QCA BOM 2013 Quilting Bee Quilt

Hey there! I am loving these colors!! As promised here is the quilt I threw together from some of the QCA BOM blocks and some I chose myself:

Maureen Cracknell Handmade - Weekly Giveaway 11/15

Hello readers! The best things in life are free.. and free quilting fabric or tools is tremendously awesome!! Maureen Cracknell Handmade has weekly giveaways on Fridays and to say the prizes are generous is an understatement. Week after week she and her sponsors giveaway a boatload of fabric or quilting related items. You have four chances to win and the tasks are super easy! Looky here at this week's prize:

 

(c) Maureen Cracknell Handmade

This is Moda's new line called Modern Roses and this week Crafter's Vision is giving away 7 one yard cuts of this line, one yard of solid grey fabric, and Aurifil Sterling Silver thread! That is mighty mighty generous!

Sunshine and Ocean Waves

Bonjour! Earlier this year I made a quilt by McCall's titled Sunshine and Marmalade. I love it and my significant other loves it because I made it but also mentioned that it's "really pink". Now, I don't think the pink overpowers the quilt but the point is that it's feminine. So I decided that a masculine counter quilt should be made, opposite colors but same pattern. Using this color chart maybe: 

Super Duper Update

Well hello blog readers! I have been away for a while and that's sort of an understatement. I completely changed my mind about the design - I wanted to do something different than the typical sampler style quilt and found a pattern on Pinterest that sparked my interest:

(c) Blue is Bleu

A New Addition!

We had a baby and it's a boy!!

The addition is the front one.

New Project Alert

Yo homies! After finishing my own personal quilt, I fixed my nephews quilt. New twin size batting, Quilters Dream Orient, was the first thing purchased. This batting is probably one of the softest things I have ever felt. Kind of felt funny covering it with a quilt top it was that soft! After having a not so great experience with batting spray, the quilt was pinned. For a backing, I decided on a light blue with a faint pattern and a bright yellow, both matching the colors on the quilt top. I tied it with yellow, orange, blue, white, and green embroidery floss to match the colors again. The binding was the same satin green binding I'd used before. I also tied the quilt and taught my niece how to do it. It's really kind of fun and easy to do.

Sunshine and Marmalade Quilt Complete!

Here it is, McCall's Sunshine & Marmalade quilt:

Sunshine Marmalade - Top Complete!

Here it is! My first queen size quilt top:

It's not perfect but I have learned a lot, wrote a plan for the next time using this pattern, and can't wait to snuggle under my first queen sized quilt.

Thanks for visiting and happy quilting fellow quilters!

-Beatrice

QCA BOM Quilting Bee + others Update

Here are the June blocks I created:

Ruins of Jericho

Album Variation

Sunshine and Marmalade Update 3

Lots of blocks have been completed - 17 out of 30 total. I've found that planning three blocks, BnW photo test completed and passed, speed sewing the inner rectangles and the squares is the fastest way to do this.

Drawing the diagonal to sew on.

Along the way I use large tapestry curtains and quilting pins as my planning board to see how it looks all together.

This helps me see which prints will repeat or if certain colors are crowded on one side. It's a lil floppy on the left side but it gets the job done. Keep it strong you crazy quilters - quilt on!

  -Beatrice

A Wee Tip - Cat Protection

If you're like me, your quilting assistant is your cat.

Sunshine and Marmalade Update 2

So much progress lately! Here's what I've been doing:

Sunshine and Marmalade - Update 1

I've gathered the fabrics from my stash and cut them.

Sunshine and Marmalade - Project Take Off

The quilt I'm currently working on is from McCall's Quilting and is called 'Sunshine and Marmalade' found here.

(c) McCall's Quilting

In my humble opinion these colors are awesome together and can make a great modernesque quilt. It's a great beginners project - very simple piecing, only two cut sizes, lots of varying prints and therefore can be a good fabric stash reduction project. Once the process is stream lined this quilt can be done very quickly. My plan is show how I've been doing this project- my ideas, suggestions, mistakes and successes, etc all the way to the very end. Comments and/or suggestions along the way are greatly appreciated.

 -Beatrice

May Blocks for QCA Quilting Bee

New blocks for the month of May!

Sunlight and Shadows

Wool Batting Debacle + Washing Quilts

Recently I finished a quilt for my nephew. Knowing my sister, well any mother really, I knew that she would wash the quilt. And instead of having her wash it and something horrible happen during the washing process I decided it'd be best if I washed it first. Cycle = gentle. Hang dried. Here's the before washing and after washing of the quilt:

Appliqued Tree

As promised, here is how I created this:

May Giveaway from 44th Street Fabric

The best things in life are free.. and free fabric is tremendously awesome!!
44th Street Fabric shop has a variety of new prints and regularly has generous giveaways. For the month of May they are giving away 1/2 yard cuts of 6 polka dot prints!

Oh*muh*gosh, that picture makes me wanna drool! Such fun colors - looks like summer time fun, if all summer time fun could be summed up into a few colors. Check out their blog for over 15 chances at this giveaway.



Can we ever have too much fabric? Answer... No!! So go on and enter. ;-)

Baby Quilt + More

 So, I finished a project. Woohoo! It was my first "big" quilt. As mentioned before, my first project is the cathedral quilt - that's a long term investment currently on the back burner. This project is for my nephew who is a wee lad, shorter than three feet. This is the finished product:

More Blocks - *Quilters Club of America BOM Quilting Bee 2013

I decided to go back and do the other blocks for each months since I've only been doing the easy one. Can't get better unless you try! I redid the first block for March - Rocky Road to Dublin because all of the other blocks had the color yellow and a specific black print, all except this one:

March Block 1 Version 1

Mittens! Check!

I finally made the mittens! The last two steps of the tutorial from Five Green Acres confused me and so I improvised. Here they are!

Update - *Quilters Club of America BOM Quilting Bee 2013

Here are the blocks I have made thus far:

January

Bees and Fields

This is the layout that's supposed to be used. The pattern wasn't correct and therefore lead to problems producing the block. This statement is backed up by many experienced quilters on the website. I took the picture in BnW to show the values(?) of the colors and why I chose them.  

March Fabric Giveaway from 44th Street Fabric!

The best things in life are free.. and free fabric is mind meltingly awesome!!

Sunday Update!

I finished Row #3 of the Cathedral quilt! Here's what it looks like so far:

It's hanging by clothespins in my window right now.

Pre-project-mega-push Update

For realsies, the next 5 days I am going to put out some projects and make a mega dent in the cathedral quilt. I joined the website of Quilters Club of America and just from my introductory post the feeling of camaraderie and welcoming with open arms is heart warming. I've also decided to join the local quilt guild and my first meeting is the first Monday of next month. Yesterday was my first day snowshoeing and today will be my second. Molly is digging it! I'll also be praying for a family friend that is having a mega surgery today. She's young and we're all super optimistic. Ok. Update Sunday! Here's a picture taken the other day:

In the summer, there's a pond surrounded by purple lupines. *Sigh, summer.

-Beatrice

Happy February!

My break is over. The stress from the holidays followed by RnR is in the past. I've been building my stash with fantastic year end sales from online stores. The stores I bought from are Burgundy Buttons and Pink Castle Fabrics. Burgundy Buttons had, by far, the most discounts (some up to 55% off) that I found. Please let me know if you found any better offers! Also purchased was my first quilt kit from Pine Tree Country Quilts - I originally saw it in a quilting magazine (The Quilter) and knew that that's what will be on my bed in summer time. I also went to Loraine's Fabric when visiting Rhode Island. How friggen fantastic is that store!! So, now I'm not allowed to purchased any more fabric unless it's necessary and for an active quilt project.

What have I got done? Not a lot because, well let's face it, quilts take a long time! But one project got done and one is started.