Blue In Bloom {Finished Blue Version}

With the finish of this quilt, all of my quilting commitments for 2017 are finished (resounding echo: FINISHED!) The second of my two Blue in Bloom throw quilts is now finished!

This version is the "blue" version -- you can see the green version here. These two quilts are gifts for college girls that I advise. Last year I made my Little Firecrackers quilts for the previous ladies I advised.

As I mentioned in some of the past posts about these quilts, most of the fabrics for these quilts came from my stash. This quilt added in Kona Snow for the background and I bought the backing fabric.

For the quilting, I did all over loop-de-loops. I considered quilting this one the same way that I quilted its green twin, but I needed to change it up!

While the green version used a lot of stashed fabrics I hadn't used in other things, this blue version has a lot of fabrics from other projects! The aqua floral and dark green floral fabrics were both used in my Gathering quilt, the cobalt blue floral was used on the back of my Starburst quilt, and the multicolored diamond print was used in my Wishes quilt.

The binding is a navy, aqua, and green dot print from my stash. The backing came from one of my local quilt shops -- I think the yellow, aqua, and grey print is a fun match for the quilt top.

I am so happy with both of these quilts! I need to get them both in the mail to their recipients to enjoy for the holidays!

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Blue in Bloom, throw size
Size: 55" x 75"
Fabrics: mainly from stash, Kona Oyster for background
Quilting: meanders with daisies

(PS. Don't forget that our Etsy shop is still on sale -- you can get this pattern for 10% off or more, along with all of our listings!)

Sharing at Finish It Up Friday!

Blue in Bloom {Finished Green Version}

Hip hip hooray! The first of my two throw-sized Blue in Bloom quilts is finished!

These quilts were the two things that I worked on when I went on retreat in August. I finished both the tops before Labor Day but since then I've had a lot of deadlines and quilting these has gotten pushed back further than I originally would have liked.

All of the fabric in this green version came from my stash other than the green dot-stripe print, which I bought 5 yards of in the summer so that I could use it in both the top and the backing. A few of the fabrics are coordinates but I can't really tell you their origin story.

For the quilting, I did a large meander with six-petaled flowers. I've used this quilting motif for a number of quilts recently, but this time I used a much larger meander and flowers and the quilting on this went so fast! The green binding is also from my stash -- it's the same as the purple print in the quilt, just green!

Now to head back into the sewing room to start the quilting on its blue twin!

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Blue in Bloom, throw size
Size: 55" x 75"
Fabrics: mainly from stash, Kona Oyster for background
Quilting: meanders with daisies

Sharing at Finish It Up Friday!

Bloomed {Two Blue in Bloom Tops}

Hip hip hooray! I was able to finish the two final pieced borders of my second Blue in Bloom quilt! If you missed the first finished top you can see it here!

This quilt has a yellow outer border.

Having all of the HSTs and flying geese units ready to press and trim made putting the last two borders on so fast! I pressed and trimmed all of the units on Sunday afternoon during the baseball game (and my husband napping) and finished the borders on Sunday night.

Now both quilt tops are finished and are ready to be quilted at my leisure! The idea that I have almost three months to make that happen is such a welcome change from my normal M.O. of getting things quilted the weekend before!

Don't forget that you can get your own copy of this pattern from our Etsy shop! I've posted the yardage requirements below for those interested!

Have a happy Wednesday! Sharing at Let's Bee Social, NTT, and Finished or not Friday!

Quilt Camp {Retreat Round Up}

In the days leading up to leaving for quilt retreat last Saturday, my husband started telling me that I was going off to "quilt camp". After I told him that the place had on-site massages and pedicures, he asked if I planned to come home!

My mom and her quilt friends have been going to a few different retreat locations throughout Michigan for the last ten years or so. She has been wanting me to take the time off to go with her, and this year was the first time I have been able to make that happen.

We stayed at (and essentially never left!) Creative Passions in Chesaning, Michigan. CP opened in 2005 with one building that accommodated 16 people, and soon will be able to accommodate 101 people in 4 buildings! The owner and her team have done an amazing job remodeling two churches as well as a former mill into amenity filled retreat spaces -- which I was too busy sewing to take pictures of! We stayed in CP2 -- one of the church buildings -- and took advantage of the local restaurant that brings catering right into the kitchen for you.

I would totally, absolutely, positively go back to retreat here. The price is fabulous and there is almost no reason to leave the retreat center between being able to cook in the kitchen and order food in! I just wish it wasn't so far for me to go!

Now onto the sewing! I took my two cut Blue in Bloom projects as my main retreat projects and was able to finish one top completely and complete about two-thirds of the second!

I worked on my green version first -- and little did I realize how much longer it would take than I had originally thought! With the main green print being directional and me being much too much of a perfectionist, I spent a lot of time making sure that all of the green print pieces went in the same direction throughout the entire quilt!

The second one went together much quicker than the first but I still wasn't able to complete the quilt top before I left for the airport on Wednesday. I was able to finish the first pieced border and all of the units for the second and third pieced borders are sewn but not pressed nor trimmed yet.

I am hoping to have the second quilt done soon so that I can quilt both quilts at my leisure between now and the beginning of December! I will need to get a backing for my blue version, but that will be no problem at all!

Have a happy Friday and wonderful weekend! Sharing at Finished or not Friday!

Blue in Bloom {Project Planning}

As mentioned in my August Brutal Honesty post, I am planning to make throw sized quilts for the college girls that I advise as end-of-the-year gifts. Last year, I made the two Little Firecracker quilts for their predecessors and made a sizable dent in my 2.5 inch strip stash.

This year, I decided to again make "twin quilts" -- the same pattern for both quilts but in different color schemes. I decided on our Honey, Bunny, and Doll pattern, Blue in Bloom, originally made and designed by my sister as a king sized quilt. 

I am making the throw sized version, which finishes at 55" by 75". The first thing I needed to do was stealthily figure out what colors to use in each quilt, so I emailed one of their cohorts, who got me the 411 -- one said shades of blue and one said green. So one quilt will be a "Blue" in Bloom, and one will be a "Green" in Bloom!

For both quilts, I wanted to pull the majorities of the fabrics from my stash. This was relatively easy to accomplish given the yardage requirements for the prints: 1 1/4 yard, 3/4 yard, 1/2 yard, 1/4 yard, and 1/4 yard. 

For the Blue version, I was able to pull all of the fabric from my stash. Here are my five fabrics:

The blue large floral will be the blue in the original quilt, the yellow geometric print will be the outer green border fabric, the aqua floral will be the yellow pinwheel fabric, and the green floral and multi-colored chevron print fabrics will be the green and teal fabrics from the center. 

For the green version, I struggled to find a green or mainly green fabric in my stash that would work. I found a green dot print that I loved online and ordered 5 yards of it so that I have enough of it to back the quilt with the same fabric. 

The green dot will be the blue in the original quilt, the light green and brown floral print will be the outer green border fabric, the brown print will be the yellow pinwheel fabric, and the purple/brown and aqua medallion fabrics will be the green and teal fabrics from the center. I also have a half yard of a green/brown version of the purple/brown fabric that I plan to use as the binding.

Since these two quilt tops will be my main focus while I am on quilt retreat next week, I did all of the cutting for both of these projects other than the backgrounds.

I still need to make final decisions on the background fabric for each and cut the background fabric, but I will do that once I can compare colors in person in a few days. I am thinking white for the blue version and some sort of off-white for the green version.

Wish me luck -- my goal is for these to become complete quilt tops while I am gone!

Sharing at Finished or Not Friday!