The Hoarded Stash

I'm not sure how many of you can relate to this, but I know I'm not alone when I mention that I have actual "collections" of fabric that I hoard.  And by hoard I mean I have it, it's stacked neatly, I like looking at it, I may even pet it, but I never cut into it.  I know it's crazy, but I'm not apologizing for it either!!  Well, the right motivation came along and I am here to say that one of my long-time hoarded stashes has hit the cutting table.

Here is a stack of my long-time hoarded stash of Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.  Yes, I know there are a few greens missing, but they were just in another stack.  Also, if you look at the reds there is an rogue red from another collection.

I am participating in an Instagram Block Swap called #anotherbclogcabinswapagain

It is hosted by Kristen Olson of @heartfullyhandmade  There have been several of these Log Cabin Block swaps featuring Bonnie and Camille fabrics starting back in 2015.  If you search on Instagram under the hashtag #bclogcabinswapfun you will see almost a thousand beautiful photos of blocks and many quilts made by swappers.  I have been drooling over them for years and now I'm joining in the fun.

The deal on the swap is this; you make 12 large 20 1/2" Log Cabin Blocks using only Bonnie and Camille Fabrics, the blocks are constructed in a log cabin format not courthouse steps style, there is no dark/light aspect to the log cabin blocks, just random fabrics stitched around the sides in a clockwise manner.  Then you square them up at 20 1/2".  Then you cut them exactly in quarters.  So, the swap is actually making 48 quarter blocks and swapping 36 of them as you keep 12 of your own.  I hope that this explanation isn't too confusing.  I will post photos of my blocks once they're finished and then cut into quarters.

Gorgeous strips of B&C fabric

It's nice to start something so fun with a deadline!  Then you know you will get the blocks made.  I'm actually going to add enough quarter blocks to make a full size bed quilt.  I have a hard time making quilts that aren't going to fit on a bed.  My family has a beach cottage on the Chesapeake Bay here in Virginia and there are four bedrooms, each having a full size bed.  So, it's a size that will get lots of use.

My quilting time this year has been mostly consumed by the BOM by Sarah Fielke, Down the Rabbit Hole.  It is an amazing quilt so far, it's a medallion which is both wonderful and challenging.  I like medallion quilts because they grow before your eyes and you always have an actual quilt top in the making starting with a mini, to a table-topper, to a wall hanging, etc....  The challenging part is the piecing and cutting have to be sooooo accurate as it all has to fit.  If one border doesn't fit because it's a little long- you get wavy borders and that's not always able to be quilted out.  Mine is not perfect, but the easing and such that I've done from time to time falls within an acceptable amount to be basted flat and quilted out.  No big waves.

Down the Rabbit Hole Block of the Month

I had done a little hand applique prior to this quilt, but never to this degree.  It has been an incredible amount of applique and I have loved it, but it has consumed me!!!  After all, I have four kids at home and they are all busy.  The one nice thing about applique is that it can be taken with me when I'm sitting in carpool lines or at a ball practice.

So, I'm so glad that I have this amazing hobby where I get to work with beautiful fabrics, creating these quilts for my family.  I think about my kids and grandkids enjoying the quilts I'm making and it makes me smile.

Kathi

A Little of This and a Little of That...

During a late night sewing session, I was able to make progress on three UFOs.

I have a Scrappy Trips Around the World quilt I'm working on that is a Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville free pattern from her blog.  Most of my blocks are from a few swaps that I did through a Flickr group, but I wasn't able to do the latest round due to my family life being CRAZY!!!

The small blue, orange and yellow units are a few of the final units I need to piece for my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt from 2013.  I have begun to piece blocks and have pieced 32 of the 121
needed!  Yes, that's 121 nine inch blocks for a king sized quilt.  It is such a gorgeous quilt and I want to finish it's I keep plugging away at it knowing that there is a finite number of units and blocks and I will get it all finished.  And then it's going on our bed.

 

Blocks for Celtic Solstice Mystery

The partial block under my needle is for the Canasta Quilt designed by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson.  It is a wedding gift for my sister.  (And I am not going to discuss when the wedding was!!)

Wedding "Canasta Quilt" on the Wall

On a personal note, I am pretty busy with my four kiddos still at home, but I have had my baby grandson with us since August 15 (but who's counting!).  Baby Archer is my daughter's son and she is a United States Marine.  She is normally stationed in North Carolina, but has a field exercise in California.  It was supposed to be August 25 through September 25; but it is turning out to be August 15 through October 2!!!! Yikes, that's not a month, that's SEVEN weeks, (but again, who's counting!)

He's adorable and wonderful and I love him to pieces, but having a baby around again when my youngest is 8 is a whole new ballgame. So, I am sewing when I can which means naptimes and sometimes late nights, and not committing to extra things like big swaps.

This is an older picture of Archer, but I love it with him on the quilt I made him.  This is actually the back.

So, I am thankful that I am making progress on these UFOs and I will keep on sewing because I enjoy the process as much as a finished quilt.

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt...plugging along!

To check out the Link Up Party at Quiltville click here:

 

http://quiltville.blogspot.de/2013/12/celtic-solstice-mystery-monday-link-up.html

 

There are almost 200 quilters who have linked up their amazing progress.  Nice job everyone, you inspire me to sew just a few more!

Completed Tri-Rec Units So Far

I am making lots of progress on the Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.  I am working on the tri-rec units from Clue #1 still and they are adding up.  I have 130 of the 140 needed of the orange units; and 150 of the 240 neutral units.  I have found that it goes the best for me if I work on them in batches of 10 with my leader/ender in between.

 

 

We have had a busy week and this is a fun project to do in between all the other holiday things.  I still have a pile of half-sewn units to finish up, but at least the first side of blue star point is on.

 

 

 

 

 

My fabrics for clue#2 are sitting and waiting at the cutting area I set up in our upstairs hall.  They look so pretty together and I love chevron units. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, clue #3 comes out and I am excited to see the next step and will just keep working on this lovely project until I get it done!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilting Along in Busy December

Lady Jane B-4

Lady Jane block D-6
 

 

Wow!  That late Thanksgiving has really thrown me and we are well into December just a week and a half after Black Friday.  I am trying to balance decorating, shopping, baking, and quilting.  It's all so much fun, just not enough hours to do them all and get them done.

I spent most of my last week quilting time trying to get the Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt done.  It's still not done and Clue #2 came out Friday the 6th.  I am enjoying the quilt units and I love the colors, but the piles of pieces is endless!



Endless piles of Tri-Recs pieces to sew together!
 

Lady Jane block K-12

Lady Jane block J-4

Lady Jane block F-4

I am taking a break from that mystery quilt to work on my Month #2 blocks and triangles for my two DEAR JANE QUILTS that I am working on.  I am doing one with a reproduction feel that uses fabrics that I feel give a nod to past fabrics, but that I still love; and I am doing one with bright modern fabrics and cool low volume backgrounds.  I love them both.  I am naming them respectively, Lady Jane and Modern Jayne.



Lady Jane block F-3

Sewing on Celtic Solstice Quilt

I had the best time tonight sewing along with Bonnie Hunter on her Quiltcam.  I finally had some time to sew for clue #1 because I finished the cutting late last night.  Yaaayyyy!!!!

All the Tri-Recs pieces for clue #1 (King), yes that's 760 blue side triangles, phew.  Thank you Downton Abbey for getting me through the cutting!!!!

 

My favorite blue fabric because it picks up the orange, green, and yellow that we'll be using.

 

 

I also worked on my leader/ender project which is Cheddar Bowties.  You can see a few bowtie blocks in this picture of me sewing on my pink Atlas straight stitch machine while watching Quiltcam.

 

 

I want an adjustable Sew Mate table for Christmas so I can lay out blocks and units more easily next to my machines.  It's not too much to ask!

Another Finished Top and Gingerbread Houses!

I didn't spend the whole weekend on Celtic Solstice Mystery!  Although, that would have been pretty fun!  I had to clear my design wall and I needed to sew one more border onto my Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 quilt top.  This is the version where I used fabrics from my stash; I also pieced one with the fabric kit that I purchased from Craftsy.  That one is still in block form and needs to spend some time on the design wall getting put together!

When I first went to sew on the two side borders, I found that they were much too long and I couldn't figure out where I went wrong.  Well, I had used a scant 1/4" seam when piecing the half square triangles together and it was too scant.  Well, I didn't want to rip out all those seams, and since I do press my seams to one side, I just re-sewed the same seams just as true 1/4"!  It worked, they fit beautifully.  I had so much fun making this quilt top using fabrics I already had.  Craftsy offered the BOM classes free for 2012 and 2013.  The two quilts are very different, but I like it that they are.  This quilt was designed and taught by Laure Nownes.

Also, on Sunday my mom hosted her annual Gingerbread House Workshop for the kids in her life.  I had four of mine participating this year.  They do a pretty good job and it is fun finding places in our house amongst our decorations for the houses. 

New blog, new quilt!

It's been something I've thought about doing for a while.  I am happy to have a place to share my progress as I work on my quilting projects...finishing some, starting some, and loving every minute.  So, I will be sharing posts and photos of the myriad of projects I have worked on this past year, especially the newer items.

But, today it is all about Celtic Solstice Mystery!!!  See what all the excitement is about here http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/12/celtic-solstice-mystery-monday-link-up-1.html .  I am linking to Bonnie Hunter's blog to show my progress on her newest mystery quilt.  First off, she shared fabric color choices about a month ago.  She chose orange, green, and neutral for starters (like the Irish flag), then added blue and yellow.  I pulled what I had in my stash and while I had some, I thought it would be fun to add a few more fabrics into the mix.  Here in Northern Virginia we had a shop hop called Quilter's Quest in early November.  I visited the 10 LQS involved in the quest and purchased a fat quarter from each store in the four main colors.  It was a fun way to focus as I visited the new shops and got to see what each one has.

 

Fabrics stacked and ready to cut into!!

 

The way the mystery quilt works is that Bonnie has designed what I am sure is an amazing quilt and she sill be giving us the instructions for the quilt one clue at a time on Fridays.  Then, on Mondays there will be link ups to share our progress.  So, last Friday, the 29th was the day of the first clue and it was a doozy!  It was to cut pieces for triangle in a square units for the quilt.  We need 240 neutral triangles, 140 orange triangles, and 760 blue isosceles triangles!!  I had never cut that many pieces at once before.  All pieces were cut from 3 1/2" strips, so that was the first part.  I ironed and cut strips while watching episodes of Downton Abbey!!!  It was wonderful.  I actually ended up with more than I needed for these pieces but perhaps we'll need them for other parts of the quilt.  I then cut my orange and neutral triangles, it was so exciting to see the little stacks grow and grow and to cut into the wonderful colors.  By late Saturday evening, I had the neutral and orange 380 triangles cut!  By late last night I had 400 of the 760 blue triangles cut.  I will come back and add pictures as soon as I have them uploaded.



 I set up in our upstairs hall to iron and cut.

 Each blue stack is 100 triangles.

Neutral and orange triangles. 

 

So, while I still have cutting and all the sewing for this week's clue, I am making progress.  Thank you to Bonnie Hunter who is an amazing designer and is providing this quilt design and all the fun clues for free on her blog.