DO YOU TRIM?

I do!  In fact, I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time trimming stray threads. Especially on something like this...

 



It's something I usually do in the evening when I'm too tired after a full day of work to do anything else! I use a lot of white in my quilts and don't like the idea of a wayward coloured piece of thread showing through the white fabric after the quilt is finished. I even find myself a little obsessed at times!

 

Here's a picture of the finished quilt...

 



 

I love star quilts but find making them a little monotonous!  Looking at the end result though, I think it's worth it. This is probably my last finish of 2013.  I didn't keep track of how many quilts I made this year...maybe around 20 or so. I think this one did me in for a while!

 

ONE NEW THING WEEK 13

I have a confession...I don't sort my scraps...

 

 

They all just get tossed into a bin like this.  I do have a 'girl' one and a 'boy' one, though.  I do go through them from time to time, especially when I'm desperately searching for a little piece of something to help out with something I'm working on.  These tubs get moved from room to room but found a permanent home in my new sewing room (pictures to come, I promise)!  These poor little scraps just keep on getting squished and more squished as I add to the tub! 

Last week I picked up this magazine...

 

 

(It already looks a little dog-eared, doesn't it?).  I came upon this quilt and just fell in love...

  

 

Of course, it's by none other than my most favourite quilter of all time and the person responsible for changing the way I make quilts, Amanda Jean!  And then...I had a lightbulb moment!  What a perfect way to use up some of my poor little neglected scraps! Anyway, down I sat at my machine with my 'girl' tub sitting beside me on the floor. I decided that for once I wasn't going to make any rules with regard to colour, print, pattern, etc. I was just going to grab a piece of fabric and sew it to the next.  I consider myself a little on the conservative side when it comes to colour so I wasn't sure I would be able to follow through.  Well, wouldn't you know, I had a blast just grabbing pieces without any thought to colour, print, pattern, etc. I made a few little test strips as per the instructions and loved them. Aren't they cute!

 

 

 To make things a little easier, I spent a bit of time cutting strips...

  

 

The instructions are to use FQs cut into strips so I thought this might make it go a little quicker.  Oh this is going to be fun, fun, fun!  I'm planning on just a small baby quilt but I can't wait to get this one finished! I love the look of scrappy quilts but didn't really think I had it in me to make one!

(Oh yeah, Week 13!  We're already a quarter of the way through the year! Yikes!)

 

ONE NEW THING WEEK 7

Sugar Cookie Bars!!!

 

I think sugar cookes are my favourite cookie of all (especially those made by my SIL - Hi Jeanette - who makes the absolute BEST sugar cookies)!  However, some of us are too lazy busy to spend all that time making the dough, chilling it, rolling it out, cutting them out, blah, blah, blah!! Anyway, I came across this recipe (on Pinterest, I think) and decided to give it a try! They are actually very tasty and a quick alternative to the actual cookie. This one is definitely a keeper.  The only change I made was to the icing.  I cut the recipe in half thinking they would already be sweet enough - and they are!  I think they would also be delicious without the icing!

 

I also managed to put a new fabric stack together...

 

 

I love these bright colours and polka dots! I fell in love with the print on the bottom (found on Etsy) and bought 2 1/2 yards with no idea what I was going to do with it!  I finally decided on a Road Trip Quilt (tutorial here)! I thought it would be a great way to show off this cute print! I've made at least one quilt from this tutorial and I love the way it turned out. It's a great pattern when you only have one print!  I think I may even do straight line quilting on this one!

 

 

 

 

I managed to get the pieces cut out but haven't started on the layout yet.  I'm a little OCD when it comes to laying out my quilts. It takes me forever and I tend to procrastine. I spend a ton of time moving things around, taking pictures, etc., trying to get the perfect balance of colour.  It drives me crazy when the same colour touches - not sure where that comes from! I'm really looking forward to finishing this one as it includes some of my favourite fabrics and colours and I can't wait to see the end result!



ONE NEW THING WEEK 6

So...This week I decided to try out a tutorial I have looked at a zillion many times! I finally got frustrated enough with my earbud wires getting tangled and getting lost in my bag...so I made this!

Isn't it cute!  It's certainly not perfect and I had a few minor issues putting it together.  I'm just glad I won't have to fight with my earbud wires any more!  Tutorial can be found here!

And, I managed to get started on another quilt this week!  Now, I know there are different ways of making half square triangles.  I have always used the method of cutting squares, drawing diagonal lines, sewing on each side of the line and cutting them apart. I find this process almost unbearably tedious and I just haven't had much success with this method!  I seem to have a lot of trouble getting nice sharp points.  This time, I decided just to cut my squares in half and not worry about the bias edges everyone goes on about. Here's my pile of cut fabric...

After sewing the triangles together and tons of a little trimming...I ended up with this nice little pile of (accurate) finished squares.

When it came time to sewing these together I had a much easier time getting nice sharp points. Here's a little peak of the finished top!

I'm really happy with the way this turned out.  I love how the colours pop against the white fabric. I can't wait to get this one finished. The backing is going to be the green polka dot fabric! This quilt made a serious dent in my Ann Kelle fabrics. Time to restock!  I love them so! (And, for anyone interested, I started with 5 inch squares cut in half diagonally and trimmed the finished squares down to 4.5 inches.  I needed 90 squares total - that's 45 white and 45 print squares cut in half diagonally [I think - I never seem to get the math right with HST's])!

AT LONG LAST...A FINISHED QUILT!

I FINALLY managed to finish a quilt! Yay!!!! It's almost the end of January!  What took me so long!  Anyway, here it is...

It was almost impossible to get a decent shot of this quilt.  The rare January sunshine was creating all sorts of shadows! I absolutely love these Ann Kelle prints. They are so much fun to work with and so colourful. I can't decide which one is my favourite.  I also have a ton of them in boy prints, too! I love the way this quilt turned out. It's heading to my poor neglected shop!

Linking this post up with Amanda Jean!

SOMETHING NEW, AN ALMOST FINISH, AND MORE GIANT BLOCKS!

How's that for a long title! First up, here's my new thing for the week...Blueberry Oat Quick Bread.

I've had this recipe in my favourites for probably over a year!  It came together quickly and tastes delicious (I had a tiny slice just to make sure)! This recipe is definitely a keeper!

And...because this is really a blog about quilting, here's an almost finish...

I managed to get the binding sewn on today and just need to hand stitch it to the back.  I love how this one turned out.  This is the second snowball quilt I've made. I must admit...I don't really enjoy the process. It's a tad bit tedious and the quilting is a little challenging with all those seams! I do love the end result, though. Can't wait to see this one all crinkly out of the dryer!

I also managed to get a few more of these completed...

It's no secret that I'm not really crazy about big blocks! These ones actually measure about 12 inches! I have to say...these have been fun to make and are so quick. I only need to make nine to make a decent-sized baby quilt!  I made a quilt like this previously (I blogged about it back in October) and sold it at a Christmas craft fair a few months ago and I've been wanting to make another one similar to it.  I finished another block this afternoon - four more to go! I have a coordinating green polka dot for the back and I'm going to do the "organic boxy meandering" I did on the last one.

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN (Sing It)!

For some reason (not sure why) I seem to lose my momentum for making quilts around this time of the year.  Maybe it's because of the craft fairs I did in November and the busyness of Christmas!  Anyway, I got this stack put together a few weeks ago...

 

 

I've been collecting Ann Kelle prints for a while.  (I think there are some others in there as well.) I added in a few coordinating polka dots and ginghams and started cutting....

 

 

Here are the finished blocks and trimmings

 

 

I never know what to do with these.  I don't like to throw them away but they're pretty tiny! Anyway, here's a peak at the finished top...

 

 

Yup...Another snowball quilt! This one is kind of an I-Spy. I made one of these last year for my shop and I loved it! I don't really enjoy the process of making these quilts, but I think it's what I needed to get going again - something I didn't really have to think about - just a little mindless sewing. I have a coordinating pink polka dot for the back. Looking forward to getting this one done! (For anyone who is interested, I cut my squares at 5" and the corner squares were cut at 2".)

 

ANOTHER FINISH!

After starting to quilt a little over five years ago, I soon became frustrated with the limited availability and variety of fabric locally.  I just couldn't seem to get the fabric to create the quilts I wanted to make.  Fortunately, I discovered Etsy and all the fabulous fabric available online!  Mendocino was (I think) the first fabric I bought online!  I quickly made a quilt from it (which I sold at a craft fair), but couldn't decide what to do with the rest.  It sat in my stash for years until I pulled it out a few weeks ago. I had pretty much decided to destash it in my shop but then decided I couldn't part with it and just to go ahead and make another quilt.  Anyway, here's what I came up with...

 

 

Making this quilt made me realize how much I love this fabric and I'm so glad I hung onto it!  Here's  the back...

 

 

I thought it would look cute with just one little fussy-cut block with the mermaid and the little girl swimming together!  This little quilt is going with me to the craft fair on Sunday. I kind of hope it doesn't sell!

I'm linking up again today to Amanda Jean!

 

FAVOURITE QUILT SO FAR!!!

I'm not sure why...perhaps it's the colours...but this is my favourite quilt so far that I have made! It wasn't really planned but it came together perfectly. I also like the small block size (5 inches). I don't know why but I have an aversion to large blocks - perhaps because they use up too much of my precious fabric stash. This quilt may be a little on the small side, but it's so darn cute!!! Little woodland creatures, polka dots, etc. I'm trying to take my pictures outside - I think the colours might come through a little better. Thanks to my wonderful husband for helping me!