Finished Granny Squares Quilt

I started in on the Granny Squares craze early last year, but decided it could be one of those projects that I work on here and there as I was in the mood. As I've been on a mission to finish my WIPs this year, I knew I had to get this one done. The down side was that I didn't love how my blocks were looking in the traditional layout. So, I changed it up and pieced them on point - basically I made one huge Granny Square block out of my individual blocks. I then added a thin blue border (Dear Stella's Yard Sale in Sky) and a wider green border (Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane Hop Dot in Olive) to get a good size quilt (I think it's about 65 inches square).



For the backing, I used this blue flannel print that I picked up at Joann's a while back. I used Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets in purple and Patty Young's Textured Basics Papaya Diamond for the binding strips. I quilted it in meandering loops. I thought I'd keep this quilt, but when I finished it, I kept thinking about one of my sisters. I haven't made her a quilt yet and her birthday was this month so I thought it'd be the perfect time to gift her this.

Quilt Tops a Long Time in the Works

In 2012, I jumped on the Granny Squares bandwagon. I love the quilts that came out of that craze and didn't have the self control to not start my own. I pulled out my scraps and cut squares for several blocks. But, like a lot of things on my sewing plate, I let this one sit for a while. Once I pieced all the blocks, I didn't like the traditional layout, I think because of the scraps I had used. I played around with them and decided to mimic the Granny Square block itself.



I plan to add another white border to make it bigger so it's more useful for us, but thought I'd post about it since it's been in the works for so long. I have eight more blocks that I'll be piecing into a simple baby quilt too.

This next quilt top is one that I started way back when The Middle was two and I was pregnant with the baby. Now she's almost five. She picked the fabrics (Rainy Days and Mondays by Melimba and Beccabury for Riley Blake) and wanted the "flowers" (dresdens) so this is the design I came up with. I combined Elizabeth Hartman's Mixtape pattern with the fat cat dresden plates and sashed the blocks in a medium gray. Since this quilt top is intended for her bed, I'll probably just buy a flat sheet (in pink per The Middle's request) for the backing, and be done with it.

What I've been doing over the last month

Like I mentioned in my last post from a month ago (!), I've been really busy lately. Here’s a quick snapshot of what I've been up to.

I cut bangs. The last time I had bangs was seven years ago so it’s taken a bit of getting used to.

I did a bit of traveling. I visited Kansas City for work a couple times. The mister and I also had the amazing opportunity to go to Paris and Rome.

I fell in love with art history in high school and studied it for a couple years in college. It was one of the highlights of my life (so far) being able to see so many works of art that became dear to my heart in my teenage years and early twenties.

We took a zillion pictures and I hope to blog about our trip in more detail soon.

In between all my visits to the airport, I also did my fair amount of sewing. I made four baby quilts, finished the mister’s quilt (which I’ll post about soon – I promise), pieced some quilt tops...,

and started a new project that I’m kind of obsessed about.

I need to take some photos with my real camera so I can start showing all the projects I've been working on. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some of that this weekend.

A few random sewing projects, part 2

Tuesday was my anniversary. The mister had to work late, so I thought I'd start a new EPP (English paper piecing) project just for me. I pulled out Katy's Spring Carnival printout and templates and set to work. I'm using some Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow fabric that I've been saving for a while to make a pillow or two for my new couch. Since taking this pic, I've changed my mind on the brown print. I'll be using white for those triangle sections.

Katy's teaching a class on this design at The Sewing Summit in the fall. I'm crossing my fingers that I can take it while I'm there.



I have also been brainstorming some ideas for baby quilts. Two of my sisters-in-law are having babies in the next couple months. One of my good friends is in the hospital right now on bed rest and as a precaution due to placenta previa. I'm thinking I'll make a giant granny squares quilt for her soon-to-be-born little girl using some charms from Kate Spain's Central Park line.



I bought a couple more quilting books as well. I really enjoyed flipping through these books. I've been a fan of Jacquie Gehring since I started quilting and I love how she and Katie Pedersen teach the techniques behind the quilts they show in the book, rather than just the pattern for the design. I think this approach is generally more helpful when you're trying to develop skills and a greater understanding of quilt construction.



I'm a new fan of Angela Walters. I've never loved the quilting part of making quilts, but I think Angela has done such a great job of illustrating how to go about expanding your quilting skills. I'm excited to try more techniques from her book.



And here's a little sneak peek of the quilt I finished last week. I was inspired by Angela's book and tried out a few new quilting designs. They certainly aren't perfect, especially when my nose was an inch away from the quilt, as Angela puts it. But, when you stand back and look at the overall quilt, you can see how I actually put some thought into the quilting.



I'll share more of this quilt next time. I'm off to celebrate my anniversary with the mister. Have a good weekend!

Coming Along

My limited sewing time this week has been spent on my Granny Squares quilt and my Gradated Color Mod Mosaic bee quilt.

This week's granny is purple and black/gray. Four down, sixteen to go.

This is going to be a colorful quilt. In fact, I used scrap pieces in every color.

I love how these Mod Mosaic blocks look. I just wish that they didn't take so long to put together. I also find it a bit time-consuming to get the final size right. I want all the blocks to be 12.5 inches. For this block, I had to add a couple additional strips that weren't part of my original layout. It ended up being fine, but it takes more time to stop and plan additional aspects of the block.

But, I'm so excited to see the blocks my bee-mates are posting on Flickr. I CAN'T WAIT to put this one together. I'm hoping to churn out my remaining four blocks before I receive all the other blocks in the mail. That way, I can get this puppy put together ASAP!

Isn't it coming together so nicely?!

WIP Wednesday: Granny, Melons, and Fabric

I've been slowly chipping away at my to-do list this week. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Accomplished this Week

I managed to make another Granny Squares block - a Halloween version.

I also put together this bee block for Andrea. The directions she gave us calls this a melon block. I'm not sure if that's the correct name or not, but I sure do like it. I want to make a pillow out of this block for my living room, but with each quadrant rotated so the finished block looks like a giant cathedral window instead.

I also finished my Sew Beautiful Bee 2011 quilt top, which I'm calling Circle of Circle of Circle of Flying Geese. Read about it here.

I also made some x&+ blocks, but haven't taken any photos yet. Stay tuned.

No Progress Made

I haven't worked on any of my other WIPs. I realized too that I need to start yet another quilt for my BFF who's getting married in June. She and her new hubs needs a quilt, methinks.

My in progress items include:

• 1001 Peeps Supernova Quilt
• Single Girl/Retro Flowers Quilt
• Twin Quilts
• Mom's Quilt
• Lorax Quilt
• Daughter's Quilt
• Gradated Mod Mosaic Quilt

But, I did manage to take some photos of new fabric that's arrived at my house lately. I get so happy just looking at all of it!

Flea Market Fancy

Chevrons

Alphabet Soup and Pezzy Prints

So that's what's been going on around here. What about you? What have you been working on this week?

Holy WIP Wednesday Batman!

Hooray for Wednesdays! They give me a good kick in the pants to evaluate what I've been working on and make sure I'm on track to get the things done that I need to. This week, I feel like I've gotten a lot done. So let's get to it.

Granny Squares

I caught the Granny Squares bug (read more here).

I-Spy Swap

I cut up a couple I-Spy fat quarters into five-inch charms for a swap. I'll be getting back 48 unique charms I can use in an I-Spy quilt. It'll be fun to have another option for my kids to use on the couch so they don't fight over The Lorax quilt I'll be making soon.

Fabrics are:
Red Letter Day White Ducks on Pink in Feather by Lizzy House
Outfoxed Hedgehogs in Navy by Lizzy House
Metro Cafe Toasters Toast in Spring Blue by Monaluna
Going Coastal Crab Walk in Gray by Emily Herrick

Twin Quilts

My nephew and his wife had twins a couple months ago, actually about two months after I had my baby. (It sounds pretty crazy to say that I'm a great aunt, especially after just having a baby, but I'm only five years older than my nephew.) I've been meaning to make quilts for these adorable babies for a while now. They live in Chile so I think I've used the excuse of them not being close to put these quilts on the back burner. But, after seeing Jessica's super cute Baby Blocks quilt, I decided to finally get started and set to work cutting the fabric. In no time, I had two quilt tops done.

Sew Beautiful Bee Prep

April is my month in the Sew Beautiful Bee. I'm having the girls make Mod Mosaic blocks using Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial. I'll share more on this later this week as I get the fabric shipped out, but for now I'll share my test block.

So, there you have it folks. I feel like I put a good dent in my never-ending to-do list.

This Week's Stats:
Finished: 0
In Progress: 10+
New: 4

Granny Squares Love

I've mentioned in a couple previous posts that I was bitten by the Granny Squares bug. I don't know what it is about this block that draws me in, but I love it. I raided my scraps,

cut up the 2.5 inch squares a few weeks ago,

and finally got around to putting my first block together on Saturday.

I'm going to be putting blocks together here and there as I have time. I have a few more pressing items on my to-do list, but I think I'm really going to love this quilt when I finish it!

WIP Wednesday 2/22/12

I've been working on a few things this week, but only have one finish. Oh how I wish I could stick to one WIP at a time!

Finished This Week

Pillow Talk Swap Pillow

You can read about this pillow in yesterday's post.



Bee Block for Rachel

Read about it here.



WIPs Worked on This Week

Mom's Quilt

I finished cutting the fat quarters for my mom's quilt, which will be a variation of my dad's quilt (below). I ordered the solid sashing for her quilt yesterday and hope to get it in the mail later this week. Speaking of fabric purchases, I ordered a motherload of fabric over the last two days without spending a fortune. But more on that later.



New Projects

I just couldn't help myself and started a few new projects this week.

I cut up the fabric for Sukie's bee block. She's having us make carpenter stars based on Cherie's awesome tutorial. This is the one I made for Cherie in January.



I love this block so much that I decided to change course and make my Christmas quilt out of this pattern using my Figgy Pudding stash. I started cutting the blocks for this quilt this past week. That way, whenever I have a spare minute, I can sew a block or two.



I set a goal for myself this year not to start new projects before finishing old ones. I realized though that a lot of the sewing I accomplish during the week all depends on the type of project and time that I have. So, it's not really realistic for me to set that goal. If I have time to cut, then I cut. If I have time to piece a back, then I piece a back. My sewing time during the week isn't always conducive to completing one project start to finish. So maybe my goal should be to try not to start too many new projects before finishing old ones.

Anyway, I started a new project last night...I can't really explain why I'm drawn to the granny squares that have been popping up all over the place lately (check out the Flickr group quilt-along and the block tutorial), but I am. I went through my scraps and pulled out a bunch in every color. I cut up the pinks and purples at around 10 last night. Gotta love all these temptations to distract me from getting other WIPs done.

This Weeks's Stats
Finished: 1
In Progress: 6
New: 3