Clover Sunshine Sampler {Finished Quilt}

This quilt was a very long term WIP -- started in 2014 as part of my QCQAL -- the top was finally constructed in 2015, and I finally have it quilted and finished! Hooray!

Most of the blocks used in this quilt were featured as tutorials on my blog in Summer 2014. Many of the other blocks have easy to find tutorials and patterns in other places.

I talked a little about starting to quilt this quilt here, and wanted to add a few more notes in this finish post. The further I moved out from the center, the easier and easier quilting this quilt became. It is about 70 inches square -- so a rather large throw -- so working on the center blocks was rather difficult. Finally getting to the edges was cause for celebration!

I didn't count the rings or sew my spirals to a particular width or size -- I mostly just kept continuing the spiral until it filled in the "nooks" left by my previous spirals. The spirals don't equally overlap because the blocks are not perfectly arrayed in the quilt. I also had to add in a few "tiny spirals" along the edges to fill in some open spaces as well.

Here's a picture of the backing (major kudos to Park Ranger Husband for being willing to put shoes on to help me take these pictures):

I ordered the backing and then got the dreaded email stating that I was getting the last of the fabric in stock -- but it was in two pieces. I realized after getting it that had it been in one piece, it would have actually not been big enough for the quilt! So I added in a half yard of Summersault fabric so that it ended up being the correct size. I also made sure all of my diagonal stripes went in the same direction.

For the binding, I had just enough of my white backing fabric! It has a different sort of look having a lighter binding with a slightly darker quilt. I sewed the binding by machine to the front and hand stitched it to the backing.

This is going to be my new summer couch quilt!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Clover Sunshine Sampler
Fabrics: Clover Sunshine by Alison Glass, Champagne Kona
Size: 70 inches square
Quilting: One extra large spiral per block, overlapping (with a few extra arches near the edges!)

Sharing at Finish it up Friday!

PS. Don't forget to check out our summer Kona special! The two sizes are the yardages needed for the Magnolia QAL, but it's always a good time to stock up on Kona, right?

In a Spiral {Quilting My Alison Glass Sampler}

After sitting on my shelf for over a year, getting moved in January, and then sitting on the shelf for another 4 months, I have finally started quilting my original QCQAL sampler quilt. This was my second quilt along all the way back in 2014. I finished the top in 2015, and am just now getting to quilt this quilt. Here's a picture from when I put the top together originally:

The background is Kona Champagne and the fabrics originally came from a fat quarter of Clover Sunshine that I won from a now-defunct blog.

My plan for quilting this quilt was to quilt 25 spirals -- one centered in each block -- instead of one gigantic spiral so that I would be able to FMQ all of the spirals instead of having to use my walking foot (I hate my walking foot -- but that is a conversation for another day.)

Instead of pinning the whole quilt, I started off only quilting the center block and one block on either side. I always run into issues when FMQ-ing with my backing shifting, so I decided to not even fight it this time around, and just deal with pinning each section as I move through the quilt.

As of now, I have 7 of my 25 spirals completed. Here are pictures of the first four spirals that I did:

Side note: because the background is champagne but my backing fabric is white, I'm using a very light tan thread on the front and white thread in the bobbin. I have had to be kind of neurotic about making sure that I use the right thread in both places!

I'm almost done with the center nine blocks which means the hardest part of this process is nearly over! Even just moving from the center block to the inner ring was a huge improvement as far as bulk and quilt movement goes!

Cheers to pushing things ever so slightly closer to the finish line!

Sharing at NTT!

HBD Designs: Made by YOU!

One of the most exciting things about being a pattern designer is seeing people make quilts from your designs! Today I wanted to share a few quilts made by you inspired by our patterns!

First, we have Debra's Starburst Quilt. She participated in our original quilt along and here is her finished quilt!

Next we have Jordan's version of Square Pegs. She made an ombre effect quilt!

Finally, I wanted to share a few quilts made by my mom (the Honey of HBD!) who is always willing to play along with our quilt alongs and new patterns! She is the official pattern tester of HBD. :)

First we have her QCQAL quilt from 2014:

Next we have her QCQAL 2 quilt from 2015:

And finally her Spring Splendor quilt -- with a candy pink background!

If you've made a version of one of our patterns, please share it! You can email us pictures at honeybunnyanddoll@gmail.com or littlebunnyquilts@gmail.com!

Stitching and Shopping

My mom came down from Michigan to visit for a few days, so I took Thursday and Friday off of work and we did some mini-shop hopping in my area and attempted to visit 5 quilt shops in over the course of three days. Attempted being the operative word. Google Maps sent us to the completely wrong place for one and we gave up on it (but we'll get there the next time!) and one shop had closed completely but it still had it's old address up on its Facebook page and no clear "hey we're closed!" message on the page.

In any case, I did my first fabric shopping in nearly a year! I got backing for my Stash Bee Star quilt from Traditions at the White Swan, I bought the rest of a bolt of an amazing bold floral print that I'm going to have to design a quilt around from Patches Quilting, and I got a few coordinating fabrics from Capital Quilts to start a new project.

I also got the satin stitching on my May wall hanging done -- at least for the flowers. I'm still not sure if this should have decorations in the border or not. Thoughts? Part of me thinks that maybe it should have a little something to break up all of the green, but not sure what exactly to do!

I also finally got some more Kona Champagne to get the top of my QCQAL quilt from last year together! Here are all 25 of my blocks laid out:

And here are all of my blocks sashed together!

I put sashing fabric on two sides of each block and alternated which two sides had the sashing to make it look like the blocks are floating semi-randomly and not just perfectly aligned with one another in columns and rows. I am SO happy with how this turned out. I need to add one border of the Kona Champage all the way around the quilt and then it will be ready to be quilted! I haven't decided if I want to quilt this one or if I want to have it done elsewhere. I think the quilting should be simple but not sure the best way to go about doing that.

Linking up with all of the normal Tuesday/Wednesday places!
Sew Cute Tuesday
Linky Tuesday
Fabric Tuesday
WIP Wednesday

Don't forget to check out my Burlap Brights blog hop post and to enter to win a rainbow fat quarter bundle of Burlap Brights! And stop back by for the QCQAL 2 tutorials!

More QCQAL Blocks

I've been working on making more blocks out of my Clover Sunshine bundle to go along with the rest of the QCQAL blocks that I've made.

Since some of you have mentioned that you want to make extra blocks too with the fabric you have left, I've linked to the tutorials that I've used to make the blocks.

Double Aster block from the Quilter's Cache: This one is so gorgeous! I think that this would be a fun bee/swap block. There is a partial seam in this one, but it's totally worth it.

Flower Garden Path from Swim, Bike, Quilt: This one is from the Summer Sampler series from 2011. I used the alternate piecing option with the square in the middle instead of using all HSTs. If you don't have big pieces of your focus fabrics, you can use the background in the center.

Rocky Mountain Puzzle: I adjusted the size of the strips and the center square to fit the scraps I had, but the rest of it is the same. I was happy to find a 12 inch version since most of them are 8 inch.

Star Cluster Block from Judy Martin: I saw this one first on Pinterest and loved it. This block takes some patience because you have to keep your colors in order so that things end up in the right spot. The result is gorgeous!

Ohio Star: Classic, quintessential quilt block!

Venus Flytrap: This might be an actual real quilt block somewhere, but at this point I'm dealing with small pieces and have just been trying to maximize the fabric I do have left into making a few more blocks. This one is made from 2 1/2 inch HSTs, 2 1/2 inch squares, and one 4 7/8 inch square cut into two triangles.

I need to make 2 more blocks and then I will have 24 blocks!

QCQAL Block #16 -- Bowtie

Drumroll, please! The last block is a bowtie!

Cutting:
Eight (8) 3.5 inch background squares

In each the four different colors:
Two (2) 3.5 inch squares
Two (2) 2 inch squares

Draw diagonal lines on the back of all of your 2 inch squares. Align each with the corner of a 3.5 inch background square as shown.

Stitch on the line and trim the seam allowance to 1/4 inch. Press.

Lay out each section as shown below.

Sew together each quadrant.

Lay out four quadrants as desired and sew together for final block

Here's my final 16 blocks! I still have more fabric to use, so I will be making more blocks!

Thank you everyone for participating! Come back on Monday for a block link up -- please include a picture of all of the blocks you have made thus far!

QCQAL Block #15 -- Friendship Star

Update 10/12/18: The directions for this block have been removed as they are now available for purchase as part of our Twinkle pattern, available on Etsy.

Here's block #15 -- my modern version of a Friendship Star!

Click here for pin-spiration! I decided to design my own block for this one instead of making one large block or four smaller blocks. It's a little bit more modern, and a whole lot of fun.

Come back tomorrow for our LAST QCQAL block! Don't forget to follow Honey, Bunny, and Doll on Pinterest!

QCQAL Block #14 -- Granny Square

It's time for bonus block #2 -- granny square!

Click here for pin-spiration! This is a four-ring version similar to the "great granny" block by Lori Holt, as it also uses extended edge pieces to make sure that you have enough room to trim the block to 12.5 inches. This one is a great one to pick out any small scraps you might have left over from other blocks thus far and use them up without cutting into more fabric.

Cutting:
Two (2) 2.5 inch background squares
Fourteen (14) 2.5 by 3 inch background rectangles
One (1) 2.5 inch square for center
Four (4) 2.5 inch squares for inner ring
Eight (8) 2.5 inch squares for middle ring
Twelve (12) 2.5 inch squares for outer ring

Here's the cutting diagram plus the block layout.

Sew together squares in diagonal rows. Your longest row should be capped by the 2.5 inch background squares and the shorter rows should each have a 2.5 x 3 inch background rectangle on the end. Iron rows in opposite directions.

Sew rows together. Seams of each row should interlock if you alternated the direction you ironed each row. Press connecting seams -- I ironed mine from the center going out. You may want to iron these seams open if you find your block is particularly bulky.

Square up your block to 12.5 inches and voila! You're done!

Come back tomorrow for an original HBD designs block as bonus block #15!

QCQAL Block #13 -- Empire Star

Our first BONUS BLOCK is the Empire Star!

Check out Pin-Spiration here!

Depending on how you want to color the block, you could alter the pattern to use some fast flying geese or triangles rather than all HSTs. For more color flexibility, this pattern is written for all HSTs.

Cutting: 

Six (6) 4 inch background squares

Two (2) 4 inch squares for four corners

Two (2)  inch squares for center diamond

Six (6) 4 inch squares for star portion

Pair up your fabrics as necessary to make HSTs:

Two (2) corner color squares with two (2) background squares

Two (2) center diamond color squares with two (2) star portion color squares

Four (4) star portion color squares with four (4) background squares.

For each HST, draw a diagonal line on one square from each of your pairs. Sew 1/4 inch from each side of the drawn line and cut apart on the line. Press and trim to 3.5 inches.

Arrange HST units as shown below. Sew into rows and then sew rows together for your final block.

Come back tomorrow for bonus block #2!