Retro Flower Quilt Along - Finally Started!

I love the Retro Flower pattern and joined the quilt along.  But like all the quilt alongs that I join, I'm off to a late start.  This quilt along started at the beginning of April, but it is only yesterday that I finally selected my fabrics.  This was the biggest hurdle for me because I'm using Kona's Spring Green as the background and I couldn't make up my mind which fabrics to use for the flowers. 

Once I decided to use fabrics in deeper pastels, there was finally progress in this quilt along.  These are the fabrics for the 12 blocks that I'm making.

All the pieces are cut thanks to my Accuquilt.  I'll start piecing sometime this weekend, but we're having family over, so I don't expect to make any progress on this quilt until they leave. 

I hope I don't regret the background choice.  It is a departure for me since my backgrounds tend to be black, gray, white or tan (kinda like my wardrobe!).  My fingers are crossed ...

Quilting is not a spectator sport!

My two girls, Lola and Minilo (she looks like Lola), tend to keep me company while I'm quilting, and I'm guessing that it's not the most entertaining thing they can do, as you can see!

It's clear that they think the ironing table is their bed.  Love these cuties!



Just 3 for April!

I decided to join traceyjay quilt's "Just Three" linky party.  The premise is to choose 3 quilting projects a month to finish.  I really need to do this! I feel like I have quilting ADD, I can't seem to stay focused on any project from start to finish unless I'm under a time crunch, like waiting until a friend is leaving for maternity leave in a week before starting a quilt for her!

For April, my three goals are:

1.  Put the binding on these three wallhangings.  I always thought I didn't finish quilt tops because I really don't like quilting, but I have now discovered that I hate putting binding on even more.  Got to get over this feeling or I'll never finish any quilts!

2. Finish Selah's quilt!  I started this quilt about 6 months after my niece was born and finished it in a couple of days.  Selah is now turning 1 next week (Happy birthday Selah!) and her quilt top has been neatly folded in a drawer for the past 6 months.  I have to finish this quilt by her birthday so that she can at least enjoy the quilt while she is still a baby!

3. Make my sister's Braided Star wallhanging.  My sister never asks for a quilt, so when she does I take it very seriously!  She likes the sample Braided Start block that I made even though she thinks my background fabrics tend to be too busy.  When we're in Lancaster, PA next week, I'm going to have her choose her background fabric so that the wallhanging will be exactly to her taste.  I'm giving myself a break with this one because I'm not quilting it.  I decided to have it professionally quilted so that I can have something more than straight quilting on my quilts! LOL

These are the goals, and I'll check in at the end of the month to see if I actually achieve them.  I hope I will!

Braided Star

I saw this Braided Star block on Flickr and thought it was stunning.  The quilter made a paper piecing pattern for her block, and I was going to draft one when I realized that the block was essentially 4 quarter log cabin blocks with the background triangles equally distributed on both sides of each block. 

So here is the prototype:

It started as four 6.5" quarter log cabin blocks ...

with a triangle formed from half of a 3.5" X 6.5" rectangle sewn on opposite sides of each block. Once you sew each quarter together, you get the Braided Star block!

I'll post the tutorial for this block this weekend. 

Finally Finished - Lisa's Baby Quilt!

I'm so relieved!  I finally finished Lisa's baby quilt.  I made the top a month ago after learning about this tutorial from She Can Quilt, in which she shows you how to piece curves easily and quickly.  I always loved Drunkard's Path, but I hated pinning and cutting the pieces. Once I learned this technique, this quilt came together very quickly.  Finishing the quilt, though, is another story, but I didn't have a choice since Lisa will be on maternity leave after Friday.

The arrangement of the blocks was inspired by this quilt that I found on Flickr by Sewcraftyjess:

I love this bright version, but Lisa requested the colors for her quilt.  She doesn't want to know the sex of her baby until it arrives, so everything needs to be gender-neutral.  I never understood that since I read endings of books in order to decide whether or not to read it, but hey, whatever the mom wants! 

Like my other baby quilts, the backing is made of fleece, and each block is 5".

Hope Lisa's baby enjoys it!

Evening in Swoon City

I've been intrigued with the Swoon pattern ever since I saw the Flickr photostream of the Swooning Quilt Along, but never really focused on the pattern until I saw this version of it, Sunny Day in Swoon Town:

Using this block as an inspiration, I created Evening in Swoon City, which combined my love of making houses with the Swoon pattern:

A close up of the center star block:

I used Michael Miller's Prom fabric for the center.  I've used this fabric in many of the Wonky House quilt blocks.  I use it sparingly because I love it so much!

Here is a close-up of an apartment building:

and of a house:

I worked out the design of the block as I went.  The most difficult part was the selection of the fabric for the houses, but once I chose the star fabric, it made selecting the house fabrics a lot easier.  The house pattern gave me a few problems as well since I kept changing it.  The only part of the house that I was sure about was the sashing for the window.  I thought it was a nice detail to add. 

I'm very happy with how this block came out.  Now I have to decide whether I want to keep this block as a standalone or as a center for a wall hanging.  Decisions, decisions ....   

Inspirations ...

I've been a little distracted lately.  I figured that once I finished all my bee blocks for the month that I could work on projects without interruptions.  But I can't seem to stay focused on any one project.  I've been spending a lot of time looking through Flickr to help figure out my next project, but there is so much out there that I want to try that I can't limit it down to one.  These are my top 9 choices:

1. Cherry Star!, 2. The start of something small., 3. DUDQS11, 4. pretty little posie blocks!, 5. Hip to Bee Square - April, 6. Mod Mood Quilt, Summer 2010, 7. 3.5" bitty block - Birdies - Group 2, 8. Sunny Day in Swoon Town, 9. Latest idea

I've tried block #7, the Birdies, which is adorable, but I don't think I want to do a paper-pieced quilt right now.  I'm considering #8, Sunny Day in Swoon Town, which is a clever version of the swoon block.  I love how the blocks are made into houses, and since I really enjoy making wonky houses, I'm thinking of making this a wonky swoon block with the center being a wonky star and the houses made freeform. 

Hmm...I'm loving this idea the more I think about it.  It will be interesting to see if the wonky design will make the swoon block look awkward or fun.  

I guess the next time I'm stuck, I'll write a post to clear my head.  Who knew blogging would be so helpful?  :)