ABC - 123

Back in my "The Simple Life" post I made the confession that pre-cuts are not my thing. After years of trying to make them work, they really just don't follow my personal style. I have been slowly trying to use up what I have stashed. Bit by bit these precuts are finally dwindling.

Next on the chopping block is ABC 123 by American Jane ... 

This might be one of my oldest jelly rolls on hand! The plan for these classic prints is the Jelly Roll Jam II, a free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop. Linked to the PDF. It's simple and quick.  Using a full jelly roll creates a small lap quilt (48 inches by 57 inches), perfect for solo snuggling on the couch. The whole top took one afternoon to whip up.

Now I for the quilting, not sure if I should do something with straight lines or stipple all over? Thinking less quilting than more. The one thing I am sure about is a black binding. Those two random black prints need some company!

Quote Quilt: Finished

While I have been on the hunt for a house, my HGTV viewing has increased ten fold. Including starting from the beginning of Fixer Upper and watching all the shows on Netflix. Talk about a productive summer. 

During this time I fell in love with Joanna's quote, "Today is a Good Day for a Good Day." With all the roller coster ups and downs of putting in offers and searching for that perfect home, this quilt seemed fitting. Leila Boutique had came out with a scrappy quote quilt and I had the brilliant idea to combine the two ideas.

Backing with a Bed Sheet: 

Currently, I plan to keep this quilt, so I backed it with a sheet set from Target in Ballard Blue (not an affiliate link). The 225 thread count worked will with a regular 80/10 needle on a domestic machine. I spray basted the quilt before quilting and had no issues with puckering or the spray baste not holding. To use the fitted sheet, I cut the elastic from around the edge. Once it was ironed flat it worked great, although it was a snug fit!

I did purchase the queen size so I could back two quilts from the same set. My Sugar Block of the Month quilt is going to get the same backing since the fronts are in the same fabrics.

Details:

Finished Size: 68 inches x 78 inches, Pattern: Spell It with Moda Fabric: Stash, Batting: 80/20 blend, Thread: Connecting Threads - Parchment, Quilting: Stipple

Large quilts on a domestic should come with complementary massages! My shoulders didn't like the workout.

Another Swell Quilt

Another quilt start is in order after finishing many of my WIPs and conquering my scrap bin!

Lately I have been good about not starting new projects but finishing up what I already have going. Each year I start off making and planning a bunch of new projects then spend the rest of year getting said projects under control.

I wasn't about to let it happen again this year!

I have decided to go crazy with my Bonnie and Camille fabrics.

Stashed away was one layer cake of Hello Darling, a jolly bar of Little Ruby, and a charm pack of Miss Kate. To start, I cut the layer cake and jolly bar into 5 inch squares.

The pile had more oranges, reds, and greens than I expected. Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty got herself a nice stack of squares that were not deemed to be the "right" color.  Then added in a couple fabrics I deemed to be the "right" color.

As of now, the plan is to make another Swell quilt, but I am tempted to try my Twisted Nines tutorial on a bigger quilt using some Kona Midnight in the corners again. 

What do you think?

Starlight: Finished

Ten Glorious Weeks of Summer Vacation.

Half done, and, not much to show. 

After teaching summer school each morning. My afternoons have been spent on the couch with Rosa Pug knitting and watching 70's game show re-runs. Really exciting. It's been too hot to go out mid-day so I have been capitalizing on the air-conditioning. 

In in the mist of my machine gathering dust, I did get this quilt finished. I started this Starlight quilt back at retreat in April. Ta da! Shamefully, this is only my second finish of the summer. 

Rosa wanted to be apart of the photography so she went for the photobomb approach. Silly thing.

QUILT DETAILS: 

• Finished Size: 74 inches x 80 inches 
• Pattern: Starlight by Thimble Blossoms
• Fabric: PB & J by Basic Gray, Kona Snow background
• Batting: 80/20 Blend
• Thread: Connecting Threads - Parchment

Ok, back to watching game shows. Rosa is eyeballing my bowl of fresh strawberries with her face gently resting on the keyboard. She giving her saddest puppy dog face in hopes that I will spare just one berry. Just one! 

LINKING TO: Needle and Thread Thursday

On the Bandwagon: Flimsy Finish

Ok, confession time.  I am obsessed with the show "Fixer Upper." On the first season of the show Joanna had the quote "Today is a Good Day for a Good Day" cut from metal to put on a clients wall. I wanted it so bad!

Instead of joining along with the same quilt put out by Lella Boutique, with the quote "When Life is Scrappy >>> Make a Quilt." I decided to switch it up with the quote above. The link above goes to the pattern for each letter. 

I love Vanessa's stars and arrows, pattern found at Moda Bake Shop, to use as filler between words. I also used a Ohio Star from Moda, a Granny Square, A Thimble Blossoms "Dwell" House, and Heart blocks by Cluck Cluck Sew.

With it being summer vacation and all it was only fitting that every day is a good day :) 

Twisted Nines: Finished

Summer fever is in full swing for the students. The craziness that is happing in my classroom is insane. Just 10 more days! Not to mention my personal life has been non stop. Hopefully there will be updates on that front soon. Hint: I have been house hunting! (I could put in a 1,000 more ! points)

In the midst of all this crazy I did manage to whip up this baby quilt. If you don't remember I made the tutorial Twisted Nine's a couple weeks back. It uses two charm packs and a fat quarter for solid. 

It's a great little pattern if you need a baby quilt fast. 

To finish, I used a meandering stipple. This quilt finished up fast, only being 39 inches square. It's a nice baby quilt. The binding is a light mint color and the backing is bright pink polka dots. The colors ended up working out perfectly.

Fabric Used: - 1.5 yards

Net Loss: - 90.5 yards YTD

I cannot believe I have used almost a 100 yards of fabric AND still have so much around. It's been nice to see a "slight" decline in the stash. 

Twisted Nines: Tutorial

Twisted Nines is an easy baby quilt, perfect for beginners who want to take their quilting to the next step. The quilt finishes at 39 inches square.

Materials: 
To start you are going to need 2 charm packs (Dot. Dot. Dash-), and a quarter yard of solid fabric (Kona Midnight). I used fabric from yardage but if you can also use a fat quarter.
*Charm packs need to have 42 pieces of fabric each.

Disappearing 9 Patch Block: (Click the link if you are not familiar with this block)
To start sew the charm squares into a three by three block. You will use 9 charm squares for each block. Cut down the center vertically and horizontally to create four smaller blocks. Here is a visual. You will have 36 small blocks and 3 charm squares left over when finished.

The Twist: 
From the solid fabric cut three (if using yardage) 3 inch wide strips.  Subcut into 36 - 3 inch squares. Then mark a line diagonally across the square, sew along line. Trim excess a quarter inch from the sewn line. Press open. If you would like a shortcut, try the Frog Tape Trick.

Block:
Each block consists of 4 smaller blocks arranged the same way. Create 9 blocks in total. Then arrange them in a 3 by 3 layout. Sew the block together and you're finished!

Larger Size: 

Increase the size by using 3 charm packs. Sew the disappearing nine patch block, you will end up with 56 small blocks and no remaining charm squares. Cut your (1/2 yard) of solid fabric into 3 inch strips and subcut into 56 - 3 inch squares. Sew following the twist directions. Layout blocks in a 7 by 8 configuration.  Final quilt size will measure approximately, 45 inches by 52 inches.

Fabric Used: - 1.75 yards

Net Loss: - 72 yards YTD

Starlight: Pulse Check

Over retreat I was able to get this quilt top put together. 

A while back I went shopping in my stash for new quilt project and fell in LOVE with this fabric all over again. The fabric is an older line by Basic Grey called PB & J. I pulled the pattern Starlight from my library and was good to go! Old stuff with a new life.

At first I was worried about sewing on the bias for a whole quilt. 

My take away, the bias was more forgiving than it was a nuisance. This top came together easily. The pattern has no y-seams, everything is laid out in row. 

This might be my new favorite go to pattern! Always a sucker for stars.

Not to mention this fabric is so yummy to photograph.

Net: - 8 yards, YTD: -17.25 yards

LINKED TO: Needle n Thread Thursday, Finish it Up Friday 

New Project: Starlight in PB&J

Somedays I just crave something new. New motivation. New inspiration. New technique. New project. Today I am embracing new. 

Notice I neglected to say new fabric? 

For that I will applaud myself. I have been stashing a jelly roll of PB & J designed by Basic Grey and made by Moda. Along with some yardage cuts. So almost new fabric, it was plucked from my stash but I have never used any of the fabrics in this line. 

So new to me! 

Also, new pattern was missing from the newness. I bought the Starlight pattern from Thimble Blossoms years ago. Once again I have never used the pattern, so new to me.  Talk about a double win on the stash!

The pattern uses triangles to create a star pattern inside another star. It's pretty awesome check out what others have done on Instagram.

Auntie's Star Quilt

My Aunt has been requesting a navy and white themed quilt for quite some time. She also loved my Patriotic Star quilt, so I thought a star quilt using navy and white. I am going to use the star block tutorial over at Cluck Cluck Sew. When the Lexington line by Moda came out last fall I bought some half yards to make this quilt. **Not all are Lexington, some fabrics are from my stash. 

My Aunt is going to very happy to see this post, and know here demands are being meet.

-Patch & Chels

Quilt Challenge 2014... The Reveal

 Last year my grandmother and I started our annual Quilt Challenge. For 2014, we are using a charm pack of Birds & Berries by Lauren & Jessi Jung, along with 3 fat quarters of coordinating prints. Check out last year's challenge :)

This weekend was the big reveal.  We finally got to see each other's work. We keep it a secret, so it's extra exciting. Here is what my grandmother came up with, pretty awesome! Hard to tell that these two quilts use EXACTLY the same fabric!  

Gram's Version

I went with a scrappy crossroads block for mine as I absolutely loved the patten. It did a good job showing off all the patterns in the line. Then finished it off with some hand quilting. 

Now we just need to decided what next year's challenge will entail .... oh the possibilities! 

-Patch & Chels