Aztec Quilt Top Finished!

Whew! 

Okay. Last - but certainly not least - I finished a quilt top this weekend! 

It was 3 months in the making - about 2 months longer than I expected - but it's done!!! **Happy dance time!**

 

It was a bit of a rough go trying to photograph it. Funny how a light, thin quilt top can make a slight breeze feel like a hurricane-force wind!  

This was about the moment I got frustrated and made the hubby hold the quilt. Nothing like capturing and memorializing these wonderful moments. Ha...

All in all - I'm pretty happy with it. These photos don't do the colors justice - but then, I find that quilts almost never photograph well. They are always SO much better in person! 

Now to decide whether I want to try quilting this myself on my tiny machine - or pay someone else to do it... I'm leaning toward the latter. 

Cotton and Steel Mini Quilt Swap

I joined another Instagram swap a few months ago. On IG I mostly follow other quilters and crafters - which make up a large, very interactive and social group that have lots of fun activities. The Sew Together Bag Swap I did previously, was similar in design. Everyone signs up for the swap on IG. The organizer of then pairs everyone up, and you make a project and/or gift for the other person. Sometimes it's a secret swap, and sometimes it isn't. 

This particular swap was secret. We were to make a mini quilt (generally considered to be 24" square or less) for our partner using fabrics by the Cotton and Steel designers. Since these are lately some of my absolute favorite fabrics - I couldn't resist signing up! 

Again - I'm playing catch-up with this post, because this project was finished and delivered around a month ago. 

My partner turned out to be Holly - the owner of PineNeedles - which is one of my absolute favorite local quilt shops! Can we talk about pressure?!! How do you make something for someone who has access to whatever they want in the fabric world?? 

She said she liked the colors pink, mustard, mint, and navy - so I used that as a guide. The center star is a free foundation paper-pieced pattern called Ice Star. You can download it here, if interested. I sized it down from 24" square to 18" square for this project. 

The border is also paper pieced. It's called Hummingbird - found here - and is originally 5" square. I sized the blocks down to 3" square (so itty-bitty!) and used a bunch of different fabrics to make it look sort of "sparkly." I also played up the "sparkly" theme by using some of the C+S metallic fabrics in the border and binding. 

Overall, I think it turned out pretty great. 

The other fun thing about my partner being local, was that I was able to deliver it in person. I packed it all up with a few extras, drove down to the shop (after calling to make sure she was there), and surprised her! ...And then I did a little shopping... ;) It's a good thing the shop is ~45 mins away, or I'd be there much too often!! 

If you are interested in seeing any of the in-progress shots of this, or any of my other projects - or to see the amazing mini quilt I received in return (which made top 13 of the swap and is currently in Atlanta being judged by the C+S designers!!) - check out my Instagram feed. I tend to post there much more often than here - it's just so much faster and more convenient. 

May and June Bee Blocks - Playing Catch-Up

I've been sewing some, working a lot (90 hours last week!!), and blogging very little. When time runs short, documenting projects online is last on the list. 

But, I thought you might like to see what I've been working on! 

**Fair warning - for those who follow on Instagram and Flickr - you've probably seen the projects that will occupy the next few posts before.**

This post will focus on Bee (group quilting) blocks.


May - Beejeebers - Scrappy Rainbow Star 

The tutorial can be found on Melissa's blog - here. This was a super fun, scrap-eating block. I hope to see progress of the quilt made from these blocks soon, because I think it is going to look awesome! 

May - dGS Aspire Circle - Granny Squares 

Karri asked for sherbet-colored granny square blocks. This is the second time I've made these blocks this year, and I absolutely adore them!!! They are quick and always look fantastic. I think I need to make an entire quilt one of these days. We used this tutorial - which is great for using up scraps (we did size the block up by cutting squares at 3"). I've also seen a tutorial for using jelly roll strips, which looks like it would come together a little quicker. 

June - Beejeebers - X and Plus 

This block is fast and fun! We used this tutorial. I've seen quilts and projects made from these blocks since I started quilting - and they always look amazing. I was surprised how small the blocks turn out - only 8" unfinished. Cute and little. :)