Plaid Quilt Top

I managed to get something done in my evenings this past week! That feels like a huge accomplishment considering the crazy days around here.

My SIL commissioned me to do quilts for each of their kids. This is the last of the three for their youngest little guy. Here is his big sister's quilt and his big brother's quilt. My SIL wanted the boys' quilts to coordinate, but not match. Her request on this second quilt was simply something with plaid and left the design up to me. I've actually been putting this quilt off for a while because I was dreading designing it and putting it together. I knew exactly how I wanted to design it, and I thought it would be a beast. There is no repetition in this quilt and all pieces had to be cut for their specific location. Surprisingly, this was probably the fastest large quilt top I've ever made. It came together in just a few days, just working mostly in the evenings.

I'm so happy with how it came out. I think it will look great on his bed. It's a large twin at about 70" x 90". I didn't have quite enough fabric for the backing so that is currently on order. I'm now considering my plans for the quilting. I intend to quilt each fabric with matching thread which will require many starts/stops, particularly on the blue. I'll get really good at hiding my threads.

On a side note I noticed things are actually growing in my garden. I'm pleasantly surprised by this considering I'm not a gardener by any means.

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge Blog Hop

Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilting is at it again. She is hosting another round of the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge and asked me to participate in the blog hop.

For my stop I wanted to share a bit more about this pillow I put together a few months ago. I used to think a mini quilt was simply something you might put up on the wall. I've made a few of these, but they really aren't my style. I prefer a "quilt" that's more function. As such, I turn most of my mini quilts into pillows. I love trying new ideas on a small scale before committing to a large quilt. Pillows are perfect for this.

For at least a year now, I've wanted to make a quilt using tiny 1" finished squares. I didn't necessarily want to piece the entire quilt with 1" squares, but wanted to incorporate them into the design in some way. I decided to start with a pillow just to get a taste of just how hard it might be to piece all these tiny squares together.

I admit all that piecing isn't fast, but it's not horrible either.

I've also been itching to try out matchstick quilting. I thought this style of quilting was perfect for this pillow. I quilted approximately 8 lines per inch. I love it on the pillow, but I'm not convinced I could ever do this on a quilt. Another great reason to start small.

The piecing on this guy isn't perfect, but I'm telling myself that adds to the charm. I gave up on perfection and just went with it. The quilting also skewed things a bit, but I love the impact and texture from a distance.

The result of this experimental pillow is that I decided piecing all those tiny squares really isn't that bad and decided to dive in. I've made five blocks so far. I'm not sure how many more I'll make. I'll probably keep sewing until I run out of the squares. Then I'll decide how to sew everything together.

Are you ready for the Modern Mini Challenge? Here's the deal. The Modern Mini Challenge is a call to challenge yourself. Try something new: a new technique, a new pattern, a new thread, etc and make a mini quilt. A mini quilt makes it possible and oh-so-doable!  What's a mini quilt? It's a mug rug, a pillow, a wall hanging, a table topper... you get the idea! Check out the amazing minis in last year's contest! There were over 200 awesome entries!

You don't have to be an experienced sewist to enter! Don't let your lack of experience keep you from joining in! I want this event to be fun, encouraging and inspiring- just go for it! Believe in your ability and go CREATE!! 

How to enter:

• You can enter any mini quilt that you've made within the past 6 months. Remember, a mini quilt can be a mug rug, a mini quilt, a pillow, a table topper, etc. Only one entry per person. 
• Size requirements: must be at least 6" x 6" and no bigger than 24" x 24". 
• You can enter a mini quilt made from your own design or from a pattern. Please give credit to the pattern designer in your description. 

Need some inspiration!? Check out all the stops on the blog hop for the challenge.

June 5: Ellison Lane
June 6: Happy Quilting
June 7: Swim, Bike, Quilt 
June 8: Craft Buds
June 9: From the Blue Chair and Sewing Under the Rainbow 
June 10: The Sewing Chick
June 11: Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle and Fresh Lemons Quilts 

Starting June 12, you'll be able to link up your entry here at Ellison Lane. You'll have until 5:00 PM EST on June 16 to add your mini quilt. Link from your blog (a NEW post please), your Flickr account or your Threadbias account. Remember, you don't have to have a blog to enter! 

PRIZES! Check out these amazing goodies up for grabs: 

$125 Gift Certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop

$75 Gift Certificate to the Intrepid Thread

$50 Gift Pack of Pellon Products

$50 Box of Coats and Clark Threads

(2) $50 prize packs of Dritz sewing products

$25 Gift Certificate to Christa Quilts

A Bundle of Marblehead fabrics from Fabri-Quilt

WIP Wednesday 6.5.13

I haven't done a WIP Wednesday for a long time. I just haven't felt like I've had that much to share. Things have been quite slow around here lately. With summer setting in, I've realized that I'll be doing good to keep everyone entertained, fed and dressed in reasonably clean clothes. Things will definitely be slower on the blog for the next few months as we take swimming lessons, go to summer movies, hit the zoo, and anything else I can figure out to keep the kids entertained. Here's a snapshot of things going on around here.

We went to see the grandparents last weekend. The kiddos had a great time with cousins. Love this photo I was able to take of my kiddos.

And this one makes me smile too. Too bad they aren't always smiling like this.

We were not always photogenic though. Miss A was absolutely non-cooperative when it came to the official photo-op with all the cousins. She looks this way in every single cousins photo. She was not happy at the moment (obviously).

It's a 6 1/2 hour drive to Grandma's house. I spent most of the time watching Craftsy videos from the Artisan Bread class I registered for a couple months ago when it was half off. I'm trying to pretend I can bake bread, but decided this might be a hobby for the fall since it heats up my kitchen way too much. I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot about making bread. I thought it was extremely well done. I'm continually impressed by the quality of online classes I've taken from Craftsy.  (**I am a Craftsy affiliate, but this is my honest opinion of this class. I purchased it because I was truly interested in the content.)

I'm starting up on a new project for the boy. This quilt will become his "Roadwork" quilt. I had a lot of fun creating the design and coming up with ideas for it. I'll be embellishing it. This is just the beginning. I am quite confident he'll love it. I'm pretty sure it won't be finished for several months, but he has five other blankets on his bed in the meantime.

I've added another block to my confetti quilt. The is definitely one of those "slowly-but-surely" quilts. I'm still undecided about the ultimate outcome, so in the meantime I'll keep sewing tiny squares together.

Baby Star Quilt--Finished!

I finished the mini version of my star quilt! It's headed off to a new baby soon. I really love baby quilts that don't scream "baby". It's much more my style to give a mini version of a regular quilt.

Stats: 

• Finished Size: About 40" square
• Fabrics: Technicolor by Emily Herrick (prints), Solids are various Art Gallery and Kona solids to match, Background is Kona white.
• Diamond Templates: 8 1/2" (See Tutorial 1 for details on cutting your own templates.)
• Background Fabric Cuts: Measurement "A"= 19"; Measurement "B"= 13" (See Tutorial 3 so these numbers will make sense).

The back was a fun experiment with some scraps.

Rain prohibited me from getting my standard quilt on the blue chair picture. Hopefully, I can add that in before it is gifted.

Sponsor News

There are some great sales, promotions, and fun new fabrics available this weekend!

Caitlin from I Don't Do Dishes is celebrating the first anniversary of her fabric shop. She is offering 15% off all purchases--including her fantastic sales section. Use the promo code ONEYEAR through the end of the month.

Brenda from Pink Castle Fabrics is offering 30% off Skinny Bolts (anything with 5yds or less on the bolt). Use the code SKINNY30 for the discount. She has also updated her sales section of the shop with lots of new additions. Finally, some great new fabrics lines have just arrived in the shop!

Tammy from Marmalade Fabrics has two very exciting bits of news. She now carries several bundles from Oakshott Cottons! This is exciting for those of us in the states. No more international shipping costs. I've been drooling over the Sunrise pack for a long time. She also has Yard Dyed Essex in Flax and Black back in stock. RK has been back ordered on Flax for months. I'm excited it's back in stores. Now I can order some and get moving on my Pixel quilt again.

If you are excited about Briar Rose from Heather Ross, Amanda from Westwood Acres has a fun offering right now. You can now pre-order Briar Rose bundles from her shop. As a bonus Amanda picked up three bundles from Sample Spree at Market. For those who pre-order fat quarter bundles before the end of the month, you'll be entered to receive your purchased bundle early on June 1st instead of waiting until July like the rest of us.

Julie from Intrepid Thread is offer 15% off her shop for the Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-27). This includes the sales section, but doesn't include Block of the Month or Fearless Fabric Clubs. Use the promo code MARKET15.

 Christa from Christa Quilts is announcing a brand new quilt along featuring Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House! Christa Quilts is starting her 6th in a series of complete quilt alongs on her blog. String of Pearls will launch Wednesday, June 5th at Christa Quilts Blog. Christa will have a limited number of kits available with 10% off any kit purchase through 6/30. Just use the coupon code CQA2013 at checkout. For complete details along with the quilt along schedule, visit Christa's Quilt Along.

Hope all of you have a great weekend, especially those in the US for the Memorial holiday.

Another Star Quilt

Recently, Emily from Crazy Old Ladies Quilts sent me some strips of her new fabric Technicolor that she just debuted at Market. Emily started attending the SLMQG a few months ago, and it's been fun getting to know her. I really love this line. It's actually a lot like Emily--fun, bright, and cheerful. The line is pretty much full of great blenders. Each individual print is great, and they all work really nicely together. I love the simplicity of the designs. In general I work with a lot with tone-on-tone and tone-on-white fabrics. These work perfectly with my preferred style (and will fit nicely into my stash once they officially release next month).

I thought the blues, greens and oranges would be perfect for a non-baby-ish baby quilt I wanted to make for a friend. I didn't have a lot to work with since the strips I got were about 5" x 18". I decided to make a mini version of my Jumbo Star quilt and paired it with coordinating solids. I'm still in love with this star design. It's just fun to make. This little guy will finish at about 40" square.

Here's the beginning of the quilt back. This is something new I've never tried before. I'm really liking it and am using up all my scraps in the process.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: The Jumbo Star

Welcome to any of you new to my blog! My entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival is probably not a surprise for those of you who have been following for a while. It's one of my favorite quilts I've ever made. The piecing and quilting were more challenging than in many other quilts I've created. I couldn't be more thrilled with the end result.

I hand-drew the giant templates for each paper pieced star point. I quilted the entire thing on my domestic, home machine. The quilt is about 80" square. The colors are completely, 100%  "me". This quilt just makes me happy.

Sometimes it's surprising where our creative journey takes us. I simply started this quilt with the idea to supersize a traditional quilt block into a quilt. This became the result. The creative process is why I quilt. I love seeing my ideas take shape in fabric. Sometimes they work really well, sometimes they don't. Although I love my finished quilts, the actual process of creating is why I do this.

For more posts about this quilt, here a link to my blog label: Jumbo Star Quilt
I've also written three tutorials about the creation process: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3

Thanks for stopping by!!