Now and Later

I was doing some blog-cleaning and realized that this little quilt never made an appearance here.  I’m calling it “Now and Later” because I first used the fabrics on this  zig-zag quilt and then later they became part of this square-in-square quilt. 





The quilt measures 34” x 34” which is the size I love for baby quilts.  Sometimes quilts get too big and bulky to actually use with a baby – they drag all over the place and are just too big to fold up and take with you. 


The quilting for this quilt is all straight-line quilting.  I love the look of it, but it’s not my favorite thing to actually DO.   





I do love how the quilting creates a secondary pattern on the back!





Now and Later is in the shop!   (quilt has been sold)




linking up:

A Decade in the Making

Remember this post?  Well, I’m pleased to say that my ten-year-quilt is FINISHED!  Almost exactly ten years after it was begun.  How do I know?  Well, because I remember exactly where and when I saw the quilt that inspired me to attempt this beast.

 


We had only been married for 6 months, and we went to the Springville Museum of Art on a date.  Lo and behold, there was a fabulous quilt show going on that day.  (Every Autumn they hold an amazing quilt show – this year was the 38th annual!)  Right there in the lobby, behind the front desk, hung a star quilt.  It was gorgeous – reds, blues, stars… oh my.  I was quite smitten by it.  So much so that I went home, grabbed some graph paper (yeah, I ‘m a nerd – I keep it laying around like that) and sketched up what I wanted mine to look like.  The next day I headed to JoAnns (I didn’t know any better) and bought the fabric I needed. 

Ten years later, it’s finished.  It’s not perfect – I didn’t know anything about half square triangles – and it’s not necessarily my FIRST quilt that I’ve made, but it is the first one that has any complexity to it.  The quilts I did before this were simple squares.

For the backing I used what was leftover and pieced it as strips – nice and quick.  There was no way I was going to let the backing take me another decade.  Sheesh!





I quilted it in a meandering pattern with some loops thrown in here and there.  The binding was also part of the leftover fabric – so glad I had enough! 






The finished quilt is a twin size and I am so, so, so very happy that it is done! 

I'm linking up!

Hexing Around Block

One of my latest projects was to give this tutorial a try.  I pulled out my scrap bin and found some strips that would work (they range between 1.25” and 2” wide).  I had a bit of grey solid left over from the Unlinked quilt and I used that as a background. 





I love this block – it’s fast and impressive once it’s finished.  If you try it, I advise you to use the 60-degree angle lines on your ruler the way the tutorial says to.  I tried one scrappy block before this one thinking that I could just eye-ball the cutting and by the time I finished the block it was just all outa whack. 
I made this quilted pillow out of my second block and it’s my new favorite reading pillow.  Love it.






Linking up to Fingerprintsonthefridge.com

and

Unlinked

My latest pattern has finally made it’s appearance in the shop.  It’s called Unlinked and it includes instructions to make three different sizes:  Baby (45” x 45), Throw (45” x 60”) and Twin (75” x 90”).

 

The quilt pictured here is the throw size, made from Kona cotton (Snow, I think)  and six fat quarters that I had on hand.  I love the bright, fun colors and how they pop against the crisp white.





I also created one using a Kona Ash as the background – this one is the twin size (and is also for sale in the shop.  Edited to add:  quilt has sold - thanks!)





The other prints are from these lines: 

Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda
Happier by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake
Penny Lane by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake
and
Ready, Set, Snow by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda






…and of course I’m a sucker for a stripey binding.  This one is from the Happier line (Riley Blake) as well.


 




The pattern is a beginner level and is a fairly quick quilt to assemble.  If you’re interested in a different size, or perhaps a quilt done in other colors, I do take custom orders through my etsy shop.

A Little Bit of nine-patching

I have this little stack of 3.5” squares…




...patiently waiting for me to turn them into some nine-patch blocks. 





Every day I make one or two little blocks before I tackle a larger project I have on my table.  Right now I get to go organize my linen (and medicine, and kid's craft) closet.  Lucky me.

Right Turn Only, part 2

Remember this post?  I could not wait for the yardage to arrive in stores, so I found a jelly roll for sale in one of my new favorite online shops: The Sproutz Store.  I spent the next few days trying to decide what to do with the jelly roll, and then a friend provided an answer for me.  She emailed me this link and then dropped off the ruler I needed.   I loved it.  I immediately began sewing.  Once the blocks were made I had fun arranging and re-arranging (and re-arranging, and re-arranging…) them on the design wall.  This was what I eventually decided on:




It’s a version of the flying geese block.  I suppose you could call them stuffed geese?  Or maybe there’s already a name for this block.  If you know, please enlighten me.


Once the quilt top was completed I had some of the stuffed geese leftover.  They became a strip for the back.  This is where the quilt gets it’s name:  Right Turn Only.  It just reminds me of the signs that are all over these round-a-bouts that we have here. 







I really, really love this color combo.  I love this almost-pinkish-red and the lighter blue.  And oh the yellow and the gray together! 





I machine quilted it in just a gentle meandering pattern and then bound it in my favorite red print from this line of fabric.  The finished quilt measures 54” x 65” which in my opinion is a great throw-size quilt – big enough to cover you and keep you warm, but not so large that you can lose the remote control in it.  You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?




I wrote a tutorial showing how I made this quilt.  It is a LOT easier than it looks!  If you make one, let me know - I'd love to see it!


This one is listed in the shop!  (Edited to add:  quilt is now sold, but if you would like one I do take custom orders)

I'm linking up to Sew & Tell over at amylouwho.com!

Right Turn Only

This is what became of the blocks that I mentioned in my last post.  Today it was on the quilter.  Tonight it’s getting a nice red binding.  The name of this quilt is “Right Turn Only.”  (It’ll make more sense when I can show you the back.)





I’m really, really wishing this quilt was a lot bigger.  Like, queen-size bigger.  Oh well.

Nap Time Plans

A friend of mine let me borrow her Strip Tube Ruler and I’ve been having fun playing around with what it can do.  I think I finally settled on ONE idea and today at nap time (not MY nap time silly) I’ll be piecing this stack of blocks together.  Love these fabrics.