FInished Quilt #3

I don't think I showed my finished QPOM (Quilt Pattern of the Month) on my blog. You've seen me working on it, but here it is completely finished... even the binding is done. I enjoyed every part of working on this quilt, and really like the idea of flying geese blocks side by side for a border. The pattern is by Jackie Syer of FRJ Designs. 

I don't often sew with solids, so using the brown for the border was a bit unusual for me, but I like it, particularly how well it shows the quilting. I do wish the corner quilting design met together in a way that the diamonds would be the same size as the diamonds that are down the rest of the borders. But the photo I took conveniently doesn't show that, and now I seem to like it more. It's funny how that happens! This is finished quilt #3 for 2015!

Machine Quilting

The machine quilting is progressing well on my QPOM. I am amazed at how quickly this has come together! 
I am showing the back of the quilt and although it's a terrible photo, I hope you can see the rail fence kind of design that I quilted. It was a continuous zigzag kind of line stitched from the top left to the bottom right. Then I'd start again back at the top.  

Once I finished quilting a line 1/4" beside the flying geese border, I made more straight lines in the brown border. I used my hera marker to make the guidelines. What a great tool this is! It doesn't leave any chalk or marker on the fabric, just an indentation to follow. You just need to have really good lighting when you quilt to enjoy using the hera marker. I marked the lines as I went along, and it turned out okay.  Onto the binding...

Finished Quilt Top

"One Stick At A Time" is a quilt top! This was a fun and easy pattern to sew (by Jackie Syer of FRJ Designs).
I used two charm packs plus the brown fabric and the flying geese pink fabric. That pink fabric was leftover from the backing of a twister quilt. It's not from the same fabric line, but it fits in okay. Thanks to blog reader Cindy in NC for offering to send me some Lario fabric if needed... quilters are the nicest people!
The quilt top is 53.5" x 57.5", which is a perfect size for me to be able to quilt it on my sewing machine.

QPOM progress

By Depressed Alien

Is it cold where you live? 
It has been bitterly cold here this week, and all I want to do is stay home and hand stitch under a warm cozy quilt. My daughter sent me this cute cartoon. 

When not trying to stay warm,
I have been sewing some blocks for my Quilt Pattern of the Month for my local guild meeting. I want to have the top together for the January meeting, so I have to get going on it.

Most of the squares are ready with the brown centers sewn in, but I need to find a few more fabrics to fill in the missing blocks. I used two charm packs but am 4 blocks short for a layout of 9 by 10. 
This is a different colour palette than I'm used to, but it's growing on me!
Next I will be cutting and sewing the flying geese blocks for the borders. I already have a quilting idea, so this might even be a January finish!

Design Wall Monday

I have started my "Quilt Pattern of the Month" (QPOM) for my local quilt guild. Here are the first few blocks on the design wall. 
It's an easy pattern (by Jackie Syer) this month using a charm pack and a solid fabric for the middle "stick". It is the perfect project to sew during my post-Christmas recovery, since it requires very little brain power or organization! 
To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.

New Project

It's Friday again and it's time for Grand Illusion's step #4 to be posted over at Quiltville. I would much rather sew than shop, but my procrastination is going to catch up with me soon!

In the meantime, I'm starting a new project for my spare time. My quilt guild is hosting a QPOM (quilt pattern of the month) this year to help us use up stash, and this is our 4th project. I am using up these Lario Moda charm packs and the brown yardage will be the "sticks". It should be a quick and easy pattern to sew, which is perfect for those times when you are avoiding shopping and would much rather stay home and sew!

A Finished Quilt Top

I put the pedal to the metal to finish this quilt top for the quilt guild meeting this week. It is the "Quilt Pattern for the Month" designed by Jackie Syer. It was completely made from my stash... nothing was purchased to make this quilt top!
The layout was random, and as I like to remind people, random does not mean equally balanced... it means random ("proceeding, made, or occurring without aim, reason, or pattern"). I tried to alternate the two blocks (the pinwheel and a 4 patch center) as much as possible. 


The photos are not great. They were taken on my clothesline at sunset, with the sun behind the quilt. I do like this photo since it gives the quilt a stained glass kind of a look.
I sewed the quilt together so quickly that I have since discovered two "concerns" - one is a hole due to no seam allowance (oh my goodness how could that happen?!?) and one is a hole caused by clipping threads, and accidentally clipping into a quilt patch! I will try to fix those errors today.

And now I am off to check out step #3 of the Grand Illusion mystery... TGIF!

QPOM & Tim's Cups

I have been making some blocks for my guild's monthly quilt pattern project. Doesn't this block look yummy beside the Tim Horton's small takeout cup of coffee? I love the seasonal cups that Tim's have this year with the knitted patterns on them!

 


Just look at this cup - it's the medium size with the red knitting pattern. So adorable!
And the QPOM blocks are adorable too! All are scrappy and sometimes matchy. It is fun to pick out 3 scraps for each block.

And here is the large blue cup for when you are really thirsty. It inspired me to add some blue scraps into the quilt.

I am having a great time with this pattern and with trying out all sizes of the Tim's cups!

QPOM

The Quilt Pattern of the Month (QPOM by Jackie Syer) at my quilt guild this month is called "Mini Bonanza".

I am using up chunks of some deep stash for this one and am not quite sure yet what the colour scheme will end up being. There are two blocks in this quilt - one block has a pinwheel center and the other has a 4 patch center. This pattern was designed for 100 of each of these 6" blocks. I won't be making that many, but I have a good start on the pinwheel blocks. 


Here are the first dozen blocks up on the design wall today. 
I am hoping to make a lot of progress on these blocks before step #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery starts on Friday and I get wrapped up in that new project.

QPOM blocks together

Here are the blocks sewn together for the QPOM (Quilt Pattern of the Month) at my quilt guild. This is called "Arrow's Up" and the pattern is by Jackie Syer at FRJ Designs. I used primarily Berenstain Bears fabrics and scrappy lights. 
It looks like a bit of a hot mess, since I sewed the blocks together randomly. I'm thinking of adding a border or two to make it a bit larger.

QPOM

A little bit of progress was made this week on my QPOM ("Quilt Pattern of the Month" through my local guild). I have sewn and trimmed these 25 QST blocks. Love the happy primary colours!
Now I have to start sewing the alternate blocks.

It has been a very stressful week, and as a reward to myself for surviving it (including a 2 hour grueling dental appointment)
I will be spending today with my sister doing a quilt store shop hop. Check back tomorrow to see if I found anything I had to buy!

TGIF - Let's start something new!

It's Friday and you know what that means! 
Time to sew!
I started my October QPOM (Quilt Project of the Month) for my local guild. I decided to use some Berenstain bears fabrics that I have been hoarding saving for a couple of years. 


I am adding lots of dotty scraps and hoping it will not be too wild of a combination. I am using the Companion Angle ruler to make the QST blocks. The blocks on the top left were the tester blocks which were too small. Now I have my math right, and just need to make hundreds more.

A Finished Quilt!

It's a wonderful feeling to finish a quilt!
And this finish is especially delicious, since the quilt was made in about a month (you can read about the start of this quilt here). Also great is that this is a total scrap quilt. Everything from the blocks, to the batting, and the backing were constructed from leftovers from other quilting projects!

This was a joy to sew, to quilt and to finish! 

Pattern by Jackie Syer at FRJ Designs.
Finished size: 50" x 64"


I should be cutting the grass today after work but instead, I plan to sit under my beautiful tree, snuggle up in my scrappy quilt, enjoy a cup of tea, and read a good book.

Scrap Happy Monday

The blocks are all sewn for my QPOM and I love it's yummy scrappiness! This isn't the final layout and changes will still be made every time I walk past, but the blocks are done, and a small dent has been made in the scrap bin! 

Lucy, my new Singer 301A, got a wonderful workout sewing these blocks. She is very clear that she does not like to wind bobbins, but I think I can fix that by replacing the bobbin winder tire ring.
Hop over to Patchwork Times to see more design wall postings.

Design Wall Monday

I have made progress on my QPOM scrappy rail fence blocks and here they are on the design wall today. There are 34 of the 63 blocks needed, so the blocks are more than half finished. 
I don't like that purple block blob on the bottom row, so I'll dissect and reconstruct that one. I think it needs more dark purple and more black.
I must admit to feeling very self righteous as I am sewing these blocks, because they are all made from the scrap bin. Very old fabrics are being given new life and finally getting into a quilt top.
To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday - QPOM

I was happy to see my quilty friends at guild meeting this past week and we enjoyed a wonderful presentation by Jackie Syer (no website that I know of). I signed up for the new QPOM (Quilt Pattern of the Month) program, where we get a new scrappy quilt pattern each month. 
Got scraps? We are getting ideas!

So when I was at Gail's house this weekend, I started cutting 1.5" strips for my new QPOM project called "Not Just Any Rail Fence".
I am sewing these blocks on my 301 (gifted to me by Liz) to give it a good workout.





On my design wall today are the blocks I have sewn so far. I have already finished about a quarter of the blocks - 16 of the 63 needed.
I think I need to add in more red and gold and brown. What would you add?

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see more design walls.