A Long Time in the Works - FAL

Looking back, I can't believe I started this quilt in January!  Well, here it is mid-September and it has finally made it to a finished state.  Yippee!

As it is a holiday gift, when I started it I thought I had lots of time to get it done.  But this quilt fought me the whole way.






If you have been following along on this one, you may remember I had a big setback during the cutting and piecing stage.  I cut about half of the triangles the wrong size so everything had to be carefully remeasured and re-cut to salvage the quilt.  Ugh!

Once the top was done, it quickly was folded up and stuck away because I was so tired of looking at it.

Note:  The quilt pattern is Ballerina by Jaybird Quilts.  It was a great pattern with good instructions.  I just got distracted gabbing with friends one night and cut everything using the wrong line on my ruler.  Hmmm...wonder why nothing fit when I went to sew it together?!?

When I wrote up my 3rd quarter finish along goals, I knew I had better list this one in the hopes I would get it out and finish it up and ...and I am happy to say it worked!

I quilted just a simple scroll meander in a black thread all over the quilt.  The fabrics are so busy, the quilting doesn't even show so I am glad I chose something quick.

I did piece a large inset of this great Wintergraphix holiday print by Jason Yenter up the back.  I had purchased it and many others from the same line at a great sale after the holidays a year or two ago.  I knew they would make a beautiful quilt one day.

The quilt is a nice large lap size at  50" x 70".

Giveaway Alert!!  

And if you haven't entered yet, there still might be time to enter the giveaway I am hosting in the previous post.  It will be open until September 18th so hurry on over.

 

Linking up with Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River and Show & Tell Tuesday at I have to Say. 

Another Feature in Quilty Magazine + Giveaway

I have some very exciting news to share.  My Tangerine Dream quilt and pattern are featured in the September/October 2013 issue of Quilty magazine, available now.   

Now that is certainly something to celebrate! 

And because I like to celebrate with fun giveaways, I have set aside two extra copies of the magazine so I can share them with  two lucky winners.  

And to sweeten the pot, I am sure I will find a few other goodies to tuck into the envelope - I always do.  

And I will ship internationally!

 

Here's how to enter:

1.  Leave me a comment telling what colors you would like to make this quilt in.  (When you leave your comment, please make sure I have your email address!  No email = Sorry, no entry!  So if you are a no-reply blogger, please include your e-mail in your post!)

2.  For a second chance to win, become a Quilting is more fun than Housework blog follower, and leave me a comment letting me know how you follow, or better yet, leave a comment letting me know you already are a follower! (again, make sure I have your contact info if it's not listed in your profile.)

 

This giveaway will be open until Wednesday September 18th at Midnight PST.  Please note, winners must respond within three days of notification. If any winner does not respond within that period, sorry but another winner will be chosen.   

And I am not the only one having a giveaway this week.  Julie at 627Handworks is hosting 6 weeks of giveaways so once you have entered mine, be sure and head over to her site to see who else is celebrating.  It is a great opportunity to check out some new blogs and maybe win some great prizes!  
This is the final Sunday so don't miss out.
Best of luck!!

***  Sorry, this giveaway is now closed.  If you missed out on this one, be sure to follow so you can be included in the next one!  *** 

Ta Da! Finished Star Surround QAL

Who needs sleep!  Not only did I squeeze in my own Star Surround quilt into my longarm customer rotation but I decided to stitch the heck out of it!  So once it was on my frame, it was a bit of a quilting marathon to get it finished so I could get back to those paying customers.

I really love how it turned out.  Melissa at Happy Quilting designed a beautiful pattern and I was really pleased with the fabrics and colors I chose for the top. This was my first Quilt A-Long and I will definitely be doing more in the future.  (Thanks Melissa!)

For the quilting, I did a combination of straight lines and curves.

In the ash gray negative space I quilted really tight curls.  This gave dimension to some of the areas where I did minimal quilting.

On the back, I simply put a single gray and black fabric I already had in my stash.  As I had enough yardage, there was no need to spend the time doing any extra piecing.

(Just one quick long seam....Yes!!)

This much quilting is not something I usually do on my own quilts but I so love this quilt I am thinking of hanging it on the wall in my bedroom.  I truly love everything about it.  

I think the center star is my favorite.

To see all the other lovely quilt tops from this same gorgeous pattern, you can go here or catch Melissa's post on September 16th where she will be including all the finished quilts in a big quilt parade!  I know I am looking forward to seeing them.

This week I will be sharing this finish with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?! at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.