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!

 

 

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!

 

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

Wow -- I didn't realize how much time had passed since my last post. My silence is certainly not due to lack of things to show -- I have been sewing up a storm! Get ready for a picture-heavy post!

This past week, I finished up four quilt bindings while I was away at a conference. First up is All Hands on Deck by Dear Stella:

Good Fortune (Kate Spain, Moda Fabrics):

I was able to use almost all of my scraps on the back -- this project was part of my personal "use it up" summer challenge.

Midwest Modern (Amy Butler)-- this quilt had been planned at least two years ago -- I'm glad to have it finally completed!

Les Amis (Patti Sloniger, Michael Miller Fabrics) -- one of the four Les Amis quilt tops I posted about here.

When I returned from the conference, I finished these matching Ahoy Matey pillow shams for a customer:

Today, I'm hoping to get this top quilted (made out of mostly Wheels by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake Fabrics).

And maybe get these sewn into a top (Seaside, Riley Blake Fabrics)

I'm also giving myself some blogging homework -- I'm planning a follow up to my Stash Hoarding Series that I did last September. Stay tuned!

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday and Needle and Thread Thursday.

 

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.

 

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?