BQF: Double Wedding Ring Quilt

It's time for Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side! I don't have a new quilt to debut for the the festival this year, but I thought I'd share one of my favorite finishes from over the past few months.



I made this double wedding ring quilt for my cousin and her new husband for their wedding this past August.  I learned a lot while making this quilt, the first being how how to piece an entire quilt of curves!  While I most definitely uttered quite a few curses, and had far too many pin pricks to my fingers, it was 110% worth it in the end.



This quilt is by far the most challenging quilt I've ever tackled, and really made me feel like a real quilter, as silly as that may seem.  I really felt like this quilt was a confidence boost, and made me feel like there is no pattern I can't attempt.



It was definitely hard to part with this quilt, but it was nice to see it going to such a loving new home.  I free motion quilted this, which is my absolute favorite way to quilt, and added some loopy hearts for the new love birds.






I can't say that I will be jumping to make another DWR quilt anytime in the near future, but I am so glad that I tackled this, and proved to myself I can do it!

Quilt Stats:

Quilt Name:  Aviary Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Quilt Size: 55"x67"

Fabric: Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry, Kona Bone, Kona Coal

Binding: Oh My! by Sanae for Moda

Quilting: All over meandering loops/hearts done by me

October Bee Blocks

Nothing like waiting till the last minute!  I suppose it technically is still October, and my blocks will be headed out  Monday, so I'm on time, but I usually don't like waiting until the very last minute.  Anyways, this months blocks were quite fun to put together!

I have to admit, I was a bad bee.  This block is for Sew Vivid in the solids bee, and it was from all the way back in August!  I must have received the fabric, and then it was swallowed into the abyss that is my sewing room, because I uncovered this package of black and white fabric while doing a quick cleaning of my sewing room just last week.  Eeek!  Again my apologies Viv!  

Anyways, she asked for any kind of star block, with the black as the background.  I had a paper pieced pattern all picked out, and on a whim decided to try out some liberated stars instead, and I am so so glad I did!  This block was so fun to make, and I am really happy with how it turned out.  So striking with the black and white.

These blocks are for Lindsay in the Simply Strings bee.  She requested we use this pattern, enlarged to a 12 inch block, from quilters cache for some paper pieced spiderweb blocks.  I am in love with these colors, and incorporated a lot of scraps from my scrap bin as well.

I cannot wait to see this quilt come together, it is going to be absolutely fabulous.

This block is a replacement block for one of my bee's in the 4x5 bee.  Charise unfortunately received an empty envelope with just a letter from the girl who sent her a block!  We like to say the mailman stole it.  Who knows exactly what happened to the missing block, but I wanted to make Charise a replacement.  I used the X and + block tutorial by Amy from badskirt, and added a few borders to bring it to 12 1/2".  I am in love with this block, and think I need to have a quilt made of this block.  Hopefully Charise is as smitten with it as I am!  I'm going to double and triple seal this bad boy in the envelope before mailing so that it actually gets to her!

Happy weekend stitching!

visiting the farm

It has been entirely too long since I pulled out my Farmers Wife book and put together some blocks.  I'll blame it on that darn basket block that's technically next.  Yes there was great inner debate, do I just suck it up and make the darn block, or skip it.  Yes it seems just as ridiculous in my head as it does while I'm writing this that one silly block had halted my progress.  

But alas, after seeing Michelle's awesomely amazing Farmers Wife quilt top, it was just the kick in the pants I needed to get busy.

Block #36 Flower Garden

I did indeed decide to skip the basket block, and jumped back into things with quite a doozy, but it came together quite nicely in the end.  It was one of those blocks where at one point I just sent up a prayer that in the end the points would somewhat meet and my version of the block would somewhat resemble the picture in the book.  My prayer was answered and all was well.  The orange fabric is Kate Spain Central Park, the pink is Oh My! by Sanae for Moda and the green is Kate Spain Verna.  I actually stuck to the featured colors in the book for this one, and am happy with the way it turned out.

Block #39 Friendship

I decided to skip a few blocks to something a little easier to balance out block #36 and went to town on the Friendship block.  Easy peasy.  I wish I would have stuck with a little more color cohesion, this is a little all over the place for me, but I suppose I'm ok with it.  I used some Amy Butler, Riley Blake, Its a Hoot and Denyse Schmidt to complete this block.

Block #40 Friendship Block.

Yup.  There's a "Friendship" and a "Friendship Block"  not that that could be confusing at all.  This might be up there with my favorites of the blocks I've made.  My only misstep that I didn't realize until I was taking pictures of the block on my design wall was I forgot to fussy cut the center on point!  D'oh.  Oh well, I'm ok with it.  I think what I might do instead of all these darn flower blocks that I am so not over the moon about is remake a few blocks that I actually do like in place of them.  This may be one.  I used some Tufted Tweets chairs as the focus fabric.  

Since these blocks are beginning to take up every inch of my design wall, I think this is a better way to display what I have so far.  I think I'm missing a block or two from this pic, but I'm really happy with how they all play so nicely with one another.  I'm officially back on the Farmers Wife bandwagon with my new resolved outlook on the blocks.  

More to come next week!

WIP Wednesday {10.26.2011}

Oh Wednesday, why must you sneak up on me so??  There are just not enough hours in the day/days in the week to get all I want accomplished!  Here's what's been going on this week...

Completed Projects

Chocolate Sanctuary baby quilt

I finished up this baby boy quilt and it is now off to its new home.  More on this quilt here.

In Progress

ABC Sampler

I am just absolutely in love with working on this sampler.  Each letter is different, so its been fun learning all the different stitches.  This little guy has been keeping me company on the couch as the hubby is enthralled with all the scary movies on TV this time of year...totally not my cup of tea.  

Farmers Wife QAL

I jumped back in to the Farmers Wife QAL with two feet last night, and boy did I pick a doozy to get to work on!  This block took almost an hour and a half to finish, but I'm really pleased with how it came together.  (yay for matching points!!)

This Weeks Stats:

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 5

Chocolate Sanctuary Baby Quilt

Daisy Chain ABC Sampler

FWQAL

Birdie Stitches

October Bee Blocks

Blocks that need to be turned into a quilt top

Spiderweb Blocks

3x6 bee blocks

UFO Quilt Tops (maybe, someday)

Postage Stamp

Central Park squares

Be sure to stop over at Freshly Pieced and add your WIP.

Bee-utiful

The first quarter of the 4x5 bee (actually quarter 3) has wrapped up, and I was blessed with the most wonderful hive mates, and as an added bonus, received the most amazing quilt blocks that I'm still swooning over a little.  The ladies in this bee are so uber talented, I don't think I've seen a picture in the group pool that I didn't love!

1. from Charise * 2. from creationsbyrachel 3. from little bluebell 4. from seaside stitches 5. from Stitch 'n' Bits 6. from Stitch 'n' Bits 7. my test block

To say I am happy with these blocks is such an understatement.  Quarter 4 is getting underway soon, and I can't wait to see who is in my hive, these blocks will certainly be hard to top!   

Happy Stitching!

Chocolate Sanctuary baby quilt: complete

I finished up sewing the binding down on my Chocolate Sanctuary baby quilt last night and am super pleased with how it turned out.  I used this pattern from Hyacinth Quilt Designs, and cannot be happier with this pattern.  I have even turned over in my mind shrinking the dimensions of this quilt in to mini form for a doll quilt or a pillow, more projects and ideas to add to my list. 

I was a little unsure of how and what I wanted to use to quilt this.  With there being so much of that rich chocolate brown color, I was worried the lighter thread color would look too "in your face"  I decided to change things up a bit and used a light aqua for the quilting (as opposed to my standby white that I usually use) and think it turned out quite nicely.  The quilting certainly stands out, but isn't distracting in the least (at least I think). 

I am also so incredibly please and proud to say that this quilt came ENTIRELY from my stash!  I only had to purchase batting, which is on sale at Joann's by the way :-)  Even the backing was from stash.  I had a good bit of this animal Kate Spain Central Park print left over from Adam's quilt and thought this would be perfect backing, as the colors are very similar to those used in the quilt top.

I just can't get enough of those adorable animals.  My "baby quilt fabric stash" is seriously depleted, so I think this means some fabric shopping is in order!  I also really like how the aqua really shows up against the white of the quilt back.  I'm going to have to keep in mind using light colored thread for the quilting in the future.

 

This quilt will be going to baby Paul, who has had a slightly rough start of things, spending some time in the NICU.  Hopefully this quilt will help say Welcome Home!

Quilt Stats:

Quilt Name: Chocolate Sanctuary baby quilt

Size:  44" x 44" square

Fabrics Used:  Kona Chocolate, Kona White, an assortment of prints including: Denyse Schmidt Picnics and Fairgrounds, Kate Spain Central Park, Joel Dewberry, Robert Kaufman Metro Living, among others

Binding: 100% Machine attached, Denyse Schmidt, Picnics and Fairgrounds

Quilting: All over meandering stipple in aqua Gutterman thread

WIP Wednesday {10.19.2011}

Ahh it's so nice to be back for WIP Wednesday!  After a refreshing week away, it was nice to get back to my sewing machine these past few days.  Here's whats new:

New Projects

ABC Sampler

I started this Daisy Chain ABC Crewelwork Sampler while away last week.  Hand embroidery is my new favorite hand project, by far.  This pattern is by Posie: Rosie Little Things.  It may take me months to complete this, but it will be so so worth it when its finished.

In Progress

Chocolate Sanctuary Baby Quilt

Armed with my iPod and sewing playlist, this quilt top turned quilt sandwich and I spent some quality time stippling last night.  The binding is attached, and this quilt should be finished up and on its way to it's new home soon!

Farmers Wife QAL

I swear.  This is the week.  I will get back in the farmers wife groove!

Birdie Stitches

I had every intention of making up a few blocks to take on vacation, but I just ran out of time, more of these to come soon.

This Weeks Stats:

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 

FWQAL

Chocolate Sanctuary Baby Quilt

Daisy Chain ABC Sampler

FWQAL

Birdie Stitches

October Bee Blocks

Blocks that need to be turned into a quilt top

Spiderweb Blocks

3x6 bee blocks

UFO Quilt Tops (maybe, someday)

Postage Stamp

Central Park squares

Be sure to stop over at Freshly Pieced and add your WIPs!

back to reality

I could most definitely have gotten use to seeing this view every day, but alas, our vacation has come to a close, we left the high 80 degree weather, white sand beaches and crystal clear waters for....cold, wind and rainy Pittsburgh fall weather.  blah.  

I'm also going through slight withdrawl from these yummy fruity "Banana Mama" drinks.  Who knows what exactly is in this, yes lots of rum, (and, ahem, lots of calories, I'm sure) but they were delicious, and I want one.  Now.  

Anyways, while our resort did have free WiFi, I didn't use it much.  It was nice to be away for the week, and untied to my laptop and the internet (however I feel completely lost as to what is going on in bloggy land now :-) )

There was of course no sewing to be had (I think my sewing machine is going through withdrawl) I did start a new hand project, and made some progress in between naps on the beach.  I had seen this Daisy Chain ABC Crewelwork Sampler  from Posie: Rosie Little Things a few times now, and decided it would be the perfect new take along hand project.  I had been meaning to put together some Birdie Stitches blocks to take with me, and just plain ran out of time before we left.  

Since this was sort of last minute, I didn't have time to get my hands on some crewel yarn, so I am using 2 strands of DMC embroidery thread, which, for the most part is working out fine.  I'm not getting as much of the "fuzzy"ness that the crewel yarn would give, but I like it well enough.

I am using some Robert Kaufman quilters linen in Taupe and am really enjoying working with the different stitches.  My new favorite is the stem stitch.

My favorite letters by far are the "A" and "B".  I think that A took the entire plane ride down to complete, but was worth the time, for sure.  The B is done completely in the stem stitch.  

 

I'm getting much better with my satin stitch.  My only regret with this is the ink I used to transfer the design.  The directions said to use a super fine tipped pen, so I did, but I'm finding that some of my stitching is not completely covering the line marks (probably because I'm not using the crewel yarn) and the ink is permanent.  It's not a huge deal, but I'll remember that if there ever is a "next time" with this pattern.

I'm off to get reacquainted with my sewing machine, its been far too long!

WIP Wednesday {10.5.2011}

Happy WIP Wednesday!  This will likely be my last post for a week or so, no worries, I haven't fallen off the face of the bloggy world, the hubs and I are headed on vacation :-) 

Completed

September Bee Block

Nothing like the last minute, right?  I'm down to one monthly bee (I think I need to do something to remedy this!), and this block is for Stephanie in the Simply Strings Bee. I absolutely adore this block, and now have an "X Strings Block" quilt on my list.  I cannot wait to see how Lindsay puts these blocks together, it is going to be a stunner!

In Progress

baby boy quilt

While this past weekend brought weather entirely too cold, and rainy to boot, I did manage to get this quilt top pieced together.  Does anyone else have a terrible time coming up with names for your quilts?  I'm stuck with "baby boy quilt" how generic.  Anyways, for now, more on baby boy's quilt here.

Birdie Stitches

I finished up May and June's Birdie Stitches blocks.  I just love June's typography block, I tried my hand at some satin stitching on some of the words for added visual interest, and once I got the hang of it, it turned out pretty nice.  I know I say it every week, but I just love working on these blocks.

Travel Handmade

  

I decided at the last minute that I should make a new makeup bag and make up brush holder (I'm a Bare Escentuals gal, and you really rack up the make up brushes using that stuff!) for our trip.  I had a few scraps of fabric from my weekender bag left over, and thought it was meant to be.  Now my makeup and brushes will be traveling in style :-)

This Weeks Stats:

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 7

FWQAL

Birdie Stitches

Baby Boy Quilt

October Bee Blocks

September Bee Blocks

Blocks that need to be turned into a quilt top

3x6 bee blocks

Spiderweb blocks

UFO Quilt tops (maybe, someday)

Postage Stamp Quilt top

Central Park squares

See you in a week or so!  Stop over at Freshly Pieced and add your WIP (and check out Lee's fabric line, Kaleidoscope Lane if you haven't already, it's amazing!)

12 Days of Christmas Sampler Quilt Along

Hello friends!  Christmas is undoubtedly my absolute most favorite time of the year, and I already have so many handmade projects and gifts in mind, it's borderline crazy.

To get you in the spirit (with plenty of time to spare), it's time to announce the '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along! Twelve bloggers will each create a unique 12.5" Christmas-themed block and prepare a tutorial to go along with it. The block instructions, available on each designers' blog, will be spread over a 6-week period, giving you plenty of time to join in! If you decide to quilt along with us, at the end of the 6 weeks, you will have a completed Christmas quilt top!

If you are planning on joining, the quilt top will require 12 fat quarters, or 1 layer cake. You are also more than welcome to use various solid/holiday scraps! In addition to that, you will need approximately 1-1/2 yard of solid fabric for the sashing.

Here is the schedule for each of the 12 blocks; on the respective date, you will be able to find the block/tutorial on the specified blog. You can also check back here after the date has passed, to find links to the tutorials!

Oct 25 - Julianna @ Projektownia Jednoiglec
Oct 27 - Sara @ Sew Sweetness
Nov 1 - Kaelin @ The Plaid Scottie
Nov 3 - Jennie @ Clover and Violet
Nov 8 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy
Nov 10 - Riel @ The Q and the U
Nov 15 - Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts
Nov 17 - Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews
Nov 22 - Jessica @ SewCraftyJess
Nov 23 - Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs
Nov 29 - Heather & Megan @ Quilt Story
Dec 1 - Kim @ My Go Go Life

There is also a '12 Days of Christmas' Sampler Quilt Along Flickr Group for you to join in! We'll be sharing our fabric choices, completed blocks, and questions along the way!

Hope to see you around for the quilt along!!

Sanctuary Squares baby quilt top

We've had just horrible cold and rainy weather this weekend, and horrible weather = lots of sewing time down in my sewing room!  

Lots and lots of chain piecing occurred, and quickly turned into this finished baby quilt top (please pardon the terrible horrible indoor pics to follow, mother nature was not agreeing with an outdoor photo shoot today):

I had this quilt from Hyacinth Quilt Designs pinned on my Pinterest wall for some time now, and thought that this commissioned baby quilt would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try.  I altered the dimensions, so that this top measures 42" square, and a perfect baby quilt/crib quilt size.  

 

I really love how these colors work together, all of the fabrics came from my stash, the animal prints are from Kate Spain's Central Park, with various assorted prints in blues, greens and yellows, with Kona White as the "frame" color and Kona Chocolate as the background color.  I have a good bit of the white Kate Spain animal print stashed away, and will make a perfect quilt back for this little guy's quilt.  

I'm going to set this quilt top aside until after our vacation to finish up, I'm thinking either some free motion stippling, or some fun organic wavy lines, we'll see what sort of mood I'm in.

I will be linking up to Sew Modern Monday, stop over and see what everyone is up to!