Finish It Up Friday: Schnitzel and Boo Tula Mini

I was so excited to get my partner's information for the Schnitzel and Boo Swap.  She seemed pretty much my quilty twin, so I decided to just make something that I would love to receive.

On the long list of designers that we had in common, Tula Pink was right on top.  And I just happened to have been hoarding a pile of Tula from my time working at a fabric store.  I pulled a fun pile of all my blues, purples, and teals, yellow for a pop of color, and added in my raccoons.  She also loved Anna Maria Horner, and I needed some navies, so I added the feathers and coordinates.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the block I would make.  I've loved minis where the blocks make secondary patterns where they meet, so I scoured the internet.  At first I thought I would do nine blocks that were six or seven inches square, but then I found this block and decided that it would look cooler with just four blocks.  Also, the center would be perfect for the raccoons if the block was bigger.

I went a little crazy with the quilting.  When it's such a small space to quilt it's pretty tempting to quilt all the little spaces to death, which I did.  I only left the raccoon alone because I couldn't figure out how to quilt them.  And once it was all done, I thought it looked nice without quilting.

And here's the mini I received.  My partner saw that I loved Latifah Saafir and when she looked into her, my partner fell in love with the Big O quilt.   I love the idea of passing on quilt inspiration!  She did a really great job; it's bright and graphic and has my favorite Carolyn Friedlander print all over it!  Can't wait to figure out where I'm putting my mini wall so I can hang all my new minis.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Leanne for TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday: Snow Day Number Two!

So it snowed all day yesterday.  Sure everyone knows about the blizzard, and everyone got snow, but it never stopped!  I don't think we've ever had a storm that didn't at least take a 20 minute break in the midst of snowing.

Yesterday, while we were all penned into the house, I managed to get a binding done and a bunch of pressing but today I decided it was quilting day!  Last night I pulled backing and batting and got it all loaded up on the long arm so I could just start as soon as the coffee kicked in.

And of course I waffled about how to quilt it.  I spent an hour scrolling through Instagram, then watched video after video on YouTube, then flipped through my sketchbook.  I finally just decided to do more graffiti quilting practice.  (Which was my first idea, so I don't know why I didn't just trust my gut instead of wasting hours.)

Luckily, once you get started, it's pretty easy to just keep going.

And one more picture of the snow.  Lucky has decided she likes the snow in the North better than the heat of the South!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social #57!

Friday Finish: Pixelated Pinwheels

I've had this quilt by JeliQuilts pinned since she made it.  I loved the colors.  I loved that it was based on something from Ikea.  I have a thing for triangles.  Basically, I've just been waiting for the chance to make one of my own.  So when it was my turn to pick a block for my do. Good stitches group, I thought this would be perfect.

I asked each member to make a block of nine HSTs in warm and cool colors.  I requested solids, but any saturated, tone on tone print that read as a solid would do.  While they were doing that, I made a pile of single HSTs that I used to blend the two groups together.

Once I had the top pieced, I sent a picture to the group's Flickr page.  We're putting on a special exhibit at QuiltCon, and I just knew this quilt would have a good chance of being selected.  Luckily, it was! So I had to get it quilted and finished so I could send it in time for the show.

I struggled with what do do for the quilting.  The triangles are so angular, so I wanted to do something curvy to offset that, but I wanted something that I would be able to accomplish quickly and successfully.  Somehow, this pattern of tall archy squiggles popped into my head.  (if anyone can think of a better name, you'll win a gold star.)

I love that the straight lines don't take away from all those triagles, but because the squiggles are of random length, it's fun to look at.  I can't wait to see it hanging in Austin.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it up Friday!

Friday Finish: Instagram Mini Swap!

I spent a lot of time being a mini swap avoider.  I just didn't get the appeal.  I would join fabric swaps and block bees, but why would I want a mini?  (It's not like I enjoy quilts and have an abundance of blank walls in my house.)

That was until I saw all the awesome things that were being made during the second round of the Schnitzel and Boo swap.  Seriously, every single mini was awesome and I wanted them all.  But it was too late for that swap, and while I was being sad, the IG Mini Swap started up.  I signed up immediately!

After a stressful wait, I finally got my partner's info.  I was a little bummed, because she wasn't one of those super active Instagrammers.  I worried that I wouldn't have enough to go on, but I started pulling together some ideas.

My partner liked aqua and gold, triangles, asymmetry, and her website looked very clean and modern.  So I pulled all of my gold and aqua fabrics, added some gray for good measure.  I went with a cream for a background color, because the white just looked to harsh.

I sketched out a doodle of this, then cut triangles out of paper that were the size that I wanted.  I laid that triangle on the fabric and cut 1/4 inch past the paper triangle, stitched them together in rows and was shocked that it seemed to work.  There are a few spots where I lost triangle sides, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I bought some heavier gold and aqua thread with the plan that I would background quilt in white and then do some hand stitching in color, but once I had the mini basted, I just didn't like that idea anymore.  Instead, I went with wavy lines over the whole thing, mostly with the white, but with stripes of the gold and aqua threads here and there.   When I was done, I realized it was wind blowing over mountains!  Aw!

Now this mini has a home on the wall in my partner's sewing space.  It perfectly matches her wall, and it looks very happy there.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Val for TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday!

So my job today is to get these quilts bound.  Both are gifts that are long overdue, though no one is expecting them, so no one knows they're so late!  Ha!

There's also QuiltCon supplies to gather, more quilts to quilt, and swap extras to make before popping my Schnitzel and Boo mini in the mail.  So I'll probably just go and get to it!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

While I Was Gone...

So I kind of fell off the internet.  It's that Christmas crafting rush, but mine starts before Thanksgiving, and then I'm just pooped.  I make things, but just don't feel doing the last step, blogging them.  Luckily, I kept up with the photographing, so now that I have my mojo back, I still have pictures of stuff that I've sent away.

So now I can show you what I was up to when I was away!

This was the second center I've worked on for our Round Trip Quilts Bee.  (The first one is here.)  Jenn, from  Never Just Jennifer, and I was in love with it the second she posted it to Instagram.  I was glad I didn't have to wait long to get my hands on it.

She's a fellow New Hampshire-ite, and wanted a quilt that was all about our awesome state.  Her notebook was full of great ideas, like those maple leaves, mountains, snowflakes, and flying geese.  I got this at the height of geese migration when all the fields are full of flocks coming and going, so I had to do some flying geese.

I first added that strip of red to tie in the red maple leaves Leanne had added and then started pulling all my bright and low volume scraps to make the geese.  I really didn't have a solid plan or pattern, just made geese in a bunch of sizes, then moved them around until I got a pattern I liked.  (My one regret, is that pointed the geese flying out of the corner, and not into it in proper flying "v" formation.  Next time!)

The last step was the corner.  Red again to mirror that red maple leaf, and some Anna Maria Horner blue.  It's called Migratory Lace, so I kind of had to use it prominently, and it reminds me of trail maps, and NH has some great hiking and skiing trails!

I love this one, and can't wait to see what happens to it next!