I Spy A Crumb Patch Top Complete

I have been on a roll!  Yesterday, I finished the swirly feather border on the Tree of Life Quilt.  I ran out of thread twice.  After going through a 600m spool of Superior Threads, I went to my LQS to get more.  They were out of the color I needed (figures).  The owner looked through her personal stash of thread and had a portion of a spool of the right color and gave that to me.  I was thinking I was good to go, but I ran out again!  The border is really thready.  I decided not to try and get another replacement so I found a color close enough in my own stash and finished it.  Afterwards, I put on the binding.  I have one inner border to finish and as soon as that is complete (inspiration has not hit yet) I will post tons of pics!!!

As if binding and quilting weren't enough, I also ironed and folded my prairie points.  The motivation was still there, and at 9pm last night I began to assemble the I Spy a Crumb Patch borders.  It turned out great!

Now on to assembling a quilt back.  I found some alphabet fabric in my I-Spy stash so I am going to try and mix that with some colorful solids and see how it goes from there!

Quilting the Tree of Life

I have put aside the prairie point blocks (all cut out and ready to go) and started quilting the Tree of Life quilt!  The center is complete, and I had been really torn about what to do with the outer border.  I love the braided border and wanted something to fit the theme of the quilt while not overpowering the lovely outer border.

A while back I saw that Quilty Pleasures had a series called Stop, Drop, and Roll Quilt-a-long.  She had a few awesome yet simple quilting designs to practice, and I really loved the swirly feathery design she posted.  The way I quilt, if I put the outer edge under the needle, the design would have been counterclockwise.  The braided border goes clockwise on the quilt.  I didn't want that.  I emailed Debby and she graciously replied.  She suggested I quilt the border from the back of the quilt!  Light bulb!  By quilting the border upside down, the direction of the swirly feathers would be in the same direction as the braid.

Here I go!  I used my walking foot to quilt around the outer edge of the quilt so I knew where my boundaries were.  The design is a bit tedious so I am doing one bobbin a night.  By the time I can start quilting, it is late and my eyes are already buggy from being tired.  Still, it should be done rather quickly.  I love that you don't have to be careful about tracing your own lines.  It really has some whimsy to it!

I have one side complete now, and after that I have a little more to do with my walking foot, and then the quilting is done!  I can't wait to share pictures!

P.S.  The specific tutorial I used can be found here.

I-Spy a Crumb Patch top complete

Last night I was able to finish the I Spy a Crumb Patch quilt top.  I am really happy with it and know exactly what fabric to purchase for the border (a bright but deep colored blue).  A while back I saved a link in my RSS feed for prairie points and I think that would totally look cool in this scrappy quilt.  Pieces of Rana's Life is a great blog and this tutorial makes it look easy!  I was going to put on a 1" finished border in blue, then the prairie points (scrappy of course), then a 3" finished border using the same blue.

Here is the quilt top

In other news, I was going to start the Tree of Life quilting, only to realize I skipped an important step:  I forgot to purchase coordinating thread!  I am going to take care of that today or tomorrow.  Gold for most of the body and brown for the tree. 

Happy Quilting!

HSTs-a-plenty

Today, in bits and pieces of time, I was able to iron and trim down the HSTs for I-Spy a Crumb Patch.  Here they are all nice and pretty!

As I was starting, I remembered I had a gallon sized bag full of untrimmed HSTs leftover from my Pineapple Blossom Quilt.  I had used Bonnie's method of sewing that extra line on my corner squares and then having a bonus HST left when I trimmed.  I decided to take them out too to press and trim.  I really liked her Charlotte's Baskets quilt (minus the sashings I think) so why not at least get things started!  I ended up with almost 90 HSTs and a bunch more to finish up!  Not bad for a day's work!  My HST's finished up at 2.5" so my blocks will end up a bit bigger than shown on her website, but I think it will turn out just lovely!



Tonight I will be basting my Tree of Life quilt.  It has been a pretty satisfying day!

I Spy a Crumb Patch

I am finally able to quilt a bit again after a lovely vacation and a hectic week!  Lately, I have been busy making...

Pickles!  Lots of pickles!  Pictured are a jar of hot garlic pickles and my grandmother's sweet bread and butter pickles.  Cucumbers are plentiful this year so I have made a few batches already!  Yum!

Also, a while back a friend of mine mentioned how much she loved the Crumb Patch Quilt.  She is pregnant and due in early August, so I want to make her something.  I really, really detest repeating patterns normally, but this is for a special person.  I had a lot of I-Spy novelty fabric sitting in a box after I completed my son's I-Spy (and a gallon sized bag...I swear the stuff reproduces!), so I decided to make a smaller I Spy version of Crumb Patch!  I will probably replace the outer flying geese with either 4-patches or just a ring of fussy cut I-spy blocks so it will be a wee bit different.

Here are the 9 patches.  I guess it is time to start the HSTs!

In other news, the batting has arrived for the Tree of Life Quilt, so I will begin the embroidery (yes, I have been putting it off) tonight as I watch TV!  I am so excited to get this one completed.  I will be giving it away in mid August and can't wait!

we have a winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Travelling Stash giveaway!  I was able to fit the Pappas book "Quick Watercolor Quilts" in the box, so that was added too!  Without further ado, random.org picked 13 as the winner.  Congratulations Supermom!  I will contact the winner via email and have the box out on either Monday or Tuesday.

To everyone else, I haven't quilted in about 2 weeks!!!  It has been the longest stretch of time since my 18m old was born!  I have a quilt kitted up and ready to go and have ordered batting for my Tree of Life quilt, so there is plenty quilty goodness to come!  This week, however, has been full of craigslist sales, pickle making, and gardening!

Happy Quilting!

Log Cabin

A few of you mentioned that log cabin blocks were your favorite.  That may very well be on the top of my list too.  When I first started quilting, I wanted to make a quilt for my nephew (not yet born).  I went to my LQS without much of a plan.  I found an inexpensive alphabet print and a free log cabin pattern online.  I altered the color scheme a bit and came up with this!

The quilt top took me only a weekend.  I think I did well for an early project and was lucky.  I tend to work over my pay grade a little and it was surely a challenge.  I hand quilted this also.  I stitched in the ditch in the log cabins and did a cable around the border.  You may also see the scrap bug getting in me a little too.  I chose three different greens and blues for the quilt.  I think the hand quilting took about 2 months.  It was completed in early 2009.

I am baaaaaack! Psssst....Travelling Stash!

I just returned from a lovely vacation in central Maine.  I hated to come back, but I am finally feeling a sense of normalcy.  I did nearly no quilting while I was away because there was simply no room to work.  I did some granny squares  with a crochet hook but it didn't turn out very nice.  I think I have the technique down though so my next project will be greatly improved.

I have some big news!  I won the travelling stash!  It has arrived and I was so excited to go through it!  I do have to be honest when I say that there were a number of items (fabric) in the box that were not fit for any sort of quilting.  I can tell you that I am willing to use almost everything in a quilt.  I picked up some of the items and I wouldn't have put them in anything.  These items (about 4 pieces of fabric) I took out and disposed of.  I filled the box back up with some items from my stash and am ready to send it on to you!!  There are some lovelies in the box including a quilt kit, patterns galore, and cute fabrics.

Here is what I took.  Some lovely fat quarters.

I added some yardage of this glittery blue (I have no idea if it is a half yard or more...too lazy to measure) I purchased last year to make Christmas ornaments.  Also, I wanted to offer some fun novelty charm squares (these are 6.5" squares I believe) as an "I Spy starter kit."  There are over 30 squares and all are different. 





Then, I added most of a layer cake of Halloween fabric, some orphan blocks, a new charm squares pack, two quarter yards of foliage prints from my LQS, and one other piece of yardage.  I also just received a second copy of Quick Watercolor Quilts by Dina Pappas and will put it in the box if it fits.  It is an awesome book to have as a reference if you are wanting to try a watercolor quilt.  I may add more surprises if they fit in the box...we will see!

So, here are the rules. 

1.  You have to be a blog owner.  I will check to make sure :-).  This is so you can pass it on to the next person.

2.  You must be in the US to enter.

3.  You have two ways to enter.  First, leave a comment telling me about your favorite quilt block.  Second, you will have an extra entry for being a follower.  Leave this entry as a second entry (if you already follow this blog you may tell me so in a second entry).

3.  Contest will end Friday, July 15 at midnight.  I will choose a winner on Saturday and ship it to you early next week.  You then pass it on!

Happy quilting!