variety of prints and the limited color scheme. I'm anxious to cut into these!!!

There you go! Way too much info on how I buy fabric. I hope that those of you who have asked this question have found the answer helpful.

So, how much fabric do you buy at a time? I'd love to hear, if you care to share!