Last Finish For 2023 ~ UFO # 10

 Hey Sweet Friends!  The last UFO for 2023 was one of the smallest projects in the waiting to be quilted pile.  If your interested in it's history  click here.

The table runner was made with the scraps of four other quilts.  One of those quilts was gifted to my son.  So he might as well have a table runner match.  It's fun to finish these old projects, free up some space in the studio, then clutter my sons house with the projects instead of adding them to my HUGE stash of finished quilts.  He already has several quilts, runners and small pillow shams.  We have discussed two more quilts to be made this year to add to his stash of quilts.  I feel blessed to have a family that loves my quilts.  He even said he would take the bright happy girly ones if I wanted to free up more space.

  

Once again I forgot to add the label before quilting.  I'm not a fan of adding them after quilting so I used a permanent archival pen to hand write a label on the back.  I think I need put a sign on the quilt frame leaders.  A simple sign in big red letters...

??QUILT LABEL??

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Cabin In The Woods ~ UFO #9 2023

 These simple quilts are my favorite to make.   They come together quickly and with a little added applique they really shine.

They also mix well with other more complicated quilts when displayed.  The larger patchwork gives the eye a place to land. I feel like the quilting design can do the same.  Had I quilted it to death, it would not have the same warm come cuddle with me vibe.

The little trees added a bit of whimsy but not too much.  To me this quilt says "Let's cozy up on the couch with a good book and a cup of something warm".

A very basic quilt label was added to the backing before quilting.

Cabin In The Woods was the test piece for my quilt pattern called Nordic Christmas.  The colors and the applique make it say something a little different.  If she could talk I think she would say "Grab the cookies and Hot Chocolate and we'll binge watch Christmas Movies".

It's hard to believe I've finished up nine UFO's this year.  This will probably the last UFO for the year.  My next project will be new and made from the red fabric in yesterdays blog post.

Until Next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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Cabin In The Woods Quilt Top

If I were to tell you I was making a red and green quilt would you automatically think "She's making a Christmas quilt?  Second question...Do you think this looks like a Christmas quilt?  

I'm hoping the answer is NO.  My original plan for this quilt was a Christmas theme.  I spent many hours trying to come up with an applique plan.  Christmas Trees, Snowmen, Snowflakes, Gnomes and Santa's Sleigh with reindeer were all ideas that just didn't feel/look right.  Why does it need to be a Christmas themed quilt?  Shifting the way I think about red and green wasn't easy.  So it took a bit for me to get my brain to understand, I want this quilt to be a cozy quilt that can be used all year long. 

As I planted the final tree in place, it crossed my mind to add some ricrac garland and some tiny circle applique for lights or ornaments.  And my little plain Jane cabin could easily be decorated to resemble a gingerbread house.  Thank goodness Lazy Lea Anne spoke up and reminded me to keep it simple and not Christmassy. 

 All of the applique was made from my scrap bins.  The two small trees were made from the same fabric in the body of the quilt.

Today's plan, dig through the stash to find backing and binding fabrics.  Wish me luck, I really don't want to go fabric shopping.  Yep I said that!

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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Argyle UFO Quilt Options

Hi Quilty Friends!  After spending two days of errands, chores and cooking, I'm in need of a little me time in the Studio.  There's two new quilt ideas in the works but I'm just not feeling it right now.  My heart says to work on a UFO.  This Argyle quilt was laying on the top of the stack. 

It was the test piece for my Nordic Christmas Memories quilt below.

The way I look at it, I have three options for finishing this one.

1. sew the bottom section to the top and call it a quilt top

2.  add the same applique as in the quilt above

3.  design a new applique panel

The quilt would be boring without applique.  A little applique will give it the WOW factor.  So, I chose option number three.   But before I could move on with the plan I need find the background fabric for the applique.

Do you believe in signs?  Call me crazy because I do. What are the chances of me having the same white on white print in my stash after years of this quilt sitting in the UFO stack?  The chances were slim.  Can you believe it?  I found 3 yards!

Yep, it's a sign that I'm on the right track.  This quilt needs an appliqued panel and it needs to be fairly easy.  My first thought was...Santa in his sleigh with a big bag stuffed with toys, and of course you can't have Santa and his sleigh without Rudolf and the rest of the herd.  Then I came to my senses and reminded myself...

SIMPLE and EASY.

 Hope to see soon with a new applique idea.

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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Back Door Beauty Quilt Finish ~ UFO #8

Hey Friends!  My Back Door Beauty quilt is UFO quilt #8 for 2023!  It's been a few months since finishing a UFO quilt top. 

The last UFO completed was Scrap Buster Baskets on April 15.  If you would like to see more of this quilt you can find it here.   Sometime near the end of the year I need to tally up how many quilts were finished in 2023.  I made a few gingham quilts, quilts for the grands, and charity quilts.  I'm pretty sure it will be the most I've ever made in one year.  Most of them were simple quilts with simple quilting but it still counts as a quilt.

 

After months of simple quilts with simple quilting I was ready to quilt something to death.  I think the quilting on this one falls somewhere in between quilted to death and lightly quilted.  Quilting inside the seed applique and diamond shape surrounded by feathers would have tip the scale to quilted to death.  

 

One of my favorite things about a single color backing is the quilting.  Had I used a print fabric for the baking, the quilting would be hidden by the print.  

The print fabrics on the front are from a line called Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille.  I had planned to use the scraps from the layer cake to make the binding.  While looking for the layer cake I found this Bonnie and Camille gingham.  You all know how I feel about gingham, right?  Well if you're new here, let me fill you in on gingham.  It's the best!  I love it.  Every quilt needs gingham in somewhere.  And it is most definitely the best binding option for almost all quilts.

The one thing that is really hard to see in these pictures is the light colored fabric used in this quilt.  The background for the quilt is a white with light gray crosshatching.  It reads gray in my studio.  The backing was made with two scraps of 108" wide backing fabrics.  One was white and the other is cream.  If you scroll back up and look at the backing you can see the bottom half the the quilt is cream. 

I do have one regret with this quilt... I wish it were bigger so I could put this little cutie on my bed.  I love it!  

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

 

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I Need Some Bright And Happy

 Hello Quilty Friends!  After months of working with not so loved fabrics, it's time to recharge my quilty soul.  Nothing makes this gals heart go pitter pat like a bright and happy quilt.  Oh, I have a ton of ideas for new quilts but I also have a ton of quilt tops needing to be quilted.  So I grabbed the one on the top of the stack.

This one was made back in 2014 and is called Back Door Beauty. It took some digging on my blog to find the start date and quilt details.  If you're looking for a good coffee spewing chuckle this morning, you really should hop over to this link and read my original post about how I acquired this fabric.  

The fabric line used for the applique is a Moda line called Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille.  The applique is fusible raw edge.   This fairly small quilt barely used half of a layer cake.  Hopefully I can find the rest of the layer cake to use in the binding.

As with most of my UFO quilt tops, this one became a UFO because I couldn't decide on a quilting plan.  Today is no different.  She's loaded and ready to be quilted and I'm drawing a blank.  Sounds like  a good reason to wandering around Pinterest and Google and maybe fall down a rabbit hole or two.

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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Scrap Buster Baskets ~ UFO Quilt #7 2023 Finished!

 Hello Quilty Friends!  I'm so excited to have another UFO finish!   Scrap Buster Baskets is fairly small, measures about 58 x 64.  I designed and made it back in 2021.

As with all my finished quilt tops she became a UFO because I couldn't come up with a quilting plan and I prefer to design and make quilt tops.

When I pulled her out over a month ago I had a pretty good idea of how I would quilt the blocks.  The sashing and border were the problem.  As a general rule of thumb when doing custom quilting you should use the same quilting designs in the border and quilt body.  Example if you have feather in the border you should add some of the same style feathers somewhere in the body of the quilt.  It makes the look quilt more balanced.

After spending way to much time trying to come up with the perfect plan I gave up.  I don't care if it looks balanced I just wanted it done.

The little scallops in the sashing sorta match the border scallop.  But the feathers, well they don't flow with this quilt at all.  The green plaid border really threw me off when it came to the quilting.  No matter what the quilting design it will get lost in the fabric pattern.  Piano key quilting  was my first thought but plaid is not straight so the piano key quilting wouldn't work.

The little scallops in the sashing was an idea from a Natalia Bonner video.  I thought about doing them on a larger scale in the outer border but it just didn't set right with me for some reason.  

If you are part of the quilt police and trigger easily this is where you might want to leave because I'm going to start talking fabric.  

Most of the prints in this quilt are quilt shop quality.  The background white with red dots is from Joanns.  The red dot used in the inner border and binding is from WalMart and so is that gorgeous quilt back.  It's a Pioneer Woman fabric and I LOVE IT.

And finally the label with a missing comma between designed and made.

Until next time...

I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!

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