From K - Finished New Wave Quilt

Two years ago, when I had only just started quilting, I fell for Elizabeth Hartman's blog, Oh Fransson!, followed quickly by my love of her New Wave Quilt pattern. As a novice quilter with only three other quilts under my belt, I thought this was a good next step.

This quilt marked my first foray into quilting with a more modern design, and was the first time I ever tried free motion quilting. Simultaneously, it also happened to be the first time I had ever ordered fabric online (Fat Quarter Shop to be exact!).

While I'm not traditionally a crayola colour scheme kind of lady, I feel hard for the little owl prints! I think this is a timeless treasures line, thought the name escapes me.

The bundle I purchased came with a panel featuring various forest scenes, so I fussy cut them, framed them in gray and white, and then used them on the back.

This poor quilt has been sitting neglected in my fabric wardrobe for a few years, and recently had a wee run in with a metal drawer slide. After trimming down the bottom of the quilt to cut off the hole, I debated cutting some off the top as well to recenter the quilt back. In the end I decided the future recipient (who is 3 and ADORES both owls and the colour green) won't mind the back one bit so I left it as large as possible.

It's fun to look back at a quilt that challenged me in so many ways, but also really opened my eyes to a whole new world of modern quilting. While my colour palette has matured over the years, and my FMQ has improved, it gives me a lot of joy to pull this quilt out from storage, and to gift it to someone I know will love it.

From A - Best Laid Plans

I picked up some Christmas fabric for my birthday last year with the intention of turning it into two Christmas quilts. Predictably, neither quilt was finished by the time Christmas rolled around and I set them aside, patted myself on the back for my "head start" on next year and moved on to the next big thing.

Figuring that I had already started making blocks, I didn't bother digging out the Christmas quilts until mid-October. When I finally did, I was surprised to find that I had actually only made one of the 48 blocks I needed to finish both quilts.

Never one to be deterred by great obstacles, I set about making blocks for the quilt I wanted to keep so that I could finish it early and have some time to enjoy it in the time leading up to the Christmas season. There would still be loads of time to make a second quilt for my mom after I was snuggled under a quilt of my own.

Two weeks and two blocks on (bringing the score to 3 of 48 for those keeping track), my computational error became evident and I reconsidered my approach, opting to abandon my quilt completely and put all of my sewing time into the quilt for my mom.

Fast forward another couple of weeks and I can honestly say that my house is just two fistfuls of tinsel away from looking like the aftermath of a particularly festive Christmas morning except with piles of fabric occupying the places traditionally reserved for piles of discarded wrapping paper.

Christmas fabric and half finished blocks cover every surface of our living space and a "don't lean back" rule was implemented for the couch and all four dining room chairs sometime last week to protect the finished bits draped over the chair backs.

Despite these efforts, I am still 9 blocks away from finishing the first quilt. Sounds manageable until you realize that once those are done they will need to be assembled into a quilt top. Borders will have to be added. A quilt back will have to be made and I'll have to bribe someone with a long-arm to quilt the darn thing before I head home for the holidays. There is a high probability that the "finished" quilt will be gifted without a binding attached.

I did manage to finish the first two rows of blocks last weekend. It's a small victory but enough to convince me that with some luck and a whole lot of caffeine, I might just get it (mostly) done in time.

How are you holiday craft plans coming? Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced. 

From K - Blogathon Canada Giveaway Winner!

Last week I was fortunate to be a host for Blogathon Canada, representing the province of Alberta. If you missed out on seeing all of the fabulous blogs who participated, you can read more about it here.

 

 

Sew Sister's generously sponsor a giveaway for one of our readers - two charm packs of Tula Pink's newest fabric line Moon Shine, as well as two spools of matching Aurifil thread! The contest closed last night, so we drew out of a hat and the winner is... Rebecca of Our Busy Little Bunch!

Who wrote:

Congratulations Rebecca, I hope you enjoy these charms! Sew Sisters will be mailing your prize. Please check your email so we know where to send it.