Triple Crown Quilt Finished

I did it, I came in under the wire, it took me *almost* one year to complete this quilt.   I started this quilt last year at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe, at a class with Sandy Klop.  She was such a sweetheart, and I learned a lot from her!  I wrote a big post about it.  It took me awhile to finish because of those silly appliqued circles, I didn't know how to get them on there, and finally one of my friends inspired me, and I got them done.  After that it was a quick finish.  The pattern is called Triple Crown and you can find it at the American Jane website.

The sun is shining here, so I took it outside for some pictures.

I love the zigzag edges!

I did a meandering loop-de-loop quilting pattern on it with white thread.

I love the colors, it used a Bliss jellyroll by Bonnie & Camille for Moda, and some other matching fabrics that were needed.  I but a Bliss aqua dot flannel on the back, and it's super soft.  I can't wait to start using it!

I did it, I cut up my favorite fabrics and made a quilt!

I know there are many of you out there, you hoard your fabrics, those precious fat quarters and half yards of fabric you bought years ago, that are out of print and you can no longer buy.  Well, my fabric that I hoard is Neptune, by Tula Pink.  I love it so much!  I had quite a bit saved up, and then Tula came out with another fabric line recently called Prince Charming.  The colors were very similar to Neptune, so I combined the two together to make a quilt.

I started this quilt back in March of 2012, here's the post all about it!

The pattern I used is called Radio Flyer by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.

It took me awhile to finish this quilt, because it's really big.  I wasn't sure I could quilt it on my machine.  I ended up giving it to Barbara to quilt on her longarm instead.   She used an aqua thread in a swirl design, she did an amazing job!

I wanted this quilt for my couch, so it had to be warm and heavy (my living room gets so cold)  So, I picked up this minky from Fabric Depot.  I didn't put batting in it, the minky is so heavy and thick, that it wasn't necessary.  Also, the quilt has a really nice drape to it.  

It was worth it to cut up my favorite fabric, now I can enjoy it every day!

Spring Time Quilt

I was in the mood for a little bright and cheery spring time color!  I whipped out this quilt and loved every minute of it.  I used a fat quarter bundle of fabric called Farm Fresh, by Riley Blake and added in a few matching fabrics from my stash.  It turned out so happy :)

I used a Heather Bailey print on the back of the quilt with a green strip going down the middle.  They matched the front perfectly.

It's all ready to go now, for sale in my Etsy Shop!

Making a few pillows from Pillow Pop!

I picked up a book that was written by my friend Heather over at Alamode fabric!  It is called Pillow Pop, and has so many beautiful pillow patterns that her and her friends had collaborated on for swaps.  I fell in love with this book, and am on a quest to make all of them.  Pillows are great for trying new things, like paper piecing, or different color ways.  Here are three that I have made so far.

First up is a beachy, and happy pillow.  In the book, Heather used aquas and the plus was an orange.  I changed mine to yellow, and did some hand quilting on it to make it "pop" out.

It was fun choosing the aquas from my stash.  I love aqua, as you all know, and this pillow has all of my favorite fabrics in it.

I used a simple closure on the back, with a pop of aqua.

Next up is my favorite layout for half square triangles.  I love the barn raising layout so much!  It has a lot of visual impact.  I challenged myself to use purple.  It's not ever my first choice for color, and this was a stretch for me, but I love how happy it is.

I did straight line quilting with a green thread only in the green diamonds, simple and effective.

The backing was a fabric I've had forever and ever.  It was perfect for this pillow!

And finally my most favorite of them all so far.  My friend Barbara made a cathedral windows table runner, and I have been loving the pattern ever since.  When I saw this in the book, I was nervous to try it, but dove in feet first.  There are many tutorials online for this, so I looked them over before I started.  It is mostly just a lot of ironing!  It was simple to do once I got the hang of it.

I've been seeing the color combination of aqua and coral in the stores for awhile now, and wanted to makes something with the colors, I love this pillow!

I used several fabrics from the Tula Pink Salt Water line, and some Kaffe Fasset shot cottons for the solids.  And of course polkadots, you have to have those.  The aqua I've had for awhile now, it's by Basic Gray for Moda, a grunge fabric.

So, have I convinced you to go and make some new pillows yet??

A Quilting Getaway with Friends

I was lucky being able to get away with my friends last weekend for 3 days!  We went to my friend Barbara's beach house in Seaside, Oregon.  We had such a wonderful time.  I brought a lot of things that were *almost* done, so I felt like I accomplished a lot.

Barbara, Joni and I checking out the beach with Lewis & Clark.

The weather was AMAZING the whole time we were there.  We took walks out to get lunch and rode bicycles around town.  I loved it.

Becky and I had bought a quilt kit from Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe several years ago (we can't even remember!) and decided it was time to start cutting into it.  I'll show you more pictures of this quilt as I make more progress.  There was A LOT of cutting for this quilt too.

We ate a lot of really good food haha!

Becky and I couldn't stop laughing at ourselves and the millions of triangles we had to cut out of jellyroll strips.

We took them outside and shook out the fuzzies.  Those pre-cuts can make a mess!

We had to visit The Center Diamond in Cannon Beach of course.

A stack had to come home with me of course.

At one point I feared the table would collapse under 5 sewing machines and piles of fabric... but it managed to hold up!

It is my month for bee blocks, everybody finished up their swoon blocks to give to me!  I am soooo excited for this quilt.

Until next time!  I love my friends so much, we had a great weekend.

Sampler Quilt Finished

I was able to finish this quilt on Thursday afternoon, right on time to bring it to the Portland Modern Quilt Guild for show and tell.  From what I can find on my blog, I started teaching this class at my church for learning quilt blocks in 2010.  This lovely quilt sat unfinished in one of my bins for a few years, isn't that just sad??

It was a dark, rainy day today, so I couldn't get the colors quite right in the photos!  It's a very bright and happy quilt :)

I had most of the quilt top pieced and it took me about 15 minutes to finish it.... so silly of me to hide it away like that.

I did a meandering loop-de-loop pattern on it using white thread.

I had two blocks leftover, so I pieced them into a back, using up some of my stash!

I love a finished quilt!

P.S. it's for sale in my Etsy shop!

Now go and bust out one of your old projects and finish it up!

WIP Wednesday

I've finally found my mojo again, and have been sewing more.  We went on a few vacations in January and it set me back for awhile.  One of my goals this year is to finish up some quilts that have been languishing in my box under my sewing table.  One of them is this sampler quilt.  I taught a basic quilting class a few years ago at my church, and these blocks were just waiting.  I had some of them sewn together in rows, so I finished that up in about 10 minutes, and pieced a back out of my stash.

I managed to get it quilted this week!  I have the binding ready to be sewn down now.

Next up, I started a new cross stitch.  This one is again from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, called Woodland Sampler.  Every month this year you get to add to the sampler, some sort of woodland creature.  I'm ready for March now!

My friend contacted me about quilting a baby quilt for her.  I really enjoyed this one!  I did stippling in the colored parts, and straight line quilting in the dark blue.  Isn't that a cute quilt?

My daughter's friend held up this quilt for me to take a picture.  Do you notice her socks?  The kids love wearing mis-matched socks, this cracks me up!

For the sewing group I am in, we are all making each other blocks to make a quilt.  This month is my turn!  Everybody is making a swoon block for me (I am soooo excited about this quilt!)  I made one block, using my favorite fabrics, Tula Pink!!  Every block will be aqua and dark blue, with this adorable dotty background.  

And finally one more, I went to Fabric Depot last week and had to come home with a stack of the new fabric line called Posy, by Aneela Hoey.  It's just the cutest thing I've ever seen!  I started a quilt already with it, here is the first block, I can't wait to keep working on this one.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced

Half Square Triangles

I was able to finish another quilt this week.  This one is made up of all half square triangles.  I used the method by the Missouri Star Quilt Company to cut them up.  You can see the video below.

My friend Christina at The Sometimes Crafter came up with a bunch of measurements for everybody to use if they want to try this method, on Whipup!  I refer to her post all of the time, it's so nice when somebody else does the math for you right??

My original idea for these half square triangles was to use a herringbone layout.  However, my fabrics were all of the same values and the pattern got lost because of the fabrics.

While I was at sewing night with my friends, Jenn helped me come up with a better layout for the blocks.  We went with a barn raising layout, and I love it!

The colors I used were inspired by the Pacific Northwest winters.  Gray, muted colors.  I am really happy with how this turned out.  It's a baby size quilt, and I put it up for sale in my Etsy Shop.

I used a herringbone print for the backing, since I couldn't get that pattern to work on the front LOL!  Next time I try the herringbone layout, my fabrics will have a lot more contrast.  Have a great weekend everybody!