Sailor Tops x3 plus Quilting Starts

I finished my new Sailor Tops this week. They are number four on my Q3FAL list. I also made one for my mom because she ran out of time while she was here. The swap mini is coming along nicely and I have begun quilting. I also started quilting Miya's quilt. It's been a fun and productive week!

Here they are! Two more Sailor Tops for me and #4 crossed off my Q3FAL list. I really really love these! They are pretty easy to sew. As a point of reference - these are the only tops I've ever made. I've made some skirts and dresses once previously with a lot of hand holding. The Sailor Top also comes out so great and flattering! I love how it hides any kind of mommy-post-five-kids belly.

I also had time to whip this one up for my mom. She left before it was finished and luckily we are the same size and I love sewing them. I told her to leave it behind and I got it shipped off the next day. My mom fully planned on making this and another herself but started off with the other one. The fabric was a bit slinky and kept sliding and puckering on her. After we both declared it a fail beyond repair she didn't want to take the time away from the grandchildren to try again. Julie to the rescue!

I began quilting this one this week after I pieced it together on Wednesday. It was a fast and fun little block and I hope my partner will be pleased with her mini. So far I've quilted in the ditch and now I will fill in the white areas with pebbles, my favorite lately!

While waiting for my mom to arrive and finish cutting her tops I started quilting on Miya's quilt. I've completed about half of it but this is the only picture I have so far. She wanted me to do a large-scale meander in variegated thread. I was a bit nervous at first, I didn't want to mess up my baby's hard work, but I got about this far into it and loved it! She loves it too and after my swap package is done I'm going to dive right back into this.

That's me for the week. Thanks for stopping by! I hope to finish both the bottom projects to show off next week. Miya is so happy about how her quilt is turning out and already has number two planned. I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

WiP Wednesday: Thimble Blossoms Edition

I seem to be having a thing with Thimble Blossoms pattens lately and all of my progress on quilty projects have been on those things. I also made a little time to knit and I finished three Sailor Tops which I will show off on Friday. The big news this week is that I finished my ALYoF goal for July which was to complete the last of my Swoon blocks! I'm so excited! Take a look...

This is my finish for ALYoF for July. I am so super in love with these! I finished them in between rain storms yesterday and as I was taking pictures it started to rain and the wind was crazy. I grabbed a picture one at a time and made a collage later. It was pretty fun. These are done in Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

Here are all sixteen together. The Swoon pattern calls for nine blocks in a three by three grid. However, that quilt only comes out to 80" square. For a tall girl like me (six feet) with a super tall husband (6'6") that just wasn't going to cut it. I added the extra squares to bring it up to queen size. This of course means I can't quilt it at home and will have to send it off to someone else to make it fabulous.

Now that those are finished for a bit I am focusing all my energy on the next swap in line. I'm in a swap for Thimble Blossom patterns on Instagram. My partner posted the Fireworks quilt three separate times in mosaics so I took the hint. She said the swoon was her favorite but it didn't show up. Maybe it's one of those actions speak louder than words things? I hope so. As it turns out I didn't need to cut the big floral squares but I'm sure I can find a use for them. This is already starting to take shape and I hope to finish it quickly as the deadline for this is Aug. 10th.

Finally, I have been working on my Portland hat. I'm excited about this one but not really happy with how the blue turned out. Shopping online can be so hard! I bought a different blue at first but it was too light and there was no contrast with the gray. I tried again and this one may be too dark or something. I keep telling myself I love it but I don't believe me. Maybe when it is all finished I'll love it more, I hope.

 Thanks for stopping by and be sure to hop on back on Friday where I'll share my finishes from this week. For now I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday.

Bags, Pouches, and a Miya Quilt Top!

I had no idea I'd been away from the blog for so long. Life has been busy with trips and guests. I've done some great things this week but I'm most excited for my little girl. Miya finished her first quilt top today! I made some scripture bags with my friend, pouches for my SIL, and finished off my knit cowl. My first finish from my Q3 FAL list. Let's start with the cowl and pouches and end off with a bang.

I love this cowl! This is the same pattern that I learned to knit from and I taught my friend to knit this week and we each made one. I finished mine pretty quickly so I could show her how it was done before she had to go. She made great progress too and was over halfway when she left. I was amazed at how quickly she picked it up!

This is #16 on my Q3FAL list and my first finish of the quarter. I think the color variation on this yarn is so wonderful. It is "kettle dyed" and I may need more in my future. I had this lying around for years waiting for the perfect project and tada!

My friend also loved the scripture bag I made for my son and brought the supplies to make three for her three boys. She made the brown and I made the other two. All I wrote from the original was cutting instructions so we just winged it. They turned out pretty well but kept torquing. As it turns out we were supposed to turn 1/4" in from where we did. Oops. They still look good and the boys loved them.

My fun Sister-in-law is my best customer and she loves these bags. I love them because they are different every time with the different mini charm packs from Moda. She buys these for teacher friends and I just love whipping them up for her. You can find the tutorial here for the Quilted Patchwork Pouch.

Now on to my adorable munchkin!! I have been working on teaching all my kids to sew. They've all made a bean bag and a pillow case. Miya showed the most interest in quilting so we started with her first. This is her first quilt top! We're in love!

This is from the book "Sunday Morning Quilts" and was so easy for her to do and great for the scrap busting. We had a few struggles at first but two tricks really helped make this happen. First we used Wonder Clips in place of pins. That way they were easy to remove without shifting the fabric and poking herself. Also, I put two contrasting pieces of washi tape on my machine. One marked the 1/4" seam that she was supposed to keep the fabric lined up with. The second butted up against that and she wasn't supposed to let that one show. I was amazed at how straight her seams were with the addition of the washi tape and the whole thing went much much faster.

We worked together to spray baste it this evening. We did it outside which was a first for me. The grout in our tile floor kept leaving bumps and folds so we thought the cement might work better. It was murder on my knees but this quilt is quite flat. Miya enjoyed helping me smooth out the quilt but still can't manage to press the button to spray the glue which makes me smile.

That's it for this week! I'm going to whip up some Sailor Tops with my mom this weekend (hurray for a visit) and I hope to get Miya's quilt finished quickly. We want it done by the time she turns nine around this time next month. I'm linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.

Q3 FAL Goal Post

 I am so excited about my list of projects for this quarter! I have a tendency to overshoot and I think I may have this time as well with 18 on my list but I'm really excited about them so it should go pretty well. Many of these are for swaps or presents.

#1 Hazel Hedgehog Quilt - My eldest daughter is in love with all kinds of animals and wanted an animal quilt. She was so excited when this finally came off the on deck pile and I started it. I hope to get this finished this quarter. You can find the Hazel Hedgehog pattern here.

#2 Color Dive - I have been obsessed with the Color Dive pattern since I first saw it. I love so many things about it. Then one night it hit me that I could do the Color Dive with V. and Co. prints and it would be amazing. I have every line Vanessa has ever made and she has such great value and prints that I knew it would be so fun! I'm going all out and making the King Size version. It will cost an arm and a leg to get it quilted but so so worth it! This will probably bump all other projects.

#3 Paris Swap - I'm in a Paris swap on Instagram and have been having a pretty hard time deciding what to do for my partner. She was quite vague on her form and only recently posted a mosaic even though the signups were months ago. I bought this fabric thinking I'd made a bag or a pouch and I'll probably go that route. I hope she loves it.

#4 Sailor Tops - I adore my octopus Sailor Top. I wear it all the time and get a ton of compliments. People are always surprised that I made it. I have these two prints to add to my collection. My mom is visiting in a few weeks and she wanted to make one with me so it should totally get done this quarter.

#5 Mini House Quilt - My partner loves Carolyn Friedlander and the Outhouse Pattern is so fun I think I'll go that way for this mini swap.

#6 Thimble Blossoms Mini - I joined a swap all about the Thimble Blossoms patterns. My partner says she like all Bonnie and Camille prints so I'll use some of this loveliness and probably several more to make her something awesome. Probably the mini swoon but we're still in the planning stages.

#7 Yellow Baby Quilt - I found this random yellow fabric and charm pack while I was cleaning out my closet and thought they would make a perfect baby quilt. I have no plans for it yet other than to whip it up and see how I like it.

#8 Sparklettes Quilt - Using Far Far Away II and Cotton + Steel Basics I'm going to make the first quilt in the Fat Quarter Style book. My middle daughter is over the moon excited about this one but she keeps getting bumped since I made her one more recently than the others. It's on the list in case I get ambitious.

#9 Charity Quilt - I found this charm pack I got at Quiltcon and thought it would make a perfect quilt for the quilt drive my local church group is doing. It looks like a bunch of fun prints and they would stand out nicely with this Kona Snow.

#10 Preppy The Whale Mini - I won this kit on an Instagram giveaway and I'm excited to add it to my growing collection of mini quilts.

#11 Riley Blake Challenge - I got the fabric for the MQG challenge and I've been struggling with a plan. I'm thinking something to do with hexies, maybe this tutorial here.

#12 Dottie Mini - This was a total impulse buy at my LQS. I usually don't do that. It should be fun though. I think I'll try the pinwheel one in the middle. Another one for my mini wall.

#13 Primrose Quilt - Ruby is really excited about this quilt and it has been on my list for about a year. I need to just get it done because all she has is her baby quilt from me and she is no longer in a crib. I decided to use the Miss Kate fabric from Bonnie and Camille because it will coordinate well with her baby quilt made from Ruby by Bonnie and Camille.

#14 Scrumptious Baby Quilt - I've had this fabric all cut out and ready to piece for over a year now. It just needs to happen. I'll be using this Pinwheel Baby Quilt tutorial.

#15 Flamingo Mittens - It gets kind of drab here during an Iowa Winter and I love fun pops of color to liven me up. This Flamingo Mittens should do just the trick. I found the pattern and yarn on Knit Picks.

#16 Orange Cowl - One of my oldest and closest friends is coming to visit me next week with her family!!! While here she wanted me to try to teach her how to knit. I thought it would be awesome to show her on the pattern I learned from. I'll be making an orange one for me. My orange-loving son has really created a love for orange all over our house.

#17 Portland Hat - I spent most of my youth in the Portland, Oregon area so when I saw this hat I got so excited. I love knitting color work and this looked great. I'm having fun with it already and should have no problems finishing it.

#18 Big Owl - I'm knitting my first animal. The Big Snowy Owl from the Purl Bee. It's pretty giant and is going really fast but I haven't been really motivated to finish it. I'm also worried about how I'll get the stuffing to stay in as it's not incredibly tight. I may have to line it. Honestly I debated even poking it on the list but you never know.

 I am excited about this list. I usually finish half or maybe a little more. There are some that I know I will finish because of their swap deadlines. Otherwise, it should be fun to see what I work on from this pile. Thanks for stopping by! Check out other people's links here.

Foxy Quilt Finish with other bonus Finishes

My goal this week was to finish up my Foxy quilt which is #2 on my Q2FAL list. I did that and then some! Hurray for more productivity! I finished the foxy quilt, a cross stitch project for a swap, a blanket and burp cloth set, and a curvy clutch. At the bottom of this post is my focus for July and my ALYoF goal.

The little guy LOVES orange. Someone recently asked him what his second favorite color was and he said orange. I think that's pretty accurate. I've been working on this quilt forever. Like nine months. It kept getting pushed back and this sweet little guy was so patient with me. Here he's loving it right after I finished the quilting. It still needed to be trimmed and bound at this point but he didn't care.

We had a lot of fun for this photo shoot. The sun was a little bright be he didn't care.

I love this shot of the foxes! There are so many for the twin size.

This quilt sat for so long waiting to be quilted because I wanted to try something new. I was nervous that I would mess it up and so it sat for six months. Then I decided to just go for it and I'm glad I did. I took a quilting class at QuiltCon and the teacher showed us these connected boxes. I loved it for this. Mine are far from perfect but I love them anyway and they were so fun to do. Once I accepted that they'd be wonky I had a blast quilting this one.

Here's the quilt in all it's foxy glory. There are 80 different foxes in 14 different orange prints. My son picked out each one. The background is Kona Ash. Hurray for another crossed off my Q2FAL list!

Also finished this week was this white tiger eyes cross stitch. I really love how this turned out. White tigers aren't really my thing but this is cool. I debated at one point about adding the gray and I'm glad I did. It adds so much depth. This on is on its way to my partner.

When my good friends have babies I make them blanket and burp cloth sets. They are a fun shower gift and so useful. Well, one of these friends loved them so much she bought a set for her cousin. These flamingos and flowers are so fun and I made these in a nap time this week.

A few weeks ago I had a giveaway here and on Instagram for a curvy clutch. One of my local friends won the IG one and she came over today and picked some fabric. I love the pop of color with the pink on this one and that navy print is one of my favorites. The inside is poking out so you can see the lining fabric.

So I have a bunch of little things going right now like the Farm Girl Vintage QAL, swaps, and a secret project or two. I'm also about to start another twin-sized quilt this one a Hazel Hedgehog. I had a hard time picking my ALYoF goal for July with so much happening and then I saw these languishing on my cut table. These are to become the last four swoon blocks for my giant swoon quilt. They white is already cut and most of them marked. I just have to cut the colored prints and sew them together but they keep sitting there so I'm making the completion of these blocks my goal for July.

So that's me this week. I hope to make a lot of progress on things but I'm not close to finishing anything right now so I may have to go back to writing WiP posts. Catch me on Instagram @julieschloemer where I am always quite active. Thanks for stopping by! I'll be linking up with TGIFF and Finish It Up Friday.