Big and Bright Summer Ahead

Nothing much happening lately in the sewing department.  The top I've been working on, leisurely, is a seam away from being completed.  The pace I've been keeping is so reasonable for the other parts of my life; like housecleaning, and dinner preparation, and nap taking, and laundry getting put away, and family movie night, and evening walks.  My five week tomato seedlings remind me daily that soon I will have morning watering tasks and yard work to add to that list, so starting this pace now is smart.

However, I have a birthday quilt to make by the end of the month, so really I should get my Juggling Summer quilt basted and quilted so I can get working on the quilt with a deadline.  I also have a space quilt wall hanging approaching. 

 Today I decided I want to make another big and bright quilt.  I knew I had seen a perfect print at HoLo for a backing, and went to get it.  While I was there I picked up a quarter yard cut of solid in each of the colors I want to have in the top.  At home I went through my stash to fill in with prints.  I'll begin this quilt this summer, maybe in June. But boy was pulling fabric fun!  I needed that.

When I baste the Juggling Summer tomorrow I will snap some photos to share.  It's a really stunning quilt!

over and out

-T

Sunny Side

There is something so fun for me while I make this simple and fast pattern.  I love the way it makes it easy for me to do a random layout.   The layer cake I used for this quilt was a Kate Spain line, sunny side and it is just too pretty for words.  I think I might NEED to get myself a bit of this line to make something for my house.  

The recipient likes purple so I picked one of the purple tones and found a backing that worked great! 

I love a pretty-simple-quick quilt.  

Fast and Efficient

When a project has me interested, I am very efficient and quick.  Not because I'm cutting corners are flubbing thing in a rush; my seams are still 1/4 inch, I cut accurately, and I press neatly.  The quality doesn't suffer, it's just my concentration is better and I really work it out much quicker than if I'm not excited about a project.  

This quilt is a perfect example of this.  My mom called recently and asked if I could make a couple of throw sized quilts for the weddings she is going to this summer.  I said sure since she was buying the fabric and I like playing with free fabric more than any other kind.  Also, I had creative freedom.  I checked out their registries to see what colors they were kinda setting up house with and ran with it.  Once the moola was in my account I went to the store.  On Monday I picked out these fabrics.  Bought it all at once too, which is something my allowance usually cannot handle, even remembered thread!    

I got started right away and had a top done Tuesday morning after school.  Then I pieced the backing that afternoon and in the evening I basted.  

The quilting...... Oh how I love the quilting on this one.  I free motioned the little loops in the square centers Tuesday night.  Wednesday I spent nearly all day stealing moments to work on the ovals in the sashing and the straight lines inside the squares.  Thursday I attached the binding after dinner and got one side hand stitched while watching tv.  Yesterday it was gorgeous here in South Dakota so I spent two hours on the front porch hand stitching.   

So this quilt took me five days from shopping to pulling it out of the dryer.  I love that.  And I really think this quilt is lovely.  

The second quilt she asked for is just waiting to be hand stitched closed.  Hopefully tonight!

A Lighter Finish

I finished my low volume quilt today.  

I must say that I love the scrappy look.

I picked a yellow polka-dot for the backing and a light binding.

I really am happy with this one.  

And it just happens to be my 20th of the year.  

I think I'm ready to pace myself. 

But it won't be much longer and my sewing time will be spent poolside yelling to 'quit splashing', turning up the dirt in the garden, weeding flower beds, bike riding,  bandaging skinned knees, making ice cream runs, applying sunscreen, and at the park.   I cannot wait!

Progress

 Last night I added 5 rows to my low volume quilt.  I have five left to sew and attach. 

This quilt is turning out lovely even under my critical eye.

I love the light squares from various charm packs.  Since I usually end up taking out the lightest charm squares because I'm going for contrast, I had quite a few leftover charms that worked perfectly for this project.

No persons or animals are fazed by my quilts, Bonnie the springer made no note of this quilt as she patrolled for morning cats, bunnies, and school buses, oh my!

I'm hoping to head to HoLo today to find a backing so I can baste and quilt asap.

My Finished Herringbone

I wrapped up the binding work on my Herringbone last night.  

It feels great to have an old wip transformed into a different pattern, and DONE.

Also it seemed fated that HoLo would carry this most perfect backing!  

With my crazy luck finding a backing, I went for an easy solid for the binding in a perfect color.  

All is right in the world.  That horrendous list I used to keep track of my WIP busting efforts the past several months is done but for my mystery BOM.

The other day I was reminded of my low volume efforts I had started cutting awhile back (possibly last fall). I had nearly 100 squares to cut still, so I started on that Saturday night.  Sunday I got 9 of my 19 rows sewn together.  I enjoy the scrappiness of this quilt, and I think low volumes look so pretty and calming.... but as I am piecing these rows I just wonder, what do you go for on the backing?  Something light like the front, or something bold?  I'll have to keep an eye out for something amazing.

Quilting

I FINALLY ran to HoLo the other day to pick out my backing for my Herringbone quilt!  It just so happened that they had a perfect backing.   Yesterday while snowed in, I pieced the backing and readied the batting.

After dinner, while the boys went sledding, I basted.

This morning I started quilting it, in the ditch along a zig-zag line.  

I'm about half finished with the quilting, and I am just so excited!

With the Herringbone quilt in the machine being quilted, I am officially on my last wip!  In my WIPs cabinet there is my lonely BOM which still has two months left.  

late January/early February

A couple months ago that cabinet was full! 

I feel like I've reached the top of the mountain..... or I've discovered the atom.....rang the bell at the rope climb.... ran through the finish-line tape..... yelled, "LAND HO" after a  long journey at sea......  just pressed the = on my calculator and figured out how to balance the federal budget.....

It is amazing to have my projects tamed! Literally I think the last time I was in this situation it was 2009 or 2010.  

Of course I have projects on the horizon, but I am going to tackle them one at a time.  

Speaking of projects......Recently I acquired a few projects from a very kind quilter who wanted her fabric to end up as quilts somehow in the near future.  It was such a generous and exciting gift!  I'm really looking forward to these upcoming quilts! 

 First I am going to use these Juggling Summer charm packs to make this pattern.  I saw a quilt on instagram that I thought would give this fabric a saturated look, with plenty of places for the eye to rest.   So I wrote up a pattern and I am looking forward to getting started soon. (after the binding is on the Herringbone)

Nothing makes me work faster than a new quilt begging to get started!