WIP Wednesday- Itty Bitty Finish

 I have two finishes to report this week, courtesy of my new weight loss plan. I realized that when I'm sewing, I'm not snacking. More sewing = less snacking = pounds lost. Win-Win!!

Earlier today, I finished an itty bitty mini for the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap.  The flying geese variation blocks go way back to twiddletails' Geese in the Forest BOM in 2009. The original blocks were 6", I reduced mine to 3", and for this mini, I reduced them further to finish at 1.5"! This tiny quilt is only 8" square.

I always get nervous when it comes time to quilt these little pieces. I wanted something wavy, like the quilting on my 2009 piece.

On the back, I added folded triangles in the top corners for hanging (just insert a dowel or bamboo skewer cut to size).

I had fun photographing this little cutie on various backgrounds: green kitchen wall, rhododendron bush, yellow living room wall, gray front porch siding.

 The other finish this week was my T quilt. Read more about it here.

Next up: I picked up Pete's quilt today from the quilter and it's ready to bind. And our t-shirts for boot camp graduation arrived today. I'm getting so excited to see him again!

T is for Tina

I've wanted to make a T quilt since a fellow Ninigret Quilter, Fran, was making a mini T for her husband, Tom, about 20 years ago.  Fast forward to Anita Grossman Solomon's visit to Ninigret this past August. She showed us her new T block quilt and I offered begged to be a pattern tester (as if Anita needs a pattern tester). She sent me a copy and here is my completed T!

When it came time to quilt it, I wanted to somehow echo the T theme, so I quilted straight parallel lines in a large T shape. I drew the orange lines so you can see the shape.

Outside the large T, there are free motion flowers. I needed something swirly to contrast with the straight lines.

I used my new Halo tool for the free motion quilting and I LOVE IT! It is a Sharon Schamber product that I purchased from Pat Ferguson at A Quilters' Gathering last week. I had heard amazing reviews of this thing and it lives up to the hype. It takes a little getting used to, but it was a pretty quick learning curve.

 I have never attempted micro stippling until now. I felt I could do it with the Halo.

The only time I had any trouble was when I quilted the border on a side that was trimmed a little close to the edge (not the one pictured). The Halo slipped off the edge of the batting and got "stuck" on the bed of the machine. No harm done. I slid it back over and continued on my way. (I do use a teflon slider on my extension table. You need a big flat slippery surface to use the Halo.)

I'm using this striped binding on all my new bedroom accessories. (See the Sea Glass pillow here.)

 Yes, it's going to hang in my bedroom, but it looks so good on my green kitchen wall. My husband, Bill, wants to know when I'm starting the B quilt. Oh, I have a plan for him! Mwahaha!

Quilt Stats:

T is for Tina

Block designed by Anita Grossman Solomon

(Look for it in a future issue of Quiltmaker magazine)

Blue & green modern scraps, Kona white background, V&Co border

47" X 48"

Started September 3, 2013

Completed November 4, 2013