In the Light of Day

Ok, I left the Twin Sisters quilt on the design wall last night and when I looked at it this morning, I decided that I really do like it. The border really brightens it up (I really do love mitered corners) and the cornerstones really aren't too bad. As a reader commented yesterday, had I used brighter fabric for the cornerstones, it would have overpowered the flow of the quilt. And like my husband and  a couple of others said, the qult has an old or washed out look to it, which makes it feel comfy. Thanks Vrooman's Quilts for the reminder that we are our own worst critics!

Here's a better picture of the quilt.

Today, in between baking the 15 dozen cookies for an order and packing for the retreat, I'm putting the binding on my Big Ten quilt. This is a fun and big quilt (86" x 106") by Swirly Girls Designs. I'm loving the orange binding!

Met the Goal

I wanted to finish my Twin Sisters quilt top before I went on retreat and I was able to do that tonight. If you click on the picture it will enlarge it and it does look better. I really do need to learn to take better photos!

Adding the blue and floral stripe borders really helped brighten this up a bit; but I really wish I had used brighter fabric for the cornerstones. Oh well. It's ready to be quilted and then I'll bind it with the same blue that was used for the first border.

I do like the fact that this is now a more "user friendly" size for me (about 70" x 80"). Who knows, by the time it's quilted I might really like it.

The REALLY good news is that this is a UFO that is close to being DONE, DONE and DONE (pieced, quilted and bound)!

Design Wall Monday

This is going to be a busy week, but I hope to get the borders added to the quilt that I put on the wall tonight. It's a UFO, of course, and it's called Twin Sisters, by Eleanor Burns from her Quilts Through the Seasons book. I've made a couple of these but this is the only one that is still in my possession. I think the fabric that I used was mostly from April Cornell's Sunshine line for Moda Fabrics and I know it's a few years old.

 I know exactly why I stopped working on this. I was disappointed in how it was turning out. I thought it was kind of dull and even if I added a narrow dark blue border and then the floral border, I just wasn't going to be thrilled with it. (The picture isn't the greatest, but I can't blame it all on my lack of photography skill. This quilt is pretty bland.) I'm probably still not going to be thrilled with it when it's done, but I will be thrilled with the fact that I will have finished another UFO.

Here's how I picked this project to work on. This evening I finished up my Weave It To Me quilt (my first DONE, DONE, and DONE of 2012), and I decided that I didn't want to start something new before heading off to retreat on Friday. That meant that if I was going to sew, it had to be on a UFO and it probably shouldn't require too much work. Since I've been working in blues and yellows lately and I have a pretty full light blue bobbin, I decided it was time to finish this puppy. I'm sure that if If don't like the end product, I can find someone who will.

Here's a few pictures of my Weave It To Me (front and back). I really like how this turned out, including the back. I don't usually piece my backs this way, but I had two large pieces of the floral that, pieced together, would be about 6 inches too small for a solid-fabric backing; so added a strip of the yellow fabric and it worked perfectly. I like how it compliments the front of the quilt.

In case you didn't see my post about the Missouri Star Quilt Company Iron Quilter contest results, be sure to take a few minutes and check it out. I'm thrilled to say that I won third place, but even more exciting is that there are LOTS of fabulous projects to see and put on your "to do" list. I think their site is down for repairs right now, but be sure to check back later. It's worth it!

If you need inspiration or just want to see some really talented quilters, check out the Design Wall Monday links at Judy L's Patchwork Times.

Stash Report - Week 4

It was a good week! I've got two more quilts quilted so that used up some backing yardage. And even though I bought more backing fabric because it was on sale, it pretty much equals out - only 3/4 yard bought more than used. YEAH!! I love it when that happens.

Now, here's a warning about my next report. I will be going on a retreat to Holmes County (Amish Country) from Friday - Monday and of course no matter how much I think I'm NOT going to buy, I always do. My only saving grace is that I usually get a lot sewn and I hope that holds true this time.

Here's the report:

Fabric Added This Week: 12.00 yards

Fabric Added to Date: 12.0 yards
Fabric Used This Week: 11.75 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 38.50 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2012: 26.50 yard

UFOs Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 2
UFOs Still to Do: ??? (I really should make a list, but that would only upset me!)
New Quilts Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound):
Quilts Ready to be Quilted and Bound: 12
Quilts Quilted and Ready to be Bound: 2

Check out what other quilters are doing with their stash by going to Judy L's Patchwork Times.

Third Place-Not Too Shabby!

Remember this post, when I said I was entering the Iron Quilter Contest put on by the Missouri Star Quilt Company? Well, they announced the winners this week and I won third place!! YEAH!!

Here's the quilt I entered.  According to the rules, we had to use at least one charm pack of Summer Breeze by Sentimental Studios for Moda Fabrics and anything else we wanted. For my quilt top, which measures 43" x 53", I used two charm packs and 1 3/4 yards of Kona Snow. That's it because I wanted simplicity. As soon as I saw the fabric, I knew I wanted to make this block because it reminded me of a trellis, but I was playing around with different layouts and border options. When I figured out a way to make the center blocks and the pinwheel border blocks at virtually the same time and with very little waste, I knew that's what I wanted to do. I really like how this turned out and I plan on tweaking it a bit and make another quilt, only larger. 

Here's a link to the top ten quilts. And here's a link to all the entries. There are some amazingly talented quilters out there!

Shot, I now have even more quilts to add to my "To Do" list!

Moving Right Along...

I'm still on the right track with gettin stuff done here. I finished the pumpkin wall hanging. It's all quilted and bound!

I had to do a little playing around with the backing fabric because the fabric I wanted to use was not cut straight and was a bit short in a couple of palces. Now I could have changed fabric, but I really wanted to use this one. It was a black and orange check that I don't know when or why I got it. I also knew that I probably wouldn't use it for anything other than a backing so this worked, almost. At most, I was only about 3/4 of an inch short (before quilting) and I really didn't want to piece a different backing. So, I decided to go ahead and quilt it and make a wide binding to flip around back and cover the problem area. Here are some pictures.

Here's what it looks like from the front. It's done and I'm happy, even though this is a crappy picture!

 

Twister Cats

It's done and I love the binding with just splashes of color! It's easier to see if you click on the picture and look at it when it's a bit larger.

After I finished this, I quilted the pumpkin wallhanging top I made right before Halloween. It's ready to have the binding attached and I hope to do that today. Again, it's small, 36" x 36" but done is done, right? Come back here tomorrow to see the finished product.  :-)