Finished Pixelated Heart Quilt

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In my WIP tracking post, I briefly mentioned this pixelated heart quilt and that I was making it before I knew what I was doing. You see, I had seen Amanda’s version of Jolene’s heart quilt a couple weeks ago and I just absolutely fell in love with it. Then I saw my friend Kara’s version on Instagram and wanted to make my own that much more. I’m not much of a fan of hearts, but I really loved Amanda’s quilt top. I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it that Friday. (Do you ever do that?) When I got home from work, I pulled fabrics and then started cutting squares that night.

I didn’t think I would have enough low volume prints to use as the background, so I opted to reverse the design. After cutting all my charms, though, I saw that I easily would have had plenty of low volume prints to do it the original way. Oh well. I guess I made it my own.



This is not my typical color scheme at all. It has a deep, jewel-tone feel to me and usually I’m drawn to brights. So this was a fun step-outside-my-comfort-zone project that I actually really ended up liking when it was all finished.

For the back, I used several fat quarters of Michael Miller cotton couture solids in purples and pinks that I won in the Fall for Solids Challenge. This was the perfect use for them as I rarely use pink and purple in my quilts. I threw in a few more pink fat quarters and other scraps as well to fill in the holes.



I made a scrappy binding out of some red, purple, and pink Free Spirit blenders that were also in the Fall for Solids prize pack.

As for the quilting, I think there are four different thread colors in this one: red, burgundy, purple, and white. I used the reds and purple in the background and white in the heart. I quilted the quilt in meandering loops.

The quilt measures about 66 inches square and has been a nice couch quilt that we’ve been enjoying this past week.

Finished Monopoly Mixtape Quilt

I finished this Monopoly Mixtape quilt a couple days ago. I used Elizabeth Hartman's Mixtape Quilts II pattern (for purchase here). I initially planned on making the Favorite Songs layout for a 47x47 quilt. Since I decided to make the quilt at 9 at night, I opted to leave out the sashing and just sew the 6-inch blocks into rows and columns. That way, I had a finished quilt top by the time I went to bed. Omitting the sashing left me with a 36x36 quilt.



As this is for a new little baby-to-be, I wanted to try quilting with a flannel backing to make it softer. I thought it would be really shifty, but it was surprisingly the same as with a cotton backing.



I like how the quilting adds another type of texture to the flannel.



I still need to work on getting a consistent stitch length as I'm quilting. For some reason, I just want to move the quilt fast and I have a hard time slowing down.

To save time, I trimmed the backing to about an inch and a half and then turned the edge over and then over again to self-bind the quilt. I did this a few weeks ago on a quilt my brother-in-law asked me to bind for his wife for a surprise Christmas gift. The corners didn't turn out as well as I would have liked on that one and I wanted to see if I could figure out how to miter them properly. I think it worked well this time. It certainly helped that the flannel I used wasn't shifty.



I think the quilt came together nicely and I think my friend will like it. She's having a girl, and since it's her first, she's really excited for all things pink. I'm not a huge fan of "baby pink" so I thought I'd add a little brighter pink to her nursery.

The only unfortunate part of this quilt is that I finished it before making my practice dresden plate. I think that flower would have looked so cute sewn onto the back of the quilt.

I'm really starting to hate this winter light for taking photos.

The mister has complained year after year about how much he hates the winter months for photography. I didn't really understand what he meant until this year. In the early summer, he showed me how to use his Nikon and I think I got the hang of taking decent pictures outside so I could photograph my quilts and other projects. But now that the weather has changed and the light has gotten darker (the snow doesn't help either), I'm finding myself resorting to taking pictures inside with the flash. Plus, I've had a killer cold the last few days so my laziness has won out in the photography department. Anyway, that's why the following photos aren't that great.

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I'm in my first virtual quilting bee this year, the Sew Beautiful Bee. January is Cherie's month and she requested Dresden Plates. I hadn't made them before and opted to make a practice block to make sure I got everything right. I haven't decided what I'll be doing with this block. Kati had a great idea of keeping all the practice blocks for each month and then putting them together in a sampler quilt. I really like that idea, but I used leftovers from the baby quilt I finished yesterday so I'm not sure how well it will blend, color-wise, with the other practice blocks I make. I've toyed with the idea of turning this into a mini quilt for My Favorite Little Quilt Swap, which is currently in its second round. (The deadline is January 31.) Or, I can always turn it into a pillow or something to go along with the baby quilt. I dunno. We'll see.



Here's Cherie's finished block, using Soul Blossoms. I ended up using a blanket stitch to attach the flower to the background fabric and wish that I would have just used a straight stitch. I used a straight stitch on the circle and like how that looks better than the blanket stitch.



I've been anxious to finish my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows quilt. I got all the pieces cut and the blocks laid out.



I decided to use Kona white for the window panes because I think it adds enough contrast to the muted color palate of the FFA2 fabrics. I really like how Ashley at Film in the Fridge used white to frame her FFA2 quilt and opted for the same contrast in mine. I also saw Lee's Lattice quilt today and I'm really thinking of scrapping the Kona ivory I was planning on using as the sashing and getting some Kona stone instead.





Two blocks down, 23 to go.

Finally some quilty sewing!

After Christmas, I was so excited to get started on some new projects. You might say I was a little impatient. I felt a little scatterbrained at first trying to decide what new project to start, so I ended up starting three.

One of my quilt plans for 2011 is to make a new quilt for my bed. The mister and I decided to go with the All Star 2 line. My plan is to make square-in-square blocks. Here are the first two.





I'm not sure what the final size blocks will be. These are about 12 inches, but I'm just kind of winging this one. The finished quilt needs to fit our queen-sized bed so I might finish the blocks at around 16 inches. We'll see how they turn out.

I got a baby shower invite in the mail yesterday, so after working on the two blocks last night, I started a quilt top for the baby-to-be. I tried out Oh Fransson's Mixtape pattern, but made a few modifications to speed up the process. I'll talk about this more later as I work on the quilt (it's due by next Friday), but I left out the sashing and I think it came together nicely.



Finally, I decided to start on a Kitchen Windows quilt from Elizabeth Hartman's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, using two of the colorways from Far Far Away 2. I wasn't quite sure what fabric to use as the "windows." I initially went with Kona Green Grass to create a lot of contrast between the windows and the background. But, the more I looked at the fabric, I didn't like how the color changed depending on the light. In natural light, the fabric matched the colors in FFA2 nicely, but in florescent light, it totally clashed.



The problem with going with a neutral, though, is that I'm worried the quilt will just get muddled.



Then I had the thought that if I go with the green window sashing, the green might overpower the FFA2 fabrics and stand out more than anything else. I kind of want the FFA2 fabric to be the star of the quilt, so I'm torn.

Any suggestions?

Lizzy House's Studio Sale

I went to Lizzy House's studio sale tonight, and when I was leaving I kept thinking how I wish I had a camera so I could get a picture with her. Here I am, talking to this famous fabric designer, buying fabric from her, and she's talking to me and my sisters! It was awesome!

Lizzy is so down to earth and friendly and so ready and willing to give tips and advice to all of our questions. It was fun to meet her sister too and see all the amazing prints and hand-made goodies she had for sale.

I picked up a fat quarter bundle of Castle Peeps along with a cute little embroidery pattern of the bard that I want to make soon after Christmas.

Photo from Lizzy's blog.

If you're in the Salt Lake area, you should stop by Lizzy's for her studio sale tomorrow (Saturday, Dec 18) from 10 to 5.

My Christmas Wish List

Coming up with a Christmas wish list to give my family has always been difficult in the past. It was much easier when I was little and living at home. But as an adult, I think it's hard because if I want/need something, I just buy it. I usually don't wait until Christmas or my birthday and ask for whatever it is. This year, however, has been different.

I decided to ask for fabric that I really want, but maybe am not willing to buy myself for whatever reason. Here's what made my list this year.

A fat quarter bundle of All Star 2 in green from Hawthorne Threads.


Some linen in The Morning Dew from Fabrics-store.com.


A fat quarter bundle of Innocent Crush in Potpourri from Hawthorne Threads. I want to make the Colorbrick quilt from Stitched In Color with this Innocent Crush fabric (hers looks amazing!), but I want to use the gray linen as the sashing instead of a tan neutral.


A fat quarter bundle of Far Far Away II in Meadow from Hawthorne Threads. I really want the aqua colorway too, but all the FQ bundles were out of stock when I made my list.


And lastly, some paper hexagon pieces. I love looking through the Bee Hexed In Flickr group and seeing all the variations people have made of the pillow from Fat Quarterly. Kati brought hers to our Modern Quilt Guild meeting a few months ago and I loved it. Now that I'm getting braver in trying new techniques, I'm finally ready to try hexagons.


So, there you have it. What are you hoping to get for Christmas this year?

Ho-Ho Holiday Swap Fabric

I joined the Ho-Ho Holiday Swap a little while ago and received two of three fat quarters from the gals in my group. (The third one should be coming soon.) We were put in groups of four and were instructed to mail three red, green, or white fat quarters to each member of our group. We were then paired up with a partner out of that group and are supposed to make an ornament using at least one of the fat quarters we received. Here's what I've been sent so far.

Don't you just love how it's folded? I haven't wanted to unfold it since it's so cute.

The fabrics don't go well together AT ALL, so I hope the third fat quarter I get blends well with one or the other. Otherwise, I'll grab something from my stash. You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the reds are totally different.

I've been trying to come up with a small project idea for my brother-in-law because he loves coke. Maybe I can make him a warm drink cosy or something.


For kicks, I looked through this book my mom has had since the 70s for ornament inspiration. I didn't find much, but it was fun to look through.

Some cute appliqué. Love that train at the top.


The paper mobile on the left reminded me of this from Erin at Two More Seconds.


Although the photo picture quality is pretty terrible, I love the lime green and red combo in these decorations.


I decided on the ornament design for my partner, but I want to keep it a secret until I send it to her. It's not a traditional Christmas design, but I think I can make it work. I'm excited.

Have you participated in any swaps that you've totally loved? I want to get involved in more, so I'd love to hear about any you've participated in.

On an unrelated note, I may be MIA until after the weekend. The women in my church group are getting together for a craft day on Saturday (Super Saturday) and I was silly enough to put myself in charge of four of the six projects we're doing. The mister (bless his soul) has to make 175 cuts of wood for me tomorrow. If I survive the weekend, I'll show you the Christmas sewing I've been doing.

Shop Hop

As I set out for the Wasatch Front Shop Hop and the Scenic By-Ways Shop Hop in mid-June, I had good intentions to hit most of the stores within 45 minutes of my house. After the first stop, however, I hit a big rock and blew out a tire. The mister was at the park with our kiddos, but since I was close to home when it happened, he was able to come to my rescue. He offered to let me take the other car and he would just stay home with the kids, but I didn't want him stuck there all day. Instead, I went to another shop during my daughter's nap and then hit one more on the way to my quilt guild meeting that night. I wanted to visit more of the stores, especially the ones that I hadn't been to before. However, I think hitting that rock was a blessing in disguise because I had a fairly good haul just from the three shops I stopped at. Who knows how much money I would have spent had I visited more.

I'm trying to branch out from just buying fabric in collections. My goal of visiting these shops was to find fabrics that I liked to start building my stash outside of fabric lines. I broke down and bought some Summer Song by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake, but the majority of the items I purchased were random.

Some Summer Song and Bloom and Grow

Summer Song and Meadowsweet

Nicey Jane dots

Neptune

All-Star
Summer Song

Do you remember my submission for Natalia's Ugly Quilt Contest? Well, I ordered this rocket fabric for the backing so if I totally hate the quilt top when it's all finished, I can at least use ths back side on my son's bed.


And since this Heather Bailey fabric was on sale at Fat Quarter Shop when I bought the rocket fabric, I grabbed some of this for the New Wave quilt I'll be making one of these days.

Fabric-Related Birthday Goodies

I celebrated my 28th birthday on Wednesday. I had to work. The mister had to work. It felt like a regular day. But then I tracked a package I had ordered the previous week and it was scheduled to be delivered on my birthday. Hip, hip! I ordered some yardage and a turnover of Figgy Pudding to add to my small stash.


I didn't learn about Figgy Pudding as early as the rest of you so I've been searching high and low for shops that still have some of it left.


I'm using Momo's Odyssea for the Jellyroll Quilt Along with Moose on the Porch Quilts. I bought solid Kona cotton in green, brown, and cream for the backing, sashing, and binding. When I ordered the Figgy Pudding, I decided to buy an extra yard of some Odyssea to supplement the quilt somewhere when we're done with all the blocks.


Yesterday, I stopped by my sister's house and was as giddy as a schoolgirl when I opened her gift. There was a new quilt book with really fun quilts for kids;


a quilt journal,


complete with blank pages for sketching


and graph paper for layouts;


some blackboard material for making chalkboard pillows for my two kiddos;


a scrapbook page for inspiration on a family tree quilt (we tossed around a lot of ideas for putting that one together);


and last, but certainly not least, a 24-piece fat quarter pack to make this kite quilt from my new book!


There's some Blush, Bloom & Grow, and others that I don't know the names of.


Yum,


yum,


yum!


Thanks, Hawl! You made my day!


The only downside of my birthday was that my back went out and I haven't been able to stitch an inch since Sunday! I'm dying to make some more progress on my Life Is What You Make It quilt as well as finish off the blocks for my Swirling Stars quilt.