Week ending March 13, 2022

I had such a long week. It seemed to never end. I pulled out my block with the Octopus fabric from Minerva to get a photo.  I need to get this quilt completed. All my blocks are finished. I just need to sew them together. 

I worked and worked and work on my pattern test for Mix Measure Make. 

This quilt has lots of little pieces. 

Lots of piecing. 

These units are 3.5" and have so much detail in a little block. 

I finally finished all these units. I'm not going to lie - they are not perfect. It took me a bit to get the feel for lining the pieces up.  I need to square some up as a few are pretty wonky. 

I ended Sunday working on some simpler pieces - half square triangles. 

This quilt is slowly taking shape and I'm enjoying the challenge.  

Week ending March 6, 2022

Last week I finished all my blocks for a quilt pattern I was testing for Frannie B Quilt Co so this week I started working on a test for Mix Measure Make Patterns.  I decided to make a scrappy version. And it took me a bit longer than usual to get my pieces cut out. It's hard to estimate yardage sometimes when using scraps. 

I had a discount code for 25% off at Spoonflower and ordered myself some of my designs to use as blenders in my quilts. I got them in the mail on Tuesday. 

I also took a break from quilt pattern testing to test a t-shirt pattern. I ca. Whip out a t-shirt in under an hour. 

I appreciate a great v-neck. 

Back to my quilt. Here's all my pieces cut out! 

I started sewing strips and sub-cutting.  

Since I used scraps, I sewed a few strips, cut them down, then sewed a few more. I actually had cut more strips than I needed. I was worried I was going to be short. 

I ended Sunday beginning to sew together tge first blocks! I'm hoping I can make good progress this week. This quilt has a lot of little pieces and will definitely take a bit longer than most. 

Week ending February 27, 2022

This was a short work week for me with a holiday on Monday and I took Friday off. I have been working on a pattern test for Frannie B Quilt Co. and almost finished it by  the end of the day on Sunday. Here are my star points. This was the second quilt I've made using templates.  I arranged these in an attempt to show my login in selecting the fabrics. I started with the Octopus fabric and went  in a circle from  there going clockwise. 

The Nanette Quilt from Kelly Renay was released this week. See my previous blog post for all the details. 

I got photos of the Perfect Place Quilt I tested for Lifting Limits Quilting and am so in love with how it turned out. Here's a sneak peek.

The quilt I'm testing for Frannie B Quilt Company  is different than other's I have tested. The design  seems traditional but I'm giving it a modern vide with my fabric choices. I made a lot of these blocks and took the extra step to make them no waste. I now have a bunch of 2" half square triangles.

Making progress. You can see by bonus hafl square triangle in the upper left of the photo.

Finally have all the pieces laid out. 

My 2  youngest kitties, Smaug and Nia, celebrated their 4th birthday. Smaug love to cuddle under quilts so I made a kitty quilt sleeping bag. It's probably the most ridiculous thing I have ever made. But SMaug loves it and I'm probably going to make him another one, but slightly deeper. 

I think he would prefer that we not see him when he's inside it, but it hasn't stopped him from using it. 

I got all my subunits sewn together and after this photo, I got the rows assembled. I still need to finish sewing the blocks, then I can assemble the quilt. 

After I make all the blocks for my test for Frannie B Quilt Co., I plan to put them aside temporarily to work on another quilt pattern test. Assembling the Quilt top will not take long and is something I can finish in just an hour or two.

Nanette Quilt - Pattern by Kelly Renay

This is the second quilt pattern that I have tested for Kelly Renay. The first one was a block test only and I have been slowly working on finishing it completely. I'm about halfway done with it. This time, I signed up to do a throw size and I actually finished it completely before the pattern release date! This is the Nanette Quilt!

When I went to select fabric for this quilt, I wanted to use the Natures Treasure design by Laura Van Horne for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I had bought this colorful print years ago in the Dallas fabric district. The print reminded me of beautiful agates and I have waited for just the right project for it for way too long. I now know that you never know what the "perfect" project is and you should just use the fabric instead of staring at it on a shelf. 

Since I really wanted that beautiful fabric to shine, I paired it with some subtle prints. I'm not a huge fan of solids and love to go wild mixing and matching prints. First I knew I wanted to use this mustard print to pull out the mustard tones in the print. Then I saw that this navy with reddish pink polka dots that I bought at Jo-Ann's would look great as the background. This was a discount find, and at $3 a yard - I bought all they had left and have zero regrets. Then as I scanned my shelves for a fourth and final fabric, I saw this blood red fabric with a subtle scattered dot print. I liked that all my prints had dots or a circular pattern in them and just knew they would be perfect together. 

This pattern looks complicated, but was not hard to assemble at all. There is a lot of strip piecing and cutting involved. You definitely have to be extremely consistent with your 1/4" seams or you will have issues. I did have to redo one part because I forgot to move my needle to the spot I normally have it in to get the perfect 1/4" seam. The end result is so worth the extra effort. The Nanette is truly stunning. I didn't really see how beautiful it really was until I had the top finished and you then see the pattern that is created by the alternating blocks. 

I had a backing picked out for my Nanette quilt, then realized it was not wide enough. I went to a local quilt shop (Urban Spools) for their 5th Saturday Sale. If you buy a 5th Saturday bag, you get 20% anything you can fit in it. I always use the 5th Saturday as my opportunity to buy wide quilt backs at a discount and to treat myself to a few new fabrics. 

There were 5 Saturdays in January and I had just finished my Nanette. I picked up 2 wide quilt backs from Urban Spools. Both quilt backs were Ruby Star Society Speckled - one in Navy and one in Turquoise. The Navy looked so good with my Nanette that I quilted it that day. I didn't do a fancy quilting.  I just did some simple straight-line quilting with my walking foot. I quilted it using my trusty yellow thread and love how it pops on the back. 

I decided to do the binding in the golden yellow print. I wanted to do the Natures Treasure design, but didn't have enough. I happened to make a post on Instagram about looking for more of the print and wishing I had bought more. Laura Van Horne commented and offered to send me digital files to print the fabric at Spoonflower! I got the files from her, but did not have the one for this exact fabric. But I am so excite to now be able to print fabric that is very similar. I got my proofs already from Spoonflower and need to tweak the size a bit and then will order a few yards for a future quilt. 

Be sure to grab a copy of the Nanette Quilt. It's available as a PDF or printed copy. Also, sign up for Kelly Renay's newsletter to get a freebie quilt pattern. 

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Week ending February 20, 2022

I worked on the Perfect Place Quilt for Lifting Limits Quilting and got it finished! 

I did a lot of chain piecing of my pieces. 

Here are all my pieces pressed and ready to sew together. 

Here's what my two blocks look like. I'll share photos of the completed top closer to the pattern release date.   

I got this fun Octopus fabric from Minerva and will use in in a pattern test for Frannie B Quilt Co. 

These are all the fabrics I'll be using. 

I got all my pieces cut out and started sewing on Sunday. 

I'll be working on this pattern test, then starting another I already have lined up.  

Week ending February 13, 2022

I started my week selecting fabric for a quilt pattern test. I'm testingbthe Perfect Place Quilt Pattern by Lifting Limits Quilting. I decided to use some of my designs from my Spoonflower shop.  

Before I could begin testing, I wanted to finish my Scenic Detour Quilt - Pattern by B in the Studio.   To do so, I needed to finish my back.  

I then got a package in the mail from Spoonflower of proofs of some designs I want to use in a quilt. Laura Van Horne allowed me to use some of her photos of her artwork to make fabric! She designed fabric I used recently and when I posted that I wished I had more, she offered to send me files so I could print some! It was so kind and generous of her. 

I did finish my Scenic Detour Quilt and need to get some photos soon. Smaug had to supervise. 

I finally got to start on the Perfect Place Quilt and love how my designs look all cut up. 

I was off early from work on Friday and got a lot done and was able to get all my flying geese made on Saturday. 

Sunday I was able to trim everything. 

And got to sewing the units together. 

I'm hoping to finish my Perfect Place Quilt this coming week and then I'll be starting on a new pattern test for Frannie B Quilt Co. 

Week ending February 6, 2022

The majority of my week was spent working on the Scenic Detour Quilt Pattern I'm testing for B in the Studio.  I'm using my Jaftex Ambassador fabrics from Studio e fabrics.

Some dolphins and urchins from the Seas the Day collection by Diane Eichler. 

I also was able to post about the Sibiu Top from Itch to Stitch - see my prior post for more info. 

I was also gifted a set of thread from Aurifil. I've never used Aurifil thread before. 

Some more block components. 

4 blocks for my Scenic Detour Quilt. I finished the top and will post more about it closer to the pattern launch. 

I used my half square triangle scraps to dress up my Seas the Day panels. 

Here are 4 of my fancy panels. 

My Sunday night ended with me piecing my quilt back with the panels. It looks so cute! 

I'm hoping to get some photos this week of my completed top and then get it quilted. I'm also starting a new pattern test.