From K - Panda PJ Pants

Today I want to share a little secret with you... you see, I have a bad habit, and I hope I'm not alone in this (if I am, you have my permission to skip this post but I have a feeling you might be just as guilty too).

I don't know about you, but I often get really excited to start a new project - I rush out to buy the supplies, high tail it home, get started cut cut cutting away... but then when the going gets tough, I ever so calmly (or in this case not so calmly) 'supermarket sweep' the whole lot into the nearest drawer and call it a day. *insert brushing off hands here*

Earlier this month for my August: A Lovely Year of Finishes post, I mentioned a project that followed that description to a T. I bought the most lovely and adorable double gauze by Cosmo textile, complete with sunglass-wearing pandas pushing snow balls. I mean come on, this fabric was just begging to become PJ pants.

I have never worked with piping before so when I hit that little snag in my project I gave up. Well temporarily at least.

Ever begrudgingly thankful for public goal setting and self-imposed deadlines, I hauled this project out to the cabin with me this weekend to polish 'er off so to speak.

And I did just that, I piped these pants, altered the waistline by adding some elastic in the back, tailored, hemmed, and called it a day *pats self on the back*

My piping is far from perfect, but I think next time it will be better. Part of the problem I had with the piping was that this pattern just wasn't meant for double gauze. While it's luxuriously soft, the bottom ankle panel, which includes an internal facing, is pretty dang thick (we're talking 4 layers!). Four layers, piping and a newbie piper just don't quite work wonderfully. On the plus side though my ankles will be nice and snugly warm this winter.

Have you struggled with a similar project in the past? Please tell me I'm not alone!

I'm linking up to the August: A Lovely Year of Finishes - Finishing Party over at Fiber of all Sorts.

From K - Finished Black & White Kites Quilt

Today, I'm excited to cross another WiP off of my seemingly ever growing to-sew list. Let me introduce my newest finish, Black and White Kites!

I whipped up this quilt top more than 7 months ago, and had it backed and basted right away. Why it sat unquilted for so long I honestly don't know since it's usually basting the holds up my projects (tell me I'm not the only one who dreads basting!). While I can't give you an explanation for the delay, I have to say that I'm happy I procrastinated.

I'm glad I waited to finish this quilt for for two reasons: (1) I really wasn't feeling inspired on how to quilt it and didn't want to rush the process; and (2) I needed a hand project for a recent road trip and this already basted quilt fit the bill perfectly.

If you follow us on Instagram (@everydayfray) you may have seen a couple of in-progress hand quilting pics of this project taken during our drive down to Seattle. Lucky for me, after I finished the quilting, I was able to borrow Amanda's machine in Seattle to stitch on the binding, ready for me to hand bind it on the road trip home.

Overall I was really happy with how this quilt came together, regardless of how long this finish took. I love the texture that the hand quilting adds to both the quilt top and backing. My first foray into hand quilting was on my Sew Positive Baby Quilt last month, so I was thrilled to try it out a second time so soon. Although I'm an obsessive finisher, this project reminds me that sometimes slowing down and taking your time can deliver a product that is worth the wait.

Final Quilt Details:

• Quilt Name: Black & White Kites Quilt
• Finished Size: baby quilt size (54" x 66")
• Fabric: black and white fabric scraps (100% from this quilt), Kona Water (chevrons), Kimono Ty Pennington (quilt backing) and a mystery aqua print from Joann's (binding)
• Pattern: one of many HST options (I didn't follow a pattern for this)
• Quilting: hand quilted using white size 8 perle cotton

Additional posts about this quilt can be found here, here and here. 

This marks my second completed project for the Q3 2013 Finish A-Long - read more about my ambitious finishing goals here.

Linking up to TGIFF and Finish it upFriday.

From K - I'm Swooning

Earlier this summer I decided that I couldn't hold out any longer - I needed to make a swoon quilt! I have drooled over Amanda's quilt top, wanting to make my own for far too long. I needed to see what all this swooning was about. I signed up for Swoon 2013, ordered some Tula Pink Salt Water FQs, and this past weekend I started piecing it together.

For my background fabric I chose a beautiful sand-like linen (which seemed fitting with the Salt Water fabric line). What I failed to comprehend though was how much bloody starch would be required... oh and shrinkage.

Let's just say I don't often prewash my quilt fabric and after cutting out ALL of my background pieces, they shrunk under my hot iron during the starching process.

Needless to say that dilemma was followed by tossing yardage in the wash, re-cutting and re-starching all my background pieces. I'm happy to say I'm back on track and I learned my lesson about mixing fabric types.

I love how all three blocks turned out, and I'm excited to see how the next six come together. This is a fun block to make because even though you plan out the fabrics, the final look is still a bit of a surprise.

It took me about 7 hours to make these three blocks (chain piecing the whole time). It felt like a lifetime, but when you realize just how BIG each block is, I'm surprised it didn't take longer. Here is a picture of my 65lb black lab beside my blocks to give you some perspective on scale.

I'm on a 'self imposed' tight deadline to finish this top in order to ship it out to a long arm quilter. I originally planned to make this quilt as a Christmas gift but now I'm wondering if thanksgiving is a better time (since I'll be home with family then). Canadian Thanksgiving is early October so I better get a move on!

I'm linking up to WiP Wednesday and Needle and Thread Thursday.