I thought of waiting until next week to post this, but I just couldn’t wait! Last night I finished the binding on the Disappearing Pinwheel. Hooray!
That means that another project is finished.
This is probably the fastest that I have completed a project of this size in a long time. I started it in January and here it is barely June and the entire quilt is done. A new era of completion? Perhaps. I have to acknowledge that Colleen is back on her gamenow and that helps.
This quilt is part of the Niecephews series and will go to one of the small nephews. I have to finish his brother’s quilt first and hold off sending off either quilt until I show them at my guilds.
As you read this, I have hopefully just returned from another Grand Parlor. With any luck, I did not say something stupid and embarrass DH. With a little more luck and some preparation, I looked nice and people spent a lot of money for Cleft Palate buying raffle tickets to win the pillows. I am writing it in advance so I don’t have to worry about posting wearing high heels and lipstick. 😉
These were on my radar. Really they were. My BIL asked me to make them in plenty of time and I agreed. I really had no mental problem making them. Not much of a problem anyway. I don’t like making pillows and I always seem to have some problem making them. I just didn’t start them.
Eventually, the pillows really and truly entered my consciousness. I asked DH when we were leaving for Grand Parlor. I have been having a problem lately fitting where I am in space and time with the actual days of the week. I am not sure what that is about. I blame the months and a change in schedule. They seem really long lately. Anyway, I asked DH when we were leaving and he said May 18. I realized that I had a week (Yes, 1 week!!!) since we were talking on the Saturday before Mother’s Day.
So, I got started. I spent most of the day on Sunday (Mother’s Day) making pillows.
Fabrics for Pillows
First things first, I got DH to approve the fabrics. These aren’t what I would have chosen, but he knows the constituency, so I trusted his judgement.
He wanted a color scheme of blue and red and another of blue and yellow. I thought about making sets of two, though I don’t know if that is the way the pillows will be raffled.
Mrs. K. saved my bacon by sending me more of the Pointillist Palette blue. I know she didn’t even intend to send it for the pillows. It is an old fabric and one that got me hooked on quilt fabric and building a stash. She sent me some reserves recently, I think, as a subtle way of encouraging me to finish the series of Pointillist Palette quilts. 😉 [As an aside, I found some of the blocks for the next in the PP series of quilts which means I can get started on them again.]
She saved me, however, because I am mostly out of dark blue prints. I don’t buy or use them much and whatever I did have I used for the Stars for San Bruno quilts. I didn’t think I had any dark blue and then I saw the one on the top in the above photo. It is perfect and DH approved.
Tension Problem
I noticed that SIL had a tension problem on one of the embroidered panels. Tension issues happen, even in the best of circumstances. We all know that. I didn’t think that people would notice immediately, but I also didn’t want any awkward questions later.
I had recently used my fabric markers, so I pulled them out. No brown. A number of them had dried up and had to be thrown out. The brown must have been among them. I have another set, but I couldn’t find it, then I remembered the Staedler set I received for my birthday a few years ago.
I carefully colored over the parts of the N (see above in the poppy panel) and the A with the brown. If you look closely you will see that the brown of the thread and the brown of the marker do not match. It is a very slight difference and I don’t think the Muggles will notice.
Then I just started sewing. I forgot to use batting, so the blocks are a bit thin, but I think they will be ok. I’ll try to remember for next time.
Yellow & Blue NSGW Pillows
One issue turned out to be that I didn’t have the forms. My SIL bought the forms and originally I thought I would just give her the cases, she would stuff them and all would be well. I got nervous, though and worried that they wouldn’t fit. I needed to check the sizing to be sure they weren’t saggy or too small.
To alleviate my fear, she brought them over and, fortunately, the forms she bought worked with the pillow covers I made. I didn’t have to make any adjustments.
Red & Blue NSGW Pillows
I really had to sew a lot less than I thought. I did a good job cutting the embroideries apart so they were fairly close to the finished size of the pillow forms. I had way more fabric than I needed.
I finished the last bits, stuffed them and took them to Grand Parlor where I told the boys to charge a lot for the tickets. The proceeds of the raffle went to the Charitable Foundation. We had a separate sale of pins and bracelets for Prostate Cancer Awareness (BIL has it).
2014 NSGW Pillows Complete
You can see photos from the event on Flickr or read more about the event on another blog.
As I mentioned, I got two quilts back from Colleen at the same time. I just finished the sleeve on the second, which means the whole quilt is finished. Yes, I finished Fresh Fruit. 😉
I like this quilt and think it is very pretty. Do you see how there is continuity across the quilt with fabrics in different colorways? I think that the design could be used very effectively with other fabrics, even if they were not different colorways of the same line. Of course, I am thinking about Philip Jacobs fabrics and dots.
Fresh Fruit front
The sad part of this quilt is that I barely remember making it. I should have called this quilt Cinderella, as it is beautiful, but shoved to the side, in a way, like fairy tale step children. The design was from a pattern and I used same fabric as the pattern. I did the whole thing as leaders and enders, I didn’t quilt it. The most time I spent on it was on the back, the sleeve and the binding. It feels weird, but it is true.
I had help from inexperienced quilt holders in taking the photo. They were tired after the front, so the back isn’t straight.
I am really excited about this finish! I think it looks really good. I keep looking at the center red/orange/pink shape in the middle and wondering if it is the upside down tip of Italy. No heel on the boot, so probably no hidden messages. 😉
I am pleased that I remembered to put the darker patches on the bottom this year.
You might be wondering why I am so thrilled that a two year old project is finally finished. You are probably wondering why it takes so longer for me to finish these FOTY quilts. I don’t quilt quilts of this size myself and my quilter was going through some personal struggles, so she wasn’t as fast as she normally is. She is back on the saddle, so if I piece FOTY 2013, she can probably get it done in a few months. I need to do my part.
I am thrilled that it is done, because, hey DONE is DONE-Finished-Finito-complete! It means one less UFO/WIP. Who wouldn’t be excited about fewer WIPs?
FOTY 2012 Back
DH was my quilt holder of the evening and as he was getting in position, he noticed the back and actually commented on the Philip Jacobs fabric I used for the back. I used it as an opportunity to expound upon the virtues of Philip Jacobs’ design prowess. My own personal audience. 😉
And, did I say: another finish?!? Hooray!
See all Fabric of the Year quilts on the FOTY page.
I am glad this thing is completed. It was a pain from start to finish, but it will be cute for my young friend.
I think it will be perfect for a beach bag or some such for a teenager. I do think a teen would like it better.
I think I am not liking it that much because of all the problems I had with hardware. The last part was the*&^%$ grommets. Dritz grommets, I think, are not that good in terms of quality. DH helped me and we had problems putting them in. He had to pound like a crazy man and we ruined 2 of them in the process.
Still, the adjustments I made to the sizes worked out and I did a nice job finishing, so I think it looks ok. One friend told me my standards are too high. I’ll keep that under advisement. 😉
The Infinity Quilt is finally finished. I finished it last week and am relatively pleased.
I think it is an interesting quilt from a color perspective. I didn’t really try and arrange the blocks much. They came out pretty well when I laid them out. There is a quite a lot of variety in the fabrics and also a good balance of light and dark. There were a few places where I switch a couple of blocks so that a print was next to a tone-on-tone rather than next to another print.
Colleen did a great job quilting it. It is a little stiff. I can’t tell if it is from the Harry Potter panel I used for the back or if the quilting made it stiff, so I might wash it.
After about a gazillion years, I have finally finished the Spiderweb.
Now that you have all gotten back into your chairs after that shock, I have to tell you that, yes, I have finished the Spiderweb.
The easiest part of this quilt was sewing down the binding. The Reflections fabric was so easy to needle that the binding practically attached itself to the quilt.
This quilt was started in 1998 after I saw an article in Quilter’s Newsletter magazine by Beverly Dunivent.
This has been a 16 year journey that involved a lot of paper piecing, a long time not working on it and finally a commitment to get UFOs out of my life.
A few years ago, TFQ gave me a tea towel which I thought was too pretty to cover with kitchen yuck. i really liked the motifs, which echo,in shape, if not color, the Tarts Come to Tea. It hung over the door of the fabric closet for quite awhile. The door of the fabric closet is a hybrid inspiration wall and I-know-what-I-want-to-do-with-this-but-haven’t-gotten-to-it space. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with the tea towel, but one day it came to me that I could fold it over and make a pillow.
I sewed it as described except for a space to stuff it last week. It was a quick trip around the edge with white thread. Yesterday I stuffed it with a combination of shards and tiny scraps and leftover batting. Then, I sewed it together on the machine.Voila! back pillow.
I really like finishing something on New Year’s Day as I like to think it sets the tone for the year. We will see.
I finally was able to get some people to hold up the T-Shirt Quilt so I could photograph it. I finished it at the beginning of November, I think.
The boys would have held it up for me, but I did want it to be a bit of a surprise for the Young Man. He knew I was making it, but I don’t think he knew it was finished.
My BIL and nephew are both over 6’2″, so it was pretty easy for them to hold it up. They are inexperienced quilt holders, though, so I had to keep reminding them to get out of the photo, hold the quilt straight and taut, etc. It was kind of funny.
T-Shirt Quilt Back
I was very glad to have waited to give it to the Young Man at his family party. His face registered “ho hum another quilt” but the adults oohed and aahed and really looked at it closely, which was gratifying.
The only design choice the Young Man suggested was that I don’t put the Blue’s Clues t-shirt on the front. I could work with that, thus it is on the back.
One friend can’t get over my backs. 😉 This one is fairly tame, but she has seen other quilts, which have much more piecing. She loves them and that makes some of the drama of piecing the backs worthwhile. Some day I’ll make her a quilt.
After about a gazillion years of not working on this project, it is finally done. OK a gazillion is a little bit of an overstatement, but when I work on a project for many years, it can feel like a gazillion.
I finally finished the Original Bullseye. It was started in 2001. I think that I started it soon after I joined the Quilt Mavericks. I finished it this year, so the duration was 12 years.
I am pleased with the way it came out. Colleen did a great job quilting it.
The other thing that I realized is that this is a great size. It easy for my quilt holders to hold it up and for me to photograph it.
Some of the fabric is pretty old and I noticed that one of them is pretty see through. If I had realized that would happen, I wouldn’t have used it. Live and learn.
Yes, the Swoon is finally finished. I finished putting the binding on it last Tuesday and I am pretty pleased. I think that I will enter it into the county fair next year since I believe I have missed the PIQF deadline already.
Yes, Sparkle Pink is finished. This quilt and Swoon are both large and have the same binding, so I thought I was binding Swoon. When I was finished, I opened it up and found Sparkle Pink! I am binding the Swoon now, so stay tuned.
I am really pleased. It is a cheerful quilt and the pinks are happy. On the front, the orange is there but pink still dominates.
It is a subtle quilt in that it is mostly monochromatic. It invites the viewer to come closer to see some parts that are more blendy. It doesn’t have the high contrast that quilts with dark on light fabrics do.
Remember that this was a pattern from All Washed Up, lent to me by Mallory. The pattern is called Sparkling Cider and you can order it by calling them. I assume local quilt shops have it as well. Apparently, the company does not update their blog anymore and I don’t see a website that is functional.
Sparkle Pink back
I said before that I liked this quilt because, though the blocks were large, they were not boring. I do think that the fabric has a lot to do with the outcome. Not just my fabric, but any version. I suppose that is true for all quilts.
The orange shows up more prominently on the back, which is fun. Do you use orange with your pinks?
How do you like that Philip Jacobs rose print. Isn’t it fabulous? If I can’t have loose covers from it for summer, then a quilt back is the next best thing.
I just noticed that the fabrics don’t blend as much into each other on the back as they do on the front. The poppies show up really well and don’t seem to clash much with the roses.
Sparkle Pink detail
I am still loving these Joel Dewberry Notting Hill prints. They are bold, but happy and cheerful. Amanda had a zipper pouch made from the tulips in the canary colorway and it was all I could do not to take it home with me. Good thing I am, basically, honest. I have the fabric now and will ask her to help me make a pouch like hers.
Look! I used dots in the quilt as well. No more hoarding of dots.
This is a quilt that I made very fast. I remember making it, but there are very few mentions of it on the blog, aside from the 26 Projects list. You can find the mentions here.
I sewed the inside bottom opening I used for turning and the bag is done. I haven’t used it yet, because I entered it in the Fair and don’t want to get it dirty or anything before that event. I will take it to guild this weekend and next and show it off.
It occurred to me that one good thing about this bag is that it wasn’t too easy and it wasn’t too difficult. There was the right amount of challenge in the making.
I have to say I love that Soft & Stable. I’ll have to see if they have it at Joann or Beverly’s. The way it makes the bag stand up is awesome!
Now I am thinking about the next one. My list of to dos or changes to the next version are:
put iron-on vinyl on the bottom of the bag to protect the fabric
make the sides bigger, but enable them to close so the same shape is maintained and it is easier to get stuff in and out of the bag. Tutinella suggested that it might be a good idea to add an inch or so to the flap to accommodate this change
I may change the zipper pocket to a cell phone pocket or group of pockets that can hold things like pens and cell phones.
add side pockets on the outside. Tutinella did this, so I can get tips from her
make the padded inside pocket larger to accommodate my iPad AND its case. An inch and a half would probably do it.
I don’t know why I can’t just be happy with a bag as is. I can’t, though. I can’t help myself.
The A-B-C Challenge is finished. I hope the others in the group will finish theirs so we can enter the County Fair as a group. It was fun to do that last year.
The quilting is magnificent, though I have to say using the Art Gallery Fabric as binding was not magnificent. It is very fine fabric, which I think is why there was a lot of pulling as I stitched the binding down to the back. I found it was very hard to hide the stitches. I love Art Gallery Fabrics, because they are so soft and fine, but will have to remember not to use it for binding.
A-B-C Challenge: Rambler block
The quilting is extremely magnificent. I was thrilled when I got the quilt back from my quilter. She has had a tough time in the past year or so and when I saw this quilt, I realized that she was back. I have to show you a few details of quilt’s fabulosity.
I wasn’t sure about the thread when I saw the quilted quilt. I don’t like beige, remember?After looking at this quilt for awhile, I think it works. It doesn’t take away anything yet the viewer can see the quilting if s/he walks up and looks closely.
You have to click on the blocks to see the awesomeness.
A-B-C challenge: Lincoln
Lincoln turned from kind of pale, restful, background block into a ‘reward block’. That isn’t a real term; I just made it up. Remember how I talked about quilts that reward you if you look closer? Well, this block is completely like that. It is a nice block with which you could do some great things if you pieced a lot of them. In this quilt, it is the reward block. If you look at it closely you see the really great quilting that my quilter did.
See those great leaves?
The spirals? Sigh. I am over the moon with the quilting of this quilt. As you can see, this is much more than a drive by “Hey, I’m done! See you later post”
A-B-C Challenge
I decided to take photos of the various corners and sections of the quilt so you see, more closely, how nicely these blocks play together. I am really glad I used a limited palette.
A-B-C ChallengeA-B-C ChallengeA-B-C ChallengeA-B-C ChallengeA-B-C challenge: Japanese X block
And I have included a few more blocks for their detail
A-B-C challenge: Eva’s DelightA-B-C Challenge Back
I finished Calm last week. I had quilted it Friday a week ago and then spent some nights last week sinking threads and stitching down the binding. The quilting part was a little troublesome and I think it needed more basting.
