Friday Finish: Orange Peel Vines!

I'm so glad I jumped at the chance to join Quilty Habit's Orange Peel Quilt-a-long.  It's something that I've wanted to do for a while, and I'm really happy with the results.  Like, really happy.  I can't wait to figure out where this will hang in my house.  I'm thinking my bedroom, but we'll have to actually paint first.  It'll give me time to add the hang sleeve.

I posted about a million pictures to Instagram while making it.  I knew I wanted a rainbow of peels, but couldn't figure out the layout, whether to add more, whether to machine sew them down or hand stitch... It just went on and on.  Thanks so much to all the great advice I got, I was just so scared of screwing it up since I loved it so much.

The rows won the layout contest.  The rainbow was more obviously rainbow-y when you lined them all up, and it kind of reminded me of my love or Orla Kiely.  Had I picked a different color scheme, I would have had to track down some Orla sheets to use as backing.

I ended up quilting ghost peels in all the blank spots.  For the two center rows, I used a rainbow of threads and the outer borders just got white thread.  Then I went back in and did some dense straight lines so the peels would really pop out.  They definitely pop, but you can't really see the straight lines.  I think I'm okay with that, but it was a little bummer that that portion of work wasn't obvious.

You can see the lines when the kids decide the quilt is a hat....

I still have to measure it to figure out which category of the QAL to enter, but you'll definitely see me in there somewhere.  And there's still plenty of time to get your orange peel on; the final link up is from August 23 - September 8, so that's almost a month!  Do it!  It's fun, and there's prizes!

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it up Friday and Quilt Matters for TGIFF!

WIP Wednesday: LV Edition!

It's kind of a low volume with pops of color kind of WIP Wednesday.  I got my Orange Peel QAL top sewn together last night, but it still needs top and bottom rows of LV squares, plus any borders I decide to add.  I love it though.  I just want to quilt it because it looks like it will be so much fun.

And I started on this Honey Cowl, even though it's pushing 90 degrees these days.  I got this yummy Tosh Merino DK in Cosmic Wonderlust from Purl Soho on our last vacation to NYC, and I've been trying to figure out what to do with it.  A cowl will be perfect since it's so soft.

WIP Wednesday: Orange Peels!

So I'm taking part in the Orange Peel Quilt along over at Quilty Habit.  It's one of those shapes that I've always loved how they look and have always wanted to try them, because there are so many great tutorials that promise to make it really easy.  

Last night I just got the urge to do it.  It was weird, and I was just going to work for an hour or so to get the peels started, but hours later, I was still going.

This tutorial from Crazy Old Ladies is so simple.  You just trace the peel onto interfacing, sew it to the right side of your fabric, then trim and turn right side out.  Magically, you have all your raw edges inside and a nice peel that will hold it's shape when you sew it down.

Pay no attention to the gross carpet.  Weeks of rain + two kids and a dog = nastiness.

I combined that super simple method with glue basting, and by the end of the night, I had enough blocks for a decent wall hanging if I went with the random layout, but I laid them out in a rainbow vine, and they were just awesome.  It'll probably still be a wall hanging, but I might end up making it a lap quilt that I hang on my quilt rack in the living room.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

Summer Things and Clamshells

 

 Summer things are happening.  The strawberries already came and went.  The little girl ate every last one of them, so sadly no strawberry ice cream got made, but she enjoyed them.  Now the berries are starting to come, and neither child likes them raw, so we'll have jams and syrups and maybe ice cream from them.

 

There's also been lots of outdoor and beach time.  They're both old enough to just roam around safely and entertain themselves, which leaves plenty of knitting time.  I've got most of the Little Sperry knitted, just one sleeve to go.

I have plans to start an orange peel project once the sweater is finished.  Jessica at Quilty Habit is having an Orange Peel QAL, and since it's already on the list of things I want to try it must be the perfect time.  I was thinking of using the stitch and flip method from Crazy Old Ladies.  It seems the easiest and I have a pile of non-fusible interfacing that I must have bought thinking it was fusible.  I just have to sew up a bunch of peels and toss them into a bag for on-the-go stitching.

 

In actual sewing news, I managed to get this little beauty stitched up this weekend.  We had a great workshop at the latest Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild meeting, where Amy (from During Quiet Time) showed us how to machine piece clamshells.  And we got to cut them all out on her Sizzix, which meant we had enough to actually finish a project.  

 

I have almost all the clams sewn, I just had to run out and buy some green thread to do the last couple.  (How did I not have green thread?!)  I haven't decided whether this will become a pillow, or a panel for a bag.  I'll probably let it sit for a few days once it's all quilted and see if the elves come and finish it for me.