Smart Phone on Design Wall

I pulled out my Smart Phone blocks tonight.  I think it is time to just put them together and call it done.  I've been working on this quilt for several years and have lost my mojo.  It won't be as big as I would like it to be, but if I wait too many more years to finish it, all of the app symbols will be obsolete!

To see more design walls:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/07/design-wall-monday-july-30-2018.html

In other quilty news, I finished my Focus top today:

If I had it to do over, I would have switched the center and the outside prints. There is a lot going on in this quilt, and I think having the light print on the outside would calm it down a bit.  I might also try using a different purple with a smaller pattern or just a solid.  Even though the purple I used is a tone on tone, the print is a little big.

This is the first Purple Pineapple Studio pattern I have used.  If I had to do it again, I would have cut the end borders along the selvage instead of crosswise. That way the end borders could have been cut in one piece instead of having seams.  I would have also cut the setting triangles by differently than the pattern said to so that the outside of the quilt would not be on the bias.   I controlled the stretch by stitching around the center of the quilt before sewing  on the end borders.

Stash Report:
Used this week: 4 yards (Focus)
Used year to date: 107.625 yards
 Added this week: 0.5 yards (sale FQs)
Added year to date: 131.375 yards
Net Add: 23.75 yards

Wedding Gift

My son's good friend is getting married next weekend.  They went through elementary, middle, and high school together, and he tries to meet her for coffee whenever he comes home.  She is an elementary school art teacher.  My son and I looked through my pile of finished quilts and found one that is perfect gift for her:  Inverted Star.

I think the art teacher in her will appreciate the ROYGBIVness of it all, and the modern young lady will like the layout.  As for her husband to be, he may think it is a little girly, but we chose it with Erin in mind.  Last night I finished cross stitching the label for it.   I usually print them out on my computer, but for special occasions, I like to personalize them a little bit more.

I wrapped the quilt in 2 yards of fabric I found on sale that was white with little silver wedding bells printed on it.  The bride's  mother is also a quilter and very crafty.  She said she will make a tablecloth, pillowcases or some other keepsake for her daughter with it.    I failed to take a picture of the wrapped gift, but it was very eco-friendly, no box or paper,   just the quilt fabric, wide ribbon that can be reused and a few silver and white clips to help hold it all together.  I think I enjoyed wrapping it as much as sewing it!

Stash Report:
Used this week: 2 yards ( to wrap wedding quilt)
Used year to date: 103.625 yards
 Added this week: 0
Added year to date: 130.875 yards
Net Add: 27.25 yards

Focus On Design Wall

After finishing On The Bright Side top, I needed something easy with big pieces.  I chose Focus by Purple Pineapple Studio.  I loved this pattern when the shop owner brought it back from market earlier this year.  It is simple and graphic.  I am less happy with my color choices, but it could improve when I add the third color.

Linking up: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/07/design-wall-monday-july-23-2018.html

On The Bright Side Top Done!

I  thought I only had 2 long seams to sew, but it took me about 3 hours to get this quilt top finished. I had to rip out almost every seam in the final row and resew them all.  Somehow I had the blocks turned every which way.   I must have been sleeping when I put this row together!  But it is finally done.

I'm happy with how it turned out.  I knew I didn't want to use white for the background, and vacillated between using light blue or green.  I chose the green, and I hope the recipients like it!

Linking up:http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/07/design-wall-monday-july-16-2018.html

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/p/lets-bee-social.html

http://www.joscountryjunction.com/string-challenge-and-more-14/

Stash Report:
Used this week: 7.5 yards (On the Bright Side Top)
Used year to date: 101.625 yards
 Added this week: 1.5 yards (sale FQs)
Added year to date: 130.875 yards
Net Add: 29.25 yards

On the Bright Side

I moved Summer Stars At Fawn Lake to the bed in my son's room, so I could put Jo Kramer's  On the Bright Side on my design wall. It will be 96" x 96"  when it is done, so the whole thing won't fit, but it is way better than trying to use the floor!

This quilt is made from my batik scraps and a few clearance FQs I got at the shop.  I bought the green background especially for this quilt.  The pictures don't show the color very well.  It is a minty green  batik with hints of blue.  I loved it when it came into the shop and bought most of the bolt.

 I also bought my first bloc loc ruler for this quilt.  I don't know that I would attempt this quilt without it.  While flying geese aren't perfect, they are much more perfect than they would have been if I had used my regular flying geese ruler to trim.  It was an expensive little ruler, but it saved me lots of time.  I try to use all of my flying geese rulers in at least 3 projects, but I am not sure I will use this one again and may sell it after my quilt is done.

Design Wall Monday Deja Vu

The same quilt is hanging on my wall that was hanging there two weeks ago.

I have been working on something else and hoping Summer Stars At Fawn Lake would magically sew itself together and get off my design wall.  I didn't even have a design wall until 3 years ago.  Now it is hard for me to quilt without one.  I may just move this one off and put it on my son's bed, so I can work on a quilt with a deadline, my nephew's wedding quilt.

This is the nephew that was going to get the pillowcases I wrote about in my last post, the ones that were such a failure.  I want to make sure I get his quilt finished on time!

I have been making Jo Kramer's On the Bright Side, and I feel like I'm over the worst of it:  1024 flying geese that finish at 3/4" x 1 1/2" in the quilt.  I have all 256 sawtooth stars made.  I chose batiks for this quilt because they don't fray very much, and I can usually get nice flat seams with batiks, something that should make construction of these blocks easier.  I also have a big bin of batik scraps that I'd like to use.

My computer updated itself last week, and removed or hid a program I use to resize my pictures for this blog.  It seems like Paint has turned into Paint 3D, something totally different than the program I'm used to.  If you have any advice for me on where to find it or another easy program to use, please let me know.  Simple advice only, please, as I am only slightly computer literate!

Stash Report:
Used this week: 0
Used year to date: 94.125 yards 
Added this week: 4 yards (bee fabric)
Added year to date: 129.375 yards
Net Add: 35.25 yards

LInking up: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/07/design-wall-monday-july-9-2018.html

Pillowcase Problems

A couple of months ago, I went into an LQS (not the one where I work), and they were having a pillowcase sale.  I bought several kits, thinking I would make 2 firetruck pillowcases for my nephew  ( a fireman) and  2 nurse pillowcases for his fiance (a nurse).  I thought they would be good shower gifts. And I still think they would have been good shower gifts, but all four of them were cut crooked. I tried to make the best of it and sew them together anyway, but the farther I got into the process, the more the crooked cutting bothered me.

I ended up finishing the firetruck pillowcases and will give them to the children's hospital.  I didn't think any child in the hospital would want the other ones, so I ripped the cuffs off the bodies and will use the fabric as a neutral in a Bonnie Hunter quilt.

I am disappointed that my pillowcase idea didn't work out.  I ended up buying a gift card from Bed Bath and Beyond, which is a great gift, just not as personal.

My other project this week was a pincushion kit that a friend at work gave me.  She had gone to a quilt show in Northern VA earlier this year and found a vendor who sold pincushion kits made from cutter quilts. This was a very easy project and made a good size pincushion.

Stash Report:
Used this week: 2 yards (pillowcases)
Used year to date: 94.125 yards 
Added this week: 1.5 (sale fq's)
Added year to date: 125.375 yards
Net Add: 31.25 yards