Quarter 3 Quilt Up

What am going to work on next?  Let me recap the first half of the year so far: I've finished 3/6 projects that were on my Quarter 1&2 lists, plus a couple smaller swaps that popped up during those months. Hooray! This quarter gets a bit more ambitious of a list.

With Quarter 3 link ups here, I had a look through some of my unfinished projects for inspiration. Here's what I'll be attempting to finish (or at least make progress on)::

project: medallion

 project: radar wave 270/584

project: marsala

project: frosted windows

Each of these are finished tops waiting to be finished quilts and hopefully they'll make it! I'm linking up with Charm About You for the start of Quarter 3 2017 Finish Along.

Shatterpoint

  

 Finished up the binding on Shatterpoint this week! Really happy with how this turned out in the finish- I used the same colors as the piecing in the binding so the design flows right off the edges.

     

Found a great new photo spot today in a nearby park & Momm was quilt holder extraordinaire for these pix- thx Momm! The sun angles really help to showcase the quilting texture. The curves against the angles of the piecing is just what I'd hoped.

 

Gratuitous magic light sparkles through the fountain that I couldn't resist.

  

A look at the pieced backing & the extra blocks used as my label. The quilt top was created in a class I took with Denyse Schmitt back in 2013 and I had Denyse sign that triangle in the square on the back. I really enjoyed this class and am happy to mark this one complete! 

I call it Shatterpoint and used Aurifil 2810 & 1125 for the quilting. So smooth. Measures 50" x 58"

It was one my Quarter 2 Finish along list found here, and am linking up at Charm About You for the 2017 Finish Along! Linking up with 2 finishes this week over at crazymomquilts for Finish it up Friday - don't miss my other post Mai tai. 

Mai Tai anyone?

...pineapples are in my head...                    *lyrics from song Pork Soda by Glass Animals*

This quilt uses blocks I received in the #pineappleblockswap through Instagram last Fall and it's a perfect Summer time finish. Found the perfect backdrop to photograph this quilt around town & show-off these technicolor pineapples!

The backing is a fun travel themed print that even has pineapples on it too! 

 

  

quilting detail

My signature bee made it into this quilt as well! 

I'm calling this quilt Mai Tai and it's already been promised to a friend who loves pineapples as much as I do. :)  

This was on my Quarter 2 Finish Along list (original post here)so I'll be linking up with Charm About You with the finish! Also linking to CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it up Friday - with two finishes this week so be sure to check out my other post: Shatterpoint!

Wednesday WIP

Over the weekend I managed to start quilting my Shatterpoint Improv quilt! Super exciting, considering the top has been waiting patiently since 2013 for me to get it basted. :)

I'm quilting multiple spirals into it with my walking foot and guide bar to keep the spacing consistent. I'm using Aurifil thread #2810 on top and #1125 in the bobbin. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Quarter 2 : FAL2017

So this quarter I'm going to (try) and keep things simple, especially since it's typically a busy quarter for me already. A shorter list will help keep me focused and direct my efforts to finishing up a couple of quilts. The trick with this is choosing the right quilts for the short list! :P 

Linking up for the 2nd Quarter Finish Along 2017 at CharmAboutYou.


project: Pineapple Party - picked up backing fabric for this recently so it's ready to baste & quilt

project: Shatterpoint - ready to baste & quilt this one!

project: Radar Wave 270/584 - already basted & ready to quilt

Disco Done!

I managed one singular quilt finish off of my Q1 2017 listy: my disco quilt! It's been a long process with this quilt and I'm pleased with the end result & extra pleased that its ready to snuggle with on the couch for movie night or when its chilly.      
The pattern is Disco by Jaybird Quilts and uses a FQ bundle of Architextures, mixed with several prints from Botanics- both by Carolyn Friedlander.  I pulled a variety of coordinating Aurifil threads and took inspiration from gemstones & jewel facets for the quilting. 


Everything is FMQ, which made it much easier to wrangle the quilt through my machine because it is big! Final measurements: 67" x 78". I matched bobbin thread to the top as well which adds some color to the backing fabric- a Zen Chic Modern Backgrounds print.

 

For binding, I went with a blue crosshatch print and made bias binding as the pattern suggests to get around the pointed edges. I hand stitched the binding to finish and now all this quilt needs is a good name!
  

I'm linking up with the Q1 Finish Along over at Charm About You.  Joining in with CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it Friday! 

National Quilting Day

Hooray! There's a whole day set aside for Quilting - how great is that? This year I have to be at work facilitating one of our multi-day workshops, so I won't have time to sew on my own projects until tonight. Never fear though - this workshop is taught by Sue Nickels so I'm soaking in all the quilty vibes until I get home.

What am I currently working on you ask?

Well, I recently finished my #maythe4thmqs2 Star Wars swap mini quilt. This won't ship until end of April, but I had a grand time putting this together. I scrappy/improv pieced the emblem, then fused it to the background before zig-zag stitching around it & adding quilting.

With Junior Quilters at work (a monthly quilt group for kids ages 10-17) we've been working on a series of Footie quilts. These are named for & inspired by the Footie Collection by Dorris McManis, who challenged herself to make a 12"x12" or Foot x foot quilt every week for a year (she ended up with 78!). I pulled from the variety of techniques and inspirations to direct the Junior Quilters to make 4 footies of their very own!

My samples are shown above and showcase the 4 prompts:
Top Left- Improv strips & hand quilting, in the style of Gee's Bend quilts
Top Right- Embellishment, using a season/holiday/time of year as the focus
Bottom Left- Layers
Bottom Right- Journal Quilt

The students have done a fantastic job interpreting the prompts and stretching their skills & creativity.    


I'm also this -> <- close to finishing the quilting on my Disco quilt. Finally!  It's giant sized, but soon enough I'll be able to trim the sides and figure out binding. Hopefully tonight will see the final quilting stitches in this one - especially since it's on my 2017 Finish Along Q1 list!


How are you enjoying National Quilting Day?

Quilt Retreat at the Beach

My Momm & I host a quilt retreat each year at a Beach Resort on Lake Michigan & this was our 8th year!  We spend all weekend inside (because it's usually snowy outside) working on whatever quilty projects we want - all with a great view of the lake! This was the first year that there wasn't any snow on the ground, but it was still cold out there.  

It's nice to stay inside and sew as much as I want and only stop for meals or sleep. Since I fly to retreat, my carry-on usually consists of 98% fabric and 2% comfy clothes. Ha! I wasn't entirely sure what I'd want to work on and I brought several options of both WIP & new projects. :)

twin quilts & quilty pillowcases for sweet dreams!

First up was finishing my remaining mini charm blocks - I ended up with 14 total. Each block uses a different mini charm pre-cut and I'm using the free Moda love pattern. It's been fun using up some of my mini charm stash with this quilt! I played around with the layout before deciding to set the blocks on point. The background is Kona silver, mini charms include: Ticklish, Moxi, Tucker Prairie, Block Party, Gardenvale, Chance of Flowers, On the Wing, Boat House, Poems From Pebbles, Sewing Box, Beach House, Good Karma, Miss Kate, Summer Fest.

Then I pulled out my #pineappleblockswap blocks and added some sashing to bring these into a quilt top making this a quick finish.  A friend has already claimed this quilt so I'll need to get backing to finish this one up soon. :)

 Lastly, I worked out the measurements and technical bits for one of my own designs. I doodled this last Fall as part of the #30daysofquiltdesign and once the math was figured out started cutting & stitching. 

I'm using a Flow charm pack and a tonal grey print for background. It'll be a little smaller in size than I originally thought, but I'm happy that the math worked out to fit my design! Here's my color layout -->


Linking up at CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it Friday with my 2 quilt tops. Linking with AQuarterInchFromtheEdge for TGIFF this week too!

2017 Finish Along Q1

Another year means another list of WIPs to finish! I'm joining in with the Finish Along again - making this the 5th year I've participated in this awesome link-up! It really helps me keep motivated and focused on working my way through the stack of WIPs in my sewing room.

All of these projects have rolled over from last year but I'm ready to get sewing on these and start enjoying them as finished quilts. Linking up at Charm About You to kick off the 2017FAL!


project Disco:: 2/3 quilted, then needs binding

 project medallion:: top needs an extra border, then quilting

project pineapples:: only blocks right now, top needs to be pieced, then quilted

project marsala:: basted, needs to be quilted

project improv:: ready to baste the pieces & quilt!

project radar wave:: basted, needs a quilting plan