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!

Catvent Quilt-a-Long!

Anyone else loving the #Catvent Quilt-a-Long?  I've gotten a few cats behind, but I'm still loving my little kitty assignments from the internet.  It gets me to the machine on days that I just want to make a nest for myself and hibernate all winter, and it's a great starting project for those days when I have so many things to do that I don't know where to start.

I love going to this little drawer of scraps to pick colors for the new cats.  I'm going rainbow-y like the original, but picking colors based on how many prints are called for in the cat and how many prints I have in like colors.  I was sure that this far into the QAL, this drawer would be looking sparse, but those scraps have been multiplying while I'm not looking.

This isn't a rushed project, or a project that I need to have done for a deadline, but I'm pretty excited to see all of this come together.  I keep staring at the spot that it will hang on my wall, and it looks emptier every time I walk by it.

I'm also trying to imagine different quilting designs.  I love the idea of quilting faces on, but kind of want to keep it simple.  I don't know, any ideas?

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday!

Penny Patch Quilt-A-Long (because I need just one more project)

I do a lot of just sew and sew and maybe finish by this date.  Or sew and sew and eventually get it done, but there's no deadline.

And I like that there are few stakes in my sewing.  No one is going cold, hungry, or naked because I'm not sewing fast enough, but it would be nice to have someone else dictate my to do list for a bit.

So I'm joining the Penny Patch Quilt-a-Long over at Stitched in Color.  Her schedule looks pretty easy, and it will get me a whole quilt done by Christmas, just in case I need another present. (I always seem to leave someone off my Christmas shopping list and then have to scramble to find a present the day before.)

I think this palette will be pretty fun if I end up keeping it for myself, but would probably work for anyone that might need a last minute gift.  And I think I have all those colors in my stash except for that brown.

Want to join?  Looks like fun!  All the cool kids are doing it!