October Goal

Remember this stack of quilts I blogged about in June?

At the beginning of June, I issued myself a challenge to quilt a stack of 20 flimsies (finished tops) before the end of the month. I met that goal, but it left me with a stack of bindings to do!

Earlier this month, I unofficially pledged to finish the remaining bindings by the end of October. I really didn't think I would meet that goal, but I'm happy to report that the final binding stitches were put into the last quilt tonight!

This quilt was the oldest of my flimsies -- I made it over four years ago when I was testing out blocks for our guild's block of the month program.

Here are a couple of other bindings I finished this week:

A Modern Meadow quilt (top was completed Summer 2012)

A coins quilt featuring Groovy Guitar fabrics

And a Central Park flying geese quilt (top was completed in Summer 2012)

It feels great to have somewhat of a "clean slate", and now I'm ready for some new projects!

 

Wrap Up: 10 Things This Summer

Earlier this summer, Sherri at A Quilting Life hosted a Linky party to share your list of summer goals. Since fall has officially arrived, it's time to report how I did!

#1 Replace the floor in my sewing room and reorganize my quilts and supplies --DONE!

#2 Bind the stack of quilts that I finished in June (read more about this goal here). I didn't quite make it through the stack, but I did make a nice dent in it -- perhaps my October goal could be to finish binding the rest?

#3 Use up some scraps and make some pillows for the shop -- I'm happy with the ones I finished, although I could have made even more!

 

#4 Make a bunch of Christmas stockings for the shop (tutorial can be found here). -- DONE!

#5 Finish writing the four patterns I've been working on -- okay, this was the goal that I slacked off on the most. However, I did make some good progress on the sample quilts for the patterns, and hope to have at least one completed pattern within the next week or so!

#6 Complete some of the partially finished projects that are taking up space on my sewing room floor: Although I had a steady stream of custom orders this summer that prevented me from making a huge dent in my project pile, I definitely made some headway, as you can see below!

#7 Buy less, and start working my way through those beautiful fabrics I have stashed in my storage drawers -- I think I did pretty well with this goal. Although there were definitely some collections I couldn't pass up this summer, the fact that I was able to condense my fabric shelf pile from what you see on the left, to the photo on the right, illustrates that I did use up some fabric this summer!

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

#9 Quilt tops as I finish them instead of letting them pile up -- DONE! (As a matter of fact, the quilt pictured below was my last unquilted top, which I just finished today!)

#10 Get a good start on my final year as Block of the Month chairperson for my local quilt guild by making this year's sample blocks, and precutting all the fabrics for the kits -- DONE

These ten summer goals really kept me focused on what I wanted to accomplish -- I look forward to repeating the exercise next summer!

 

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 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 Quilt #8

Another flimsy is finished!

Only 12 more to go!

 

 

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!

 

Finish the Flimsies Challenge Day 1

I've decided to issue myself a challenge to "finish the flimsies" this month! I have had a pile of completed tops for such a long time, and although I'm continually quilting my way through it, I keep adding to the pile! Since I have a midarm quilting machine and frame, I can easily finish quilting a top in an evening, but is is often more tempting to start a new project! Part of this challenge is to not make any new tops until this existing pile is gone!

Since school ends June 21st, my goal is to try to quilt through the pile by Monday, June 24th (I'm giving myself the extra weekend to complete the goal!).

I began the challenge today with a pile of 20 quilt tops, so here's the first finish, an Aviary quilt in my Bricklayer pattern. I've lost track of how many Avairy quilts I've made-- all three color palettes are so pretty!

(By the way, this challenge does not include bindings -- I always finish them by hand, so I know I'll need more time to accomplish those!)

I'm looking forward to seeing this pile of flimsies slowly diminish, and I'll be sharing my progress throughout the month. Nineteen more to go!

 

"Bliss-ful" Sewing Saturday

Since this is the first weekend in more than a month that I haven't been consumed by custom orders to finish, I decided to play with some projects that had been on the back burner for a while.

First, I managed to get my Bliss Granny Squares sewn into a quilt top -- I just need to complete the border!

After that, I gave myself permission to finally be sucked into the scrappy-trip-along craze that has been sweeping the web. I've decided to make mine mostly out of Bonnie and Camille's fabric collections -- I totally fell in love with Camille's version.

They truly are addictive! I'm dying to make some more, but laundry and custom orders are calling, so they will have to wait!

As it happens, I think both of these quilts will end up living with me -- they will match the new paint in the bedroom perfectly!