Brutal Honesty {March 2018}

March is here! I'm going on vacation in six days (hooray) and have exciting things to share this month, including two of the secret sewing projects I have been working on! I hope that you've been thinking about joining in our Blocked Rainbow QAL -- less than three weeks to go until kick-off!

I did finish my goal to finish my Gathering Quilt (hooray!) but I didn't start working on my Traveling Quilt Bee quilt yet.

Being long arm quilted:
1. Summer on the Coast Quilt -- Sent top and backing fabric with mom to be long arm quilted
2. On Ringo Lake Mystery QAL -- Still needs backing but also sent to be long arm quilted

Ready to be quilted:
3. Traveling Quilt Bee (2016) -- Need to get a batting
4. Magnolia Mystery QAL -- Need to pick a backing fabric

Tops partially finished:
5. Bonnie and Camille Coast to Coast Bee -- No progress
6. Romantic Garden Quilt -- No progress
7. Monthly Wall Hangings -- No progress

Just blocks:
8. Pineapple Stash Bee Blocks -- No progress
9. Sew Kitschy Blocks -- No progress
10. Mini Monthly Wall Hangings -- No progress
11. Happy Houses blocks -- No progress
12. Birthstone blocks -- No progress
13. Donuts quilt -- I have 13 of my 18 blocks completed!

Quilt alongs in progress and long term projects:
14. Monthly Island Batik Ambassador projects -- My February projects were minis! March's theme is trying a new technique and I am excited to share about that next week!

15. Breezy Blooms C2C Bee -- I worked on Audrey's quilt and mailed it to Stephanie last week! I'll be working on Chelsea's quilt in March and April.

16. Top Secret Sewing -- Just plugging away on these projects!

New projects started:

17. Blocked Rainbow Quilt -- this is my version of the quilt for the quilt along starting on March 19th! I'll be making a second version of this quilt in twin sized!

My goal for March will be to start working on the quilting for my TQB quilt and to make some progress on at least one of the projects that has said "No progress" for months!

Happy Friday -- don't forget to join the HBD Facebook Group and to like us on Facebook! We're only 7 likes away from 900 -- and when we get there, we'll have a $9 pattern special!

Top Spin {Finished Quilt}

I'm so excited to share this finished quilt with all of you! My Top Spin quilt is done!

I started this quilt in 2016 as a leader and ender project. The pattern is by Melissa Corry for Moda Bake Shop! The original pattern uses 64 blocks for a queen sized quilt and I made 48 blocks for a twin sized quilt.

I took this quilt to Michigan over Christmas and told my mom that she could do whatever she willed with the quilt -- either take it with the next batch to her long arm quilter or quilting it herself on her mid-arm. She decided to quilt it on her mid-arm and practice her ruler quilting and the results are gorgeous!

In the grey background areas she did straight line ruler quilting and in the colored HSTs she did a loopy meander -- this is exactly what I had envisioned for the quilt! The thread she used is actually a variegated grey, which you can see in some of the photos.

The backing is from the HBD Shop and is a plum dot extra wide fabric and my mom also used it for the binding. I really like the purple-y frame around the mostly-grey quilt.

The next person who comes to visit us will get to use this quilt in the guest room!

Quilt Stats:

Name: Scrappy Top Spin

Pattern: Top Spin by Melissa Corry for MBS

Size: 72 x 96

Quilting: loopy meanders and ruler work by my mom on her mid-arm

Started: December 2016

Finished: February 2018

Future: Guest room quilt

Sharing at Finish it up Friday Oh Scrap!, and Needle and Thread Thursday!

Coast to Coast Bee 2.0 {Audrey's Quilt}

This year for the Coast to Coast Traveling Bee (C2C Bee) I am working on Audrey's quilt first. This year we're rotating our quilts "backwards" from last year -- last year I had Audrey's quilt last!

This year Audrey's quilt theme is "flight" and her color palette is "rich rainbow". You can read about her quilt inspiration here. Here's what I received from Audrey:

While flying geese were easily the first thing that popped into my head, I also thought of pinwheels! My initial thought was to add on-point pinwheels on each side and then larger blocks on the top and bottom. Originally I had planned to add six smaller pinwheels on each side, but decided to put three on each side instead.

After consulting with Audrey, I decided that the next addition should be some staggered arrow blocks (pattern from Quiet Play). I made six arrows -- one in each color -- with a grey/black shaft for each one. Here's the tentative layout I sent to Audrey once I had five of the six arrows done:

I used some of the Art Gallery Fabrics that I used for an upcoming secret sewing project to sash together the arrows to the centerpiece. I absolutely love those metallic dots!

This quilt really grew! It started off as about 17 inches square and now it's approximately 26 inches wide and 35 inches long! This quilt will be sent off to Stephanie of Quilt'n Party this weekend! Stephanie had my quilt this round and she added a row of bright log cabin blocks!

Don't forget to join our Blocked Rainbow QAL starting March 19th! Join the Facebook Group for chat, hints, and laughs!

Sharing at Finished or Not Friday, Oh Scrap, and Linky Tuesday!

Blocked Rainbow Quilt Along {Coming March 19th!}

Our quilt along for 2018 is .... Blocked Rainbow!

The 2018 quilt along is now over and the entire pattern is available as a single PDF pattern on Etsy and Craftsy.

This quilt along will use the Rainbow Sampler pattern originally featured in Issue #5 of Modern by the Yard.

This quilt along will also offer an enlarged version of the original pattern for those who would prefer to make a twin sized quilt using larger blocks.

This quilt is perfect for confident beginners as it will use a variety of different techniques to make classic blocks. I'll also include lots of tips along the way -- including how to make a scrappy version of the quilt!

Baby/Throw: 48"x 66" - 6" finished blocks (original pattern)
Twin: 72"x 99" - 9" finished blocks

Schedule:
March 19 - Introduction, Yardage Requirements, Kona Sale with HBD
March 26 - Sponsors, Background Spacer cutting, Color Suggestions
April 2- Red Pinwheels
April 9 - Orange Churn Dashes
April 16 - Yellow Flying Geese
April 23 - Green Sawtooth Stars
April 30 - Blue Bowties
May 7 - Purple Bear Paws
May 14 - Catch up week/Mother's Day
May 21 - Setting directions
May 28 - Catch up week/Memorial Day
June 4 - Finished Quilt Top Parade/Link Up

We look forward to quilting along with you this year! Join our Honey, Bunny, and Doll Facebook group for quilt along chat, giveaways, and laughs!

Sharing at Linky Tuesday and Let's Bee Social!

Four Square Mini Quilt {Mini Madness with Island Batik}

February is all about minis for us Island Batik Ambassadors and since February is all about love, I thought I would make another pink mini!

I decided to use our Four Square block pattern to make a mini similar to my sister's mini using some of the fabrics from the Elementz 10" square stacker that I received from Island Batik in my newest shipment! This pattern is designed to make efficient use of 10" squares so it's perfect for this fabric.

I pulled out some of the pink and black/grey fabrics, staying with the Valentine's Day theme this week! Since the fabrics come in pairs, I pulled two different pink prints (four squares total) and two different black/grey prints (four squares total) for the four blocks.

Here's the first set of pink and black fabrics cut for a pair of Four Square blocks:

Here's my first block trimmed:

These blocks go together quite quickly -- especially when you make them in pairs!

I used two more pink 10" squares to cut 1.5" wide sashings and used the black scraps to cut corners tones for the mini top.

I decided to go a little wild with the backing -- I pulled six additional 10" squares from the Elementz stacker to make a pieced backing echoing my Four Square blocks. These are the brightest fabrics from the bunch!

For the quilting, I did a flower-type filler motif with the "base" of the flower as an oval or teardrop instead of a circle or a swirl. I used one of the light grey threads provided by Aurifil in my Island Batik Ambassador box and it was a great choice! I like the way that it contrasts both the pink and the black in the mini quilt top.

I used a hot pink fabric for binding (and was able to bust out some hot pink thread too!) and now this mini is hung up on our office/den/guest room/sewing room door!

Even thought we're past Valentine's Day, I'm going to be leaving this pretty little thing up until March! Click on over to Craftsy to pick up the Four Square pattern for yourself!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Love Four Square
Pattern: Four Square block by HBD, set with 1.5 inch strips
Fabrics: Elementz by Island Batik (provided by IB in my Ambassador box!)
Quilting: Flowery filler (inspired by this pin) with grey Aurifil 40 weight thread (provided by Aurifil in my Ambassador box!)
Size: 20.5 inches square
Binding: Machine binding using a hot pink IB fabric
Started & Finished: February 2018
Future: Mini quilt for my sewing room door

Sharing at Finish it up Friday!