Sloops

I'm so excited to finally share my Sloops quilt.  I pieced this back in 2015 and then quilted it this spring as part of my whirlwind wrap up before Laurena sold her longarm rental business but I kept waiting and waiting to visit the perfect waterfront local for my photoshoot.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching I dragged it along on this year's Camp Stitchuate trip and finally got my pics.  I wanted everything to be perfect so in the magic hour before sunset we took a break from sewing and headed down to the lighthouse.  Don't be fooled by those laughing faces, it was bitterly cold and windy and this quilt is huge so wrestling it into submission was a challenge.  I have the most amazing friends!!!

The unequal borders look a bit strange when you see this hanging but unlike most of my quilts this one was actually designed to go on a bed.  It works perfectly with Dex's bed with plenty of length for a pillow tuck and to cover the bed frame.

And you know how I love a striped binding!

Ready to sail off into the sunset with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 88" x 92"
Pattern: Sloops by Frivolous Necessity.
Fabrics: Boat House by Sweetwater for Moda.  Kona Snow.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: Superior Threads King Tut in Papyrus (972).
Quilting: Serpentine by Anita Shackelford.

Pillow Party

I scored a quilting hat trick this week and finished up all 3 of my Boat House pillows.  I'm obsessed with this collection and want to use up every last little bit!

First up is Save Me...  a sized down version of Thimble Blossoms' Cheerios pattern.

This one is Dex's Monogram, DSG, in nautical flags.  I swapped the aqua for yellow.

And I couldn't resist making one more Preppy the Whale...  I love this guy so much!!!

Eventually they'll end up back in Dex's room when I finish my Sloops quilt but for now they're bringing some nautical flair to our mudroom:-)  I've still got some left so there may be more to come...  something with bunting perhaps?

Joining the fun this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Cheerios Pillow:
Finished pillow is 20" x 20"
Pattern:  Cheerios by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms.
Fabrics: Boat House by Sweetwater for Moda, Kona Snow.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Natural White (2021).

Nauti Monogram Pillow:
Finished pillow is 14" x 28"
Fabrics: Boat House by Sweetwater for Moda, Kona Snow.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Natural White (2021).

Preppy the Whale Pillow:
Finished pillow is 12" x 16"
Pattern:  Preppy the Whale by Elizabeth Hartman.
Fabrics: Boat House by Sweetwater for Moda, Kona Snow.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Natural White (2021).

W.i.P. Wednesday: Finding my Sewjo

I finally made it back in to my studio.  It's always an adjustment after the rush of holiday sewing and being away and this year it's taking me a while to find my sewjo.  To kick things off I decided I should finish up these Boat House pillow covers I made with leftovers from my Sloops quilt.

To ease my way back into quilting I used the Bernina wavy stitch (#4) to quilt the Nauti Monogram. It takes some adjustment to get the tension right but once I had it set I could just blissfully stitch away and catch up on a few episodes of Bloodlines and pretend I'm still in the Keys.

For the Cheerios pillow I decided to push my FMQ skills.  Inspired by all the gorgeous ocean shots of home and the suggestions of my peanut gallery I started by doing bubble quilting in the centers of each ring.

In the intersections I really pushed myself with starfish.  They're not great but from a distance they look OK.

Finally for the outer border I used this Twisted Rope tutorial.  I need to work on getting my spacing consistent but I'm happy enough with the results.  I can almost feel those tropical breezes;-)  Have you found your 2016 quilting groove?

Stitching it up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

W.i.P. Wednesday: Gone Overboard

I seem to have to have gone totally overboard for these Sweetwater Boat House fabrics.  After finishing up my Sloops flimsy I still had a pretty good sized pile of scraps and I couldn't cast away.

One downside of layer cakes is none of the pieces are bigger than 10" so I've had to get creative with the designs.

This pillow is a sized down version of Camille Roskelley's Cheerio pattern.  I added some sashing between the blocks to give it a bit of breathing room.  I love the way the circles look like life rings.

I've been playing with nautical flags for awhile and have been meaning to make monogram pillow.  For this one I swapped the yellows for aqua and spelled out Dex's initals, DSG.  Since the middle S was white on the outside I added the thin red border to define each flag.

And I had an extra sailboat block that is working it's way in to a wall hanging...  who know what else I'll come up with:-)

Sailing along with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

Fleet Week

The fleet has landed!  I had some very minor surgery this week and while the actual procedure was a total peel me off the ceiling horror show the recovery has actually been a breeze.  And so, my carefully blocked out convalescence turned into a sewing marathon.  For two blissful days (I did get some really awesome happy pills!) I had nothing to do but sew up sailboat blocks and binge watch Gilmore Girls.

Once I figured out the cutting plan putting these blocks together was a breeze...  And ripping out all that paper was very therapeutic:-)

The setting was what originally drew me to this design.  I love the way the boats nest together and create a wavy look.  Words can't describe how much I love this one, and that's not just the happy pills talking;-)

Now that I've added the borders it's huge but I wanted it to fit on Dex's bed.  That's what I get for giving my kids queen sized beds:-)  This one is definitely too big to quilt on my Bernina so I really need to get some longarm time scheduled.  My TBQ pile is running over!

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

W.i.P. Wednesday: Setting Sail

One of my goals for this year was to use up all the precut collections I've got hanging around in my studio.  While I like them in concept I find them really hard to work with.  Still I couldn't resist this Boat House collection by Sweetwater and when I stumbled across this Sloops pattern on Pinterest I knew it was meant to be.

While this pattern is layer cake friendly the instructions are not.  There are also no cutting instructions included for the blocks.  I'm really glad I took the time to make a test block to verify my cutting plan before I started chopping up my layer cake.  Here are my suggestions if you decide to make this quilt for yourself.

From your background fabric cut 39 of the following:

   Piece 3 - 6 1/2" x 5 1/2"
   Piece 5 - 1 1/2" x 4 1/2"
   Piece 8 - 8 1/4" x 5 1/4"
   Pieces 10 & 11 - 4" x 2 1/2" (for a total of 78)

From you layer cake cut 39 of the following: (I did these in stacks of 5)
   Piece 9 - 2 3/4" x 10"
   Piece 6 - 7 1/4" x 1"
   Piece 7 - 7 1/4" x 4 1/2"

For your first block you will also need to cut 1:
   Piece 1 - 3" x 2" from print
   Piece 4 - 5 1/2" x 3" from a different print
   Piece 2- 2 1/2" x 4" from background

You don't need to cut all 39 of these pieces because you will be able to use trimmings from your blocks for these pieces.

When you trim after adding piece 5 you will be left with a triangle that is perfect for future flags.

Also, the piece remaining after you trim piece 8 is exactly the right size for another smaller flag 4.

Finally, when you trim your final block you will be left with background triangles that will fit in piece 2.  I do find pieces 2 and 3 to be the most awkward to sew.  Once you get past those the block is a breeze.

I have to admit I'm not usually a fan of the revolving rotary mat but for squaring up these blocks it's a life saver!

I'm making progress but the depressing thing about paper piecing is once you've done a few you have a pretty good idea how long it takes to make each block.  These average about 30 minutes a piece so I'm looking at 15 more hours of sailboat construction.  I see a movie marathon in my future:-)

Better late than never, linking up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)