June 2015 Finishes!

Here is this month's collage of finished quilts!

 

Week 2, Final Finishes

I've just completed Week 2 of my Summer 2015 blog challenge series (you can read more about it here) and I have five more quilt tops to share today! This week, I focused on two drawers of fabric by Moda designer Chez Moi. I started with Coquette, because I had the most of that particular collection.

Since I've also been using this challenge to try out some different quilt patterns, I decided to go with a braid design. I used this free pattern from Moda, except I omitted the borders to make the quilt a baby size. I think this was a great pattern for the collection -- I like the way the colors and designs kind of blend together even though you can still see the braid. Making the braid part was fun and addictive, but I must admit that trimming the sides and sewing the bias edges together was a little scary!

After I finished the first quilt, I took stock of what was left, and realized that I had bits and pieces of many different Chez Moi collections, including Posh, Boutique, Swanky, Hunky Dory, Sophie and Coquette. Since most of the pieces were fairly small, I decided a coins quilt was the best option to blend all of these collections together.

I ended up making TWO coins quilts, and I love how unique each one turned out just by using a different border print. I also love how well all of those fabric lines worked together in the end. I chose to omit the purple from Coquette (since it was the only line that contained it) as well as a couple of the brighter red and blue pieces I had from Boutique. I absolutely loved seeing these come together!

And the purple didn't go to waste -- I used it to make a little minky blanket for our bunny, Fifi!

I still had lots of pieces left, but two coins quilts were enough, so I decided to make the cover quilt from Allison Harris' book Growing Up Modern (Allison's blog, CluckCluckSew, is one of my favorites!). This was perfect for all the little leftover pieces from the coins quilts.

The fifth and final quilt was made using the Flowers in the Sunshine pattern by Sweet Jane. I've made this one before, but it was a good way to use up the leftover charm squares and coins pieces!

I was able to use up an entire drawer of fabric, and now my remaining Chez Moi precuts fit in a single drawer.

This week, I'll be tackling my Joel Dewberry fabrics:

Even though they look pretty organized, the three drawers are filled way past maximum capacity, so my hope is to at least make some room in each drawer. I'll post some progress on Wednesday!

 

 

Wednesday Progress Report, Week 2

My summer challenge is to clear out some miscellaneous odds and ends in my fabric drawer system. I'm in week 2 of the challenge, and this week, I'm focusing on two drawers of fabric by Moda designer Chez Moi. Today, I'll give you a sneak peek of my progress before the final reveal on Sunday:

The collection I had the most of was Coquette, so I decided to start with a quilt featuring that fabric. I've never made a braid quilt before, and I found it both fun and addictive!

And tonight, I starting cutting pieces for the next project:

Yes, it's a coins quilt -- or maybe two? Stop by Sunday to find out!

 

 

Bucket List Quilt #3

Today, I'm interrupting my Summer Blog Series Challenge to report on my 2015 Quilty Resolution to complete 6 quilts on my bucket list (see initial post here).

My goal was to finish one quilt every two months, and I'll be sharing the third quilt today. (I completed Carnival in February, and Juggle in April),

For my third quilt, I chose the Pow-Wow pattern by CluckCluckSew. I wanted to use up some leftover pieces of Groovy Guitar and coordinating fabrics, and I thought this would be the perfect pattern to showcase them.

The background fabric is a Kona solid in Medium Grey.

For the backing, I went with Minky Dot in Charcoal from Hawthorne Threads. Even though it seems a little more expensive, the fact that it is extra wide means that you often need less yardage, and you don't have to piece the backing!

I did make my quilt one row longer than the pattern originally called for (this was the crib size version).

I enjoyed the pattern very much, and definitely see myself making it again in the future!

 

Week 1: Final Finishes

This summer, I am working my way through my fabric drawer storage system, trying to clear out space, and make some quilt tops. Today, I'll show you what I made in Week 1, and give you a preview of Week 2!

The designer of the week was Sanae (Moda Fabrics). I had three collections stuffed in three drawers: Panache, Oz and Arcadia. I started with Arcadia because I was also working on a commission quilt from this collection. For that one, I used my Hip to Be Square pattern (note: picture was taken before I assembled the top!)

One of the bonuses of this project is that it gives me a chance to try out some new patterns. Usually when I'm scrap quilting, my go-to pattern is either patchwork squares or a coins quilt, but I decided to flip through some quilt books and branch out. Since I had a bunch of leftover charm squares and honeybun strips, I decided to make the Square One quilt from Camille Roskelly's book Simplify. It was the perfect pattern for my scraps, and very easy to put together.

After making that quilt, I still had some miscellaneous pieces, so the blocks in this next quilt were inspired by another quilt in the book, Sweet Pea. I made the blocks a slightly different dimension, and changed the setting (the setting was actually based on Camille's Piece of Cake pattern!). This photo was also taken before the final assembly!

I had never made a plus quilt, even though I've had it on my must-make list for quite a while. This next quilt was inspired by the Dream Big quilt in Simplfy, except I used larger pieces. It worked really well for my Panache scraps -- I just kept cutting and building from the center out until it was the desired size. Then, I used most of my remaining fabrics to piece a scrappy backing for when I'm ready to quilt it.

I was a little stumped when it came to the Oz fabrics. I had a lot of partial jelly roll strips, so I used the Happy-Go-Lucky quilt in Simplify as inspiration. I decided to make all the block centers the same (or at least mostly the same -- some are orange, and some are red) and make only the A blocks.

For the final quilt, I used a basic snowball block (although if I'd made the quilt Coming Home from Simplify, I would have only needed two corner triangles per block!)

So after six quilt tops, I am down to a single drawer:

The two empty drawers now hold some newer fabrics that were waiting for an open spot!

So what's on the agenda for Week 2?

Two drawers of fabric by Chez Moi. I'll stop by mid-week with a progress report!

 

Summer Sewing Series Week 1 Progress Report

I thought I'd share some progress on my Summer 2015 Blog Series. Each week, I'll be tackling a different designer's fabrics with the hope of using up some loose ends and clearing up some space in my fabric drawers.

This week, I am working on three drawers of fabrics by Moda designer Sanae. I started with Arcadia and made blocks for three separate quilts. I hope to assemble those tops tomorrow!

Next, I worked on Panache. I had quite a bit of this line, even though it was not one of my favorites. I decided to make a plus quilt, since I've always wanted to make one!

Since I didn't have any large pieces for a backing, I pieced together the leftovers to make this scrappy backing:

I already have one drawer emptied out, and tonight I'll be working on the last collection (Oz) to see if I can empty out a second drawer.

I'm looking forward to sharing the before and after pics of the drawers, as well as the finished tops, on Sunday!

 

Summer 2015 Blog Series

Summer vacation has almost officially begun, and I've been giving a lot of thought to what I'd like to accomplish over the next two months. As usual, sewing room organization has jumped to the top of the list, but I'm excited to announce a weekly blog series that I think will help me accomplish this goal in a unique way! I'm calling it "Designer of the Week!" Here is the impetus for the project:

One of the things I love most about my sewing room storage are these sets of drawers from Michaels. They are actually scrapbooking storage units, but I have found that the drawers are the perfect size for charm packs, jelly rolls and fat quarters. I purchased the units over a period of time, and most of them are labeled with a particular designer or fabric collection. This made it easy to put away scraps and leftovers, or to find fabrics for my next project. However, many of the drawers have become overcrowded, making it difficult to put things away.

This is what the drawers are supposed to look like:

But in reality, many of them look Iike this:

I've decided to focus on different designer each week, with the main goal of using up some of the scraps and loose ends in order to clear some space in the drawers. This week, I'll be starting with Sanae (Moda Fabrics). I have three drawers of fabrics by this designer, but I'm really hoping to condense them down to two drawers. At the end of each week, I'll share my progress on both the drawers and the projects. I hope you'll follow along on my summer organizing series!