A Secret Quilt

One of the super secret projects I've had going on in my sewing room wasn't a Christmas gift.
It was a baby quilt.  

This baby quilt was made by myself and my super fun group of sewing friends.  I've mentioned them before.  We use a group on Facebook to keep in touch and we have quilt alongs, and swaps.  Recently several of the ladies found out they were expecting and secretly I pitched the idea we make their new babies each a quilt.  After coordinating which friend would make which block, and who would assemble and finish each quilt, we went to work. Waiting for the ladies to have their gender scans was tedious.  Once we knew, we started banging the blocks out.

I was sent blocks for two of the quilts. This quilt is for Miranda a friend I sew with in South Dakota(along with Kristen and Eva).  She is due in February with a son.
We decided to make blocks from quilt alongs we have done- with a postage stamp in there for good measure.  I thought it would be kind of appropriate because this sewing group includes a lot of trips to the post office.
Everyone had free rein for fabrics, the only guide was to do a bright block instead of baby-ish pastels.

This quilt came out super bright and cheerful.  

Here is a close up of our blocks.

The sharky star was made by Erica.

The pirate-ish star was Rebecca's.

 Jamie made this dresden.

Kristen created the other dresden.

Melissa sewed this log cabin.

I made this wonky log cabin.

Briana made this zig-zag

 This zig-zag was made by Eva. 

And Lisa rounded out the quilt with this postage stamp block.
  

Having these blocks trickling in through the mail was a really exciting time.  Once I had all of the blocks I got to work.   After a lot of debating I went with the blue sashing, and a bright green border. 

Here is the finished baby quilt.

The back was patch-worked, mostly because I couldn't find anything I liked at the store, and I wanted to use this Michael Miller print.  The back label has the list of quilters that contributed a block, they sent them in from five different states and from one foreign country. 

 Hopefully our friend Miranda and her new baby will enjoy this new quilt!

Progress and Pretty Things

 This past weekend I started working on this quilt.  My cousin Jess is going to gift it this Christmas.  I've been banging it out, and now I'm just waiting for the backing to arrive.  Even though I'm very pleased to have the top ready and waiting, I'm starting to feel a pull to impulsively start something else 'while I wait' but I know that wouldn't be wise, since I need to see this through first and get it mailed.  I'm not sure why I commonly get into the thick of a quilt, and start to stray.... It's like quilt infidelity.  

I think it's procrastination's evil twin.... 

 I also have three bindings ready and waiting.  Dang it.  They are small projects though and shouldn't require much time to finish them up.  Quilt infidelity's twin- procrastination is running these three quilts.  

 Most likely this stack of gorgeous fabric is causing my eye to wander.  It has been sitting on the cutting table, distracting me, and calling my name.

I picked up this bundle on Black Friday.  I also bought the beautiful backing.  I haven't completely decided yet, but I think I want to make a log cabin.  It will be a new quilt for my bed.  Of course I swore up and down I wouldn't make another big quilt.... but it's like after giving birth, you forget the pain and want another. 

I have two secret quilts that can be revealed really really soon....I'm anxious to blog them! 

A 20th Anniversary Quilt

One of the secret quilts I had been working on has been gifted, so now I can share!  

 I used a really fun pattern from Pat Sloan's Fast Forward Quilts. It was written for a jelly roll and charm pack, but I was able to easily translate it to a layer cake.  The blocks were simple but striking, four half square triangles in the center, with small squares surrounding.  

 I chose a light yellow solid for the sashing.  Working on this quilt, I was just in love with these fabrics.  They are from Fig Tree & Co.'s California Girl fabric line.  I bought the layer cake last spring at the Black Hills Quilt Show.  I didn't realize it was an older line, but I love all of Fig Tree & Co's fabrics.  Actually I just bought some Honeysweet to make a new quilt for my bed!  

 During each step of this quilt's creation I just couldn't get over how pretty I find it.

Because it was so pretty, I had an easy time talking myself into working on it.  That's why it was done early!  My in-laws will celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.  

I hope they will get lots of enjoyment from this pretty sofa throw.  They just downsized since everyone has moved away and married..... I hope this living room addition will  make their new place feel a little more like home.  

And kudos to me for keeping my procrastination at bay!

My Finished Challenge Quilt

 When I was putting together the fabric bundles for this quilt challenge I had no idea how much I'd love these colors.  

Five bundles went off to quilty friends.... I kept one for myself.  As always I assumed I would covet someone else's quilt instead of my own.  I'm always my own worst critic.   So far I've seen three of the other quilts and even though I love them and think they are awesome, I'm still happy with mine.  This quilt is a happy surprise.
It's really odd that I picked out the fabrics, and yet if I was to go to the store to choose stuff for a quilt, I would have never chose these.   When I went to sit down and actually plan this quilt, I looked at the fabrics and realized they kinda made me uncomfortable.  Not my normal.  

 When we do quilt alongs the other way- different fabrics, same pattern I always think mine is the most boring or think the others are all better than the one I created.  On this quilt however, I'm content. 

I am going to love this sofa throw for sure.   

As for the others that are put together.... lookie here....

 Julie used a fabulous modern pattern with hers.  These bright fabrics really do something to make you interested eh? I've spent a good length of time just staring at this quilt top, I enjoy it.   And I knew Julie was a modern type of gal, but it was a surprise to see she can be this modern.  I love it.

This is the only other challenge quilt that is finished.  Amber did an amazing job.  I'm pretty sure this was her first go at hand piecing, and she nailed it.  When I first saw this quilt I obviously studied the pretty flowers and the vines and the little button covered yo-yos.... then I saw the pieced binding and I thought crap this girl has an attention span I could never hope to have.  Goodness gracious that must have been a ton of work, and after the hand sewing I couldn't have pulled it off.  Just amazing!

Jamie.... you remember Jamie right..... she made this tumbler top.  She said she wished she had used some of the tan solid in the front, but I'm glad she didn't.  Its so bright and I love it just like this.  I'm so glad that most of my sewing friends feel the need to organize their quilts......this is a perfect example.  The top is busy but its neat and organized.  I love that my eye can focus.  I have never seen anyone assemble tumblers like this, instead of the back and forth, they looked stacked.  It took me a long time to realize that's what made these tumblers different.  I love it!

I really love the way all of these quilts are turning out so differently!  It makes it way more fun.  There are two others that have been kept pretty quiet.  I know Kristen is doing a disappearing four patch, but I have no clue what Miranda decided to do.

I love this experiment!

A Moment of Silence

I banged this pile out this weekend.  Not all of them, but the biggest and most important projects.  This was my stack of quilts that needed binding. 

 I cut and pieced twenty-eight strips of binding.  

 I attached the bindings to six quilts from that pile.  

 This pretty dresden wall hanging was finished.  

And these two babydoll quilts were added to my DONE pile.  

I was literally on fire.  Well, not including flames and such, but after a full day of sewing, something in my sewing area started to smell quite electrical fire-ish.  The hubs and I were really freaking out and couldn't figure out what was causing the smell.  But it was really strong.  We turned everything off in the room and I was worried.   Later I sewed a bit more and my Juki didn't cause the smell, which made me feel a little better..  Today I plugged in Rowenta and waited and waited for her to warm up.  Nada.  She must have bit the big one.  I would like to speak only kind words of my deceased expensive iron, however she leaked like a mother of three from the get go.  Then after awhile she poured water like Niagara.  While I'm sad that we spent all of that money on such a pricey iron, I'm relieved to know what caused the smell and I'm glad I can go get a new iron which hopefully can steam some stuff.  Steaming is such a wonderful feature of an iron.  I cannot wait.  My squirt bottle is temperamental too, I'll bury it with Row.  

One Down

She looks kinda chubby, but she just needs a haircut. 

Thankfully, I was able to get three of the quilt backings the other day. I pieced the backings the other night during commercial breaks of The Blacklist (I KNEW he was her father).  Yesterday after school and Days I pin basted the three quilts. 

 Bonnie, our springer spaniel, always attends my bastings.  It's like our quality time together.  Me yelling at her not to step on the quilt, and Bon giving me sad eyes because she just wants to be close. 

After the basting I was able to get the anniversary quilt quilted.  It didn't take long.  Or maybe it did, but I've been listening to audio-books while I sew, so time gets away from me.   I'm hoping to quilt the Christmas gift tonight, but my back is pretty peeved about all of the sewing and quilting, so I may need to take a break for a day or two.  After the Christmas quilt is quilted I will feel so relieved.  I can finish the bindings, or work on my challenge quilt, or the baby quilts on my list, and take my time finishing up the last few small christmas gifts I have left.  So far I've banged out two flannel baby blankets, three sets of place-mats, three sets of potholders, and two wall hangings(they just need bindings attached).  

I'm feeling pretty good. 

If I indeed get all of my Christmas gifts finished this early I am going to make a big push to finish up a few things before the new year. 

My- Marmalade, Happy Go Lucky, orange and blue squares, Buttercup dresden wall hanging, new Valentines wall hanging,  and The Virtual Quilting Bee sampler quilts would be great to have done. Six quilts in about a month maybe a real stretch. We will see!

I Am On A Roll

 Several months ago I sent out bundles of fabrics to some quilty friends.  I issued a challenge to dream up a quilt and we could see how each of us translated our fabric.  Of course I issued a deadline, and lately I've been wondering if I'd be the one to not finish in time.  I was starting to sweat it a little.

 This weekend however I hit a little break in my Christmas Sewing since I need to buy backings and my allowance was gonzo.  The hubs took over the money and so now I can't sneak fabric money out if I've exhausted my allowance.  Which is probably a really good thing. 

 So I picked up my challenge quilt.  I had seven nine-patch blocks assembled, but hadn't worked on it since August-no joke.  I had an audio-book on my phone and I banged it out.

  

 I am surprised how much I love this quilt.  Even though I picked out the fabrics it isn't what I expected, and the fabrics I choose were a little out of my norm.  It ended up a nice throw size.  

It feels great to have the top done. 

But now I need to buy FOUR quilt backings with my next allowance.   It's gonna hurt.