Quilting is more fun than Housework...

Friday, December 12, 2014

Little Letters - Quilt #1 Finish

I have finally found a bit of time to get into my sewing room and focus on some of the projects layered on my design walls. And rather than work on a number of them at the same time, I have been making a concerted effort to only work on one quilt at a time.

So, I have a finish to share!

(Funny how that happens...)

Here is the first of the three Little Letters quilt I am working on. (The patterns for the letters can be found at Temecula Quilts). This one was made entirely from the scrap bin - each letter is black with a light gray background. The solids and cross weaves are all the last bits of various colors in my stash - many I am not even sure who the manufacturer is. Most of these blocks used up the last bit of fabric I had so it was nice to clean all those solids out.

Because I had limited colors available, it was challenging to get the color effect I was going after. I am glad I resisted cutting from pieces of yardage - then I just create more scraps! And the quilt turned out just fine using what I had.

If you recall in a previous post, I was not happy that I did not outline each letter with a bit of gray before I added the background.

So to give each letter an outline, I added some fun detail in the quilting. With a light gray thread, I just surrounded each letter with some loopy quilting.

Not too bad for a silly little scrap quilt!

And this quilt was my finish goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes with Sew Bittersweet Designs. So I can strike it off my list!

I am now working on quilt #2 and hope to share it soon. Each one of these little letter quilts is laid out quite uniquely! Hope you come back to check it out.

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Linking up:

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts

Crazy Mom Quilts

Sew Can She
Sew Bittersweet Designs

Monday, December 1, 2014

December Goals - ALYoF

Can there really be only 30 days left in this year? I had all these plans for holiday gifts and as usual, I fear I have run out of time to get many of them finished. Why do I wait every year!!

In hoping that I get at least a few gifts sewn up this season, I am going to make my December ALYoF goal with Sew Bittersweet Designs very achievable this month. My readers know I have been sewing up three alphabet quilts and I am beginning to lose steam on completing them. To ensure they don't fall by the wayside, I am going to plan on finishing at least one of them this month.

The set I am having the hardest time working on is the wonky set. I am disappointed I did not add a light gray border around the letters before I put on the colored background. I am sure it will be fine once I get it quilted but I kick myself every time I work on the blocks. Maybe making the completion of this quilt my December goal will ensure I keep with it.

How about you, are you on schedule with your holiday sewing?

Linking up:

Sew Bittersweet Designs

Fresh Sewing Day

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Cornerstone Choices

With the patterns for the alphabet blocks being released out to the letter W (at Temecula Quilts), I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on my three quilts. While I am still only up to the letter U, I am starting to finalize how I am going to finish each one up.

Here is how the blue one looks all laid out on the design wall. I plan on making some sort of quilt block spacer for the open areas.

I am going to use up a bunch of solid white scraps for all the sashing but I plan on adding some colorful cornerstones. Here is where you can help me out. I have three choices and I like them all for different reasons.

1. Orchid purple shot cotton: I like that it brings out the subtle purple in some of the blocks but I am concerned it will draw the eye too much.

2. Teal solid: I like this color with most of the blocks. To me though, it just seems a bit boring.

3.Gray/white hourglass block: I have a bunch of these blocks already trimmed to 2" so they can be easily added. I still plan on using white for the sashing so would the pieced blocks be distracting?

I would love to hear what you think!

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Monday, November 3, 2014

A Few More Letters

Just a quick post to share my progress on my three sets of alphabet blocks. Not only did I get four more letters finished but I also went back and added additional sashings and backgrounds to all of the previous blocks. So now, all three sets are up to date through the letter "N"!

This blue/green set will be made with just white sashing between the blocks and maybe lavender cornerstones.Very simple assembly.

This set is just a scrappy mess! I am really going to have to get creative to make them all work together in one quilt. But the positive about these blocks is a lot of my really old scraps are finding a home!

And this set...well, I made an error as I wanted to put a thin piece of gray around the letter before I put on the backgrounds. I realized this about 5 blocks in and wasn't about to go back and fix them. I have a plan for quilting that will hopefully redeem the blocks. Fingers crossed!

So I am past the mid point on these blocks! As they are filling up the design walls, I am looking forward to getting through the rest of the letters and quilting these up. In fact, I am off to do a bit more sewing now! Thanks for stopping by!!

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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Slow Progress

This month I am finding it harder and harder to find time to work on projects. With lots of client quilts to finish before the holidays, classes to teach and household chores to finish up, I am lucky if I can get a couple hours of sewing in each week.

I did find some time to make a little progress on my alphabet blocks. Even though letters up to "O" have been released, I am just getting around to finishing up the letter "J"

I was struck with some inspiration on how to finish up this set of blocks. I decided to add a frame around each letter. This meant I had to track down more scraps for the blocks I had already made. Most of them I was able to locate but I am still searching for a few. I might have to get a bit creative to get some blocks finished up!

I did finish up another of my english paper pieced stars. Now I have a total of 6 finished...

and a whole lot more to go!

Linking up:

Monday, October 13, 2014

Gimme a G!

I am still busy working away on my three sets of alphabet blocks with Temecula Quilt Company. I was hoping to finish up through the letter "I" this week but I got a bit sidetracked by a new project.

Hard to believe, huh!?!

I have been giving some thought to how I want to finish each of the sets and I started setting the blocks for the black and gray set. I have a drawer full of odds and end solid pieces so I thought I would incorporate them somehow.

First, I surrounded a block with a 3.5" strips of a single fabric.

I decided I wanted to make these blocks "wonky" so I got out my 8.5" square ruler (the cut size I want for the block) and taped a 4" piece of paper (the finished size of the letter) to the center at the angle I wanted each letter. I can then just line up the paper to the inner letter and trim - I will have a uniform slant to each letter. I just have to flip the ruler to get the block to angle in the other direction.

Great little trick huh!?!

I have one block finished and hope to work on some more this week. Not sure yet how I am going to finish out the other sets yet but I will certainly share once inspiration strikes!

But that wasn't what really distracted me this week. I finally found some inspiration for the airplane quilt I have wanted to finish up for months. I found this great paper pieced block and made a stack of planes in red and blue. I love it when a stalled project finally gets kicked into gear and you have a plan! I hope to have a finished quilt to share with you next week!

And don't forget to prepare your scrap posts for Scraptastic Tuesday at she can quilt. The second Tuesday of the month is coming up!

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Monday, October 6, 2014

Alphabet Blocks - DEF

I made a bit more progress on my alphabet blocks this week. I am not quite caught up to the group but I am slowly gaining on them! Temecula Quilt Company is posting a pattern for each letter at a rate of about 2 letters a week. I think they are up to the letter "I" but they go so quickly that if you started now, you can easily catch up.

This set I am making from all black scraps with light gray backgrounds. I plan on bordering each block in this set. I hope to finalize a design and share plans next week.

This set will be made with soft blues and greens. Various white scraps will be used for the backgrounds. My current plan is to finish this quilt with some white scrappy sashing and use small print scraps for corner stones.

Now this set is going to be my problem children. I am putting these together with no plan or reason as to the colors I am using. I wanted to create a challenge for myself to come up with a plan to make them all work. Bright scraps are used for the letters and low volume prints are being used in the background.

All of these blocks are coming out of my scrap bin. I may have to repeat some of the fabrics but I am going to try and keep them all unique. Because these blocks are only 4" finished, the tiniest of scraps can be used.

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Monday, September 29, 2014

Alphabet Blocks - A B C

When I saw the cute little alphabet blocks Val at Val's Quilting Studio was making, I was instantly inspired to make some of my own. I followed her links and saw that Temecula Quilt Company was posting a pattern for each letter. (About two a week.)

I thought these little blocks would be a great project to use some of my scraps on. As I was trying to decide what type of scraps to use, I began sorting my scraps into three main colorways - pastel blues and green, fabrics with black backgrounds and bright hot colors. Most of these scraps I consider to be those hard to use scraps. Rather than choose one colorway, I have decided to just make three sets of letter and use up these fabrics!

While the letters through G have been published, I have only finished the first three letters of the alphabet. These little cuties are all 4" blocks and loads of fun to make. It will be fun to see how each quilt evolves. I have challenged myself to make the layout of each quilt different - just to keep it interesting!

To keep me on track, I will be posting each week to Live a Colorful Life for the Choose Your Own Block along. You can see what every one else is working on here.

Linking up:

Quilt Story