Zip It

So this year at work we're celebrating our 25th anniversary! One of our upcoming exhibits will feature quilts that were juried into our 25th anniversary contest: the Gala of the Unexpected. It's going to be fantastic - quilts made with unexpected materials and designs.

Several of my co-workers and I kept thinking about how much fun it would be to use unusual materials so we decided to do just that! We asked/ threatened/ cajoled the rest of the staff & volunteers to make a mini quilt to fit the theme.

We limited quilts to be 18" or less per side so it wouldn't be too overwhelming. It was fun to talk about the challenge at work and encourage each other to create something unique. Of course, in those conversations we all made a point to not give away our unexpected materials! :)  haha  

I tossed around several ideas and landed on zippers. It was fun to hunt out some specialty zippers and learn how to change zip pulls and how to zip together two different colors of teeth as well. 

My quilt is just shy of 18' square and took me about 2 months to make.  There was a lot of designing/auditioning & thinking about placement before actually stitching the zippers in place. I used a print fabric for backing and chose black batting then stitched all the zippers directly onto the layers - so a Quilt as You Go style.

My nod to our 25th anniversary is the silver metal zipper I used for binding. I'm working on a title for this, though a coworker suggested Zippity-do-Dah.

This was on my original Quarter 1 list and I'm linking up the finish at Slo Studio! Also linking over at CrazyMomQuilts for the latest installment of Finish it Up Friday.

Roar!

Hallo from my newly finished polar bear friend! This is a pattern by Tartan Kiwi, which I won through a giveaway via OnTheWindySide blog. I was thrilled to win it and loved putting this quilt together. It's 30" square and is the largest thing I've paper pieced to date. Actually it went fairly quickly and it was easy to quilt due to the smaller size.

I use my Aurifil in grey and white and purple to free motion quilt different designs into each leg, then outlined the whole bear and added some straight, radiating lines in the purple background. He's got a sleeve and i up on my wall to greet everyone coming through my door.  :) 

Do the link-up shuffle!
Quarter Inch From the Edge for TGIFF 
Joining in for FinishItUp Friday at CrazyMomQuilts too
Also, the bear was on my Q1 2016 Finish Along list -original Q1 list here-
and linked up the finish at Slo Studio

Friday Finish :: Spring emerges

Whew, this week has been fairly long due to a week of overcast skies and rain rain rain. In the midst of all the rain, Spring is popping up more and more and it feels like greeting an old friend when you notice trees starting to bud, or more sunny daffodils on the road home. Yesterday I walked out of my house to see the pear trees on the street have a lot of green to them; even a couple tiny white flowers defying the rain on some of them.

Consequently, all the rain motivates me to stay inside and quilt and who am I to argue with that?! I've been working on my Science Fair quilt and put the last stitches into the binding last night. I love how it turned out and snapped some pictures this morning (inside due to the rain & muck outside). I went back to see which year of Retreat I made the quilt top and it's been patiently chilling since 2013!

I had fun with the quilting, using both 40 & 50wt. Aurifil threads to put wiggle stitches in the grey background and then FMQ fun designs in coordinating colors for the hexies. Binding fabric is the Newsprint print from the Collage line and adds just enough pop to the edges.  Backing fabric, I don't recall the line, but it was found (on sale!) at Hancock's of Paducah. I'm still working on a name for this one - so far I've thought of Effervescent - so once I decide for sure I'll write that on my label. 

Linking up:
Crazymomquilts for Finish It Up Friday
Red Letter Quilts for my March OMG goal finish - goal setting post
2016 Finish Along, Quarter 1 finishes linked up at Slo Studio - Q1 original list

March Goal

I'm really excited for this binding choice- it's got some pow! to it that will be fun with my science fair quilt. Fabric is Newspaper Stripe from the Collage line by Carrie Bloomston. 

While you can see that I've started stitching the binding on, my goal for the month is to have it completely finished.  This is the first time I'm binding 120 degree angles so it will be fun to learn how to do it right.  

Linking up at Red Letter Quilts for the OMG!