White, glorious white!

I've got two more finished tops to share today!

I love using white in my quilts, it just makes the fabrics pop.  It looks so clean and fresh.  I got tired of constantly running out to buy more white, so I just started buying it by the bolt.  It is so nice to always have my white waiting for me.  But then sometime in November I ran out, and the business of the holidays got in the way and my projects got pushed aside.

New year, new bolt and Ta-Da!  Two more quilt tops done!

First up is this beauty.
I used Sherri McConnell's pattern Stars Over Iowa, from her book Fresh Family Traditions.

 I had been hoarding some pretty Heather Ross fabrics and just knew this would be the perfect way to highlight all the cuteness.  I added in a few more sweet pieces that I had and Voila!

 Unicorns, strawberries, bees, horses,

 mermaids, princesses, frogs... Could anything be better?

Looking at this quilt, you would think that I had a sweet little girl in mind as I made this.  You would be wrong.  I have 3 boys.  This quilt is for the little girl in me.  It makes me smile.

Next up, Miss Kate.

I originally intended for this quilt to be 10 x 10 blocks, but I like symmetry and wasn't happy with the 10 x 10 layout.  I made it 9 x 9 and felt much better.  So it is a little smaller than I originally intended but still pretty big at about 90 x 90.  AND, now I have extra 16 patches to add to the back of the quilt.  

 I.  Love.  This.  Fabric.
I Love red and aqua together - so bright and cheerful.  And this pattern is so fun.  I love how the 16 patches just float above that background pattern of squares!

I based this quilt on the Sunny Skies quilt over at Missouri Star.  I made some changes to how I made the white and aqua squares as you can see.  Instead of doing the easy corner triangles on two rectangular pieces like Jenny does, I made four half square triangles using the no waste method.  I like to use every piece of my precious fabric.  :)

I could just stare at this border fabric all day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Tone It Down - Finished!

I am on a role this month! I had so many "almost finished" projects that had to go on hold before Christmas in order for me to finish up Christmas gifts.  Now it seems like I am just whipping them out!  Such a great feeling.

Last year, I saw this quilt on allpeoplequilt.com and fell in love!  I love all things scrappy and knew instantly that I would be making it.  The top actually came together pretty quickly (maybe because I was obsessed with it).  But then sadly, it was added to the pile of quilt tops to one day be quilted.  It really is shameful how many beautiful tops I have just sitting and waiting to become a quilt.  So, a few weeks before Christmas as I was working all hours to try and finish up two hand quilted quilts (for my youngest son and my aunt), I decided to send 2 of my quilt tops to a dear friend who has started a long arm business.  How fun to get this back in the mail within a couple of weeks! I finished the binding last night and within minutes I found a boy wrapped in it on the couch doing homework.  Yay!!!

Here it is... my version of Tone It Down.

 I love that up close you can see all the fun little prints, but step back and you can see this great all over design.

 My sweet friend Shirley quilted an all over floral design that left the quilt nice and soft.

 It is backed with a sweet Gracie Girl print from Lori Holt.  I love the little telephones and the colors were just perfect.

Yay for another finish!

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

Colin's Quilt - Done!

Another finish!

   Almost a year ago, my youngest asked for a new quilt for his bed.  His only direction was that he wanted it to be blue (to match his walls) and green (his favorite color). After showing him a few patterns, he picked the pinwheel.  Together we dug through my stash and pulled some fabrics to start with, and then we headed to the LQS where I let him pick out a few more.

 I finished the top pretty quickly, but since this was for my baby it had to be hand quilted.  So....it took a while.  Other projects got in the way.  Christmas gifts got in the way.  But now it is done.  Hand quilted, bond and on his bed!

 Aren't these fabrics so cute?  He loves Converse sneakers - wears them everyday - so of course that had to be added.

He picked a blue batik for the back.  Darker than I usually pick for a backing, but boy does the stitching show up.

Thanks for stopping by!
Tracy

From Pinterest to Reality

If you are like me, your Pinterest boards are packed with ideas and "to do" lists. If only I could figure out a way to inject more time into each day!  But here is an actual Pinterest idea that made its way to reality...

 I love scrap quilts, and I especially love the way the white diamond in this quilt frames all of the chaos and gives your eyes a place to rest. 

It all started with this quilt I found through Pinterest.
Potluck

I fell in love with it immediately, AND it was named Potluck, AND I had 2 charm packs by the same name just sitting in my stash begging to be made into something lovely.  So, it had to be done.  Of course I had to add A LOT more fabric to make this quilt complete.  But, the charm packs were a great start.  Just look at all of the fun fabrics.... rulers, strawberries, cherries and chickens.  Squeal.

Since this was made with 5 inch squares it finished quite large, just the way I like it.  I measures approximately 85 x 95 inches right now.

Now I just have to figure out how to quilt it.  Hmmm....

First Finish of 2015

Technically, this should have been my last finish of 2014.  It was meant to be a Christmas gift.  Life got in the way, as it often does.  But what a fun surprise it will be for my aunt!  I still plan on wrapping it up in Christmas paper and sending it her way.  She doesn't know it is coming.  :)

 This quilt actually started about 8 years ago when I made a quilt for my new baby goddaughter.  I wanted to make something light and beachy.  I liked the little baby quilt so much I decided I would make another larger one for myself.  We would match!

 I cut enough squares to make a twin sized quilt and put them in a ziploc bag to get to later. As it turns out, MUCH later.  I finally pulled them back out this fall and decided that it would become a queen sized quilt for my aunt.  I added a few more fabrics to make it big enough and got to work.

 The pattern is simple and went together quickly, but of course it had to be hand quilted which takes time.  Not something I always have a lot of with 3 boys running around.

But it is done, and I love it.  I feels so soft!

Quilt facts:
It finished at 81 x 95 inches.
It is hand quilted 1/4 inch inside each triangle and in lines around the border.
The binding is scrappy perfection.

Thanks for visiting!!