NY mini Festival Quilt

This is my second entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amys Creative Side.  This time I'm linking it into the Mini Quilt Category.

I made this quilt as a housewarming gift for friends of mine when they bought their first house.  I had a sudden wave of inspiration with this quilt and it didn't take long to put it all together.  I chose to make the Empire State Building as that's where they got engaged!  Their wedding was NY themed as well.

I knew it would be a perfect addition for their new space and something they would appreciate and love.  I had a small amount of the ombre tan fabric in my stash so it had to be cut carefully - no room for mistakes!  I fused it to the cityscape background (perfect for NYC) and freehand cut & sketched the antenna for the top.  After it was all in place, I used a button hole stitch to secure the edges of the pieces.  I quilted some lines radiating out from the antenna, outlined the building and added a few lines to help accentuate the verticality of the building.

I don't have a listing of the measurements on hand, but it was roughly 20" x 14".  The fabrics were all from my stash, I used Aurifil thread and leftover warm & white batting scraps that I pieced together.  The backing is also from my stash and is a gold ring print, the binding is a blue textured print.

This quilt was a lot of fun to make and my friends immediately put it up in their living room - hooray!  I'm so glad they love it and hope it reminds them of the joyous day in their lives.  Thanks for stopping by - if you like what you see - become a follower over there on the right or leave a comment.

Kaleidoscope Festival

Hi to everyone stopping by from the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amys Creative Side!  It's always so much fun to see what great quilts people are making and I'm glad to share one of my recent finishes with you today.  

I'd previously posted about this quilt while it was in progress, but never had a full reveal until now.  Linking up in the Large Quilt Category for my first entry.

Introducing my Kaleidoscope Quilt!  

It's about 70" x 60" and perfect for snuggling under with a movie.  I chose orange, raspberry & grey fabrics from my stash planning to color the blocks in an alternate layout.  Momm was inspired to make one too so we made twin kaleidoscopes - Momm's is orange, blue & grey.  We traded some orange & grey fabrics so we have bits of the other in our quilt.  :)   Mine doesn't have a name yet because it is a twin and it's waiting for Momm to finish quilting hers.  (go Momm!)

I quilted it on my Janome machine and it was really smooth going to get the back & forth lines in the grey background.  I had movies and some Firefly to keep me company while quilting and now it has some awesome texture and drape!

I used warm & white batting which I love, Aurifil thread to piece & quilt it.  The backing is this fun bunting/scallop print from Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie & Camille - it went so well with the colors on the front without being too loud.  I wanted the binding to contrast the colors and chose an aqua Sketch print.

Momm's quilt has a fun raspberry Kaffe print as the backing and a raspberry sketch print for the binding.  See - twins!  If you like what you see - become a follower over there on the right or leave a comment.  Be sure to check out the other entrants and get inspired!

Insta-postings

Does anyone else compose posts in their heads when life gets too busy to actually type them out on the computer?  That's what I've done these past weeks!  So instead of more radio silence, here's a few glimpses into what's buzzing!

my car now travels in hyperspace!

rock hiking

Quilt Week 2014!

Quilt Man, Momm, Me, Bobbin

 Bet you didn't know quilters had their own superheros!  If you visit Paducah during Quilt Week you'll probably see Quilt Man around town, accompanied by his trusty sidekick Bobbin.

Celebrating May the 4th be with you & Revenge of the 5th Star Wars day!

Carryin' the Banner!

 Newsies! on Broadway!! :D  More to come about that - soon.

Swoon WIP :: 4/16

I've declared this as the year that my Swoon quilt will *finally* be finished.  I even went so far as to write 2014 on the label as the finish date - so it will be done!  I'm focusing pretty much on this project for now.

front

from the back

Last month I actually started quilting this one and have continued that progress right along.  I'm now working on the sashing/borders with some FMQ using the Seafoam design from Angela Walters' book.  It's fitting since I've named the quilt Pure Seaglass, as the colors remind me of finding bits of sea glass at the beach.

I can already tell this will take awhile to get it all quilted, and hopefully it turns out the way I hoped once it's all finished.

Linking up at Freshly Pieced this Wednesday and getting myself ready for Quilt Week!

bee-utiful napkins!

I had fun finishing up my napkins for this summer.  They are the same hive print from Honey Honey - in the blue and orange color ways.  I used my Clover binding clips to help hold the hems down on the first couple of napkins and they worked like a charm.   

While talking to Momm about quilty things recently, she remembered that our machines came with a foot for hemming.  So I pulled out my manual, found the Rolled Hem Foot D and looked up how to use it.  It took a few trial runs and some seam ripping…but I managed to make a fairly decent rolled hem on the rest of the napkins.  The corners were by far the trickiest and I need some more practice on those for next time.

It was fun to learn a new skill and use some of the other feet that came with Gilbert.  He worked through these like a pro!  I love my machine!  :D

I'll link this up at Fiber of All Sorts for my April ALYOF project.  Now that it's nice enough for dinner out on the deck I can put them to good use.
*Edit: linking up at The Littlest Thistle for the FAL Quarter 2 - number 213.  This one was on my original Q2 list and was a quick finish!

Sunday Sunday

Are you ready for some fabric?  I've added the following goodies to my stash recently and am linking up my Sunday Stashing over with Molli Sparkles!

First up this delicious stack of sketch print half yard cuts.  A wonderful birthday present that makes me smile whenever I walk by my sewing machine. :)  Not sure how I'll manage to ever cut into these!

Next - this fun stack of polka dots - who can resist the dots?!  I certainly can not. 

I snagged the dots mostly from the remnant table at Hancock's - along with this cut of High Street and the purple geometric (which I already have in Teal).  Fabric at a discount - yes please!  :D

 My most recent stashings were these lovelies: some dots from April Showers, Botanics leaf prints, and Crosshatch from Architextures in white and orange.  I couldn't resist picking these up from Hancocks' either.

 
 I'll probably stop in again this week before all the quilters arrive for Quilt Show!  But first I have to see what colors might need some beefing up in my stash…..

Second Quarter Face Off

Quarter 2 of the Finish-a-Long is about to begin so of course I have an overly ambitious list of projects to finish.   :D  A couple have slid from Q1 to this list, but I'm okay with that - it helps remind me to work on them when I have a chance.

1. Pure Seaglass *aka Swoon*:  from Q1, currently half quilted and I've got some Netflix ready for the rest of the quilting.

2. Improv Quilt: also from Q1, still just a top that needs backing, basting and some idea of what it needs in quilting.

3. Napkins: I found this Kate Spain Honey Honey fabric on sale at Hancock's recently and decided it had to be napkins for my table.  I've got 2 made, and about 6 to go at the moment.  

4. Get a Clue #1: At retreat I made 2 quilt tops using my Nancy Drew layer cake.  One is intended to be a gift, so I better get cracking on this one.

#1 - Nancy Drew

5. Get a clue #2: This one is for me and I'm planning to quilt both of these the same way so I need to make some backings.

#2- Nancy Drew

*please excuse the slightly blurry shots!

6. Twister: A wall quilt top from Retreat that needs to be basted and quilted. (apparently I don't have a picture handy of the finished top)

Well all of that ought to keep me out of trouble over the next few months.  This is my hardest quarter of the year as I have much to do with Quilt Week and Quilt Camp bookending the quarter.  Be sure to make your list of projects to finish and link up with us at Littlest Thistle!