Yellow Brick Road Finish!

Hey guys! Did you miss me? I missed you!! 

I spent a week in Idaho visiting my mom. It was lovely to be just the two of us girls (well the four of us if you count the dogs). I really enjoyed it. Until I caught the nasty head cold that's been going around. Ugh. That took me out of commission for a while. 

(I think the dogs were concerned...)

But now I'm back, and guess what?!

Yellow Brick Road is officially finished!!!

I LOVE this quilt. It was started last October during a quilting class, which taught me a lot. I feel like - from beginning to end - this quilt is more technically sound than my previous two. I also found the process to be more enjoyable and less frustrating than the others. I seriously learned so much! 

I have to admit, when my instructor suggested I use minky instead of cotton as backing...I was terrified. I had never sewn with minky. I imagined it to be super slippery, and worried it might get stuck in the feed dogs. 

All my worry was for naught. It was so much easier than I had imagined. 

Seriously. If I can do it, anyone can. 

I did some research first, of course. Fabric.com's blog has some very helpful pointers here. Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew has some tips here as well. As suggested by Allison, I decided to go with a double-sided minky, purchased here during a sale. 

Overall, I think the combination of basting spray, pins, and a walking foot helped a lot. I did have a couple spots where the quilt top felt a bit baggy and bunched while quilting, resulting in some waviness and occasionally small pleats. Also, I found the minky to be a fair amount heavier than quilting cotton, and had to fight more drag while quilting.

I left the batting out of this project, to help with the weight, which I think was good. And the double-sided minky provides a decent amount of "fluff." This quilt doesn't feel too thin or too light, by any means. 

I had some uneven stitches (partially due to the heaviness of the quilt with the minky, and partially due to my malfunctioning walking foot). They were hardly noticeable, so I left them. The small amounts of waviness and pleating that occurred during quilting, has mostly disappeared in the crinkle of the cotton after washing.  

I am really subscribing to the idea that every project is about learning to quilt than learning to use my seam ripper. This quilt is likely full of beginner mistakes, BUT I have decided that, in general, small and non-fatal mistakes stay put. 

So, all in all - I'm really very happy with this quilt! It doesn't hurt that, in a couple months, I'll be mailing it to my sister in North Carolina for her birthday (shh...don't tell her it's a secret...). 

It almost feels like sending her this handmade quilt is the perfect way of sending her a long-distance hug. 

I think Sadie wanted a handmade hug too. 

Or maybe she just wanted to play...

Okay - gotta go! If I don't throw that ball for her soon, she's going to get pretty bossy! 

Quilt stats:
size: 60" x 80"
pattern: Yellow Brick Road
fabric: Modern Meadow and Quilter's Linen in Chartreuse 
backing: double sided minky in navy
quilting: me
binding: Herringbone in Pond 

Linking up to: Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Link-A-Finish Friday, and A Picture...A Moment. 

February ALYOF Goal

Okay, so I just found out about the "A Lovely Year of Finishes" linky party. 

I know...I've been living under a rock or something! 

Anyway, I thought this would be an excellent way to help focus my sewing project attention. I have been just a bit ADD with my projects lately, and I'm getting to the point of WIP overload. 

This way I can set a goal for something to be my primary focus for the month - something that I will be more likely to finish. 

February's goal?

This was seriously a hard one...

I have so many...too many...great options. 

I've decided...I mean, I think I've decided...that my ALYOF finish this month should be my Barn Door quilt. Mostly because Yellow Brick Road is so close to done, that it doesn't feel like it should count. It will likely get finished as well, so that will just be icing on the cake!

What do you think? 

Did I make the right choice?

Sunday Stash #4

So my beautiful, amazing sister-in-law is at minimum 10x the quilter and seamstress that I am...bare minimum. 

I have known for a while that she works at a local quilting/sewing store in Idaho Falls. I didn't know, until recently, that said "local quilting/sewing store" was The Ribbon Retreat. I also didn't realize it has such a great online shop!

I happened across a link in another sewing blog, and then remembered the name from my SIL. After checking out their website, I realized they have so much great stuff - particularly some precuts of older, harder to find fabric lines. Also, my particular favorite, these cute fat quarter bundles called "Little Fatties."  These little bundles turned out to be the perfect way to add a few pieces of my favorite fabric lines to my stash, without breaking my budget. They also offer something most online fabric shops won't - the ability to buy single fat quarters of any fabric at a reasonable price.  

(100% my own opinion, without sponsorship.) 

They have weekly deals and sales. Here's what I picked up during a sale a couple weeks ago:

These "Little Fatties" bundles are by far my favorites. They're just so cute! 

I grabbed some Sunnyside: 

Blythe: 

and Scrumptious:

All pretty great stash builders to add to my collection, or to use in a project together, combined with other stash fabrics to make it unique. 

PB&J Layer Cake:

I have been coveting PB&J for a while, but it was just enough before my quilting days as to be generally unavailable. I was quick to grab this up - I may go back for a bit of yardage for binding or something, depending on what project this ends up in. 

Some FQs on clearance: 

- 2 Simply Color prints in eggplant
- More Blythe
- Indie Chic (I think this one only cost me $1.50!)

A couple charm packs of Marmalade:

Bonnie & Camille are probably my favorite fabric designers!! Again - Marmalade was a bit before my time, and I have been coveting it since we were first introduced in one of Camille's Craftsy classes. SO excited to have some to work with!! 

The cutest thing about this purchase - I left a little note at checkout for my SIL just saying "Hi!" When my package arrived, there was a little handwritten note from her on my receipt. 

Happy Sewing!! :)

Linking up with Molli.