Wednesday, November 26, 2014

A few finishes

Today I will share a few finishes that I hadn't posted about yet. 
I talked about all the baby and wedding quilts that I needed to get done this past year or so but this baby quilt I just kept procrastinated on getting started.
 Possibly, because I had already made this pattern and my niece isn't due to the end of December. But when my niece saw my rainbow scrap challenge quilt she had expressed that she wanted it for her baby quilt. I wasn't giving her that quilt for her baby quilt...it wasn't baby sized...but she wanted the pattern. 
She asked nicely!
I so rarely make the same pattern more than once so I just couldn't get myself motivated to start. I spent some time pulling purple, gray and yellow fabrics from my stash and bought a few additional purples. Finally, I started cutting the fabrics...there is a bit of cutting and trimming with this pattern. 
And then I got the baby shower invitation! 
Yikes! 
Now I was under pressure to piece, sandwich, and quilt it! Not like I didn't have close to 9 months to get this done....
I FMQ the wreath of hearts in the middle and also in each bangle. 
I finished a few days before the shower and it was very well received.
I love that the leaves were still colorful so I got some pretty pictures of this quilt! The pattern is Russian Rubix by April Rosenthal for Prairie Grass Patterns.
I named this quilt Baby Bangles! 
The finished size is 33" x 43".

I also finished this quilt that I'm calling Fruit of the Spirit. I can't give too many details because I haven't delivered it yet to the intended recipient yet. 
This quilt was built around the large print fruit fabric...the squares are fussy cut with the apple, pear, peach and cherries then framed in Kona Cinnamon. I also found this coordinating striped fabric, Kensington by Quilting Treasures, that I cut and sewed together to form the striped squares. 
The border around the 9 center squares is Kona Sand. With the remaining pieces I created the outer border. I FMQ in the inner border The Fruit of the Spirit and each attribute.
The backing is an old piece of cheater fabric from my stash. I really like how it so nicely coordinated. I'm so pleased with the way this quilt turned out.
Now to get it labeled and delivered!

And last, I wanted to share this little mini that I made for Thanksgiving. 
I had tucked away in the back of my mind how to make a turkey using the dresden plate. Using this tutorial from Missouri Star Company
I made the turkey feathers. 
A quick search on the web brought me to MooseStash Quilting where Joan gave her turkey pattern. I had to resize the pieces as my turkey isn't as big as hers. 
I added Happy Thanksgiving with fusible appliqué and straight line quilted between each feather and following the points of the feathers.

Hope you all have a Blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends! 
We have much to be thankful for...stay cozy and warm! 

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Did you jump on the bandwagon?

I mean the EPP hexagon bandwagon? 
I searched back on my blog to try to find out when I jumped on started my hexagon quilt with no luck. 
The earliest picture I found dates back to May 5, 2011 and there were quite a few made then. However, I didn't have any plan in mind on how or what I would do with them. I had no clue what I was getting myself into how long this process would take.
The next post was on February 8, 2012 where I had made my hexagons into flowers. I remember that my original plan was not to do flowers but somewhere along the path I decided to make them into simple flowers. 

Then on March 17, 2013, it seems as if I had a plan to alternate scrappy colored flowers with white flowers with a colored center. 
 Notice that I only had one post per year in 2011 & 2012. I really didn't work on hexagons on a regular basis...just when I needed a portable project. 
 By July 31, 2013, I had quite a bit done but still much more to do. 
With the pattern I choose, I needed a LOT of filler pieces but by 
February 17, 2014, I was on my way to putting the pieces together! 
I could see a dim light at the end of the tunnel and I was determined to work harder on getting it done.
By April 18, 2014, I had the top pieced but it needed a border...so I started making more white hexagons.
Then I decided I wanted the top and bottom of the quilt to be straight rather than the zagged edge you get with hexagons. 
I needed to make half hexagons to fill in. 

I am so happy to show you my finished quilt!
After many, many hours of hand piecing work, it is finished!!!
The binding was done using this method that I found on Pinterest. 
It does require you to make more hexagons to fit the outline of your top but it is worth it! I love how it turned out!
The back is a floral print from my stash. The binding hexagons are all from the same fabric from my stash.
I machine straight lined quilted around the scrappy flowers and around the centers of the white flowers. I FMQ petals in the scrappy flowers. 
(the only machine work on this quilt) 
Pocketful of Posies!
I am so stinking happy with this quilt! 
I am proud that I persevered and did not give up in the process...
and it was a long process!