Triforce Quilt

I have been wanting to write about this quilt since I started it, but I didn't want a certain someone to see it.  That's been happening a lot this past year.  Not only secret quilts, but now that I think of it, purple quilts, too.   Thank goodness for friends throwing purple scraps my way once in a while, otherwise I would never be able to make quilts for all the people whose favorite color is purple.  I've been wanting to make this quilt for a long time.  I actually bought the pattern in December, 2013 from Eric the Quilter's etsy shop.  So getting around to it took over three and a half years, but once I started I finished in less than 3 months.  

 The original plan was to make a wall-hanging, and I had the piecing for that pretty much finished in a couple of weeks.

Then, though, I decided to make it at least a throw size, and maybe even a twin.  That meant ripping out all those setting triangles on the bottom edge.  What fun!

I sewed and sewed, and before I knew it the top was quite a bit longer.  I still wasn't happy though because it looked too long and skinny to me.  To add to the width I would have to rip out all those setting triangles along the sides.  NO. WAY!   

How about adding some borders?  I still had plenty of purple left.

I've never worked with a quilt that had all bias edges so I stay-stitched it first to keep it from stretching   My favorite marking tool for darks really came in handy!  Love my Fons & Porter Mechanical Pencil with White Lead!

Marking and trimming made it a lot easier to add the borders.

From this point on it should have been super easy.  Hmmm, not so much.  I wanted so much for all the squares in the borders to look balanced that I made it fit and ended up with ripply borders.

I figured if I quilted a little heavier in the borders, the fullness might "quilt out" though.  Right?  No.  Wrong again.  I wanted this done!  I even took it with me on vacation and set up my own personal sewing area so I could work on it when I got tired of the pool and the beach.

I quilted two sides and wasn't happy, so I ripped it all that quilting out.  Then, I actually took the borders off.  I've never done that before on a quilt that was mostly quilted.  

I put my "Jack the Seam Ripper" to good use!  If you need a new ripper or a really special one for a gift, check his out.  They are great!

So, I removed at least two inches from each side, reattached it, got it quilted, and finally got to my favorite part - binding!

By the way, isn't that another great backing fabric?  It's from the "Mostly Manor" collection by Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  I bought it from my fave Fat Quarter Shop.

My friend, Penny, made another really beautiful label for me using a downloaded pattern of the Triforce I had purchased online.   I love that I can find just about anything I want online!  (Not sure Hubby feels the same way about my online shopping.....)

So, it's quilted, and bound .....

..... and delivered.  I feel pretty confident that this will be a much-loved quilt.  I sure put love into it!


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Oliver's Quilt

Now I can tell you about the most recent baby quilt I made.  The last time I posted I was getting ready to mail it to our newest great-nephew, Oliver.  I had actually started this one in plenty of time instead of waiting until the last minute, I just couldn't post about it until now.  I wanted to make his quilt with black and white and brights because I had given this quilt to Oliver's mama, Nikki, when she was a teenager.

I decided to appliqué stars onto a black and white print marked off in 5" squares.

Then I found a great black and brights print to use for the alternate blocks. 

Love the green I used for a little accent border!

Hand-quilting is one of my favorite ways to relax in the evening.

I wanted to use another shade of green for the binding, but after I made it and started sewing it on, I decided I really didn't like it .....

..... so I tried out a red and a yellow and didn't like them either.

Do you ever find large pieces of yardage in your stash and you can't remember why you bought it?  I didn't think so.  Anyway, I found five yards of this in my stash, and it looked perfect.

I really love this quilt.  Hubby smiles when I say that.  I say that after every quilt.

The backing is pieced with a few bright strips to make it wide enough.

I think little Oliver likes his quilt.  I know his mama does.  

That makes this quilter really happy!

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and WIP's Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden. 

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I Spy Another Finish

I think I have my mojo back because I just finished another quilt, the I Spy quilt I started at retreat in June.  Wait -- that means I made this quilt from start to finish in less than a month?  That sounds like the old me!  I found this really fun fabric in my stash for the backing.  It's called "Crazy Stripe" by Cynthia Rowley for Michael Miller Fabrics.  

To make the backing wide enough I inserted a 10" strip, but turned it first which gave it am interesting look.  I may need to buy more of this print.  I just love the effect.

I wanted to use another black and white print for the binding so I looked through my black and whites and found a floral that was perfect.  I had just this much left over!

The quilt finished at 49" square, the perfect size for a toddler to use for a while.

I got it mailed a few days ago so in no time it will be wrapped around a little guy with all the love I stitched into it!

  

Retreat Report

In spite of the issues I had prepping my projects for retreat, I got a lot of sewing done while I was there.  The I-Spy quilt went together well, and turned out so much better with the black corners than it would have the way I originally planned it when I cut it out.

 

Just look at some of these fun prints!

 

 

Half the fun of making an I-Spy quilt is working with such cute fabrics.  I have so many from a swap I was in a while back that I think I can make at least two more.    

Almost forgot the pigs on surfboards!

I was able to finish two other tops that week.  One is a kids' quilt for charity.  Someone else had made the blocks and I just put them together.  I think it's a pattern I might use again sometime. 

It's a basic block that looks really easy, but creates an interesting pattern. You could lay out the blocks several other ways to get different looks.    

I worked on two other projects.  One was a quilt I need to finish for a birthday coming up so I can only give you a peek for now.

The other one I'll write more about as soon as I gift it, but I'll give you a peek of that one too.

This was probably one of the most productive retreats I've ever been to, even with all the talking, laughing, and shopping.  I'm so glad I have such good quilty friends to spend time with at retreats.  I come home motivated and inspired.  I think I might get some sewing done this month!

Prepping for Retreat and The Dreaded Math

Thinking I would get caught up on gift quilts I need to make, I cut out all the pieces for an I-Spy quilt before I left for retreat in Shipshewana last month.  I was going to get the whole top put together that week.  Seriously, once the pieces are cut it's just a matter of sitting down and sewing.  Right?  

I cut the novelty fabrics into 4 1/2" squares.  Then I cut 2" strips to make a border around them.  I knew the top and bottom strips had to be 2 x 4 1/2.  So the side strips needed to be 2 x 6 1/2.  I mean, I did the math, and I did the math, and I did the math.  Well, maybe I only did it once.  I was pretty confident about this one.   How hard can it be to put a 2" border around a square?  Sigh.....

Nuts!  That dreaded math got me again.  Every single one of the 49 blocks I prepped didn't have strips long enough for the sides.  That's what I get for doing it in my head and not sketching it out.

The easiest fix I can figure out is to put a 2" square in the top right and the bottom left of each block.  I think that looks better than a square in every corner which would create four-patches when the blocks get put together.

So, now I have all the 2" squares cut out and ready to go with me to retreat this week in St. Louis.  

I hope those squares are cut right!
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A Weekend Challenge

Recently my online quilt group had a weekend challenge to "Make a Project From What You Have on Hand."   You may not believe this, but I have plenty on hand (aka my stash).  So, I figured I could make a great project.  And I did.  

The first thing I did was pull a couple of "Summersault" charm packs by Erin McMorris which I had bought from Missouri Star Quilt Company.   

These are really fun fabrics so I decided to make a quick baby quilt to either put back for a little girl or donate to charity.  (There I go with the baby quilts again!)

After I got the top together I looked through my stash and found a great dark pink batik that worked perfectly for the borders .....

..... and the binding. 

I went digging through my stash again and found this beautiful pink and orange and yellow fabric I had bought sometime, somewhere on clearance, and there was enough for the backing.  

I did some straight line quilting (I'm getting better at it!) and finished it pretty quickly.  Then I put the binding on and finished up stitching that down by hand, a nice relaxing way to finish a weekend of sewing.  

It turned out really cute, and it was a fun weekend project.  

Wouldn't it be nice if I could get that much done every weekend?