W.i.P Wednesday: Start of Something New

With the holiday weekend I didn't get a whole lot of time to sew this week but with 3 finishes this month I gave myself permission to start something new. 

5" Squares of Nicey Jane mixed up with some blues, greens and yellows from my stash with white and natural Essex linen. After 3 quilts you'd think I'd be done with the Nicey Jane but every time I start pulling fabrics it pops into my piles:-)

It's all laid out on my design wall just waiting for me to sit down and start sewing!

That's so Twisted!

So I finally finished up my Twister quilt this week. I pieced the top back in January for the BMQG workshop but then it got put aside while I waited for the yardage to come out... months passed but I finally got my act together and quilted it on the longarm.

The colors aren't my usual color scheme but I wanted to get a lot of contrast to show off the twister design.  It's also a challenge when you're working with a layer cake because you have a limited set of choices.  Overall I'm pretty happy with the result.

Everyone loves the back with the pieced twister label.  I'd love to say I planned it that way but I'll confess, it was the result of a cutting error.  It was too late to go back to the quilt shop for more fabric and I really didn't want to spend anymore money on this so I came up with a "graceful" fix: )

I'm really pleased with the quilting!  The daisies really pop on the grunge but almost disappear on the twister.  It gives it so much texture and my longarm skills have really improved.  If happen to find yourself in West Concord this is on display at Quilter's Way so stop in to check it out and take advantage of their moving sale: )

W.i.P Wednesday: Whole Lot of Quilting Going On!

While I generally prefer piecing this week has been all about quilting! 

Monday I went to Laurena's Longarm and quilted my Hello Luscious Twister.

I used a daisy pantograph which echos the daisies on the back of the quilt and had the added bonus of being fast and easy to quilt.  The binding is on and I just need one good movie to get it tacked down and finished: )

Thank you so much for all your encouragement to keep going on my Verna Chain Reaction.  So many of you left comments, the quilt blogging community is so great!  I'm so close to being done with this!!!  I've got 5 of the 6 rows quilted: )  My goal is to get this finished by Friday so I can tack the binding while we drive to Maine for the holiday weekend.

And I finished quilting the last of the these friendship star blocks.  I still have to quilt the borders but I think they'll go much faster than quilting each individual blocks!

Still Life with Pears

One of the highlights of my trip to Quilt Market was getting to meet Weeks Ringle so when I heard she was looking for people to review the first issue of Modern Quilts Illustrated I jumped at the chance.  It's a bit misleading to call this a magazine, I'd call it more of a pamphlet because there is NO advertising!  While it is short, every page is content.  It is also printed on much heavier stock than a typical magazine.  Each issue will include three patterns and just like their books, these are clearly written and beautifully illustrated.  The process is well thought out and they offer easy and innovative ways to construct each quilt.  I also love that they talk about how they quilted each quilt and why.  So much better than "quilt as desired"!  Each quilt is also presented in several different colorways so you have tons of options.  The hardest thing is picking what to do first!

I couldn't resist trying Still Life with Pears. I did a raw-edge applique so it went together really quickly!  I pieced together the background and then layered it with the batting and backing.  I quilted the pears down and then practiced my stipple quilting in the background.  My only complaint (with my process, not the pattern) is that I tried a new "wash-out" fusible that I hate.  Not only did it not wash out, but it is rather stiff and annoying to work with.

I stuck with a pretty simple palette.  The background is Bella Feather and Mocha Carolina Chambray.  For the pears I used Kona: Buttercup, Cactus, Curry and Saffron with Chocolate for the stems.  The pattern is sized 24"x24" which fits perfectly on my kitchen wall!  Definitely a welcome addition: ) 

You may be able to find this in your LQS or you can call to subscribe.  I'll definitely be making that call and crossies that I actually get to talk to Weeks again!  I can't wait to see what #2 brings!!!

For my Mom

I'm notoriously bad at holiday gift giving.  I'm always thrilled to give an impromptu gift because I saw something that was perfect but coming up with something fabulous on an arbitrary deadline is beyond me.  I was planning to give my Mom this table runner for her birthday but didn't get it finished in time.  I kept making more things that coordinated and luckily for me by the time Mother's Day rolled around I had a complete set.  I even got it in the mail in time that I could show you this today without spoiling the surprise: )

Everything was made with scraps from my Keeping it Together watercolor quilt.  Didn't even make a dent in the pile!  My parents live in Key Largo so I wanted something tropical.  The table runner combines crazy 9 patch blocks and curved piecing.  I used Essex linen for the sand with some big stitch quilting along the edges.  My favorite part is how the binding matches up with the sand and water.  It was a total pain to sew that way but I love the result!

The coasters are just more leftover crazy 9 patch blocks with linen on the back.

I was really going crazy with these scraps so I had to make a set of matching napkins also.  In case you missed it, here's the tutorial for these wavy applique napkins.

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

W.i.P (Whine in Progress) Wednesday

I'm there... the point where straight line quilting is just not fun anymore. 

I LOVE how this is coming out but I'm so sick of it.  We've had a string of cold, rainy "quilting" days and I've put them to good use but I've run out of good TV shows, my neck and shoulders hurt, and I just want it to be done!!!

W.i.P Wednesday: Moving Things Along

Lately I've been doing a lot of small projects so I haven't made much progress on my quilts.  With the end of the school year rapidly approaching I realized I need to start working on a plan if I'm going to be ready for summer.  Once the kids are out of school my sewing time is at a premium.  I'm a total list maker so this seems like the perfect time to join in with traceyjay quilts' Just Three.  I've got 8 current WIPs but here are my 3 goals for May:

1.  I want to finish this Chain quilt.  This week I pieced the back and basted it so I'm ready to get quilting.  I'm just going to echo the zig zags.  It'll be tedious but my Tivo's starting to fill up so it'll give me plenty of time to catch up.

2.  I also want to finish my Hello Luscious Twister.  I'm going to schedule longarm time to quilt this one and I need to order fabric for the outer border and backing but I made the binding for this and my Chain quilt so I'll be ready once they're quilted.

3.  Come up with a handwork project for summer.  I've only got two of these blocks left to quilt!!!  I'll probably do some more quilting in the borders but I'm going to need something else to keep my hands busy driving to and from Maine.  I am physically incapable of sitting still for 2 hours without something to do: -)