Sharing Recent Finishes

 I shared this finish on Facebook with the catch line, "How long does it take me to make a quilt? Sometimes eight years." 

You may remember this pattern from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. It was her 2016 mystery, "En Provence." This is my one and only venture into Bonnie's mystery quilt releases which start on Black Friday in November and finish sometime in January.

I had admired Bonnie's mysteries for years but it was a, "hard no," when it came to adding a project of that size during the holiday season. In 2016 my sons were busy with their lives and it seemed possible to at least start the quilt. I quickly decided to make a smaller version so I just dabbled on the construction of parts until the final reveal and then came up with the way I would make mine smaller.

My version is  69 x 87-inches. Perfect for one of my granddaughters.

I failed to get a photo but I had a scary fabric bleeding situation with the fuscia fabric. I use a blue water soluble marker and when I sprayed one corner with water to erase the marker the fuscia fabric bled terribly!!! So scary. I always wash my fabrics...usually soak then in hot water for hours since I work with batiks. Somehow that piece of fabric never got washed.

I soaked the completed quilt for 10 hours in hot water with a generous amount of Dawn dish washing soap. Bleeding problem resolved! Such a relief.

There were five thread color changes for this quilt. I love that it looks like a meadow to me more than a row of lavender. I still always check into the name and suggested colorway of Bonnie's annual mysteries. So far I have not been tempted to join another mystery.

I am trying to stay on task with quilting so I've gotten the next top loaded. Loading a quilt onto the frame is my absolutely least favorite part of the process.

I finished a little personal case for my granddaughter. I took her to the quilt store to pick out fabric for the project. This floral was one fabric we agreed on....she really wanted something purple but other than solids we didn't find a good option that day in the shop.

At least I was able to add some purple accents. This is the smaller version of By Annies', "Zip It Up." This is 8 1/2 x 10 x 1 inches. A pretty quick project if you don't let is sit in a box for a month!

I've really been into cross stitch projects lately. 

I had a major failure to read the pattern correctly so my math was really off but it gave me a pretty little piece to turn into a pincushion.  

The piece says, "Scatter Luck," and has some lovely buttons to finish the project but too big for my tiny finish. 

For the first time, I worked with Lady Dot  Creates pompoms which allow you to remove the stablizing tape. It was very easy to stitch the pompoms around the top edge.

So easy to add the pompoms that I added them to my last pincushion finish.

And in four nights I was able to finish this clover square on the last day of March. This is a freebie I found on Pinterest and there are several more clover designs by the same artist I would like to make.

It will make a cute little pillow with pompom edging!

I finished the second animal block in a Noah's Ark series. I make turn these into pillows also. I have a long way to go before I have to decide...pillows or ornaments. 

And to keep my polar bear company, I finished the two penguins that came with the kit.

These little penguins had a bit more to their construction than I anticipated. They have cute little penguin butts.

And another interesting feature is their feet were different. One penguin has feet that were one piece and the other is two separate pieces. It makes them stand up differently...a little personality. Much more fun to make than I anticipated.

This was an older kit from 2006 and some of the stamped markings for embroidery were missing and I had to trim some areas of the rear end of the polar bear to make it a smooth match of seams. Lots of contouring pieces which turned out a nice finish but took a little finesse. 

Yes...we still have lots of snow. In fact...we've had a little snow almost everyday this past week. I think we are still shy by a couple of inches to break the record for most snowfall for a winter season. 

I finished taking down my tree on St. Patrick's Day. That is officially the latest I have kept up my Christmas decorations.

I have a quilt retreat the last weekend of April at the B & B in Wasilla. I am ready to go right now! I  have so many quilt projects kitted up. I'll probably have one or two more kitted up before the retreat starts.

March Retreat Projects

I had my "Sisters" retreat this month, three days of stitching at our local quilt shop, Twisted Sisters Quilty Pleasures.

The major project I finished was adding the sashing and border to my Kauai Chicken Salad quilt.

I wanted the quilt to be a little smaller than Lori Holt's design so I simply went with 2 1/2-inch squares for the sashing and border. It finished at 50 x 64-inches, which will be a great size for my kitchen breakfast nook wall.

 My granddaughter wants to know who this quilt is for??? She's been watching me make this for several months.

 My retreat had a border focus. I also managed to get the borders done on two tops.

A simple border for the "Tapestry," quilt. I didn't change anything on this pattern by Tamarinis. The Free Spirit Fabrics website had a listing of the fabrics used in the pattern designer's version that I used as my starting point for searching out Kaffe fabrics. I bought all the fabrics for my quilt at Hancocks of Paducah. I think all Kaffe fabrics sell out pretty quickly at all the local quilt shops in my area. The finished size of this quilt is 60 x 71-inches.

My third finish was Banana Quilt from the book, "Perfect 10 Quilts." I made the piano key border and added it to the top at the retreat. I consider this to be a "couch quilt." that will look great on my gray leather couch. This is made with a Hoffman Batik Bali Pop and matching layer cake set in the color way, "Sparrow." So I have named the quilt, "Sparrows on the Couch," It measures 76 x 76-inches.

I have two more tops in my stash of "Couch Quilts," that are patterns from the, "Perfect Ten Quilts." All of the "Couch Quilts," were made with Bali pops and matching layer cakes with background fabrics from my stash. The Hoffman batik sets had bird names which are very appropriate for the colorways. 

This is, "Parrots on the Couch." It measures 70 x 90-inches. This is the pattern, "Birthday Cake Quilt,"  with a piano key border added to the design. 

And the last, "Couch Quilt," in my To Be Quilted stash is, "Sandpipers on the Couch," The center of the quilt is the pattern, "French Vanilla Cake." The finished top measures 70 x 82-inches.

I've been spending a lot of time organizing in my studio. I am trying to update my notebook with all the quilts that are done...quilted. And I am also making a notebook for all the tops that are awaiting quilting. I have been making sure I have a photo of the completed top and the measurements. Yes...I need a notebook for all the tops waiting to be quilted! 

On to my evening handwork projects.

I just finished making this Christmas Polar Bear. There are two penguins included in the kit.

 

I finished stitching a Spring project, "Scatter Eggs," from Shepherd's Bush. It will finish at  3 1/2 x 9 1/2 -inches. I ordered the fabric from Shepherd's Bush as the design called for an unusual size of 19 count. They substituted a 20 count piece in a light blue. I used the DMC floss colors but had to change a couple of colors. It was also unusual in that it called for stitching with three strands over two fabric threads which makes it nice and big for the buttons.  I love the buttons from Just Another Button Company. 

I also started another series of cross stitch ornaments from my older stash of patterns designed by Pat Thode of  Heart Strings, "Noah and Company." 

I had a comment on a previous post recently regarding my 12 Days of Christmas series from Heart Strings. The comment was from Angela but she is listed as a, "noreply-comment," on Blogger so I cannot answer her question. The "no-reply-comment," setting is the default setting in Blogger. I learned the hard way too that you must go in and change that setting if you want a personal response to your comment.

With a bit of sadness, I took down all my Christmas decorations last week. My house feels so empty! 

I also had a birthday this month. Yipes...my body is not cooperating with my mental age! I have too much to do and no time for little health issues that appear to be about my actual age. 

February - Busy!

 “I think my mom will want this quilt.”

My four-year-old granddaughter, Kate, tried to claim this quilt when I was hand stitching the binding. GP (grandpa) told her we were keeping this one. 

We had four inches of fresh snow and a sunny day so I managed a picture outside where the colors look great and you can see the quilting. 

This was a free pattern through the Moda Bake Shop, "Sky Full of Stars," designed by Kristina of Center Street Quilts. Unfortunately all the links to the quilt design don't go anywhere so I can't share the pattern.

*** update***

Two readers found the link to the pattern. Sky Full of Stars

** many thanks **

I added the last 12-inches to make a border that finishes the stars and adds a drop for the sides on a bed setting.  This quilt finished at 104-inches square. 

I took me several weeks to finally get another quilt top loaded on my quilting frame. I've got one border almost finished. Of course the hardest part of the quilting process is deciding what to do.

This is my version of the 2016 Quiltville mystery, "En Provence." I think I dropped a column. Bonnie Hunter's mysteries are always so amazing and big. This is the one and only mystery of hers that I have made. So Much Piecing!!!

I do like a bit of challenging piecing but this was so hard to keep up with when I had no idea what the final quilt would look like. A big commitment...but fun to be a part of the online quilt along. My version finished at 69 x 87-inches. All batiks.

I know I am repeating myself...but I think kitting up projects is my favorite part of the quilting process. My stash is overwhelming and I really am trying to use it. I have a lot of gorgeous fabrics and they should be made into quilts. 

Everyday I have about half a dozen quilt shops I visit...checking out daily sales, new releases and just generally getting inspired. Connecting Threads is one of those websites and I decided to check their free quilt patterns and instantly downloaded this fat quarter friendly pattern, "Weekend Fun." 

It takes 21 fat quarters and I immediately thought of a set of batik fat quarters that were in my stash. There were 20 fat quarters in the set and I easily found one more in my stash that looked like part of the set. 

 I'm thinking about treating this like a Leader and Ender project.

My next quilt start was a project kitted up last fall. It is a layer cake project. I had a older set of batiks that were released by Hoffman called, "Sparrow." I had a layer cake and Bali pop in the colorway. I also had a great background in my stash. 

The pattern is, "Banana Quilt," from the book, "Perfect 10 Quilts." This is at least the third quilt I 've made from this book. Kind of a cool layout. I'll add a piano key border with the Bali pop.

My table mate at the February quilt retreat gave me a sweet present, a set of Tutto project bags to match my sewing machine Tutto trolley. She offered to add some fun ribbon to the bags and I told her I had some Tula Pink ribbons at home that would be perfect so I would do it. 

It only took me a couple of hours to unsew the sides to add the ribbon and sew the sides back up again.  I love them! 

On to some evening handwork projects. I finished two of the 2023 Jim Shore Gnome series. 

Evergreen Gnome

Rabbit Gnome

My current Bucilla kit project is Santa's Ark. Once the ark is finished I get to make all the animals.

When I finish this I plan to do a dedicated post of various steps so it will help others. These Bucilla 3D kits are always pretty challenging and I often read the directions and decide to do things differently.

And finally...a project for Kate. A little binder she helped to pick fabrics for. 

By Annie patterns are so well written. I find the key for me is not to rush and make sure I read every sentence!!! So I just do a little bit every day. I have three more days based on how I like to break down the project. 

Lots of critters spotted in the last three weeks. I saw an ermine run unto the dog run but I wasn't fast enough with my iPhone. My neighbor texted me with her first black bear sighting in her yard. Several of my neighbors spotted him too and posted photos on our neighborhood Facebook page. A tiny black bear. Sometimes bears wake up and wander around before the snow is gone but they usually go back for a lengthy nap until temps warm up so I don't expect to see that one for several more weeks.

Hope you have had a February full of fun projects! I have a three-day retreat coming up in March. Sweet!

Material Girls February Retreat

I love retreats!

 I belong to a couple of retreat groups but this is my only overnight group. 

The Material Girls rent out a B & B in Wasilla for a long weekend. Each room sleeps three and has a private bath. There is a full kitchen and a small kitchen so pretty nice for hunkering down for three or four days. Our retreat starts on Thursday at noon and runs through late Sunday afternoon. We have two quilt shops in Wasilla to shop at plus lots of restaurant options. 

I have a little tradition of starting my retreat with binding a quilt. I'm usually one of the first to arrive and have four tables to myself for several hours...lots of room for binding a king-sized quilt.

I still need to finish hand stitching the binding. 

I'm sharing photos of some of the projects from the weekend. Quite a variety of projects.

Mary made a spring Kuspuk...traditional clothing for Yui'pik Alaskans. Summer parkas are made with colorful cotton fabrics and trimmed with ribbon and rick rack. Winter kuspuks are made of fur.

My other projects were two Kaffe Fassett quilts. The first had paper pieced sections. I ordered the border fabric when I got home. 

Everyone got very tired of hearing me complaining about the flimsy quality of this fabric. 

My second Kaffe project had some Indah batiks from Hoffman mixed with the Kaffe fabrics so I was a little happier sewing on these fabrics. 

My husband was taking care of the pets while I was away. When we leave the house, the animals stay in my sewing room since it has a tile floor and doors that close it off from the rest of the house. One day, Logan got bored and grabbed a roll of toilet paper to rip up. 

The toilet paper was tracked all over the house. 

Thankfully...easily clean up.

The next Material Girls retreat is in late April.