A flowery finish, finally!

Completed Flower Garden baby quilt

It's time to wrap up Q3 of the Finish-a-long and I've completed one project out of the list of seven that I posted on my blog in July. I'm not surprised I only finished one project, but I am happy to report that progress has also been made on my Madrona Road baby quilt and I hope to finish it before the VMQG's UFO Challenge wrap up on October 20th.

 I quilted this 40"x40" quilt in a spiral pattern at a summer VMQG sew-in. It was finished in 3.5 hours! This was my second time quilting a spiral and I have to say I love the look of them.

 I went overboard with floral prints on the back and used large pieces of Heather Bailey and Erin McMorris fabric. I sewed the binding on by hand at two quilting events: a few stitches at the PNW MQG meet up sew-out at Trout Lake Park (I got distracted by chatting and hardly accomplished anything!) and the rest at the Guild Gathering, a meeting of local guild leaders that is held twice a year.

As this was my longest standing WIP, I'm very happy to have it completed. My goal is to cut down on my UFOs to allow myself room for new projects without feeling guilty about the projects I've abandoned. Wish me luck!

Finish Along Q3 Goals

Although my participation in the Finish Along has been erratic, I think it's a wonderful idea and a great way to stay motivated to finish up those long-standing WIPs! I've amassed quite a few in the past several years, so I'm staying motivated by linking up to the Q3 Finish Along with The Littlest Thistle. Do you want to participate and have a chance at winning some great prizes? Sign ups for Q3 are open until July 14th.

For a double dose of motivation, I signed up all the following projects for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's UFO Challenge that wraps up in October. I'm not kidding myself and saying that all of these projects will be done in time, but I'm hedging my bets and adding them all to the list. 

1) Flower Garden baby quilt, started in Fall 2009 (which makes it my oldest UFO!) when I bought the "Modern Baby Quilts" pattern from Elizabeth Hartman on Etsy. Lots of HTF prints here, including Erin McMorris's Wildwood, Heather Bailey's Pop Garden, and my first-ever Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House.

2) Madrona Road LOVE. Another baby quilt, made using Kelly of kelbysews' LOVE Mini Quilt tutorial on Sew Mama Sew. I just need to decide what I'm doing for the other side and the quilting. It's small, so once I get going, it shouldn't take long! Started Spring 2013.

3) Perfect Circles baby quilt. Started in a July 2013 workshop with Cheryl Arkison. I love where this is going, but don't believe anyone who tells you these circles take just six minutes!

4) Neutrals with a pop of colour: My blocks from the Fab Bee members have been supplemented by several blocks from friends. I have 19/20 blocks now and am nearly ready to piece the top. I'm keeping this one for sure! Started May 2013.

5) Red & Aqua Bee quilt: Started in early 2011, these blocks were made by members of my very first online bee. It was meant as a baby quilt for Ellie, but now that she's three, I think I might need to add to it and make it a big girl bed quilt!

6) Little Folks Patchwork: I won some fabric in early 2010 and decided I'd make a quilt just like Ashley's (Film in the Fridge) beautiful patchwork quilt that I'd fallen in love with. The squares are cut, I just need to assemble them!

7) Habitat Challenge: I got as far as completing the quilt top in November 2012 and haven't finished it. The top measures 42"x42".

2013 Finish-a-Long: Quarter 4 Goals

I had such a great time when I joined Leanne of She Can Quilt in the Finish-a-Long last quarter, that I had to make a new list for Quarter 4! However, when I sat down to think about what I really think I can get done this quarter, I realized most of the work hasn't been started yet, so I can't put it on the list. The big example is my Cotton Couture Challenge project which is due on November 18th.

My "project" is still a bundle of beautiful bright solids that look like this (image borrowed from Michelle, since I haven't even photographed my fabric yet):

At this point, I don't know what my plan is, but I think I'll probably make something for my eldest daughter, since I've never made her a quilt.

I have lots of small projects that are priorities, but don't count for the FAL since they haven't been started yet. I'll write them out for myself because I really do want to finish them before the end of the year.

1.Fab Bee nature block for Barb

2.Pac Man block for Chris

3.Farmer’s Wife blocks for Barb

4.Tote bag for VMQG swap

5.Halloween blocks for VMQG

6.Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus tote bag for Super Y

7.Totoro costume for Eleanor 

8.Cotton Couture Challenge project

9.Christmas ornament for parents

Wow! Knowing myself, there's no way I'm going to get this list done! Better not add to much to my official Finish-a-Long list. I need to focus on my small projects so I'll have space to work on other stuff in the new year.

Here's my list of eligible projects to finish in Q4:

Just one quilt! If I get really ambitious, I may finish my Easy Going Modern quilt as a Christmas present. Here's the progress I made back in July 2012 when I took Felicity's fun workshop (mine's the ombre version in blue). A quilt top in one day and it hasn't made it further than that in the past year and a bit. I wonder how many of the quilters in this photo have finished their quilts.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is working on in the FAL this quarter!

Rainbow Girl: WIP no more!

Back in July, I wrote up my list of Q3 Finish-a-Long goals, with high hopes that I would complete all three of my works in progress by the end of September deadline. Here's finish three out of three. Yes, you read that right, I completed all of my goals for this quarter!

I proudly present to you.... Rainbow Girl! 

This quilt has been a labour of love and I'm so excited to see it finally finished! I started selecting fabrics for the colour wheel back in Spring of 2010 and finally stitched on the label in September 2013. Three and a half years is quite a long time to make one quilt, but if I'd finished it earlier than July 2013, I wouldn't have been able to get this awesome picture with the newly-painted rainbow crosswalk in Davie Village in downtown Vancouver. It was meant to be!

I was inspired to name this quilt "Rainbow Girl" because that was the nickname my wonderful Grade One teacher Muriel Smith gave me after I painted many rainbows in her class. She once told me that a rainbow I had painted for her hung in her classroom from the year I was in her class until she retired!

I basted this quilt back in November 2012 and was eager to finish it, but anxious about ruining all my hard work with the quilting. My old Singer wasn't up to the task, but this February I brought home a new Janome 7700 and it just loved all the straight line quilting on this project! I entered "Rainbow Girl" into the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's special exhibit at the Northwest Quilting Expo and that deadline was the perfect impetus to get this project finished once and for all!

Amy Dame braved the mean border guards to get our quilts down to Portland, Oregon (yay, Amy!) and Bill Volckening wrote up a great review of our exhibit including a photo of my quilt. Thanks, Bill!

I've written a number of posts sharing my progress on this quilt, so this will just be a few details on the final steps as well as some glamour shots.

I quilted it as recommended in the pattern, with intersecting straight lines that remind me of the spokes of a bicycle. Because all the lines met in the middle, I decided on a thinner 50wt thread (Aurifil 2021 Natural White). Believe me, I was scared to see what would happen when all those lines came together, but it worked out beautifully!

 When adding the oodles of boring white binding, I kept the binding neatly rolled around the leg of my extension table.

This was the first time in my nearly twenty years of quilting that I joined my binding rather than tucking in one end! I used the Perfect Binding Tutorial by Julie of Jaybird Quilts and it was clear and useful! I love the way you can't tell where you started sewing on your binding. Note to self: when joining the two ends, leave a dog ear on each side before you sew your seam and the strips will line up when you press the seam.

Another first, when I hand stitched the binding, I loaded up six needles at a time so I wouldn't have to break my rhythm when sewing. Loved it! (cute pincushion is a gift from Amy).

I wanted the label to be special after all the work I'd put into this quilt, so I chain stitched a rainbow. I had never chain stitched before, but the Easiest Chain Stitch tutorial on Sublime Stitching made it simple.

Photo by Michelle McLatchy

 And now for a few more beauty shots!

At Beaver Lake in Stanley Park

At Show and Tell at the Vancouver MQG meeting, Photo by Michelle McLatchy

Quilt Stats
Name: Rainbow Girl
Size: 56"x56"
Pattern: Color Wheel Quilt from Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Fabrics: Tons of Kona white, plus 52 scraps of a rainbow of colours, some from my stash, some swapped with friends (especially Barb), and some purchased for this project
Batting: Warm & White (thanks again to Krista for catching me before I used Warm & Natural for this bright white project!)
Quilting thread: Aurifil #2021 50wt
Timeline: Started in March 2010 (before the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild even had its first meeting!), basted in November 2012, completed in September 2013.
Total project time: 3.5 years!

Previous posts about Rainbow Girl:
July 3, 2010: Rainbow Girl
November 23, 2011: WIP Wednesday
August 22, 2012: WIP Wednesday
November 19, 2012: Blogathon Canada 2012
July 8, 2013: 2013 Finish-a-Long: Quarter 3 Goals

Q3 Finish-a-Long post #2 - baby quilt

Back in July, I wrote up my list of Q3 Finish-a-Long goals, with high hopes that I would complete all three of my works in progress by the end of September deadline. Here's finish two out of three. I have to give a huge thanks to Leanne for hosting the motivational FAL, without her inspiration (and deadlines!), I doubt I'd have a finished quilt right now!

This simple little patchwork baby quilt was made with love for my cousin's new baby boy. I used the same Kate Spain zoo fabric that I'd used for Ellie's quilt back in 2011. I added a mix of coordinating tone on tone prints and Kona solids. I kept it simple, cutting five inch squares of each fabric, and adding a few pieced blocks here and there. I made my first ever hour glass blocks (yay!) using Rita of Red Pepper Quilts' tutorial. I also pieced a few half-square triangles and striped blocks to add interest. When planning the layout, I arranged the blocks randomly and tried to balance out the colours in a way that was pleasing to the eye.

I quilted in an organic crosshatch pattern, meaning that I didn't mark a single line on this quilt! It was so much fun watching the pattern emerge! I used a taupe Aurifil thread (2314) from a new box of 28wt threads I got over the summer. 

For the backing, I used exactly one yard of Amy Butler's full moon dot that I had in my stash. Actually, this entire project used fabric from my stash, the Kona charcoal binding was leftover from my first set of potholders for the VMQG-FVMQG swap, and even the batting was scraps from another project.

I thought Baby E deserved a personalized quilt, so I fused this six inch tall letter E to the backing and blanket stitched around the edges before basting the quilt. 

This was a fun project and I'm looking forward to giving it to our little cousin sometime before he turns six months old. It finished at 35"x42", so even though he's not a newborn anymore, it's plenty big for him to use it for years to come.

"Memories of QuiltCon"

Back in July, I wrote up my list of Q3 Finish-a-Long goals, with high hopes that I would complete all three of my works in progress by the deadline. I'm happy to report that I have met my goal! Three finishes in three months would already be some kind of record for me, but it ended up being three finishes in just three weeks because you know I like to cut it close to deadline!

"Memories of QuiltCon"

I sent two of my quilts down to the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's special exhibit at the show. Only three VMQG members made the trip to Portland for the show, so we were lucky to get a report back from Portland MQG member, Bill Volckening. His blog post, titled "Northwest Quilting Expo: Vancouver Modern Steals the Show", shares pictures of a number of the VMQG quilts that were on display.

"Memories of QuiltCon" is one of the two quilts I had in the show. It's a 12"x15" mini quilt that I started at Lizzy House's awesome workshop at QuiltCon.

 Me and Lizzy with my finished quilt top on the design wall full of other students' work

 I had to use some of Lizzy's Pearl Bracelet (bought at QuiltCon!) for the back. I followed Laurraine's corner pockets tutorial from her blog, Patchwork Pottery.

Thanks to my good friend Michelle of Eclectic Gnome for this picture of a happy Holly sharing the completed quilt at the September VMQG meeting. The quilts were due that night and were being driven to Portland the next day. Knowing me, are you surprised that I'd started with a quilt top at 10:00am that morning?

I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out and I'm glad that the deadline finally got me to finish it just seven months after I started it in Austin! I love playing with HSTs and solids and I also enjoyed trying out some matchstick quilting for the first time. I think a mini quilt was the perfect way to experiment with this incredibly dense style of quilting!

Post one of three done. I'll be back with more soon!

2013 Finish-a-Long: Quarter 3 Goals

I've been tempted by the call of the Finish-a-Long for months now, and this time I'm going to finally share some of my goals in public. If you know me, you know I don't get many projects finished each year, but there are a few that I really want to finish in the next couple of months, so it seems like a perfect time to join in with Leanne of She Can Quilt and the Finish-a-Long crew!

Here's my list of projects to finish in Q3:

1) Patchwork baby quilt (started May 10th, 2013)
The baby this is meant for has just turned two months old and I'm optimistic I can get this basted, quilted, and given to him soon! His second cousins can't wait to meet him!

2) Rainbow Girl
I started collecting fabric for this colour wheel quilt in 2010 and I pieced the top last summer. I basted it in November 2012 and just have to quilt it!

3) Memories of QuiltCon
I pieced this mini quilt top at a Lizzy House workshop at QuiltCon in February 2013. My neighbour Courtney, managed to design, piece, quilt, and bind her mini quilt in the same time I took to create this top! It won't take too long to quilt this tiny little quilt, I just need to make it happen! All of the fabrics I used for this quilt were from a bundle I purchased in Seattle at last year's meet up of the Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland Modern Quilt Guilds. Thanks to Keli of Drygoods Design for creating this great palette!

I have many more WIPs that I could list, but I'm going to try to remain grounded in reality and stick with this list of three. I have some late bee blocks and a couple of swaps to do over the summer, so I won't just be focusing on finishing my own quilts. If I can finish just three quilts by the end of September, I'd be delighted!

What are you working on this summer?