Round #3 - Kim @ Ties That Bind Quilting {Round Trip Quilts}

Have you met Kim from Ties that Bind Quilting?  She is one of the participants in our Round Trip Quilts adventure.  Read more about that here and here.  Most of the time you can find Kim on Instagram and Flickr.

Straight out of the package.

Instead of going with a theme for her quilt Kim decided that her colorway would be her theme to tie all of our additions together.  Both Heather and Liz did an amazing job adding to Kim's quilt top so I knew that my addition had to be equally fabulous.

Final fabric pull.

I simply spent a long time looking at Kim's quilt.  It was so busy! But in the best way possible.  Each idea I came up with felt like it would detract from what Kim, Heather, and Liz had already done and just make it busier.  Everything I auditioned made me feel like the quilt was holding it's breath!  And I really felt like it needed to exhale.  I finally decided to do some wonky triangle-type things.  When I laid them out I had two options...

Layout Option 1

Layout Option 2

I liked option 1 best.  I liked the weight that the center diamonds gave the block.  However, I put the question to Kim to find out which she preferred.  I'm glad I did.  She liked option 2 better.  I still wasn't sold.  So I let it sit for a few more days and came back to it.  I'm glad I did.  When I was playing with the pieced trying to decide which way I wanted the option 2 "butterfly centers" to face I stumbled upon a third option I hadn't though of before.  Wonky, crazy, flying geese!  I started with the blocks/colors mis-matched but then realized that I could match them up to make the geese more prominent in the design... and I LOVE IT! 

Like Kim's notebook says: TRUST YOUR CRAZY IDEAS

Close up of the border

I really like how what I did still creates movement in the top and I think the geese still reflect some of the weight that I liked about my first option.  I hope that Kim agrees.

I'm still playing with possibly trying to attach what Heather added to the top with the addition of some more of my crazy geese, but I'm not totally sold on it yet.  I still have 7 days to decided before our mailing deadline.  This one is heading to Canada to stay with Leanne for a few weeks next.

Quilt top after my addition.  Looks crooked but it's because the ground is sloped.  

The other nice surprise is that when I was making the base squares for my design I sewed a quick 1/4 inch seam on the other side of the piece I was cutting off and saved them.  They make the cutest little half-square triangles.  The biggest one is only 1 1/2 inches across.  I'd like to keep them and make a fun little mini quilt to hang at work with the first one I made out of extra blocks from Heather's quilt (which I just realized I didn't blog about, time to fix that!)  I like the idea of having a little gallery of minis inspired by and created out of the pieces that I'm added to these quilts.  It would be a fun way to remember each project.

Happy Quilting!

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story for the first time.

2015 Finish-Along {Q1 Goals}

Have you heard that Adrianne from On the Windy Side is hosting this years Finish-Along?  I have never participated in the past but I figured it could be a good way for me to stay on track with my goal of finishing up my languishing WIPs and UFOs this year.

My goals for Q1:

1. Quilt and bind this red and white hourglass quilt destined to belong to a friends daughter.

2. Quilt and bind my Orange Peel Quilt-Along top.

no pictures for these yet...

3. Finish up my Modern Double Cross quilt.
4. Complete commission quilts.  More on this to come later.
5. Bind my Carpenters Star quilt so I can FINALLY gift it.


I think I'll stop there before I over commit myself!

Peach, Rose, and Plum Bee Blocks - A Finished Baby Quilt

Hello!  I'm still alive.  Just busy with work at the moment so I haven't had much time for sewing.  I did finish something though.  The best part?  It's one of the projects I shared with you back in my 100th post.


Remember these blocks?  They were supposed to be for our wedding but we changed the color scheme and never used them.  I had intended to piece the baby's name and include that in the top but I said "forget it!" and sewed it up using what I had.

This approach was really perfect for baby and her parents.  They are great about making due with what they have and living simply.  Everything for baby is hand-me-downs.  So I tried to embrace that spirit and finish this up for baby.

I found some coral and purple yardage in my stash that I thought coordinated nicely and went to work piecing up the top.  I decided to keep it simple and just set the blocks slightly off center.

The backing is more yardage I picked up for the wedding originally but never used.  Lucky for me it was an extra-wide yardage so I didn't have to piece the back.  **Win!**  I quilted the background simply in long loopy lines that should keep it nice and soft for baby and stitched in the ditch around the star blocks.

On a whim I decided to round the corners of the quilt.  I'm glad I did.  I love the soft look it gives the whole thing.  I bound it using more fabric from my stash that doesn't exactly match but... hey, baby won't care and neither do I.  I'll be gifting it to baby and Mom and Dad in the next few days.  I hope they love it!

I'm happy to also check this off and one of my 30+ WIPs and UFOs as well!  Making progress one quilt at a time.

Linking up with Show Off Saturday.

Round #2 - Heather @ QA Creations {Round Trip Quilts}

I had a lot of ideas when I first received Heather's beautiful Round Trip Quilts top.  Liz at Green Cheese Quilting had done an amazing job and I was very excited to dive into my addition to the top.  I had to laugh because Liz had some difficulty at the post office so the package looked all beat up but everything was there, right where it should be!

Heather sent me some extra words to work with half-way through but I already knew exactly what I wanted to make.  Eventually this pile of fabrics turned into a pile of blocks.  Then I had to get busy top stitching.

I used white thread to top-stitch my sample block but kept going back and forth about using some brighter colors.  It was a solid toss up between a beautiful purple variegated thread and some fantastic hot pink that was the perfect clashy-bright color.

The purple variegated won out.  It went with Heather's color theme better.  The color is good.  It blends nicely on some of the pieces and really pops on others, without being overwhelming.

I managed to finish up my addition on Friday after Thanksgiving, only three days late.  I was travelling for the weekend visiting family so I quickly snapped some shots in the snow on Saturday morning before I left the house and popped it in the mail as soon as we drove by an open post office.  Leanne, you should be seeing it soon!

The piece I added is nearly the same size as what Liz and Heather created but I think it will coordinate nicely with the rest of the quilt.  I like how my brighter pinks accent the pinks that Liz used to make her "waves".

When I was done piecing I had  20 extra window blocks and debated between keeping them to make another mini quilt or sending them along with the top for someone to add later.  I thought that since I already had a mini I should let Heather and her daughter enjoy them instead.  If you want to make some of your own, I wrote up a tutorial on how I made these.

Happy Quilting!

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story for the first time.