Finish It Up Friday: Christmas in July!

One of my ten summer goals is to make some Christmas stockings using this tutorial.

This week, I finished up a set of four stockings using Kate Spain's Joy collection for Moda.

The stockings are such a great way to use up batting and fabric scraps, and they come together quickly using a quilt-as-you-go method.

I also started this set of stockings using Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. It's fun to use non-holiday collections to match a room's decor!

My other finish this week was completing the binding on this sweet Posy quilt in a Disappearing Nine Patch pattern!

Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, and Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday.

 

 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

I've got several custom orders in the works this week, but I've also allowed myself time to pull out some ongoing projects:

The first one is Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda Fabrics, using my When the Stars Align pattern. I loved this fabric when I first saw it, then I wasn't crazy about it, then I liked it again -- I think some fabric collections are just like that! I've seen lots of lovely quilts in blogland using this collection, so I'm feeling confident that this quilt will come together nicely. I've been trying to make a couple of blocks each day for a 12 block lap quilt.

I also played with some mini-tumbler blocks. One of my favorite Accuquilt dies is the 6 1/2 inch tumbler, and I've made a ton of quilts using that die. I love the look of it, and it is definitely a time-saver to die cut the blocks with the dog eared corners already cut out for perfect alignment. So, when the mini tumbler die came out, I purchased that one too, but I hadn't had a chance to play much with it yet.

This quilt came together pretty quickly -- until I ran out of border fabric! The mini tumblers are so cute, and they piece together as easily as the large tumblers. However, this was the only die I've had cutting issues with so far -- no matter how many layers I cut through, the top layer never seemed to get cut. I'll have to play with it a little more to see what's going on, but the problem could be solved by using an unwanted scrap piece as the top layer -- that way, I won't care if it cuts through it or not.

By the way, the quilt was made out of Alphabet Soup by Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake Designs, and all of the pieces were leftover from a previous large tumbler quilt!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced Work in Progress Wednesday!

 

Finish It Up Friday (or Saturday!)

My big finish this week was my son's Sports T-Shirt Quilt! About 80% of his wardrobe consists of Boston sports team shirts. I had collected a bag of the ones he grew out of and knew it was time to turn them into a twin quilt for his bed. I had to have him go through the bag first to make sure none of the players were "banned" from his quilt (he often gets offended when the players leave his teams!).

I knew I wanted to make the quilt extra long (he seems to be gaining inches by the day), so I used 35 shirts cut into 12 1/2 inch squares. I chose the grey dot from Bonnie and Camille's Happy Go Lucky collection for the sashing (I really liked how it set off the colors, and it looks a little like sports mesh!). There was some controversy over the backing -- he really wanted minky, but I was worried about piecing it for the back, and quilting through all the bulk.

In the end, I did go with the minky, and the quilting actually went much better than expected. It is a heavy quilt (almost 8 1/2 lbs!) but it will keep him toasty warm in the winter. He was really excited to get this overdue birthday gift -- I surprised him by making his bed and then sending him in to get his laundry! He came out of his room wrapped in the quilt -- a very sweet moment!

In a much smaller finish, I just completed the binding on this scrappy yellow and grey quilt last night while my daughter and I watched the original "Yours, Mine and Ours" with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.

I also finally made this Disappering Nine-Patch quilt in Posy by Aneela Hoey. Although I didn't think I'd like this collection, once I started working on it, I fell in love with the color palette and sweet illustrations. I am looking forward to hand-sewing the green striped binding!

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday and Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Sew Darn Crafty!

 

 

A Fun New Toy

I hadn't been to the Accuquilt website in a while to see what was new, so I was really excited when I came across this new die (Cute Car #55354).

I wasted no time digging out some scraps so I could test it out!

 

I also finished binding an Aviary quilt last night:

Now I'm headed off to the sewing machine to work on some custom orders:

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

 

Finished Tops and False Starts

I'm working on one of my ten summer goals -- cutting and sewing fabrics that have been set aside for projects and are taking over the floor of my sewing room! I had a pile of Patty Sloniger's adorable Les Amis fabrics, and I managed to create four tops (various sizes) with only a few scraps leftover! Now I've got to get these on the quilt machine frame before they become a pile of unquilted tops!

I also made a yellow and grey baby quilt out of a pile of leftovers from a previous custom order. This one just needs binding, and I have enough squares left to create a second quilt.

I used some leftover grey minky and some scrap pieces from the yellow and grey quilt to make these burp cloth and onesie sets:

I had a great time sewing together this scrappy top for a customer, made from Hunky Dory fabrics by Chez Moi -- now I'm just waiting for the backing to arrive!

Finally, I laid out these squares I had cut from another set of leftover fabrics, only to discover that I really didn't like the overall look. (I don't think the caf liked it either). After some consideration, I decided that I will edit a few of the prints, and turn it into a chevron top using this pattern. More to come on that later!

Linking Up to Freshly Pieced Work in Progress Wednesday!

Ten Things This Summer

One of my favorite bloggers, Sherri at A Quilting Life, is hosting a Linky party to share your list of summer goals. I've had these goals unofficially floating around in my head, so I thought it would be fun to write them down!

#1 Replace floor in sewing room and reorganize! (This one is actually DONE!)

#2 Bind the stack of quilts that I finished in June (read more about this goal here).

#3 Use up some scraps and make some Dresden plate pillows for the shop

#4 Make a bunch of Christmas stockings for the shop (tutorial can be found here). I got a little start on these today!

#5 Finish writing the four patterns I've been working on

#6 Complete some of the partially finished projects that are taking up space on my sewing room floor:

#7 Buy less, and start working my way through those beautiful fabrics I have stashed in my storage drawers

#8 Finish my son's t-shirt quilt!

#9 Quilt tops as I finish them instead of letting them pile up!

#10 Get a good start on my final year as Block of the Month chairperson for my local quilt guild by writing all of the instructions for this year's blocks, and precutting all the fabrics for the kits. (Last year's Block of the Month is pictured below)

I'll end the summer with a post detailing how I did on my list of goals!

Linking up to Sherri at A Quilting Life, and Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.