Flashback Friday #11: Patriotic Breeze

Like so many people, I learned how to quilt from my mom. Even though she has decades more sewing and quilting experience than I do, she still enjoys it when I make quilty things for her. After the Valentine’s Day Table Topper, I decided to make her another holiday quilt, this time for the Fourth of July. I call it Patriotic Breeze, as the pattern is Bay Breeze from the Summer 2008 edition of Quilts and More and the fabric is a charm pack of Red, White and Bold by Sandy Gervais.

Part of the reason I love Patriotic Breeze so much is that it challenged me. It was the first time that I made folded piping and the first time that I worked with 1.5” squares. I love how it turned out, especially with all the blue. I can safely say that it is one of my favorite quilts that I have made. Luckily, I get to visit it at my mom’s house. I also have fabric picked out and set aside for a similar piece for myself, but in a different colorway. Patriotic Breeze was finished in November of 2009.

Check out the Fall 2011 Bloggers' Quilt Festival at Amy’s Creative Side for more inspiration.

WIP Wednesday: October 26, 2011

Cold season arrived at our house recently, so I have been spending most of my time caring for a sick baby while sick myself. I did manage to make a little progress, and started two new projects.

Check out Freshly Pieced for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Current Projects

Blueberry Pie {18/18 blocks complete}: The blocks have been sewn into rows, but I ran out of time to take a picture.

Call Me Crazy block

Call Me Crazy {31/42 blocks complete}: I was only able to complete one block this week, but that’s okay. I’m really enjoying the process on this one.

Flurry by Kate Spain

Christmas Gift #1: When Kate Spain’s Flurry line came out, I snapped up a bunch of it, plus some coordinating solids from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I am hoping to turn this stack into four Christmas presents, a few gift bags and something for myself. I started piecing the first present and I really enjoy working with this fabric line.

Beginnings of Christmas gift bags

Christmas Gift Bags: I started piecing a few Christmas gift bags with the above mentioned Flurry fabric. Someday, I would like to wrap all the gifts I give in homemade bags, but right now I’m focusing on Christmas.

Finished Tops Currently Being Hand Quilted

Unblogable #1

Finished Tops Currently Being Machine Quilted

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along

Finished Tops Awaiting Quilting

Between the Lines/Paris Cats
Scrappy Green Quilt (aka Unblogable #5)
Unblogable #2
Warm Cool Quilt Along

On Hold

2011 Memory Quilt
Color Book
Scrappy Nine-Patch {12/70 blocks complete}
Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles

Stats

New projects: 2
Completed projects: 0
Total projects: 14
Projects on my Not Yet Started list: 20

Flashback Friday #10: Scrappy Keyhole Table Runner

After finishing the Two Weeks’ Notice table runner, I started another table runner with the leftover jelly roll scraps. This time, the pattern was Keyholes Table Runner, also from On a Roll Again by Heather Mulder Peterson. I don’t remember when I started it, but I finished it in the spring of 2009. It took me so long because I hand quilted it in a very dense cross-hatch pattern. I accidently left out one of the blocks, which I found a few weeks after I finished the runner. This table runner now lives at my grandma’s house, occasionally making appearances in her kitchen and her breakfast nook.

WIP Wednesday: October 19, 2011

Thanks to the help of my wonderful parents, I was able to get in a ton of sewing time this week! My daughter and I went over to their house for dinner one night and I ended up sewing. Then, I was able to spend the whole day Saturday sewing with my mom and cousin, which was absolutely lovely. Many thanks to my dad and husband, who gladly cared for the little one so that we could sew.

Check out Freshly Pieced for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Current Projects

2011 Memory Quilt {2/? blocks complete}: The memory block for my batik quilt is now finished.

Blueberry Pie {18/18 blocks complete}: The nine-patch blocks have been added to the setting squares to make big four-patch blocks. Next is sewing them into rows. I anticipate finishing the top soon, but have ambitious plans for a pieced backing.

Call Me Crazy {30/42 blocks complete}: If you pay close attention to my posts, you will notice that I had twenty-five blocks finished last week and completed seven more this week, but only ended up with thirty blocks total. That’s because I decided that I didn’t like two of my blocks and threw them back in the incomplete pile. Part of me doesn’t want this quilt to end. I’m having too much fun with these blocks!

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along {35/35 blocks complete}: As previously stated, I finished the top and back this week. I also started machine quilting it. I’m about a quarter through the quilting.

Finished Tops Currently Being Hand Quilted

Unblogable #1

Finished Tops Awaiting Quilting

Between the Lines/Paris Cats
Scrappy Green Quilt (aka Unblogable #5)
Unblogable #2
Warm Cool Quilt Along

On Hold

Color Book
Scrappy Nine-Patch {12/70 blocks complete}
Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles

Stats

New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
Total projects: 12
Projects on my Not Yet Started list: 22

Saturday Sweetness: French Toast Twist

Recently, I had an overwhelming craving for a maple bar doughnut. I ate a run-of-the-mill maple bar, but it did not satisfy. Luckily, a couple weeks later I was in the neighborhood of Frost Doughnuts. If you live in the greater Seattle area and haven’t visited Frost yet, you really should. They make a wide variety of doughnuts fresh daily. The day I visited, they had quite a few choices that involved maple, such as the Smokey Maple Bacon Bar and the classic Maple Bar. I decided to try a new-to-me doughnut, the French Toast Twist. It satisfied my craving perfectly. Simply put, it was a cinnamon twist with maple frosting, but it was so much more than that. The amount of maple frosting was just right, and not too sweet. The cinnamon and nutmeg added depth. Best of all, the texture was perfect: chewy and fresh. It was like the good people of Frost had scanned my brain and created the perfect doughnut for my particular craving. They also have fun seasonal offerings, and I can’t wait to try one of their pumpkin doughnuts. Trouble is, they have at least four different doughnuts that involve pumpkin right now, so it might take me awhile to decide which one to try first. Maybe I’ll just have to try them all!

Flashback Friday #9: Two Weeks’ Notice

As you may have surmised from reading this blog, I am no speed quilter. I am amazed at all the quilters I see online that can finish quilts in a matter of days or weeks. It usually takes me months or years. In one case, though, I finished a table runner from start to finish in less than two weeks!

When one of my co-workers at a previous job learned about my hobby, he started asking me if he could buy one of my quilts. I told him that I don’t sell quilts. I really enjoyed working with him and didn’t want to let him down by promising something I might not be able to deliver. Then one day, in the spring of 2008, he gave his two weeks’ notice. I was sad for me, but happy for him. On a whim, I decided to make him a table runner as a thank you for his mentoring.

I had no WIPs that would suit him and no time to order fabric online. I had been eyeing the Box Lunch Table Runner pattern in On a Roll Again by Heather Mulder Peterson and had a stack of jelly roll strips left over from the Diamond Runner. I picked out some brown, blue and green strips and set to work. I worked on that runner every single day until it was finished and was able to give it to him on his last day. He was pleasantly surprised to receive it. I really enjoyed the pattern and have it in mind for a certain jelly roll in my stash, so you may see it again soon.

WIP Wednesday: October 12, 2011

Well, this last week has been a doozy, so I didn’t get as much sewing time as I would like. I have six whole hours scheduled for this weekend, though. I sure am looking forward to that!

Check out Freshly Pieced for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Current Projects

Blueberry Pie {18/18 blocks complete}: Each block is now sewn to its coordinating setting square and the layout is finalized. I should really put this away so that I can focus on finishing other projects, but I’m afraid if I put it away it will become another long-term WIP.

Call Me Crazy {25/42 blocks complete}: I am 59.5% finished with the blocks for this quilt! After the blocks are finished, there will be some serious sashing involved. I’m glad that I’m making this quilt for me, because I love these blocks so much!

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along {35/35 blocks complete}: Only one more seam and this quilt top will be finished! Why am I blogging when I’m only one seam away from a completed quilt top, you ask? Well, my sewing machine is right outside the nursery and my baby’s sleep is more important to me than sewing. Since this quilt is for her, I think it all works out.

Finished Tops Currently Being Hand Quilted

Unblogable #1

Finished Tops Awaiting Quilting

Between the Lines/Paris Cats
Scrappy Green Quilt (aka Unblogable #5)
Unblogable #2
Warm Cool Quilt Along

On Hold

2011 Memory Quilt {1/? blocks complete}
Color Book
Scrappy Nine-Patch {12/70 blocks complete}
Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles

Stats
New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
Total projects: 12
Projects on my Not Yet Started list: 20

Saturday Sweetness: Cupcake Royale

UPDATE: I am linking up to the new Tuesday at the Table linky at A Quilter's Table.

Very rarely do I meet a cupcake shop that I don’t like. However, my all-time favorite is Cupcake Royale. I’ve only been to two locations, but each one that I have visited reflects its neighborhood’s personality and charm. They use local ingredients and their buttercream frosting can’t be beat. A few weeks ago, I went out to dinner with a friend and we felt like cupcakes for dessert. I really wanted to try their Huckleberry Cupcake, which was September’s Cupcake of the Month. We drove all the way to Ballard in our quest for cupcakes. The bad thing about scrumptious cupcakes made fresh daily with local ingredients is that when they’re gone, they’re gone. There was not a single Huckleberry Cupcake to be found. I was able to console myself, though, with my second favorite cupcake: Vanilla Cake with Lavender frosting. (My absolute favorite is Chocolate Cake with Lavender frosting, but you have to special order those.) As a bonus, the art in the Ballard Cupcake Royale would make a great quilt. Guess I’ll just have to go back next September for the elusive Huckleberry Cupcake.

Flashback Friday #8: Diamond Runner

One of my favorite things about quilting is that it is a good excuse to spend quality time with my mom. A few years ago, we both fell in love with the pattern On a Roll from the April 2008 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. We each bought a jelly roll of Deb Strain’s fabric Celebrating Spring and spent a day piecing our table runners together. I love how this table runner turned out, but it taught me an important lesson: I like binding. This pattern calls for the table runner to be pieced, turned and slip stitched like a bag or something similar, which I don’t particularly care for in a table runner I had quite a few strips left over from this project and even made two more table runners with this fabric. The Diamond Runner was finished in the spring of 2008 and now lives on my desk at work.

WIP Wednesday: October 5, 2011

Lately I’ve been working on finding creative ways to find a few moments to quilt here and there. For example, sewing a seam each time I change the laundry, since I have to walk past my sewing machine anyways. This strategy seems to be working quite well, and I’m very pleased with my progress this week.

Check out Freshly Pieced for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Current Projects

Blueberry Pie {18/18 blocks complete}: All the nine-patch blocks are finished and I’ve started piecing them together with the setting squares.

Call Me Crazy {23/42 blocks complete}: This pattern calls for blue-on-blue fabrics for the improv squares, but I decided to add some blue and white fabric scraps as well. Since white isn’t technically a color, it will still be a monochromatic quilt. And improv is all about following your creative instincts, right?

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along {35/35 blocks complete}: The blocks have been pieced into rows! I’m hoping to have the quilt top finished by this time next week. Next, I have the pieced backing to tackle. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.

On Hold
2011 Memory Quilt {1/? blocks complete}
Color Book
Scrappy Green Quilt (aka Unblogable #5)
Scrappy Nine-Patch {12/70 blocks complete}
Unblogable #1
Valentine’s Day Half-Square Triangles
Warm Cool Quilt Along

Stats

New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
Total projects: 12

October Fresh Sewing Day

1. 2011 Memory Quilt WIP 9.25.11, 2. Kaleidoscope WIP 9.25.11, 3. Blueberry Pie WIP 9.25.11

I didn’t get much sewing done this past month, but what I was able do I really, really enjoyed. After about four weeks away from my sewing machine, it was so refreshing to work again on my Kaleidoscope quilt and my Blueberry Pie quilt, and to start the memory quilt that I’ve been thinking about for months.

Working on my Kaleidoscope quilt was my favorite this past month, for two reasons. First, I kind of bit off more than I could chew for this project, so making progress made me happy. Also, I had company while laying out the blocks on the floor. Our cat Tux decided that the unfinished quilt was more comfortable than any other quilt in the house. Our dog, Otto, on the other hand, knew better than to mess with the quilt. He laid down as close as possible without actually touching the quilt.

I can’t wait to see what fun quilting moments this month will bring! Head on over to Lily’s Quilts to check out what other quilters have been working on lately. Thanks for stopping by!