March DrEAMi: Dynamic Haphazard Pattern/Spunky Americana

Looking at my quilt which I started working on National Quilt Day, Saturday, 3/16, you might think that I was merrily sewing together HSTs any which way and without any plan whatsoever.  It might have saved me some time if I had but my Spunky Quilt was made with the assistance of a free quilt design software program, Dynamic Patterns, created and developed by Liz of Savor Every Stitch in 2017.  This program consists of two styles, Haphazard which is just HSTs and Mondrian which is just squares.  You can see I chose the Haphazard pattern which lives up to the name because the quilt definitely looks random, unplanned and unsystematic or just plain fun.

This is a DrEAMi project for me even though it was in the making for the past several years. I first purchased a fat quarter bundle of fabric which included prints of Jennifer Sampou's Studio Stash and some bright homespuns and then added some prints by Art Gallery's Denim Studio and other homespun prints from my stash. It took me awhile to realize that these would be the right fabric to make the Haphazard Pattern with HSTs and finally used the software for the first time last year.  Since making my Postcards from Sweden last year, I've become fond of HSTs especially when I can die-cut them myself.

I did something a little different with the Dynamic Pattern program since I wanted my quilt to be 54"x72" rather than square so rather than designing an entire quilt, I designed a series of 18" blocks, like over forty. These were fun to design; after you input your HST sizes (always 6" and 3"), the colors (dark and medium blue, red, tan and yellow-I didn't get hung up on matching the exact shades) and the proportions of the sizes and colors for each block, the software program will automatically generate blocks. I couldn't stop at just twelve, even though that's all I needed. I guess this is a testament to how well Liz designed this program because I did not crash it.

I decided that this would be the project I wanted to work on for National Quilt Day so in preparation I had to choose twelve blocks from the forty designed and the ones chosen were based on the blocks which were more dark and medium blues and had more 6" HSTs than 3" HSTs. I decided to use the neon yellow homespuns sparingly in 3" HST, orange replaced the 6" yellow HST and the apple green homespun in the bundle was eliminated. After the twelve blocks were chosen, being the anal planner I am, drew each block up on graph paper, indicating the color combo which was handy so I knew how many HSTs of each color combo was needed and also when laying out and sewing the blocks.  Since each of the HSTs would have a dark blue print, I added two additional Aged Muslin dark blues to make sure I had enough variety and being the more the merrier type of quilter, I then added more reds, tans and oranges. I spent all day preparing the fabrics and die-cutting HSTs. Once that was done, I teamed up combinations of dark blues with either light blue, red, tan, orange and yellows and these combinations were the same for the 6" and 3" HSTs. And yes, I had extras.

After all of the HSTs were sewn, the blocks were put together and sewn together one at a time.  It really helped that each HST was numbered just to make sure I didn't inadvertently sewed them in the wrong order or orientation but when I did happen to do it a few times, it didn't matter except when a yellow HST was involved and placement was important, then I did take it apart.  My little display board came in handy when sewing the blocks together.  When pressing the HSTs, I pressed towards the dark blue and once the HSTs were sewn together, I pressed the seams open.

 Here's an example of the computer design and the resulting block made.  If you're wondering why I didn't just use printouts instead of spending time drawing them out on graph paper, it's because I didn't want to use up all of the color ink on my printer.  But what is nice about the printout  is that it shows how many of each color combination is needed to make the block.

There is an element of a mystery quilt after all of the blocks were sewn and then needed to be turned into a top. The left photo are all of the blocks and the right photo is the final layout. (Another pressing tip, the row of blocks were pressed in alternating directions so they nested when the rows were sewn together). While laying out the blocks, I was regretting my decision to use the neon yellow homespuns since it looked like post-it notes but after came up with a layout with the neon yellow HSTs spread out like they're bursting from the center like fireworks. I'm glad I kept them and included the orange to give this quilt its name, Spunky Americana.

Machine quilting was a breeze with vertical straight lines, approximately l" apart using Connecting Threads Essential Thread in Bluebird. The backing was also from Connecting Threads, 104" wide denim and you can see the Bluebird thread blended very nicely. I'm happy to mention that my usual stubbornness in finding the right binding paid off this time.  I was going to settle for using one of the blue Aged Muslin since I didn't have enough of the other prints, or if I did, it wasn't right but kept thinking the perfect binding for Spunky Americana would be a Debbie Mumm print, denim blue with super skinny stripes-a favorite of mine for binding, something I thought I used up all I had.  Well, after looking through my four bins of traditional blue fabrics, I was so happy to find it in the fourth bin which I wasn't going to check but am glad I did--and I had just enough--a little over one-half yard--yep, meant to be.

Would I make another Haphazard quilt--yes, especially with all of the scraps I have like Kaffe Fassett, Patriotic, Homespuns, etc.  There are so many possibilities with just using two colors like black and white or just solids and also "disappearing" the blocks like cutting them in quarters after they are sewn.  Hopefully, I won't have to wait until the next National Quilt Day to start die-cutting another one and also if I need new block patterns, I'm going to splurge and print them out-- I'll make sure I have enough color ink.

On a side note, I'm glad to have my Spunky Americana quilt ready for the March DrEAMi link-up this Saturday, 3/30 hosted by Sandra of mmm quilts who will be hosting her third QAL starting April 3rd.  Since I've participated in her other two QAL, I'm sewing the Trifeca.  Hopefully, I should be able to find the right fabric in my stash since my fabric diet is going very well.

Also, starting this month, there's a new linky party-Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs and will definitely be linking up my Spunky Americana quilt because I have to admit this is my favorite finish for March.

And lastly and more importantly, I would like to thank Liz for creating and designing the Dynamic Patterns program and allowing us quilters free access to it--it's a kind and wonderful way to share your talent.  If you're not familiar with Liz's blog, please check out Savor Every Stitch and see what an amazing quilter she is and to think she has been only quilting for just a few years now.  Her machine quilting is jaw dropping beautiful and maybe one day Liz will inspire me to try a few curves and meandering with my machine quilting. Meanwhile, if that day ever happens, I'm fine with gushing over her beautiful quilts.

Linking up with MMMiQuilts DrEAMi, Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework, Oh Scrap!, My Quilt Infatuation NTT and Meadow Mist Designs, Favorite

The Kiwi and Mango Tango Bundle Buster Quilt

I like making quilts with big blocks especially with a great pattern; Yvonne Fuchs, Quilting Jet Girl's Bundle Buster and a stash of fabrics with colorful and fun prints.  It was at least three-four years ago, I think, that I discovered this pattern through a FaceBook post by a quilt blogger that this was a free pattern offered first only to subscribers/followers of Quilting Jet Girl and the pattern will be available some day. Of course, me, the lover of strips, squares and big patches and all things simple immediately went to her website, became a subscriber and was very disappointed that the Bundle Bundle pattern was not yet for sale. Some of us are do crossword or Soduko for mental stimulation, I, on the other hand, like to figure out quilt patterns with graph paper and pencil. Usually, I can figure it out if the quilt dimensions are given.  Most of the time after I do this exercise, I put it aside and end up never making the quilt. After spending a considerable amount of time figuring out the pattern, I came up with how to make this quilt and was ready to make one since I love how this pattern having made more than one of each of the Yellow Brick Road and Turning Twenty patterns.  Would you believe after doing all of this, the next day, the Bundle Buster pattern was made available for purchase as a PDF download from Craftsy.  So, really wanting to make sure my cuts and layout were correct, I immediately purchased the Bundle Buster pattern.  Since this pattern is no longer available from Craftsy, here is the link (non-affiliate) to Quilting Jet Girl's website if you're interested in purchasing the Bundle Buster pattern.

The first time I used the Bundle Buster pattern was in 2017 as an alternate block for the Grandpa Quilt which is one of my most popular posts.  This really is a great pattern for using the large and fun prints which this quilt definitely does have.

I am surprised at myself for not having made another Bundle Buster quilt until this week since I have enough fabric in my stash to make at least ten more.  Also surprising is that I didn't think of this pattern when I purchased fat quarters of some of Pam Goecke Dinnorf's  Figment fabrics several years ago. After realizing last year that this would make a great Bundle Buster quilt, I pulled together some Japanese homespuns, scraps of Stok, Bonnie Christine and Mixologie prints (fabric used in my 2017 Freefall QAL Quilt) and a fat quarter of my favorite Chic Neutral citron yellow print to put this on my 2019 Wanna Make List.  I don't have a true 2019 Project List since this year I'm trying a Sew With A Flow attitude and I can tell you so far I may need an adjustment since I spending way too much time with yarn. Even though I love all of the colors in this quilt, the greens and oranges are near and dear to my heart, especially in the large focus prints with the spoke circles.  If I won't eat a Kiwi or a Mango, much to my son Demando's dismay, I could at least name a quilt with these two fruits.

The Bundle Buster pattern is very fat quarter friendly and efficient--there is very little waste.  For some of the fat quarters I did not cut out according to the pattern since there were some of the large focus prints I wanted to showcase and only use for the strips then there were some scraps I only had enough for a strip or a square.  Once all of the patches were cut and laid out on my design board, it sewed together very quickly despite only sewing one block at a time--it's all about the sewing sequence.

Once I decided on a backing with my usual hemming and hawing, I decided on a green gingham check homespun and quilting it with alternate straight and wavy line quilting with dark gray thread which really gives the Kiwi and Mango Tango quilt a nice, soft feel and does this quilt feel light. I was going to bind it with the same black and grey check fabric in the quilt, but opted for a black print to frame the quilt better.

Sorry for the dismal photos, but per usual, once I have a quilt to photograph, the Sun takes a day off which isn't surprising since this week's weather included freezing temperature, way too much wind, tornado warnings, snow, rain and even a 60 degree day.

Tomorrow is National Quilting Day and I've informed the Hubby who probably thinks I celebrate this everyday.  I'm looking forward to starting another new project, maybe another Bundle Buster since I already have the fabric set aside, and will be not considering working on a UFO unless it happens to jump at me when I'm in the Studio.  I hate when that happens.

Happy National Quilting Day!

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation NTT

February DrEAMi: Specks, Strips and Squares, Oh My Quilt

This quilt was an unexpected finally finish for February, or as it is properly called by Sandra of MMM quilts, a DrEAMi!. It wasn't even in my plans to make which means a Squirrel was involved. Screamer, the Squirrel, was sent to me by my down-under Quilt torMENTOR, Susan of PatchworknPlay who is one of the major reason why I started blogging with her just saying "you should start a blog-it's easy" or something to that effect.  She has a way of making me do things especially with the beautiful quilts she has made with her fabulous fabric and color combinations.  I first started following Susan when she was posting a Jen Kingwell pattern she was then making called "My Small World" and I then became aware of Jen's many wonderful, but complicated patterns.  I should have then realize that Jen and Susan seem to go hand to hand. I finished my Gypsy Wife quilt several years ago and it still makes me go cross eye when I think about the making of this quilt and, in typical fashion, as I have done with other challenging quilts, I took the easy way out and eliminated the setting strips and set the blocks sampler style.  My thought was that after all the hard work making all of these blocks, I wasn't going to do a jelly roll race at the end--this coming from me who loves to make easy quilts with strips, especially 2.5" strips.  To further solidify my feelings of any Kingwell patterns are a test of quilt fortitude, I did finish Smitten. So getting back to Susan's involvement with the making of the Specks, Strips and Squares (S3) quilt. Now remember she has a way with her words, being a teacher and all, after I had posted about finishing my Classic Meet Modern BOM quilt this past January and mentioning that it was challenging and refreshing to make something a little bit harder, she left a comment "I hope the success of it encourages you to try more difficult designs and blocks! Perhaps Delilah (a Jen Kingwell pattern) could be your next one??"  Disclaimer:  I did warn Susan about this post earlier and that I was going to throw her under the bus so hopefully I didn't break any sanctity of comments and deter anyone else from ever leaving me comments.  Well, after reading the mere mention of Jen Kingwell's name, I went into mind numb mode with a screaming "No" and my eyes started crossing, my usual reaction which is what I call Fear of Jen Kingwell patterns. Some time later, I retreated to my sewing studio with Sue's comment fresh in my head; I'm lucky I didn't fall down the stairs thus wasting the time I've already done doing physical therapy for my healed fractured knee--don't you love my dramatics and guilt I'm throwing into this post?

While in this mindset of  my Fear of Jen Kingwell patterns and putting away fabric, I came across my stash of Jen Kingwell fabric and scraps.

The scraps came from these two quilts made from a Gardenvale Jelly Roll (right) and Lollies yardage and a Behind the Scenes Jelly Roll (left) and some yardage.  Even though I had other projects I wanted to work on, I thought maybe purging any thoughts of doing a Jen Kingwell pattern, I would use her fabric from my stash and challenge myself to make a quilt with what I had; taking the easy way out once again by doing something with just strips and squares.

Since I had a Gardenvale charm pack which I received in a giveaway, I considered using either my Jelly Roll Charm Chase or my Staggered Strips and Squares patterns, but the two packs of the Speck mini charms and not having much variety with the yardage I had to make long 2.5" strips, I came up with a pattern to spread out the dots, stripes and the multi-color check print in some kind of order. This quilt is made up of 4.5" squares from the charm pack and yardage, 2.5" x 8.5" rail strips from yardage and 2.5" x 6.5" rail strips from the Speck charm pack and yardage.  It measures approx. 54" x 72".

How do you like this backing?  Would you believe that I bought this from IKEA around 2010 and is not quite the Nummer fabric that I loved and has been discontinued. I thought I make my annual mention/plea that I wish IKEA would bring back their sheeting fabric, especially Nummer, which was perfect for quilt backing.  The home dec they now carry is just too heavy although the prints are fun.

Here's a close up shots of the quilting (my go-to wavy and straight line  with black Aurifil thread) and backing.  I showed it to my son, Demando, who promptly called the backing a Nightmare and questioned who would want that on the back of their quilt.  Obviously, someone like me who thought it was sort of representative of my fear of Jen Kingwell patterns and thought it would add a quirky touch to the S3 quilt. This backing does have it's limitation, I would never use it for a baby or child quilt so I had it for awhile until the perfect quilt top for it was made. I guess it also proves that I've haven't had to make a quilt for someone I don't like because that would be the perfect time to use it.  Let me say I was getting kind of spooked when I was quilting it during the wee late hours in my downstairs studio.  The only non-Jen Kingwell fabric in this quilt, besides the backing, is the black with white dots used in the binding.

I had to include a close-up of the screaming monster which I think my mind looks when someone mentions they're working on one of Jen's patterns. Doesn't it look like it's screaming a long, expressive "Noooo!" I'm glad I could finally let others in, which I may have already done, on my Fear of Jen Kingwell patterns in this post; it's all in good fun now. Knowing me, I wouldn't be surprised after this post, I'll probably do another since I do have her Glitter templates which have been sitting around for awhile. 

They say that good things come in threes or is it three times the charm. So after thinking about this, I have done three Kingwell patterns, Gypsy Wife, Smitten and Flutterby and I've now made three quilts with Jen Kingwell fabrics so I think I've earned an unofficial merit badge and I should be pretty good for awhile before I attempt another pattern. Leave it to my beloved Quilt torMENTOR Sue who left me a new comment, thus a new challenge, on my Pinky quilt about making another one called Blinky after an Australian book character named Blinky Bill.  I'm going to need some Koala fabric. BTW, I never responded to Sue for her Jen Kingwell comment so I hope she accepts this Post as my reply.  Also, do check out her Delilah quilt, it is absolutely stunning; it inspired some of my fabric and color choices for some of my quilts last year.  Send her some love but don't tell her who sent you.

Linking up with MMMiQuilts DrEAMi, Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework, Oh Scrap! and My Quilt Infatuation NTT

Another February Finally Finish: Pinky

I started the Pinky quilt during the first week of January which is a good time of year to make a quilt with bright, happy colors to celebrate the new year and to help me forget the cold, dreary weather outside. Also, another reason for making this quilt was the commitment I made this year to finally use my stash of Tula Pink fabric which I've been collecting for several years now and I was, in my mind, at risk of being issued a citation by the Tula Pink enforcers for fabric abandonment.  As soon as I finished the top, I had to set it aside for other projects and finally was able to finish this quilt this past Saturday. I thought I should explain why I named this quilt Pinky which is no disrespect to Tula Pink's name, since I don't like being called "Rosie". I first was going to name it Totally Tula, but realized  since this quilt is a variation of the Slinky quilt I finished last year, Pinky seemed fit better.

  

This quilt measures approximately 56"x76".  The squares were cut 4-1/2" and the solid Mint strips were cut 4-1/2" wide and the lengths were cut in 4-1/2", 8-1/2", 12-1/2" and 16-1/2" increments.  I used my two Chipper charms packs and trimmed them to 4-1/2" which is a good thing I did since none of the squares were a consistent 5" square as they should be. After my squares were trimmed and additional 4-1/2" squares were cut from my stash, I put them in an order so that it was easy to put them up on my display board. After the first four rows were up, I could see that Pinky lacked any spark or energy.  I didn't take a photo so you will have to take my word that the quilt was going to be lifeless but then it's a good thing since there's no proof of this attempted misuse of beautiful fabric and I could have been banned from ever using Tula Pink fabrics again by the you know who enforcers.

I don't understand why my initial batch of squares did not include the Queen Elizabeth head print nor the orange Tabby Cat print nor the bright green silouhette print. I also added some squares from more current fabric lines like Spirit Animal.  Truth be told, I don't like fussy cutting but really should have for these prints. After these much needed squares were added to the mix, this quilt finally had some spark.

I think it also helped, that unlike the Slinky quilt, the Pinky rows were offset unevenly on each  side which, pardon the mention of the fabric line, added to the "Free Spirit" feel and look.  Even though I had to refigure my layout, I think it was worth it.  Because the rows were offset, I did not add the top and bottom borders since I thought it would look funny.  The solid Mint fabric was the perfect complement to the many prints used and was included in a Tulip Pink kit which I purchased from Craftsy many years ago. Yes, I'm guilty of buying kits just for the fabric and no intentions of using the pattern especially when it goes on sale.

Here are some close-ups of the squares and the wonky loops I quilted with the perfect Essential thread I had in Mint.

Since I started a new fabric fast this year, I had to break it when we were in Texas last month where I found this Art Gallery print on sale for 50% off; I knew it would be perfect for Pinky. The fabric I already had, which was just okay, will be returned to the backing vault to wait for another quilt. I did use a Tula Pink fabric for the binding.

More often than not, whenever I have a finally finish, you can bet the weather is not going to co-operate for taking outside photos.  I should let the local weather reporters know that I could help them with their weather predictions by telling them if I have a finally finish quilt I want to photograph. I was ready to post with just inside photos of the quilt, which most of them are, but thankfully, Monday's weather allowed me to take a photo of Pinky on the front porch. Posting just doesn't look right if an outside photo of my quilt is not included.

Here's a photo of the layout for the Pinky Quilt, the top layout is based on 5" cut squares and would measure 60"x76" and the bottom one would be for 4-1//2" cut squares which is the one I used.  The numbers at the end of each row is the finished size for the setting strips and the numbers in the middle refers to the number of squares needed. I know I'm going to make more of these, especially with all of the charm packs I have in my stash and, of course, my partners in quiltmaking, my die-cutters.  To add to the "Inky" theme of these quilts which I seem to have started, if I make them crib size, they're going to be named "Binky".  I really don't think there won't be a "Kinky" or "Stinky" version though.

The only good thing about this cold weather we're having for the past weeks is that it makes for some good sewing time.  My SewJo has returned and yesterday's yarn yearning has been tempered down a bit. I sure can't wait for Spring and sunshine or as I sometimes refer to as good photo-taking weather.  The Master Quilt Holder doesn't like standing out in the cold, especially this Winter.

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation NTT

A Finally Finish: Thirties Tart

Since I started quilting over twenty years ago, I always had a project using 30's fabrics.  I posted about my love for 30's fabrics in my last Throwback Thursday post.  In this post, I briefly mentioned my, then, current project "Thirties Tart" which I started last September.

I was inspired to make this quilt after seeing Shannon's (The Fleming Nine) Sweetart Pattern and I knew it would be perfect for a modern 30's quilt made with my stash of Judie Rothermel's Around the World with Aunt Grace fabric.  I bought this fat quarter bundle back in 2005 and for the past few years have been anxious for this stash to be finally used.  I really love the black and white print, it's so modern looking and I'm glad I purchased three yards of it back then.

As mentioned in my Throwback Thirties post, I made a slight change with the Sweetart block layout since I wanted to showcase the 30's prints more than the bright, happy green fabric.

Shannon's Sweetart Quilt had the most exquisite quilting and there was no way I could duplicate it so I thought about doing my usual straight line quilting but didn't think it would work.  Instead, I decided I would QAYG each of the 30 blocks.  I've done several QAYG quilts and there are several good tutorials available online.  I used a 40wt Black Aurifil thread because I really wanted the quilting to show.  You can see that the blocks were not quilted at least 1/2" from the edge of the blocks to save this area for when the backing is added.

After the blocks were quilted, I trimmed each block the same size of 12". 

The blocks were sewn together with a 1/4" seam, although 3/8" is recommended but I didn't because it would have affected the look of the blocks.  The next time I will use a 3/8" seam since it will make pressing the seams open easier.  Also, when pressing the seams, I recommend setting your iron to medium heat or whatever the highest setting the batting will take. I really wasn't looking forward to sewing the blocks together but thanks to pinning the blocks together, which I usually don't do, they sewed together nicely.  It also helped that there were no block seams to line up.

Remember the 1/2" space I left on each side of the blocks?  With the big red arrows pointing, you see on the left photo, how the quilt top looked before the backing was added and once it was, the quilting matched.  The nice thing about the QAYG method, you only need to quilt the block seams once the backing is added.  I don't know why I don't do this more often, seeing that it's a great way to use up the scrap batting.  On a table runner  I QAYG, one of the corners did pucker after it was washed but that could have been caused by me not pressing the top and backing together well.  Before I pin basted the Thirties Tart top and backing together, I made sure to press them well together. Also I would not quilt 1/2" on the vertical edges until it is done first on the horizontal edges to avoid puckering.

I really like how the quilt drapes and the backing feels soft and snuggly agains the body.  Lucky me for also purchasing enough of the light floral print from the Trip Around the World With Aunt Grace line for the backing. Even though batting is sewn with the seams, the extra thickness is visually and tactilely almost unnoticeable.  One tutorial I've seen, suggested trimming the corners after the blocks are joined to reduce bulk but I didn't.

I chose to bind the quilt with the same black fabric in the quilt and thankfully remembered where I stored it after looking for it for ten minutes.  I hate when this happens.  For a brief moment I thought about sewing the binding down by hand because after all my other 30's quilts had hand sewn binding but then I remembered that this is my first made modern 30's quilt in which all of the patches were die cut and I did modern quilting via QAYG, so, of course the binding could be sewn down by my sewing machine.

Sorry for the limited photos of the finished quilt.  This is the time of year when it's really hard to take good photos of your quilts outside.  Here in my part of the Midwest, we had two ice storms and rain this week.  Today, the sun did make an appearance but it came with 30+mph winds.  Really it would have been perfect if it was a bright, sunny summer day and the Thirties Tart quilts was hung over a white fence.  Since that wasn't a possibility, I did photo editing again (this time not using a Bison nor an Elk as a prop) with a quilt over my yellow bike when it was brand new just to give me a visual of what a wonderful Summer quilt this is and hope that warm weather is coming soon.

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation NTT

Yarn Yearning

This image obtained from Pinterest and is being used to explain my brief quilt hiatus

Yep, the Squirrel has gotten me obsessed with yarn which I've became reacquainted with while recuperating from my fractured left knee cap.  I haven't posted since January 11th for several reasons, I've been knitting and looming and then there was a vacation to Texas this past week. I didn't want to draw attention to this since I didn't want to jinx it and there was to be no referring to it as a "trip" since that's what I did on our last vacation.  Physical Therapy is almost over and I would say I'm 90-95% back to normal. Hopefully this post will explain my busy-ness and absence from my usual blogland activities.  I really wish someone would invent a foot pedal mouse so I could scroll down reading posts while using my hands for sewing and now for knitting/looming.

It first started innocently with knitting dishcloths and then once I was out of my knee brace I still wanted to knit some more especially after seeing two bloggers who also quilt and knit (Helen, whom I admired the sweaters and socks she knits and Mary, who knitted hats which reminded me of the hats my late mother knitted for my boys when they were little). After I knitted the first hat for my Hubby and bought all of these circular needles in different sizes and lengths, I discovered knitting looms which I think have been around for ten years and I had never heard of them until I saw them on Pinterest.  So after hats were knitted or loomed, I discovered cowls which again have been both knitted and loomed.  BTW, cowls made on a loom make a very nice and fast gift which I've given to my Physical Therapist and his Assistant, which is way nicer than my hands around their necks which I thought of giving them when I first started therapy,  and also to my Hair Stylist as an apology for not remembering my appointments.  I even made cowls for two of my dogs which I call Howl Cowls and if I ever make one for someone at my church, I'm going to call them Holy Cowls.

Now I've knitted two shoulder shrugs and in the process of looming a triangle shawl and knitting a poncho which I did while on vacation.  I never knew you could knit a long rectangle to make a poncho.  Over the past four months, I've learned so much about knitting and looming, thanks to Pinterest and youTube and, yes, I do have a yarn stash now along with many knittings needles and looms.  Like my quilting, I have a similar style, I like my stitches easy and my pieces square or rectangular.  I don't think I will challenge myself with knitting a sweater which fortunately I do not like wearing.

I'm ready to hop back on the quilt wagon now and can set aside my "Yarn Yearning" as my Hubby calls it and finish these four projects I finally got going, after taking a yarn break, right before we left on vacation .  I should have a finally finish soon so I can have something to post. Sometimes, you just need to take a break from quilting, but not too often, just like blogging, right?

Lastly, here is my Happy Flower appliqué project which I've cut the background squares before leaving for vacation with the intention of working on them while in Texas; didn't happen at all.  This project was inspired by Rene' Creates and I just read her recent Instagram post that she started a knitting project now.  There must be a Knit Bug or Yarn Yearning going around.

Hope you are having a great Super Bowl Sunday and if you're like me, it's a great day for quilting and taking a yarn break.

First Finally Finish for 2019: Classic Meets Modern QAL Quilt

It should be no surprise that my Classic Meets Modern (CMM) quilt is my first Finally Finish for the new year since the linky party for this wonderful QAL ends on January 15th.  Nothing makes the year go by fast when a block of the month is involved. This was a twelve month QAL which started a year ago last January and the last blocks were made in November. December was the month to sew the blocks/sections together and being the holidays, an extra two weeks was given to post the finished quilt which was very much appreciated.  

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed participating in the Classic Meets Modern QAL which was hosted by Kelly Young of My Quilt Infatuation.  I can truly say that there wasn't a block I didn't like and definitely there were a lot of blocks I absolutely loved making, some which I've never made before and some of them were old friends.  I love the variety of sizes of each block, from as big as 24" to as small as 6", the patches were incremented in easy sizes, no 3/16" or 5/8", and I was able to die-cut many of the patches.  These blocks were definitely not fast to make: I did have to take time to read the instructions, make sure the patches were orientated to the right direction and yes, my seam ripper was used many times.  Old skills which haven't been used for awhile were revived for this quilt which was a good thing since I tend to make a lot of "easy" quilts. I had to tally the number of patches in this quilt which was surprisingly only around 630; to me I would have bet that the CMM quilt had a thousand pieces.  It also felt like a large quilt but it's only 60" x 72". I am amazed at how well all of the 28 blocks "clicked" together.  Kelly did a wonderful job of designing this quilt-it is clever.  If I had one tip it would be to press all the seams open, which I did not do all of the time and those were the blocks I had a little problem when sewing them to the other blocks. Unlike my usual disposition of once a Block of the Month quilt is finished and I am so over it, I am sorry to say good-bye to this one done.  My CMM quilt will have happy making thoughts and not the shivers which my Gypsy Wife quilt still gives me even after three years. BTW, the Classic Meets Modern pattern is available in Kelly's Etsy Shop (not an affiliate link).

One of the reasons why I wanted to participate in the CMM QAL was that I thought it would be a great pattern to finally use my Zen Chic's Figures stash which was waiting for just the right quilt to come along.  These fabrics were on my 2018 Must Use List. In addition to these fabrics, I used light prints from other Moda lines since I wanted to use a lot of light prints to make the bright colors pop.

As for the machine quilting, I thought straight lines, 1" apart would be just right since I wanted my CMM quilt to be all about the pattern and fabric and really it's the only type of quilting I'm comfortable with doing.  I usually say a prayer before I start machine quilting and I may have done several for this quilt because I really did not want to mess it up after months of working on the blocks.  I'm happy to say my lines were mostly straight and even and maybe there are a few wavy spots but, all in all, I think the quilting does not distract from the wonderfulness of this quilt.  I was going to use a Connecting Thread's light blue but then remember that I had a brand new spool of Aurifil in light gray with blue tones which was perfect.  I'm amazed at how much Aurilfl thread can be wound on a bobbin, (I've been known to fall asleep while waiting for bobbins to fill up) and I only needed four bobbins to do all the quilting and binding.

The binding I ended up using is a navy blue and white diagonal check from Moda's Pedal Pusher by Camille and Jessica Jung which is one of my favorite go-to prints. I think it adds a nice traditional but modern feel to the CMM Quilt.  I thought I was only to use one of the darker blue print from the Figures line but I did not have enough left and maybe it was a good thing since I think it would have distracted from the lightness of the quilt.  When I was sewing the finishing blocks, I was on fabric fumes and these blocks were made with whatever fabric I had enough of remaining.  I could have made a scrappy binding but I'm still a" No-Go" in that department.

And would you believe I made a pieced backing for this quilt being on a fabric diet this year.  I used yardage of a Dear Stella navy blue herringbone print with remains of the Figures fabric.  Pieced backings are and still will be one of my least favorite things to sew and you can probably tell that it is by my lack of imagination on this backing.

This is all which is left of my once mighty Zen Chic's Figures stash.  I do think I can use these to make slab blocks from Kelly Young's Stash Statement Book which is another wonderful technique and I think Kelly may be doing a QAL using this method.  I hope so since I really love this fabric line and I have other fabric lines with the same colors which when combined together will make great slab blocks.

Another photo of my CMM Quilt.  Master Quilt Holder hasn't done this in awhile and was getting tired after only six photos.  Thankfully, the weather co-operated and I was able to take some photos outside.  This is the time of year when taking quilt photos is stressful and my thinking goes into overdrive as to how I can get better photos.  This time it's emptying the living room and turning it into a photo studio.  Maybe I should start reminding Master Quilt Holder that I still want a clothes line in the backyard and after today's photo session, he might be more receptive. 

We're expecting some snow this weekend which makes for some good sewing time and I already have a project lined up.

Happy Sewing!

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation CMM Finale, My Quilt Infatuation, NTT and Cooking Up Quilts, Main Crush Monday