Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Pining To Sew

I have a slight pineapple obsession and a huge love for Tula Pink so obviously I was going to buy the Pining for You kit that came out with Daydreamer.  I'm not usually one for kits but with all the transitions happening in my life this was the perfect project for grab and go.  I don't have access to my stash right now so having all the fabrics I needed pre-assembled made this feasible though with 50 different fabrics I might have underestimated.  

The blocks are just challenging enough to be interesting but go together quickly and easily.  They are also fairly basic without a lot of points to match.  I did find it best to press the snowball blocks toward the center rectangle and the crown strips towards the triangles.  That way the seams would nest when I sewed them together.  I also found it useful to square up the snowball blocks and the top flying geese crown block.  Doing that made my borders line up best.  There are definitely a few wonky crowns but in the spirit of going with the flow I decided I could live with that.

I did them in sets of 4 as the pattern is laid out.  I could do a set in about 3 hours which is a reasonable block of sewing time to carve out in a day.

It was definitely an adjustment setting up a workspace at our home in Maine.  I was really missing my studio but I made it work and was able to get all of the blocks made before we left for the season.  

Once we got settled again I squared up all my blocks and got to sewing them together.  Buying a 15 1/2" square ruler definitely made the process easier.

And in almost no time I had a finished flimsy.  I decided to make it a little bigger and added a border so it should fit on a king sized bed.  Now to figure out how to get this quilted so I can put it in action.  



Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Preppy Forever

I haven't made a quilt in forever but friends of ours from the sailing club are having a baby and I couldn't resist making something special for them.  I was looking for something quick and easy that I could pull together in my makeshift studio with the limited supply of fabrics I had on hand.  This one was so good the first time I decided to do it again.

I changed it up a bit this time and made the stripes 8 1/2" wide but otherwise it's the same construction as Murray.  The backing is a plaid seersucker I had in my stash and it gives this quilt such a fun texture and makes it a feel a bit more nautical.  It quilted up nicely so I'll definitely be checking my stack of seersuckers when pulling backings.  

He's just so adorable and the 12 wt. Aurifil really makes the quilting pop.

He made quite a splash at the baby shower.  We can't wait to meet our newest little sailor!

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 42" x 56"
Pattern: Based on Preppy the Whale by the fabulous Elizabeth Hartman.
Fabrics: FSDS Winter White and Navy.  
Backing and Binding: Red, white and blue plaid from stash.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Cotton
Thread: Aurifil  50wt and 12wt in White (2024) and Midnight (2745)