Modern Coins and NTT

Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, y'all!  Just after last week's party, we left for what my husband likes to call "the tour of the Gulf Coast" to see both of our families in Texas and Louisiana; which culminated in dropping off my wild thing to spend the week at my parents' house.  He spends this time with them every summer and I love that he looks forward to it so much.  Since getting back on Sunday evening, I have been taking it easy, and though I'm missing my sidekick this week, I must admit that the quiet house is nice.  In the past couple of days, I took the scraps from my Indian Summer quilt and made a quick, modern coins baby quilt in a flash.

I pulled a gray Denyse Schmidt polkadot from my stash for the backing, and added a coral tonal stripe for a little bit of fun.  The DS print is one that is no longer available, and I had a tough time parting with it.  A wide stipple keeps this quilt nice and soft; perfect for baby snuggles.

I had just enough Kona Kelly Green leftover from my Indian Summer quilt to bind this one, and I just love the pop of the vibrant green with all of those rich Amy Butler prints.  This little quilt measures 42" square, and I love how it turned out!

Before we party, let's check out last week's party features.  This quilt by Tisha at Quilty Therapy is called Scrappy Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles, and it is so happy!

These fun flamingoes are by Tanya Quilts in CO;  perfect for summer!

and this scrappy flowering snowball quilt is by Dreamworthy Quilts.  Love it!

Okay friends, let's do this.  I hope you're getting lots of sewing time lately!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Laundry Money

I'm supposed to be using my time wisely cooking and getting my house ready to decorate for Christmas today, but I couldn't resist taking a few minutes to share my Miss Kate coin quilt finish with you!  It's not really procrastination though.  I actually finished this quilt over the weekend, but it was so rainy, I couldn't get any pictures, and of course the days are so short lately that it's almost dark when I get home from school.  So today was the first opportunity I had to get pictures of it.  There, now that I've justified enough, I feel no guilt whatsoever.

I really love these cheery fabrics!  I wish it was spring or summer so that the backdrop could show off the colors better.  Bonnie and Camille fabrics fabrics just make me smile!

This was my first ever jelly roll purchase.  Yes, that's right- my very first.  I usually don't buy a lot of precuts (unless you count fat quarters), because I don't always know what to do with them.  I love quilts with strips, but I usually just use the fabric I have on hand.  I have to say that the jelly roll was nice though.  I didn't have to cut the strips, and more importantly, it gave me tons of fabric variety.

Of course, that meant that I didn't have leftovers for my usual scrap festival on the back, but that's okay.  I like the way the wide green stripe echoes the shape of the coin strips, and the navy blue shows the stippling really well.  There was a time when I used to shy away from quilting with contrasting thread in case I made any mistakes, but I've gotten to where I really like the contrast.

The other great thing is that a jelly roll has built in binding strips!  I used all of the solids, and I love the way it frames the coins.  Sometimes, I think a pieced binding is too busy, but with all of the white sashing in this quilt, it works.

Although I'm calling this pattern Laundry Money since it's a coin quilt,  I didn't want to give that name to the quilt itself.  Since "coin quilts" are a quilters' term, I don't see a little girl enjoying that name.  I decided to call the quilt Ticker Tape Parade.

I have been putting my time to good use over the last several days, knowing that the holiday season really cuts down my sewing time.  I went ahead and finished up my Laundry Money pattern, and it is for sale in my Craftsy and Etsy shops!  It's a great use of a jelly roll, so I hope you'll check it out!

I hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving filled with family, food, and fun!

Coins on the Sidewalk

Today was the last day of school for the kiddos, and y'all- I am exhausted!  Trying to keep some semblance of order during the last few days of school is like trying to herd cats.  You can run around in circles and never get anywhere (and I say that with all the love in my heart).  Of course, I have to work tomorrow to finish all of the odds and ends to close out the school year, but somehow, doing all of that without kids in the room doesn't seem nearly as taxing.  Hmmmm...wonder why?  ;)  I am so ready to have the summer to spend with my wild thing at the pool, and baseball field, and to be able to sew until all hours of the night without repercussions (not serious ones, anyway).

Speaking of repercussions, I stayed up waaaayyy too late finishing up the stippling on this quilt last night, which just might account for a smidge of my lack of energy today (but just a smidge- it's mostly because of the kids I tell ya!).  For once, I actually had a good reason for doing this, rather than just my obsession with all things quilty.  My Mom and Dad live six hours away, so they hardly ever get to see my quilts in person before they're sent to their new homes.  It so happens that we're heading to visit on Saturday morning, so I wanted to have it finished to make the trip with us.  That's a good enough reason in my book!

I just finished putting the binding on this quilt (Kona Clover), and I have to say without a doubt- I love the way this quilt turned out! The use of the Kona Iron as my sashing was a bold choice (for me).  Ordinarily, I would have picked the much more traditional white sashing, but I think that the gray gives it a little bit of the unexpected, and makes the colors really stand out.  I think it also makes it look a little more grown up.

For the back, I chose Kona Ice Frappe- what a dreamy color.  It's so easy on the eyes, I could just stare at it!  With the darker sashing, and colorful coin explosion on the front, a softer color was in order for the backing.  But I did include a row of coins to give it a little pizzazz.  Something about this gray, aqua, and green color combo feels very fresh, and just makes me happy!

I quilted with gray thread to blend with the sashing on the front, and the contrast of the gray on aqua backing looks pretty cool.  I was pretty worried while quilting, because there's no way to hide little crossovers or thread nests, or any other mistakes that can happen when doing FMQ.  It all turned out okay though- actually better than I expected.

I've named this one "Coins on the Sidewalk", because the Kona Iron sashing reminds me of concrete- and I think it sounds catchy, ha!

I'm also entering this in Stitched in Color's String Fever Festival of Strings