Starting the New Year out Right!

It's only the middle of the month... and I have two finishes!  

These are the two quilts for my sister and her new hubby.  (I know, the wedding was 3 weeks ago... but at least they are done before their 5th anniversary? right?) 

Windsong - complete

Print Fabric Detail 

Binding and quilting detail 

Reminder to myself.... Don't use a pink ceramic pencil on white for quilting design.....  I had to use Grandma's secret and a soft toothbrush with water to get those lines out after i quilted.... I wanted to make sure they were totally out before putting it in the washer.  

The new Miracle chalk template worked great on the solid black..... it came out with steam!  

Parallel Universe - complete 

Quilting Detail 

I'm also sending off this starter row for a new 2015 Row Robin I'm doing with some internet friends.....  my theme is "Winter".....   I'm also sending one of my 3 filler rows along with my starter row so that everyone can see the variety of blues I'm using in my piano key borders.  

 I'm a couple of days late getting this in the mail.... (should have gone out on the 15th)... but I had black thread in my machine with my free motion foot..... I had to wait until the quilting was done on the Parallel Universe quilt before I could stitch around my applique pieces. 

I know.. many of you may be saying... "What?  Starting another project?"... LOL  I'm hopeless! 

Saying Goodbye to 2014 and Hello to 2015

As I look back on my blog... I realize that I've been as faithful to regular postings to this, as I was with my diary as a teenager.....  I'd start.... and then nothing for ages..... 

I love the idea of a digital quilt diary.... it helps keep me motivated... and it also allows me to share with all my quilty friends.... 

I am currently working on two projects that I hope to have finished by the 10th of Jan.    My younger sister is getting married this week, after being a single mom for 14 years!  

I have chosen to make each of them a throw.... and she has chosen black, white and grays.....  I sent her some choices I had worked up in EQ last month.....  and she and her sweetie each quickly picked their favorites.  She's wanting  a modern feel to these, so I've chosen solid backgrounds.   

Von's quilt is "Parallel Universe"... I found the pattern at my local store, Fabric Depot.  The blocks went together really fast.... using the strip / tube method.  I was a bit afraid of the bias edges... but it lies really nice.   I guess the sashing helps to tame those edges... 

Here is a picture of it before the final borders.... (which still need the fabric pre-washed)... I ran short... and decided rather than cut the borders from 2 different pieces, I'd rather go buy more of the black.... so that all the borders are from the same piece.   

The prints were all from my stash.....  the original pattern called for the darkest prints (center strip) to be the same as the background... but I wanted a little more movement and variation... so I used my deepest gray prints and black prints in that spot..  I'm happy with it. 

Leann's  quilt is a pattern called "Windsong" by Jessica Smith at Thequiltandneedle.com
the large applique was a little scary at first..... I was so afraid of not being able to get the entire thing positioned in the right place, that after tracing the fusible, I backed out and simply traced it onto freezer paper and then hand basted it in place.   the attached picture is not the actual fabrics... it's my EQ  mock up.....  the actual quilt itself.. is under my machine... with about one more hour of quilting to go.....  

Why is it that when I decide to do something simple.. it doesn't work out that way?   I chose a simple 3" grid for quilting at a 45 degree angle.... turns out I don't have a flat surface in my home that is condusive to marking a quilt that is 70 x 80.....  my kitchen counters weren't cutting it.    

I went out and purchased a ping pong table to use.... (which I've been wanting to do for awhile now)..... we counted it as my Christmas gift! LOL    I spent as much time marking this quilt and fixing my initial mistakes as I have doing the actual quilting.    I forgot to factor in the color changes for my thread..... so I've had lots of threads to bury along the way as well.    I only have the lower right hand corner left..... about 1/6th or less.... and then I think I'm going to do a free motion stitch through the applique to help hold it down better in the middle so it doesn''t want to shift since I didn't use fusible.  

I'm anxious to get it done, and then I'll post pictures.   I'm a little afraid of getting rid of all the lines I drew with my ceramic pencil....