Quilt Finish - First Q4 Goal Finished :)

I posted about this quilt almost two weeks ago. At the time I said it would be finished by the weekend. And it was. Because the quilt was commissioned, I didn't want to post about it until after it was received . . . that happened a week ago today. . . ahem. . . yeah. I'm behind in posting. I have another finished quilt and a flimsy that will be finished by the weekend. . . my sewing machine has been going non-stop! :) What that has meant for the blog is crickets. . . loud, chirping crickets. BUT, here's the first post, three more to come soon ;)

This quilt was #1 on my Q4 FAL list. #1 Check, crossed off list, done and dusted :) The new owner of this quilt is "thrilled!" So here is the oversized D9P all quilted up and bound!

The client asked for an all over quilting design instead of custom quilting. She saved me from myself! And gave me a great reminder of the wonderful texture and the fun of an all over quilting design. :) I had a blast quilting this quilt!

I debated on thread color . . . green? . . . variegated?. . . in the end I chose grey. And I chose Glide. . . Last time I used Glide, I had a LOT of issues with shredding and breakage. So I did some testing. I tried different threads in the bobbin and went to town on some scraps. Turns out, my machine likes a heavier weight cotton in the bobbin when I use Glide. Since I have a large cone (you know, the BIG cone) of Aurifil 40 Wt in light grey and another in lighter (Massdrop. . . no, still haven't cancelled that membership!!), I was in business! The other thing I did that helped a lot? I put one of those nets on the cone - it also made a huge difference in the stitch quality! I guess just that little added tension on the thread coming off the cone (I always use a thread stand) was just enough to stop the very occasional thread nest I would get on the back, on the top the machine would skip stitches so I knew there was something not right. The other thing that would likely help? Rosanne is due for her spa day(s). . . I just cannot be without my machine for days right now. I'll baby her until I get done with this quilt. Then I'll treat her to a day or two off! ;)

I'll be posting soon about the other flimsy I had finished in my Q4 post. It is also all quilted and bound and will go to its new home on Friday. Oh, and she added a pillow to the order so that will also have to be finished by Friday. . . Don't worry, it's mostly finished! :)

Two posts in one day. . . that hasn't happened around here in a very long time! Stay tuned, there's lots more to share!

Oh yeah, and if I don't talk to you again before Saturday, HAPPY HALLOWEEN ;)

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday. And linking up with Adrianne over at On the Windy Side for the Q4 finishes party! Three out of five isn't bad when one considers I had two surprise commissions come in on December 5th for two finished quilts! And yes, those got made, my Loominous fabric is still uncut and Renee's mini is so close to finished it hurts!! LOL

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Large Category - Shanee's Sparkle

I was going to skip the festival this time around, my head has been down, I have been sewing up a storm. I have two finished quilts and a flimsy that should be finished by EOD tomorrow. . . and I have blogged about none of them! But I was talking to my mom this morning and she said, "You have to enter Shanee's quilt! You aren't going to believe this, I have been soooo engrossed in the current projects that I forgot about Shanee's Sparkle!! Whut?? Yeah. Totally forgot. I've either been really busy or I am officially old ;) So here is my entry into Amy's very fabulous Blogger's Quilt Festival (Large Category), just for you mom!

I made this quilt for my Goddaughter. Yes, she already has a quilt and yes, she loves it. But when I saw the fabric (Amy Butler, True Colors) and either the same day or very close to the same day, saw the Sparkle Punch pattern over at Oh Frasson! I knew the combination of the two must become a quilt and that quilt would be perfect for Shanee. So here is Shanee's Sparkle. Oh, and she absolutely loved the quilt. Sent me a picture of it on her bed. I just LOVE seeing the quilts I gift being loved :)

You can read more about this quilt here.

If you are here from the festival, welcome! And if you haven't checked out the festival, go, look gawk, be inspired!!

Until next time, keep on quilting!!

Oversized D9P Flimsy

If you saw my post on Monday, you have seen this flimsy. I finished this quilt last week. I've been quilting it this week and will finish it today, if my machine decides it is going to cooperate better today than it did yesterday. . . more on that in a few. . .

This is a quilt based on TUQ. For that quilt I used a layer cake. Making a 9 patch with 10 inch squares presented an issue or two. . . that's one whopping big block to cut into four equal parts. . . I muddled through and got the quilt together. For this one, I wanted bigger blocks. . . So I decided to make the blocks individually. I started with 12" inch squares. The prints are pretty large in these fabrics so I wanted them to shine. I used 5" x 12" rectangles and 5" squares for the three other units of the block. This quilt went together quick. This is a commissioned quilt and they wanted the sashings between the horizontal rows like I did in TUQ. Those sashings were cut at 5" (the top and bottom sashings) and the middle sashing worked out at just about 4". It was a border fabric (same as the one used in TUQ) and I had to go with the width it was. So enough of the background, how about some pictures? :)

Picture of fabric prior to cutting. Michael Miller Carnival Bloom, Brown; Amy Butler Violette Garden Fete Grass, Intrigue Floral Garden Pink/Burgundy; Amy Butler Cameo Harriet's Kitchen Sugar; Jinny Beyer Pallette Dahlia Olive; Michael Miller Batik Spa Scallop Turquoise; Kaffe Fasset Serpentine Magenta Lewis & Irene Bumbleberries Black (binding fabric) and for the backing Art Gallery Recollection Voile Sunday Clippings

Shot without sashing and prior to sewing together. Because the Amy Butler fabric is directional, I wanted to have all of the blocks laid out on the design wall prior to sewing. Yes, that second block in the last row is laid out wrong - I caught it prior to sewing everything together :)

Here it is all sewn together :) You can see I did a little tweaking with the block placement once the blocks were sewn together.

I fussy cut the two Amy Butler fabrics. When I laid it out to cut, I did not like how the cuts would end up really hacking up the design in the fabrics. Took a little time but definitely worth it :)

I am almost done quilting it. I would be finished if my machine was cooperating. Every so often, it decides to 'throw' stitches. And when it does this, the stitches are very loose. So I have to stop, rip out the stitches, redo the threading and bobbin and go on. I have not decided if this is about my machine not liking Glide thread (you might recall I was having this same issue the last time I used Glide) but I question that because this did not start happening until I had about half of the quilt quilted. Strange gremlins :) I will not use Glide on the next quilt, we'll see if this issue continues. . . Look for a ta da it's finished post soon ;)

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday. If you need some inspiration or just want to look at pretty things, check it out!! :)

Until next time, keep on quilting! :)

Q4 FAL List

I have been sewing up a storm and regular readers are about to see a couple of finished flimsies that I have not blogged about yet. . . I know, I've been more than a little quiet and it wasn't that long ago that I ran right to my computer after finishing something to post. These days I just keep sewing! So here is my Q4 (Does that sound so odd?? What happened to Q1, 2 and 3???) FAL list. Linking up with Adrienne over at On the Windy Side for the Q4 linky party. Last quarter was such a success, I'm hoping for a repeat ;) The link is open until the 15th - there is still time to join the fun!

1. Finish quilting this quilt:

No, I haven't blogged about this yet. . . and yes, I've started quilting it!

This is a commissioned quilt and I will have it sent out by the end of the week. Yes, I said will! :) Done!!

2. Another never seen before flimsy, another commissioned quilt (Done!):

I have not started quilting this one yet - but I am itching to get started!!

3. I have almost all of the fabric and the pattern will be the new Fat Quarter Shop pattern called Welded. This is another commissioned quilt. Requested color, pink. . . yeah, me and pink ;) I'm excited about this one. Lambs, horses, pigs and chickens have been requested. I'm going to fussy cut the Cotton and Steel Mustang in pink fabric for the sashing blocks. The centers of all of the other blocks will either be lambs, pigs or chickens :) I'm actually very excited about this one, I think it is going to be pretty cool if it turns out half as good as it looks in my head :) Done!

4. I'm doing a mini (not mini mini) quilt swap with Renee. We planned this months ago. Months. I'm putting it on my list because I know if I do, it will get done :) I'm not going to provide details but I have everything I need. . . including some pretty epic thread! I couldn't just use any old thread for this one right?? ;) Quilting is all that is needed for this one :)

5. Massdrop strikes again. . . When I saw the drop for Anna Marie Horner's Loominous line, I resisted. Really, I did. Until right at the end! :) If you have not petted this fabric in person, I highly recommend you do! It.is.gorgeous!! BTW, it is up again. . . and you have time ;) Then I was skipping through the sale fabrics at Hawthorne threads and found this:

Linen. Backing. SO soft and beautiful!! 'Nuf said.

I have Loominous for the front and that beautiful Valori Wells Liv print for the backing. And I have a plan. This is going to be my quilt. It is going to be big. I will use every inch of the Loominous fabric. I have a plan. . . This is to be started only after I finish the other four items on this list. . . Really!

I know there will be other things that pop up. Don't they always? :) This list is totally doable! I'm not putting the rose linen quilt on the list this time. . . I do plan on getting some quilting done on it though.

Until next time, keep on quilting!! :)