a Yellow jersey finish

Happy to share with you my September finish for ALYOF - finishing this quilt with binding. This is also a project from my original Quarter 3 FAL list, so I'm linking to On the Windy Side for the finish and I'm linking up to Finish It Friday as well.

 The profile is stage 18 of the 2013 Tour, which was the 100 edition of the race. This stage started in the town of Gap and ended with the awe-inspiring mountain climb up Alpe-d'Huez. The stage winner was Matteo Trentin, and the overall race winner was Chris Froome.  He also won this year in a fantastic race!

It was nice to have this one quilted for the final stages of the Tour de France this year! I matched my binding to each of the background colors which was new for me and used solid grey for the remainder of the binding. The quilting is fairly simple, but since each of the background colors represent each of the major jerseys in the Tour, I wanted to have the quilting in each section reflect that.   

White for the best young riders: Quilted a modified TDF logo

Green for the sprint points: Quilted bike wheels sprinting for the finish line

Polka dots for the King of the Mountain: Quilted mountain peaks

Yellow for the overall race leader: Quilted in Eiffel Tower & Arc d'Triomphe as the race finishes in Paris

Hello September

One of the best parts of a holiday weekend is waking up & knowing you don't have to go into work! Celebrating includes getting outside, catching up on chores and of course, quilting! In the midst of all the fun I almost forgot to link up for the September ALYOF so here I am with hours to spare for the goal setting.

My goal is to finish my Tour de France quilt completely - which means putting on the binding. The plan is to match the binding to each background section and then use a grey around the profile/bottom of the quilt.

Linking up at Fiber of All Sorts  (#71) and then getting back to enjoying the holiday. Happy Labor Day!

a Quilt Top in 9 Patch

Since I forgot to linkup my July finish, I'm making sure to have the August goal finished.  My goal was to get the 9 Patch blocks sewn into a top. It was fun to twist these up while deciding on the actual layout since the dark & light halves are very eye-catching. Here's which layout I chose -as I liked the almost-symmetricality of the light and dark check marks/chevrons.

I've got this quilt already basted and even started on the quilting over the weekend! So far I've been playing with the triangle/angles for the quilting designs. Linking up at Fiber of All Sorts for the August finishes of  A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Primary Mosaic Combo

I'm having such fun this summer it's hard to keep up, but some adventuring updates are coming soon. In the meantime, Stitched in Color is hosting another mosaic contest, courtesy of Lark cottons. These are a great way to play with a theme and try out new fabric combinations. Just what I love. 

Everyone here is back to school already and thinking Fall things but I'm not ready to let go of summer quite yet! So I paired deep blues and late afternoon yellows with earthy hints of green and browns, topped with a splash of summer punch red. I call it: Indian Summer.

List of fabrics L-R, top to bottom.
architextures scribble notes navy
mini pearls red
sun prints mercury yellow
architextures crosshatch fern
playful viewfinders multi
bohemian soul endless dream hay
central park floral carousel orange
modern workshop cultivated flowers society red
madrona road haystack slate

Come check out all the great combos and vote for your favorite!

August Split

 Between vacationing and adventures and work I did manage to finish my July ALYOF goal - but forgot to blog and link it up.  Ooops. The quilting was finished before the end of le tour though and I'll be sharing that soon.  

However, today is all about August goals. I'll be keeping it simple this month & hopefully will remember to link it up at the end! I made these Split 9 patch blocks as a sample for my Junior Quilter group at work and loved the first ones so much I decided to make more.  Now all 9 are finished and my Goal is to sew them together into a top.  I tested out a variety of layouts and will have to commit to one soon to make this goal.  Linking up over at Fiber of All Sorts!

Quarter 3 FAL list

Time to link up my Quarter 3 list of the Finish-Along hosted by On the WindySide. I'm going to be ambitious again this time around for my list because I like options & never know which project I'll want to pull out next. This will definitely keep me busy for more than Quarter 3 but it'll be lots of fun in the process! 

In no particular order, Quarter 3:: (#105 on the linkup)

Tour de France quilt - partially quilted  - *update: finished
 Finishing the quilting is my July ALYOF goal, and then i'll need to choose some binding.  Le Tour runs through July 26 this year & I hope to finish this one in time.

Big Bear - Top
 Needs backing, quilting & binding so I can put him up on the wall when winter rolls around.

Improv quilt - Top
  Rolling over from previous lists.  :)  Still needs backing, quilting (the tricky part on this one!) & binding. 

Disco - Top
 Quilt top I made at retreat using Jaybirds Disco pattern & fabrics from Architextures & Botanics! Needs backing, quilting & binding.

 Science Fair - Top
 Another Jaybirds pattern! Needs backing, quilting & binding.

upside down on the design wall

Marsala quilt - Top
  It was fun to design this one! Took some coordinating colors and design elements from inspiration on Pinterest then I pulled fabrics that were already in my stash, free cut the curves & machine appliquéd the two triangles.  Sadly, I goofed on this one and missed the linkup for the Pantone Challenge.  :(  I would like to finish it up though so it also needs: backing, quilting & binding.

Mini Charm Stamps - blocks
 These blocks are ready to stitch into a top, then backing, basting, quilting & binding. This quilt grew out of my obsession collection of mini charm packs and the desire to make something with them. (and not just let them stack up on the shelf...) I chose a postage stamp style quilt because I wouldn't need to cut all of the 2.5" squares myself!  ;) 

Split 9 Patch - blocks - *update: finished!
I made one 15" block as a sample for my Junior Quilter club at work as they make a lap quilt. Then, once they got started, I wanted to make more blocks and have a finished quilt myself this time around! Mine are each one color per block with a value split on the diagonal. Thinking this will end up at 9 blocks and may even be a quick(ish) finish.

Tour de France

One of my favorite summer things to do is watch/follow the Tour de France cycling race each July. It's inspiring to watch the riders climb up mountains and zoom through the cities in France, Belgium & the Netherlands. The countryside is always spectacular and it invigorates me to get out on m bike more. 

So le Tour has also inspired me to (what else) make a quilt! I took a stage profile from the 100th Tour and cut it out of custom TdF fabric from Spoonflower.  The background is made up of fabrics representing the 4 main jersey colors in the race: White for best young rider, Green for sprint points, Polka Dot for best mountain climber & Yellow for the leader (best overall time)  of the race. It's more of a table runner size, but I'll probably hang it on the wall once it's complete.

My July ALYOF goal is to finish quilting this! I did straight lines through the profile so the print elements could be seen clearly. The doodles in the picture are drawn on a clear transparency sheet which helps me decide on a design before stitching. I want to keep it related to each of the jerseys & to cycling if possible.  Linking up at Fiber of All Sorts with this one.