Rustic in Purple

I love purple! I've used varying shades of it in my quilting, my wardrobe is filled with it and I've also been known to wear the colour on my nails. When I added Rustic on my list for Q2 of the 2018 FAL, I knew I would most likely use different shades of purple to make it.

Rustic is a pattern from the book Southwest Modern by Kristi Schroeder

In the end, I went with Kona White, Orchid, Eggplant, Crocus and Bubblegum.  I love how the first three look together, but I have to admit, I'm a little bit disappointed with the last two. Overall, I really like this quilt though.

For the quilting, I decided to use the flower design once again, but this time, I quilted the designs quite big with about a half inch between each repeat. I chose to use Aurifil 50 wt in Dove (#2600). It almost disappears on the lighter colours but I love the contrast with the Eggplant.

The binding is Kona Orchid. And the backing is a gorgeous print I purchased recently. I love the butterflies and there is some purple in there.

I brought the quilt to the island cottage over the weekend so I could photograph it in a setting with lots of greenery. And when we came back to the city on Sunday, I decided to leave the quilt there. It really looked very nice on the sofa!

Stats:

• Pattern: Rustic from the book Southwest Modern by Kristi Schroeder
• Size: 60.5" x 70.5" 
• Fabrics: Kona White, Eggplant, Crocus, Bubblegum and Orchid 
• Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil #2600 (light grey) in 50 wt

This is finish number 10 on my Q2 List for the 2018 FAL!

I will be linking up at a few fun places this week:

Chez Vies for TGIFF
Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday
My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday

Rick Rack Runner

It seems the busier and crazier things get at work, the more time I need to spend in my sewing room. Well this Rick Rack Runner is my 9th finish off my Q2 2018 FAL List - my most productive quarter yet - so you can imagine just how much time I've spent in my sewing room!

This is a pattern from the Modern Plus Sign Quilts book written by Cheryl Brickey and Paige Alexander. I have been meaning to make another table runner for our dining room for a while now and when I saw the pattern in the book, I knew I had to add it to my list for Quarter 2. (You might remember I made a baby quilt from the book for Paige and Cheryl's hop back in March.)

I had a small stack of 10" squares from a Bonnie and Camille fabric collection which I knew would make a very cheerful table runner and I paired them with some Kona Charcoal for a nice contrast. I didn't have quite enough of the Charcoal for the entire binding so pieced some scraps from the prints to make it work.

I stitched some wavy lines with the walking foot and Aurifil 50 wt in medium grey (#2605). The quilting didn't take very long - the runner is about 22.5" wide but it was very zen-like work. Stitch - turn - stitch - turn...  Sometimes you just need to be able to spend time on quilting that doesn't require much brain power.

Stats:

• Pattern: Rick Rack Runner designed by Paige Alexander from the book Modern Plus Sign Quilts
• Size: 22.5" x 86.5" 
• Fabrics: Kona Charcoal and 10" squares from a Bonnie & Camille fabric collection
• Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil #2605 (medium grey) in 50 wt

I will be linking up at a few fun places this week:

• Lisa in Port Hope for TGIFF
• Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday
• My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday

Josef Albers Inspired Mini #3

It was my birthday this last weekend and my family was nice enough to leave me alone all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Plus, I took Monday off and it was pouring rain here so I got to spend a few hours in my sewing room.

During that time, I designed, pieced and quilted my Josef Albers inspired mini #3. (You can see mini #1 here and mini #2 here.)

I love pink and purple so those are the colours I chose for my third mini in the series: Kona Eggplant, Crocus, Bubblegum and Orchid. There's also some white in there as well as Charcoal for the background.

To stay consistent with the other two minis, I kept the quilting pretty simple - straight lines stitched about 1/4" apart with the walking foot and Aurifil 2605 (dark grey) in 50 wt. To keep the middle piecing from looking too puffy, I quilted in the ditch between each colour.

And just for fun, I brought all three minis outside and snapped a picture - I love them all!

This mini is finish number 8 on my Q2 List for the 2018 FAL!

Stats:

• Pattern: My own design inspired by the work of Josef Albers
• Size: 16" x 22" 
• Fabrics: Kona White, Eggplant, Crocus, Bubblegum, Orchid and Charcoal. 
• Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil #2605 (dark grey) in 50 wt

I will be linking up at Slice of Pi Quilts for TGIFF and at Kelly's for My Quilt Infatuation's NTT!

Sunny Skies - A Baby Quilt Finish

I'm still working through my stash of patterns and trying to use up scraps whenever possible (and I swear - no matter how many scrappy quilts I make, I don't seem to be able to make a significant dent in those scrap bins!). This week, I finished a baby quilt based on Shannon Fraser's Pink Lemonade pattern. I called mine Sunny Skies because of the colour combination I ended up going with.

Shannon's pattern was written for three main fabrics, but it was really easy to figure out how to make the quilt with scraps. So I went through my blue, orange and low volume scrap bins and managed to pull enough to make the whole quilt.

I did mess up a little bit when stitching together the hourglass blocks so my quilt is a little bit smaller (I also had to do some quilty math to figure out how to re-size the HST blocks to fit), but in the end, everything worked out pretty well I think.

I used Kona Schoolbus for the binding and pieced together a few orange and blue fat quarters for the backing.

I used this quilt to demonstrate the flower quilting design during the last Montreal MQG sew-in and this design is so quick, I managed to quilt the whole thing in just that afternoon!

This is finish number 7 off my Q2 list for the 2018 FAL.

Stats:

• Pattern: Pink Lemonade by Shannon Fraser Designs
• Size: 55" square 
• Fabrics: Scraps and a bunch of fat quarters from my stash 
• Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil #2600 in 50 wt

I will be linking up at a few fun places this week:

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
Devoted Quilter for TGIFF
Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

A New Cleo Skirt

I'm super happy to show off another me-made garment - this time, a skirt. I don't wear skirts very much because I don't find them super flattering on me, but skirts are pretty easy to make and I need the additional practice. Also, I had a really nice Art Gallery woven print in red that I thought would look pretty in a skirt.

I used a Made by Rae skirt pattern - the Cleo skirt because there is a Creative Bug class that teaches you every step of the skirt construction pattern in addition to a bunch of really useful tips and tricks.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my new skirt. The fit is almost perfect, it's really comfortable and it's got pockets!

I chose View B of the pattern in a Large and made no alterations at all - not even the length. The fabric is a little bit stiff (100% cotton), so I think for my next one, I'll use a fabric that drapes a little bit more, some rayon challis perhaps.

So that's two garments so far this year (you can read all about my Sorbetto tank top here) and I've got some gorgeous knit fabrics to make myself a couple of tops next.

This is finish number 6 off my Q2 list for the 2018 FAL.

Stats:

• Pattern: Cleo Skirt by Made by Rae
• Size: Large 
• Fabrics: Art Gallery cotton 

I will be linking up at a few fun places this week:

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
Anja Quilts for TGIFF
Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

Layered Diamonds Lap Quilt Finish

I am a huge fan of the design team over at Quilt Theory so was really sad when they announced the team wouldn't be producing anymore patterns - although most of them will continue to offer patterns on their own website.

Anyhow, I thought it was a fun coincidence that I finished one of their designs recently.

Layered Diamonds was design by Yvonne Fuchs of Quilting JetGirl for Quilt Theory. I love Yvonne's work and have made quilts based on her designs a number of times already. This one was no different - it was fun, quick, very well explained and it makes for a really modern lap quilt.

I used low volume scraps and fat quarters for the background and scraps for the coloured blocks. I just love the pops of colour against the light background!

The quilting is a FMQ flower design which I really like. It's quick and easy and the texture is just wonderful. I'm actually going to be doing a demo of this design during the next Montreal MQG sew-in so it'll be nice to have a finished quilt to show my fellow guild members.

The backing is a super soft sheet I've had for a while. I use sheets as backing all the time - there is no piecing required, they are usually really soft and you can get some pretty nice prints! We don't typically use the flat sheet on our bed so whenever I buy sheet sets, I keep the flat one for quilt backings.

The binding is scraps from the low volume fat quarters.

This is finish number 5 off my Q2 list for the 2018 FAL. I'm really happy to have been super productive so far this quarter because with the nice weather coming, I might not feel like being in my sewing room so often!

Stats:

• Pattern: Layered Diamonds by Yvonne Fuchs for Quilt Theory
• Size: 54" x 67.5" 
• Fabrics: Scraps and a bunch of fat quarters from my stash 
• Thread: Pieced and quilted with Aurifil #2000 in 50 wt

I will be linking up at a few fun places this week:

Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
Tish's Adventures in Wonderful for TGIFF
Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

My New Baker Street Bag

I made another bag! Yay me! :-)

This is my Baker Street Bag (pattern by Sew Sweetness). Although this is supposed to be a beginner-friendly pattern, it does have some features I'd never tried before such as the recessed zipper. So I watched Sara's free tutorial video on YouTube before I attempted to make this one.

I'm pretty pleased with my new bag, even if not perfect. For my next one (yes - there will be a next one!), I'll make the straps longer so I can wear it as a cross-body bag, I'll choose prettier fabric for the zipper panels and I'll make the lining a little bit smaller (it's a bit baggy).

Sara's video was amazing - she provides so many tips and tricks in her videos. She also explains things very clearly and shows every single step of the bag making process. I'm not sure I would have had quite the same results if I hadn't watched the video.

If you haven't tried bag-making yet and want to give it a go, I highly recommend you check out Sara's pattern and her YouTube Channel. So many different patterns and all of them very well written. Many also come with a video tutorial to help you along.

Stats:

• Pattern: Baker Street Bag by Sew Sweetness
• Size: about 12" wide, 8" high and 3" deep 
• Fabrics: Rock N' Romance by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery and Kona Silver 
• Thread: Pieced with Aurifil #2600 (Dove) in 50 wt

I will be linking up at a few fun places this week:

• Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
• Summer Lee Quilts for TGIFF
• My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
• Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

And this is finish #4 on my Q2 list for the 2018 FAL!