black licorice--a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

First off, thank you soooo much for your kind comments on my previous post. I am truly and deeply touched by all of your kindness and words of support. To answer the question that was asked so many times, yes, I do plan to leave my blog up as a resource. The other night at dinner I told my husband, "my blog really reached a lot of people". You should have seen the incredulous look he gave me, along with a big old "Duh!!!" We shared a good laugh after that. It has been an emotional week, but along with it, I have a deep sense of peace. For that I am grateful.

I'm excited that I have a finished quilt to share with you today! This one is called black licorice, but it also reminds me of stained glass. I gave it to my daughter, who loves ALL of the colors. She has been happily sleeping under it for several nights now.

The quilt is made up of 1554 little rectangles that finish at 1 1/2" x 2". That felt like a lot of pieces, even for me! :) Solids from a variety of manufacturers were used. There are a few shot cottons and a few linens that were used that give it additional texture that you wouldn't recognize until you get up close. I love quilts with details like that. I also love the darker patches sprinkled throughout that make subtle and random cross patterns when you are looking at it from a distance.

I made a special trip to the grocery store yesterday to get a package of "All Sorts" for the photos, just for fun. The candy tastes pretty good, too!

There is a LOT of quilting on this one....a black X through the middle of each and every rectangle. When I first quilted it, I quilted an X through all of the black rectangles, but it didn't look like it was quilted at all. Crazy! So, I went back and added quilting through all of the colored rectangles. It took a lot more time than I expected, but it was definitely the right choice!

I knew that I wanted to use Kona Marine for the binding, so when I went shopping and found this black and blue polka dot at SR Harris, I knew that it was "the one" for the backing. Hurray for a perfect match!

Using a black background for the quilt was definitely a stretch for me, but I'm glad that I tried it. I'm reasonably happy with the results! The quilt measures about 63" x 72".

 

This is my 3rd finish (out of 10, hopefully!) in my "Salute to Solids" series. You can see the first one here and the second one here. That means it must be time to start a new quilt! Hurray! :)

  

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the month. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! xoxoxxo

 

magnificent maples quilt top complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm pleased to share my finished magnificent maples quilt top with you today! Almost all of our leaves are now on the ground, not in the trees, but at least I finished the top before the snow arrived. I'll take it. :)

There is 1" finished sashing in between each of the leaves and a 2" finished border around the outsides. I don't often time myself when doing certain quilt making tasks, but this time I did. The quilt top assembly took me over 5 hours! (That is after all the leaves were made and most of the sashing was cut.) That seems like a long time!

I'm thrilled with how it came together! The quilt top measures about 64" x 84" and it was made completely from my stash. Woohoo!

Did you know.....I started blogging 12 years ago today. (!!!!) That's so CRAZY to think about. Thank you (yes, YOU!) for stopping by and reading and being a part of this crazy adventure. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the month. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Hope you have an amazing weekend!

two pairs of socks!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This is my 25th pair of hand knit socks that I've made to date. They had a lot of issues (like me, hahaha!), so they went into time out for about a week. After that time, I was able to frog back and fix the mistakes that I had made. (This was my first time doing partial frogging successfully, which was a big deal!) I'm so pleased that they are finished, and more importantly, finished well. I LOVE THEM!! They are warm and happy...perfect for these dreary fall days! The yarn is Malabrigo sock yarn. The color is 857 light of love. (I wonder who gets to name these things!)

I finished this pair of socks (my 24th pair) back in August. The yarn is Felici by Knit Picks, which was gifted to me by my sweet friend Suzanne. (I tried to find a link to the yarn, but I think it's either out of stock or discontinued.) I'm pleased as punch with this pair as well! I used my basic sock pattern (available here) for both of the pairs shown.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about hand knit socks. :)

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the MONTH....if you have multiple finishes to share, please feel free to link up more than one! Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! I know that some of you miss having a weekly link up, but I have to say, that doing it once a month has been so helpful for my sanity. (I don't have that much to spare. hahaha!) Anyway, I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!

need more coffee-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I recently finished this quilt that I'm calling "need more coffee". It's a spin on my mini coffee cups quilt....but I made a LOT more blocks this time. 110 blocks, to be exact. I was working on these blocks at my annual Gruber's retreat this past summer and my friends urged me to offset the rows of coffee cups rather than rely on a straight block setting. It was definitely the right choice! That little change made a big difference.

I used a variety of light prints for the background, but all of the coffee cups are RED!

I used the spool print from my Emma & Myrtle collection for the backing and a sweet gingham print for the binding. (The binding might be my favorite part of this quilt!!!)

I glue basted the fabric to help line up the repeat of the print for the backing. It takes a little bit extra time to do it, but the satisfaction that I get out of it is priceless. I know, I'm such a nerd!

I quilted it on my Janome Horizon. The original quilting plan was to quilt a 1/2" grid all over, but I came to my senses and settled for a 1" grid instead. I decided that it'll do. Hahahaha!

 

The quilt measures about 60" x 76".

 

As much as I LOVE this quilt, I think I'm going to give it as a gift. I can't keep them all....sigh.

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

two of a kind

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I want to start this week by saying that this will be the LAST week of finish it up Friday for the summer. I need to step back and take a breather. Did you know that I started finish it up Friday in October of 2011? That means we've been at this finishing business (with the occasional hiatus during my social media breaks) for almost 7 years. That's CRAZY! Also, that's a LOT of finishes! I'm very much looking forward to the break from finish it up Friday so I can spend more time with my kids this summer. I do plan to keep blogging, if I can find time to sew, that is. :)

 

Speaking of finishes.....I have a PAIR of quilts to share today.

When I was making my epic Heather Ross quilt, I was actually working on two at a time. I made one to keep and one to give to a friend. I'm so glad I did!

Each of the quilts is a twin size, measuring about 67 1/2" x 91". I used my Easy as Pie tutorial (available here), but I expanded it to make a twin size rather than a lap size. I LOVE the simple pattern because it was QUICK and easy to put together and it lets the fabric shine.

The quilts are identical on the front, but the backs are slightly different. I used a mixture of the same two fabrics for the backing, but I alternated the arrangement of the fabrics. I used cotton lawn from Heather's line Sleeping Porch, which I found on clearance, (bonus!) and I knew that they would make beautiful backings. The combo of the orange and cream colors reminds me of an orange creamsicle. It carries out the summertime feeling of the quilts. Also, the lawn is lightweight and DREAMY!!!! It quilted up beautifully.

I quilted them both with loop de loop quilting on the baby lock Tiara that I still have on loan. I used 50 weight Aurifil thread-color 2026-which is a lovely creamy color that blended with all of the fabrics quite nicely.

Normally I don't use a light or white binding for a quilt, but these bright yellow dots were a perfect match to the colors in the quilt. It is smooth and lightweight, so it was a delight to hand stitch down to the back. (Hurray!)

This cute lined fabric (Fine Lines by Michael Miller) works perfectly for labels. You can see the backing fabrics better in this photo, too.

I gifted the quilt to my friend yesterday and I'm happy to say that she LOVED it!!! I also enlisted her to help me take quilt photos after I gave it to her, because I'm nice like that. Hahaha! :) As you can see, it was a little bit breezy down by the lake.

I especially love this photo....it's the epitome of a Minnesota summer. I am soooo pleased that these quilts are done NOW so that they can be enjoyed and used all summer long.

 

That's it for me today! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!

fast four patch quilt top

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I have a simple 4 patch baby quilt top to share. I started it yesterday afternoon and I finished up the top this morning. It was a fun one to sew up!

The pattern is called fast four patch and it's in my friend Amy Smart's book Fabulously Fast Quilts. I was joking with a friend recently that I should actually sew something from my collection of books that I have on my bookshelf. This is a great start! It was fun to follow a pattern and to SKIP the math for once.

For this quilt, I started with the backing fabric, since it was THE perfect size for a quilt back, then I pulled fabrics for the front from my stash. I have NO shortage of aqua options, obviously. Hahaha!

The quilt top measures about 40" x 48". I LOVE how it turned out!

 

Another finish for this week.....as of yesterday at 3 pm, my kids are DONE with school for the year. I'm not sure I'm completely ready for the transition, but I am determined to enjoy as much of summer vacation with them as I can. They sure do grow up fast....

 

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great and SAFE weekend. xo

  

another new floor!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Well, I haven't sewn a single stitch on my machine since LAST Friday. I can't remember the last time that happened!

I've been working on redoing my daughter's room off and on since January. Any of you that have ever done a home remodel project knows that everything takes longer than it should. Right? This past weekend I FINALLY got to the fun part of this huge project...laying the new laminate floor! I used the same flooring in my own bedroom a few years ago. It's held up remarkably well and I still like it, so I thought it would be smart to put matching stuff in my daughter's room. It only took me 2 days to install it. Of course the finishing details are the real bugger and I have a million of those left, but we shall celebrate progress!

The flooring is Distressed Brown Hickory laminate from the Home Depot. I'm so pleased with how it came together!!! The wall paint color is Plateau by Pittsburgh Paints (purchased from Menards). I LOVE this color so much! The trim got a fresh coat (or 12, haha!) of white paint, too. SOOOO MUCH work when into this, so it's good to see it taking shape. Finally!

Here are a few before photos...



Wallpaper border circa 1998...had to go!

Of course it didn't go without a fight. (It never does...)

This photo is a pretty cringy and a little gross...but it's evidence that it was all worth it! All the blood, sweat and frustration. (I don't think there were any tears. YAY!)

My daughter and I are planning out the quilt that I'm going to make for her new room, but that won't be ready for awhile yet, so this is her temporary bedding situation. She slept in her new room for the first time last night and she absolutely loves it. I'm pretty pleased with it so far, too! I totally need a nap, though!!! (Maybe I should borrow her new bed....hahahaha!)

 

Alright, that's it for me today! Now it's your turn to link up your finishes for the week. Thank you SO MUCH for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a GREAT weekend! xo

epic HR quilt top complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Thanks to some late evening and early morning sewing during the past 12 hours, I have completed my epic Heather Ross quilt top! The top features fabric from her lines Briar Rose, Tiger Lily and Kinder, along with some pieces from her Mendicino reprint. The pattern is based off my OLD Easy As Pie tutorial, which can be found here. The quilt top measures 67 1/2" x 91". (Or so. hahaha!)

I started cutting it out last Saturday, so it feels AMAZING to have the quilt top done already. It's amazing what a little focus (and an easy pattern) can do. :)

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a GREAT weekend! xoxox

June 2-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I worked very hard this week to finish up this quilt! I started it last summer when I hosted my June quilt QAL. I basted it about a month ago. I started quilting it on Tuesday and worked on it for the better part of 3 days to quilt and bind it. I'm so pleased that it's finally complete! It's such a happy quilt, isn't it?

While the quilt top assembly didn't take too long, figuring out a quilting plan did. I finally decided to treat a few of the elements separately. I did loop-de-loops in the pieced sashing. I quilted the diagonals in one direction continuously, but I had to start and stop for the diagonals in the other direction. There were a A LOT of knots to bury on this quilt! (I use the tutorial here.)

I used a walking foot to do some concentric square quilting in the polka dot blocks. That took a lot longer than I bargained for. More knots to bury! I estimated that it took me about 6 hours to quilt JUST the center 18 squares. I think it took me at least 10 hours to quilt this entire quilt. That's crazy! This quilt isn't that big. I'm happy to say that the quilting turned out better than I imagined, so it was totally worth it....sore shoulders and all. :)

For the backing, I used this cute typewriter keys print and added borders on all 4 sides to frame it so it would be centered. I LOVE this combination! I'm also pleased that it all came from my stash.

The binding is a tiny gingham that was printed on the bias. It's from the line Cottontail Cottage by Bunny Hill Designs for Moda. I love how it frames the quilt. Gingham binding is almost always a good idea!

The quilt measures about 51" x 68".

 

The links to the June QAL can be found here:

 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

 

The original pattern for the June quilt (85" square) can be found in my book No Scrap Left Behind. Isn't it fun to see the same pattern in a different color option? That, to me, never gets old.

 

Alright! That's it for me today. Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

annex double zip pouch

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Today's finish is a fun double zip boxy pouch. I bought the supplies at Stitch Supply Co. well over a year ago. I think I was a little intimidated by the double zipper, so I may have procrastinated a little bit. I'm so glad I finally took the time this week to sew it up.

I LOVE a quilted panel on the outside of my zip pouches. Even though it takes extra time, it's totally worth it! This pattern calls for Pellon Flex Foam, which is quite spongy, so it creates a lot of opportunity for the fabric to shift during quilting. Thankfully I had some 505 spray on hand, which I used to keep the fabric in place while quilting the outer panels. It worked like a charm! My Hera marker (by clover) is one of my favorite tools for marking and it came in very handy for this project, too. I marked the fabric BEFORE I placed in on the foam, so I got a nice crisp line/crease to follow.

It was fun to pick out two different fabrics for the lining...

 ....and two different colored zippers, too.

The pattern is called the Annex double-zip box pouch by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. The zip pouch shown in this post is the largest size. I'm excited to fill it with portable projects and use it! I don't think you can EVER have too many cute zip pouches.

I was showing it to my husband last evening and he hinted that if I ever made a masculine looking one, he might be able to take it off my hands and find a use for it. Ha! I guess I'll have to keep that in mind. I'm thinking I might try it in vinyl, perhaps.

Alright, that's it for me today. Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining for me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

biased-a completed quilt

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last weekend I put the final stitches in the binding, so...my biased quilt is complete!

This is a simple string quilt that was foundation pieced onto phone book papers, which are later removed. (You can find an in depth block tutorial here.) It's a great use for a phone book, don't you think??? :) While the construction method is fairly straightforward, the color work is complex, I would say. It was a fun quilt to build, one string at a time. I am VERY pleased with how it turned out!

I kind of got sucked into this project and I didn't want to work on many other things at the time, so I pieced it rather quickly. (That's a good thing!) I used solids from a variety of manufacturers in more colors than I could guess. I know I say this all the time, but as with any scrap quilt, more is better!

For the back, I used this BRIGHT lemon yellow print from my good neighbors fabric line (which is out of print). The binding is Kona pomegranate, which is a beautiful pinky-red that is super hard to photograph accurately, but trust me --it's a good one! It's one of my current favorites, actually. I made biased binding for this quilt, even though you can't tell, because it's a solid fabric. Since the name of the quilt is BIASED, I thought it was fitting. It's the little things, right?

There was no question in my mind that I was going to send it out to be quilted professionally because I didn't want to mess it up! The quilting was done by Steffani Burton. (Thanks, Steffani!) I love the contrast of the quilted swirls against the graphic lines of the piecing. I think it makes a nice pairing.

I labeled this quilt right away, too! Labeling isn't my favorite, but I feel that it IS important and I'm trying to do it more consistently. Two in a row is a pretty good start. Ha!

The quilt measures about 60" x 75". This is my second quilt in my Salute to Solids series, where I am on a quest to make 10 scrap quilts from the solids bin. You can see the first quilt in the series here.

I'm going to be teaching an improv string class based on this quilt at Glamp Stitch-a-lot in Ann Arbor, Michigan in November. You can find more details here, if you are interested!

Ok, that's it for me today! It's your turn to link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a GREAT weekend!

a traditional log cabin quilt-complete!!!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Today I am THRILLED to share with you my completed log cabin quilt!

I started this quilt back in May of 2016 and I'm delighted that it took me less than 2 years to complete it. Truth be told, most of the blocks were made earlier this year in a marathon quilt making session. It was a little intense. Hahaha!

I made it a point to use some of my most precious fabrics in this quilt. I used a lot of fabrics from Denyse Schmidt, some from Heather Ross, Carolyn Friedlander, and soooo many other great designers. I also mixed in some of my own designs from each of my fabric lines. (That was pretty fun, I have to admit!) I added a lot of blenders and several 30's reproduction fabrics, too. I LOVED using such a large variety of prints in one quilt. The more the better!

It looks SO good on my bed! EEEP!

I quilted it with simple loops all over with white Aurifil 50 weight thread. I love the texture it created....and it hasn't even been washed yet! It took a LONG time to quilt!!! Days and days. I'm really glad that I quilted it myself, though. There is such a feeling of accomplishment quilting a KING size quilt, even if the quilting isn't perfect.

My original plan for the binding was to use red and white polka dots. That's my default, it seems. I didn't have any appropriate options on hand, so I chose this springy apple green polka dot instead. I LOVE the pop of color on the outside of the quilt. It worked out so well....plus, it was in my stash, which means I could make the binding at 9pm. We all know that is important! :)

I love the front of the quilt, but the fun fact is, that it's actually two quilts in one, because I pieced a back from my stash. I used a stack of fabrics that I had bundled together YEARS ago, thinking it would make a cute quilt...you know, someday. Well, after some editing (adding AND subtracting), I have ANOTHER quilt. That's good use of my batting dollar. Hurray!

I LOVE that this block says "Cookies". That will be sure to make me smile every time I see it. Quirky and fun.

On the back I used some of my vintage fabric (the two florals shown) that came from my grandma's house. It was a little thin, but I really wanted to use it. Realizing that the quilt will only be as strong as the weakest fabric, I added some Pellon SF101 to the back of the thin fabrics to stabilize them. They should withstand a lot of wear now. I'm so glad I thought of that solution sooner rather than later. (Which would be typical!)

I think the back turned out even better than I imagined it would. I LOVE it when that happens.

I labeled the quilt nearly right away, so it's REALLY done! After all that work, I am very happy to put my name on this quilt! I opted for a hand written label because it feels more personal. I like having a bit of my handwriting on the quilt label, even if it's not super polished.

The quilt measures 108" x 99". AND....it's scrap project #202!!!! That means that I've officially wrapped up my second round of my 101 scrap challenge. WOOHOO!!! That feels amazing!

All together this quilt used about 12.1 yards of scraps for the front, nearly 10 yards of fabric for the back, and about 3/4 of a yard for binding, which means that this quilt contains nearly 23 yards of fabric. How CRAZY is that???? It weights nearly 9 pounds. This one heavy duty quilt!

You can find the measurements here, if you care to make one of your own!

 

Alright! That's it for me today! Now it's your turn. Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great (and safe!) weekend! xo