TGIFF - Modern Neutrals Layers of Charm

Welcome all you quilty people to TGIFF!

First off, I want to share what I have been working on.  In July, I spent quite a bit of time concentrating on cleaning up my sewing room and fabric stash .  Too many items no longer fit into my fabric closet so I was faced with some "What should I do with this?" moments.

One of the items was this Modern Neutrals layercake and backing that has been kicking around for quite some time.  I have been holding on to these thinking I would come across the perfect pattern.    I quickly realized that using the Layers of Charm pattern by the Fat Quarter Shop would work beautifully for this collection.

 At first, I was going to use a gray solid from my stash....

 But then I found this wonderful pumpkin orange and I had just enough for what I needed!

I am so glad I went with it rather than the gray.

I love that this pattern keeps the pieces large so you can really enjoy the prints.  This is the second quilt I have made with this pattern.  The first quilt I used the Mimosa collection by Windham Fabrics.

I kept the quilting simple.  Swirls in the background and spent a wee bit more time putting something special in the solid bits.

I don't often have backings that match the fabric collection in the top.  

I really planned ahead for this one!

 

So now it is time to share your Friday finish.  This TGIFF hostess and the TGIFF coordinator both had busy weeks and well, what can I say.  We just didn't get a chance to touch base.  The good news is there are two places to link up your finish this week!

Once you link your finish up here, hop over to the TGIFF site and link up there as well.  And remember to visit some of the quilters that link up their finishes.  

It is a great way to be inspired and maybe make a new friend!  :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)
Free Motion Mavericks (Free Motion Mavericks)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

TGIFF (Thank Goodness it is Friday Finish)

Fabric Frenzy Friday
Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Mimosa Charm - ALYOF

It all started because I was out of leader/enders blocks next to my machine!

While working on a quilt (that I can't share with you until this fall), a pile of trimmed triangles started forming next to my machine.  Because I didn't have any leader/ender blocks sitting ready at my machine, I started running these tiny triangles between my quilt blocks.

Being far too small for HSTs, I made cute little 2" hourglass blocks.  Well, they were cute until I had to trim them!


(BTW - Bloc Loc rulers also work great on hourglass blocks.)

 Besides gray and white blocks, there were a number of these blocks with some of the Mimosa prints by Windham Fabrics.  I sorted the blocks out by print and pinned them together to keep them organized until I had a plan for them.

Not long after completing these, I was asked by the Fat Quarter Shop to participate in their Layers of Charm blog hop (you can read about the quilt here). I chose to make my quilt with the Mimosa collection and used the scraps from that project to make these fun pinwheel blocks.

Well, I decided to use the scraps from both projects and make a small quilt.

 The hourglass blocks were turned into these little 4.5" star blocks.

I sewed up the pinwheel blocks to make a fun colorful center. The stars fit perfectly around the outside.  I even added some Kona Coal charm squares that were leftover from the Layers of Charm quilt for the cornerstones.


Having a number of the hourglass blocks still left over, I wanted to work them into an outside border some how.

I ended up just piecing them together with some small scraps I had. 

That is why you don't toss those scraps!

 Now the quilt has been quilted up and finished!  I think this small baby quilt has more piecing in it than any lap quilt I have made lately!

It is even cute on the back.  I had just enough of this plaid that works perfectly!

And it all started because I was out of leader/enders blocks next to my machine!



(And this little finish achieves my February A Lovely Year of Finishes goal of turning all these scraps into a quilt.  So far, I am two for two this year!)





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Linking up:


Sew BitterSweet Designs  (A Lovely Year of Finishes)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts
TGIFF

Crazy Mom Quilts

A Quilting Chick (Leader/Ender Challenge)

Layers of Charm

I am so excited because today I finally get to show off this beautiful quilt I made using the Fat Quarter Shop's free Layers of Charm Pattern.

 When the Fat Quarter Shop contacted me to see if I wanted to participate in this blog hop, I instantly agreed and immediately knew which fabrics I wanted to use - the Mimosa collection Layercake by Windham Fabrics and a Kona charm pack in Coal.  They work so beautifully together!

Not only does the Fat Quarter Shop put together a lovely free pattern - you can also watch this video where Kimberly gives you all the quick and easy instructions.  This pattern makes a quilt that is 57.5" square and it is so very easy to assemble.  (The pattern also includes instructions for sizes ranging from baby, to table runner, all the way to king!)

As I was making this quilt, I realized I have not shared a great way to mark your solid fabrics.  I use a Hera marker (mine is by Clover) to make a crease in the fabric versus drawing a line with a pen.  You can also see I made a second crease 1/2" over from the first.  This is a second trick I want to share.

You can stack about 3 to 5 layers and mark them all at once.  Above you can see how the line shows through the layers.  This makes marking squares so much faster!  And charm packs are so wonderfully lined up, it took me no time at all to have all the marking done.

Then you just follow the crease to sew.  You can see how easy it is to see.  This was actually the bottom square on a stack of five I marked at once.

For the second trick, you are going to sew on both lines.  (Note that the second marked line is away from the fabrics you are sewing together.)

Once you have sewn on both lines, you trim in between the sewing and the pieces you would normally discard are now sewn together.

When these pieces are all pressed open, you have a stack of HSTs that can be used to embellish the back of your quilt or used in a second project.

I turned mine into these nine fun pinwheel blocks!

But I digress - back to the lovely Layers of Charm quilt!

I quilted it with a wonderfully textured echoed floral design and used a stencil to quilt a Fleur-d-lis in the gray space.  The wonderful fruity colors in this line really bring summer to those wintry gray days.

This lap quilt was fun and easy to make and the pattern is a great way to use a layercake. And if you don't have one in your stash, there are many  available at the Fat Quarter Shop.  They really have a wonderful selection.

A huge thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop for including me in this blog hop and for this new free short cut quilt pattern.  You guys are awesome!

 

Not only am I excited about this finish, I am also excited to be able to give one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate to do a little shopping at the Fat Quarter Shop - Yep, I'm having a giveaway!

To enter, just leave me a comment letting me know if you have ever used one of the Fat Quarter Shops' shortcut quilt patterns.  If so, which ones have you tried. (One entry per person.)

Please make sure you’re not a no-reply blogger (or leave an email address in your comment if you’re not sure). I may not be able to reply to all comments left during the giveaway as it gets a bit overwhelming!  But I certainly will try.

The giveaway is open until Friday February 13th, 5pm PST. Good luck everyone!

Sorry - This giveaway is closed! 

The winner is #70 Trisch who is pretty excited.

If you are interested in more ways to follow me, you can find me on Craftsy, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin', Feedly, Instagram, Google +, or get my blog sent right to your email inbox by entering your email address on the right sidebar!

Linking up:

Patchwork Times

Freemotion by the River

Blossom Heart Quilts
Sew Fresh Quilts
My Quilt Infatuation

Quilt Story

Freshly Pieced