Pixelated Hearts: A Finish

Hey y'all! I have several finishes from 2017 that I still need to share, so let's start this little show off right! First up is a baby/small child quilt. I used this free pattern from Dear Stella that I found on Pinterest and made a block or two to make a dent in my pink scraps, which were becoming a bit overwhelming. I set them aside since I was working on a big commission project (more on that next week!), but God has a way of picking your projects sometimes! I basically went on a quilting bender and finished most of this quilt in a few days once I knew where it was going.

I used the extra pink squares I cut and put them in the binding! Lots of seams but sooooo cute! :)

In my Sunday school class, we've been praying for a little girl that has cancer. Even though I don't know her, I just kept thinking about this poor little girl and wishing I could help somehow. And I just felt this nudge that she needed these hearts. She needed to know that she's got love coming in from all over wishing her good health and recovery.

Pieced backings are extra work, but they make me smile. :)

 Besides a bit of white yardage I bought for the front, this entire quilt (batting included!) was from the stash. For some reason, that makes this finish feel even better! :) Some of those prints on the back are from the first quilts I made for the kids in my family! Though the fabric choices are similar to quilts past, the quilting has improved quite a bit I'd say! FMQ loop-dee-do's with some hearts thrown in make this a cuddly little finish.

I wish I could have taken better pictures of this quilt, but time was of the essence. I literally finished this just before bed and packed it up to be delivered the next morning!

This will forever be my favorite quilt 'pose'! Lol.

Thanks for stopping in, y'all! Have a good week! :)

Finish it Up...Sunday? - Link Pixel Quilt

You read that right, y'all! I have a finish to share! I bought supplies one week ago and I managed to cut, piece, baste, quilt, bind, and label within that week, combined with a 41.5 hour work week, an evening of Christmas candy making, and a half day of Christmas shopping. I feel like Super Woman...kidding, I'm exhausted. Lol.

If you missed out on my first post, this baby quilt was a commission for my boss who wanted it before Christmas. This wouldn't have been difficult except she ordered it after the beginning of December. But no matter, a pixelated Link character was decided on and off I went! My boss also wanted the triforce (the 3 triangle symbol) in the quilt somehow, but I couldn't find room on the top for it. A little brainstorming led to the triforce taking over the back instead thanks to Heat N' Bond!

My Heat N' Bond gave me fits for this quilt, I'm not sure what was up with it. :P

I actually really liked getting to do a pixel quilt. I have big plans for a pixel quilt in the future and this was a great way to practice. I'm happy with my improvement in matching seams; I used to be terrible at it and I'm beginning to match more often than not now! Besides matching seams, the biggest challenge was how to quilt it. I feel like pixel quilts are all about the piecing and the picture it makes, so I didn't want the quilting to distract from that. I ended up opting for straight line quilting on the diagonal and I'm pleased with it.

I would have preferred a light gray thread, but beggars can't be choosers (especially on a deadline!)

I also added a label, which is a habit I'm glad I'm picking up. My boss only requested the baby's name and birthdate, opting out of a special message. I also included my blog name. I almost put my actual name, but I figured if the quilt isn't for family, it's made by LBCQ. What about you? Do you label quilts? And if so, do you use your real name or a brand/blog name?

As I said in the beginning, I'm wiped after making this quilt. I was up late more than one night (my latest was 1:30 am!) but I'm proud of what I've created. This is getting taken to work with me tomorrow for delivery! You'd think I'd be ready for a break now, but the sewing chaos has just begun! Be expecting more updates this week!

Thanks for stopping by y'all!

WIP Wednesday: The 'What Was I Thinking' Commission

Happy Wednesday y'all, though it's nearly gone by now! I've been working away all day, most of it at the clinic, then running errands with Mr. LBC, then upstairs to my sewing machine and this project when we got home. I started this on Sunday and basically every spare minute has been devoted to working on this. "Why?" you may be asking, when I've never been one to rush like this (except with the Supernova!). That's because I'm crazy! Hahaha

Who doesn't love an LBC glamour shot? LOL

My boss asked if I could make a baby quilt for somebody in her family before Christmas. It was already after Thanksgiving but I foolishly said YES! The parents of baby are big Legend of Zelda fans, so my boss requested something along those lines. She liked the pixel quilts she saw on Pinterest, so I found a design we both liked and started crunching numbers. I'm not a fan of math, but at least quilty math leads to sewing!

I bought a delicious stack of solids at Jo Ann's. Sadly, I couldn't get all Kona like I wanted, but time was of the essence and I needed fabric NOW! I started cutting 2.5 inch squares when I got home and laid them out on the floor since my design wall is occupied at the moment. What a battle it's been keeping Elvis and LBC out of the craft room and off the squares! Lol. I just finished sewing all the individual rows tonight, so next is ironing all those seams open and then sewing all the rows together into a top.

Being supervised. Lol. I was being as quiet as I could so I could lay out squares in peace. ;)

I'm sure plenty of people have thought of this, but I felt so smart when I came up with this idea for transporting squares from my 'design floor' to my sewing machine. I used an old cookie sheet, ruined by an old roommate but I couldn't bare to toss it out. I found it among my craft stuff not long before starting this project! I just put a row at a time on the cookie sheet and worked my way through them like words on a page, top left to right, moving down the pan. They helped me keep my chain pieced bits straight as I worked.

One row at a time fit perfectly on this little pan!

And the pan fit quite nicely beside my sewing machine!

Though I'm enjoying making this quilt, I can tell I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to meet such a tight deadline. I need to smack my optimistic side next time! Lol.

For those of you thinking LBC is an angel, this is the face he made when I told him to get off the squares. Lol. I came in to find piles of squares strung across the room the next morning and LBC sitting in his chair looking smug. Hahaha

Linking up with WIP Wednesday and NTT!