do. Good Stitches Wonky Star Blocks

Louise at I'm Feelin' Crafty is the quilt designer/quilter for the Nurture Circle of do. Good Stitches for our February quilt. 

She came up with a great quilt idea...wonky stars!

(Louise has a thing for stars.)

 

I had so much fun making these blocks and I can't wait to see the finished quilt!

If you want to make a wonky star block, check out Louise's tutorial here!

Before making this block, I'd never made a star.

Do you have a favorite star quilt block?

Happy block making!

do. Good Stitches Charity Quilt

I've been excited to share about something new! 

Last year I stumbled upon a great blog:  Stitched In Color.  Rachel's blog is great.  She has awesome tutorials and she is just fun to "listen" to.  I noticed right away that she likes to give back - so much so that she created an online quilting bee called "do. Good Stitches".  

do. Good Stitches is a charity quilting bee that makes quilts for all kinds of people in need:  foster kids, battered women, kids in need, sick people, and more.  It is a beautiful thing to make something for someone in need.   

In December, I signed up to host a do. Good Stitches circle.  Each circle has 10 members from all over the country.  We are the Nurture Circle of do. Good Stitches.  Our quilts go to  My Very Own Blanket, a charity that gives blankets to children in foster care.  

We started in January with a herringbone quilt!  We followed Rachel's Herringbone Block Tutorial using cool colors.  The Nurture Circle members mailed me their blocks and I got to piece and quilt it.  It was so fun to see all of the blocks as they came in!  

I backed the quilt with Amy Butler Love Water Bouquet in Midnight.  

One of the things that makes me the most happy is making things for other people.   

Being a part of do. Good Stitches makes me happy.

Scrappy Stash QAL [Quilt Along] - Finished!

My first QAL!

I had such a great time making this quilt and participating in the Scrappy Stash QAL!  Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts hosted this QAL and it was a great experience for my very first QAL!  

I see many more QALs in my quilting future.  :)

My quilt blocks were 10.25" and the finished size of the quilt is 50"x60" - the perfect size for a lap quilt!  

I used the QAYG [Quilt As You Go] method for my blocks.  

I love almost everything about QAYG.  It is easy and I really like the look of the quilting on the front of the blocks.  

The one thing I don't like about QAYG is that the quilting on the back isn't very beautiful. 

I added 3 strips on the back to tie in some of my scraps in a rainbow order.

I am pretty proud of how my corners turned out:

So that the blocks would stand out, I added white to the monochromatic blocks.  Half of the blocks have white in the middle and half have white around the outside.  

One fun thing about quilting is taking the photos.  I did not love the pictures I took of the completed quilt.  I'm still learning about lighting.

But, my helpers always make me laugh!

The completed quilt:

I love how it turned out! 

Thanks for taking a look at my Scrappy Stash QAL quilt!

xo

to add a border or not to add a border...that is the question...

First of all...Happy Halloween! 

I hope you all have fun plans for this evening! 

Our tradition is to eat chili and cornbread with family and friends and then get serious about trick or treating.  My husband sits in the driveway passing out candy while I walk around with the kids.  It is SO much fun!  My kids are 16, 14 and 8.  And, yep, they all still trick or treat! 

What are your Halloween traditions?

Enough fun stuff.  I have serious business.  I finished piecing my quilt blocks for my Scrappy Stash QAL quilt and I can't decide if I should add a border.  Will you help me, please?

Should I add a border?  The quilt measures 49"x59" as it is. 

I think this is the best straight on shot, though it is a bit dark:

If I should add a border, what kind?  Solid white?  Natural linen?  (I LOVE linen) or? A color?  I don't want to detract from the quilt blocks by adding a busy border.  I definitely want simple if I do add a border.

And, I can't resist throwing in a picture of my shadow.  

She will be my little Mulan tonight!

I would just love your help with this. 

Thank you so much!

Have fun and be safe tonight!

Happy Halloween!

Bottled Rainbows Quilt:: FINISHED!

I'm very excited to show off the first quilt I've made in 8 years:  My Bottled Rainbows Quilt!

And....I may now be hooked on quilting for a while.  

I first came upon the bottled rainbows quilt on Maureen Cracknell's blog.  She followed the pattern, designed by Rachel at Stitched in Color, but added a bit of a twist, sewing her scraps into cool shapes in each block.  

Well, right away I fell in love with the bright and bold colors of this quilt.  I decided I must make a bottled rainbows quilt!  It has been so much fun to make.  

Admittedly, it took me longer than I had expected, but, then, everything takes me longer than I expect!  But, though it took a long time, I just love it!  Who can resist all of those bright colors?  

I purposely left out the light pink that Rachel suggests and used another color.  If I had it to do over, I would have left out the lavender and made more blocks like the tree in the middle.  

One of my favorite things about this quilt is the linen border with the pieced binding. 

 I really felt like the organic linen look would be a nice complement to the bright, bold colors of the quilt blocks.  I don't think any other fabric would have done for the border.  

And, now, I have fallen in love with linen.  Uh-oh...it's quite a bit more expensive than cotton.  

I took the quilt out into the desert to take pictures.  I love the vibrant colors in the quilt against the subtle browns and greens of the desert.  

Asking my kids to hold up the quilt and NOT show themselves while I took pictures was, as I discovered, too much to ask.  

BUT, it made for a fun 15 minutes.  

 I learned so much making this quilt.   I now have 3 quilts in progress!  And, yes, they will take longer than I expect, but MUST be finished by Christmas!

What projects have you recently finished?  

Do you take photos of your finished projects?