An Addition to the Trio

Months ago, I made a trio of quilted pillows for my mom. And of course, they needed a coordinating quilt to keep them company on the couch.

The pillows had been made with Michele D'Amore's Habitat plus some Kona Sweet Pea. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of all of those for a whole quilt, so I used what I had and added in some stash finds that played well. Having made a Disappearing 9-Patch quilt before, I knew the basics and just winged it - starting by cutting oodles of 5" charms and mixing them up to made 9-patches. In case you haven't made the pattern before, p.s. i quilt has a great tutorial here.

We went through the entire fabric store looking for backing, thinking first a black would be nice, no maybe a green, and on and on. At last we found a perfect creamy solution - Dear Stella's Honeycrisp Cobblestone in Stone. Trust me; it's lovely.

For quilting, I used the same Aurifil 50wt #2326 (tan) as in the pillows. "Tan" sounds kind of ho-hum, but this one sure isn't and with its lovely sheen, it really was just right. Mom requested her favorite organic straight-line quilting, which I did pretty dense - about 3/8 to 1/2" apart. It totally suited the block pattern, and gave the quilt a great texture which I know will only be improved by washing.

The binding is a Habitat dot, and a nod to Heather/Winding Bobbins, who recently shared a binding finish technique that worked so well. I'm a bit of an aficionado in regards to binding, yet the perfect {straight-forward} binding finish has been elusive. This is it. The quilt finished about 54x64" - a perfect lap quilt size that also just happens to look marvelous touring around mom's beautiful garden.

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday. This quilt was on my 2014 FAL Q2 list.

W.i.P. Wednesday

The good news: I'm going on retreat tomorrow with my local quilting buddies, the Basket Case Quilters. The bad news: I probably won't accomplish as much as I pack. But here's what I've got going:

• FAITH Circle quilt - This quilt was my plan for the group in February, and I'm beyond thrilled with the blocks I got back. They are Vice Versa blocks by gen x quilters, January's blocks in the BOM she's hosting. What a clever concept for blocks, and I'm really enjoying seeing them around about. The layout I chose using just 1 pair of blocks is quite different from the quilt AnneMarie designed. But I think it's all going to be just fine. So my goal is to get this top pieced, and then get to quilting it after the retreat.

• Mom's quilt top - You may remember the pillows I made for my mom last fall. Well Mom saw and liked the Disappearing 9-patch pattern on Pinterest, and I assured her it would be a great use for the leftover pillow fabric. I'm adding in a few stash prints so I can make it a nice lap quilt size, and though what you see below is as far as I've gotten, I have all the necessary squares cut out, so I'm hoping I can easily get this top pieced too.

• Mini Swoon - If I can get the above two tops pieced, this will be my reward. I've had the pattern and fabric chosen for a couple of months. At least now the pieces are all cut. We'll see how far I can get on this mini. Finished size is 19" square. Who knows? Maybe this will even be ready to hang in my studio by next week. One can hope!

• Postage Stamp quilt - In an effort to obliterate the contents of my overflowing scrap basket, I have two scrap projects in the works. Small bits are being cut into 2 1/2" squares. I have about 400 cut, but need around 1200 for a lap quilt. I'll keep cutting till it's time to pack, plus probably take a bag of scraps with me. I'll be using the tutorial by my friend Louise/I'm Feelin' Crafty, and adhering my squares to featherweight interfacing before sewing the blocks together.

• Cross-Stitch Blocks - Here's my other scrap project - cross-stitch blocks using the tutorial by Alyssa/Pile O'Fabric. I'm using Kona Ash charm squares as my base. I've got about 40 more x-pieces cut out, but for the pattern I have in mind, I'll need over 100 total, so I've got a ways to go there too. 

So what do you think? Do I have enough to keep me busy for the next few days? I kinda think so.