2017 Finishes - Fat Quarter Baskets - #34

Once again, this is a Thimbleberries club program from the year of "Anniversary Club".  You can click here to read about all the other projects from this club program.  

This is called Fat Quarter Baskets.  It is a square quilt, which I have found that if the blocks are set in a diagonal placing, the quilt is almost always a square.  Not a fan of square quilts, as they don't fit on beds too well, except just the top, unless they are about 108" x 108".  This one is only 78" x 78", it barely fits the top of my king size mattress.  Probably will look really nice on a double bed.

This is a nice block, as the handle in the basket is pieced rather than appliquéd like most basket blocks.  

This one had three borders.  Lynette's use of borders makes her quilts really come together.  I think that is why I really like doing her patterns.

Here is the backing that I found in a quilt shop in a small town south of us.  We travel there about three times a year for a trade show, and I manage to stop in and pick up a few fabrics.  They have a nice selection of 108" wide backings, and this is one of my favorites.  The design has all the colors used in the Thimbleberries line and it always works on these projects.  I have use it several times, almost will become my signature for all my future Thimbleberries projects.

Size: 78" x 78"

Fabric Lines Used:  Various Lines from Thimbleberries

Colors:  Fall reds, golds, greens

Pattern: Fat Quarter Baskets

Designer:  Lynette Jensen, Thimbleberries  Anniversary Club 12/09

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Logan Nelson

Year Began:02/17

Year Completed: 09/17 

2017 Finishes - Patches - #33

This project is old. Probably around 2007 - 2009.  I got the top finished during that time too.  For some reason (probably when I moved into my new sewing room in 2012)  Also,  it was a UFO from long before I started blogging.  Hence, there are no pictures of progress or any details.  

Most of what I am going to write about this one is strictly from memory.  I think this was a kit bought at the Sewing Expo that comes to town once a year.  I bought it because pastels are one of my favorite styles of quilts.  I would have never have bought the pattern because of the picture used on the pattern.   Color throws me sometimes.  But, to the defense of the pattern maker, the quilt was easy, and it uses fat quarters.  A plus in any quilter's world.

The sun faded out the true colors.  This is one quilt that is much more beautiful in person than a picture can do.  Really, it is very beautiful.

Close up of pattern and binding.

The backing is shabby chic pink tone on tone.  Another plug letting you know it is much prettier in person than the picture.

Size: 72" x 96"

Fabric Lines Used:  Kit using miscellaneous pastel colors

Pastel blue, green, yellow, pink

Pattern: Patches

Designer:  Sandy McCauley

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Logan Nelson

Year Began: 10/2007

Year Completed: 10/17 

Thimbleberries 2 1/2" Scrap Quilt

It's not a secret that I am a fan of Thimbleberries.  I like the older fabric lines, I like Lynette Jensen's pattern designs, how she is simple in putting together her patterns, and she had done more lines of fabric and patterns than most quilt designers.  She is retired now, to my knowledge there are no more fabric lines patterns being developed.  Once in a while she pops up with a special article in a quilt magazine with a pattern.   This is a spot from crafts about her:  Lynette Jensen was one of the very first designers to create a Block of the Month program for quilt retailers, and her Thimbleberries BOM ran for more than 22 years, with more than 300,000 quilters and 1,000 stores participating.

I have been on of the 300,000 quilters to participate in her BOM and other programs.  I heavily participated from 1998 through 2008.  I have several kits and programs left to do, but time now to work on them all.  

One of the benefits from participating in her BOMs and programs, is she over stated the fabric that was needed for the project.  This is because her designs are really geared for beginner quilters, and the projects had enough fabric for mistake cuttings.  Me - I have a full stash of the leftover fabrics from these projects.

This is a big tub full of big scraps, color stacked from when I did the Quiltville mystery quilt,  Grand Illusion.  Clearly, I didn't really begin to touch my scrap bucket.

But, hold on, here are some more scraps in my cube shelving, storing my smaller scraps.

So, I gave it some thought and wanted a really simple 2 1/2" square quilt.

I cut up a box of darks above.

And a box of neutrals above.

This is the finished top.  Not what I had in my mind, but I still like it, as it is really scrappy.

The circles show what I did to make this top.  The first circle from the top of the picture down is a block of 4 X 4 2 1/2" squares made into a 16 patch using alternating dark and lights.  the next circle was what I did for sashing.  I made it 2 X 4 2 1/2" squares using darks. and the last circle is the corner posts using 2 X 2 2 1/2" square making a four patch sewn with the sashing.  

The top is done as of last night, still doesn't look like I made a dent in my scraps, but I have to know I am getting them used up without having to buy any fabric.  That is my goal for a couple of years.  

The top measures 65" X 82".  Now it is off to the longarmer.

Warmest...

2017 Finishes - Little Birdie Stitches - #31

This is the other project using the fabric line called Sunkissed by Moda.  Each month an embroidery scene depicting something special to the month it came out, featuring little birdies.  The embroidery work was fun, the little birdies are cute, and the colors were scrumptious.  I had a lot of fun doing this project.  Anything with little birds are right up my alley, since my name is so much like the little bird wren.  This was the first time working with gray as a background color, but it was a light gray, and this line had a couple of pieces of gray print, that went with all the other colors very nice.  I started the embroidery this in January 2012, and if you would like to read the progress of each block and finishing the flimsy, you can click here.

Unfortunately, I also have had this flimsy done since 2014 and it got stuck with the other project, waiting to complete the other two projects I had in mind to do with this fabric line.  But these last couple of years have been a diligent work of completing UFO's and not worrying about other projects that haven't even been started.  

Therefore, I sent this off to the long armer to get quilted, and it came back last August.  I got it bound in September 2017, but the weather was very cooperative until about a month ago.  Sometimes, it takes me awhile to get the whole package done.

Again, sorry for the wrinkles, it has been folded up for almost a year before I could get time and weather cooperation to take pictures.

Close up of border, binding, and quilting.

Close up of the backing.  Had to piece the backing with a couple of prints, as this line is hard to find now.

Size: 52" x 66"

Fabric Lines Used:  Sunkissed by Moda

Sherberts - pink, yellow, green, orange, gray

Pattern: Little Birdie Stitches

Designer:  http://littlemissshabby.com/category/birdie-stitches/

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Logan Nelson

Year Began: 01/2012

Year Completed: 09/17 

2017 Finishes - Block A Palooza - #30

Back in January 2011, there was a Blogger's Quilt Along called "Block-a-plooza".  It featured 16 bloggers, who designed a block.  Each week one of the 16 bloggers would post their block and in the end you ended up with sixteen 12" blocks and then they provided three different quilt top settings to finish the Quilt Along.  If you want to read more about this program and my progress you can click here.  I am not going to talk about this one much, as you can click on the link and read all you want about it.  I didn't take many pictures while working on this project other than to take a picture of the final block once it was done.

I will say that I had to remake two blocks, as they were so out of shape I couldn't work them in to fit when I started to piece the top together.  I actually had the top finished back in 2014, but it got put in a pile back in the closet, because I really liked the fabric line at the time and was making another 12 month program using it, and I had two more projects to do out of the fabric.  I did finally finish the other 12 month program and finished these two at the same time.  It is called Birdie Stitches #31.  You can read about it in a future post.

(It's been folded for a while, sorry for the wrinkles)

Size: 59" x 87"

Fabric Lines Used:  Sunkissed by Moda

Sherbert pale pink, orange, green, yellow, gray

Pattern: Block A Palooza

Designer:  Quilt Dad and Moda Designers

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Logan Nelson

Year Began: 2011

Year Completed: 09/17 

2017 Finishes - Star & Chain #26

I have posted about projects out of this book before, as it was a year long program called "Anniversary Club" put on my a quilt shop for Thimbleberries.  The program sent out a kit once a month of each project in this book.  If you are interested in the other projects I have completed from this book you can read them here. If you want to read about the process of making the quilt, you can click and read about it here.

This project is called "Star & Chain".  I fell in love with it, mainly from this picture.  It is one of my favorites from the book.

This is a picture of the layout of the block.  Was a little complicated to do and put together when all the pieces were cut out and made.

These are just some of the pieces that made the frame around the star in the middle.

This also is the making of the frames.

These are the little triangles that were cut off of the frames.  I have to think of something to do with all of these piles of leftovers.

This is one thought of using up the triangles, but pin wheels are not my favorite to make.  Remember this was done last year.  The triangles are still technically in a pile, just now piles in a bag.

These are finished star units.

Here is the making of the rows, showing how the framing goes together around the stars.

This is a finished flimsy.

Final and finished product.  I think my picture is as good as the one in the book!  

This is a close up of the quilting and binding.

Finally this picture shows the backing I choose.

Size: 64" x 76"

Fabric Lines Used:  Kit using Thimbleberries Fabrics

Greens and Yellows

Pattern: Star & Chain

Designer:  Lynette Jensen

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Logan Nelson

Year Began: 10/2016

Year Completed: 06/17 

Mini Quilt Club

Yep, I did it again!  I signed up for another program/club this year.  I am a sucker for getting kits in the mail and or a BOM!  

Moving right along, this is a yearly club of mini quilts.  You can view them or sign up here if interested.  It is for 6 quilts, one every other month, for a year.

I signed up because I thought that in doing all my big quilt projects, I would like to do a small project, something that I could get done rather quickly and feel accomplished.  I also liked that these mini quilts will all be done in Civil War Reproduction Fabrics.  That way, when I go to display them, they will have some cohesiveness about them.

This is mini project is called " Mams's Scrapbag".  I was able to make it in two nights.  My only issue with this one is that I didn't not square up my blocks, so my center came out about 2" bigger around on all sides.  So, since there was only enough brown border for the smaller version, I adapted four corner posts from some leftover scraps from the center.

Home machine quilting was another reason I opted to do some of these mini quilts, as I can work on these on my machine.  I opted to do a cross hatch for this mini, and the picture below is the one direction.

Here is a close up of the cross hatching quilting showing both ways on the mini quilt.

 This is a up close look at the finished quilt with the binding all done.

And the final version.  Looks like I need to iron it, as it is been folded in my sewing bag from the weekend.

Warmest...