She Done Bloomed!

Ummmm...has it really been almost a month since I blogged? Ay yi yi! Truth is, I didn't have much in the way of quilting to share, so it potentially would have been a full page of "Ummm" and "Huh" and "I don't know." Nonetheless, I've got some bidness to discuss now!

The Bloom Sew-Along is my first sew-along. While it's been rewarding, it's also been a lesson in patience. I tend to dive right into projects and go, go, go till I'm done. I finished the actual blocks for the sew-along about two weeks ahead of time and did the block and row layout in order of completion. I wasn't too sure about this approach, as I'm definitely a newb to the applique game. My fear was that it would go from disaster at block one to pretty darn good by block twenty. But, that wasn't the case. They all came out, at the very least, good!

Don't you love my design wall? It looks remarkably like one's living room floor. Upper left is the first block, and lower right is the last. Not too bad, right? After sewing together the rows, I decided on a bright border print.

So bright and cheery! I've got one quilt at the long-armer right now, and once that one is done I'll take this one in for quilting. I don't mind doing the quilting myself, but this one's a little out of my size comfort zone. Like I said, doing one block a week was a real test of my patience and made the payoff feel like it was never going to happen. But it did...in spades!

After that project, I wanted something relatively quick, so I opened up this book...

...and revisited some of the projects inside. I'd previously made a few pillows from it but never an actual quilt.

That's one of the pillow tops I made (minus the pillow form, obviously), and it's now on one of my armchairs with a coordinating one.

Tim was away this weekend, and that meant I was a pseudo-bachelor for a few days. And boy oh boy did I get wild while he was out! I quilted like a madman! Typically when I'm in a quilting zone, I go into survival mode, meaning I eat as quickly as I can so I can get back to piecing and cutting. I ate more than a few PB&J's during the weekend. With the steady chatter of Investigation Discovery playing in the background (I'm an addict), I was a workhorse! What did all that activity net me?

Sixy-four 6.5" great granny squares! I love the mango Robert Kaufman Kona Solids background color.

Those are a couple of my favorites, with fabrics from Ellis & Higgs, Lori Holt, Lecien and others I love. There's a whole lot of color in there, and I love it all.

The picture isn't the greatest quality, but I've sewn them together in quadrants and will piece them together tonight. I tossed around so many ideas on the border and, I must admit, most of them were borders that would be quick and easy. When I want it done, I want it done quickly. Ultimately I decided that I want even more colors, so I'm going to border it with scrappy four-patches. This one, I'll quilt myself; at a finished size of 56" square, it's easily manageable.

This week, I'm again linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts so check out all her quilty goodies!

And She's Done

I know myself well enough to know that if I plan on doing something when I get home from work, I bester do it right away. Once I find my way to the couch or the bed or to the Wavy Lays (it happens), all bets are off for the evening! I wanted to get the top for this quilt done today, so as soon as I walked in the door and took care of the dogs, I headed straight to the sewing room. And GET 'ER DONE I did!

This is the picnic quilt setting from Lori Holt's book, Farm Girl Vintage.

I made the borders just a couple of inches wider than the pattern suggested and staggered them with partial seams. If somebody knows the actual name for that type of border, please enlighten me. This was my first time sewing partial borders, and it was far less difficult than I anticipated when making the top, so I went ahead and did the same on the borders as well. I'm happy with the outcome! (The bottom border isn't wavy; it just needs to be pressed) I'll piece the backing - hopefully this weekend - and send it off to the quilters straight away.

And then it's back to yet another of Lori's fun projects, her Bloom Sew-Along. These are the first 8 blocks I've sewn.

This one is my first applique project, and though I'm satisfied overall with my progress, I can definitely see areas for improvement. Even still, it'll make a fun surprise gift for a surprise somebody!

How Many Projects Is Too Many Projects?

Like most quilters, I suppose, I tend to work on several projects at a time. The second I get bored with one, I switch to another to avoid complete disinterest in another long-term project. One of the ones I keep coming back to is this fun little lap quilt.

It's the picnic quilt setting from Lori Holt's great (and addictive!) book, Farm Girl Vintage. I've had the book since it was released about a year ago, and I'm still making projects from it. I wanted a simpler block since I was going to be making fifty-two of them -- some 6" and some 12" -- so I went with the crystal star block, a modified version of the simple star block.

I used fabrics from some of my favorite designers: Lori Holt, Pam Kitty Morning, Lecien, and Ellis & Higgs among others. I love how scrappy it is and that it's so bright and colorful. All that's left to do on the top is to attach the borders, and then off to the quilter she goes! One of my local quilt shops, Millie P's, always does a great job quilting them on the long arm. Smaller projects I'm willing to tackle myself, but for bigger projects (and when I'm feeling exceptionally lazy and impatient) I will gladly hand over my dough to the professionals and let them do it.

Once I attach the borders, I'll have a better quality image of the finished top. After that, it's back to one of the eight(!) or so other projects I've got on the back burner.

Today I'm also linking up to one of my favorite pattern designers, Lorna McMahon at Sew Fresh Quilts. She created the pattern for this reindeer block that I used to make these pillows.

Until next time, a glass of wine and Chinese takeout is calling my name...