New Sew-Along and 4th of July Squirrel

Here is the first "Granny Square" block for the new Crochet Quilt Sew-Along. Fresh Figs is hosting the SAL on Instagram, and it is based on Joanna Figueroa's new Crochet Quilt pattern. The majority of blocks I see on Instagram have gorgeous Fig Tree and Bonnie and Camille fabrics in small-scale prints and pastel shades against a white or black background, but I decided to do a Christmas themed quilt. I always like to be different. ;)

There will be 16 blocks total, and the finished size is 66" x 66". I have a couple of treasured Mary Engelbreit fabrics I am (gasp!) cutting into for this quilt. The background is a soft gray grunge-like fabric. Again, I had to be different.

This is how a black background might look when finished

There are a LOT of pieces in this quilt, and the background alone has 960 1-1/2" pieces!

In other news, I chased a squirrel the other day and cut 2-1/2" squares for a Fourth of July table runner. All our kids and grandkids will be here for the 4th, and I want to have it ready by then. The squares will be "on point", and I had to find a chart to figure out what size to cut the setting and corner triangles. Yes I did get my degree in mathematics, but quilt math is harder than calculus!

I'm joining Busy Hands Quilts in Finished or Not Friday and also Confessions of a Fabric Addict in Can I Get A Whoop Whoop (love that name.) I hope you have a great weekend!

The Coral of the Story - Pantone Quilt Challenge 2019 Flimsy

"The Coral of the Story"

The Pantone color of the year for 2019 is Living Coral, and here is my Pantone Quilt Challenge entry. I decided to call my quilt "The Coral of the Story". I fully intended to finish the quilt for this challenge, but, "life" happened, so I completed the flimsy and am entering the "Just-the-Top" category of the challenge.

Julia Hacker "Lolita" print on left; Pat Bravo "Wonderlust in Bold" on rightt

When I first got wind of this challenge, I went in search of inspiration. I found it on Blink Art in the form of Julia Hacker's print "Lolita". For some reason that print spoke to me! When I searched for fabric with coral, Pat Bravo's "Legendary" collection popped up, and Wonderlust in Bold was a nice representation of "Lolita" in my eyes. So I based my quilt around that fabric.

I went with a nice coral "Lovely" by Sandy Gervais and added other complementary fabrics I loved (see list below). Although it is hard to tell by my photo, there is a border around the main part of the quilt that matches the "stripes" in the pattern, and I will add a binding in the same color. I recently celebrated my 71st birthday, and my very smart husband gifted me with an Etsy gift card which will supply the backing for the quilt, probably a small print in coral and white.

I fell in love with Busy Hands Quilts "Home Awaits" pattern, and it seemed a good choice for featuring the fabrics I loved. The pattern was one of the best written patterns I've used, with excellent tips for pinning and pressing. However, my issue with reading patterns continues, and I mistakenly cut 2.5 inch background pieces instead of the 2.25 inch pieces specified in the pattern. The pattern was very forgiving though, and I was still able to make it look good enough for our guest bedroom!

I will add another blog post after I turn this flimsy into a quilt, but in the meantime here are the quilt details:

The Coral of the Story details:

• Flimsy size: 58" x 72"

Pattern:

• Home Awaits by Busy Hands Quilts

Fabrics:

• Wonderlust in Bold by Pat Bravo
• Lovely by Sandy Gervais for Moda
• Grunge in Teaberry by Basic Grey for Moda
• Autumn Vibes Cozy Ditzy Plum by Maureen Cracknell for AGF
• Garden Dreamer Twinkle Star Berry, Moment in Time Light, and Bumblebeez by Maureen Cracknell for AGF
• Gold solid from stash
• Green solid from stash
• Creamy white solid from stash
• Bloom Floral Scroll and Bloom Floral Scatter by Makower UK
• Meow or Never Watercolor in Robin's Egg by Erin Michael for Moda

This post is linked to the link party hosted by Bryan House Quilts and no hats in the house. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this challenge and plan to do it again next year. Go check out all the beautiful quilts as well as the amazing prizes list from generous sponsors!

I am also linking to Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts; and since this quilt was my OMG for June, I am linking to One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts!

One Monthly Goal for June - Living Coral Pantone Quilt

The deadline for the Pantone quilt challenge is June 14, and my goal this month is to get this baby finished! You can read the details of the challenge in the coral badge in my sidebar.

My pattern is Home Awaits by Busy Hands Quilts, and it is very well written with helpful tips on pressing, pinning, and assembly. It is based on 10 inch strips and 10 inch squares. I am making the large lap-sized quilt.

The challenge is all about Living Coral, and my fabric selection centered around Pat Bravo's Legendary in Bold. It's gorgeous!

After I got most of the pieces cut, I decided to add in a bit of green to the mix. I'm not a huge green person, but I like the addition.

As always, Rosie has the final say in all sewing matters.

I missed the deadline for the link to One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts, but I will still post at the end of the month linkup!

Countdown To Christmas SAL

After my mad dash to the deadline of finishing my Hands2Help quilt, working in the garden, and getting ready for a family dinner last Sunday, I was finally able to concentrate on my blocks for the Countdown to Christmas SAL at Mama Spark's World. This month I chose three more from Moda's Countdown to Christmas 2018, and you can find that index here.

Grammy's Staircase at first glance looked more complicated than it actually turned out to be, thanks to clear instructions with good photos. (I love instructions that indicate which way to press a seam!) Heather Long is the creator of this block, and I liked her inspiration of photographing her children on the staircase every year before they open their Christmas gifts.

Candy Cane Christmas had rather sparse instructions, but I really enjoyed making this string block and might make more of them.

Rocky Mountain Christmas is a variation on the traditional Rocky Mountain Puzzle block. The instructions next to each photo really helped to lay this one out properly.

I'm linking to MamaSpark's Countdown To Christmas SAL.

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Finish, OMG, and Finished or Not Friday

This is my first time participating in a Hand2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge. Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has been hosting these challenges since 2011! I'm excited to send this quilt to Bernie at Needle and Foot for her charity Mercyful Quilts.

This is my second time using Yellow Brick Road as a pattern. In spite of the pop of bright fabrics, I am hoping this is neutral gender enough to be used by a male.

For the backing, I had a quilt-width blender in my stash that I purchased from a LQS years ago, and I didn't have to piece it -yay!

I added cornerstones for a little interest, and this is my first time making a border and binding in the same color, which I like a lot!

I tried something different with quilting - a kind of quadrant design. I used a hera marker initially then pretty much eyeballed it. That's why it's a bit wavy and out of line. And I ran out of spray baste, so there are wrinkles after quilting. But as the trendy folks like to say,"it's organic"!

As you can see in the photos below, May was a busy month! Our second grandson was born, and I spent a few days helping out while my daughter was in the hospital, our oldest granddaughter graduated high school, and our son turned 49, and we will celebrate his birthday on Sunday. Garden weeding and planting was a priority this month, and there were times this past week that I doubted I would finish this quilt in time for the deadline on the final linky party. But last night I powered through and finished hand-sewing the binding at 9:00.

Little Everett was born May 7 and named after my Dad. He is so sweet.

Our oldest granddaughter graduated high school May 17. She posed
with my husband and me and my son and his beautiful family.

The garden is starting to come on! We've picked some onions and a few tomatoes so far.

Quilt details:
Finished size:
52" x 70"

Pattern:
Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs

Fabrics:
Skinny Vines in Lime by Valentina Ramos for Robert Kaufman
Solid Lemon
PB&J by Basic Grey for Moda
Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda
Chamberry by Carolee McMullin for Adorn It
Kona Coal
Grunge in Grey Paper by Basic Grey for Moda
Blue plaid - unnmarked stash fabric
Hobby Lobby's version of Grunge in dark blue

Backing:
From the Mary Rose Collection by Quilt Gate

Border and binding:
Hobby Lobby's version of Grunge in dark blue

Thread:
Superior Threads So Fine #50 in Genoa Grey

I'm happy to link to Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge final linkup. I am also linking to One Monthly Goal at Patty's Elm Street Quilts and Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts.

Finished Or Not Friday - Pantone Quilt Started!

Last week I got a catalog in the mail from Connecting Threads. I look forward to their catalogs because the photos of finished quilts are just eye candy. There was a quilt featured on one page that caught my attention and would not let go. It was in colors I would not normally think of using together - oranges and purples - and the pattern was irresistible to me. It is called Home Awaits by Myra at Busy Hands Quilts. I visited her blog, found the pattern in her Etsy shop, and downloaded the pattern.

In this post about the Pantone Quilt Challenge (see the coral badge in my sidebar), I was considering the Uneven Nine Patch as my block for the quilt; but instead I am using the Home Awaits pattern. What I love about this pattern is that it features 10-inch squares of fabric, and I LOVE the fabric I'm using for the challenge! I started cutting yesterday. This afternoon we will leave to attend the graduation of our oldest granddaughter tonight, so there won't be much time spent in the sewing room today!

The Connecting Threads catalog led me to Myra's blog where I noticed she has a linky party on Fridays - yay! So this post is linked to Finished Or Not Friday. Of course mine falls under the "Not" category!

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt and Pantone Quilt Challenge May Progress

Our daughter (on the right) with her best friend who is 4 months pregnant!

We are leaving on Tuesday to stay with our 3-year old granddaughter while our daughter gives birth to her baby brother! In between laundry and packing, I am trying to stay caught up with two quilt-alongs and decided to combine my progress on both in this post.

First is May progress for the 2019 Hands2Help comfort quilt challenge, hosted by Sarah, who blogs at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. You can read the details of the challenge by clicking the "Comfort Quilt" gold badge in my sidebar. The second is the Pantone Quilt Challenge highlighting Pantone's 2019 Color of the Year, Living Coral, so click on the coral badge in the sidebar for more information about that.

For the comfort quilt I am using Yellow Brick Road pattern by Atkinson Designs (which I just used for this quilt) and making a quilt for a male for Mercyful Quilts, which is sponsored by Bernie, who blogs at Needle and Foot. Bernie collects and delivers quilts to Mercy Hospital for terminal patients, and you can find information about it here. The fabrics are about as masculine as I could muster from my shockingly feminine stash.

The blocks are pieced and ready for layout. I know this pattern goes together quickly, and that's good because the quilt needs to be finished by May 19!

For the Pantone quilt featuring coral, I will be using these glorious fabrics.

My inspiration for the Pantone quilt was a painting by Julia Hacker called Lolita, and I think Pat Bravo's Wonderlust in Bold captures the colors perfectly. This fabric is from her Legendary collection (click on the link for the full collection - it's gorgeous!). The quilt needs to be finished by June 5. I am considering going scrappy with a traditional block called Uneven Nine Patch. I'm drawn to Nine Patch blocks, especially disappearing ones, and am fascinated with the different patterns created by sewing, cutting, and sewing again the same nine squares. The Uneven Nine Patch is made with the same method but using a Four Patch. I decided to do a few test blocks, and here is a little tutorial:

Start with a four-patch. You can do any size, but I am using 5-inch charm squares in this test

Cut a 2-1/2 inch strip off the left side of the four patch

Move the cut strip to the right side of the four patch; sew and press

Now cut a 2-1/2 inch strip off the bottom of the block

Move the cut strip to the top of the block; sew and press

Completed uneven nine-patch blocks

I did a couple more blocks (they are addictive) to show the resulting little four patch in the center

I am liking this on-point layout

This post is linked to Sarah's Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge.