Finished: Pearl Bracelets Marine Den Quilt

Taadaa! This lovely quilt is my fourth Marine Den, and it was so much fun to work with colors that I would have never thought to use. Yay, yay, yay, for other folks who have the gift for picking fabric, because it's definitely always a challenge for me even when I'm just picking for myself.

I did a large meandering stipple for the background. I did still end up stitching in the ditch all around the pods, since I chickened out on FMQing the pod solids. Rather, I did do some FMQ in the pod middles. For some reason that actually seemed to be a faster approach than stitching in the ditch around the pod middles.

I think that's because stitching in the ditch is so tedious and precise; plus you have to turn the quilt each time you complete another side of a rectangle. Hours of fun.

Call me crazy, but I feel like the meandering stipple pattern gives a lot of elasticity to the finished quilt. If I pull on it in any direction, it has a bit of give to it. Then it snaps back, that's completely unlike the January do. Good Stitches quilt that has all different kinds of quilting patterns covering it. Has anyone else noticed this?

I had a bunch of spools of blue Coats & Clark thread from making curtains in 2007. Magically, the color was a perfect match for the background and backing fabric, so I used up two spools in this quilt. I used it to stitch in the ditch as well. I was able to use it in the bobbin on some of the FMQ in the pod middles, but I found that other stitches were more inclined to pull the bobbin thread up to the top. I was in no mood to experiment with threads and tension, so I used coordinating top and bobbin threads on some of the pod middles. It in no way bothers me to have spots of yellow thread on the quilt back. My inner child thinks it's fun, like a game of I-Spy, so my grown-up sewist side likes it, too.

Quilty Stats:
Pre-wash dimensions: I definitely wrote these down on one of the pieces of paper piled up around here.
Post-wash dimensions: 56"x37"
Batting: Warm & White from The Warm Company
Front Fabric: Michael Miller Cotton Couture solid in Wedgewood, Kona Cotton Blue, Ash, Ivory, and Celery, a gray "wood floors" print, Pearl Bracelets in Citron, River Bend, and Sandbox.
Back Fabric: Pearl Bracelets in River Bend
Binding Fabric: Kona Cotton in Celery
Quilting: Free Motion and Stitching in the Ditch with the Janome Horizon 8900 QCP.

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Fusible Party Garland

Last year, I signed up to be part of C&T Publishing's Creative Troupe. It's been a really positive experience for me. You can get ebooks for free in exchange for your reviews, and every now and then they send out an email with an opportunity to make something out of one of their products. You send the item to them in exchange for 50% off of a purchase from them and a free ebook. It pushes me out of my box a couple of times a year, so it's lots of fun. (I'm not incentivized to write this. I just wanted to pass on the info.)

A few weeks ago, I created a project from their fast2fuse double-sided fusible. I love the product. It was immediately evident why they called it fast2fuse. Dang. It is fast to fuse. It's a thick fusible, but not quite as intense as Pellon's Peltex.

I started out making some complicated mini purse that crashed and burned. Instead of trying to make the material work for a project that I wanted to make, I decided it would be smarter to make something for which product was well-suited. Ultimately, I made this fun Party Garland :-D

It's so easy, you won't need a fancy tutorial. Here's how I did it:
- Find a round object around the house: a glass, a jar lid, the cap from your hairspray, etc.
- Cut strips of fabric a quarter to a half an inch wider than your round object.
- Lay your strips out wrong side up and put the double-sided fusible on top of it; then lay more strips right side up on top of the fusible.
- Fuse on both sides with your hot iron, trace circles, and cut them out.
- At the sewing machine, fold some ribbon in half and backstitch in the fold.
- Then start sewing a chain. At even intervals, sew through the middle of a circle.
- When you run out of circles, sew into another length of folded ribbon.

Shazam. It will go even faster if you can get some help cutting circles.

I've got to go pull a quilt out of the dryer. Pictures tomorrow!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

WIP Wednesday: Rose Star Blocks 42 & 43

It seems like I've been at the sewing machine non-stop, but at least there is a rockin' quilt to show for it. I just finished quilting, so tomorrow's mission is to square and bind. Then I've got a fun project involving Peltex to work on. Holla!

I think I finished these blocks over a week ago. I am definitely behind on my goal pace for finishing these, but I'm not far off. 

I really need to get all of the blocks back up on the design wall and make some decisions about balancing out any outlying colors before I pick fabrics for the last six whole blocks and seven half blocks. 

I'm all worn out from being a quilting machine today, so I'm calling it a night. Get ready for a great Marine Den quilt reveal :-D I hope your WIPs are seeing some progress, too!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

There's a Quilt Top on the Design Wall

I managed to get a quilt top finished today by the skin of my teeth. I wanted to snap a pic before the sun went down, so here's the sunlight that I can work with at 7:45pm. 

Could be worse, right? I was able to snap lots of pics while making this quilt top. You'll see them in the finished Marine Den quilt pattern!

Ok, I'm exhausted. I can't wait to turn this quilt top into a finished quilt :-)

Happy Crafting!

Claire

What's on the Design Wall

I've got a lovely quilt coming along on the design wall. I'll share some pics as soon as I complete the top, but I wanted to snap and share a shot of the lovely fabrics before the sun set today!

I would have never dreamt up this subdued color scheme on my own, but I loved it as soon as I started getting the pieces up on the wall. Yay for custom orders :-)

Everything I've touched this year seems to take longer than I thought, so I'm super ready to see this in a finished quilt soon. I'll keep you posted!

Happy crafting this weekend!

Claire

WIP Wednesday: Rose Stars #40 & #41

Here's some of the handiwork I have to show from the Austin Modern Quilt Guild Sew-In Day at the Northwest Sewing Center in Austin this past weekend.

We had a spectacular time sewing and swapping tips, my favorite of which was that a butternut squash is easier to peel and cut if you put it in the oven whole for awhile first. Jackpot. Tried it for dinner today and worked like a charm.

These being blocks #40 and #41, I now have eight more whole rose star blocks and seven half rose star blocks to complete to fill in the pattern around the edges. I've got two more blocks cut, but I think I'll finish those and make mindful choices about the color schemes for the last whole blocks in an attempt to balance everything out.

I had to pull blocks off of the design wall so I could lay out pieces for a Marine Den quilt. More on that tomorrow!

Happy Crafting!

Claire

Marine Den Coloring Page

I've spent so much time working on the Marine Den quilt pattern, and I'm really excited about it!!!! I'm incorporating some TouchDraw diagrams that make the construction process a lot easier to understand. I created a coloring page to include with the pattern, so I thought I would make it available as a downloadable freebie :-)

As a bonus, you'll be ready with a color scheme when the pattern is finished. 

Happy Crafting!

Claire