Hexie Sampler

The last quilt I received back a couple of weeks ago is one I'm calling Hexie Sampler. The hexie blocks are in the book Sizzlin' 60s by Heather Mulder Peterson. Her quilt patterns all use the same patterns. I wanted to try a bunch of them, so I made some of each of different styles. Here's the top of the quilt:

It took me a long time and many different layouts before I came to this one...and I love the way it turned out. Here's a close up of the middle:

Can you see the quilting? It's awesome!! Here's an even closer shot:

For the back, I took the left over jelly roll strips and tried a chevron layout I saw on the web. It was truly easy! No 1/2 square triangles - just strips cut and then laid out on point... I ended up with a long thin strip, so I cut it in 1/2, and put a white strip in the middle and then on both ends. It looks great I think. Here's a look:

I know, bit light...so here's a close up:

and even closer as it's a great shot of the quilting:

This quilt measures 48 x 64 so it's a good lap size.

All 5 of the last quilts completed will be put away for now until after the holidays...with the exception of my new Christmas quilt...that's coming out for show this holiday!!!

I have some small table topper projects to get done - at least 1 I'd like to get done as a present...so we'll see. The rest of this weekend will be spent getting ready for Thanksgiving...and that includes cleaning up the sewing space since it's also the living room!

2 more complete - Cindy Lou Who and Blue & White (Windmills?)

August 2012 - I started the Cindy Lou Who quilt with left over Countdown to Christmas (by Sweetwater) fabric. I loved the pattern - It's a Schnibble (by Carrie Nelson) pattern. Here's the finished quilt:

 

Such an awesome quilt! I can't wait to use this one this year. The back and the binding are all leftovers... Here's a close up of the quilting:

It's a swirly loopy free-form design. The quilt is 48.5 inches square.
The blue and white quilt was made from leftovers of fabric from a blue and white quilt I made in 2004-2005. I don't remember when I started it. It's a replica of a quilt my Grandma Brostrom made, and is owned by my younger sister. I drafted the block on a visit to her house years ago... I made the top and realized the blocks were about 1/2 the size and the quilt was very small. I put the top away for a few years. When going through tops to have finished. I pulled it out and decided it was a size that I've been using lately as table toppers. The quilt is 48 inches square... Here it is:

I have to find the pattern I found that says what the block is called. Here's a close up of a block and the quilting:

It's like a windmill block...I pieced it as 1/2 squares instead of geese. I'd try again as geese with the 'new' method that uses blocks and has a lot less waster. Again, I used up most of my fabric to the binding is leftovers and very scrappy...

Here's the back:

I wanted to show this as I used up some fabric that had been in my stash a long, long time! I had some fat quarters and other fabric and it was sort of easy to match the tones of blue and white.

I have one more quilt to bind. I made the binding tonight and hope to attach it. The weather has been cooler in the evening so it's nice to have some binding to do! Hopefully, next week I'll have that quilt finished and ready to post too!

2 More Finishes - Hearts and Carpenters Star quilts

I have two more finishes to share. I actually finished these at the end of October and it took me this long to take pictures... I'm so lame. I usually set my quilts on the floor/carpet and take pictures. It's pretty dark at this time of year so I was waiting for the right lighting during the weekend...which didn't happen. It occurred to me last night that I could use the awesome binding clips and clip the finished quilt to my design wall and take pictures there... My design wall is in my entry and I have a huge overhead light so I took a bunch of pictures of both quilts - both with and without flash. These are quilts I pieced in 2011 and 2012...it's nice to get them done.

String Hearts - also called Scrappy Hearts - also called Crazy Hearts. Here's a picture of the entire quilt:

All of the hearts are pieced with leftovers from various quilt projects. I then cut the heart shape out using my pinking shears on the edges and raw edge appliqued them alternating the black and white for backgrounds. A friend gave me a bunch of black and white fabrics (thanks Mary!) so I used them. The back is pieced black and white...and was a top but made a great back. Here's a picture of it when it was pieced...

The quilt is 48 inches square. I love that it only cost me the quilting cost and my time!!!

The second quilt is a scrappy/strippy Carpenter's Star. I have always loved this pattern. I saw something similar online somewhere and decided to try and make it up ...so here's mine:

OK, I'm not a big fan of this one. It does look better in person... I did get to use up lots of scraps...and I think I'd try this pattern again...and maybe even in a smaller scale. The backing is just an off white fabric that fit for most of it...and then I pieced a little white strip in at the bottom. This quilt is 48.5 inches square.

I've got three more quilts back from my LAQ yesterday so I'll be doing some binding - and then will share them when complete. At least one of them has been sitting around for years...so it'll be fun to have that one done (as the quilting turned out awesome - as usual)! I should be back sooner than a month from now!

Doing the Twist with Bungle Jungle - 2

I loved this quilt the first time I made one...and I have another work baby that's due in November. So I found some fabric - not in the colorway I wanted - but it'll do. I used the pattern and did the border the correct way this time... and here it is:

You can't see the twists as well, but they are there...

A closer view of the quilting:

this is "hippo"...

this is "monkey"... cool, huh?

and an even closer view of "monkey"...

My handwritten label...

And a view of the entire back. I use the satin blanket binding and didn't think one package would cover...so I mixed up a lime green and a teal... I think it turned out nice and the slanted seams match the twists in the border...

So happy to have this one done! The shower is on Wednesday so now I just have to wrap it up!

Panda Cindy Lou Who

My lifelong friend sent me phone camera pictures of the quilt I made for her. Here they are:

I hope the quality is ok... Looks like it may be upside down... I'll see if I can rotate...Try this...

WOW - so much smaller too... we'll see what happens online...

Here's a closer shot of a corner of the quilt. I'm leaving the orientation on this one as it came over!

OK, last shot of the back - this was the last of the fabric I had from the two "Sweet Treat" bundles. If you're at a show and see this vendor, Pincushion Boutique, try their Sweet Treats. I bought a few of them as stash, or the beginning of a project. I had very little to add to this project - just the two borders and the binding. I had the black and white fabric from another project, so I only had to buy the additional panda fabric...Used the rest of that and the Sweet Treat leftovers for the back. Here it is...

WOW, looks like I didn't even sign this. So Sorry about that! You'll have to sign it for me K! I just use a regular Sharpie marker - hahaha - yep, nothing fancy!! I'd say I was a slacker but really I was just trying to get this one done in limited free time!!! Saved me from bringing it back home and mailing it back!

Love you K - and thanks for the photos!!!

Complete - Doing the Twist using Bungle Jungle kit

While on vacation in August, I picked up a quilt kit at Mother's Originals Quilt Shop in Pequot Lakes, MN. The kit contained the Doing the Twist pattern from Pieced Tree patterns and all of the fabrics for the top and binding based on a print of Bungle Jungle (from Moda). The kit fabrics were wonderful as the woman that owns the shop has a great eye for putting things together. She is also very generous in her fabric. I had enough extra for the backing as I typically like the blanket binding for baby quilts...

Here's the finished quilt:

Cute, huh? If you know the pattern, you know that I accidentally mixed up the placement of the blue and pattern in the border... Oh well! Once I had figured it out, I had the entire top together and I was not going to rip it out! I think it looks fine and no one will know - except those of you who read my blog!

Here's a close-up of some of the quilting:

The quilting is loops and circles...with some of the animal names quilted within the center also... If you can see it, this photo has the "phant" part of "elephant" up between the giraffe and the elephant. My LAQ is super talented!!!

Here's the back:

See? So much extra fabric I used it for the backing! I had two small sections to add to the top and bottom in yellow, but there was barely any of it left showing when complete! I don't label my quilts, but I do sign them in sharpie marker with both my name/city and the name/city of my LAQ - plus the month and year completed.

This quilt was made for a coworker's new grandson that was born a week before I finished the quilt. I brought it to work with me and she showed everyone she could think of there...and then took it to her daughter that evening. It was a hit with everyone, especially those quilted animal names!!!

I haven't finished that many quilts this year yet, and this one has me motivated to make two others - one new mom is due in November and the other mom is expecting her second child in March. I need to get started on the quilt for November... I hear it's more woodland creatures in muted green/blue/earth tones...

Star Surround QAL - Top finished!

I finished my top today! It turned out so awesome! Here's a photo:

The top finished at 48.5 inches square... All of the fabrics are from my stash and I'm loving every one of them. I don't know if I'll be able to quilt this one myself, or take it to my LAQ and put it in rotation. I am going to try some machine quilting during this long weekend as I have lots of little projects that I can work on... I've done a lot of straight line or follow the shape quilting...but I'm sure this one would look great with something else...not sure what yet, but since it's on my design wall I can look at it for awhile and maybe inspiration will come!

I do have a couple of other projects to piece...which means lot of ironing---I'm so thankful for AC as it was 100 degrees on my back patio today...Hello fall - hahaha.

One More Baby Quilt for September

I have a coworker who became a grandma a couple of years ago. Her granddaughter is so cute! I made her a quilt for the baby shower we had at work. I've been feeling guilty as she's expecting a grandson at the beginning of September - yes Labor Day weekend to be exact.

Anyway, I've been feeling guilty and uninspired and hadn't made a quilt. When I was in MN they were having their quilt shop hop. We were in northern MN and the only shop in the area, Mother's Originals Quilt Shop in Pequot Lakes, participated in the shop hop. I was at the shop afterwards by a day. The lady who owns/runs the shop puts together the cutest kits - I bought 4 table runner patterns back in 2010 (still need to quilt and bind those) - and I asked her if she had any kits. Since the run had just ended, pickings were slim but there was one kit for a baby quilt. The kits are typically made around a Pieced Tree Pattern (you know, the cute little black and white laminated  patterns that are kinda cute/simple/easy). The shop owner has the best eye for putting together kits and this one was no exception. How could I not buy it? Here's the top:

The pattern is TINY75 "Doing the Twist". I mixed up the blue and gray fabrics in the border and didn't have enough to be able to correct the mistake. I think I'm the only one to know how it really should be... All of the left over fabric is going for the backing. The kit came with all fabrics for the top and binding - but I used the binding fabric for the back as I like to use the satin blanket binding for binding baby quilts... I'm dropping this one off at the LAQ tomorrow and should be done pretty quickly as I had some other quilts there that can slide in getting finished. Should be a fun quilt when completed.

This one was fun too as I started and finished piecing the top on Saturday. The backing was done that day too...so it was a quilt in a day (HAHAHA). The quilt is about 41 inches square. I do love these little Pieced Tree patterns. I bought a handful of them while in MN...you know, to add to my collection.

2 Finishes

I used to be so organized. I'd start a quilt and start a paper record of my start date, important dates in the project and the cost of making the quilt or project... Now I'm lucky if I get a picture and sometimes I fill out my online book so that I have the information on record. I have been trying to blog about all of my quilt projects and that way I can go back and fill out my records...

My big fail is that I delivered a completed quilt to a lifelong friend and didn't take one single picture. Not of the fabric. Not of the top in progress or even completed. And definitely not of the completed quilt ... crazy! I was so excited that my LAQ had finished the quilt before vacation. I sewed on the binding before leaving and packed the rest of my binding supplies so that I could hand finish the back. I did finish the back while on vacation and delivered the quilt the last morning in MN. Yep, not one picture of the actual quilt. It was a "Cindy Lou Who" quilt from a Schnibbles pattern...very similar to this quilt:

The quilt was made with two "Sweet Treat" fat quarter bundles from the Pincushion Boutique. I bought them at the Houston International Quilt Show in November. The two bundles were "Love That Panda" and Pandarama II". They had panda fabric that had red and green backgrounds... go figure! I also used white and black in the quilt and put a final border of a black and white print fabric, which was also used as the binding. Leftover Panda fabric purchased online was used for the backing...The quilt was approximately 47.5 square.  The quilt was given to my friend who loves Pandas and has a December birthday. She loved it!

 

My second quilt finish is for a friend who is anticipating the birth of her 2nd child, a girl, in a week or so. When asked by her father (also a friend of mine) what the nursery colors were going to be, I was told pink, gray, white and the theme would be woodland creatures. I had made a quilt for her 1st born son with some cute embroidered woodland creatures. I had to look online to find some fabric choices but found the fabric close to home at Rosies Calico Cupboard (a must stop quilt store if you're in the San Diego area). Here's the finished quilt:

The pattern is from Anka's Treasure Livin' Large book. The pattern is called "Pretty in Pink" - I modified it a bit and left off the applique... Here's a close up of the "focus" fabric:

Can you see the woodland creatures? They are a bit modern, but I like them and the quilt. The quilting has loops and leaves and other freehand creations! This quilt measures about 42 x 45 and is in a box ready to take to the post office tomorrow.

Star Surround QAL

I tried to catch up today... Two weeks ago when the block centers came out, I didn't have enough time to sew them before going on vacation. And then vacation just ended Tuesday...and I went to work both Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was spent on campus with my daughter getting her ready for her JUNIOR year at SDSU (woop woop). Saturday was laundry day which finally was finished today. I'm not complaining about that one as more than half of the loads were new fabric I bought (what can I say...except a few more projects are going to be in work this year!). I had done some of the sewing last night but got too tired/frustrated and went to bed. I had pieced a different quilt too yesterday which I need to get done in the next two weeks...

So, here's where I am...

very close, huh? I just do not have the small corner blocks sewn. I could have done them and did have one set done...but then moved the block around as I didn't like the combination. I'm not thrilled with some of the pairing in the corners as they are too much the same. I did match the fabrics with the centers, but I think I may move them around still...

Oh and three of the centers I want to rip out and resew. I didn't like the way they turned out when I pressed them. I tried to press them open, but I had a harder time of that then if I had pressed them to the side and locked them. That's what I did on the other 6 and it was a lot easier!

 I'll let it sit until tomorrow and then I'll look at it again. I do like it better in miniature online!

Star Surround Geese!

Here are my lovely 9 piles of 12 each geese blocks.

There were so easy following the directions!

And yes, behind are all of my 1/2 square triangles! I'm excited to get the next step directions tomorrow and start piecing blocks together!! At least, that's what I'm hoping is next!!

I have two quilts back from my LAQ and are working on binding them. I hope to share that in the next week to so!

Star Surround Quilt A Long

I saw this great quilt at the Happy Quilter blog. I've made some of her other quilts, but typically after the fact. When I saw one of the color palettes and thought about my stash, I decided to try and quilt a long... So, I took 9 blue and green fabrics from my stash, plus a few whites for the background...

 The next week, was cutting. Here are my stacks. The stack in the very back are the leftovers...

 And finally this weekend, I caught up. Here are my 9 stacks of 1/2 square triangles. I used the little .5 inch square ruler to square them up. This week, I'm going to try and not wait until the last minute to do the step...

And here' the rest of the cut squares ready for whatever comes next...

Pickle Dish, Starstruck, Aloha

I've finished up the backings for quilt tops from last year. They are now awaiting a call from my LAQ... When I have some finished quilts to bind, I'll bring over that many more for her to complete. I also have a FULL bag of runners and small quilts for me to quilt...I hope to do that in August and September.

For now, I've been working on some NEW quilt tops and I thought I'd share them since 2 of them I just finished...

The first is a Pickle Dish quilt. The pattern is from the book Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance. I like the way these are made into a square block that makes it easier to put together. Here's the top so far:

and a closer view of some of the blocks:

Cool, huh? Almost everything is from my stash...I did have to add some additional white fabric, but all of the colored fans are stash.

Next, here's some of the "Starstruck" blocks. I think that's what I'm calling it - maybe not:

You see the Pickle Dish at the top as I was working on both blocks at the same time. These are the bottom blocks...and they are so much easier that the Pickle Dish! The Pickle Dish is paper pieced and I  learned a couple of things from it. The Star burst (huh maybe that's better?) blocks are just cut using a 15 degree ruler and are very easy... I did a pieced white/pattern/white blade with a pure white blade...cool, huh? I also bought some red/white/blue fabric to do a patriot version. The thing I need to figure out is...when I made these, I cut from the bottom of the ruler and it all came together in the middle...to the point where I trimmed it out and am going to applique a middle back on - too many seams! So, for the red/white/blue version, I'm going to start at either 1 inch or 2 inch line and see what happens.

I went to a couple of shops during a shop hop - didn't do the entire thing as it was 30-40 shops from LA to Palm Springs to Chula Vista. It was too hot and I wasn't in the mood to run for two weeks, so I did a couple of the local shops that I like. One shop, Cozy Quilt Shop in El Cajon, is well known for a few different things... I bought this kit from them:

 The pattern was free with the purchase of the book "Layer 'em Up" by Sharyn Craig. I bought the kit also, so I got a 2nd copy of the pattern for free... The entire top took just a few hours ... it was very, very fast - which is what Cozy specializes in. I'm making this for a Christmas gift for a coworker...I'm going to buttonhole stitch the letters down and then do some very basic quilting to finish this by myself... The kit was great as it had the blocks precut and TONS of fabric for the letters and center - I bet I could make another center panel from the left overs!...

So, that's what I've been working on lately. Of course, I have more potential projects than time - but these have been fun to work on over the past couple of months.

BTW, if you read Quilter's Newsletter Monthly magazine, my LAQ has a quilt showcased as a ribbon winner at Denver International quilt show. She has the samurai quilt...it's so very impressive in person!

 

4 ready to go...one left!

I finished making backs for 2 more tops. I have one last top without a back... AND with my using a top as a back...I'm 1/2 way there...I figure if I square up the quilt that is on point, and then insert 3 vertical panels and one horizontal panel...I'll have a back!

I have a whole stack of runners and small quilts that are ready to be quilted by me... I have 2 tops that will need backs and batting...and then every top I have will really be part of a kit...ready for quilting. YEAH!!!

I am working on a challenge quilt...and bought fabric for another experiment. My challenge quilt is a pickle dish from the book Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance. It's paper pieced but with a twist in that you end up with blocks to sew together which is awesome! I'm using fabric that look almost solid...in rainbow colors.

I bought fabric to make another quilt that hsd Dresden fans...that are turned into blocks and sewn together...instead of having to applique the circles.  I've got  some neat fabrics that should make some cool designs...

And both blocks/quilts have lots and lots of WHITE for the background...which should be fun too!  Pictures coming soon!

Two more down...two more going soon

I went through the remaining tops and noticed that one could make a decent back for the other if it was bigger... So I increased the number of blocks and rows by one in each direction and then added on a border...and I have another quilt sandwich to have quilted! I have two more tops that I can do the same thing to...I just have to add in some borders to one to make it bigger as a backing...

After that I'll have two more complete tops to make backs for and then I'm up to date with the big quilts that need to go out for quilting. I then can start on the stack of smaller quilts and runners that I think I can quilt on my own...and that's a big pile too!

Pictures will come at some point. Just nothing too thrilling at this point to post!

Status update...

I forgot to post my progress from last holiday weekend.  I started on backings...but then switched to the quilt I needed to get done...and then late Monday, needed to get one more backing done.

So, on Wednesday, I dropped off 4 quilts to be quilted!!! YEAH!!!

Two are for gifts, one is a top I pieced a few years ago...and the 4th was similar to one I made as a gift so I figured it could be quilted the same. I should have them back early August at the latest...which is awesome. I love to bind and that part will go very quick. I hope to get the rest of the backings and battings done in the next week or two so that I can pick up completed quilts...and drop off more!

The one baby quilt I made I showed to the future Grandpa and it met with approval so I'm very glad about that!

Works in Progress

I pulled out all of the tops I have made and made a list of them. There's almost an even dozen. On this holiday weekend, my goal is to have backs and battings made for most or all of them and then take them to the quilter...except for one little quilt and a table runner. I also have 4 or so table runners. All of these I plan to quilt myself...either with some straight lines or some free motion. I've been practicing a little bit and need to spend more time...

I've also got a couple of quilts to piece...one a baby quilt I want to get complete before September.

I've been bad at blogging over the past 6 months or so, and I hope to do a lot of work and posting from this point forward.

I'm also piecing a pickle dish quilt that is a hard pattern to piece. It's nice to have something a little more challenging...except when stressed out and then I've been finishing very small projects!

The quilt tops came out as I need to reorganize my space too...lots of work to do so I better get to it!

So cool...

Have you heard of Sweetwater? they are here:
http://sweetwater.typepad.com/makelifesweet/
and they make labels and fabrics and patterns and all kinds of great things. Well, they announced earlier this week a new fabric line and I need to get me some... A year ago, they asked for you to comment and leave addresses. Yep, I submitted my current address and a couple of others - including my childhood home address. Well, I can find my current street name on the samples on their website! I'll have to get the fabric now!!!