Thursday, April 30, 2015

ALOYF Complete: Baby quilt quilted!

My April ALYOF goal was to quilt my Zoo Baby quilt top, which will ultimately become a pattern. 

Here it is!

I quilted pebbles and wavy lines in the animal applique blocks, loosely meant to resemble land and sky. 


I used three different motifs in the log cabin blocks.

My favorite is probably the spirals in the sashing squares--something I tried for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

Isn't the backing fabric cute? These fabrics are all from Kanvas' Safari Playground collection.

Time to bind it!


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Quilt-As-You-Go Tutorial!

Happy Sunday! I'm over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict today sharing a tutorial for a quilt-as-you-go quilt as part of Sarah's Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.


I made my first version of this quilt (using the same fabric!) for a guild charity event a while back. I'd always intended to use the remaining fabric to make a second charity quilt, and when Sarah put the call out for guest bloggers, I knew it was time! I made this quilt in one day, and you can too!

Head over to Confessions of a Fabric Addict to learn more about the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge and how you can participate (plus, there are prizes!). You'll also find an ongoing series of tutorials for making easy charity quilts, including mine--perfect for anyone who is intimidated by machine quilting!


Saturday, April 11, 2015

Curves class

 Back in January/February, I took the Curves Class that Rachel was offering over at Stitched in Color. It's an online class full of techniques and projects for using those techniques--a great opportunity to practice curved sewing of all kinds! I also convinced my mom to take the class. Below is some show and tell from both of us--we ended up doing several of the same projects!

My scalloped bunting:
This project was serendipitous because I didn't have a window treatment for the baby's room and really didn't feel like making one. However, a cute little scalloped bunting in the fabrics used in the baby quilt and bumpers was the perfect window decor!

 Mom's scalloped bunting--a baby gift for a friend:

My curved runner in the works, made with batik scraps:

The four "rows" before assembly:

My finished runner top:

Mom's finished runner top, made with solids:


Next up was the scalloped pillow. Here are some of Mom's cut out pieces:

Auditioning placement on the pillow square itself:

And her finished pillow:


She made the pillow for the family room using scraps from the quilt below, which is also in the family room. I love the way this quilt looks (ok, I may have helped pick out the fabrics, which is part of why I like it!). You can find out more about this pattern and see my version of it (which now, seeing Mom's, I don't like as much!) here.

My cut out pieces for the scallop pillow:

Auditioning placement:

I ultimately decided that I didn't like the lights/neutrals, so my finished pillow is all quasi-solids:

I did one more project than Mom--I also tried the scallop quilt. I struggled a fair amount while making this quilt--uniformity was fairly key, and let's just say that my curves weren't quite uniform! :) I'm looking forward to quilting this one--any ideas on what type(s) of motifs to use?

If you have the opportunity to take Rachel's class, I recommend it--so many inspiring projects to try with your newfound understanding of curves sewing techniques!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Block Happy!

Every couple of months I collect pictures of all the blocks I've sewed recently--usually for my do.Good Stitches Believe group and for the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild--and share them in one post. Here we go!

Our do. Good January "block" was actually a row of black and white squares with houses nestled in. Here's my row in two halves:

And assembled:

February do. Good blocks: the theme was arrow blocks--any kind. I loved the color palette too.


March do. Good blocks were any variation we wanted of Monkey Wrench blocks in gray, aqua and orange. These were really fun to make.


And then our March online activity for the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild: Log Cabin blocks cut into quarters. Here's my first block whole:


And cut into quarters:

My second block whole:

And cut into quarters:

 And then just for fun, I laid out four pieces together to see what it would look like:

The February color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was pink. My pink stash isn't as extensive as my blue, so I actually made progress in reducing it by making these blocks!

Here they all are together:

The Log Cabin blocks:

The wonky star 25-patch blocks:

The slab and the made fabric block:

And then my pink and blue (January) blocks together:

These will make some fun rainbow scrap quilts by the end of the year!

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

April ALYOF Goal

My A Lovely Year of Finishes goal for April is to machine quilt this top that I pieced back in January. Ultimately, after it's done and photographed and I update the instructions, I will be selling this pattern. But baby steps...first I need to finish it!