Unplanned!

It's time once again for the BostonMQG's annual quilt show.  This year's mini quilt challenge is Improv.  If you know me IRL you'll know I'm more of a "planned to the point of compulsion" kind of quilter so this truly is a challenge.

While we were on retreat the amazingly generous Alexis gave me her Kaffe Fassett charm pack.  With no plan in mind I pulled a Denyse Schmidt and randomly pulled pairs to make HSTs and then some again to make QSTs.

From there they went back in to the bag and I pulled them out and sewed them together into rows.  No thinking about it or moving things around, just taking them as the were.

I tried to channel the same mindlessness for the quilting and just let the blocks lead me where they wanted to be quilted.

I love all the texture!!!

It was down to the wire but I managed to get the binding on and despite a freakish April 1st snow storm delivered to Fabric Place Basement.  The show opens tomorrow and will be open weekends thru May 8th.  If you're in the area you should definitely check it out!

Winging it with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 18" x 18"
Fabrics: Kaffe Fassett Woven Cottons charm pack
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Arctic Sky (2612).

W.i.P. Wednesday: Sewing into Spring

With the delivery date for this year's BostonMQG quilt show rapidly approaching I was highly motivated to finish things up this week...

With the quilting done I really wanted to show my Snake Trail quilt.  I'm so happy with how this turned out so getting the binding on and tacked was my top priority.

Once that was out of the way I moved on to finishing up my Improv challenge mini quilt.  I really need to remember to keep it simple when I'm on a deadline but with the freak April 1st snow storm I wasn't doing anything else;-)

With my quilts delivered I could get back to the rest of those quilts that need bindings tacked.  There's nothing like a gymnastics meet (with 2 hour car ride) to get things done. I'm *this* close to being finished with this one.  How's your Spring shaping up?

W.i.P. Wednesday: On the Go

Taking stock of my UFO stack always inspires me schedule some longarm sessions to finish things up.  This year has started off busy but when I heard Laurena's Longarm was closing I jumped to schedule some sessions before it was too late...  since then it's been quilt, quilt, quilt:-)

I started with my Sloops quilt.  I usually prefer hand guided pantographs or FMQ but in the interest of time I went with a computer driven pattern for this one.  I love how perfectly the waves flow across the sailboats!!!

While I was babysitting the machine doing Sloops I was also able to load up my Blue Plate Special on another machine.  I plan to use the same technique I used for my Ghastly Games to quilt the Dresden Plates on to the quilt sandwich but it's so big it was definitely easier to baste it on the longarm.

The next day I was back again adding this wavy Surf's Up pantograph to my Going Coastal quilt.

Then in a true fit of insanity I used my last session to not only baste my City Sampler quilt to custom quilt at home....

I also quilted Here Comes the Sun with this adorable Daisies Galore panto.  The good news is that Laurena has a buyer so it seems like I'll be happily longarming again.

And then I just couldn't resist quilting the Snake Trail quilt top I finished last week on retreat with the BostonMQG.  I'm so in love with this one now that it's almost done.

 Since I was on a roll I went ahead and got all my bindings on...  I predict some binge watching in my future.  Netflix and Quilts;-)  Any suggestions for a good movie marathon?

W.i.P. Wednesday: Retreat Recap

This weekend was the BostonMQG's annual retreat in Kennebunk Maine.  It just doesn't get any better than a weekend away with this awesomely talented group of women.  I always come home brimming with ideas and wishing I could spend a whole week.

My main goal was to finish piecing my Snake Trail top.  I got off to a slow start but eventually worked out my issues and got my rows to go together.

 I played around with layouts and diverged a bit from Denyse Schmidt's original design.  By dinner time I had a flimsy together.

And since it's more fun to baste with friends I stayed up late to get this one ready to quilt.  No surprise I didn't actually pack enough thread for quilting but it's ready to go.

With that accomplished I wasn't really up for tackling my next project but Alexis generously shared a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton charm pack.  With no real plan in mind I just started making half and quarter square triangles.  I love the way these fabrics work together...  we'll see what this becomes,  hopefully a mini for our upcoming Quilt Show.

Now it's back to reality but I've got a quiet week so I'm hoping to keep my quilt mojo going!

Be a Mermaid

I was so excited when Heather Ross re-released Mendocino, one of my all time favorite fabric collections.  I had some of the original collection that I'd been hoarding but it always felt too precious to actually use.  With a new bundle in hand (thank you Hawthorne Threads!) and my Briar Rose addiction sated I pulled this assortment of prints and got cutting.

I started by fussy cutting the mermaids and then add rows of chevron "waves" above and below.  There are lots of ways to make a chevron but I prefer the rectangle approach - Crazy Mom Quilts has a great tutorial which I just adjusted for the center squares.

In no time at all I had a flimsy together.  I made the binding, pieced the back, basted it, bought more thread than I'd possibly need to quilt it...  and then it just sat.

Finally I grabbed this for something to do at quilt camp.  I'm not sure why I was so intimidated by the thought of quilting this, I finished it in one afternoon.  With the binding already made it was super fast and easy to square it up, slap on the binding, and tack it down during the Super Bowl - with the overtime I even had time to finish;-)

Now that it's done I couldn't love it more!!!  I wish I'd completely finished it while we were still at the beach so I could get pictures there but I'll have to settle for these...  maybe I'll do some more this summer.

And it's the perfect companion for this pillow!

Swimming along with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 43" x 52"
Fabrics: Mendocino by Heather Ross.  Michael Miller Cotton Couture Apricot
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Light Turquoise (2805).

Whale Cocktail

This project was inspired by the #QuiltconFromHome #dailychallenge: "Cut into your good stuff!"

I hate to play favorites when it comes to Lilly prints but Shrimp Cocktail is definitely at the top of the list.  Audrey's dress was long outgrown and had some glitter glue stains but it still seemed sacrilegious to cut it up.  With "permission" granted I started chopping.  Yeah, we're that family - deal with it!

I wanted to take advantage of the pocket trim, luckily the pockets were perfectly sized for the face pieces.  With those removed and trimmed I cut up the rest of the dress up and whipped up some blocks.  These go together really quickly and with some sashing added I was ready to get quilting.

I kept the quilting simple with Bernina Stitch #4 waves.  As easy as straight line quilting but so much fun.

I decided this would get more use as a pillow.  I found the perfect pink gingham in my stash for the back and some lime Essex linen for the binding.

And now it will always fit;-)  Chillin' with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow is 16" x 16"
Pattern:  Preppy the Whale by Elizabeth Hartman.
Fabrics: Lilly Pulitzer Shrimp Cocktail, Michael Miller Cotton Couture Soft White.  Lime Essex Linen for binding.
Batting: Warm and Natural.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Natural White (2021).

W.i.P. Wednesday: Preparation is Everything

Last week was school vacation week and while things didn't really go as planned it was nice to finally get some time in my studio.  In anticipation of 2 basketball games and a road trip to Maine I did a bunch of La Passacaglia prep.  I've been so stuck on fabric choices, especially for my last 2 large cogs, so it was nice to finally make some progress.

I also finally went back to my Snake Trail.  It's definitely fiddly to try to line up where the arcs intersect (though I think that would also be true with pieced blocks).  After working on this a while I decided this was a better retreat project so I finished cutting the squares and packed it up for this year's BostonMQG retreat.

Next up, pinning zippers.  I'm so sad that Laurena's longarm is closing but I managed to schedule a few appointments to finish things up before the end.

After being so responsible I just wanted to sew.  I've been thinking about this project for a long time but it was the #QuiltconFromHome #dailychallenge: "Cut into your good stuff!" that finally pushed me over the edge.  I chopped up one of Audrey's outgrown Lilly Pulitzer dresses to make these Preppy the Whale blocks...  so in love!!!

How have you been spending your sewing time lately?