Morning Coffee and Cream Quilt Finished and Delivered

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

The Morning Coffee and Cream Quilt I made for my sister is finished and has been delivered. It was so much fun to deliver it in person a couple weeks ago when I was on vacation in Arizona. The first leg of the journey was in Sedona, and part two was at the glorious Grand Canyon. I gave the quilt to my sister at our condo in Sedona where she first photographed it.

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Then we had to take full advantage of the beauty of Sedona as a backdrop for the quilt.

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And a full shot of the quilt back:

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The quilt was from a kit that my sister purchased through Annie’s Catalog. When I first started quilting, I thought kits were total cheats as I thought they came with the fabric all cut into squares and ready to sew. So NOT the case! What this kit came with was the quilt pattern, six half-yard cuts of coordinating fabric from Benartex’ Burlap and Lace Collection, and a 1/4 yard of black fabric for a flanged binding which I decided not to use. I did an online search and found more of one of the prints in the quilt top to use for the binding. For the back, I also found more of the tile panel fabric online at an obscure quilt store which I cut into 5 1/2 squares (as I did on the quilt top) and then sewed them together with grey and black fabric from my stash. Peggy Lopez O’Neil’s longarm quilting in cream thread brought it altogether.

I used a decorative stitch to sew down my binding on the front, and I have to say this binding feels secure. I didn’t feel nearly as nervous when I washed it as I have with my previous quilts! This is my first finish for my Finish-Along 2015-4th Quarter Goals.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts: Finish it Up Friday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Posted in 2015 Finishes, Quilting | Tagged | 13 Comments

Sunday Stash #7–Selfish Sewing Ahead

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

Still being a relatively new quilter, I am finding myself late to the party discovering and becoming a fan of fabric designers and collections. Over the past several months I have seen Carolyn Friedlander’s Doe collection used numerous times in many of the blogs I follow. I love Carolyn’s modern design aesthetic which continues in her Carkai collection that will be available next month. I can’t wait to meet her next June at Glamp Stitchalot 2016.

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Given that Christmas is less than five weeks away, all of my current sewing/quilting is for Christmas presents. But I have a selfish sewing project that I hope to start during the long Christmas weekend that will use two Doe layer cakes. I have decided that my full-size bed needs a quilt that is not purchased from Kohl’s (something that is sacrilege for someone so bitten by the quilting bug!). I will cut each ten-inch layer cake square into four five-inch squares and use two-inch sashing to separate the squares, perhaps Kona Putty. I had much more success with the sashing for my sister’s Coffee and Cream quilt blogged about here than the quilt I made earlier in the year for my stepdaughter when I decided that sashing sucked! I have revised my opinion of sashing, and though I still feel it is challenging to get all my seams lined up, I love sashing’s modern look. For the back of the quilt, I treated myself to some mottled grey fabric at BackSide Fabrics, so I can turn the quilt over and display other quilts as bed runners. It shouldn’t take me too long to sew the quilt top together before I turn it over to my longarm quilter friend, Peggy Lopez O’Neil for her to work her quilting magic.

I’m wondering if there any tips more experienced quilters can share that may improve my sashing skills?

Linking up with Molli Sparkles: Sunday Stash.

Posted in 2015 Finishes, Quilting | 4 Comments

Sunday Stash #6 Sparkle in my Early Christmas Gift

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

My sister sent me an early Christmas gift a couple months ago. It is a very attractive metal wire mesh and wood wall shelf with hooks to hang quilting tools. It took me awhile to get the shelf hung, and now I’m going to start filling it with some of my favorite fabric. The first fabric to go in one of the four cubbies is from Robert Kaufman House Designer’s Sparkle collection. If you want to see more of this beautiful collection, go to Hawthorne Threads.

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Here is a close-up of these lovely fabrics.

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I don’t know what I’m going to make with this fabric. Any suggestions?

Linking up to Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

Posted in Fabric, Quilting | 3 Comments

29 Japanese Blocks on the Wall

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

Twenty-nine Japanese blocks on the wall (my design wall that is) sung to the tune of Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the wall! I just have one more 6 1/2″ block to piece before I can start sewing rows together for my stepson’s Japanese quilt. Most of the blocks are from Tula Pink’s City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, a couple which I modified. And I decided to also sew some of my favorite blocks from Color Girl Quilts’ Super Simple Sampler Quilt Blocks tutorials. I will be alternating the pieced 6 1/2″ blocks with blocks cut from a Four Seasons Usagi Rabbit panel blogged about here. Below are some pics of a few of the pieced blocks:

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Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

Posted in Quilting, WIP | Tagged | 3 Comments

My One-Year Quilting Anniversary

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

I can’t believe it has been a year since I took my first quilting class at  ThreadBear on 10/20/14! Before that day, I’d never even held a rotary cutter, used a cutting mat , or even knew that quilters had their own kind of rulers. I’ve learned so much over past 12 months, and my learning accelerated even more after I made the decision to start a blog in May ’15 and became involved with the New Quilt Bloggers group the next month. I shared a little of my quilting/blogging journey in my 2015 New Quilt Bloggers blog hop post. I’ve become acquainted with so many wonderful people online who share this passion of mine and who have given extremely valuable feedback and assistance to me both with quilting and blogging. Next year I will get a chance to meet some of these people in person when I go to QuiltCon 2016 and Glamp Stitchalot 2016.

The Quilter's Planner

The Quilter’s Planner

The highlight so far of my first year of quilting is finding out a few days ago that the block I designed for the Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop is going to be one of 52 blocks featured in The Quilter’s Planner designed by Stephanie Palmer. Please go to this link to learn more about the planner and to purchase one for yourself or for a friend or family member who loves to quilt. I can’t wait for mine to arrive! It is such a honor to be included in this awesome project that includes blocks by so many talented quilters. I still plan to make a sampler quilt someday from many of the original blocks featured in this planner.

As far as what I’m currently working on, I’m focusing most of my energy on the Continue reading →

Posted in Quilting, Uncategorized, WIP | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Finish-Along 2015–4th Quarter

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

Carry-Overs from 3rd Quarter

  • I didn’t touch my My Birthday Gifts blocks project that was going to be a wall-hanging, and part of that is because I no longer need a wall-hanging to cover up my ugly fuse box. I now have a portable design wall that is placed in front of the fuse box. I’m now leaning toward turning these blocks into a bed runner.
  • I am almost done with the baby quilt I listed in my third quarter goals.

4th Quarter New Projects

  • Gratitude Lanterns Mini Quilt blogged about here.
  • I sewed my first block today for the Japanese Quilt I am making for my stepson.
Tula Pink Modern Quilt Block #16

Tula Pink Modern Quilt Block #16

  • I have completed the Morning Coffee and Cream quilt top and quilt back for my sister, Jackie, for Christmas, and it is currently being quilted by Longarm Quilter, Peggy Lopez O’Neil. I blogged about this quilt in my Quilty Bucket List post but referred to it by its pattern name, Twist & Turn Four-Patch quilt. I like its revised name better. Here’s a pic of the front. The back will remain a mystery until Jackie sees it first in person.
Morning Coffee and Cream Quilt Top

Morning Coffee and Cream Quilt Top

Linking up to 2015 Finish-Along Q4.

Posted in Quilting, Uncategorized, WIP | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Gratitude Lanterns Mini Quilt WIP

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

In August I started an intermediate quilting class at the local community college choosing to audit the course so that I wouldn’t have to worry about attendance, tests, or a grade. Been there, done that A LOT! I had hoped for more instruction about intermediate quilting techniques, but the format of the class is more of everybody working on whatever they want with a little bit of lecture, some student sharing, and the teacher helping students who are there at various levels including two students who had never quilted before. There is a class assignment that interests me, and that is to create an art quilt that has a perimeter less than 120 inches using the 12 colors of the color wheel. I decided to create snowball blocks using Kona Classic Palette charms with coal corners. Then I when I saw Sarah Goer’s Fabri-Quilt New Block Blog Hop Watermelon Plate block, I was inspired to add a one-inch contrasting color strip in the middle of my snowball blocks and call them lanterns.

Before I broke into my new Kona charm package, I created a practice block out of my scraps to see if what was in my head would translate to an attractive lantern block.

Practice Lantern block

Practice Lantern block

I decided it would work and starting cutting up the charm squares and sewing them together. After I chain-sewed them, I hung them up on my design wall still joined together by thread, and they reminded me of prayer flags.

When the mini quilt is finished, I’ve decided to hang it in my office with the thought that the lanterns could represent feelings of gratitude which may provide opportunities to talk about the benefits of gratitude with my clients. Below are four of the 20 lanterns-to-be ready for their coal triangle corners.

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Linking up with Freshly Pieced: WIP Wednesday.

Posted in Quilting, WIP | 6 Comments

Sunday Stash #5–Japanese Quilt

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

A couple months ago, I took a beginning free-motion quilting class at Santa Fe Quilting,  and when I was there, I found out that they have a section of Asian fabrics in the last room in the store. I had been in the store a few times but never had ventured that far back. The teacher for the class, Deb Martinez, had a small quilt on the wall with blocks cut from a Four Seasons Usagi Rabbit panel. She interspersed blocks made from Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks book in between the different rabbit images and Japanese symbols. I’ve been wanting to make a quilt for my stepson, Drew, who is half-Japanese, and when I saw Deb’s class demo quilt, I knew I wanted to make my own version for Drew and had to leave with one of the panels. I took Deb’s advice and snapped a photo of the entire panel before I cut it apart because I don’t want to place any of the images or symbols upside down!

Four Season Usagi Rabbit Panel

Four Season Usagi Rabbit Panel

I found some gorgeous Japanese fabrics to use in the sampler blocks in two Etsy shops, Kimonomomo and Shiboridragon. I’m going to use the luscious crane fabric below for the quilt back. I still haven’t decided on what solid fabrics that I’ll use in the sampler blocks to add just the right amount of balance and contrast.

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I’m going to use all 30 of the rabbit images and Japanese symbols cut down to 6.5″ squares and will be making 30 of the Tula Pink blocks. I plan to start sewing blocks next weekend at the latest. I hope to finish it in time for Christmas. It should be a fun quilt to make.

Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

Posted in Fabric | Tagged | 8 Comments

Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long Square-in-a-Square Blocks

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

Today I finished sewing my square-in-a-square blocks for the Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long, and I have about half of them trimmed. Most of them look pretty good though I may sew a couple replacement blocks before it’s time to sew the blocks together in the mysterious quilt design. This project has definitely helped me get more proficient with my scant quarter inch 🙂 . Here’s a pic with four of the 34 blocks I finished sewing today.

Midnight Mystery Square-in-a-Square Blocks

Midnight Mystery Square-in-a-Square Blocks

Linking up with Sew She Can: Show Off Saturday.

Posted in WIP | 4 Comments

Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long Flying Geese

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Quilting is in my Blood

I’ve really been enjoying participating in the Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long through Meadow Mist Designs. Being a novice quilter, it is such a great opportunity for me to build and stretch my quilting skills. I finally finished the August assignment of making 36 Flying Geese units. I really appreciated Cheryl’s clear directions as I had never tried making flying geese blocks before. It quickly became clear that it was going to be exceedingly difficult to make the text go the same direction with two smaller triangles, so I reached out to other quilters on Facebook and Instagram (as well as my sister who is the graphic artist in my family) and was encouraged to embrace the wonky randomness of the text going different directions. I’m glad I did because I’m very happy with them.

Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long Flying Geese

Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-long Flying Geese

Have you ever had a Work-in-Progress that you thought you might have to throw in the scrap bin only to end up really liking it?

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday,  Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? and Freshly Pieced: WIP Wednesday.

Posted in WIP | 9 Comments