Play with Me QAL: Coppit

The block/board for the August for the Play with Me Quilt Along was Coppit. And the technique was curved piecing. This is as far as I've made it, thusfar, but the plan is to finish tomorrow.

I really am liking how this one is coming together. I specifically went with subtle differences in the squares. I play to accent the spaces when I quilt it by inlining (outlining just seemed like the wrong word :P ) each of the spaces.

I do feel that the curved piecing was faster (and easier) than the foundation piecing used for the curved spaces. However, I can say that I am getting pretty good at being able to just fold down the strip of fabric to get the spaces so I don't have to cut a piece of fabric for each space. Check out the other boards here.

FAL 2016: 3rd Quarter Goals.

 It's time again to assess what I want to try to get done in the next 3 months for the Finish-Along 2016. Rather than just keeping the leftovers from the first and second quarter I re-evaluated what I actually want to work on (or what has a deadline) and narrowed it down to 9 for this quarter.

Check out the other proposed finishes here. My list is number 44.

4. Allietare

6. Blue Quilt

5. Disappearing 9-Patch

8. My Car Quilt

7. Tumbler Quilt

9. Bravo Indigo

2. Star Swap

1. BAD 3 (Block a Day)

3. Vomit Quilt

Easy Street

Managed another Last Minute Finish for the Finish Along 2016. This one is my Easy Street by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville. This one measures 94 inches square. I love how it turned out. I used fabrics I already had and am quite pleased with how it turned out. I quilted it in an overall stipple.

You can find other great finishes here. This one is number 675.

Jacob's Ladder

This quilt was started as part of a Facebook group Quilt Along. We were working with the traditional block, Jacob's Ladder. I chose to make my blocks large and use some of the fun Novelty fabrics that I had gathered. The block size is 18 inches, and the quilt measures 72 x 90. I chose to quilt it with straight lines that followed the arrows formed by my layout. I am very happy with how this turned out.

This was also one of my Finish Along Goals. You can find other great finishes here. This quilt is number 367.

Play with Me Quilt Along: Ludo

One of today's goals was to get the block made for the Play with Me Quilt Along. I managed to do just that. This month's block is Ludo and our technique was traditional piecing. It went together really fast, and I'm quite pleased with the end result.

Check out the others that have been made this month here. I'm number 254.

Half Square Triangles 2

This quilt was pieced as part of a quilt along in a Facebook group I'm part of. We used Little Miss Shabby's Epic HST block. Because I was trying to focus on finishing things I'd already started, I decided to enlarge the block and use 1 to make a baby quilt. It was really quick and easy. I love how it turned out. And now I have a back-up baby quilt at the ready. It finishes at 48 x 48 inches. Which is a great size for toddlers, too. I quilted it with a loopy stipple in blue.

This is one of my Second Quarter Finish Along Goals. Check out the other great finishes here. This one is #222.

Winter Quilt

This is a quilt I made as a wedding present for the daughter (and future son-in-law) of a dear friend. I used the pattern Winter from the book Cultural Fusion Quilts by Sujata Shah. It uses a free-form piecing technique that started out intimidating me, but was actually quite simple and fast to use. The quilt finished at 92 x 92 inches. They used it at the reception (picture shown) on a day bed that served as the present table. I loved that idea. I definitely look forward to trying a few more patterns from this book.

There were lots of fun fabrics in this quilt. Including, elephants, rockets, flowers, and much more. I quilted it with a stipple with hearts thrown in randomly, at least I think so...this is why I try to remember to blog about my finishes when they are finished not 2 months later...oops.

Update: This was one of my 2nd Quarter Finish-Along Goals. You can check out what others have finished this quarter here. Mine is around #116 in the linky.

Play With Me QAL: Peg Solitaire

The block/board for May for the Play With Me Quilt-Along is the Peg Solitaire board. Our technique to learn was Applique. So I chose to Raw Edge Applique my circles on. I then was able to try out a new kind of thread as I free-motioned in the circles to hold them down. The thread I tried was Glide and the color was Warm Grey 4. I think it worked really well. It kind of had a soft metallic look to it. I loved the 3 color look that Alida used, so imitated that. The circles all came from my scrap bins and the neutral was a fat quarter I got at Corn Wagon Quilt Co. after one of our guild meetings earlier this year. I loved how quick and simple this board was. It made it a lot easier to get it done earlier in the month.

Check out what the others joining in on this quilt along are doing here. I should be around number 188.

Play With Me Quilt Along: Go

April's Block for the Play With Me Quilt Along was the Go Board. Each month we get a game board to make if we made the one from the month before. She gives us a different technique to learn, or practice for each board. This month we did embroidery. It was fun to try to some different stitch styles. I decided to use the colors of floss that would imitate a sun burst on the dark fabric.

Check out all the fun blocks/boards that the others have made here. I will be around number 185.

FAL2016: 2nd Quarter Goals

I loved being able to link up and come up with a list for the first quarter of the Finish-A-Long. Unfortunately, I was only able to finish 1 thing last quarter, which was a little disheartening, since I am overly ambitious in beginning things. So for this quarter, I will include the remaining 16 projects from last quarter which can all be found here. And I will also include the 10 things that I either started in the first quarter or made their way to the "stuck in my head" stack during the first quarter. I'm really hoping this quarter is nicer to me. Be sure to check out what other people are hoping to finish in the next 3 months here. You'll also find my link there. I should be about number 141.

1st Quarter #1: 9 Patch Baby Quilt--Updated

1st Quarter #2: Jacob's Ladder-- Updated

1st Quarter #6: Allietare--Updated

1st Quarter #10: Winter-- Updated

1st Quarter #12: HST2--Updated

1st Quarter Task List: Updated

2nd Quarter Task List

2nd Quarter #4: OBOQ 2

2nd Quarter #1: Tumbler Quilt

2nd Quarter #2: Purple Quilt

2nd Quarter #3: OBOQ

2nd Quarter #5: Blue Quilt

2nd Quarter #6: Double Delight

2nd Quarter #7: My Car Quilt

2nd Quarter #8: Granny Squares

2nd Quarter #9: Grand Illusion 3

2nd Quarter #10: Bravo Indigo

Play with Me QAL: Backgammon

Woohoo. I love that I am starting to make progress again. This is the March Block for the Play with Me QAL. This fun Quilt Along gives us a game board each month (if we finished the block the month before, otherwise, you can purchase each board as well). This is the one board that sealed the deal on me joining this quilt along. This is Backgammon. I love Backgammon. It is one of my favorite board games. I had chosen a darker fabric for the main part of the board, but accidentally cut it too small.

This month's technique was to do Raw Edge Reverse Applique. While it was fun to get to try out this technique, I don't foresee myself choosing to use it again. It is a little stress inducing to cut 1 fabric so close to another fabric. I was worried the whole time that I was going to cut the underfabric....particularly on the last spike or 2. Luckily I did not have that problem, and I can happily say my block is done.

Check out the linky to see the other fun blocks and color combinations that others have made. I'm around number 135.

House Blocks Catch Up

I had a crazy February that resulted in me falling behind in a lot of my quilting projects. I am starting to get back into the swing of sewing again.

I am part of a 6.5 inch house block swap in a Facebook group. These are my blocks for February and March.

For the February block, my inspiration came from a baby quilt that was a single house made of scrappy blocks, and a roof made of long strips of fabric. So I replicated it in miniature. They are calling them the Minecraft House now.

For the March Block, I had the idea to use a sheer fabric to make a physical representation of the phrase "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." So I free-motioned a pile of stones, and then appliqued the sheer fabric to the block. I'm quite pleased with the end result (even if it doesn't show up well in pictures).

Modern HST Sampler: Blocks 1-6

I have been following along on Blossom Heart Quilts' Modern HST Sampler. I'm loving these. She gave some good instructions on several ways to make the HSTs (Half Square Triangles).  We get a block every other Monday. We are up to 6 blocks right now. I chose to grab fabrics as needed with the idea of trying to see what I could get out of the ones I pulled. I had to make block #3 twice because the first one I made didn't really have much definition because of the fabrics I used. I am really loving these blocks. They have not been too difficult which has made it really easy to keep up.

Go check out all the other fun variations on this over at her linky. My link should be around #66.

Play with Me QAL: Nine Men's Morris

The February block/board for the Play with Me QAL was Nine Men's Morris. I admit I have never played this game. It was fun to see it and to learn how to play...and to realize that it was one of those boards we had in a wooden multi-game set that neither my brothers nor I ever knew what the game was. I decided I wanted to go with an odd color scheme for this one, so I used a 90's feeling pink solid, and a cream with what looks like little chicken scratches on it. I'm actually very pleased with how it turned out.

Check out others in the linky here. It looks as though I am about the 94th one to link up, so there are lots of us following along on this journey.

Pink Baby Quilt: FAL2016 Finish

This is my first finish of 2016. It had been sitting waiting for the binding to be stitched down. It was started as an example for our guild Crayon Color Challenge. The point being that each member pulls a crayon out of a bag and has to make a monochromatic quilt. I pulled pink. Luckily, I have a friend pregnant with a little girl, though I think my youngest son did try claiming it for his own.

It finished at 48 square. I quilted it with a stipple with random daisies thrown in. Even the backing is all pink prints.

Red and White Wedding Quilt

 This quilt was designed for a friend who was getting married. She told me her colors were Red, Cream, and Gold. I love how this quilt creates circular shapes without have curves in it. It was all pulled from Scraps. I was worried I was going to need to use some extra red fabrics...but it didn't even use half of the reds I had.

It measured 92 inches square. I quilted it with a big stipple in red, which looked really amazing on the black I used for the backing. I managed to finish it the day I was giving it away.

Flying Geese Log Cabin

This fast and fun quilt is from a Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial. It really was quite easy. I used some Grey and White Strip Sets and FQ bundles for the background and roll of Michael Miller Shiny Dots that I got in a goody bag from a retreat for the corners. I love how it gave just a good pop of color. I gave this to the oldest boy who lives next door. I think he liked it.

It measured 56 by 80 and was quilted with straight lines on the diagonal following the lines created by the "flying geese."

2015 Payson Quilt Show Mystery Quilt

This cute little quilt was started at the Payson Quilt Show Mystery Quilt Class. It's a fun class taught by Becky Morganson where we are given some cutting instructions and fabric requirements beforehand, and get a little more throughout the night until she shows us the final quilt. We also get a great dinner with it too. This was the Quilt for 2015. I had a lot of fun pulling these fabrics from my stash. It was a little more tricky this time because it called for 20 fabrics and a background. I really like how the fabrics pop on this.

I had fun quilting it with Spirals in the circle cornerstones and outlines of the half Orange Peels in the backgrounds of the blocks. I finished up with just a medium to large size stipple in the outside border. The quilt measures 50 by 64.

It was a Christmas gift for one of the girls next door.

Grand Illusion 2

This is the second quilt I started during Bonnie Hunter's 2014 Mystery. She called the quilt Grand Illusion. For this one, I only did half the blocks, since I didn't have enough fabric to do another large size. It turned out to be a rather fortuitous as this was another lap sized Christmas gift this last year. It finished at 54 by 68. I used all Denyse Schmidt fabrics for it (even for the backing). It was fun to be able to use some of my loved fabrics to give this quilt a different look.

Chevrons

This quilt was started at the Peteetneet Quilt Show (now known as the Payson Quilt Show at Peteetneet) as a mystery taught by Becky Morganson. I pulled all of these fabrics from my stash (except 2 that were gifted to me by my friend Sue because she thought they went well with it).

I was just a couple months pregnant with Kyle when I started it, and still rather nauseous. It was a struggle to finish piecing it for awhile because all of those feelings would come back every time I pulled it out. But I'm glad I persevered and finished it.

I enjoyed practicing my quilting in this, and utilizing the shapes of the blocks to decide how it should be quilted. When my husband helped me take the picture I loved that because he was holding it up directly under the light it really showed off the quilting well.

It went to a new home for Christmas.

Play With Me Quilt Along: Checkers

This month for the Play with Me Quilt Along we did Checkers. It was super quick and easy. Each month she is giving a free pattern for a game board along with directions on how to turn it into an individual board or how to turn it into a quilt with all of the game boards. I haven't fully decided what I'm going to do yet, but I'm leaning towards doing a quilt with them and zippy bags that will hold the pieces for the games (or maybe just 1 big zippy bag for all the pieces). You can check out every one else's boards for January here. While I went with more of a traditional Black and Cream, it is fun to see the other fabric combinations that have been used.

2016 Finish Along: Q1 Goals

This is the first year, I'm going to link up with the Finish Along. I've seen many others do it in the past and have felt the twinge of desire to use it for motivation to finish things. However, every time I would shrug it off because I didn't think I really had that many unfinished projects. After cleaning up my craft room again...I'm sad to report that my number is 69 and I'm still finding more. So I decided to be overly, optimistic in my list. I'm including 17, and those are just the ones that I started in the last 6-8 months of last year, as part of quilt-alongs or mystery quilts. I guess as long as I work on them this year, I'm working towards my goals of using what I have. But I would love to get a few of these done in time to be counted as part of the 2016 Finish Along: First Quarter.

First I made myself a nice pretty list with all of them and all of the steps required to finish, so that I can mark off each step as I finish it.

Here they are in the order they came off my phone.

 9. 4-Patch X ready for me to cut the sashing.

7. Quinn's Baptism Book. (Her Baptism was in September). This may become a quilt instead.

 17. Community Sisters Quilt. Ready for Alternate Blocks to be cut (or Sashing...as they are pretty much the same thing in this quilt).

8. Pink Quilt- Just needs Binding. I don't know why I drag my feet so much on bindings. I love doing them.

 10. Winter from Cultural Fusion Quilts. Even if I don't get it done this quarter it must be done by the end of April...so getting it done early would be nice.

5. Double 4-Patch. This was a block of the day project in a group I am in. I fell behind in August I believe. Now it can all be completed.

 2. Jacob's Ladder I-Spy. This quilt was another quilt along where I chose to do big blocks. So the top went together quickly...and then I stalled. Each block is different.

11. HST 1 - This is a baby quilt using big blocks.

 12. HST 2 - This is the same as HST 1 (#11) but using different fabrics.

4. Easy Street -  This is basted and awaiting quilting.



















6. Allietare Mystery Quilt - I am in the middle of clue 3.

16. Shrunken Ribbons of Love- This will be a half sized pieces (1/4 size of full quilt) of a friend's mystery quilt she ran on her blog last fall.

 13-15. Ribbons of Love 1-3. These are full size versions of #16. That made it to step 4 during the duration of the Mystery Quilt that were put aside when a wedding quilt took over my time.

1. 9-Patch Baby Quilt- This is awaiting a backing and quilting. This is my own design, but was strongly influenced by a design in Mari Michell's 101 Nine Patch Quilts Book.

3. Lazy Sunday. This one is ready for me to cut Sashing. I also forgot to add to checklist that this has borders. So I will have to fix that.