Mischief Managed: A Book Quilt Finish

Today is Day Two of the Wake Up to Kona Blog hop. I am so excited to be sharing my project with you. I have been waiting, at times not so patiently, for this day to come!! A big thank you to Carol and Madame Samm for all your hard work!

+ TWO extra days!

I'm sharing this day with a bunch of fabulous quilters. Hop on over there to check out what they've made too...

January 8

Stitchin’ By The Lake

That’s Sew Julie

Living With Purpose

Nini’s Patchwork Blog

Quilts My Way

Jane’s Quilting

Quilt Matters

Without further ado here is my project...

I just adore how it turned out.  I used this tutorial for the top but I changed the quote to this fabulous Harry Potter quote that fit the recipient to a T.

I had never done a quilt with all solids before. I always wondered if it would be too plain if you didn't have the right pattern. Typically I've gone for subtle tonal prints that read solid but I was excited to try it out for this quilt. I picked the pattern first and just knew these Kona solids would be perfect!

I did the book blocks first and then made them into their rows. The slanted book was a bit tricky but it was all so fun! I just love the way the solids worked up! They really do look like books! The words are raw-edge appliqued on to the white strips.

It was a gift for my sister-in-law and she thought she might want to hang it at some point so I put on these triangle corners that you just slide a rod into to hang it up. That way it's still good for a snuggle and the hangings don't get in the way if it ends up on a bed, which it did.

Here's the back. LOVE!!! Seriously the little Mischief Managed in the bottom corner of the quilt is one of my favorite parts of the whole thing!

Speaking of favorite parts I also love how crisp the solid mustard binding looks next to the white. Solids are awesome for that!

Finally a close-up of my favorite part!

As it happens this is also one of my Q4 FAL projects (goal post here) so I'll be linking up there too! Woohoo for a multi-tasking quilt.

WiP Wednesday: Pre-Op

I'm going in for surgery tomorrow to repair a tear in my c-section scar and will be out of commission for a while, I hope not too long. In preparation I've been sewing like crazy trying to get as many things done as possible. I am so excited about what I finished and what I couldn't help but start! I am linking up with Freshly Pieced.

First the finishes...

The Harry Potter quilt is done!! This is #59 for the quilts I've ever made and #16 for this year. To see the rest go here. I am literally dying to share more of this quilt, especially the fun on the back side but alas it is my project for the Kona Solids blog hop in January. So for more come back on the 8th! I wouldn't be sharing at all except it is doing double duty as a Q4 FAL project and I need to post the finish before the 31st. If only they lined up better.

Upgrade anyone?! If you've been here before you may have noticed that I do a lot of crochet projects. They are mostly hats for my shop. Well, whenever I have a work-in-progress all the yarn I'm using plus the pattern and my bag of tools are all kept in one spot. That spot used to be the cheap-o green bag on the left. The picture on front is cute enough but it really didn't get the job done. Thus when I saw this adorable yarn fabric (closeup later in the post) I knew I was in for an upgrade!

Isn't it fun?! I used the Madras Tote Pattern from Noodlehead. I love her stuff and free and clear instructions to boot!

Here's a closeup of the fun fabric and the fun pockets in front. They're just the right size too - don't be fooled by my giant knitting needles.

There are no pockets on the inside but when you're dealing with yarn that's a good thing. Less to get tangled up in. I lined it with a linen-looking cotton.

This is the project I couldn't help but start. My little man has been so patient as he's been bumped time and time again with his firetruck quilt so I decided to work on his a little yesterday. It worked up so quickly! There are 11 rows in this quilt with 15 triangles in each row. I'm going for a bit of a random look which is always hard for me. I didn't tell my little guy I was working on it and he came in my craft room to ask me a question and stopped mid-sentence with a gasp. "Is that my FIRETRUCKS! HOORAY!!" It was a fun surprise.

I have to stop and take a minute to give a shout-out to my favorite fabric shop The Intrepid Thread. I consistently receive amazing customer service from them but I had a great experience yesterday that I had to share. I had placed an order in the morning and happened upon that page on my computer much later in the day. I was looking a little more closely at the shop page and thought - I don't think that fabric matches. PANIC! So I called them up and Julie (the owner) talked me through it over the phone and we decided that it didn't match at all. Even though my fabric was already cut she talked me through some better choices and replaced the one I'd previously ordered. She was so sweet about it too! Not only that but the packages are always amazingly fast coming out to me and they always come wrapped up in tissue paper with a bow, two extra charm squares, and a handwritten thank you note. Who could ask for anything more?

So I'll be laid up for the next week or more and hope to work on learning how to knit and a bit of hand-sewing. It should be nice and relaxing after the rush to finish things before the surgery. Thanks for stopping by!

T-Shirt Quilt Finish

Well, that was quick! I more or less started this quilt on Tuesday and here it is Friday and it is finished!! I cut the shirts into 12.5" squares. I happen to have a square ruler that size and it was really easy and so fast!! Some of the shirts, the middle row, were too long to do that way and they are 12.5" by 15.5." I ironed on interfacing to the back and then re-cut them all. Then I sewed them together, basted, quilted, and bound it all up. I kept a time log with this one because I was curious. Start to finish for this twin-size quilt was 13.5 hours of work.

This was my goal for ALYOF for December. (post here)  I am amazed I finished it so quickly! I was just hoping to get it done my Christmas but my awesome hubby gave me a lot of sewing time to get it done in a hurry. This quilt was doing double duty as it was also on my Q4 FAL list found here or on my side bar.

Update: It is now the end of the month and I'm linking this post up with the finishes here.

Here's the finished product! It's so fun! I worked for a while to get the color distribution just how I wanted it and I love how it looks.

My friend picked out this fun polk-a-dot binding and it looks great with the shirts. I was surprised at how well it matched and coordinated with so many of them. I quilted it using a zigzag stitch on all the horizontal and vertical seams. I think it makes it more sturdy and adds to the collage feel. As a side note I didn't notice how horribly crooked that seam looks in the picture. It's just the uneven grass, I promise.

Since this quilt is obviously all about the front side we went with a gray solid for the back side. It matches the binding really well.

So as payment for this quilt my friend and I exchanged services. I love jewelry but am not really set up to make my own. So, I made her a quilt and she gave me this giant collection. There were actually six more pieces but I gave them away as presents before I took the picture. We both walked away happy with this deal. See something you like? You can buy here stuff at her Etsy shop here. She's even running a sale right now!!

Phew for another finish! I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday and TGIFF!

Finishes: Quilts, Pillows, and a Hat

Phew! I got everything done just in time! I have a craft fair tomorrow where I needed two more quilts and the hat for a sample. Both baby quilts and the pillows are on my Q4 FAL list. I am so glad to get these things off my list and out of my craft room! I'm linking up with Finish it up Friday! I'm also linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

I made these two quilts with the Celebration line for Moda. They are half girl prints and half boy prints. I just bought two charm packs and put the girl prints into one quilt and the boy prints into the other. I bound and backed them in matching yellow. They were on my Q4 FAL list and these are both up for sale and if they don't sell this weekend I'll list them in my shop.

Here's a closeup of the boy quilt. I quilted on either side of each seam. I love the bright primary colors of this!

Here's the girl version. I love these prints! The aqua is a fun add in and those little flowers are so fun.

Here's what the back and binding of both quilt is made of. It's a fun yellow with a linen texture.

These two blocks have languished in my craft room for quite some time. They were part of the Mario Brothers Quilt along which I tried and did so bad at I just stopped after these two. They have one inch blocks and it was just way too hard to get everything lined up. I didn't have a great ruler either and it kept slipping as I was trying to cut. UGG! Don't look to close. My boys, however, just adore them and really don't care if the seams don't line up and they aren't square. So, I made them into throw pillows for their beds. Everyone wins!

I also finished up my spiral hat. The texture is really hard to capture in any lighting so I did the best I could. I wore it last night trick-or-treating with the kids and it worked a little too well. I had to take it off after only three houses. It should be great when the real Iowa Winter strikes.

I have no idea what I'm going to work on next other than I got another order for a Fluffy Sheep hat. Here's to surprises for next week!

First Q4 FAL Finishes

I had a bout of creative energy combined with a wonderful hubby who looked after the kids so I could accomplish what I needed to get done. I finished three things off my Q4 FAL Goals to add to the one I posted earlier this week. That's four! In one week! My list has 29 things on it and I really don't think they are all going to happen but if I even work at half this pace I'll get a lot done, which is nice. I'm linking up with Finish it up Friday.

One of the things on my list was to make bean bags. I combined this with my goal to have all my kids (and hubby) try out sewing. It went off so well!! Everyone had a go, except the baby who just turned 3 months, but she sat on my lap. They all did really well listening to instructions and lining everything up. The littlest were too short for the pedals so I did that while they controlled the fabric sitting on my lap.

These are all of our bean bags. I took the picture on their sides so you could see the contrast. They had a lot of fun picking out the fabric from my extra charm square stash.

I also finished the crowns for my older two kids. They turned out so good and the kids just love them!

The side shot is great too. These are listed in my Etsy Shop.

Finally, just this afternoon, I finished up the charity quilt. I really struggled with this one because it was started so long ago and the material is no where near my standards now but I kept telling myself it was for charity and some kids is going to love it no matter what.

I tied it using my machine doing a zigzag stitch with a zero length. I bound it in black that I had sitting around. I really like how the black binding looks on it especially on the cherry side.

So that's three more finishes out of the way and a nice productive week. I have no idea what I'm going to work on next but it's going to be fabulous! Thanks for stopping by!

High Street Baby Quilt

My cute sister is having another baby, this makes five just like me. I always make my nieces and nephews a quilt and I was excited for this one. I've become much better over the years and I had the perfect fabric in mind. My sister gave me free reign on the fabric and design and I had so much fun! This is what I ended up with...

The fabric is High Street by Lily Ashbury for Moda. The pattern is the original quilt-along from Happy Quilting. I quilted in the ditch around the white pieces and bisected the squares going horizontal and vertical.

It is 51" square so an odd size for normal size fabric in the backing. I've never really pieced a backing before so I thought I'd try it. I've done a stripe of something else but I don't know if that really counts.  I had an extra inner square so I plopped that in the corner with a little fabric for cushion room and then used some yardage to finish off the strip then the other one was just the width of fabric. It saved so much fabric doing it this way instead of how I'd usually do it with two full strips and cutting off the excess to be used as stash.

I machine zigzagged the binding, my favorite method of late, in lime green to match the binding. I also added one of my tags. I bought these way back in 2004 and I only have one left! Now I need to go find some new ones, maybe something a little more gender neutral.

One last picture just for fun.

This is quilt number fifty two. You can see the rest of them here. This is also my first blogged finish for my Q4 finish-a-long!! One down not more than 28 to go.

Q4 Finish A Long - Goals

I've been feeling super overwhelmed and overextended lately so when I happened upon the Finish A Long I was so excited. I could create a list and see what I really have going and finish something, hopefully a lot of somethings. I warn you the list is long- very, very, long. I used to pride myself on being an monogamous quilter. I'd buy the fabric for one quilt, finish it, then buy more fabric. Sadly that is no so any more. I current have 29 projects (yes you read that right) in some stage of completion, some I'm counting a few things together as one project.I'm linking up with WiP Wednesday.

Here's my goal list in no particular order...

#1 - This one is a fairly recent top finish -early to mid-September. It is waiting on some batting so I can baste, quilt, and bind.

#2 - This one is all basted and ready to be quilted and bound. I also finished this in September.

#3 - This was done way back in March. I even started quilting it but my thread kept breaking so I had to go buy new thread and haven't picked it back up.

#4 - My hubby's great grandmother made the blocks in the center of this quilt. They are made from clothes and backed with potato sacks. I'm not entirely sure of when she did this but it was at least 50 years ago. I inherited them and bought this cute pink to make it up to a twin size quilt. It is basted and ready to be quilted and bound.

#5 - This is a charity quilt I started some years ago. They asked to have it tied, which I'm not a fan of. I got a few rows into tying it and got word that they already had enough baby sized ones. Thus, it when into a bag and I haven't touched it since. I'm thinking about cutting off the few rows of ties and just quilting it then binding it.

#6 - I'm going to make these into two pillows but they'll be so quick I'm counting them as one finish. I was part of the Mario quilt-a-long but had so much frustration I stopped after these two. My boys have requested that they be made into little pillows for their beds.

#7 - I started and finished this quilt top about 15 years ago and since then it has just sat. It is HUGE! Like king sized huge. It was the second quilt I ever made and I'm pretty impressed with it but I don't know if I really knew what I was getting myself into. It needs to be basted, quilted, and bound.

#8 - Once again I'm counting these two as one thing. They will be crocheted crowns (like this one) for my oldest children for dress-up. They should be pretty fast but I just have to actually sit down and do more than a few rows each.

#9 - I usually have all the projects for my babies finished before they are even born but I got behind with baby number five. This is her crochet blanket I started about 7 months ago and it has about 18 rows left to go.

I emailed Leann and asked if I could count projects that I have cut but not started and those that I have all the fabric for but that's as far as I got. She said yes to all of the above. These will be turned into five different Jelly Roll Jam quilts and are numbers 10 through 14.

#15 and #16 - These little baby quilts need to be basted, quilted, and bound. It sounds like a lot but they should be pretty fast because they're not that big.

#17 - This will be the Happy Weekender quilt from the Moda bakeshop. I can't wait to see how this one turns out!

#18 - This will be the Line Dance quilt from the Moda Bakeshop.

#19 - These adorable firefighter fabrics are destined to be an equilateral triangle quilt for my little man.

#20 - This is going to be a "Charming Lucy" baby quilt.

#21 - This fabric is going to become at least two but hopefully more like three pairs of pajama bottoms.

#22 - These are going to be bean bags. My son for one of his Cub Scout requirements has to make some bean bags and then play some bean bag games with the family. It is going to be fun sewing these with him. I'm hoping to get at least four.

#23 - I have nearly all the T-Shirts I need for a quilt for my friend's sister. I also have the backing and binding I just need to do more than cut the shirts.

#24 - This one is getting really close to being done. It's a book quilt for my SIL and I just have to applique the black letters onto the white strips then sew the top together, baste, quilt, and bind.

#25 - This is going to be a zigzag baby quilt. I'm excited for this one!

#26 and #27 - These will be made into the Line Dance quilt found on the Moda Bakeshop.

#28 and #29 These are going to be the Pinwheel Baby quilt from the Moda Bakeshop. The pattern for this one is so adorable complete with tiny prairie points.

PHEW! No wonder I can't decide what to work on. I just need to stick to one at a time for a while and check things off my list. I can't wait to see how much I get done between now and January 1st!!