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!

FNSI: Kaleidoscope QAL Finish!

Last evening, I finished sewing down the binding on the Kaleidoscope quilt.  I used strips cut from the three darkest prints used for the top.

This quilt was made as part of the Kaleidoscope QAL hosted by Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy.  QAL participants will be posting photos of their finished Kaleidoscope quilts as they are finished.... so pop on over and admire the lovely quilts!

It never ceases to amaze me that the same exact quilt pattern, made with different fabrics, can turn out so very different from each other!

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Three beautiful quilts and a table runner have gone missing from the C&T Publishers booth at this spring's quilt market in Salt Lake City.  

SewCalGal has blogged about the missing quilts and has asked to help get the word out in hopes these quilts turn up somewhere.

C&T Publishers are offering a $4000 reward for the return of these quilts... no questions asked.  Reward for the return of one quilt will be based on the appraised value of the quilt. 

Check out their website for further information.

Quilting Finished

I finished quilting the blue-and-white Kaleidoscope quilt yesterday afternoon.  It was a good feeling...

I sewed a line on each side of the vertical and horizontal seams that connected the blocks together.

Then, I sewed a line that zigzagged across and down the white diamonds, only on the white fabric...

....crossing at the intersection of the points by stitching in the ditch.  It took two passes of stitching for each row of diamonds.

I'm pleased the way the quilting turned out...

 

...and will work on the binding tomorrow!

Saturday Sewing

Barbara Brackman released her Civil War block #28: Next Door Neighbor this morning...

 

Several of my Blog-land Angel's fabrics are included in this block.

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I've been working on quilting the blue and white Kaleidoscope quilt...

...I'm about half-way done.

Today's Task

Yesterday, I made the quilt sandwich and did the pin basting.

Today, I will spend some time quilting...  and yes, that is another piece of blue and white china!

Quilt Top Finish

I finished sewing the quilt top together for the Kaleidoscope QAL yesterday afternoon.  Here's the photo taken on my interior "design wall"...  the blues look really dark...

...and the one I took outside.   Hmmm... now the blues look a bit on the green side...

This photo show the blues closest to what they look like in real life...

Determined to shop my stash for backing, I didn't have much trouble finding pieces to audition because blue-and-white fabric seems to just follow me home.  

I decided on the fabric on the right because it wasn't as "fussy" and the blues were closer to the blues in the quilt top.

The blue-and-white thing has been around for a while and I believe it started with my grandmother's dishes... the platter in the center was hers, the others I collected.

Later, I found "Denmark" dinnerware by Franciscan...

...and a set has been living at my house for over 20 years now. 

In addition to collecting the flow blue plates, I also had this container to hold refill bottles of my favorite scent: Shalimar.

Yes, I do indeed have a thing for blue-and-white!

Kaleidoscope Tip

Yesterday, I finished sewing the Kaleidoscope blocks together, then sewed blocks into rows, and then sewed the rows together.  When sewing the pieces together, I figured something out that I wanted to share.

When pressing seams, press the seams in one direction so when they're all sewn together, the seams are either going clockwise or counter-clockwise.

This way, the center lies nice and flat...

...or as flat as it's going to get!

And if you knew this already, good on you....  I was just happy to have figured it out!

First Day of Vacation

Despite all the busy-ness yesterday, I did manage to get in a little sewing.

I'm starting to sew together pieces for the Kaleidoscope QAL with Don't Call Me Betsy.

Since I'm using just five prints, I've figured out how I'd like the blocks to look...

...but since I've not done this before, I have no idea how it will actually turn out.

So, I'm just hoping my "vision" will work...

...and if it doesn't, what's not to love about a blue and white quilt?

Starting New Quilt A-Long (aka QAL)

I've joined in Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope QAL!  Yes, yes... I know... I already have 1001 irons in the fire but this is just too cool not to join!

Sunday afternoon, I used Elizabeth's down-loadable templates and cut out all my fabrics.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.

If you're interested in the fabrics and layouts planned by others in the QAL, be sure to check out the Flickr group!  Lots of lovely fabrics and some very cool layouts!