Postcard From Sweden: A Finish

Hey y'all! This is a finish I have been so excited to share! I have admired the Postcard From Sweden pattern for ages, it is so beautiful and colorful. I bought a kit for this quilt in March or April from Stitch Stash Diva on Etsy (they have changed their name since then to Cali Quilt Co!). The kit made prep so much less stressful because all the Kona solids were labeled and the cuts were generous - I'll definitely hit up this seller again! :)

HST's were the name of the game with this quilt and it felt like they would never end at times. Printing off the layout chart and marking off the rows as I went kept me organized but also helped keep me motivated when things felt like they were dragging on!

Though my points aren't perfectly lined up all throughout, it was amazing to compare this quilt to the first quilt I ever made and kept for myself! Practice makes improvement, that's for sure! :) I quilted some orange peel-ish shapes in the square units. They ended up sort of looking like flowers, don't you think?

The backing is a watercolor looking blue solid with the words 'Not all those who wander are lost' printed on it. Something about it pulled me in and I couldn't leave the store without it. The binding is scraps of Kona solids from the front and after looking at the pictures, the happy accident happened of the binding following the colorway of the quilt. I couldn't have pulled that off if I had tried! Lol.

I had planned to keep this quilt, but if you follow me on Instagram, you know that wasn't the case. As soon as the binding was on and my back was turned, my Dad claimed it and burrowed into the couch with it! This is the first quilt I made to keep that was long enough to cover him completely, so he said he couldn't help it! :) Looks like if I want my own Postcard From Sweden, I'll have to make another one. I don't normally make multiples of quilts (unless it's commissioned), but I may break that because I love this one so much!

Halloween Hexies: A Finish

My backyard fence may be my new photo backdrop from now on, it holds quilts quite nicely! :)

Y'all, it has been far too long! Renovating and moving into the house took over, as well as the new adventure of selling some homemade goodies at craft shows! But I have been sewing for fun a little bit and finally got around to photographing those finishes! Today was dreary and windy and my camera batteries were dead, so I had to use my phone. But the show must go on, right?!

The texture on this one is wonderful!

I love everything about this atypical Halloween quilt. I learned how to piece Y-seams and it was actually fun! And those Cotton+Steel prints are adorable. The cats are my favorite, though I bet you already guessed that! :) I quilted spider webs, spiders, and loops all over --- so much fun!

This quilt is actually fairly small, more baby sized than lap sized. I only had a fat quarter of each fabric, so supplies limited me from making a more functional-to-me size. The backing is a skeleton print from Jo Ann's and it's supposed to be glow in the dark! The binding is the same as the backing.

I'm not sure where this quilt will end up. I love it, but I may end up offering it to sell because I don't see it getting a lot of use in my home. We'll have to wait and see! Thanks for reading y'all, stay tuned for my Postcard From Sweden finish next time!

Chemistry Lab Bench: A Finished Quilt

Howdy y'all! I'm back with a finish that took a little while to make. That's right, the girl who keeps saying 'I won't make big quilts' has made another big quilt. I just can't say no. LOL

This queen-sized quilt was commissioned by a coworker for her daughter. She finished her undergraduate degree this spring and will be starting grad school in the fall. The girl loves chemistry! And though I don't understand that (I HATED chemistry in college), I understand wanting a quilt to showcase something you're passionate about! She showed me a picture on Pinterest that linked to this interview on Craftsy. I looked high and low for a pattern or something similar, but turned up empty handed.

I just want to point out that I LOVE the background fabric, so fun! Also, I want to point out that I actually remembered to keep the print going in the right direction for all the piecing! :)

So I took this inspiration and drew up my own design based off the awesomness --- that makes it derivative, right? (I'm still trying to keep all the definitions straight when it comes to inspired work!). I had to simplify some elements, such as the shapes of the flasks and beakers, but I made things a little different by making each container have a different amount of 'liquid' in each. Everything is traditionally pieced because I don't know how to design a paper piecing pattern and it never dawned on me to learn how. Lol.

I had so much fun picking out of my stash for the rainbow of colors. It's amazing what gems I found when I started digging! :) The backing is a flannel with this awesome varying blue color scheme going on. This was the first time I bought an entire bolt of fabric, it was awesome! Hahaha!

Once again, I'm saying no more big quilts, but let's be honest. We know it'll happen again! ;)

Dainty Chaos: A Finished Quilt

Hey y'all! I've got a finish to share!

I scored this kit on Craftsy (not an affiliate link) because those fabrics are just lovely and it was a fantastic deal back when I bought it. They're a part of the Lily & Loom line and absolutely wonderful to work with! If you clicked the link, you'll notice my finished quilt is a bit different than what it should look like. That's because silly me misread the pattern and completely messed things up and didn't realize until I had sewn ALL the blocks together. So I did what any sane quilter would do and made some super colorful lemonade from those blocks! :) I absolutely love the dainty chaos that is this quilt!

The backing is actually the fabric they sent for binding with the kit, along with some charm squares that came free with my order. Still not sure why I got them, but I think it was because my order was over a certain dollar amount maybe? Regardless, I'm stoked that I was able to flesh out my backing with them and keep me from buying anything to finish this quilt!

I had no intended home for this quilt when I made it, I just made it for the joy of making. :) So I'm bringing it along to the handful of craft shows my friend invited me to set up at this spring. Hopefully somebody loves it enough to want to take it home! :)

The Quilt With No Name - A Finished Quilt

<3 I can't even make words to describe how much I love this. :)

Hey y'all! I have a special finish to share today. Do you ever have one of those quilts that you are almost afraid to finish? You want to, but it is sort of bittersweet as you near the finish. I was so excited to wrap things up with this quilt, but as I sewed the binding on, it literally took me hours because I kept dawdling, not sure I was ready to be done with such a long running project.

Simple rainbow piecing and quilting. Makes my heart sing. :)

This quilt was all kinds of new for me. In previous posts, I mentioned that this was the first pattern I 'designed', drawing it on paper and doing quilty math after being inspired by the loading screen of a video game! I used my precious Alison Glass fabric from Christmas 2015 and metallic Essex Linen from my birthday last year. I even went crazy and hand quilted this one! Even crazier, it was rainbow hand quilting! I don't foresee myself doing such large scale hand quilting again anytime soon, but I know I'm not finished with it. :)

I couldn't resist adding a few little pops of color on the binding!

I layered up and ventured out into the cold, knowing this quilt needed natural light to really shine! Depending on the angle, this quilt can look soft or it can be bold and shiny. You can see how the colorful strips are a bit puffy, courtesy of me learning how to keep things straight while hand quilting. Lol. I like it, so I'm not too worried about it!

No snow stuck in the last flurry, so this quilt gets a green backdrop.

Part of the driving force behind me pushing through and finishing this quilt is the Alison Glass linky party over at Quilting Jetgirl! I'm cutting it close, but I couldn't miss putting my quilt in with all the other lovely finishes. Head over and check out the scrumptious Alison Glass creations! :) Also linking up with Finish it Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!


A slip of the camera and the finger resulted in a lovely little shot of the backing. I couldn't help but share. :)

Kite Flight: A Finished Quilt

Howdy y'all! I had hoped to have this one finished before the weekend, but basting with 3 crazy dogs in the house made for a difficult job. I eventually barricaded myself in my parents' bedroom and got it done in record time! Lol.

I did some simple straight line quilting and it was an absolute breeze on my new machine. There was plenty of space so things never got cramped and she stitched like a dream. I just need to get some FMQ under our belts and we'll feel like family, I'm sure of it. :)

I was going to take this one outside for a photoshoot, but it is a soggy, muddy mess outside in my neck of the woods. I just envisioned all that white being ruined and I couldn't muster the guts to take it outside. Lol. So of course, that meant no full length pictures (the closest I have are these from my last post) and not much natural light despite my best efforts. I can't wait for the longer, dryer days of summer!

I tossed this quilt in the washer shortly after pictures and did a gentle tumble dry and, guys, the texture is so soft and cuddly. It crinkled just right and I wanted to snuggle in it, it was so inviting! I'm sewing on the label tonight and hope to get it in the mail within the next couple of days.


Next up is wrapping up the quilting on my Alison Glass quilt! Yvonne over at Quilting Jetgirl is hosting a linky party for Alison Glass projects until the end of January, you should check it out!

'When Life Goes to Pieces, Make a Quilt': A Finish

I tossed it in the chair to get ready to label it and turn around to this!

Howdy y'all, I hope your weekend is treating you well. The rain stopped earlier this morning and the sun (and heat) came back with a vengeance afterwards. It didn't take long for things to dry up, letting me take some pictures of my most recent finish.

Texture x 10000000000!

You've seen these scrappy blocks before here and here. They were a part of Crazy Mom Quilts' Scrap Vortex Along (that link takes you to her quilt along page, and the scrap vortex one is at the bottom). I made some blocks in my spare time, but at the time, I didn't have enough scraps to make a full quilt of those blocks. And when I had enough scraps, I didn't actually want to take the time to make a full quilt of those blocks (yet!).

Scrappy happy blocks and rainbow thread. :)

Seeing those blocks laying on my shelf, I knew I had to do something! So I paired them with some lovely Kona Coal to make those colors really pop!

The quilting looks much better on the back than the front.

I had so much hope for the quilting, but it fell a bit flat in my eyes. I dreamed of spirals for weeks as this one slowly came together. I would sew a seam or two when I had the time, the quilt top slowly taking shape. But I could see the quilting so clearly. I think my fabric shifted some though, because things got a bit bunchy in places on the front. But I couldn't make myself rip it out, I was so far along. And, honestly, I couldn't have yet another disappointment. So I left it and just kept going, cringing as I did. I just prayed that the washer and dryer could work some magic and erase some of my quilting sins.

A lot of mistakes are hidden by those crinkles!

And it did! The worst is still there (lower left center area), but many of the little wrinkles and tucks were disguised by the lovely crinkle. Thank the Lord for Color Catchers, hot water, and high heat, am I right?

The happiest little quilt roll I've ever made. :)

I topped this one off with a scrappy binding. I actually made twice as much binding by accident (when you get on a roll cutting fabric, there's no stopping!), so some of my favorite prints didn't make it in. But oh, these little critters lined up perfectly and it might be my favorite part of the entire quilt.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

And a label. From pretty early on, I intended to call this quilt 'Controlled Chaos' because those scrappy blocks are contained so well in the Kona. But life has a funny way of shifting ideas and perspectives. I won't bore y'all with the details, but for quite a while, it truly has felt like life has gone to pieces. And like the label says, I dig in and make quilts. Because if one thing can bring me happiness and joy, it is making a quilt, even if it is wonky! 

So for now, my heart is content and I'm going to cling to that for as long as I can. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday! I hope to be able to share another finish later this week, I'm just waiting for it to make its way to its new home first! :)

Finally A Finish: Miss Kate's Crooked Pie Plates

Howdy y'all! I had hoped to get this post out by Friday Saturday, but a Saturday at a vet clinic never leaves time for plans. We had 3 or 4 emergencies come in, one of which led to an emergency surgery that kept all of us over by a few hours. But in between all the madness of this weekend, I managed to finish putting my Miss Kate quilt top together. I hadn't shared much progress on these, but I've been making slow progress on this bad boy for a while. All those little pieces take some time to put together!

The crooked white sections makes the tan sections look like stars!

I never could get the white rings to flow smoothly. I checked it out on Craftsy, where I bought the kit, and it seems I'm not the only one who encountered the problem. Thing is, it doesn't bother me much. I actually like this one a lot despite the choppiness and the not-normally-me fabric. I was worried I would hate it after all the hard work I put in so far, but I just want to snuggle into it.

Can't wait to give this one a proper photoshoot in some sunlight, those colors are lovely, I promise. :)

Now is just the waiting game of getting a backing on a budget. I had read on another blog that you can use a sheet as a backing...Has anybody had luck doing that before? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading y'all! :)

Peels of Patience: A Finish!

That's right folks, I finished my Orange Peels! Y'all have been seeing these blocks since I started blogging and they are finally completed! :) All the orange peels are appliqued onto the background squares by hand using the freezer paper method. I used this tutorial that Amanda Jean shared over on Crazy Mom Quilts when she made her orange peel quilt. After that, I machine pieced the blocks together into a top.

THE TEXTURE!

I almost did the quilting with with my free motion foot, but decided at the last minute to use my walking foot/zigzag foot. I figured I could get straighter lines and be more consistent, but would have to pivot that quilt at every single corner. It was a pain in the booty, but I'm glad I stuck with my decision! The light gray thread I used just blends into those low volume squares, you almost can't see the quilting unless the light catches it! For the binding, I decided to take a note out of Scrapmaster and The Running Thimble's book and go low volume. I'm loving those little dots! :)

This isn't a very big quilt, but it's the perfect size for a car ride or to cover my lap while blogging or sewing on the couch.

And of course, a simple label. I decided to call it 'Peels of Patience' because the majority of the time I was sewing orange peels was in waiting rooms or waiting on other people. These peels saw many doctor offices, at least one emergency room, and several other places.

The backing really shows off the quilting, I love it!

I'm so glad to get this one finished and ready for some cuddles, though it will be weird to not have it to work on anymore. I'll just have to find another project for waiting rooms I guess!
Linking up with Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF! Also, this was my goal for OMG February! :) Also also, this was one of my goals for the 2016 Finish Along - First Quarter!

This quilt makes me so happy! :)

Throwback Thursday: The Final Kid Quilt of 2014

 

Howdy y'all, it's that time again! Jenn over at A Quarter Inch From the Edge is hosting Throwback Thursday again! I can't believe I still have quilts to share, but quilts for the kids in my family are keeping me going. :)

This one is the last of the 'quilts for the kids' saga that was Christmas 2014. This one was for the oldest boy of the kiddos, though he is still little in my eyes. He's in grade school and is allllllll about sports. It was surprising how hard it was to find coordinating sports fabrics. This was also the time I experienced sticker shock when buying a college sports fabric (THOSE LOGOS TRIPLE THE PRICE, I SWEAR!)

I'm not entirely sure what I was going for with this quilt. The layout is...I'm not entirely sure. I think I was running out of ideas for simple layouts involving squares and just sort of winged it! Lol. Super simple quilting and a plain backing kept with the KISS method (keep it simple, stupid!). A scrappy binding rounded things out for a quick finish.

I remember I actually delivered this one after Christmas. I got sick right before Christmas that year and wasn't able to finish this last one in time. By some quirk of fate, however, this kiddo didn't show up for our family Christmas party and didn't miss out on getting his gift that day! My aunt texted me when he opened it after I delivered it and said he loved it! I think she sent me a picture of him curled up in it on the couch around that time too.  I have to say, my favorite part of making quilts is the love they receive after they are gifted.  :)

What about you guys? Do you have a ghost from quilty past you want to share? Head on over to Jenn's and link up if you do, there's a giveaway too!