Fat Quarter Tear Challenge

A few months ago the IMQG had everyone bring in fat quarters in yellow, orange, and/or teal.  The strips from tearing have been sitting in my projects basket since I left that meeting.  Last Friday I decided I needed a project to just do in a day and just be creative.

I started with the yellow floral print featured above.  Kona white and a pattern of orange, blue, and yellow in varying strip sizes.  It was great to just play and design.

For the quilting I knew I wanted (semi) straight tight lines.  Talk about an arm and shoulder workout last weekend.

Here is the finished product.  I’m very happy with the results and my hard work over just one weekend.

The quilt is for sale in my Etsy store.

Purple, Pink and Gray Quilt

Throughout 2012 I really want to try and work through my stash and scraps.  In my collection were some 1930’s reproduction prints.  Here is the original quilt I made with some of prints.

This one is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Using the same pattern I went through the more girly colors and decided to just focus on the pinks and purples.  I still have a few colors but they will be going into my donation stash.  They are not my style.  I tried white instead of gray, but the gray was just right. I had just enough Kona Gray to finish making the blocks.

The piecing was easy.  Once the blocks were made, the blocks did spend a few days on my design wall.  I wanted balance with the prints.

Couldn’t resist using the new fabric from Riley Blake on the back.  It is light gray with little white flowers.  For the quilting I just wanted something simple.  Criss cross diagonal lines in white finished off the quilt.  The binding is a light pink solid from my stash.

The finished quilt is for sale in my Etsy shop.

 

Bali Batiks

The Bali inspired quilt is complete.  Started with a great discussion while we were in NYC.  I love when friends have great ideas and I can help them come together.

Originally I was hesitant to work with batiks.  They seem a bit more traditional for me but I knew I could do something to bring them more into my style.  Gray, of course!  You will be seeing lots of gray in the coming months.

I wanted simple but showcasing each fabric in the quilt.  Frame each block in a solid and then find a coordinating print to bring it all together.  Luckily, my LQS has a good variety of batiks and made the shopping part easy.

Here is a sample of my vision for this quilt.

Just needed to make 15 more blocks to complete the quilt top.

Time to pick a backing fabric.  Here were the two possibilities.

all the left over fabrics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fabric compliments the print on the front

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the actual back, change of design plans.

loving the yellow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the quilting I decided yellow would be a great color on the front.  My sewing buddies were pleasantly surprised with the addition.  Very happy with how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing with Batiks

Working on a quilt for a friend that wants a special gift for her nephew.  They have lived in Bali and wanted to have that feel to the quilt.  I haven’t worked with batiks in a while.  Here is a peek of the fabrics.

many 2" squares

 

Here is how the blocks for the quilt look with everything pieced.  When pressing the seams I chose to press them open to alleviate bulk when quilting.

Right now I am working on finishing up the blocks and will hopefully have the top completed today.

 

Monkey Quilt

Whipped up a quick present for someone over the last month.  They wanted something more traditional but brighter colors.  So many monkeys!

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  It had been raining here for days and a good shot couldn’t be done outside.  Plus these were taken at 8am before they were delivered at 8:30am.  Nothing like cutting it close.

I had one very happy customer.

Birthday Month

December is a big month for birthdays around our house.  My mom’s is the 7th, both dogs are the 16th, then mine is the 17th.  Throw in a trip to NYC and mandatory OT at work and it makes for a busy month even before the holidays are added in.

She was not happy to have a birthday picture taken.
He was so happy to have his picture taken he kept rolling around on the carpet.

Growing up mom’s birthday was always the day we put up our Christmas tree.  During college one year I convinced my mom to not up the full tree and just put up lights in the shape of a tree.  We couldn’t stop laughing at it.

My birthday was the big 3-0 this year.  It was low key as I like my birthdays, especially since I am so close to the holidays.  Dinner and drinks with the rents and friends, some shopping with the hubby, and thrifting with my sewing girls.

We met for breakfast at a hole in the wall spot in Indy.  The server figured out it was my birthday and brought over the staff to sing to me.  Gospel style, amazing, then gave me a piece of chocolate cake. Here are some of the finds:

something about the print drew me in

loved the stripes. new spring wardrobe?
I-N-D-I-ANA

Thanks everyone for all of the birthday well wishes.  I had a great day.