Finally finished Fig Tree Quilt

Fun Facts about my Figgy HST quilt:

Made with fabrics currated from these fabulous collections by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co.: Patisserie, Gypsy Rose, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Buttercup, Fresh Cottons, Strawberry Fields, and Butterscotch & Rose.  Cream solid from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

 Finished Size: 88"x96". This is the biggest quilt I've ever made and it will be a gift for my parents. 

That's 380" of hand tacked bias binding...

 and 408 4"finished half-square triangles.

It took 5 1/2 hours and 9 bobbins to quilt on the longarm at Laurena's.

In a bind

This week I've been making binding, by the mile!  Now I've got these sewn on to my quilts and I'm actually looking forward to the Super Bowl this year.  Not because the Patriots are playing, because it means I'll have 3 hours to snuggle up on the couch and tack down these binding: )  As an added bonus, keeping my hands busy sewing will keep me from stuffing my face with snacks. 

Finished quilts on the way, now that's something to cheer about!

Quilting the Beast

It takes a looong time to quilt a queen sized quilt, even on a longarm.  I spent all day quilting this at Laurena's but the sore muscles are definitely worth it.  I LOVE how this came out! 

I used a simple pantograph with tulips and leaves which had the airy look I was going for.  This was a much easier pattern than the spider web insanity I did on my last quilt but I had to do 12 rows of it and each one was taking me about 20 minutes.  It's fun for about the first 2 hours, then it just gets tedious... luckily Jack Johnson is my quilting buddy which helps the time pass more quickly;-)  Rainy day here in New England so it's perfect for making binding... all 400" of it!

Ready to quilt

I've been making even more HSTs, this time for the back of my Fig Tree quilt.  I finished the top back in August but couldn't muster up the motivation to piece the back.  This quilt is big, 88"x96" so it wouldn't be enough to just seam two lengths of fabric together.  I put this zigzag down the middle to give it the extra width and so I don't have to worry about matching the pattern.

In the interest of finishing it this year I decided to go ahead and quilt it on the longarm.  My TBQ pile is already out of control and I can't bear the thought of trying to wrestle this through my home machine.  If I was having any doubts about this decision reading about the hilarious Liz of Goddess in Progress "joy of quilting" moments with her beautiful version of this quilt sealed the deal.  I can't wait to see mine finished!!!

Back Where You Belong

Yea!!!  My machine finally came home Friday afternoon and I immediately launched in to a marathon sewing session.  I was definitely suffering from withdrawal after 2 weeks but now it practically purrs.  Next time I'll plan my servicing better! 

First up I sewed the binding on my Hushabye baby quilt so it's all ready to be hand tacked and added to the finished pile.

Next I added mitered borders to my Fig Tree HST so this top is officially done.  My good friend Aimee of Salt Marsh Designs has this awesome mitered border tutorial that made it sooo easy!  This quilt is big, 88"x96", so it's a bit difficult to maneuver.  Now I've got to decide if I'm going to use the longarm to quilt this or do it on my machine.  I love the way this pattern looks with straight line quilting but it would be so much faster to just go with an allover design. 

We're still enjoying the heatwave here so I did take some time away from my machine to take the kids to the pool which gave me a chance to finish up this applique project.  I'm trying to decide if this is going to be a pillow or a wall hanging.  It's pretty but it's not really my style so I think it will be gifted off the premises ASAP: )

While waiting for my machine to return I also got this basted so now I'm ready to get quilting! 

Middleton

No, I'm not going to talk about Kate & Wills.  It just seemed like the perfect word to describe where I'm at... stuck in the middle.  No exciting new beginnings or finally finished projects, just lots of progress.  The weather here was rather dreary so it made for a productive week.  I'd already finished piecing the top of my watercolor quilt so I got the back together.  I tried to mix some wonky bits with the straight seams so the schools of fish looked like they were swimming across the back.  I'm scheduled to go longarm this in June but it's small enough that I'm wondering if I shouldn't just quilt it on my home machine.

After that I worked on piecing together all those Fig Tree HSTs.  I've got 5 of the 9 blocks put together but after laying it out on a bed I decided it's not quite big enough.  I'm going to add another row to the top and bottom and probably on both sides also.  I've ordered a Strawberry Fields charm pack which I'm hoping will also mix in nicely.  Until then this is on hold.  I'd want to have as many loose blocks as possible for mixing in something new... it makes getting that scrappy, random look much easier.

Finally, I put together all the rows for my Sherbet Pips zig-zag.  I decided I want this to be big enough for my daughter's full-sized bed so I'm going to add some borders.  I've still got a layer cake so I'm playing with a few different ideas.  For now I want to float the zig-zags on the pink so I need to add setting triangles to the sides before I sew the rows together.

Whew, I have been busy!  Not sure I'll be as productive in the coming months, looking at my calendar there's going to be a lot less time for quilting, or maybe that's sleeping;-)

WIP Wednesday

I've made something like 150 HSTs with Fig Tree Quilts charm packs of Mill House Inn (my personal favorite), Patisserie & Breakfast at Tiffany's pulling out a few colorways that don't play well with the others.  I figure I need at least 200 for a bed sized quilt, maybe more depending on how big I want my borders to be, so I'm trying to get my hands on some Fresh Cottons and Buttercup charms.  Not really my colors but it's intended to be a gift.  Playing with layouts...

It's amazing how many different ways you can arrange a bunch of HSTs!  What's your favorite?  I'm leaning towards the last one.

Celebrating National Quilting Day

... with some HSTs.