Sewtopia Virtual Challenge

I really love a good quilt finish, don't you? A few months ago I signed up to participate in the Sewtopia Virtual Challenge. They would send us some Me & You fabrics and we were to make something with them. The prizes are pretty great and I seem to work better with good motivation (and a due date!) so of course I was in. Not to mention I was already building up a stash of these beauties on my own.

I decided pretty quickly that these would make a cool Chaos quilt. I had just taken a class with Libs Elliott through Seattle MQG and loved her method that allows you to make up your own pattern with her technique. You should definitely take the class from her if you get a chance.

The black and white prints wanted a little pop of color so the yellow print was added in, along with the yellow and white solids and a little more of the arrow print. It was a bit overwhelming trying to plan out where the different prints would go on my coloring page so I made the blocks completely at random fabric-wise. I knew how many I needed of each different block and that was it. Thankfully I had access to a design wall to tweak the layout here and there when the blocks were done.

All of the quilting was done free motion on my Juki TL-98Q, even though it's mostly straight(ish) lines. I like the organic nature of the not-quite-perfect nature of the quiltingin lines compared to the fine points and crisp angles of the piecing. I even threw in a few spots of curved quilting to keep your eyes moving around the quilt.

A cool quilt of course needs cool binding and what better way than extend the yellow parts out into the binding. I used Debbie / A Quilter's Table tutorial and am mostly happy with how it came out. Those angles are tough to match up in just the right spot! I'd like to say they got easier with each angle done but let's be real - they did not. I think the whole quilt turned out pretty great though!

Now for what to name it.... let me know if you have any suggestions. Naming quilts is not my forte.

Stats for me:
Fabric: all Hoffman Me + You Indah batiks and solids
Batting: Hobbs 100% cotton
Quilting: FMQ Superior Magnifico top and bobbin, 90 topstitch needle
Size: 36.5 x 42.5"

This one was also on my finish along goal list for the quarter so yay me!

2016 Finish Along Q2 Goals

I don't know whether to call these goals or a never ending list of WIPs but I think there's a chance I'll actually finish most of these in the next 3 months. Whether I blog about them is another story but I'll try.

Oakshott dress - I'm working on a tutorial for an Oakshott Lipari bloghop in a few weeks. Can't wait to show you what I have planned!

Seattle skyline Scrappy Applique - I started this piece just this week in Shannon Brinkley's live Scrappy Applique class. It just needs to be attached to a background so I can finish it up!

Seattle MQG challenge with Me+You - I can't wait to sew up a Me+You pillow cover with these gorgeous fabrics!

Clamshell quilt - Started this one last weekend in class with Latifah Saafir. It's flannel so it will end up being super soft!

RJR Riviera mini - I have the top almost finished and then it's time to quilt!

Chaos Quilt - Started last month in class with Libs Elliott, I'm just waiting for more of the blue solid to finish those last two little blocks and then I can quilt it!

RJR Mesa mini - Time to quilt this cute little guy!

Negative Space quilt - From Jacquie Gering's Quiltcon workshop in February, I have some blocks sewn and need to decide on a layout to finish this one up.

Emerge DGS - January's blocks for my do good stitches group are ready and waiting to be assembled.

Washi tops -  I have the green cut and the grey/pink ready to cut. The grey is double gauze so I'm hoping it makes a nice cool top for my travels this summer.

Sewtopia Virtual Challenge - It seems I'm not the only one who added yellow to these B&W fabrics but I have a plan and I'm excited to get started on it!

Looks like I have some work to do. Better get busy! Linking up to the Finish Along.

August Lions quilt

Way back in November 2014 at a Seattle MQG retreat, I started a new quilt with a bundle of Cotton and Steel August (by Sarah Watts) and a new pattern by Aylin-Nilya that I had tested before it's release (see my curved version for a Seattle MQG swap). I thought this Diamonds in Diamonds pattern would be perfect for showing off some of those darling lions and other large scale prints. I started this with no clue as to how big it would become or where it's final home would be.

It is so nice to be able to baste this and get it quilted at #sewtopia! Thank you @pellonprojects and @moderndomestic! #pellonatsewtopia #cottonandsteel #aylinnilyapattern #htwipit

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Nov 7, 2015 at 3:27pm PST

Flash forward to September 2015 and the arrival of my newest nephew. I knew this would be just perfect for him and planned to finish it by Christmas. I had made all of the diamonds almost a year before but was hung up on the sashing since I was doing it differently than the pattern. The math and angles were killing me.... that'll teach me to go out on my own!

I packed this up to work on at Sewtopia Portland in November and finally got the quilt top finished and basted the whole thing (thanks Pellon batting station!). I even had a time slot to quilt this on the midarm and we were totally on track to have this finished by Christmas. But then - breakage. So. Much. Thread. Breakage. The midarm and I were not getting along and he was really ruining my plans. I got just a small portion of the free motion quilting done before my time on the machine was up. Sadness ensued.

Upon returning home from Sewtopia, I kept putting off the rest of the FMQ. I was having some thread issues of my own with dear old Juki. Christmas came and went and my poor little nephew was still without his present from Auntie Alsie. Eventually I mustered up the courage to tackle the rest of this guy and was able to finish it fairly quickly once I stopped trying to use a certain fancy Italian thread that shall not be named. What can I say - I guess Juki just likes cheap and/or poly thread for FMQ!

I do love the quilting I did on this one. To play up the King of the Jungle look, I wanted lots of jungle inspired leaves all over. I made stems coming up from the bottom with a little bit of wild grass to fill in holes where needed and then smaller leaves all over the top two thirds that would look like the leaves in the trees. To make the diamonds a little special, they have a simple elongated figure eight pattern. I used the same off-white threads on both sides so the quilting shows really well on the darker parts of the back.

I didn't get a ton of sewing done today but I was definitely loving how this #fmq was looking on the back of my quilt. Motif from @afewscraps book. #fmqallthethings

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Dec 12, 2015 at 10:59pm PST

I finally finished up the binding in January and was able to get this right in the wash and then delivered to little Weston. I think it's safe to say he likes it and it's definitely big enough that it will be with him for quite a few years. What the hell was I thinking making a quilt this big for a baby?!?

Linking up to #IGquiltfest #finallyfinished. I do actually have some longer WIPS but, well, they're not finished yet. It's also an official finish from my 2016 Q1 Finish Along list. Yay!

2016 Q1 Finish Along

Where to even start when you have so many projects in the works? I think I might have a touch of crafters ADD... I'll just list a few projects here that I actually plan to finish in the next 3 months rather than a ginormous overwhelming list that I know I won't even come close to finishing.

First up, my entry for the #intrepidthreadchallenge. I was going to make a cool pouch for this challenge - I love pouches. Then I decided to up it to the new Makers Tote pattern from Noodlehead. I had the mini charms sewn together and was just working up my courage to do some graffiti quilting with a pretty purple thread over the patchwork. Nothing like a deadline to get me in gear! Now that this part is quilted, I just don't love it enough to turn it into a bag that will take hours to make and not get nearly enough use. I'd love to use the back side but it's just batting unfortunately. I'm still making up my mind, but I think this piece is destined to become either a pouch or some cool quilted potholders, which I actually do need.

I had high hopes of this panel becoming one of the sides of a @noodlehead531 #makerstote for the #intrepidthreadchallenge but it's not gonna happen since I really don't like how it came out 😢 it's just too busy and the quilting blends too much with the prints. Lesson learned, because I ❤ how it looks on the back!! I'll turn this into a fun quilty potholder instead. #dailyquiltydoodle #graffitiquilting #sketchbookquilting

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Jan 10, 2016 at 9:37pm PST

My practice piece for the above, however, I am in love with! The purple thread on the black fabric looks amazing and just may be what ends up on my Makers Tote.

Playtime is prettier with pretty thread #dailyquiltydoodle #sketchbookquilting inspired by @sariditty's coloring book

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Jan 10, 2016 at 3:22pm PST

Next, a quilt I've been working on for quite some time and should have been finished before Christmas as a gift. I have about half of the FMQ finished and I think I've figured out what kept breaking my thread so I should not have any more problems. Let's call this the Lion Quilt.

It is so nice to be able to baste this and get it quilted at #sewtopia! Thank you @pellonprojects and @moderndomestic! #pellonatsewtopia #cottonandsteel #aylinnilyapattern #htwipit

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Nov 7, 2015 at 3:27pm PST

This one, Kona Colored Raindrops, has given me a bit of a headache. I started quilting it before I was ready and hate how the quilting turned out. I'm hoping it's fixable with a little more time and effort but I'm not sure. Maybe it will just be donated when finished. I did the quilting on a longarm that kept freezing up and having to be reset - this did not fare well for the tension on the back of the quilt. I'm just hoping it does not have to be unquilted because I'm definitely not up for that.

Here's the finished quilt top for my #stashfabkonablogtour stop and I forgot to mention there's a free pattern for the raindrop block too! Link in profile.

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Aug 24, 2015 at 2:00pm PDT

Finally, I'd like to finish my #rainbowminiswapr2 quilt which is somewhat related to the picture below. I'm trying to not give away too many details yet though. Stay tuned....

A little bit of play time #mightylucky

A photo posted by Sew all the things! (@allisonsews) on Jan 8, 2016 at 10:07pm PST

I'm happy to be linking up to the 2016 Finish Along, co-hosted by my friend Debbie.

All of the Arrows quilt

This one has been lingering in various stages for a few months now so I'm happy to have it finished and ready to donate. February was my month to be the quilter in the Believe circle of do. Good Stitches. I asked my circle to make arrow blocks in a soft springy palette with neutral solids for the background.

It was fun seeing all the different blocks that came back to me. Some big, some small, some paper-pieced, some improv. So much variety! And because I did not limit them as far as size went, there was a lot of variety in that, too. It made laying them out a little more challenging for sure!

I really like the layout that I ended up with and there are some more great blocks on the back that didn't quite fit the color scheme of the front so it's almost like a whole second quilt.

I thought about how I wanted to quilt this one for awhile and was trying to think of a way to free motion quilt it that wouldn't be too busy for this quilt that already has a lot going on. Then Jen posted about a new foot she got for her Juki that has a guide on it (Jukis do not come with one, sadly) and my mind was made up. What better design than a giant spiral that looks like a target of sorts for this quilt with so many arrows?! I will definitely be using that foot again, though maybe on something a little smaller. My shoulders are still feeling that workout from constantly rotating the whole thing.

I found a fun print in my stash that had just the right colors for the binding and this guy was finally ready for picture day! Thanks to my friend Grace for helping me take pictures in Pioneer Square this weekend.

This was one of my Finish Along goals for the quarter so CHECK! It's also my last quilt with the Believe circle. I've since moved to a new circle, Emerge, and look forward to making my first quilt for them in August. Time to start thinking of a plan....

Allison

A whole lot of WIPs

It's been awhile since I've posted my extremely long list of everything that's in progress. I don't expect to finish all of this in the next 3 months but hopefully will complete at least a chunk of it! Linking up to the 2015 Finish Along.

Timber Quilt - this is an Alison Glass pattern that I got for Christmas. I love it! There are SO many ways to change up the look of it. I decided to go with a warm, bright, sherbet-sunrise palette.

Project Linus scrap quilt - Pat Bravo sent a package of scraps for me to make a charity quilt with. I had a plan that involved triangles but once I received the scraps they didn't really seem to make sense with the design I had thought up. Right now they are sewn into 16 rectangular string blocks.... we'll see if they stay that way or not.

Ex Libris quilt - I was so excited to get some advance yardage of this gorgeous new line from Alison Glass! I started sewing this past weekend and should have the quilt all finished in the next 2 weeks at most. Okay, maybe 3 weeks.

Do Good Stitches arrows quilt - February was my month to design the quilt for the Believe circle. I asked them to make arrow blocks in a beautiful palette with a neutral solid background. Now it just needs to be pieced together to make a really fun quilt for a foster kid.

Jellyfish quilt - I started this at Quiltcon, in Improv with Intent with Cheryl Arkison. I need to make a whole slew of jellies to be friends with this guy.

Emphasis quilt - I'm really excited to make more blocks for this one. I have a design in mind that will involve a massive amount of negative space for some FMQ fun. I started this one at Quiltcon also, in class with Carolyn Friedlander.

Tallahassee quilt - I started this last year with members of the Stash Fabulous bee. I think I still need to make a few more of these adorable little paper pieced blocks and I have a plan to fill in the background with larger squares of low volume white prints.

C&S August Lions quilt - I started this one at our Seattle MQG retreat last November but I didn't have a use in mind at the time, I just wanted to use these prints. I think I know where it will be headed now though and I got some great ideas for the quilting part from classes with Angela Walters at Quiltcon so it's time to finish up piecing this top and get him done!

Technicolor Galaxy quilt - This one will definitely not be finished in the next 3 months but it's in progress nonetheless. I have fabric pulled and templates printed so I just need to get started! 

Paint Chip Challenge - Seattle MQG is doing a challenge right now, due in May, to make an 18" mini out of only the colors on our assigned paint chip. I better get on that now that I think I finally have a plan!

MQG Riley Blake challenge - my plan involves a little bit of fabric and a whole lot of FMQ. I think this is due in July. Maybe June...

Cotton and Steel Mini Quilt Swap - I think I'm making this sweet viewfinder pattern from Penny Layman's The Paper-Pieced Home. Swap is due in June.

Laurel tunic & Dress - I need to do the finishing on the teal one and start the aztec version. I really love this pattern by GreenstyleCreations! I actually used the pattern to also draft my own open front flowy cardigan!

Knit Staple dress - I've made one in woven and love it, time to get this one done for a little more casual, comfy version.

Fishy Izzy dress - I'm changing up the Izzy top by Climbing the Willow a little to lengthen the bodice and make a dress for my sweet 3 year old niece. I've already made her one that's tunic length and she loves it but she also loves to wear dresses.

Lane Raglan - I'm making the Lane Raglan by Hey June in this fun chevron print with solid blue sleeves and another with this pretty coral lace burnout. If I like them, I'm sure there will be many more versions to follow.

Flowy Knit Cardigans - I drafted this pattern as a mashup of the Laurel and some things I learned by watching Fit2Stitch on PBS. Oh how I love that show. I have at least 2 of these in the works and I would love to finish them so I can start wearing them. And then I will promptly make about 5 more.

Syrah skirt- I've been saving this magenta knit to make myself a maxi skirt and now I've FINALLY printed out the pattern after having it for several months.

Well. That's quite a to-do list. I better get started - my boyfriend just texted and asked for a pillow case tonight as well!