Thursday, August 31, 2017

Matt's Quilt

Completed my OMG for August.  Here are the pictures.

For Matt

Finished!!!
The pattern is a simple rail fence block, using all solids, finishes at 10".

Basting

Marking and Quilting

Binding

The quilt uses 63 blocks and measures about 70" by 90 inches - a generous twin bed sized quilt.
I used Warm & White batting.  The wide backing is from Connecting Threads.

Wide Backing from Connecting Threads

I made sure that each block had a dark, a light and an aqua/teal.  I made 16 strip sets, yielding a total of 64 blocks.  The quilt uses just 63 (arranged 7 by 9).

So Manly
A touch of softness

Quilting Close Up

In early morning light

That means a single block was left over. Since the backing was already pre-determined,  Using the block in the backing was not an option. So, I made a pencil pouch to go with the quilt.




I hope Matt will like it.  What did you do with your last orphan block? Do tell me.

Very Blue!

Labelled
Texture :-)
And some more pictures - just because.







This is the 11th quilt for 2017 :-) and there are a few more to come!!! Since I finished a quilt, acquiring new fabric is almost a requirement :-p

New Fabrics!!!
Scored these "Ardently Austen" fabrics at an amazing price from The Quilt Ranch. No affiliation, just sharing my fabric joy.

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Speaking of affiliation, I am a Craftsy affiliate, which means that when you click on a link from my blog AND buy something, I get a tiny commission, without any extra charge to you. I have not linked to Craftsy in a while but there is an amazing opportunity coming up and I have to share it with you.



On Labor Day Monday (for one day only), you can watch any class for free. That is over 1200 streaming classes for FREE.  You don't have to buy anything - just watch for free - With glee!!!
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My September OMG is a secret project. I have to wait a whole month (the suspense is killing me), but I can definitely show you a teeny tiny glimpse of the fabric.


So, what have you been up to?  As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Linking with all my favorite linky parties (see side bar).

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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Pencil Me In

It is "Back to School" time, my friend at work mentioned.  She asked me if I'd make a pencil case for her daughter.

One Pencil

Two Pencils

All Pencils

Cool!


 The pencil points are on one side of the bag but the pencils continue to wrap around the bag.

Wrap Around Pencils

After I had pieced the pencils, I used the guidance from my Craftsy class by Joan Hawley to complete this pencil bag.


Did you see the grab tab?

Honestly, piecing the pesky pencils took way longer than actually putting together the bag - interfacing, lining, zipper and all.

Loving it!!!

I received many oohs and aahs from my co-workers. I have not received any more requests for making pencil cases.  That is just perfect because I need to furiously work towards completing my August OMG.

Unless there are other distractions.
That brings me to the Honey Pot Bee - Blended Scraps Block.

These are the fabrics I chose to make the block. Ideally, they should go from lightest tot he darkest. Ideally, the darkness should increase gradually from on to the other.

Yellows

If you are thinking - she is agonizing over this, you are absolutely correct.
Look at the lightest fabric on the right (picture above).  In my opinion it needs to be lighter. But anything lighter would look beige or cream and it still needs to read as yellow, just lighter.


So I chose to use the fabric from the wrong side. I am sure someone else has already done that before me, but I still feel triumphant. What do you think?

See picture below.

Yellows and Beige-Browns
I admit, I am copying Molli's block, but then I am a follower. That is what followers do!!!

Cut up
OMG!!! I am in love with this block. This Blended Scraps saga is not over.  Watch this space.

Completed

For now, I must get back to the August OMG. I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties.

What has been distracting you?  Please tell me I am not alone.


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Monday, August 7, 2017

Chaos and Order

Clay's quilt was well-received. He promptly put it on his bed, took a picture and sent it to me with a thank you note. I was so gratified!!!

Clay's Quilt

And then, the next day, I received a separate card from his wife plus a gorgeous silver necklace that she made for me.

Jewelry + Me = Happiness

My expression says it all.

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So, what else is going on, you may ask.

There were 31 snowball blocks in Clay's quilt. This means there are 31 times 4 = 124 HSTs, tempting me to make something with them.

Bonus HSTs


Working on Clay's quilt, I realized that I have very little purple in my stash. Had to correct that problem.

Purples

In doing so, a couple of other fabrics just jumped into my cart.



What is a girl to do? I lovingly adopted them all.

I was so focused on achieving the July OMG, that the Honey Pot bee blocks had fallen behind. Now, I jumped into it with gusto.

Cute Mushrooms

Magic Mushrooms

The mushroom block was super-fun and so cute. I made two of those.  I also made the tree blocks from a few months ago.

Christmas Trees

This lattice block was a little more complicated. But it still turned out fine.

Urban Woven


There are four more bee blocks to make and one is paper-pieced. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.

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I do have a goal for August but I do not want to share pictures as yet.  It is a twin-bed size quilt for a boy. Here is the backing and the binding. The blocks are in the process.

Backing & Binding for August OMG

And speaking of wide backing, I bought another one, since Connecting Threads is having a sale on wide backings - 25% off.

Wide Backing from Connecting Threads

As you can see I have plenty of chaos to sort through, projects to organize, fabrics to choose, and a post (or two) to write.

If order comes from chaos, then I am half way there.

So what shall I focus on? The boy quilt, the leftover HSTs, the bee blocks or something else.  What represents chaos for you? Do let me know. I will be connecting with all my linky parties.

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