Endless Summer

I totally kept this one under the radar.  I finished it in the spring but really wanted to give it a proper beach photo shoot.  The opportunity finally presented itself when we dropped Dex off at college and stayed for an empty nester-moon in Mystic.  Note to self, photographing quilts on the beach takes way more patience than my family possess.  Between the bright light, ocean breezes and other beach goers it's definitely a challenge but I managed to get a few shots I liked.

I knew I was going to have to make something special the minute I saw Heather Ross' Malibu collection.  After playing with a couple of other ideas I totally copied Stephanie at S-Renee Designs.  She considers herself a fabric collector rather than a quilter but I beg to differ.  Her work is amazing and you should definitely check it out!!!  The original pattern is Joyful but it was Stephanie's idea to upgrade the center square.  I used this fabulous Economy Block Tutorial by Amy Smart at Diary of a Quilter.

While this pattern is very comprehensive and easy to follow after making a test block I was able to streamline the process with some shortcut techniques.  For the flying geese I used this 4 at a time flying geese tutorial by Modernly Morgan (and this one by Suzy Quilts here).  This also has the benefit of correctly orienting the directional prints.  

I also streamlined making the corner HST units using this 8 at a time technique by Suzy Quilts.  

This was another one I entrusted to my amazing friend Rebecca and asked her to do a traditional Baptist fan design to mimic ocean waves.  As always she totally delivered and it is exactly how I envisioned it.  

Also, that plaid backing!!!  

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 70"x70"
Pattern: Joyful by Tasha Noel
Fabrics: Malibu by Heather Ross, Ruby + Bee Solids, MMCC Soft White
Batting: Quilters Dream Bamboo

Binding:  Ruby + Bee Solids Aquamarine

Quilting: Baptist Fan pantograph by Rebecca Loren

Wedded Bliss

I love a modern take on a traditional quilt design!  Tara Faughnan's innovative approach for making the oldie goldie Double Wedding Ring goes together easily using freezer paper piecing and she has tons of great tips for handling the curved piecing as well.  I started this in a Zoom workshop with her and it was honestly one of the best classes I've ever taken.

As usual this lingered in the TBQ pile for a while but over the winter I pulled it out and quilted it in fits and starts while binging on Inventing Anna and The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.  I used Jacquie Gering's masking tape hack to straight-line quilt the centers.  If you haven't checked out her book Walk: Master Machine Quilting with your Walking Foot, do it.  She has so many great suggestions for great results with less effort.  

I'd outline stitched all the arcs but it still felt a bit sparsely quilted so I taught myself a new skill and did these ribbon candy swirls in the arcs.

With several college visit road trips looming I pushed myself to get this finished up so I'd have something to occupy myself in the car.  Accepted students days at 5 schools in 5 weeks was intense.  (Go Camels!)

I'm a sucker for a perfectly mitered striped binding corner shot!

I had just enough of this fabulous Beauty Queen print for the backing.  One of my all-time faves!

We spent Father's Day at a friend's house so I took advantage of her beautiful landscaping and tall son to change things up for my photo shoot.  I love this spot and want to use it for all my quilts.

Quilt Stats:

Finished quilt is 72"x 72"
Pattern: Double Wedding Ring by Tara Faughnan
Fabrics: Bella Solids Bleached White, RJR Supreme Solids Shell Pink, Michael Miller Cotton Couture: Berry, Indigo, Khaki, Essex Metallic: Oyster, Peony.

Backing Letty from the Beauty Queen collection by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit.
Batting: Quilters Dream Cotton

Binding: Dear Stella Stripe

Thread: Aurifil Natural White (2021) and Pale Pink (2410)

Limerick

Last year around this time my BQF Aimee convinced me to join the Irish Chain Sewical hosted by Amanda at  A Craft Fox.  

This was a great pandemic project.  The sewing itself was mostly mindless strip piecing but there are a lot of squares in this quilt and at times it was a challenge to keep everything straight.

So many strip sets!!!

This was perfect for binge watching Bridgerton.

Given that state of things this had to be made 100% from stash.  I was surprised by how thin my selection of low volume fabrics was but I made myself stretch to find enough fabrics to make it work.

This turned out a bit bigger than I'm comfortable quilting on my home machine and since I already had a pile going to my good friend Rebecca I added this one for her to longarm.  I told her of my vague concept for a swirly meander with shamrocks but gave her carte blanche to work her magic.  

Obviously she understood the assignment- the quilting totally makes this one!

And now my foyer is ready for St. Patrick's Day.  May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door!

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 66"x 86"
Pattern: Limerick by A Crafty Fox
Fabrics: Stash
Batting: Quilters Dream Bamboo

Binding:  Happier by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake Designs

Quilting: Free Motion Quilting by the amazing Rebecca Loren.
Thread: Aurifil Natural White (2021)

Cheers to the New Year

With everyone doing dry January I figured this was the perfect time to focus on my Drinks quilt.  

I joined the Drink Quilt Along hosted by Seamlessly Stephanie back in August but the QAL sort of fizzled out along with my enthusiasm.  If you know me IRL you know I have a "special cup" each of my different drink choices and I rarely go anywhere with out drink in my hand so this was a fun way to commemorate all my favorites.  I'd also dipped in to my "precious" stash for some of the early blocks so I was highly motivated to not let this one totally fall by the wayside.  It was so much fun digging thru my beloved Lilly Pulitzer fabrics and other faves to find something perfect for each block.  

At this point I've got 24 blocks which seems like a good number for a quilt.  Some of these whipped up really quickly, other's not so much.  It was definitely a challenge since there's no set pattern so I was using blocks from multiple designers.  Clicking the image will take you to the pattern for each block.  For some of them I adapted the design to get the effect I wanted and I did some scaling to get the sizes to work.  It was a lot of fun but reminded my why I rarely do paper piecing.  

We'll see how long it takes me to pick out my cornerstones and get this top together.  Until then, cheers to making it thru January!