1st Finish of 2015!

Finally... a Finish!

Crossroads #4 was sandwiched, quilted and bound this afternoon just in time to get some quick iPhone pictures before it turned completely dark outside. I'm happy to say that once I got going it didn't feel at all like it had been over a year since I last did these steps.

My favorite walking foot grid quilting on both sides of the block sub units worked out well. I opted for pin basting instead of spray basting indoors and used some leftover pieces of batting on this quilt.

 I love the royal blue polka dot backing with a slice of bright green in contrast to the striped binding which I applied by machine. This quilt will be donated to Project Linus and is the 1st of 4 quilts made from RSC13 blocks. The Crossroads block pattern can be found HERE and these blocks are the 12" size.
                                                               
This is my designated February UFO for A Lovely Year of Finishes and it is also on my Q1 Finish Along list HERE. I will update this post later with better pictures - the background fabric is a crisp white instead of cream - but it is a FINISH. Now to trim my loose threads and call it a day in my Quilting Room!

Tuesday Archives: Cats & Charity Quilts

This is one week that I couldn't resist linking up over at Val's as I love cat novelty prints and I also love making kid's quilts for Project Linus. After browsing my finished quilts pages I counted up 7 of them which was more than I could remember so thank goodness for blogging! If you click on the quilt name it will take you to the finish post for more information about each quilt.

First up is Bees & Cats:

 Citrus Cats:

 Ballerina Cats:

 Cats in Dressy Hats:

 Cats on Skis:

Polka Dot Cats & Dogs:

 Garden Cats:

Garden Cats was a favorite of my husbands who thought I should keep it when I finished it in winter 2013. So I put in my quilt closet and now it has found the perfect owner.

It serves as a play spot with Elsa's favorite mice toys (there is a 2nd one hidden under her paw) as well as a cozy place for a solo nap on the love seat across from us at night. She carries these mice all over the house and "buries" them. I recently had to replace my washing machine and we had quite a laugh when the servicemen picked up the old one. There were about a dozen cat toys including lots of mice mired in dust balls under there!

Our grand cat JMeow is also a fan of these mice so I don't think Elsa can take credit for hiding them all. But she sure was happy to see them.

Scrappy Layout Decisions

I always have a hard time getting back into the quilting room after a break... so today I am trying to shift gears into sew mode. I've been doing a lot of reading, some organizing and reflecting on 2013 the last few days instead - I think it's time to start making some lists of all the things on my mind. The start of a cold is underway too which is making my head a bit fuzzy.

Since I'm not in a quilting mood and my design wall is bare I decided to start there. First up are these 16 patches which I put together in 2009 from 2.5" strips from an online swap of red, orange and yellow strips. Here is a closeup picture of these 8.5" blocks

and here they are on my design wall.

My original plan was to alternate them with hourglass blocks made from these 2 fabrics as in my quick sketch. My other thoughts are to just use the yellow print for the offsetting squares or a white solid. I will probably sew up a few hourglass blocks and see how I like them tonight.

Since I couldn't commit fully to a decision yet on Warm 16 Patches I decided to pull out my Crossroads blocks for RSC13. I am 3 blocks shy of 80 which will be made into 4 Project Linus quilts with a 4x5 block layout. Here is a peek at one top using pink, red, orange, yellow, purple and black & white blocks.

I love it! I have so enjoyed making these blocks all year and it's pretty exciting to start down the road of making them into quilts.

My mind is chock full of ideas for RSC14... too many really. I had the same problem last year and so I'm hopeful that as things wind down into January I'll settle into a plan or at least a short list of ideas.

I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday@soscrappy.

Primary D9P

Hot off Mr. Juki and into the DONE! column is Primary D9P... the light is fading fast so I had to be really quick with the camera on these! This UFO was started in 2009 when I kept seeing tutorials online for making Double 9 Patch blocks. I had just been in a swap for 5" charms in primary colors and next thing I knew another UFO was in the making.

When I picked up this UFO again in the fall I decided to make it bigger (it's 53" x 53") so out came my charm bins and I added some different shades of red and blue to the mix.

I used a red, white and blue variegated King Tut thread for the quilting to add a little interest.

The backing fabric is a fun print I bought years ago at the Walmart in Kauai. No joke! I have no idea what I had in mind at the time (maybe board shorts for the kids when they were small?) but it sure makes me smile today. I spliced in the strip of blue to make it wide enough.

Since I liked how the yellows catch my eye across the top I used a yellow print for binding too.

This quilt will be donated to Project Linus.

I'm linking this UFO Finish up to TGIFF@Quokka Quilts, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.

UFO Finish #70!

What a nice big number to celebrate today... UFO Finish #70 since 10/01/12 and #54 for 2013 is Bouncing Balls. The free pattern "Play Ball" for this quilt can be found HERE in the Project Linus section at Quiltmaker.com. The ball blocks are paper pieced and are fun to make using bright scraps.

I added the piano key border and a narrow inner border instead of the plain border the pattern calls for back in 2007. Then it hung in my closet along with its UFO friends until today when it came up in my quilting queue.

Back then I would have been amazed to know that it only took me a few hours to sandwich, quilt AND bind this! Walking foot waves with white Aurifil seemed to suit this happy top.

This is my second finish in a row with a piano key border. This one uses variable widths, I imagine I was cutting leftover lengths and I quite like the random look.

I found this cute flannel print for backing in my stash and decided on green dotted binding to bring both sides together. This quilt measures 40.5" by 40.5" so I didn't have to piece the backing.

This quilt will be donated to Project Linus and I have another one in the piecing stage in my UFO Collection to finish up this winter.

Scrappy Chevrons

Yet another HST quilt that falls into the Make Again category... Scrappy Chevrons was born from a Keepsake Quilting charm pack that I just couldn't resist starting a new UFO from shortly after opening it! I will say that it has aged very well with an updated chevron layout.

I liked the pretty fabrics so much that I wanted to keep them together instead of scattering them around the quilt so I put them side by side on the peaks of the chevron. The background fabric is a white on white print.

In this way I was also able to spread the attention getting fabrics easily on my design wall. There are so some not so pretties laying low too but they look great in mixed company. I quilted along both edges of the chevrons using my trusty white Aurifil... lots of pivoting but it was worth the effort.

I decided to add a skinny inner border from the background fabric I had left over, found the green geometric in my stash for the outer border and chose an aqua print for the binding.

On the back I used up two leftover fabrics and a length of polka dots to tie them together. I like seeing the chevrons zigging across the backing.

This quilt will be donated to Project Linus. If I would have had more background fabric to make it bigger it would be staying with me! My daughter wants one in her colors, I want one and I'm thinking about making rainbow chevrons for RSC14 so there should be plenty of chevrons in my future.

What I learned:

• I love chevrons!
• Have a good audio book ready to quilt them.
• Pin basting is going great - quilt #3 and no tucks yet.

Arkansas Crossings

Looking at this quilt just makes me feel so happy! Arkansas Crossings is my 4th UFO Finish this year from the book "Quilts from the Heart" by Karin Renaud. I'm going to say it again, this is a great book and one of my favorites for scrappy kid's quilt inspiration.

Another thing that makes me happy about this quilt is that it is UFO Finish #52 for 2013 which means I've met my goal to average one UFO finish a week this year. I am more than ready to relinquish my Queen of UFOs Crown!  Happy Dance!!

Many of the 4 patches in this top were made from a package of bright 4" squares I bought on eBay because I hadn't been cutting 2" squares yet. I remember pairing them up, trying to spread the colors around and wondering if working with these small squares would be worth the effort.

Then I started cutting 2" squares out of leftover scraps to fill in the rest that were needed. I've got a tray of leftover 4 patches and squares so I look forward to starting another one. I just love the little kitties peeking out in the blocks below - I hope I remember to add a few fussy cuts here and there in my new patchwork quilts.

Yesterday I posted HERE about my quilting process. I'm still really happy I went back and added the diagonal lines. White Aurifil has become my go to thread for scrappy quilts on white background because it sinks in so nicely - it almost looks like an invisible thread. I like to let the fabrics shine on these quilts.

Often I use a "calm" fabric to border a scrappy quilt but in this case I really liked how all the colors of the blocks were used in this fabric and I think the small scale works with the rest of the top. I tried 8-10 fabrics as binding before I pulled out this one, I was stuck on wanting more blue but I was wrong!

On the backing I used this large scale print which I just love! I'm hoping I can find more of it next week if I venture out to SR Harris on Black Friday while we are in Minneapolis/St. Paul for Thanksgiving. It is 60" wide which is just perfect for backing kid's quilts.

What I Learned:

• Scatter some fussy cuts in patchwork blocks.
• If the top needs more quilting go ahead and do it!
• It was worth going small for - keep cutting 2" squares.

I'm linking this UFO Finish up to TGIFF@Never too hot to stitch!, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.

Cool Sparkles

I just love this quilt more each time I work on it - I really must try another for a keeper quilt. Cool Sparkles will be donated to Project Linus and I hope it finds its way to a lover of all things purple. Quilts made from HSTs are my current obsession and I would love to pull out my charm bins and start making oodles of them!

Basting on this top was done using pins instead of my usual 505 spray. I've been taking the easy route since my first not so great quilting efforts with pins so I thought it was time to give them a try again. My cutting table made it easy to tape the edges of the backing down, get things lined up and start pinning.

The quilting went fine - in some ways it was easier actually because I was able to "puddle" the top instead of having to roll it - and not a tuck was found. Success! Next I'll have to dig out my clamps and try pinning a larger top. One thing I have learned over the last year is start small and give myself the best odds of things working out. Baby steps.

I quilted along the diagonal lines of the blocks using my trusty white Aurifil thread admiring these purples and greens one last time.

For backing I chose this fun novelty print and I used a mottled purple for binding.

What I Learned:

• Don't fear the pin!
• Still crazy over HSTs.
• Purple and green is a gorgeous color combination.

I'm linking this UFO Finish up to TGIFF@Hot Pink Quilts, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.

Last of the Batiks

I really enjoyed finishing this trio of batik quilts for Project Linus this week. I was definitely in the mood to try new things quilting wise on these 40" by 40" quilts and I like the results of my experiments. Simple pattern + fun fabrics + wavy quilting = good finishes!

Batik Noodle Recipe 3 has the prettiest assortment of batik blocks I think - I love the purples, blues and greens in this quilt. It is my 50th UFO Finish in 2013... I am confident that I will finish out the year ahead of my goal for one UFO Finish a week. That's exciting!

This was the first one that I quilted... kind of a warm-up for my play on the other two I guess. I used bright teal Connecting Threads Essential thread which doesn't really show well on my pictures but looks great in real life.

I used the same backing and binding batiks as I did on Batik Noodle Recipe 1. That binding fabric worked out nicely on all 3 of these quilts.

Next up on my UFO list for quilting is Cool Sparkles. I'm planning to quilt along both sides of the diagonal lines of the HSTs.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about UFOs lately in relation to 2014. After pushing on them hard for the last 13 months I'm trying to decide if it would be better to keep at them through the winter and really pare my UFO Collection down to the "It's OK to be a UFO" Collection or to consider 15 months (by year end) long enough and scale back my focus.

I'm hoping it will become clearer to me over the next 2 months. I don't want to burn out on quilting... but on the other hand it would feel so great to clear the deck and start fresh. While you are on a roll do you stay with it?  Would another 3 months of UFO Busting be 3 too many? Which way would you go - I'm quite interested to hear your thoughts!

More Fun Quilting

Batik Noodle Recipe 2 is finished and I will share Batik Noodle Recipe 3 tomorrow since I've decided that each quilt deserves it's own finish post. Just because I tended to create UFOs in bunches doesn't mean they have to stay that way right?

I tried another variation on wavy walking foot quilting by crossing the lines that follow the main seams of the blocks and adding a single line in between. I used orange Connecting Threads Essential thread since that was the predominate color in the blocks. I really like the playful/whimsical element it adds to the quilt!

I didn't have any batik yardage for the backing so I used some leftovers from other backings that had kind of a batik-y look and the same batik binding from Batik Noodle Recipe 1. It's hard to justify the cost of batik backing at full price for a donation quilt but I do like my backing to complement the top. I think it works.

Batik Noodle Recipe 2 is my 65th UFO Finish since 10/1/2012 and will be donated to Project Linus. You know how I like to note the significant numbers as my UFO Countdown continues.

Gratuitous grand cat photo of cuteness I couldn't resist sharing... this was taken on their last day here. That's JMeow getting the "spa" treatment from Jax. If you look closely you can see that Jax has both front paws hugging JMeow. Tucker is the only one around here who doesn't miss them!

I'm linking up to Freemotion by the River.

1st Finish Of November

It is a dark & rainy day today but I think I've got good enough pictures to post about Batik Noodle Recipe 1... this time of year it might not get better for days! November is typically the dreariest month for us as the fall colors are pretty much over and we don't seem to get a lot of sun again until the temperatures drop.

So I tend to turn to bright colors in my quilting room for a spark - crank up the tunes, turn on all the lights and sew. I played around with some walking foot waves that aren't symmetrical on this top and I really like the look. I tried to sew these lines quickly and not think about them too much which got easier by the time I flipped the quilt and did the other half. More of this please!

I used a variegated Star thread that has become my go-to on tops that aren't traditionally bright like this one... it adds a bit of subtle interest but also blends well. I bought it on sale thinking it was kind of blah but liked the price. It's a mix of lavender/mauve - not exactly something I'd ever go looking for!

It also looks great on the darker fabrics - just wanted to share it as an idea in case you struggle with choosing thread on some projects like I do. Sometimes the unexpected choice is the right one.

I had a length of batik in my stash that I bought to make a jumper eons ago, I think it is much better used as backing on this quilt. I used the blue/teal/green batik I bought at SR Harris last week for binding.

Batik Noodle Recipe 1 is my 55th finished project in 2013 (UFO Finish #48) and will be donated to Project Linus. It is the 1st of 3 that I will be posting this week. I also have a "new" UFO on my design wall today - Primary D9P which I am using as my leader/ender project. This UFO is on my Q4 list and it will go together quickly I think. I'm loving the pops of yellow!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times.