Finishes and a Quilty Goal

I've got TWO finishes to share this week!  Whoop!  And a new quilty goal for 2017.

First up is my 2016 Stash Bee quilt.  I asked my beemates to make a spool block for me with a mix of strings and novelty fabric.  They did an AMAZING job.  They shared some precious fabrics and went above and beyond even sending me extra blcoks.  This menat that I was able to make a HUGE quilt.  so big that I cannot get the whole thing in a single shot without my trusty quilt holders.  LOL!

So.. Much.  Fun.

And the quilting is perfect!  I wanted quilting that looked like spilled thread unspooling all over.  Nailed it!  Thank you Cyndi!

And it is LABELED!  Which means it is really, really done.

This leads me to my 2017 quilty goal.  LABEL ALL THE QUILTS!

My goal this year is to label every new quilt I make and to go back and add labels to all of my old quilts.  Some will be fancy and some will just be a signature right on the quilt.  Excited to get started on that.

My second finish is this cute little scrappy quilt called Sweet Love.

Perfect for Valentine's Day!  It was a great way to use some stash.  I picked purply-pinks for crosses and for the bsackground a white with tiny gold pluses.  Love it!
 

 And I had yards of this simply perfect Heather Ross fabric for the backing.

And some more labels ...

 

 And one with a funny story..

So, one of my very first quilts, the one I consider to be my first REAL quilt, with an intricate pattern and small pieces was made for my husband.  I even hand quilted the whole thing with tiny stitches.  I was very proud of that quilt and he loved it.  BUT, he has also always called it his "kneecap quilt" because it is quite small.  LOL! He has given me quite a hard time over the years about some of the giant quilts I've made and compared them to the tiny quilt that is his.  So, this year I made a quilt just for him and this was the label.  He laughed AND he got a little teary eyed.  It was a success.  And that cemented my desire to LABEL ALL THE QUILTS.  Because they really do all have a story.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Hive Crashing

Since I had pulled a bunch of fabric inspiration for my Stash Bee blocks already, and the fabric was just staring at me, I decided to go ahead and whip up a few more blocks.  LOVE them!!

I'm loving this color palette!!

And then I decided to crash a few of the other hives.

Diana chose a purple and grey disappearing 4 patch which was super quick and easy.  And Cyndi picked a simple heart block in red.  Both came together very quickly.

And then I saw Stephanie's pick.  It is a fantastic scrap block!!  And since I am always looking for a great scrap quilt, I knew that I had to give it a try!  I just love it, and have decided to use this as a leaders and enders quilt for the year. 

My basket of 2 1/2 inch scrappy strips is always growing and this will be a great way to try and tame it!!  Just look at this overflowing basket...

I plan to just keep a stack of 2 1/2 inch squares next to the machine and sew them into pairs between other projects.  In no time at all this basket should make a pretty little quilt.  :)

Thanks for the inspiration Stephanie!

Tracy

Stash Bee

Happy New Year!

Lucky me, I get to start the year as Queen Bee for my Hive in the Stash Bee.  Which means that I get to pick the block.  Yay!!

Here is my write up for our Hive:


I am so in love with my quilt from last year's Bee,  (It is at the long-armers now, so I will be able to share it soon), that I wanted to pick something for this year that would be just as special. I love taking traditional blocks and playing around with them, and I LOVE scrap quilts!

So, I started out with a traditional bear paw block.

Then decided to take out the sashing.

Then tried flipping the paws around.

Then I thought that if I was going to break it apart, it should be scrappy, of course!

Winner! Winner!

To make things easier on you, I am going to have you make all 4 quadrants in the same fabrics just like I did, but ask you NOT to sew them together.  That way I can mix them all up when they get here and make it super scrappy!

Now on to colors!

I have chosen a color palette based on that gorgeous Les Fleurs fabric.  So dreamy.

Navy, shades of cornflower blue, shades of peachy pink and a hint of gold.
Here are some thread colors to help.

And a few bolts I pulled as examples. As far as fabric, pretty much anything is fair game.  I love dots, plaids, stripes, florals and even novelty - just no batiks please.

Now on to the tutorial:

You will need 3 different fabrics.

From fabric 1 - cut (4) 5 1/2 inch blocks
From fabric 2 - cut (8) 3 1/2 inch blocks
From fabric 3 - cut (8) 3 1/2 inch blocks and
                          cut (4) 3 inch block

Choose the lighter set of your 3 1/2 inch blocks and draw a diagonal line on the back of each.

Pair them up with the darker set, right sides together and sew 1/4 inch on each side of your drawn lines.

Cut on the drawn lines and press to the darker side.  You should have 16 HSTs.  Trim to 3 inches.

Lay out your 4 quadrants as shown. I stack them together so that I can chain piece.

Sew together.

Easy Peasy!!
You should have (4) 8" square sections.  Remember you do NOT need to sew them together.  That way, I can play around with the settings and mix them all up.

I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!
Tracy

April Stash Bee Fun

Helen over at midgetemquilts.blogspot.com is queen bee this month in our stashbee hive.  And she has requested the cutest little scrappy cross quilts in red.  I whipped these 2 up in no time!

I love scrappy and low volume, so this little gem of an idea will be going in my "someday" pile.  I may even whip up a few more before I get these shipped off to her.

I heard all about Stash Bee last year from my friend and owner of our LQS where I work.  She had such a good experience last year that we all signed up to join this year.  And we ALL made it in! So now, if I see a cute block in one of their hives, I make one for them as well.  They are mailing their own blocks anyway right? :)

Here are a few more that will be heading out across the quilty world.

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