A lot of firsts!

This week I finished the slab baby quilt that I've been working on for awhile.



I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  It's so much fun to look at!  Just like my Scrappy Trip Around the World, almost every scrap in this quilt has a story to tell.

This is a quilt of many firsts for me.  It was my first slab/improv quilt.  I had seen several quilts using these techniques on other blogs, so I decided it would be fun to try.  I'm really drawn to scrappy. patchwork type quilts right now, and it is so fun to pull scraps out and come up with something that is basically your own design!  It is also my first pieced back.  I really did that out of necessity as I didn't have a piece big enough for the whole back, but it was fun to try to put together fabrics that could really make this quilt reversible.  This quilt holds my first attempt at FMQ, which I blogged about here.  It's far from perfect, but you have to start somewhere!



  

It is also my first time using a fabric for the binding that isn't also somewhere in the quilt.  I chose some black and white polka dots, something I've never worked with before, and it makes a beautiful frame for the colorful slabs and white sashing and borders. 

Also a first for me - I'm going to donate this quilt!  I'm embarassed to say I've never done that before with a quilt of my own, although my quilt group has worked on group projects that we've donated over the years.  This quilt is going to A Mother's Hope for a new mom who is struggling with postpartum depression.  I learned about this through the blog Margaret's Hope Chest, and I'm happy to be giving a little support to someone who needs it.  Even though my sons are grown-ups now, I remember those stressful days all too well!  I hope a new mom will enjoy snuggling her precious baby with this colorful quilt.

And last, but not least, my husband said to me this morning, "You're giving that away? Because I really like it."  How's that for a compliment?  I couldn't ask for more!

I'm linking this quilt up to 100 Quilts for Kids at Swim, Bike, Quilt. and later in the week to Needle and Thread Thursday.



I have a confession to make...

I'm afraid of free motion quilting...  I want to learn how to do it, and I keep trying little practice pieces, but I'm not sure I'm getting the hang of it.  I really should take a class on it, but before trying that, I decided to read up on it, and watch Leah Day's videos, and practice.  It still scares me!

So... I decided the only way to get over my fear was to finally commit to FMQing a whole quilt.  I've been working on a slab baby quilt completely out of my scraps, and it seemed like the perfect project to finally take the plunge.   Yesterday, I did it.  I FMQed the whole thing.  I'm not ready for stippling yet, so I decided to try loops meandering all over the quilt.  And I have to say, I got better at it as I went along.  Once I figured out the right speed at which my machine and I would work well together, and how much space I could cover at one time, I felt pretty successful.  That's not to say I don't have a LOT of practicing to do still, but I don't feel too bad about my attempt.


It mostly looks like this:

 

and this:

 

or this:

 

with a little of this:

 

 

I might need to rip that one out and redo it!

 

Unfortunately, I noticed some of this on the back.  I know that has something to do with my tension, but I'm not sure how to fix it.  Raise the tension?  Lower it?  Any suggestions?

 

 

Thanks for being a witness to my first attempt at FMQing a whole quilt.  Honestly, I'm pretty proud of myself.  But, I'm still a little afraid of it...

 

Linking up this week with Needle and Thread Thursday and Really Random Thursday.  Thanks for the fun linky parties!

A Little More about Slabs and a Thank You!

Yesterday, I finished a baby quilt-sized top that is made out of 4 - 15 1/2 inch improv slab blocks.  It was fun finding all kinds of pink, green, yellow, and purple fabrics to try the slabs with.  I think my favorite is the purple, which I didn't think I would have enough of since I hardly ever work with purple.  Who knows where it came from?  I think my stash is reproducing on its own!

With the white sashing and borders, this quilt has ended up to be about 40" x 40".   It was fun to just start sewing pieces together without a real plan, other than the size of the blocks.  My plans is to practice some FMQ on it, and I want to donate it somewhere, so I can participate in 100 Quilts for Kids by the end of September.

On another note, I was the lucky recipient of a prize from the August Linky for the And Sew ON BoM.  I got my choice of three patterns from Kristy's (of Quiet Play) Craftsy Shop.  Of course, I had to ask for the Just My Type letter blocks.  I can't wait to try them out, maybe for a wall-hanging or a gift for a friend.  Thanks, Kristy!

I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday!

Sewing Room Re-do and Slabs

I decided recently that I needed a larger table for my sewing machine if I was going to do more machine quilting.  We found the perfect table/desk at Ikea and put it together last Sunday.

I love the white table top!  It looks so clean and neat! (Right now anyway...). It gives me lots of space to lay blocks out as I work on them.

 

 

I've also been trying some improv/slab blocks for a baby quilt.  I'm working on pink, green, yellow, and purple 15 1/2" blocks.  I know I'll need some sashing or borders for this quilt, but haven't decided what to use for that yet.  I'm wondering about using some black and white with it, like the cat material I used for the backing of my Scrappy Trip Around World quilt.  

 

 

Since this is totally an improv quilt, I guess anything goes!  Finding that fabric will be my next step.

I'm heading over to My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday - so should you!



August BoM

Since school has started and I've gone back to work, not much has been happening in my sewing room lately!  I did manage to finish my August block for the And Sew On block of the month.  I think this one might be my favorite so far!  In looking at Kristy's example, it appears that her stash is neatly organized by color.  Not so in my stash!  I keep trying to come up with a system, and it usually just goes back to looking like this closet:

I'm getting excited to make the September block and finish up this wall-hanging!  It has been a fun process.  I'm linking up to  Anything Goes Mondays today, and also Needle and Thread Thursday later in the week!

Summer Goals

I've never really set many goals for myself as a quilter.  Since my day job can be somewhat stressful, it seemed like quilting should be done only for pure enjoyment, without any pressure to produce. That can make for a lot of WIPs and very few finished quilts, but, actually, I've got quite a lot to show for my hobby!  This summer, however, I've done a lot of sewing, and have several finishes that I am really proud of.  My biggest goal was to finish my Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt, and I did that a couple of weeks ago, right as company was coming for 10 days.  Perfect timing!

I love this quilt!  It is pure scrappy, and just fun to look at.  I lost count of how many different fabrics are in it, but I only duplicated a few, so there have to be at least 100 fabrics, maybe more!   Every piece has a story about what other project it came from - a special baby or birthday quilt, or the kit I bought in Albuquerque several years ago to make my beautiful southwestern quilt. 

I chose a completely whimsical cat print for the back of it that makes me smile every time I see it.

Machine quilting through each block, with straight lines on the diagonal gave me a chance to look at the design of the quilt with different eyes.  See the hourglasses?

I even made a scrappy binding for this quilt, using my favorite prints from the quilt itself.  This turned out to be fun, too. 

Who's this quilt for?  Just me!  And I'm going to enjoy it a lot this winter!

So will I set more goals for myself, now that I achieved this one?  Probably not, although I have lots of ideas about what I want to do next.  I guess I'd better get back to sewing!

I will be linking up with Kelly at Needle and Thread Thursday.  Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been working on!

Scrappy Storage Idea

Karen at Quilty Creations is having a Sunday Link-Up to show your stash organizing ideas, and it's so interesting to see what other quilters have come up with!

When I first started blogging in January, it didn't even occur to me that a quilter might make an entire quilt just out of scraps from her stash!  I didn't have a very big stash, and still don't, really, but I've started to look at scraps in a new way.  Especially now that my Scrappy Trip quilt is almost done!  A few years ago I saw this idea for organizing your stash in an American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.  These are CD/DVD shelves, and they work really well for holding all kinds of fabric!

I've had the one on the right for quite a while, and it's full!  So this summer, I got a second shelf which is twice as wide! And now it's full too.  I guess I've started collecting more fabric!

I haven't really gotten around to organizing my stash completely by color yet, so right now there are shelves that hold different kinds of fabric, like flannel, or lines of fabric, like my Honey Honey or Hello Sunshine stashes.  And for now, that works for me!

 

I guess I'd better get to work on my next scrappy quilt!