Friday, January 30, 2015

Noah's quilt

My goal for January in ALYOF was Noah's quilt.  I finished it!  I was debating about taking pictures yesterday because it was so grey out, but then very pretty big snowflakes started falling and I quickly grabbed the camera.


This quilt is from a QDAD design.  The first one that I've actually finished.  In EQ7 the block is a criss-cross variation.  I colored it and then mirrored and rotated it in some places. 

This was the original coloring:




You might (or might not) notice that there is a slight change though.  I made the blocks so that they were very easy to make, but it means that I cut of some of the points on the rectangles by the HSTs.  I thought about it for a second and then decided it would be a design feature.


For quilting I did Mesh Curtain from Leah Day.   I really like the texture that it creates, although I formed it a little differently then she did in the video.  It was easier to keep track of where I was if I didn't do any overlapping until the first layer was down in a section.  And while this is a very easy and forgiving quilting pattern, it also takes a lot of thread.  I probably used at least twice as many bobbins as I normally do.

The kona colors are tomato, citrus, kiwi, and water.  It is backed in a grey minkie.  I love pieced backs, but I love the softness of minkie even more.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday and Whoop-whoop Friday.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Metro Lattice

I finished Metro Lattice!  It was made with the quick curve ruler.  I didn't have perfect piecing, but it still went together so quickly.  I wasn't really trying to get this one done until June, but before I knew it I had a top.


I love it.  It is probably one of my favorites.  And there was a big snowfall, so everything was looking so pretty outside.

I bound it in coordinating colors.  I think it brings the quilt together so nicely.

I did pebbles and arcs in the pinwheels, back and forths in the middle parts, and echoes in the white sashing.  I realized there was a long arm ruler after I had quilted all of it...it probably would have been easier to use than my cardboard templates.  But the templates worked fine, especially since everything didn't line up perfectly.  I did a lot of ruler work on this quilt and feel like I'm finally starting to get the rhythm down a bit more.

This is also the first quilt that I put an official tag on!  I always tell people how to wash the quilts, but I'm not sure that it sticks.  So I have a tag with my name and the washing instructions.

Finally, I made my first pillow with the scraps using this tutorial.

It was a gift for a friend's daughter.  While most of the fabrics are unique to hers, there are some orange fireflies that are also on her brother's quilt.  I'll admit, I probably wouldn't have done that except that the orange was just perfect.  (Of  course, I don't have a close up of the fireflies.)  I've been told that her brother's quilt has suddenly become more popular now that they both have one.

Linking up with Link a Finish Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Finish it up Friday, TGIFF, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Fabric Tuesday, Sew cute Tuesday, and Linky Tuesday.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Rainbow start

I started another rainbow quilt.  I purchased a pack of Classic Kona hexies and cut them up to make the small colored pieces.  And put some neutrals in between.  It's not completely improv, but I'm not measuring as much or trying to make things line up too well, so that has been nice. 

Hopefully it comes out like I'm envisioning it...otherwise it'll just be a super busy rainbow.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

January ALYoF

This year I really have a lot of quilts I would like to finish up.  (It's baby season!)  I was thinking about just continuing working along, but decided it would be more fun to do it as part of a group.


So for January, I'm going to link up with A Lovely Year of Finishes and my goal is to
1. Finish Noah's quilt.  I just finished the top in record time.  I think I looked at my design, figured out the easiest way to do it, and accepted some of the unexpected results as design features.  I need to quilt and bind.


Other things to work on:
2. Baby Elanor's quilt.  The design is all set and I hopefully have all the fabric.

3. Baby girl quilt.  I have some of the fabric and am finishing up the design.  I'd like to finish by the end of March.

4. Baby quilt, unknown gender.  Not sure what I'm doing with this yet.

5. Baby quilt, gender TBD.  No progress. I'd like to finish by July.

6. Baby quilt, gender TBD.  No progress. I'd like to finish by August.

7. Aunt's throw. I have quilted the cross part and some of the rays.  When looking at it for pictures I decided that I only need to do four more rays.  There are a few wrinkles, but I might see if they wash out before trying to fix.  (Started April 2013.)  I'd really like to finish by Easter.


8. Baby quilt - urban cabins The top is finished but no recipient.  Possibly one of the babies above (Started October 2013.)


9. scrap quilt. I have started blues.  The number of greens are about equal to the first three colors together.  I expect blue will also be pretty big though.   (Started January 2014.)

10. Space robot quilt.  About a 3/5 of the blocks are finished.  I only finished two blocks last month, but did find a nice backing (Started September 2014.)

11. Metro Lattice I just need to finish the binding by the clip...I'm actually hoping to finish it tonight.  (Started Sept 2014.)

12. Metro Lattice add-on.  Done - just waiting on the quilt to show off and give away.

13. Braid in braid  Top and back are done, just needs to be quilted.  I kind of like the back better than the front. (Started Oct 2014)


No progress:
14.  Pluses quilt.  April 2011.
15. Make the wall hanging for office.  June 2012.
16. Orphan rocket block  July 2013.
17. Pillow for family room.  August 2013.
18. Simply solids bee quilt.  August 2013.
19. Quilt nautical quilt  Nov 2013. 
20. Quilt Christmas quilt  Nov 2013.
21. QST.  Sept 2014
22. Orangy quilt.  Oct 2013
23. Jeweled floors.  Not started
24. Lost piece (almost whole cloth quilt).  Not started
25. Winter quilt. Not started


Hmm...the count went way up.  Well, it just gives me more options to choose from!