A Little Quilt

Perseverance is a good attribute to have if you are a quilter. So, I have discovered, is being able to keep a secret.

A month ago, I made a mini quilt I'm very fond of, but have been obliged to keep it under wraps for a bit. It was a creation for the Little Quilt - Sew, Vote, Swap Group. When I came across this flickr group before Christmas, I was intrigued. Basically, you make a mini quilt, do not post in flickr (or blog about it, for that matter), but send a pic to the swap mama who posts everybody's projects. THEN everyone votes on their favorite entries. The person whose quilt gets the most votes gets to pick which one they want, and down the line it goes. The secret continues for a bit as we are all FM'd who to send our quilt to. Talk about suspense at every turn!

Anyway, my mini is winging its way to its new owner today. I'll let you know what quilt I get (and believe me, I have my fingers crossed!!). In the meantime, here is my entry:

It happens to be one of my favorite things I've made, and honestly, I was kind of sad to send it off. I love the color combo, and it contains some of my favorite fabrics. Wonky isn't something I've done alot of, but I thoroughly enjoyed it on this small scale. And I confess, I am most proud of the quilting.

I tried this wavy line on a previous project, and it just didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. But with my little hera marker, I was able to mark in the curves to my liking, and I love the result.

Backed with a stash find, it measures about 24" square.

So the secret's out on this little one. Very fun indeed.

Linking up with {sew} Modern Monday, little quilt monday & Slash the Stash!

Monday Finishes

Jeni of In Color Order recently shared a drawstring bag pattern that I've been wanting to try, so when my mom mentioned she could use a laundry bag for traveling, it was the perfect chance. (You can purchase the pattern here, though a smaller version is offered as a tutorial here.)

I'd had this purple triangle print in my stash for a while (by Brandon Mably, a designer with Kaffe Fasset), and mom and I both loved it for this project. The bag was easy and fun to make, and I'll definitely be making more in other sizes. I think the 'yoke' detail of Jeni's pattern really adds to it, allowing for fun contrast.

After posting a pic of the Modern Halves completed top yesterday, I was surprised how quickly the quilt came together once I got to my sewing room last night.

I debated about the binding for a while, thinking bright color was certainly in order, but in the end, settled on a dark gray to frame it all. While I love the scrappy look of my version of the original made by Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy, I realized soon after starting that my scrap basket wasn't full of enough long lengths of fabric. So I got as far as I could from my scrap basket for each block, and then went to my stash to finish a few of them up. I especially like how the vertical lines are so pronounced when the colorful halves were re-pieced together. My version will make a nice lap-quilt, finishing up at 54" square.

Linking up with {sew} modern monday, Slash the Stash, Fabric Tuesday, finish it up Friday, Scrap Attack, and the Festival of Scrappiness at Stitched in Color.