terrific tulip mini quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last week, I had the chance to help out my sweet friend, Katherine, by testing her new block pattern called terrific tulip. It's a great pattern and it was a lot of fun to sew up! It was also a good exercise in following directions. (I am usually writing them, not following them. It was a nice change of pace! Ha!) Isn't the block cute?

This morning, I quilted it up and turned it into a mini quilt. It measures about 12" square. I think I love diamond crosshatching most of all for minis! The bias gingham binding makes a perfect finish, too, doesn't it? I love how it turned out so much, I immediately hung it up above my desk. It will make me smile every time I see it! I am SO ready for spring....

I'm not sure where I picked up this tip, but I read it somewhere awhile back. You can use your dull/used sewing machine needles to hang up your mini quilts on the wall. The needles are still fairly sharp and since they are rigid, they easily push into the wall. Works like a charm! I love repurposing things and I thought that this was a pretty genius idea. As an aside...I'm so thankful that my husband doesn't mind how many holes I put into the wall!

 

That's it for me today! Do you have a finish to share? If so, please link up. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! I really mean that! :) Have a great weekend! xo

 

WIP Wednesday-quilting and some EPP

Thank you for your kind comments on my post about collaborating with my daughter! She and I appreciate your positive feedback very much. THANK YOU! :)

I've been working on my crayon challenge project for the upcoming guild meeting this month. (I'm only sharing a peek, since it's a challenge.) It's AMAZING how fast one can accomplish something when FOCUS is applied. Sometimes deadlines are great! :) This isn't my first time learning this lesson, but I almost always need the reminder! I hope to finish the quilting soon, so I can get on to the binding stage. I love finishing up a quilt!

I started an EPP (English paper pieced) hexagon project. I'm in the very beginning stages, but this project couldn't be more timely. Spring means track season, end of school concerts and activities galore. Most of the activities involve some sort of waiting around. I needed a new portable project, since I finished my dot your i's quilt, so this is a nice filler. I'm planning on making a throw pillow cover out of these hexagons, as kind of a warm up project. (More on that in a bit.) I took my sew it goes tote out for it's initial run and it is AMAZING!!! The pattern tote is available here. (It's a very involved pattern, but the results are worth it!) I think it's funny that the thread catcher (pattern is here) I made years ago coordinates so well with the tote. :)

For my hexagons, I'm using this paper punch that I purchased last fall at JoAnn's when it was 60% off. The cost of the punch was less than the cost of two packets of paper pieces, ready made! I'll need about a zillion hexagons, so it won't take long for this purchase to pay off. I'm using leftover card stock for my papers and the punch works SO well! The hexagons measure 1" on each side.

This is the reason I need a hexagon warm up project....

This isn't a WIP quite yet, but I'm planning on making a reproduction of this vintage quilt! I told my husband my plan, and he didn't bat an eye or discourage me one bit, so I think it's a go. Hahaha! I just happened to buy the end of the bolt of this orangey red solid on clearance (it's Cotton Couture by Michael Miller) on the same trip that I bought the quilt. I think it was meant to be! I'm excited to start a new LONG term project!

collaborating with my daughter, part 1

First off, thank you for all the kind comments on my happy quilt! I appreciate each and every one of them!

One of my goals this year is to collaborate with my daughter, who is 10, on some projects. She is an artist through and through and I love seeing things through her eyes. It's especially fun for me to see her color choices when it comes to fabric, as that is my medium of choice. This past weekend, we started working on a string quilt together. I have to admit, I had a bit of an ulterior motive. My string bucket (which is constantly overflowing) is not very inspiring to me. It's by far my hardest category of scraps to keep up with. She was more than willing to play with my strings... I didn't have to twist her arm at all! Hurray!

We decided to make 1/4 log cabin blocks. She chose the fabric and the arrangement, and I did all the sewing and pressing. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to relinquish control, it worked out surprisingly well! I am a little surprised that she limited her color palette this much, but I think she is doing a great job so far! The blocks are 6 1/2" unfinished and our goal is to make a baby quilt for one of her friend's soon-to-be-born baby brother. We will make either 36 or 48 blocks total. We worked on the blocks for about an hour or so before she was ready to move on to something else. I was fine with that, as I've learned that sewing with kids definitely works better in several shorter sessions rather than fewer, longer sessions.

For the past few weeks, she has been playing, sorting and arranging my 2 1/2" squares. (She set up a play store and everything!) Over the weekend, she designed a new placemat for herself. Again, she arranged the fabric and I sewed it up. She sure loves her blues and grays! Now I need to wait for her to pick out the backing and binding, as I'm sure that she will have strong opinions about both. :)

 

I'm thrilled with both of our projects so far. It sure is nice to have her help to use up some of my mountains of scraps. (haha!) Her fresh perspective is a welcome change of pace. Honestly, it isn't always easy to take the time to sew with her, but I'm always glad when I do.

 

Happy Monday to you!  

the happy quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!!!!

On the first day of spring, I finished my happy quilt. What perfect timing! I absolutely love this quilt, which means I took a ton of photos to share with you. I'm going to let the photos do most the talking today, with details about the quilt at the end of the post.

 

 

 

I fussy cut the text block to highlight the year 1997, which happens to be the year that I married my husband. Awww. :)

Pattern: Waiting, which is available for purchase here. It is newly updated, to include 3 sizes!
Technique: Fusible applique with blanket stitch, which was done on my Janome Horizon.
Finished size: 74" x 74"
Quilting: free motion loops, quilted on my domestic machine-my beloved Juki
Thread: Aurifil 50 weight in white
Backing fabric: 104" wide Picnic Gingham by Connecting Threads (it's on sale at the moment...)
Binding fabric: Ta Dots by Michael Miller
Completion time: 3 years and 3 months (I've had worse. Ha!)

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

my new old quilt

Hello, hello! My kids went back to school today, so it's time to get back into a routine. We had a lovely spring break, but after 10 days I'm ready to get back to a normal schedule again. Phew!
Our family went on a little road trip south, in search of warmer weather. I'm happy to say that we were successful. :) I found a gem of a quilt at an antique store in Missouri. It's quite the souvenir!

I debated whether to buy it on not, because I certainly do not need another quilt...ahem....but the price was too good to pass up, especially for the condition it is in.

The binding is all worn and frayed, but the rest of the quilt is in pretty good shape. After thinking it over, I am going to try to repair the quilt to the best of my ability. I haven't done any quilt repair to speak of, but I think this is a good one to try it on. It will be an adventure, for sure.

I can imagine that trying to apply binding to all those curves will be challenging. (Yikes!)

Most of the hexagons are in tact, but there are a few missing that I will have to fill in. Just a handful, I think, which is pretty remarkable! I love looking at the variety of fabrics. There are many interesting ones!

I haven't fully studied the quilt at this point, but this is my favorite block so far. I love the red and white polka dots, naturally, but what I really love is that each one of the hexagons are pieced before they were stitched together. What a charming detail!

I'm so glad that I stumbled across this quilt. I have no buyer's remorse whatsoever. :)

Before we left on the trip, I attached the binding on my happy quilt, so it is now completely finished. (More pictures to come.) It was great to have a quilt to bind on the road!

Since I finished a quilt, I spent the past few nights cutting out a new project. It felt good to start something new, finally! Our guild (the Minneapolis MQG) is doing a crayon challenge, which I'm excited about! I have to say, I feel fortunate to have randomly picked such a cohesive group of colors. Cerise is dangerously close to purple, but I think I can handle it. (hahaha!) I managed to find enough of it in my stash and scrap bins for my project, which is a very good thing!

On the way home, I had the opportunity to meet up with my long-time blog friend, Suzanne. She has been such a good friend and a constant source of encouragement to me over the past several years. It was an absolute delight to finally meet her in real life and have a visit over a cup of tea. It was the best.

 

I hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks for reading. xo

spring break

My kids are on spring break this week, so I decided that it's a great time to take a little bit of time away from the blog. I'm going to try something new and actually try to relax. Hahaha! I'll let you know how that goes. See you in a week!

Happy Monday to you! :)

dot your i's-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm extremely thrilled... my "dot your i's" quilt is complete! I have a bunch of photos to share, then I'll recap the details of the quilt at the end of the post.

Started: July 20, 2015

Finished: March 12, 2017

 

Inspired by: Carolyn Friedlander's Aerial Grove Quilts. Squircles technique from her book Savor Each Stitch. (Each one was hand appliqued.)

 

Background block size: 4" cut, 3 1/2" finished.

 

Squares used for the squircles: 2 1/2" cut

 

Quilting: I hand quilted in the ditch with gray perle cotton, then each squircle was hand quilted with white 25 weight thread.

 

Fabrics used: mostly out of print Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Flea Market Fancy, Katie Jump Rope and Hope Valley. (I used a little bit of my good neighbors fabric in it, too! That was super fun to add in! There are a few other random prints mixed in as well.)

 

Backing: Tiger Lily by Heather Ross for Windham fabrics

 

Binding: Citrus by Another Point of View for Windham fabrics

 

Finished size: 63" x 77".

 



As soon as I finished the quilt, I spread it out on the floor and my daughter immediately rolled up in it. Her grin pretty much sums up how I feel about this quilt, too!

A big shout out and thank you to my lovely neighbor, Mrs. Gohmann, for helping me out on my quilt photo field trip!

Since this quilt is finished, I'm about to jump into my next long term quilt project. I can hardly wait to get started! 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!

teach 'em young

Yesterday I had a few friends over for a sew day, so when my kids got home, my sewing machine was set up on the dining room table. My daughter said she wanted to quilt, so I said, "ok, let's get some scraps and sew them together." She said, "No, I want to quilt." So I asked her if I should put the walking foot on the Juki. No, it turns out she wanted to QUILT, as in free motion quilt. I was a little surprised, honestly, but I decided to let try. Why not? We picked out a scrap of batting and she picked out some blue thread. I offered her fabric, too, so we could make a quilt sandwich, but she didn't think that was necessary. Hahaha!

The first two swirls on the top left were done by me, just to get things going. As soon as she sat down, she got to work. It was amazing to watch her jump in and just do it. It was really, really inspiring! I took a quick video (it's like 11 seconds) and posted it on Instagram here. You can see how much fun she had by the grin on her face. I love that!



After she got started, I let her go for it and walked away. (That's the best thing to do, as a control freak, I've learned!) I loved looking at her attempts.

She even attempted the alphabet! She had a lot of fun, but admitted that it was harder than she expected it to be. I can't wait to see her try it again.

My friend brianne came to the sew day bearing gifts. She made me this sweet liberty log cabin pincushion. Isn't that precious? I love it so! Thanks, brianne!

And.... I finished my happy quilt top! A few people asked in the last post if it was appliqued, and the answer to that is YES! 

One more thing! I am giving a trunk show at the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild meeting tomorrow evening, March 16, 2017 at the Textile Center. If you are local (or local-ish!) you are invited to attend.

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

the happy quilt-a work in progress

This quilt has been called by a few different names in the past few years (waiting, still waiting, waiting for spring) but over the weekend I decided that it needs to be called "the happy quilt". Isn't that a fitting name?

Last week, the plan was to make 30 blocks for a lap size quilt, which would give me a finished quilt that would measure 62" x 74". I made the remaining 8 blocks and I thought I was done. But then....

I was rummaging around in my stash for possible backings and I came across this gem. It is an extra wide backing (it's called picnic gingham from Connecting Threads) that would work perfectly for the back. The thing is, I didn't want to "waste" a 2 yard cut of extra wide backing on a smaller sized lap quilt. I knew that I would use the leftovers.... not problem there... but it still seemed silly. After MUCH deliberation and consulting with a few friends, I decided to make the top a little bit bigger. I added 6 more blocks, so I will end up with a 74" square quilt. (The backing was generously cut, so I could get away with it. Hurray!) I did think about going all the way to a king size and ordering more backing, but the math for the quilt top didn't quite work out. Square quilts aren't my all time favorite, but I think that it was the best option for this one. Technically, I don't think I lost sleep over the decision of how big to make the quilt, but I was pretty darn close. :)

This quilt has sashing and cornerstones, so it is going to take awhile to assemble....

...but at least I got the first row together. I'm sure that this quilt is going to be a favorite! I love how this one is turning out! (Because I know someone will ask, the pattern is here.)

 Also... over the weekend I finished another quilt, so I'm down to 4 WIPs! It was a very happy day! I will say, that it is NOT my goal to get down to zero WIPs. I did that once, right before my daughter was born, so I don't feel the need to do that again. Haha! But, being down to 4 (however short-lived that will be!) feels pretty amazing! I'm very excited to start a mess (quite literally, hahaha!) of new projects, too.

Happy Monday to you!

bright birch trees 3-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last evening, just before 10 pm, I put the final stitches on the binding of my third bright birch tree quilt! (You can see the first one here. The second one is here. The pattern is available here.)

This pattern proves that every scrap deserves a chance! The blocks in this version finish a touch larger than 12" square.

I paired strips of scraps with a variety of solids from my stash. There are so many tiny details in this quilt. One could sit and look at it for hours. I love quilts like that!

For the quilting, I did a simple stipple all over with Aurifil thread, color 2615.

Did you notice the heart detail? I love little bits like that! The lattice print makes such a great binding! It's an old Denyse Schmidt print from JoAnn's. The polka dot backing was a gift from my friend Tara. I had just enough, so I figured it was meant to be.

The quilt measures about 48" x 60". This is my 5th quilt finish for the year. AND.... it brings my WIP total down to 5! I'm extremely excited about that!

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!

WIP Wednesday-only 6 to go!

I don't know about you, but I keep a close eye on my WIPs (works in progress). For awhile I went without a list, but that drove me absolutely crazy, so I went back to my list-making ways. I have been sitting at only 6 WIPs (!!!) the past few weeks. Since there are so few, I thought it would be fun to round them up and show them all today.

1. This quilt, called "dot your i's" is soooooo close to being finished....I have less than 2 rows of squircles to go! Hand quilting this has been a lovely way to recuperate from all of the busyness, deadlines and traveling that I've done in the past few weeks. (The details of the quilt can be found here.) I added the binding to the quilt after I quilted the background, but before I quilted the squircles, in order to prevent the edges from fraying as I worked on it. The beautiful thing is that once I'm done quilting that last squircle, I'm DONE! It will be a happy day!

2. My kaleidoscope quilt has been a WIP off and on (mostly off) for the past few years. I'm excited to get back to it, though. I LOVE the scrappiness and the bright colors. Many thanks to my friends in my Sew Sisters quilting bee for making me such beautiful blocks! (The free templates are available here and here.) I have a long way to go on this one.

3. I'm calling this one "need more coffee" and it will be a lap size quilt... someday. I think I only have 34 blocks to go! I'm glad that I kept the colors mainly red and white, although a full on scrappy version of this would be lots of fun, too! (The pattern is the same as my mini coffee cups, I'm just making 100+ blocks!)

4. This log cabin quilt is only 25% done. I'm itching to get back at it! I've considered challenging myself to make one block a day, to motivate me to jump back in. Maybe I'll start that next week. Ha! I want this to be a KING size quilt for my bed. It would be nice to get it finished in time for summer, although that doesn't seem too likely. (The measurements for this block can be found here.)

5. These are my waiting blocks. I only have 8 more to go to make a lap size quilt. (Pattern is here.)  I'm pretty sure that this is my oldest WIP. I still love them quite a lot, which is a good thing after 2+ years!

6. And this one....I'm in the process of quilting my BBT 3! I hope to finish it SOON! (The pattern is available here.)

My plan is to finish up one or two of the projects shown above, then I believe that I will let loose and start ALL THE THINGS. I can't wait! :)