W.i.P Wednesday: Make it Mini

This week I tackled this stack of fabrics for the BMQG Lowell Quilt Festival challenge.  The rules are basically the same as the QuiltCon Block Challenge, create a mini-quilt using the colors of the QuiltCon logo.

I went with my fave, half-square triangles.  I threw my 2 1/2" squares in a bag and pulled them out in pairs, à la  Denyse Schmidt, to make the HSTs.

Once they were all trimmed they went back in the bag and I chain pieced them in to 10 rows of 10.  I tried really hard to just pull them out and stick them on in whatever direction they came out of the bag.

I really need to remember there is no "mini-magic"... sewing together 100 2" squares is no faster than sewing together 5" squares but the end result is only 15" square.  At least the quilting will go quickly:-)

Finally Finished

I finished up this Rural Jardin Twister Table Topper over the weekend.  This has been buried in my UFO pile for ages but cleaning up my studio inspired me to just get it done.

It was close!  This is literally all the thread I had left when I finished quilting.  Based on past experience I was really expecting to run out inches from the finish line: )

For now it's decorating my screen porch...

which is the perfect place to relax on a hot summer day!

Quilt Stats:

Finished quilt is 23" x 32".

Pattern: Lil' Twister Ruler.
Fabrics:  Rural Jardin by French General charm pack and yardage
Batting:  Warm & Natural
Thread:  King Tut Bedouin 974
Quilting:  Paisley from Angela Walters fabulous book Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters

W.i.P Wednesday: Quilting is Cool

It's been a productive week here despite the heat...

I finished quilting this mini twister and have the binding on just waiting to be tacked.

I finally started quilting my Nicey Jane gingham quilt...  this may take awhile: )

Now I'm being "challenged" by this stack of fabrics for the QuiltCon Block Challenge and the BMQG Lowell Quilt Festival mini quilt challenge.  I ordered this QuiltCon Kona bundle from the incredible Pink Chalk Fabrics.  I think they must secretly deliver by owl, how else could I get fabrics ordered from Washington Monday night on Wednesday morning?  I'm hoping if I just stare at it long enough I'll come up with an idea:-)

W.i.P Wednesday: Up Too Late!

We always seem to be on the go this summer so pretty much the only time I get to sew is once the kids go to bed which means there have been a lot of late nights around here.  The good thing is the kids know they can watch TV and play on the computer as long as I'm asleep so they have an incentive to play quietly and let me sleep in: )

After whining to everyone and their cousins about how much I hate basting I finally got over myself and just did it.   Why I finally decided to do it when it was 90° here I just don't know.  It really didn't take that long but I was a hot, sweaty mess!  Unfortunately I ran out of safety pins.  After digging around in my studio for some more I realized they were all stuck in UFOs.  I dragged this Lil' Twister out of the pile and decided it was time to start quilting it.

The quilting is the Paisley design from the fabulous Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters.  This book is amazing, definitely one I'll be using frequently!!!  I'm trying to keep my copy pretty so I can have it signed when Angela comes to visit the BMQG in September but I can't stop looking at it.  I may have to buy another copy;-)  Hopefully I won't have to stay up too many nights to finish this so I can reclaim all those pins and get my quilt off the living room floor before little feet start walking on it!

Just Three for July

I don't know what happened to June but with the kids home for the summer I definitely need discreet goals to get anything done.  I love traceyjay quilts' Just Three for keeping myself on track.  I actually did pretty well with May's plan...

1.  The quilting was way more time consuming than I expected but I finished my Chain Reaction quilt.  I love this one sooo much!
 

2.  I also finished this Hello Luscious Twister quilt and dropped it off for display at Quilter's Way.

3. Prep some handwork projects for all our summer road trips... I've been working on quilting this mini project from ages ago. It's perfectly sized for travel and it'll be nice to finally have it finished!

Wow, three for three so here goes for July...

1.  Finish this Nicey Gingham quilt. It's really just waiting to be basted.  From there I'm just going to do straight line quilting along the seam lines so it should be easy... famous last words: )
2.  Make a mini quilt for the Lowell Quilt Festival BMQG challenge.
3.  Get my act together for Round 3 of the My Precious QAL.  I said I was doing it back in April and haven't done anything else.  Definitely time to get stitching! 

Flower Child

There's nothing like a road trip to tack down some binding and finish up a quilt! As a bonus, it was the perfect day to do a photo shoot at my in-law's in Maine:-) 

This is another stash buster...  I pieced this top ages ago with scraps from my Nicey Jane Stripper quilt.  The white is a sweet little tone on tone floral I used in this Garden Twist quilt and the back is just a solid (Amy Butler?) blue I found lurking in my stash.

This quilt is only 37" x 44" and was specifically designed to fit a leftover piece of Warm & Natural batting I had kicking around.  I almost always use Dream Orient these days and I'd forgotten how wonderfully 100% cotton quilts.  You could easily believe this was a vintage quilt pulled out of grandma's attic!

I just LOVE a bias stripe binding!!!  The loopy flowers are FMQ based on the tutorial by the fabulous Oh, Fransson!  LOVE them too:-)

I recently came across a survey and people were evenly split on how they felt about photos with feet.  I always find them amusing so be warned, there will be toes;-)

Banner Up!

We're running a little behind on our 4th of July decorating but I really wanted to make a red, white and blue version of my Holiday Stars Garland Tutorial.  Unfortunately, I had a little mishap this weekend involving an overstuffed bin of fabric which resulted in two sprained fingers.  Obviously a hint it's time to slash some stash!  Luckily my slave labor adorable children are already trained on making these stars and they pitched in to help make our new holiday banner.

Audrey did the sewing...

and Dex stuffed the stars. 

I love the fireworks fabric, it's so festive and has just a hint of sparkle!  We're heading back to Maine for the real thing so I'll have a few days to hopefully recover. 

Happy 4th of July!