I’m back from Oregon!! The drive was long, but the trip was lovely! We stopped in Eugene on the way back at this great modern quilt shop, Piece By Piece, where I did my best to support Small Business Sunday. Single-handedly. In other news, I need bigger fabric storage!
Finished
Christmas Quilt – Probably the biggest news (for me anyway) is my finish! I finally finished the quilt I’ve been calling “The Christmas Quilt” in previous WIP posts because it was a Christmas gift for my mom! She reads this blog (hi mom!) so I didn’t want even a teensy peek getting out there. I actually started this LAST November. I had the front and back and went to baste it, and I looked at it and realized that it was just too small to be at all practical. It was only the second quilt I’d made (I think. Maybe third) and I hadn’t thought about dimensions at all.
Instead of trying to rush and get it done in time, I chose to put it aside. But that meant that I had to finish it this year for sure!
The entire quilt was built around my mom telling me how much she liked the Gallery Fiori tan poppies print fabric. Based on that, I chose another tan, some navy blues, a medium blue, and the gold print. I tried to keep with the circles and floral theme, and I wanted a pattern that would show off the fabric. In the end I went with the Rectangle Reverie pattern (also known as Simple Sashing and Rectangles) by Monica @ Happy Zombie. The back is just improv print blocked with sashing, but I love the way it came out as well. I tried to feature the print that my mom originally liked as much as possible. The back shows the original dimensions pretty well, it was the top left corner to the bottom right of the gallery fiori tan poppy print. You see what I mean about being too small to be practical!
The binding is my favorite print by Joel Dewberry, Herringbone (in navy). I ended up doing a simple echo quilting pattern as I didn’t have a lot of time. I didn’t know we were heading up to Oregon until the day before we had to leave! My parents just moved to Oregon, so they are in for some colder weather, so the quilt timing worked out better this year anyway.
I admit, I didn’t want to give this one up, but I couldn’t think of a better recipient for it!
In Progress
Low Volume Log Cabin – I finished another 3 blocks of this. Still no idea how big it’s going to be or where I’m going with it or how I’m going to put the blocks together (they’re all different sizes) but the whole point of this one is to not plan. I already have thoughts of how I want to do the next one!
Hexies – I did a few of these in Oregon, and even sewed one of the rosettes together, although I didn’t get a picture of that. These are fun to work on when I have a chance, but I’m not really pushing to get it done on a deadline.
Nyan Cat – I have this basted, I just need to figure out how I’m going to quilt it. I’m going to tackle this over the weekend, and it may just end up being some sort of echo quilting. I don’t want to take away from the digital/pixelated quality of it by doing an all over design. Before I basted it, I made sure to get a picture of the back, though. I hated ironing this thing. I admit it!
No Progress
Mod Pop Quilt – Still need to design and create the back. I will hopefully tackle that a bit this weekend as well.
April & Kerry’s Quilt – I need a cutting party. Or a plan.
Sew Sew Modern – I think I might be ready to face this again after the last paper piecing frustration.
NuBees Quilt – Still don’t have enough fabric for the back and don’t really want to get more. Maybe I’ll just use more white.
Linking up to Lee @ Freshly Pieced for the WIP Wednesday link party. Check it out to see all the beautiful projects people are working on!
-Anne
18 thoughts on “WIP Wednesday”
What great projects, and so many of them. I got back into sewing this week, but not as nearly as much as you! visiting from freshly pieced!
Thank you! I tend to have a lot of projects going and just make a little progress on each of them, but I have some big finishes I need to get in gear with for the holidays. 🙂 I’m happy you’ve gotten back into sewing! I have to take breaks now and then, but I really do miss it if I go too long!
You have been very busy. I think your Christmas quilt turned out very nice. Who cares that you started it in 2011. Who’s counting anyway!
Hahaha true enough! It just makes it sound like I worked on it for a really long time when really there was about 10 months in there where I didn’t touch it. 😉 Thank you so much for stopping by!
Such lovely things! I particularly love the low volume log cabins.
Thank you! It’s a nice change from some of the more precision work I am doing and the paper-piecing. 🙂 I need to make more so I can start figuring out how they’re going to go together!
Wow, I love the blues in your hexies! So bright and full of life. I love the white sashing on the back of your Mum’s Christmas Quilt. I’m a bit scared to try anything too defined on the back of my quilts in case the quilting doesn’t line up LOL I think I have to be a bit braver 🙂 Well done, looks like you’ve been busy!
Thank you! The quilting doesn’t line up on the back of my quilt, and in fact there are places where you can tell it’s rotated a bit. However, in real life no one seems to notice, so I quit worrying about it too much, and I try to never point it out! lol Of course you could always do some free-motion quilting in which case anything goes!
The log cabin looks really interesting, great choice of colors!
The nyan cat had to be a nightmare in ironing! I hate ironing!
Thank you! The ironing was my least favorite part of that quilt, but it was worth it! (I think… hahaha) I’m having fun with the log cabins. It’s a nice change from all the precision sewing and paper piecing I’ve been doing lately!
-Anne
What a great quilt for you mom. Man, I really love all these projects.
Thanks Marla! I would love for some of these projects to finally get finished…hahaha I guess that’s what I get for having project ADD!
Congrats on the finish and hand delivery of your mom’s Christmas quilt, the front and back turned out great and I love the outdoor photo shot. Amazing progress all around.
Thanks Karen! It felt really good to have that particular quilt done since it’s been sitting around for so long. And she was really happy with it which of course felt great! The outdoor shots are actually taken in my parents yard. Their house is so awesome! I want to move to Oregon. Preferably relocating everyone in the quilt guild with me. Or somehow make Santa Cruz closer to Oregon, maybe that would be ideal! 😉
The quilt for you mom looks amazing. I really like the pattern you choose and the fabrics too 🙂
Thank you! I really enjoyed working with the color palette which is not one that I am typically drawn towards. But by the end I had really grown to like it. 🙂
I LOVE my quilt, and it is so cozy. There is a problem though, one evening when I got up from my chair to do something, I put it over Dad and now he LOVES it too. The hand delivery was extra special. Thanks again
Well, dad IS notoriously hard to shop for. So maybe he can get one next year! It would require at least a little guidance on his part, though as far as colors or fabric is concerned. I’m super happy you like it!! Love you mom!