My first summer finish!

I finally can say that I have a finish this summer. I usually expect to have more time to quilt during the summer months as I am out of school but this year we have been BUSY with vacation and FAMILY! All good things!

I first started cutting out and sewing my medallion quilt in January 2019.

In February, I had the top finished and in June, I finally got it sandwiched before we left for the PNW. So now it is July and I got the quilt DONE! 

Here's is a peek at the planning that this quilt required. After drawing out the pattern on graph paper, I numbered each row. I then counted (and recounted) the number of HST of each color combination needed in each row. 

There are 276 HST in the quilt!

I started quilting in the ditch around each star with gray thread. After they were done, I continued the pattern around the ball of stars in white thread, 1" apart. 

When I finished straight line quilting, I wanted to add some FMQ in the stars. I drew up this pattern using a piece of glass and a dry erase marker. 

I didn't add the inner circles.

The backing is pieced from the Kona pink and gray used in the medallion and a pink and gray floral.  

 I'm calling this quilt 'Great Ball of Stars'. 

It finishes at 60.5" square.

 I'm linking up to Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Friday Foto Fun and Favorite Finish Monthly Link Up. 

More Progress!

Today I have the 4th finish left over from 2018! Only 1 more to go! This is my Play Date baby quilt. 

The pattern is called Churn Link. I used fabric from my stash that is the same print in pink and yellow. The background is Kona White and the yellow border is a solid from my stash. 

The way the patterns link together and the 'twin' fabrics reminded me of how  girls and their friends would want to dress alike and would ask for a play date. 

I FMQ a daisy in the square spaces inside the churn dash blocks and straight lines quilted in the negative space and the border. 

The binding is a pink polka dot fabric from my stash. I love the girly feel to this sweet quilt!

I pieced the back with mini churn dash blocks across the quilt. 

The finished size of this quilt is 46.5" x 53.5". A nice size baby quilt!

I also finished my 2nd block for the RSC in yellow. Waterfront Starburst!

For these blocks, I'm using 1 fabric in the color of the month as the main fabric and a low volume fabric with that same color as the background. 

Remember all those HST pieces I showed you here?

Here is my medallion quilt top with all those HSTs (276) sewn together! Phew!

Can you see the circles stars?

I will be spending 2+ weeks away from my sewing room to visit with this little fellow and his parents!

I have prepared some hand stitching to bring along. I did a trial block to see exactly how challenging this will be. 

This technique is called reverse applique. The corners are a bit tricky but hopefully I'll get better as I do more! 

Linking up to ScrappyHappy Saturday at So Scrappy, Can I get a whoop whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts, and Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting.

Progress Update

The Quiet Play Pattern Club blocks for January were released a bit early!

I was excited to get started! 

I had already sorted through and organized by color all my solids (mostly Kona) so I was able to get started. I downloaded the patterns and printed off 2 of the paper pieced blocks. I will be making the background of the word blocks in a color with the letters Kona Snow. The object blocks will have a Kona Snow background and a rainbow of colors in the block. Here are my January blocks!

The background is Kona Hibiscus.

There are 17 colors (besides Kona Snow) for the rainbow spool of thread!

I still haven't completely finalized my fabric pull for the Block of the Month Optical Illusion blocks. This will be as much as possible from my stash. 

I'm rethinking the Scandinavian Flowers as I don't think I am ready for this level of applique and it would require a fabric purchase.  I will still download the monthly patterns for later. 

Instead, I will try reverse applique using the book, Dutch Treat, that I purchased many years ago. 

I also previously bought fabric for this project. Must use what I got! I won't do all the blocks (some are very complicated) but will pick some of the easier blocks. I will prepare this project for my trip in February. 

Here is a peek at the start of my medallion quilt. 

So many HSTs! 276 to be exact!

This week, I carved out some time to sandwich my Save the Bees quilt, a leftover from 2018. I plan to do meandering loops over the top of the quilt to mimic the flight of the bees. I am thinking of naming this quilt, 

The Plight of Bees. 

Lastly, I will leave you with a sweet picture of my cute grandson! The hat he is wearing is one that I knitted from a vintage pattern. It is a bit big but ties to stay on! It is very soft as it is knitted with bamboo yarn. 

2019 is under way!

With the New Year comes new goals, quilt alongs, BOM and projects. I have set some goals this year and joined some quilt alongs and BOM. Hopefully I didn't do too much! 

It is so hard to resist! 

One of my goals is to make charity blocks for Covered in Love. You can read more about this charity at Kat & Cat Quilts. Every 2 months, the block changes. For January and February the block is a variation of a string block. 

Here are my blocks that I will send to Covered in Love.

I will continue the monthly Rainbow Scrap Challenge hosted by So Scrappy. January's color is red. This year I will make the reverse rainbow starburst block.

You can find the tutorial here.

I will link up to Scrappy Saturday.

I also joined the Quiet Play Pattern Club. Each month, around the 15th, 3 patterns will be released and emailed. One word block, one picture block and a bonus block from her favorites. Quiet Play is known for her foundation pieced, rainbow, geometric blocks. I'm excited to get started!

I was intrigued by the Bitty Block Follow-A-Long over at Quilt Art Designs. I love the challenge of working with tiny pieces (and it was a challenge!) This is another paper pieced block project. 

This month the Bitty Block is a Tiny Bee.

I will also be doing the Block of the Month Optical illusion with Nine Patch blocks over at Heleen Pinkster Quilt Design. It appears that you just make this at your leisure as I don't see a link up for it. I haven't pulled fabrics for this yet. 

I like the optical illusion challenge of this quilt!

The last BOM I'm interested in is Scandinavian Flowers over at Angie's Bits and Pieces. This is an applique BOM which is not usually my thing but I will be away from my sewing room for 2+ weeks in February and I thought that I could practice this skill. I will get January and February blocks ready before I leave to bring with me. Time to perfect this skill!

I also started a medallion quilt. I don't have pictures yet. This is a quilt that I have had in my head for a while. Materials were purchased back in late summer/fall. Stay tuned. 

 Of coarse, I need to catch up on quilting the quilts left from 2018. 

I did finish Dog 'n Quilt, one of my Rainbow Scrap quilts. 

In this picture you can see the stand that my hubby got me for Christmas. I can hang my quilts to make taking photos easier!

The quilting is a simple straight line, 1" apart and stitched in the ditch around the dog. 

The back is a purple floral from my stash.

This quilt was made entirely from scraps and stash. Yay! 

It finished at 43" x 53" and will be donated to charity.