Another 2013 finish--Helix quilt

I saw this in a quilt magazine over a year ago and thought it was gorgeous! I love orange and decided that aqua would be a great complementary color. Everything was from my stash.

I don't have a design wall, so I generally use the floor or sometimes the sofa.

Once the criss-cross blocks were made, I arranged them on the living room floor.

Then added side panels and quilted with an overall stipple.

I took pictures on a cloudy day, so this next one is filtered but shows the colors a little better.

Close up of quilting:

This was probably one of my best documented quilts. I loved making it and it went to the brand new daughter of a friend from college. 

I might make this pattern again someday but it was time-consuming for me--the points were numerous and while I got them to almost all match, it was definitely not a great pattern for someone like me who is more improvisational (meaning I don't have the patience to press and match points all the time!). Technically, this is one of my best quilts yet, although I can still point out quite a few things I missed or would change if I could do it over again.

linked to http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-quilt-for-my-brother.html

First 2014 finish--blue gingham baby quilt

When I decided to do the fabric fast, I took a good look at my stash. I have a reusable shopping bag of fabric set aside to destash but I decided to take one more look and found the bright blue duck print. I always thought it was cute but didn't have anything to mix it with.

But the fabric fast got me to take another look! I put it together with a fat quarter of a pale blue nursery print I picked up at JoAnn Fabric during a 99 cent fat quarter sale, a blue baby themed text print and some other light blue scraps. I have seen some cute gingham pattern quilts made with solids and thought it could be cute in baby fabrics. 

This was a really quick project for me. I pieced the quilt top in one morning, and then added borders, basted, quilted and bound today. Quilting (free motion random stippling) took less than 1.5 hours, which is a record for me. 

The backing is a Crate and Barrel outlet find. It's a perfect baby quilt backing that is a yellow to blue ombré.

It will go to a friend who is having a little boy this spring. 

It's not the best quilt I've ever made, and I don't think it turned out quite how I hoped it would, but it's cute, warm and snuggly, and celebrates a new little baby with love.

Linked to http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2014/01/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-ministry-quilts.html and 

Work in progress #4

This is my work in progress #4.

When Patty Sloniger's Backyard Baby line came out, I was enchanted. The soft colors are beautiful, the patterns are incredibly detailed and it was just perfect for little boys (and I have a little boy). 

I bought a bunch of half yards and then looked for a good pattern. 

I pinned this one and got started cutting half-hexies, which I guess are rhombuses (rhombi?).

I can tell you, I'm not a fan of piecing triangles/diagonal lines, but I did it. After my initial layout on the floor of our family room, I decided it needed a few more hexies and a splash of orange, which should maybe be a theme of my quilting. So I added a few of the orange snake print to break up the muted colors.

The top has now been done for well over a year. I found a great length of blue and gray striped seersucker for the backing that coordinates perfectly but I've been avoiding making a batting and quilting decision. 

The fabric seems very summery to me, as does the backing, so I want this to be a lightweight blanket. I'm contemplating just using a white flannel as batting for a flat, light cover or looking for a lightweight batting with a little more loft. 

Then there's the quilting decision. Obviously seersucker already has a texture so I think a stipple might be too much. So maybe I'll just stitch in the ditch. Or something else?  Any suggestions? 

Work in Progress #3

Here is #3 in my series of works in progress. 

This is a red, pink and aqua pinwheel quilt that was inspired by one I saw here.

I put this together almost two years ago, and have struggled with the backing.

I bought a aqua/turquoise fabric from the Crate and Barrel outlet (where I find a lot of my backing fabrics), and I even pieced most of it with some cute wonky log cabin blocks, but I couldn't figure out how I wanted it to look and put it aside. And whenever I've pulled it out again, I like the backing fabric less and less.

I really need to just finish it and am debating buying something new (for backing, so I won't violate the fabric fast!), or just using the old backing. I am fairly certain the recipient won't mind either way, but I want it to look the way it looks in my head, you know?

Quilter problems!

Linked to Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Stash report, Week 2

I didn't get any sewing time this week and I had to use up a living social deal to a local fabric store. I brought home 4.5-5 yards of fabric, including 3 yards of Dear Stella's Piper collection, and a couple of cute baby prints. My intention was to buy backing fabrics and solids but they had a pretty awful selection.  I paid $6 out of pocket and $25 for the living social deal, so I feel like it was a good deal, at least. 

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 2 yards
Added this Week: 4.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 4.5 yards
Net Used for 2014: -2.5 yards

To see other stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.

Wonky star baby quilt - 2013 finish

Wonky star baby quilt, a photo by Bnh123 on Flickr.

This was an end of the year finish in 2013.

I manage a small team of employees and one of them is having a baby girl. They are using a lot of blues, and kind of a Pixar theme, so I decided to make a quilt with bold colors.

At the same time, I was working on an aqua and orange helix quilt, so I had those colors in mind, but didn't want to do another white background quilt. So I branched out to navy, since I thought that would make the colors pop.

I originally was going to do big stars and then some variable size stars like the one in the upper left corner, but I ran out of Kona navy fabric and my local JoAnn fabrics didn't have any. I bought another navy cotton, but it wasn't a great match, so I decided to do reverse blocks instead.

I actually love how it turned out because it looks more improvised to me.

It's quilted with an allover meander in aqua thread. The backing fabric is an orange button print, which is a little bit more country than I would normally pick, but this employee's camp name is Buttons, and her office baby shower theme was "cute as a button" so it worked out perfectly.

Linking up to: http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2014/01/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-baby-steps.html and http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2014/01/3-is-magic-number-finished.html.

Works in Progress - #2

Works in Progress (1/3/14), a photo by Bnh123 on Flickr.

This giant star quilt has been on my to-be-quilted pile for years. It was maybe the fourth or fifth quilt top I finished.

It is various flannel shirting plaids on a red flannel background. It is intended to be a warm throw for our pine-panelled tv room, which has a brown sofa and red throw pillows.

Today's cold weather in DC and around the country is making me long to be home (although the sewing room is one of the coldest in the house) so I can stay cozy and warm and finish this. And then wrap up!

I am thinking that I'll try a minky backing, which I haven't done before.