A Finish, Progress, and Something New

Of coarse I must start with my finish as it is so exciting! I will warn you that this is a little picture heavy because I am in LOVE with it! 

I finished my Regatta Quilt!

 Yesterday my hubby and I headed over to our local Lake Park and did a photo shoot. 

What could be a better background for a Regatta quilt?

At first I thought I would piece my backing using all the cut offs from making this quilt until I found this fabric! It is the perfect colors!

Here you can see a bit of the front with the back! Thanks to the breeze!

Here is a detail shot of the straight line quilting. I did 3 straight lines across the quilt in each strip. I did not quilt in the ditch which gives it a nice simple pattern on the back. 

The binding is made using mostly the navy color with a little of 2 others darker colors in the quilt.

My sweet Nellie is enjoying the sunshine and the quilt!

Here it is in all its glory! 

The pattern is Regatta by Daniela at Block M Quilts and I followed the QAL at Home Sewn By Us. It finished at 57" x 74". This is my 3rd finish for 2018! 

My Temperature quilt now has 4 rows completed (with a few in the 5th row done). 

As your can see we had slightly warmer temperatures indicated by the greens and yellows! The Hope of Spring🌷🌷🌷!

What's new on my design wall? I've been playing with the alphabet! 

These letters are paper pieced and are 5" square done in reds from my stash. 

I've been playing with the layout. Not sure what it will look like but I will be doing lowercase letters next!

What's new on your design wall?

I'm linking up to Show off Saturday over at Sew Can She.

Tuesday Update

I have continued working on the puzzle T-shirt quilt. After moving things around again to get a better fit for all the graphics, I again grabbed some graph paper and drew the final lay out. I made a list of the finished size for each block and the cut size. Since the blocks were not all the same size, I color coordinated which ones would be sewn together. This the what the process looked like.

There were a few small spaces that I needed to fill with cut pieces from the t-shirts (no graphics) and a few tricky seems that didn't line up easily but it all came together. It is about 47 1/2" x 58 1/4"

I'm will be adding a border...maybe 2" all around and backing the quilt with flannel. But for now, I will put it on the side for a bit as the hard work is done!

As for my Regatta quilt, it is quilted and the binding is sewn on! I only have to hand stitch it down, make a label and do a photo shoot. Here is a peek!

The Regatta quilt is made as part of a no pressure QAL at Home Sewn By Us.

I'm linking with To Do Tuesday at Stitch All Things, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River, and Fiber Tuesday at The Quilting Room with Mel 

Getting Ready

Today I had some time, so I got busy and sandwiched my Regatta quilt! I'm ready to start the quilting! I decided not to piece the back with the left over pieces from the front. (I think I will make a baby quilt with the scraps.) 

I found a piece of fabric that I think works well. 

No pictures yet. 

I'm quilting along with no pressure with Home Sewn By Us

March brings a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and the color is.....

Light greens/Yellow greens!

I made 2 Plus blocks and the Flying Geese block. 

Head over to SoScrappy to see what everyone is doing in green this month!

Also with the start of March, I was able to finish the February blocks for my Temperature quilt. This is the start of the 4th row! 

All the green and yellow blocks means we have had a pretty warm February. 

No blue blocks! That's OK 👌🏻 with me!

I'm linking up to New Month New Color at So Scrappy, OhScrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River, and To Do Tuesday at Stitch All Things

Regatta and Temperature quilt Updates

I'm excited to tell that I finished putting together my Regatta quilt 

and I'm in LOVE!

I am smitten with the colors of this quilt and the simple modern pattern.

Here it is:

I'm following the no pressure quilt along over at Home Sewn By Us.

Even though I have my Grandma's Kitchen quilt ahead of this one on the docket to sandwich and quilt, I am tempted to push this one ahead because I love it so!

It makes me smile!

I also have caught up on my Temperature quilt and have 3 rows (out of 21) finished. I'm sewing along with Needled Mom. 

The year started very cold, then it warmed a bit and settled into more 'normal' temps. We had a few scattered unseasonably warmer days but winter isn't over yet. I'm sure we will see a few more blues but hopefully move into more yellows and oranges soon! 

I am starting to work on a t-shirt quilt for a high-school graduation present. I haven't made one before. 😬 I've collected quite a few t-shirts (from her mom) and have done a preliminary measurement of the areas to be included. I am now working on the layout which is a bit like putting together a puzzle. I read over at Home Sewn By Us that they are also working on a t-shirt quilt. I will be watching them to glean any tips or techniques that may help! 

Have you made a t-shirt quilt? Any advice is welcomed! 

I'm linking up to crazy mom quilts finish it up Fridayhttp://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2018/02/small-projects.html, Busy Hands Quilts Finished or Not Friday, and Show Off Saturday over at Sew She Can.

A finish!

The quilting on the Milky Way Quilt took a bit of time for me because I quilted more densely than I usually do and I did put it aside a few times to work on some piecing of QALs I joined for 2018. I am excited to show the finished 

Milky Way Quilt!

This was a 2017 QAL that I followed over at Blossom Heart Quilts. Each month a star pattern was released based on a star in the Milky Way. I used scraps from my stash to construct each paper pieced star, the inner border and the binding. 

The back is a rainbow stripe fabric from my stash and a bit of the Kona gray from the background.   

Rainbow stripes for rainbow stars!

The quilt finished at about 58" square! 

Head over to Instagram and search

#MilkyWaySampler to see other Milky Way Quilts!

The quilting is dense with straight line fill around the stars. I quilted a web or net around the small stars and diagonal lines around the large stars. Some of the stars have in the ditch quilting while others have some free motion spirals in the centers. In the setting triangles, I FMQ feathers. Along the inner scrappy border, I quilted linked bubbles and in the outer border, I FMQ a scallop and straight lines. I'm very happy with the quilting on this quilt! 

This is my 3rd finish for 2018!

I also have an update on my Regatta Quilt. I put together another section of the quilt! This QAL is a no pressure, no deadline quilt along with Home Sewn By Us. 

Click the link to see updates of others participating!

I'm loving the colors of this quilt! 

Those little white random squares are the number order stickers that I use for organization. Most have fallen off. 

Only one more section to go! 

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts, and Show Off Saturday at Sew She Can.

Coming Along

This week a few of my projects moved a bit forward! 

With the beginning of a February, came a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month's color is purple/lavender. 

Here are my 2 scrappy plus sign blocks. 

The 2nd block I'm making is the flying geese block. Here it is in purples.

 I also added another section to the Regatta Quilt quilt along. The photo is a bit 'off' as I took the photo at night in my sewing room but it does show progress! I'm sewing along with Home Sewn By Us. 

I now have 4 of the 6 sections done!

I also finished enough blocks for my Temperature quilt to put 2 rows together. Each row will have 18 squares. I have decided to add a block at the beginning of each month with the name of the month embroidered in the center.  I'm following along over at Needled Mom. 

January started frosty cold here, then moderated a bit and is now cold again. I can't wait to see warmer colors as it will mean the end of winter! I'm afraid I will have to be a little patient. 

The quilting on the Milky Way quilt did make some progress too but I took a little break from the quilting to catch up on some piecing. 

Linking up to So Scrappy Scrap Happy Saturday and To Do Tuesday over at Stitch all the Things and Oh Scrap! 

How is your quilting progressing?

A little Under the Weather

Although I have been a little under the weather, I have managed a little bit of sewing. I told my hubby that he can tell I'm not feeling well when I don't have the energy to quilt!

So what have I accomplished?

I got my Milky Way QAL quilt sandwiched and the quilting started! Since there is quite a bit of negative space, I am

quilting a bit more densely than I usually do. 

I also finished 2 more sections of my Regatta quilt. 

It is hanging vertically on my design wall to save space but it will be horizontal with the dark blue section on the top.

I'm excited to see how the rest of my colors look. I'm following along over at Home Sewn By Us. 

I also made a few more blocks for my Temperature quilt. 

Each row will have 18 blocks across the quilt. The 1st row is complete but you can see how different the temperatures were for the 2nd row 

(these are Jan 19-24 temps.)

I'm quilting along with NeedledMom. 

My knitting & crochet club spent January making red baby hats for the "Little Hats/Big Hearts" project. We donated 60 hats for heart health awareness to a local hospital. 

I'm linking up to To Do Tuesday over at Stitch All The Things, FreeMotion by the River for Linky Tuesday, and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

PROGRESS!

Last Tuesday I showed you my spool quilt sandwiched and ready to be quilted. I also mentioned that I had finished the quilting on my 2 color bear claw quilt.

Here it is...now called Beary Sweet!

I worked backwards on this quilt, starting with and building the quilt around the backing fabric I had in my stash 

(probably inherited from my mom's stash.)

and using the book two-color Quilts my daughter gave me many years ago.

(This is the second quilt I have made using a pattern from it.)

This is my first finish of 2018! It finishes at 40" x 56" and will be donated as a charity quilt. 

My spool quilt is finished! 

This completes my Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2017. The scrappy little spools are all stacked in an organized manner on a shelf! 

The backing is another piece of fabric I inherited from my mom's stash. This is called Mumms the Word by Debbie Mumm. It has all kinds of sewing notions and   sewing needs scattered across the fabric. I also had a extra block I pieced in. I FMQ 'thread' in the color of each spool and woodgrain in the borders. This is my 2nd finish of 2018 and measures 36" x 43".  

I took some time to start piecing my Regatta Quilt (before I sandwich my next flimsy). I am following the QAL over at Home Sewn By Us. I had finally cut all my colored strips and some of my white strips and squares to get started piecing. I was so excited to get started! 

Section A complete!

These are the darkest of my colors and will actually be the first rows 

(not columns but I'm just temporarily saving room on my design wall.)

I also got my delivery (or at least most of it...one backordered 😞) for my Temperature Quilt which I'm following over at NeedledMom. 

Again, I couldn't wait to get started to see what my quilt will look like. One Square in a Square per day. I had made a spreadsheet to keep organized while waiting on my order but I think that I will continue to record daily the temperature high and lows. 

This will actually be the 1st row of the quilt with the darkest (top) square being on the left. January started very cold here, then a bit of a warm up with cooler temperatures following. This will be a fun quilt to track through the year! Head over to Needled Mom to see how different Mary's looks!

 One final update....I finally got around to building (with my hubby's help) a new design wall! It is slightly bigger than my old one. The blocks 'hang on' so much better! We followed this tutorial over at SewKatieDid. 

Here it is being put to good use!

I'm linking up to To Do Tuesday over at Stitch All The Things, FreeMotion by the River for Linky Tuesday, and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

A quick update

I'm trying to be better at updating my blog on my progress and projects. On my last post, I showed the 4 quilts that were in the flimsy stage with the Bear Claw sandwiched and ready for quilting! Since then, I have finished it. 

(with the exception of a photo shoot and a label)

I also sandwiched my Little Spool Quilt and have done about 1/2 of the quilting. 

I gave myself permission to work a little piecing on the 2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. January's color is light blues. I'm doing a Flying Geese block and some Scrappy Plus blocks. 

For this block I'm using this tutorial by Color Girl Quilts. 

For the Plus blocks I cut 3 1/2" squares and 3 1/2" x 9 1/2" rectangle and put it together in the basic 9 patch method. Instead of making the middle row 3 squares since I was using the same fabrics I choose to use a rectangle...saves on seam allowances. 

I don't have a layout in mind yet or how many I will need of each. Once we get in a few more months of colors I will figure that out. 

I finally gathered all the fabrics for the Regatta quilt by Home Sewn By Us. 

Here is my color choices.

I need to label the order and start cutting. I'm a little behind but very excited to start this one!

I am still waiting on my fabric order for the Temperature Quilt by NeedleMom. 

I have made a spread sheet to keep up with the daily highs and lows for my hometown. 

I'm linking up to SoScrappy ~ ScrapHappy Saturday and Stitch All The Things ~ To Do Tuesday.