January in Review

It has been a good quilty month!!

I finished a UFO and got it on a bed.  I pieced this string quilt at the end of 2014/beginning of 2015.  My aunt quilted it on her long arm last spring and sadly it has sat just needing the binding since then.  But now the binding is on and it is covering son #2.  All o f those seams and that extra layer of foundation muslin makes it a very heavy and warm quilt, perfect for winter.

Here are 3 more quilts with the bindings sewn on, just ready to be hand sewn down.  One has been quilted since last year, one I quilted myself on my machine and one I just got back from The Dancing Bobbin, our LQS.  Hopefully these will be done by the end of February.

I got 3 more quilt tops prepped and ready for the quilter.  Backs are sewn together and batting is cut.

My January comfort quilt is finished and turned in.  I used some layer cake scraps and practiced my machine stitching.  I am still very new to machine quilting and my machine throat is pretty small, so I am very happy with how it turned out.

I finished up 2 more quilt tops.

And started 2 of the scrap quilts that I have on my list for this year.

A scrappy bear paw:

And a Polaroid quilt:

I've had a lot of fun this month and feel really good about moving some of these projects along.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Feeling Blue

One of my quilty resolutions this year is to make a scrappy quilt a month, or 12 scrap quilts this year.  This is a huge resolution, I know, but I have a lot of scraps to use up.  And really scrap quilts are my favorite!

Well, Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge is perfect for this.  She picks a color every month for us to focus on.  January's color is blue.  I had 4 different scrap quilts floating around in my head that were just perfect for this challenge.  Focusing on just one color a month means that I am just doing a few blocks a month and by the end of the year I will have 4 whole quilts ready to put together.  Perfect!

Here are the blocks I came with....

Some scrappy log cabins.  I've made a quilt like this before and just LOVE it.  Since, I always have scraps of 2 1/2 inch strips, this may just be a quilt I make every year.

These bamboo looking blocks have been on my to-do list for a LONG time, ever since I saw Amanda's version over at Crazy Mom Quilts.  This is a perfect way to use up those tiny little crumbs. 

Wonky Stars using "made-fabric".  I can't throw ANYTHING away.  Sometimes when I just need some mindless sewing, I sit and sew tiny little scraps together and make slabs of fabric that I can then cut up and use however I want.  These stars just show off all that fun scrappiness.

And finally, these flying geese from The Best of Quilty.  They have been calling my name.

I am excited to be able to spend a little time with these blocks each month.  What color will February bring?

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

Another Candy Coated Quilt

Inspiration can come from anywhere.  Patterns and fabric are always dancing in my head, but sometimes just a photo can make you want to start cutting up fabric.  That is exactly what happened when I saw this photo of a vintage tablecloth on Instagram.

 Those colors!!  Something about it just sang to me.  I decided to raid my scraps and pull all my strings and scraps in this color scheme (burnt orange, gold, avocado and aqua).  I knew instantly that I wanted to do another Candy Coated quilt from Sunday Morning Quilts.

One of my favorite quilty books is Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg  of crazymomquilts.com and Cheryl Arkison of naptimequilter.blogspot.com .  They are scrappy and fun! Which is perfect for me because my scrap bins are always running over.

Here is the result:

I just love it!!  And it is a great size at 72x95.

I thought I might have to buy a few pieces to add to it, because I wasn't sure that I would have enough of these colors in my stash.  But I had plenty, so this is all from my stash.  Woo Hoo!!

Such a great and quick quilt to satisfy my need to play with colors.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Lolly Quilt

A finish, a finish!

This was such a quick and easy quilt to make.  Very gratifying.  :)

I started with a layer cake of Tula Pink's Elizabeth and then added some extra strips to make it bigger. It was quilted at my LQS and bound over the last 2 days.  Woo Hoo!  My first complete quilt of the year!!

How amazing are these colors!!

 It is backed with a fushia and black print from the Elizabeth line.

 It is now hanging out at the LQS where I work.  Yay!

Thanks for Stopping by!!

Tracy

January Stash Bee

This year I signed up for and was accepted into the Stash Bee, and I could not be more excited! I'm excited to meet more quilters and try some new blocks and of course have my own  quilt made with the help of all these lovely new friends!!

This month's queen bee chose the Union Jack block.  I have been admiring the Union Jack blocks for quite a while and had them on my "someday" list as they looked a bit intimidating.  They were MUCH easier than I thought they would be and I'm so glad that Sylvia asked for them!

Here is what I came up with:

Sylvia mentioned that she would love some "sciency" material and I thought this green fabric looked like atoms.  I hope she likes it. 

I am thinking it would be fun to make a copy of each month's block to keep for myself to include in a sampler quilt.  I just have to decide on a color scheme.  Maybe DS fabrics...I have been hording some for a while.  Hmm....

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

2016 - A Scraptastic New Year!

Happy New Year!

We had a very busy November and December with travel and company and work, so I had to put a lot of my fun sewing aside for a while.  But our company left on Sunday and I spent the next few days finishing up a few quilt alongs between cleaning and hanging with my boys.  I was able to squeeze in 3 finished tops before the end of 2015.  Woo hoo!!

Farm Girl Vintage:

I had all of the blocks for this quilt completed, I just needed to sash them and get them together.

Star Block of the Month:

For this one, I just had to complete my 2 December blocks, put them together, and add a small border.

Fat Quarter Shop's Snapshots Quilt A Long:

I had to finish the November and December blocks and finish the sashing.

Done! Done! And done!

I can't believe that I finished all 3 by the end of the year!  It feels great!  Now to get them quilted by the end of 2016.

Now, on to my goals for the new year.  They are lofty, but maybe if I set a lot of goals, I will achieve a lot of goals.  Right?

1. First, I really want to work on finishing all of those quilts that just need binding.  I have about 6.  That is so sad to be so close and not completed.

2. Get my quilt tops quilted!!!  I have so many just piled up waiting to be quilts.  Forever, the problem was that I wanted to hand quilt all of them.  And that just isn't going to happen.  So this last year, I really let go and accepted machine quilting.  I have been won over.  I still love hand quilting, but I can really appreciate machine quilting too!  Especially how quickly it turns those tops into a finished project.

3. This is the year of the scraps!  I LOVE scraps! This year I am challenging myself to make a scrap quilt every month.  This may not be realistic, but a girl can dream. Some of the quilts I'd like to make:

     * 9-patch  (This one was started a LONG time ago, maybe even 15 years)  It is time to get this one done and finished.

     * Made-fabric Wonky Star

     * Scrap Vortex

     * Scrappy Bear Paw

     * Gypsy Wife all from scraps

     * Finish the string quilts I started

     * Polaroid quilt

     * Another Candy Coated quilt in orange, gold, avocado and aqua

4. I'd like to continue my goal of making and donating 1 comfort quilt each month.

5. Finish what I've started:

     * 2015 Row x Row

     * Log Cabin Swap

     * Farmer's Wife quilt

6. And of course I have a list of new quilts that I want to dive into:

     * Harry Potter Quilt

     * Dr. Who

     * Tiger Lily

     * Navy and Pink triangles

     * Farm Girl Cherries

     * Pineapple quilt

     * Legendary

     * Fair Isle

     * Cotton and Steel Christmas quilt

     * Scrappy Trees

     * Valentine Patchwork

     * Scrappy Hearts

     * Linen Plus quilt

     *Winterberry quilt for mom

     * Barns for Aunt

     * Lion quilt

And of course there will be new fabrics and patterns for inspiration to look forward to.

I know that these will not all be completed, but it is fun to dream and try.

Happy New Year and thanks for stopping by!!

Tracy