Twofer

I busted my first UFO of the year!!!  I put together this top last winter during my plus quilt phase.  Most of the fabrics are what was left of a Rouenneries Deux jelly roll with some scraps thrown in for good measure.

My original plan was for crosshatching but once I finished the first side I decided I was done happy with it.  It's a more modern ascetic;-)  Jacquie Gering has some great tips for straight-line quilting on her blog.  It was too cold for a trip to the hardware store for 1 1/2" wide tape but next time I go I'm going to stock up...  only marking every other row would definitely speed up the process!

I used 28wt. Aurifil thread to make the the straight line quilting a bit bolder.  I love the extra texture it adds to the simple design.

I was a little discouraged with this one after my binding debacle but look how perfectly these stripes lined up on the back!

I got a bit distracted while I was trying to finish this and ended up also making a pillow cover with the last of my French General scraps.  And now I have two for the price of one;-)

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts and another check off my list for the 2015 Finish Along with On the Windy Side.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 46" x 46"
Fabrics: Rouenneries & Rouenneries Deux by French General.  Assorted scraps.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 28 wt. (grey spool) Aurifil in Light Beige (2310).

Little General Pillow Cover

I added this pillow to my French General collection this week.  I was supposed to be finishing my Plus One quilt but got a bit distracted by the last of my Rouenneries scraps...

I'm really happy with my first attempt at orange peel quilting.  It's a fun design and definitely kicks it up a notch from just quilting the grid.

I wasn't willing to brave the cold to get a zipper for the closure so I just did an envelope back.  The flange to match the piping looks like a design decision but was really because I didn't have quite enough fabric:-)

With more cold and snow in the forecast I should have plenty of time to finish up Plus One also...  unless I think of something else to do.

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

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow cover is 21" x 21"
Fabrics: Rouenneries & Rouenneries Deux by French General.  Essex Yarn Dyed in Flax.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Ermine (2312).

W.i.P. Wednesday: Quilting ADD

It's been really cold here in New England this week so I've been spending a lot of time in my studio where I can crank the heat up and pretend I'm still on vacation:-)  I went on a basting kick and basted 3 quilts so there should be a lot of quilting going on... but instead I got distracted:-)  It all started when I finally pieced together a back and basted this Plus One flimsy I made last winter.

It was sitting with the very last of my French General scraps and I started thinking how nice it would be to have a pillow to go with all the rest of my Rouenneries decor...  next thing I knew I'd pieced together this top.

It was really just an excuse to try my hand at Orange Peel quilting.  I did mine as a serpentine similar to this technique by I'm a Ginger Monkey but I found it easier to use my free motion foot rather than my walking foot.

Some of my circles are better than others;-)  Every time I think I'm in the groove I hit a seam and it throws me off.  Next time I'll try Oh, Fransson!'s approach and see if I get better results.

Now to make a back and add the binding and I'll be ready for tonight's Hand Sewing Happy Hour at Quilter's Way:-)

Still sewing with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

Plus One

I couldn't resist one last French General project!!!  This was what was left on my design wall after I made Add It Up.  I loved the negative space and decided I had one more Rouenneries quilt left in me:-)

This was actually a bit harder to construct .  The "easy" approach is just to make 2 1/2" blocks with the background fabric and sew everything together that way.  I didn't want to do that so there was math involved to calculate the size of the background pieces.  It worked out pretty well and I only had to do one partial seam to get it all together.

And now I can add this to my "to be quilted" pile:-)

As promised, the rest is up for grabs.  Get your French General fix here...  There's about 5 yards yardage plus scraps, leftover jellyroll and honeybun strips and more.  Leave me a comment on this post by midnight Sunday, February 16th and I'll pick a winner on Monday.

Check out who else is sewing at this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

Add It Up

To kick off my Use It or Lose It campaign to tame my stash of pre-cuts I started with one of my all time favorite collections, Rouenneries by French General.  It coordinates perfectly with my decor so I already have a quilt, table topper and a set napkins so this time I went for a wall hanging.

I used a mash up of these awesome tutorials by In Color Order and For the Love of George and then adapted them to use a jellyroll.  For each cross I cut 2, 2 1/2" squares and a 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" strip and arranged them according to the diagram.  Once it's all laid out it's easy enough to sew together the rows.

For the quilting I outlined each cross.  It was a little tedious with all the starts and stops and turning but I like the finished effect.  I used Aurifil grey spool/28 wt to give the quilting a little extra definition.

I pushed myself to get it quilted and get the binding on so I'd have some handwork for the Patriot's playoff game last Sunday.  It helps to keep my hands busy sewing rather than snacking;-)

I'm still playing with my scraps but anything not sewn together at the end of the month is up for grabs.  Come back next week for a giveway of all my French General leftovers!

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

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 26" x 26"
Fabrics: Rouenneries Deux by French General for Moda, stash
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread: Aruifil 2310 28wt (grey spool)

Use It Or Lose It!

I know you'll understand if I admit to being a bit of a fabric addict and confess that my fabric stash is taking over my sewing studio...  and don't even get me started on my pre-cut problem.  They're just so cute and fun!  What could be better than having a ready to use piece of every fabric in a collection?

The problem is there's never enough of what you need and it all looks to matchy-matchy using just a single collection.  I never end up actually using them so I've come up with a plan...

Use It or Lose It: each month I'm going to choose a collection to use and anything left at the end of the month is going in a box for a giveaway.  To kick things off I chopped up this Rouenneries Deux jellyroll for a plus quilt.  I love this collection and it goes really well in my house but I need to move on:-)

Stay tuned and spread the word to any French General lovers, in early February I'll hold a giveaway for all my leftovers, including yardage.  How are you taming your stash this year?

Rouenneries Table Topper

The weather in Maine wasn't quite as nice as promised this weekend which gave me a chance to catch up on some quilting.  I finally finished this table topper.  One of my very first posts back in 2010 mentioned that I wanted this done in time for Thanksgiving...  I finished the matching napkins last year so I am way ahead of the game for this year;-)

The rail fence blocks are leftovers from my Rouenneries Rail Fence quilt.  This originally had another outer border that matched the center square but I was getting bored with this and really just wanted it to be done...  we'll call that a design decision:-)

The quilting is based on Angela's fabulous paisley pattern but rather than using it as a fill I let the petals meandered back and forth for a free-form feather effect.  I really like the way it uses the space without being too dense.

Quilt Stats:

Finished quilt is 29" x 29".

Fabrics:  Rouenneries by French General, Wiscasset by Minick & Simpson.
Batting:  Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread:  King Tut Fig 968
Quilting:  Paisley from Angela Walters fabulous book Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters

Nick of time?

Maybe you remember last Thanksgiving when I made this incomplete set of Rouenneries napkins.  Yesterday, when I started setting my holiday table, I realized I still hadn't made the final 4.  I'd cut the linen squares and made the binding but never got around to sewing it on.  Two episodes of Revenge later and I have a full set.  They're still just as annoying to make but they do look pretty.

Unfortunately, quilting the matching table square is probably going to have to wait another year: )

Happy Thanksgiving!

Incomplete

Well my goal for Thanksgiving was to make 8 napkins and a table topper to match my Rouenneries quilt.  It seemed like a reasonable goal but I only managed to get 4 napkins made.  I guess there's always next year: )  For these I used Essex Linen fat quarters with wide french-fold binding around the edges.  They're awfuly fiddly to make and each one took about an hour which seems like a lot of work for a napkin.  I think I'll prep the rest and sew them when I'm stuck on other projects.  No telling when I'll get the table topper quilted.

Building my street cred

So sure, I told you I'm an obsessive quilter but I really haven't done anything to prove it.  Exhibit French General:

Rouenneries Rail Fence made with a bunch of honey buns.  These aren't usually my quilting colors but this line goes with my house so I bought a ton of it.  See how perfectly it matches my couch: )  There's a table topper made with some leftovers waiting to be quilted and a plan for some matching napkins.  The goal is to get them done in time for Thanksgiving... you'll hold me to that, right?