BOMs Away - Eternal Bloom

Guess what? It’s a Eternal Bloom week and I actually made forward progress on it! Not full blocks, of course - I’m still me after all. But decent, measurable progress.

I made one G block when I first started the borders, then never went back and finished the rest of them. So that was easy enough to start! I picked out my colors and sewed the main floral section of the blocks.

Past Kate left a note about the leaves in the G blocks and I will double check her math before tackling those next month, and then those blocks will be finished. And then I think - maybe - I just have the opposing blocks to G, and the borders are ready to start getting stitched together! So, you know, another year or so.

The deets

Pattern: Pam Bono’s Out of the Darkness / Eternal Bloom / A New Beginning - out of print and extremely hard to find (believe me, I tried)

Fabric: Block of the Month kits from a quilt shop that closed in 2015

BOMS AWAY FOR EVERYONE

BOMs Away Monday is currently being hosted on Facebook - please join and post your block of the months in the group!

Swishy Sashing - A Finished Quilt of Valor

It’s time for yet another Connecting Threads / Quilts of Valor finish! And it’s my favorite pattern, Swishy Sashing. I did an update to the pattern in March just before ordering my fabric, adding a Quilts of Valor appropriate size to the pattern. And here it is!

THE METHOD

The pattern includes not one - not two - not even three - or four!! But FIVE different methods of making the sashing swish! The original pattern used the tube method, which…lots of people hated. So I went ahead and added several different ways so that everyone can pick their favorite.

I used the “make a half square triangle and add stitch and flip corners” method - I just like it without the extra seams! (BTW, all methods use close to the same amount of fabric, either in seam allowances or clipped corners.) I will concede that any of the methods with seams will be easier to line up with the sashing.

THE FABRIC

The throw/QOVF size uses fat quarters or fat eighths - F8 would be scrappier, but I think the FQs was a nice and even distribution of colors and patterns. I used the Summer Jubilee line from Connecting Threads - and I must have gotten the last FQ bundle. (Sorry not sorry!) The fabric line is mostly sold out, which hopefully means the next summer RWB line is coming out soon! I have so many plans for updating patterns. (But I’m open to requests!)

The fabric squares get bigger with each pattern size upgrade, so by the throw/queen size, it’s a really good place to show off some pretty focal fabrics. Like the fireworks. I like the fireworks a lot!

The backing is a flag print from a bolt that I bought during a sale a couple years back. I used it on the Cascade QOVF as well. (And you’ll see it again. A full bolt, people!)

The binding is the red gingham print from Summer Jubilee - which is still left if you like a good gingham. (And who doesn’t? It’s the second best binding after a bias stripe!)

THE QUILTING

The quilting is Feather and Star Border by Anita Shackelford. I think at this point, I’ve run through all the potential star quilting patterns on my Statler! And even though it’s a border, and fairly linear, it still fills the space nicely and gives a good swish.

66x76”

Get the pattern here! And view my Quilts of Valor page if you want to see more of the Connecting Threads / Quilts of Valor collaborations. And use code “ACTKATIEMAE” to get 15% off at Connecting Threads!

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BOMs Away - QOVF

It was another Quilts of Valor weekend! Well, it’s nearly always a Quilts of Valor weekend - I usually quilt one on weekends (not necessarily my own) but it was also time to piece one! Or two. Yes - I finally restarted the Marble Mystery!

SWISHY SASHING

But first, Swishy for this month’s Connecting Threads Quilt of Valor! I’m making my own Swishy Sashing pattern in CT’s Summer Jubilee fabric - I added a QOVF size to the pattern in its last update. The pattern includes a few different ways to make the sashing swish - I used the “make a half square triangle, add stitch-and-flip corners” method to make this version.

I’ve already sashed all the blocks and just need to quick sew the rows together!

Summer Jubilee is just about sold out - I think I got one of the last fat quarter bundles (the lap and throw size version use fat eighths or fat quarters.) But that just means the new summer RWB collection has to be coming out soon! I have so many plans for pattern updates once that’s out!

MARBLE MYSTERY

And then yay, back to work on the Marble Mystery! It took me a while to figure out which fabrics I was using where, because I switched a red and a blue somewhere, but I think I’m back on track. I only made the nine patches (half of September’s instructions) but it’s nice to be moving forward on it.

The two reds seem kind of clash-y, but the brighter red gets cut smaller, so I think it’ll work out in the end.

BOMS AWAY FOR EVERYONE

BOMs Away Monday is currently being hosted on Facebook - please join and post your block of the months in the group!

Blue Green Leftovers - A Finished Quilt

This quilt has one of the better origin stories of my quilts! My younger son’s bus driver was* pregnant, and of course, since I have about eleventy thousand baby girl quilts on hand, it was a baby boy. No worries - I had another baby quilt in play, and I just utilized its leftovers!

(*this quilt was finished and gifted at the beginning of March, and she has already had the baby. hence the “was.”)

The METHOD

So you haven’t seen the other baby quilt yet, but you can get a peek on my Instagram. The client for that one had trouble visualizing how the blue would blend with the other colors, so I cut the chunks and laid them out for her…five times. We found the right blue, eventually, and the leftover chunks became the blues in this quilt!

I added alternating greens from my scrap bin and fat quarters, and just like that, I had a boy baby quilt ready to go!

I love it when a plan comes together!

I hope the recipient doesn’t feel slighted by finding out the quilt is the “leftovers” - it’s actually exactly the kind of quilting that I love doing the most. It’s the best kind of scrap quilting, when the scraps barely have time to marinate!

The QUILTING

The quilting is Ginger Heart by Urban Elementz, and continued quilt synergy - I actually bought one big backing piece and quilted both at the same time. Just straight across the 88” of baby quilts! Yes, I deliberately made them the same size so that the pantograph would line up nicely.

The FABRIC

The backing is minky from Joann’s. The fabrics are fairly random small prints in blue and green - I’m not sure I have the selvage end on any of them! The binding is the same as the longest blue wavy-strip. (Zig zag? Bricks? I’m not sure what I’m calling it!)

44” square