Smoky Mtn Stars: Finished!

Yesterday, I finished binding the Smoky Mountain Stars quilt.

I didn't have enough of the blue plaids left to make binding so I used a Moda Bella solid:  American Blue.

Debbie of Angel Scraps Quilting recommended a machine-sewn binding tutorial by Prudent Baby... and I decided to try it.

 

It worked very well and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! This quilt is going to one of my nephews and may see hard use, I thought this would be better than binding that is hand-sewn down.

Photo courtesy of HDK Photography

David, the recipient-to-be of the Smoky Mtn Stars quilt, is on the right and is shown with his younger brother and their mother...  my sister Carol.   As a frame of reference, Carol is 5'10" tall.   

David's "lap quilt" is a bit larger than a typical lap quilt.

Help Get the Word Out!

Another Stolen Quilt

 "Farmer's Daughter" by Sally Schneider

Bonnie Hunter blogged about this lovely quilt that has gone missing; you can read all about its disappearance HERE.

Spread the word.... 

Tick, tick, tick...

Last night, I removed all the basting pins, snipped all the threads, and trimmed the edges.... after I took photos.

Colors are "off" and dark since I turned off the overhead light so you could see the quilting.

Tonight, I'll work on cutting and sewing the binding strip together... and then on the quilt!

The Home Stretch

I'm on the home stretch with finishing up Cowabunga Florabunda and am planning to be finished within two weeks.  Yup... two weeks.  Actually, I'm hoping to be done by next Sunday evening... but I'm giving myself some wiggle room.

Last night, I made the binding and tonight, I'll work on the label.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Have you read Bonnie Hunter's post about her latest mystery quilt-along, which starts November 18th?  I've not done a mystery quilt before and am tempted... but have too many things going right now.

Bonnie tells "you right up front that I do intense piecing…..lots of pieces, many of them small. This is a labor intensive quilt. One WORTH the piecing!"

If you're interested in Bonnie's "Orca Bay" Mystery Quilt Along, the fabric requirements are posted... so be sure to check it out.

Cowabunga Florabunda is HOME!

Cowabunga Florabunda came home yesterday... and she is quilted!

Overall stipple in yellow on the top...

...with white thread for the backing!

Just 421 inches of binding to make, sew on, and then hand sew down!

We're getting there.....

Upcoming Florabunda Adventure

I've enjoyed all the chain piecing for the Cowabunga Florabunda quilt, which will be a Christmas present for my DD and SIL.  This has to be one of the easier quilts on which I've worked.  

I like the antique/vintage scrappy Florabunda Bonnie Hunter found in Florida and for which she posted instructions on her blog.

A number of folks in Blog-land have made scrappy Florabunda quilts, including Janet O. of Rogue Quilter...

 

...and Debbie of Stitchin' Therapy...

... and now, I want one of my very own!

Chris of Weekend Wisdom is joining me for a Florabunda mini-QAL and we're going to use only stash to do so... tho we may have to purchase a solid or solids for the lattice/ladder part.

We won't start until I finish my Cowabunga Florabunda and get it to the LAQ-er... so I'm thinking the end of September or the beginning of October.   We are not setting any deadlines so who knows how long we will take.  It's more about cheering each other on and having a good time.... and maybe seeing which of us has the ugliest floral in our respective stashes!

If you would like to join in the fun, let me know.  The quilt is a good beginner pattern using two basic quilt blocks... a 4-patch and a HST.  I can provide links to helpful online tutorials for making both of these blocks.

There won't be a ton of chain piecing (such I've been doing the past two weekends) because you make each block (5 four-patch units + 4 HST units) separately using the same background fabric for each block.  This gives you that secondary layer for this quilt as well as a scrappy look.

You can make your Florabunda as big or as small as you'd like.  If you'd like a border... or if you don't want a border... it's up to you!  Pick whatever fabrics you'd like... retro, batiks, solids, prints, contemporary/modern, traditional... let your imagination and stash be your guide!

And if it's just me and Chris... that's okay too!

We've been known to get into sufficient mischief all by ourselves!

Friday Night Sew In: Results

For last night's FNSI, I finished putting on the last borders of the Smokey Mountain Stars quilt top.

A Bonnie Hunter pattern, I like the way it turned out....  it's scrappy-ness is cool!

Adventures in Plaids

Two years ago, I made a quilt for my niece who was graduating from college.  This was my first quilt and started me on the quilting road.  

One small problem... I have two nieces and two nephews who have graduated from college with no quilt from their aunt and another who graduates from college this year.  So, this year's challenge is The Niece and Nephew Quilt Project.

I have been collecting homespun plaids to use with Bonnie Hunter's Smokey Mountain Stars quilt pattern, along with two Moda Bella solids from my stash.  One of the solids is parchment and I don't recall what the other is... just that it's about the same value as the parchment but a little more golden.

Photo by Bonnie Hunter from her website

I cut out all the fabrics on Friday...

...and yesterday, I started sewing!  

Bonnie "double sews" blocks and saves the corners for another project.  I have no idea of how or what to use all those HSTs that will finish at 1.5" but I decided to give it a go.

It turns out that it's not as fiddle-y as I thought... and was actually easier than sewing a smaller square to a larger square because the two squares were already attached and all the big squares were chained pieced and still together.

After all the plaid squares were sewn to the 26 solid squares...

I moved on to the plaids...

The 42 plaid squares have two squares attached so it took a while but was do-able in one session.

Yup... lots and lots of fraying threads with homespuns!

I'm not sure what I'll do with all the little HSTs... I'll have 304 of those puppies when I'm done... but I'm sure I'll think of something!

Today I will be working on the 97 solid squares that get two of the small plaid squares.  

I think that will be enough for one day, don't you?

Needle Books

I never heard of a "needle book" was until I came across one on Bonnie Hunter's site in January...

What a cool thing to carry with you to hold small scissors and a few pins and needles... unlike the bulky ziploc bag I carry with all my sewing supplies!  So, I decided to make one, raiding my scrap bins for the materials... 

The inside...

There are pockets behind the scissors pouch and the needle/pin fabric so you can wind thread on a card to slide behind the scissors... or even slide in a wound bobbin.  The ribbon holds the scissors in place.

Now... I think I'm going to make another one...