Sunshine Roses

I finally got some sunshine for a quilt shoot.  It's finally starting to warm up in New England and I am so ready for summer.  This quilt makes it feel like it's already here:-)

 

Back in February I found a couple Sunshine Roses charm packs while cleaning up my quilt studio hoping for a bit of inspiration.  I turned them into pinwheels thinking maybe they'd be a shabby chic Valentine's quilt. Didn't happen and they disappeared back into the mess.

Then April rolled around and I found them again when I was working on my Q2 Finish Along list.  I threw them up on my design wall and played around with layouts until I found something I liked and got them stitched together.

It's kind of amazing that I got this basted and into the quilting queue so quickly but after a week of rainy days quilting this was the closest thing to sunshine I was going to get.  I did mark my lines in advance and used a variation of this tutorial by Petit Design Co. for orange peel quilting using my walking foot.  Pippin Sequim also has a fabulous orange peel tutorial you should check out.

I love the added dimension and texture it adds to the quilt!!!

And I'm still crushing on striped bindings:-)

Soaking up some sunshine with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts and a finish for Q2 of the 2016 Finish Along.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 46" x 46"
Fabrics: Sunshine Roses by Tanya Whelan, Shabby Chic White.  Binding: Wild Rose by Marti Michell for Maywood Studios.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Natural White (2021).

W.i.P. Wednesday: Time Keeps on Slippin', Slippin', Slippin'

Your earworm for the day:-)  I don't know why I always think I'm going to get things done during school vacation week.  Even though we didn't go away it was a busy week of camps, practices, and family outings so while my plans for a marathon long quilting day didn't materialize I did manage fit in a little bit of quilting each day...

And those bits do add up!  I finished all the spirals on my Spellbound quilt but then ran out of thread with 3 snowballs left to outline.  Here's the problem with using thread your LQS doesn't stock...  I was trying to use up some old King Tut variegated which none of my local shops carry so now this is back in the queue until I psych myself up for a trip to Portsmouth or I break down and order it online.

With that on hold I switched to this Heather Ross Mash Up.  Easy peasy straight line quilting along the grid lines and the binding was on ready for some family movie night time to get it tacked down.

And then I moved on to quilting Sunshine Roses.  I wanted to go with something curvy so I'm doing an orange peel design.  I decided to mark the arcs which probably takes just as long as quilting them but I love how it's coming out...  I still have my Briar Rose Stair Steps variation and Houndstooth quilts TBQ but after 3 in a row I think I'm going to give myself a break and switch gears.  I'm sure you've heard about the May is for Makers campaign.  I'm going to join the fun and support the community of independent designers by trying out a new indie pattern each week.  Following a pattern is not my strong suit so stay tuned and see how it goes.

W.i.P. Wednesday: Putting the Pieces Together

Putting together my list for Q2 of the 2016 Finish Along reminded me of these pinwheel blocks I made back in February.  I'm not one of those quilters who picks a pattern or completely draws out their quilt in advance...  coloring on graph paper, taking a picture of a block than using a collage builder to layout a design, following a pattern - all great ideas just not the way I work.

There's nothing revolutionary about a bunch of pinwheels so I just threw them up on my design wall...  simple and classic but a little small.

How about if I stagger them?  I like the diagonal lines that creates

Not enough white left for the alternate blocks though so how about a print?  Blech!!!

OK, what if we set the blocks on point?  With sashing? Cornerstones?

And so it goes until eventually I pick a winner and go with it.

With yet another finished flimsy I threw on my sweat pants for a basting day...  and now I've got a stack of quilts ready for a quilting marathon.  Hopefully I can go the distance and actually have a few finishes:-)

Are you a planner or does your design process grow more organically?

2016 Finish Along Q2: Hope Springs Eternal

It's hard to believe we're kicking off Q2 of 2016.  I didn't do too badly Q1...  I made My Special Snowflake with my Sherbet Pips hexies, made a Sew Together bag to coordinate with my Sewing Circle Tote and got Urban Window and Keeping it Together Again out of TBQ pile...  on the other hand there are still 7 quilts languishing in the TBQ queue with 2 new additions and I still haven't done anything with all those Bonnie & Camille charms.  Bust since hope springs eternal and I definitely do better with a list here goes the plan for Q2:

Tackle the TBQ tower:  1. Mash Up  2. Stair Steps  3. Sloops  

4. Spellbound  5. Houndstooth  6. Here Comes the Sun  

7. Toes In the Sand  8.  Swoon   9. Frenchie

I took this Going Coastal bundle on retreat but didn't get to it.  The plan is to make a Magic Numbers beach blanket.

I whipped up these pinwheels back in February when it seemed like summer would never arrive.  It's time to turn them into a quilt.

I'm also dying to break into this re-released Mendocino bundle.  I'm just waiting for my clamshell templates to arrive.  Nothing says summer like some mermaids and it would be the perfect justification for a beachy vacation/photo shoot;-)

It's a long shot but I finally got enough linen to make the background squares for my Blue Plate Special Dresdens.  It's pieced together so I just need to attach the Dresdens and quilt it.  I'm planning to hand quilt this one but with enough trips to Maine I may be able to get it done.

And then there's all that Bonnie & Camille.  I don't know why I'm so stuck by how to use this but if I keep talking about it eventually it'll happen, right?

Can you tell I'm dreaming of summer?  What are your plans for Spring?  Check out what everyone else will be working on for Q2 at the 2016 Finish-A-Long.

W.i.P. Wednesday: Keep on Keepin' On

Did you hear the news?  W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced is going on hiatus...  Thank you Lee for keeping me motivated!!!

It's been another week of jumping from project to project but this week I got smart and listed all my active WiPs one of of my whiteboard bubbles.  I'm such a sucker for a check mark:-)  It definitely helped me stay on track...

I've got the bindings on all my Boat House pillows so I just need to finish tacking them down and I'll have some finishes to share on Friday.

I also picked up some lime green thread at Quilter's Way so I can quilt this shrunken Houndstooth pillow cover.

And I finally managed to schedule some time at Laurena's Longarm Quilting.  I dug this one out of the UFO pile, a perfect practice piece to ease back into using the longarm!  The binding is on so I've got lots of TV time in my future.  Any recommendations?

Of course I couldn't resist starting something new...  I cleaned up my studio looking for inspiration and found 2 Tanya Whelan Sunshine Roses charm packs and turned them into pinwheels.  Perfect for a sweet little shabby chic Valentine's quilt.

There are still plenty of things on my to do list.  What are you working on this week?

Keeping the faith with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)