Quilt around the Clock {Quilt Camp Review}

I'm back home after a wonderful few days sewing my heart out!

Let's review my project progress:

My first project was to make two quilt tops using our Hip To Be Square pattern and Island Batik fabrics for my November Island Batik blog hop project. I won't show off the full tops until the blog hop, but here is a sneak peak:

As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Batting to use and share with you

My second project is my September Island Batik project -- I cut all of the pieces using my Accuquilt cutter to make Ohio Star blocks. I finished all of the blocks, but haven't set the blocks into a quilt yet.

My other projects were my "just for me" projects!

My Moxi charm packs were turned into this darling little quilt top. It is 40" by 48" -- perfect for a little baby quilt.

I also started working on my Marigold quilt. I realized that unfortunately, I can only cut two leaf arches per 10" square, which means I need to order more green fabric. I made my test block and am extremely happy with how it came out. I will need to add the applique sections at another time.

I'll take a little diversion here before I show off my last project. In the first two years I went on retreat, I worked on rather time consuming projects and only got through a few things. This year I knew my projects were not as labor intensive and I actually seriously underestimated how fast those projects would go!

So on Tuesday morning, I took a quick ride to one of the local quilt shops and picked up some fabrics for a totally new project. I had actually brought my Pave the Way pattern and I picked fabrics to make that quilt! I started working on the flying geese for the different blocks.

I made a lot of progress on my projects and had a wonderful time with my mom! Hopefully these new projects will become finished projects before too long!

Sharing at Wednesday Wait Loss and Moving It Forward!

Starburst Wall Hanging {Finished Quilt}

My Island Batik version of our long-time favorite Starburst pattern is now complete!

For the quilting, I picked out a tan Aurifil thread that is nearly the same shade as the tan batik that I used in the blocks and for the inner border. I drew inspiration from my Magnolia quilt and quilted the blocks with different motifs and a consistent filler in the background. I used a meander with a "shell" in the background.

Here are my first two blocks close up.

I used the grey batik for the backing, and here is the first block quilted, from the backside! For the batting, I used a Hobbs silk blend batting -- my first time using a silk blend -- because I know this will be a wall hanging and not a throw quilt and likely will not need washed (or less frequently washed.)

I used the tan thread everywhere except the dark teal border, where I used a light teal thread and quilted leaves.

Here's the quilt top, post quilting, post trimming, pre binding. Also notice how well this quilt matches the rug -- it might end up being hung in this room!

Here's a photo showing the sold batik backing and how the quilting shows up on it. The two different thread colors are more apparent on the back than on the front, but I think the teal thread looks amazing on the dark border.

For the binding, I used the steel blue mottled print that I used in some of the borders. I made a hanging sleeve for this quilt and added it when I added the binding.

Get your own copy of Starbursts on Etsy! As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Batting to use and share with you!

Quilt stats:
Name: Starbursts Wall Hanging
Pattern: Starbursts by us
Fabrics: Island Batiks
Techniques: Paper piecing, free motion quilting
Batting: Hobbs Silk blend
Quilting: various FMQ designs
Size: 48" square
Started: July 2019
Finished: August 2019
Future: TBD

Sharing at Needle and Thread Thursday!

Star-Crossed {Starburst Quilt Top}

It's time to show off my Starburst quilt top before I start quilting it!

Taking a quick rewind, here are my blocks before adding my sashings.

I moved around the locations of some of the blocks from this layout slightly while putting together the quilt top. I used the simple sashing option without cornerstones for my quilt top.

I used the tan mottled batik for my smaller inner border and the dark navy/teal print for the border.

For the backing, I am planning to use a chunk of the solid batik fabric provided in our most recent Ambassador box; save the pretty fabrics for the quilt tops!

Now I'm ready to quilt this beauty! What color (or colors) of thread do you think I'll be using?

Get your own copy of Starbursts on Etsy! As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Batting to use and share with you

Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt {Finished Quilt}

In my push to finish, finish, finish, I got my Pineapple Log Cabin quilt finished before it languished on a shelf for 6, 12, or 18 months -- unlike a lot of other finishes this year! Here's the quilt top when it was completed in June:

When I started this quilt, I got all of the supplies for it at one time -- I thought ahead and included the batting and a spool of Aurifil thread the same time I ordered the fabric. Sometimes, I forget about batting and thread -- especially batting! -- and that ends up being an impediment to finishing something. 

(That being said, I have started a new column on my WIP/UFO spreadsheet -- a "shopping list" column -- to note what I need to get to finish a quilt. My hope is that I can be more proactive about making sure I have everything I need for a project.)

For the quilting on this quilt, I got a spool of variegated Aurifil 50 wt. thread -- the color is "teal spotted". However, I used a solid color light teal for all of the bobbins. I found it to be much easier to work from the two spools for top thread and bobbin thread rather than to use the variegated thread in both the top and the bobbin.

This is the largest quilt (and I think actually the only "quilt") that I have quilted using variegated thread. I believe I've only ever quilted table runners and mini quilts with variegated thread before. For the design, I attempted to copy the same chrysanthemum motif that my mom used to quilt my Good Fortune quilt. But being "on brand" for myself, my flowers are denser and smaller. 

Regardless, I really liked using this design and found it easy to move across the quilt, to fill in spaces of various shape and size, and only once did I run out of bobbin mid-quilt-stream. 

For the binding, I had set aside a half yard of one of my fabrics -- a fun striped, scalloped print -- and turned the entire half yard into some really awesome bias binding. The whole half yard was more than I needed, but now I have enough bias binding for a mini quilt ready to go. 

This quilt turned out quite lovely and the color scheme was a fun diversion from my typical choices.

In my head, I call this the "OG Cotton + Steel quilt" since most of the prints are from the first few Cotton + Steel collections. I missed out on a lot of these fabrics when they came out since I am a quilter on a serious budget, but holy man do these fabrics feel amazing in the hand. 

I'm *very* glad I sort of maybe over-ordered and have lots left over. 

Quilt stats:

Name: Pineapple Log Cabin // The OG C+S Quilt

Pattern: Modified version of the Pineapple Day pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop

Fabrics: Various old Cotton + Steel prints

Techniques: Paper piecing

Quilting: free motion quilted chrysanthemums

Size: 67" x 55"

Started: May 2019

Finished: August 2019

Future: TBD

Into the Wild {Quilt Camp Prep}

I am so excited to head back to "Quilt Camp" aka quilt retreat with my mom next week!

As I have done the last two years, today I'm sharing about the projects I am planning to work on while I am off in quilting land next week.

My first project is actually two projects. For my November Island Batik blog hop project, I received a very large bundle of fabric and split it up into two colorways to make two different versions of our Hip to Be Square pattern. I've actually never made our Hip to Be Square pattern before (shocking!) and this collection's larger prints are going to be a perfect fit for this pattern.

As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Batting to use and share with you

My second project is my September Island Batik project -- another baby quilt, but this time using the new block-on-board die I received recently. I will be using the Quiet Shades fabrics to make some sort of Ohio Star block quilt, final design to be determined. I cut enough block parts for 16 blocks, but I'm going to take some of the fabrics with me so that I can decide on the layout and setting once the blocks are complete. Here are my fabrics, prior to cutting:

My third project is turning these two charm packs into a smaller version of the older Moda Bake Shop pattern, Four Squared.  The original quilt is larger -- 56" x 64" -- and I am hoping to just use up all of the charm squares to make as big of a quilt top as I can.

My fourth project is making a small version of the Marigold quilt using some fabrics I have been hoarding for years from the Joel Dewberry Bungalow line. (I have the purple colorway of the line set aside to make an epic Double Wedding ring.)  I have used this pattern before to make a mini quilt, but I have always wanted to make a larger version.

Let's see how many of these projects I actually accomplish and how many tops that I finish!

Lucky Stars {Starburst Blocks}

The blocks for this month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge are complete! I'll have a finished Starburst top in no time!

I finished up blocks 6 through 9; these blocks are the most intricate blocks of the bunch and so they took a little longer than the first five blocks.

Here are these four blocks together:

Here are all nine of my blocks together:

Back to the grind to finish this quilt top! Get your own copy of Starbursts on Etsy!

Sharing at Wait Loss Wednesday and Needle and Thread Thursday! As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Batting to use and share with you

Catch a Falling Star {Starburst in Progress}

I've been putting the pedal to the metal (or really, my hardwood floors) on my paper pieced Starburst blocks for this month's Island Batik Ambassador challenge!

For this installment of creating my constellation with fabrics, I've finished up blocks 2 through 5.

Here are these four blocks together:

So far, the darker blue-grey and the tan batiks are the two non-strip fabrics I have mixed into my blocks. I'd like as much of the block piecing as possible to come from my 2.5" strips but the first couple blocks have quite a bit of piecing that requires pieces wider than 2.5".

Only four more blocks to go! Get your own copy of Starbursts on Etsy! As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs Batting to use and share with you

Magnolia Mystery Quilt {Finished Quilt}

I set a hard-stop limit on myself that I wasn't going to allow myself to start the new mystery quilt (Mosaic Mystery Quilt) until I finished my Magnolia quilt and now I have one fewer WIP on my list!

Here's the quilt post-trimming, pre-binding:

For the binding, I used a red cable print and cut it to create the stripey binding.

The grey thread was the exact right shade for the background fabric (Kona Coal) but isn't too obtrusive on the print fabrics. I bound this quilt entirely by machine and used white thread to do the final top stitching but had grey in the bobbin since it blended well on the backing fabric as well.

My quilt is slightly modified from the original pattern -- I added the sashings and cornerstones between the blocks and my quilt has the blocks running vertically rather than horizontally (however the picture above is hung the other way just because it shows the blocks better). I think the final size is similar to the original pattern.

I have made quite a few red, blue, teal, and green quilts lately!
April Showers
Good Fortune

Quilt stats:
Name: Magnolia mystery quilt
Pattern: Magnolia Mystery Quilt by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs, modified
Fabrics: Kona Coal and scraps for piecing
Quilting: free motion quilted meanders and semi-custom quilted blocks
Size: 70" x 60"
Started: August 2017
Finished: August 2019
Future: TBD

Sharing at Brag About Your Beauties and Oh Scrap!

Also sharing at Favorite Finishes for August!