Showing posts with label finish friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finish friday. Show all posts

Friday, August 11, 2017

Cherrywood Fabrics Van Gogh challenge - a finish!

I have really enjoyed seeing the last two challenges hosted by Cherrywood Fabrics.  There was the Wicked challenge (see pics HERE) and last year, the Lion King challenge was phenomenal!

Lion King Cherrywood Challenge at Road 2 CA

While at Road to California in January, I was intrigued with the idea of entering this year's challenge - inspired by Van Gogh.  But I don't think I actually purchased the fabric bundle until QuiltCon in February.  I lacked the confidence and was worried about lack of time as well.  In the end, the colors won me over.  Who could resist the lovely blues??

In true "Jen form", I waited until nearly the last minute to start my challenge piece.  I chose Van Gogh's "Starry Night over the Rhone" as my inspiration and got to work.  Here are some progression pics of the process I used.  I basically used the same technique as My Monet quilt, you can find the tutorial HERE, but I'm sure you will get the gist from the pics below.

My rough plan:

Van Gogh: a rough outline of my project

I like to draw out a rough plan, like a road map to see where I am going.

Van Gogh: the first few pieces in place


I started blocking in the background colors. I even kept some of the "fringe" edges where the fabric had been ripped.  I figured that rough edge would help me with a blended look along the horizon.

Van Gogh: background pieces in place

Finally, I started laying down the first "brushstrokes".  These were pieces of fabric fused with Steam a Seam Lite and then cut into random wavy strips.

Van Gogh: first layer of "brushstrokes" down


I just kept adding more and more layers of these little pieces.

Van Gogh: brushstrokes in progress


More and more layers of detail.  As you can see, I started with larger pieces and moved on to smaller pieces to add details.

Van Gogh: I need starlight


Once everything was where I wanted it, I fused the pieces in place with my iron and started quilting in long wavy lines.

Van Gogh: a few more details and the start of stitching


Normally, I would have added tulle to the entire quilt before quilting on top of those tiny fused pieces, but I wasn't sure if tulle was allowed in the challenge and I really didn't have time to find out.  Boy, does tulle make things easier!!!  It keeps all your pieces in place and lets the quilting foot just glide over everything.  Without the tulle, some of my fused pieces wanted to flip over and get caught.

Van Gogh: just keep adding layers!

In fact, I started free motion quilting this project, but after a few minutes of my pieces getting mangled by the foot, I switched up to my walking foot.  I ended up quilting nearly the entire quilt with my walking foot.

Van Gogh: people close up


When I first started quilting, I was a little mad at myself for "ruining a perfectly good quilt with too much stitching", but as I added more and more layers and colors of thread, I felt that was in keeping with what I was trying to accomplish as Van Gogh inspired.  I love how it turned out in the end.

Van Gogh: finished


What do you think?

I found out today that my quilt was juried into the finalist group.  But I have to send it off to be judged and only then will I know if my quilt was accepted into the traveling exhibition.  I'll find out sometime next month.  I really have my fingers crossed.  I just think it would be so neat to have a quilt traveling around for a year to a bunch of shows!  I may not sleep until I know if it was accepted.

Thanks for reading today!  I hope you found it interesting.

Jen






Friday, October 7, 2016

Holiday placemats - a finish Friday

Finally a finish!

Tookie helping me display my Christmas placemats

I am almost embarrassed to say how long these Christmas placemats have been lingering in my UFO pile.

I first finished some of these ornament blocks way back in 2012 for the Vintage Holiday QAL.  You can see my finished quilt HERE.  I had a bunch of fabric left over so I decided it would be fun to make some holiday placemats with the leftovers.  It turned out that I had plenty - enough for 12 placemats!  I finished all the blocks themselves in December of 2014, and got them all quilted some time in 2015, and was trying to finish up the binding on Christmas Eve (2015).  I didn't realize at the time just how many placemats I had at the time, and I am the world's slowest hand binder, so didn't finish them and they got stored away for another day.  My Lazy Bum group chose this project as my September challenge, and I am happy to finally say that I finished up all the hand binding on these fun placemats.

As you can see, despite not having many finishes to help display, Tookie has not let her skills deteriorate.  She is more willing than ever to sprawl on my work.

Speaking of QAL's: Does anyone have any interest in participating in one after the holidays?  Is there a particular pattern you've been wanting to try in a group?

Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post may contain affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Rainbow Road - a finish Friday

A finish!

Rainbow road

Reagan is surveying my quilting on this Strip and Flip quilt that I am calling "Rainbow Road".  I made two of these tops with the intention of donating one to the quilt auction coming up on September 24th, 2016 in Blue Jay, CA, that benefits the Ability First camp in Crestline.

I was inspired to make this quilt a while ago when I saw my roommate, the lovely Heidi from Buttons and Butterflies, binding one in our hotel room at QuiltCon 2015 in Austin, TX.  It took me that long to get it going!

I am also proud to say that this is the 2nd quilt that I have quilted on my longarm.  I was having a lot of trouble on my practice pieces doing my favorite spirals.  When I was first learning to FMQ on my domestic machine, I found that if I just did a whole quilt with one quilting design, by the end I was much better at it!  So, I implemented this same strategy on the longarm.  I am happy to report that it worked!  My first few spirals were oval or squarish, but by the end, they were round and nesting nicely.  Hooray!

The other Rainbow Road top is destined to be for my oldest daughter.  She had been waiting patiently for me to make a quilt for her.  She is only 10, so she has only been waiting a decade.

Oh, and here is the back, in case anyone is curious.

back of Rainbow Road



Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post may contain affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Something nice, just for the sake of something nice - a finish Friday

It's Friday!  and I have a finish to share!

Another Les Amis baby quilt

This quilt may look familiar.  I made a similar one a couple of years ago for my cousin's first baby.  Somehow my math was off when I made the HST's for the design. I think I forgot that you get TWO HST's from every pair of squares, because I had nearly double what I needed.  I had put the extras away for a rainy day.

While it hasn't been raining, I figured it was about time to pull those extras out and put them to good use.  One of the ladies that runs the front office where my kids take gymnastics is about to have a baby.  I chipped in for the group gift weeks ago, but she and her husband (who also works in the office) are always so nice to my girls and I.  I wanted to do something more, so I made this quilt.

Some of my quilty friends think it is funny that I would give something like this to someone I know so little.  I think it is nice to do something nice, just for the sake of doing something nice.  I hope she likes it, but I am keeping my expectations low (she is a muggle, after all).  Ironically, I have had better luck giving my quilts to complete strangers than my own family.  My mom (Hi Mom!) is the exception.  She always loves what I send her, and that's why she will get more quilts in the future too.

Do you give away any of your quilts to people you barely know?


Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post may contain affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Wee Wander Spanish Tiles - a Finish Friday

A finish!

Wee Wander Spanish Tiles in Pink


I really shouldn't be so excited about this one considering how long it has been coming.  I mean I finished the top at least a year ago.  It and its aqua twin, sat waiting for me to quilt it until I got fed up waiting for time and gave it to one of the longarmers in the guild to quilt for me.  It was money well spent as it only took her a couple of days to do both of them.

I finished up the binding on the aqua one just in time for Christmas (quite literally Christmas Day), but the pink one still needed the binding.  Cue a full DVR and a day waiting for some deliveries, and it has finally been finished.

I intended to give the pink one to Olivia, who LOVES pink!  But, she saw that I had unicorn fabric in my stash, and some mermaids and asked for expects a quilt made with those fabrics too.  Cheeky of her!


Wee Wander Pink quilt back


For the back, I just took all my leftover scraps of the line and kind of threw them together log cabin style.

The pattern is "Spanish Tiles" by Heather Peterson of Anka's Treasures.  It is in her book, Living Large 2, which focuses on patterns for large-scale prints.  I love the idea of this book, and the designs are really brilliant, using sashing in ways I hadn't thought of.  BUT, I must admit I wish a little more attention was given to the math for the size options.  I made the twin size and had to do some of the border math myself and had quite a bit of waste (which I used on the back, so it wasn't really wasted).

Here is the aqua one too!

Blue Wee Wander quilt - already on DD's bed

I just love the colors.  So does Tookie!

Drowsy cat


Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post may contain affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Deb's NY Beauty Circle of Geese - a Finish Friday

Ladies and Gentlemen.....this mini quilt has been 9 months in the making, which is about how long since I have had a finish Friday!

NY Beauty Circle of Flying Geese Mini for Deb

Deb's NY Beauty Circle of Geese mini is finally finished!  I completed the last few inches of binding up over the weekend.  I am completely ashamed that it took me so long to finish this one up.  Rather than rehash the excuses, I can only ask, and hope that Deb forgives me.

center of Deb's NY Beauty Circle of FG

This Beauty is already on its way to her.  Pray that it doesn't get lost on the way!  I'm not sure how long it will take me to make a replacement, LOL.

Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post may contain affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

TGIFF

Welcome to TGIFF!  If it is your first time here, please feel free to look around.  Things are a bit crazy at the moment as I am in the middle of a house move.  But, I didn't want to miss a chance to host TGIFF, so I saved a little something especially for this post.

In the beginning of the year, I signed up for a bunch of fun swaps on Instagram.  I just couldn't help myself, especially when the first few went so well.  After churning out a bunch of minis in a row, though, I started getting a bit burned out.  So, I am happy to share my last swap mini.....

Cotton and Steel Mini Swap item


This one is for the Cotton and Steel Mini Swap on Instagram.  The pattern is a variation of the Good Fortune pattern listed for free on the Cotton and Steel website.  I reduced it quite a bit to make it mini sized and I changed the layout just a tad.  I used the Homebody collection by Kimberly Kight, and mixed in some metallic background fabric.  I find it a little funny that the background fabric looks nearly the same as the concrete in the photo.  Now I just need to put a label on this mini, send it off and I will be officially done with swaps for a while.  That is, until I relapse again.

I could also show you a few pics of my house in boxes, something that I am definitely saying TGIFF about!  But, that wouldn't be very interesting.  I will say, though, that my studio had just as many boxes as my entire kitchen!  Scary!





Now it is your turn to link up!  The rules are simple - please only link up finishes and posts that link back to the TGIFF party so your readers can find TGIFF and link up too!


Thanks for reading today,


Jen


Friday, May 1, 2015

Outlander swap tote - a Finish Friday


Finished tote for Outlander craft swap

Behold!  My finished tote for the Outlander Craft Swap.

It started with a plan....

design for Outlander swap

Then, I got to work on the thistle applique.  I used a fusible to help give me a bit of support for those tiny jagged leaves and keep them in place.  Then I used a small blanket stitch to machine applique them to my white background.

Thistles in progress

Next, I moved onto the trapunto for the knot portion.  I have not done trapunto before, so I was kind of winging it.  I put a small piece of batting behind the knot, then stitched on the lines of the knot. Then I used my applique scissors to trim the batting away as close to the stitching lines as possible in the areas that I wanted to be shaded.

Outlander swap item, work in progress


Then, I added batting to the entire piece, and when to work adding quilting to the shaded area of the knot.  I used Cindy Needham's "Scribbling" technique to do this.  She talks about it a lot in her Craftsy class, Design it, Quilt It - with Cindy Needham (affliate link**).  I highly recommend this class!!!  It is chock full of awesome quilting designs.


Celtic knot in progress

When I was all done quilting the knot, I moved on to the background behind the thistles.  Can't not have some swirls!

Next, I turned the whole thing into a tote bag.  I debated making it a pillow.....it would have been a lovely pillow.  But, I thought my partner would never get to show it off if it was just a pillow.  Rarely do I see people walking around town with pillows in their hands.  So, a tote.  A nice, useful, practical tote (with an interior zip pocket and a regular interior pocket too).

My finished tote for the Outlander Craft Swap

I hope my partner likes it!  I used up practically all of my favorite 2 purple fabrics.  I hope she likes purple!


Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Aprons on the line - a finish Friday

It's a finish Friday!

As promised, here is the mini I made for my new partner in the Spring Fling Mini Swap on Instagram.

Spring Fling Mini Swap item

My partner was a big fan of Lori Holt at Bee in my Bonnet, and I happened to have some of her fabric on hand.  Finding a pattern that would go with the vintage feel wasn't too hard either.  I had one of Eleanor Burns' books, Quilts from El's Kitchen (Quilt in a Day) (affiliate link).  It has some really cute blocks and projects in it.


teeny tiny hexy flowers

In case you are wondering, YES, those are tiny hexies!

Untitled


My partner received her quilt yesterday and really seems to like it.  That makes me happy!



Thanks for reading today,


Jen




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**This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase something after clicking on one of my links, I may be compensated.