Not White and Pebbles!

This is an update post on my leader/ender project.

 

Here is the pin that provided me with inspiration:

This is a Red Pepper Quilts creation, and anyone who follows Rita's blog knows she's all about fun color and white backgrounds.

 

However, I've got several flimsy tops with white backgrounds, and even though I have a heaping bunch of American Made Brand Solid white, I don't want to use white as a background AGAIN.

 

I have also seen a lot of white backgrounds on quilts of a lot of bloggers out there.  It does make for a clean, crisp looking quilt and sets off all of the bright, saturated colors used in modern fabrics.

 

BUT, I saw gray used as a background for one quilt, and I thought it was so refreshing to see another color, even if it was just gray!

 

So, I decided to cut up some gray solid in my stash, and use it for this next leader ender project.  These aren't sewn, but you get a sense of how the gray will look.

 

Also, I did some Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) this weekend!  I've been wanting to try pebbles forever, and finally - after practicing on a practice piece of quilt sandwich - worked on it in the border of my t-shirt quilt!

 

Here are shots of the straight-line quilting of the blocks and the meandering on the t-shirts.

 

This is the back:

 

30-wt thread to do the straight-line, and 50-wt Aurifil for the meandering.

I did a quarter-inch outline along every seam, but not necessarily on every side of the seam.

I wanted to have a more organic and loose quilt on the blocks, since the meander in the t-shirt area is heavily quilted.  (It needs to be, I think, to keep it in place.) 

 

What do you think of the gray instead of white?

How do the pebbles look?

 

Linking up to A Quilting Chick's Leader Ender Challenge (button on right sidebar).

 

Surprise, Winner, and Block Exchange!

Surprise!

 

I opened the door for my boyfriend last week, and he came in bearing a ... quilt ladder!

 

I had casually mentioned it one weekend, showing him some DIY pins on my Pinterest board.  He said that he already had most of the materials, and it was easy to put together.  Well, I can't complain about any of that!

He even picked up some Velcro to put the soft padded side on the top and bottom of the ladder.  It's also angled so it fits perfectly against the wall.  I hung some of my completed quilts (two of them are charity quilts) on the ladder to see how it would look.  So awesome! 

 

I don't think I can leave it with quilts on it in the front room though because of this denizen:

 

This is Arnie.  Arnie is not yet 2 years old.  He likes to steal things from the quilt room when I'm not looking (Aurifil thread - TWO spools; some cut up t-shirts for quilts - they are NOT mine; a quilt hanging sleeve that I plan to reuse), and last night, he got a small bag of dog food, dragged it outside and ate THE WHOLE THING - without ripping the bag.  Smart dog, dumb human for leaving the pantry door open!

 

Winner!

 

Now to announce the winner of my giveaway for the flippy corner HSTs:

Congratulations, PaulaB!  I have e-mailed you.

 

Block Exchange

 

I signed up for a fun block exchange at

 

Fun with Barb

 

The 2015 block swap is bow tie blocks, and you can choose either modern or civil war fabrics.

I'm doing the modern exchange and over the weekend whipped up some blocks, mostly from my scrap baskets!

 

 

 

 I also used some larger pieces in my stash to get more variety.  It was bittersweet slashing into my stash, particularly of light gray fabrics.  I did have quite a variety, including some awesome Cotton + Steel basics, and although I knew that I was using them up, they are PERFECT for this fun exchange, and in an online exchange like this, you should use the type of fabric you'd like to get back. 

 

Block Donation

 

Lastly, some blocks that I made for Kat of Kat & Cat Quilts made it up to her in Northeast Texas and onto her design wall!

 

 If you want to make some flying geese (and don't we all need practice?), check out her original call for blocks and whip some up!

 

 

Here are my blocks again:

Are you participating in a block exchange at the moment or making blocks (or a quilt) to donate?

 

 Linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

(see button on right)

Thimblelina's "Finish" Bee Day

We are rocking and rolling - finishing our quilts with the help of our long-armer, Lillie!

 

I didn't get pics of in-progress projects (doh!), but I did get a bunch of finishes for you to feast on!

 

You've seen Sheila's Chevron Quilt, but not quilted (by Lillie) with these fantastic swirls!

Sheila's Quilt of Valor, quilted by Lillie

Quilting motif has stars!  And I love the Pearl Bracelets by Lizzie House as a backing.

 

This is just a finished top but yowza! what a top!

Sheila used a layer cake of Mojito by Clothworks along with some groovy border fabric from her stash.

She used a Dresden ruler and a tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company for this one, folks.

 

You may have seen this one before:

Lillie's Jelly Roll Quilt - Quilted by her!  She used a fun leaf motif for the quilting.

And the Pièce de résistance!  Barb's Crazy Quilt, a memento for a daughter-in-law (who I think is very cherished!)

 

Lots of BEAUTIFUL hand work in this one.

Where are my finished quilts?  Well, Lillie quilted one for me, too, but the picture was blurry.  I'll take better pics when I get the binding on. 

Have you enjoyed any finishes lately?

Linking up with:

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River (button on right)

The Hardest Part is (Remembering) the Pictures

I started this blog as a way to document all the quilts that I make, and sometimes the steps in between.  I find the inspiration to create a quilt and the motivation to work on it not very hard to come by.  However, I find taking pictures, particularly in-progress pics, a chore or an afterthought or a "whoops!" when I turn something in at guild or bee or send it off without getting a pic (or a good pic) of it.

So I'm playing catch-up for some of my finishes, and in-between sewing, today.  

As you know, I'm big into showing pictures on this blog, so here they are!

A charity quilt; this is from leftover blue fabric and includes a scrappy binding. 

Do I have any blue left?  

Silly readers, of course I do!  It's my favorite color. 

 This was done with a polyester batting to make it fluffy.
I quilted straight lines with 12-weight thread on top and 50-weight on bottom.

These blocks are for my virtual friend Kat of Kat & Cat Quilts in Tyler, Texas.  

 

 

 

 She is making a quilt for "Covered in Love" and of course, I wanted to help out!  She has an awesome color palette for this one, and I needed flying geese practice.  (And there's blue in it, so I am prepared!)

This is a finish from early June.  I took it home to show my mom and get her opinion on who in the family it should go to.  She chose herself.  

Next time, I won't bring one home, unless I want her to claim it.  ;)

 

I'm also in Stash Bee this year, and I'm on top of making blocks.  

 

Here's the block for August and a link to my post.

and here's the July block and post link:

If I could just train my dogs to hold up quilts or use the phone camera, I'd be in business!

Right now, Arnie is just good at amassing toys!

Giveaway!

I have a giveaway going on through Tuesday, August 11. 
Check it out here to enter!

Flippy Corner Tips and Giveaway!

I just made a couple of blocks with flippy corners and ended up with a bunch of HSTs:

Pretty HSTs

Here's how I did it:

When I sewed the diagonal on the square, I also sewed a half-inch over, parallel to the first line of stitches.  When you cut down the middle of the stitch lines, the flippy corner has a quarter-inch seam allowance and so does your new HST!

Bonus Tip!

I re-use my Best Press spray bottle by buying a refill.  And I re-purposed an old hair product bottle to also hold Best Press.  It produces a fine mist, and you can control the placement better with the small bottle, so it's perfect for opening seams!  I use the larger bottle for ironing yardage.  Also, the smaller bottle is very portable for trips to bee or retreat!

Giveaway!!!

I went to put away my new HSTs in a plastic bag, and I found a bag of these HSTs:

There are probably about 40 or so...I didn't count so don't hold me to it, but it's a bunch!

I pressed one so you could see the size, 3.5" square:

It is the flippy corner from this project:

This one was quilted by my long-arm quilter bee friend, Lillie, but I haven't gotten the binding on it yet!  (Of course.)

I have used a few of the HSTs to start making this pillow cover:

You could use the HSTs to make your own pillow cover or add in some solid white or gray (or blue?) to make a baby quilt.  Or make a patchwork purse - the possibilities don't stop there!

This fabric is from Valori Well's Wrenly line and the blue swirls are a Kate Spain fabric.

So, are you interested?  Yes?  Good!

I will ship internationally if you like.  It'll be my first international giveaway!  

(If you're in someplace cold, or even chilly, may I send myself? Just kidding.  Well sorta.  Gosh, it's hot here in H-town!)

To be eligible for the giveaway you must:

1. Not be a no-reply blogger (if you are, you must leave your e-mail in your comment to be eligible)

2. Tell me what you do in your sewing that is sustainable, i.e., earth friendly - what do you reuse, reduce, recycle, refuse, rethink?  

Let's leave this open for a week, so please comment by August 11, 5pm Central Daylight Time.

Linking up to:

 Tips & Tutorials Tuesdays at Late Night Quilter

 

Freemotion by the River's Linky Tuesday

 

and

 

Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

 

(Button links on the right side of my blog!)