WIP Wednesday

 I have had a super quilty week! I finished projects, started projects and went to a fabric shop sale with a friend.

Finished:

Emerald Selvage Spiderweb. Read more about it here!

Low Volume Mini. Inspiration to completion in 4 hours!

New:  As if one low volume project was not enough for one week, here's another! I kept looking at the remaining low volume charms trying to decide how to use them up. The Bright Hopes block came to mind (although I didn't know that was its name).  The top came together so quickly! It is 36" square right now. Border or no border? I hope to have it quilted soon and get back to the UFO pile.

In Progress:

I underestimated how tedious it would be to hand stitch the back of the binding on the raffle quilt. I can finish one side a night while watching TV, but some nights I'm just not into it. I'll get it done this week. I'm really looking forward to taking this quilt on location for a photo shoot!

On the near future list:
Fabric box tutorial
Swap Soup- quilting (backing already pieced)
Three by Three- fix borders
Friendship Star Mini - quilting

Time to link up!

On the Design Board

I've been piecing low volume blocks in between cookie business. Now that I have everything cut and kitted up, I can sit for 5 or 10 minutes and piece a few blocks. Now every block is a winner. I will have a few extra, so some blocks will not make the cut. (Third one down on the far right- your days are numbered.)

I don't know what to call this block. It must have a name, but I won't have time to look it up until next week. If you know, please share. I am using 2.5" X 4.5" bricks cut from charms and 2.5" squares.

Edited: Sophie provided the name of the block: Bright Hopes. Thanks, Sophie!

More Low Volume

 I'm playing with low volume charms again today. After finishing this mini quilt a few days ago, my friend Jessie suggested that I keep going with low volume and she would take Sugar Wave off my hands! Well, I will keep going with the LV, but I think I'll keep Sugar Wave.

The rest of the LV charms looked so sad sitting in their pile. I went browsing my PInterest boards and came across this amazing quilt by Tanya. I made a couple of smaller sample blocks, but I don't have it in me to start a new paper piecing project right now. I'm sure I'll come back to it someday.

I started thinking about what I could do with bricks (2.5" x 4.5") cut from the charms and a bright square. Yes, there is a partial seam, but it's easy. This could be it.

Thank you to Karen Griska for posting my Emerald Selvage Spiderweb on her Selvage Blog!

Emerald Selvage Spiderweb

 I celebrated Worldwide Quilting Day yesterday by finishing my Emerald Selvage Spiderweb!

I started this quilt two weeks ago at my guild's quilt retreat. Our instructor, Chris Bagley, did a great job inspiring us with several samples with different flavors. I'd like to make another spiderweb someday, without selvages, and include some fussy cut centers. Can you see the orange pinwheels in the centers of the spiderwebs? That's my nod to 2012's Tangerine Tango.

The piece of Kona Fern I had left over was not quite wide enough for the back, so I pieced a strip of long selvages to add a few inches. I had intended for the stripe to run horizontally across the back so you could read the selvages, but I laid out the top wrong. I didn't realize my mistake until I was ready to add the sleeve. Oh, well. At least it is not completely upside down!

 The first class that Karen and I took at MQX in Providence in 2010 was with Pam Clarke. I use Pam's concept of "quilting inside the lines" all the time, including in the green between the webs. The motif was machine quilted, free hand, so it is not perfect. All I marked were the diagonal lines. I used a chalk roller, so by the time I was done quilting, the lines were mostly gone. You can just see a hint of that gray line.

 

In the spiderwebs, I quilted a mum-like flower. You can see it better on the back. I quilted the Celtic  outer border from the back because it was easier to mark the grid on the solid. This is becoming a habit for me!

 

I knew I wanted a green binding on the front, but there was too much green on the back, so I tried a two-sided binding for the first time. There are several tutorials online with various cutting dimensions. This is a good one from the Pattern Basket. It's a cool idea that I'm sure I'll use again.

I'm so happy to have another quilt finished!

Emerald Selvage Spiderwebs

Started: March 2, 2013

Finished: March 16, 2013

42" square

Tutorial Here

Inspired by This Quilt

How low can you go?

I was reading blogs last night and came across Amanda Jean's low volume mini. I loved it so much, I immediately dug out my pile of low volume charms from a swap last year. That was at 8:30pm, while watching the Les Miserable 25th anniversary concert on PBS.

Once I had selected some charms (25, to be exact), I figured I might as well start cutting.

Then I had to piece some sample blocks. They were so quick, I kept piecing!

I texted Julia a picture of the completed top at 11:00pm. I couldn't stop there!

At 16" X 20", it was easy to grab a low volume fat quarter for the back. There were some batting pieces laying around from earlier in the day.

The free motion orange peel quilting was quick, but far from perfect. The thread broke a couple of times, which was just annoying. I think I need to change the needle.

I headed back to the stash for binding at 11:30pm and chose a tiny check in citron.

(I chose two more charms, folded in half and stitched into the top corners to hold a dowel for hanging.)

I sat down to watch David Letterman and hand-stitched the binding to the back.

The final stitch was taken at 12:30am, watching the Dropkick Murphys, not a low volume group!

My version is lower volume than Amanda Jean's, but I really like it.

Have you ever been so obsessed about a quilt that you couldn't sleep until it was done?

WIP Wednesday on Thursday

It was a super busy day yesterday, so I missed posting my WIPs. Humor me with WIP Thursday!

Finishes:
Sugar Wave is done! After languishing in the WIP pile for 2 years, it is so nice to have it complete.

The Madrona Road saga is complete. My quilt returned home from QuiltCon with some lovely gifts from Michael Miller.

 I scoured the Instagram feed from QuiltCon and this was the only glimpse of my quilt that I could find. Amie's daughter gave her the puppy to keep her company at the show. How cute!

In Progress:
The Emerald Spiderweb top is done. I was getting bored stitching selvedges, so I stopped at 9 blocks. This size fits nicely on my kitchen wall.

I can't wait to get it quilted, but I need to tear all the paper off the back first. I've been using masking paper for foundation piecing, and it works great! It comes on rolls of various widths in the paint department of hardware stores, near the masking tape. I use the roll that is 9" wide and 180 feet long and only costs $2.50 at Home Depot.

Also in progress, I'm finishing up the binding on our guild raffle quilt.

In family news:
We drove to Springfield, MA, to visit Julia at a basketball tournament. She's wearing her cute pep band shirt. Her boyfriend Fred (on the right) and their friend Mike came with us. (Pete was playing in a dodge ball tournament.) It was a fun night and Siena beat their rivals, Marist.

Last night was the swim team banquet and senior celebration. I'm so proud of Pete and the fantastic job he did as co-captain. He was wearing his new Marine Corps Recon t-shirt. It's so intense! It seems like such a contradiction to my smiling, happy boy.

I picked up my last cookie order from the warehouse yesterday. Ever! I've really enjoyed this cookie coordinator job, but it is time for me to move on to the next chapter. I have a feeling I will be joining a Marine Mom group soon!

Habemus Papam! My mother, Julia and I were crying tears of joy as the white smoke rose and we received a blessing from Pope Francis via TV!

It's too late for me to link up, but you can still hop over to see what everyone else is up to.

Happy Pi Day!

Salvaging Selvedges

Today is the 101st anniversary of Girl Scouts of the USA. Fitting that I would stop and pause after stitching this selvedge to a border strip.

I decided to quit while I was ahead and piece together 9 spiderweb blocks.

I'm on a roll here, so I'm posting this from my phone. I'll have more for you tomorrow.