Finish it Up Friday

This week, I finished up a few custom orders, including a remake of my daughter's mustache quilt (the template and tutorial to make this quilt can be found here):

And a pair of quilts for a little brother and sister who will be sharing a room:

But the biggest finish this week was cleaning up my sewing room and replacing the ugly linoleum and area rug with vinyl tiles. Here's a before pic:

And here's an after pic:

I am loving the new and improved space!

It is a tiny room (only about 8 x 8), but I make the most of the space with lots of vertical storage. The scrapbooking drawers from Michaels are a great place to house my fabric collections!

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday and Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party.

 

Antique Flimsy Finish

In addition to completing my own stack of flimsies (unquilted tops), this week I had the pleasure of finishing an antique quilt top for a colleague. She and her mother had found it in a closet -- I believe it was made by her grandmother. The piecing was not perfect, but it was generally in good condition, so she just wanted some simple stitch in the ditch quilting so that they could display and enjoy it.

Since I had to do the quilting on my domestic machine, I had to get down on my hands and kness and baste the old-fashioned way!

In general, I was pleased with how the quilting went -- I knew the finished quilt would have a little unevenness, but there was no bunching on the back, so that made me happy! One of the things my colleague and I noticed was that the quiltmaker seemed to have taken great care to distribute the various colors and patterns nicely across the quilt... except for one spot where two identical blocks sit side by side!

The double pinwheel blocks in the original quilt inspired me to start a little project. I just finished some test blocks in Denyse Schmidt's new Blossom Reel fabric collection, which seem to echo the vintage vibe of the original.

I'm looking forward to piecing additional blocks and seeing how this comes together!

 

Finish it Up Friday: An Epic Finish!

I have a very BIG finish to share today!

19 days ago, I issued myself a challenge -- finish quilting the stack of flimsies (unquilted tops) before school gets out on June 21st. Considering that I had 20 unquilted tops, that was quite a tall order! (If you're counting the stack in the photo, you'll only find 19 as the 20th one has already been delivered to its new home). You can see pictures of the individual tops by reading through this month's posts. Here are the final two finishes:

Quilt #19 in Amy Butler's Midwest Modern fabric collection, using my Bricklayer pattern:

And quilt # 20, using one of the ombre fabrics in Vanessa Christensen's Simply Color collection and this tutorial.

I'm so glad I saved a small one for last -- I was counting down the stitching rows by that time!

So, what's on the agenda now? Lots of bindings, several custom orders, and a little sewing room organizing/cleaning. I'll have lots more to share on these projects in the coming days!

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday and

Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

 

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge quilts 17 and 18

These two quilts are made from the same pattern -- but they are as different as night and day! Last summer, I participated in the Great Granny Square Quilt Along project (the pattern and information can be found here). The blocks are so addicting, and a great way of using up 2 1/2 inch scraps. The first quilt I made was in Parisville by Tula Pink. Last fall, I decided to play with the pattern again, and I love the way both of these quilts turned out!

This one was made out of Bliss (Bonnie and Camille for Moda Fabrics) and a bag full of white scraps.

I absolutely LOVE how this one turned out! The border is from the Ruby collection by Bonnie and Camille, and the backing is a super soft flannel, also in Ruby. I will definitely blog more about this one once the threads are trimmed and the binding is attached.

 

I also wanted to see how the pattern would look with one of my other favorite background colors: grey. I chose the Soul Blossoms collection by Amy Butler, and I think the quilt looks so modern and cheerful.

The row of blocks on the bottom is my favorite!

When I made the Parisville quilt, I just set the blocks together, but after making these two, I definitely recommend adding the sashing and border. Not only does it finish the quilt off nicely, it also stabilizes the bias edges in the blocks.Only TWO more quilt tops left to go in my Finish the Flimsies Challenge!

Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation!

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilts 12 through 16

Although it's been a few days since I blogged about it, I am steadily working toward my goal of quilting all 20 of my "flimsies" by June 24th! Here are the latest:

# 12 Groovy Guitar Coins Quilt

#13 Star Sampler (this was an oldie -- I made it 4 years ago!)

#14 Max and Whiskers Hip to Be Square

#15 Wheels Hip to Be Square (I had to hunt down this fabric for a custom order last fall, so I made a duplicate quilt top at the same time!)

#16 Modern Meadow Hip to Be Square (the last of the Modern Meadow tops I made last summer)

So, I'm down to a handful of flimsies (4) and I'm really looking forward to completing this challenge so I can start making some new tops!

 

Finish it Up Friday

I have two finishes to share this Friday.

Oh, how I wish Moda Fabrics would consider reprinting this collection! Still one of my favorites. (Authentic by Sweetwater).

 

I wasn't brave enough to cut into any precuts, but I had plenty of bits and pieces to trim into 2 1/2 inch squares to make this pattern by Penny Sturges. (I chose not to add the optional zipper).

Love all the pockets on the inside!

 

My second finish was first blogged about here. I'm the chairperson of our guild's Block Of the Month committee, and this year we chose some beautiful Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs florals as the inspiration for our color scheme. We decided to go with a pale free background solid, and I love the overall palette.

It's a fairly large quilt (80 inches square), so I wasn't able to get a good picture of the entire top.

When I went to look for sashing fabrics at my local quilt shop, this stripe just called out to me.

I love the backing, too!

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday.

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilts 9, 10 and 11

This month, I have issued myself a personal challenge of quilting my stack of unquilted tops. To read more about my progress, here's the initial post.

Today's theme is Kate Spain! It's no secret that I'm a big fan of her fabrics, and I've made at least one quilt in each of her collections. Central Park is one of my absolute favorites. Quilt #9 is a Flying Geese lap quilt using my Mother Goose and Baby pattern.

I still have a lot of this fabric collection on hand -- it's hard not to hoard it!

Quilt #10 features a newer collection, Honey Honey. I had some leftover jelly roll and charm pack pieces, so I used my Hip to Be Square pattern and some white background fabric to make this large lap quilt:

I really love the way these collections pop on a white background!

Quilt #11 is from a new pattern I'm working on. I used selected fabrics from the Terrain collection...

...plus a little Central Park on the back!

That brings the total number of flimsies left to quilt into the single digits -- only 9 to go!

 

Linking up to Blossom Heart Quilts' Kate Spain Blog Hop!

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilt #8

Another flimsy is finished!

Only 12 more to go!

 

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilt # 7

It's quilted!

This one's a big one, so I'll have to blog more about it once I get some decent pictures!

Only 13 flimsies left!

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilts 5 & 6

Last night, I quilted these two Ahoy Matey baby quilts. These have been so popular -- I think I've made ten? The whale border print has become harder to find, so I've thought about trying different border combos. However, I must admit that I really love the borders as is!

I saved myself some valuable time by creating these as one long quilt (the bottom border of the first was also the top border of the second -- I just cut an extra wide border piece during the assembly process. I was then able to load the quilts and backing only once on the frame instead of twice (this saved the step of pinning all the layers to the muslin on the frame.

Once the entire piece was quilted, I cut them apart to create the two separate quilts.

Only fourteen more flimsies to go! Here's a preview of the next flimsy:

This one may take a couple of days!

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilt #4

Tonight's finish is small -- but it's a finish!

When I first saw this project using the ombre solids from V and Co 's Simply Color fabric collection for Moda, I was so excited to try it. I think I bought the yardage the first day it was available. I eagerly cut it up into a variety of squares.

That's when I developed a love hate relationship with the quilt. It was more of a challenge than I anticipated laying out the squares into a pleasing variety of contrast. Once I sewed the top together, I really wasn't sold on the success of the project.

However,once I quilted it I fell in love with it all over again, and now I can't wait to quilt the tangerine version that is also in my pile of flimsies. I'm especially loving the zig zag backing, and I just had to finish the binding tonight so I could see the full effect!

Only 16 flimsies left to go!

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Quilts 2 and 3

Tonight's finishes are both from an adorable line from Dear Stella Fabrics called "All Hands on Deck". I'm loving the preppy color palette and the nautical theme.

I had a tumbler quilt in mind when I purchased the fabrics, so I bought half yards of 11 prints for a nice variety (the tumblers were cut with the 6 1/2 Accuquilt tumbler die

As I was cutting the fabrics into strips to run through the die cutter, I realized that with careful cutting, I could also get enough pieces out of the leftovers to make a quilt in my Hip to Be Square pattern.

I was able to piece a row of extra tumblers to help stretch the backing fabric a bit, and add a cool design element to the back

Only seventeen more flimsies left to quilt!