FF: XOXO Quilt

My Memaw had a big birthday this year. My family gathered to celebrate with her, but I was unable to join them, which was sad with a capital 'S'.

But I wanted to make something to celebrate, even if it's delivery will be several months after her birthday. I used the Squares and Strips tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew for this quilt, and its construction was easy peasy. It also makes the most of those fat quarters, something I really really appreciate. For fabric, I used a bundle of Happy Go Lucky from Bonnie and Camille. The colors in this line are my Memaw's absolute favorites. Navy, white, red? Um, yes. She's all over that.

For quilting, I straight line quilted a crosshatch grid. It's been awhile since I've wrestled such a large quilt, and it's the first time I've quilted something so large with Stella! She ate this up like a champ. (The walking foot also helped.)

For the back, I've used a couple of prints I had in stash.

My Memaw is a letter-writer, and when I was a kid, she always signed letters to me, "xoxo". It was something I was unfamiliar with, and when my mom explained what it meant, I was chuffed. And that little detail has always stuck with me. So I was excited to see the xoxo message in this fabric for the back, and it also serves as this quilt's name.

This is finish 3 from my Q3 FAL list.

Midnight Mystery Quilt Progress.

I never ever ever thought I'd want to do a mystery quilt. Because OMG, what if I hated the finished product and had wasted good fabric? But for some reason, the Midnight Mystery Quilt by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs sounded like fun.

Initial Fabric Pull.

It helps that I really liked last year's quilt.

August's Flying Geese.

And Yvonne is participating. And Alison. And all three of our quilts are going to be crazy different in totally awesome way, and I'm fascinated by how they are all coming together.

September's Square in a Square blocks.

I am SO excited to see how this progresses. Are you participating too? I'd love to see yours, so share a link with me, k?

A Baby Quilt Start.

Sometimes baby quilt inspiration is easy, and I know exactly what I want to do. But sometimes it's not. In that case, I usually use my go-to baby quilt pattern, Northern Lights by Jaybird Quilts. (I've made three different incarnations.) This time, my ideas kept conspiring against me. I couldn't find a palette that I was happy with. I waffled between colors, finally settling on a blue ombre, but then I couldn't find a blue ombre kona list online. True. Story.

I pulled out my blue stash, but wasn't feeling any inspiration there. I perused fabric stores online but couldn't decide on anything. I pulled out my blue scraps, more out of frustration than anything else, but they were a hot mess, so I started sorting them into itty bitty, larger pieces, and strings. And I had a mountain of strings.

Then, I remembered this idea that I considered a few months ago. Blue Elephant Stitches decided to pick a quilt book and make a version of every quilt in the book. I thought that sounded like a pretty rad idea, but I didn't know of a book where I liked more than three or four things. That changed when I encountered Modern Rainbow by Rebecca Bryan. I LOVE this book. I love almost every single quilt in it. Why not start my own quilt book journey and use this baby quilt as a jumping off point?

I'm working on my version of Bubbles. I used Bryan's hearth size and finished block size as my goal, but my log cabins are improv-y, mostly because my strings were all different sizes. I'm using fewer blocks as I only want a baby size, not a lap size. But this quilt is going to look rad when it's done, and I'm excited about it. I'm also really enjoying the piecing process. Sorting through strings, plucking out the one that works best, trying to keep my lights and darks balanced...ah. This is a happy Audrey.

Or I would be, if I wasn't fighting a cold. It's mild, and I imagine I'll be back to order tomorrow, but can I just whine about it for a minute? And also mention that I've been sucking down this tea, which I was recently gifted for my birthday. It's super tasty.

Can I also just mention that I find it hilarious and ironic that TODAY, Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl posted the most perfect blue kona ombre list. I'm taking it as a sign that I was supposed to make this quilt instead of the other one. But it's still funny. And I'm totally bookmarking that list in case I need it in the future. And in case you were looking for a blue ombre list...you're welcome.

Felicity Dress, Take 2.

Hi, Friends. Maybe this me-making-apparel business isn't *completely* hopeless. After sewing up a Felicity dress that made me feel like a marshmallow, I was a bit defeated. (There were tears.) The end product was okay, but I kept thinking, I can do better.

And I totally did.

While I desperately wanted to move on in my crusade to find the perfect dress, I knew I should make another version of this one and see if I could make it fit better. For Felicity #2, I did a number of things differently, but none of them were crazy. I used a voile instead of a linen. The pattern mentioned linen would be okay to use, but the linen I used was much too heavy. I cut a size down. I raised the waist line. And all of those small, simple changes transformed this dress into a much more exciting affair.

The lapped zip is not perfect. It's my one big problem with this dress. But you know what? I can totally deal with that.

I'm not sure the Felicity Dress is my perfect dress, but I'll definitely wear this one again. Do you have a perfect dress pattern? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

This is Finish #2 from my Q3 FAL list.

FQB: Sarah's Quilt.

Once upon a time, I joined up with some other lovely ladies, and we formed a traveling quilt bee called the Fierce Quilters' Bee. In today's episode of FQB goodness, I was tasked with Sarah's awesome quilt in progress, a low volume, paper piecing, arrow bunch of true fabulousness.

I made four arrows and four low volume blocks. (Yes, those hedgehogs are all sorts of awesome.)

My fave block involved piecing together a bunch of EPP hexies, then framing them with strips. I love the look of it, and I think it will be a fun contribution to the rest of the quilt. I did not cut the extra ends off because it still has a way to travel, and I figured it's more secure this way.

This is everything to date. It's going to be a super sweet quilt top when finished!

This bee has been all sorts of awesome fun.

Some Placemats.

OH, FRIENDS.

I love my mama. I love my mama enough to work with fabrics with which  I...wouldn't normally work. She recently celebrated her one year wedding anniversary with this dude that I think is pretty freakin' cool. I had promised them some placemats, and I am happy to report that these are done!

Last year (ish?) I made them some pillow covers, and I also made my mama a quilt. These objects hold places of pride in their home. I mean, my mama and her husband are serious about their quilted goodness. I am trying to convince my mama that she can use the quilt, not just look at it. I am making headway...slowly.

When I said I would make them these placemats, the condition was that they had to use them...we'll see.

The fabrics came from a huge box o' goodness that my friend Lori gifted to me. She was moving and getting rid of her stash, and these conveniently match the requested color scheme. (It was super convenient as my stash is a little delinquent in this type of fabric.)

This is finish #1 from my Q3 FAL list. WOO! Back to work!

Quilt Top for my Dad.

THIS QUILT. (Top.)

Do you ever have problems visualizing what something will turn into? I really struggle with scrappy stuff. I'm always certain it's going to turn out looking like absolute junk because it always seems to at the beginning. When I laid out the first two or three blocks I received from my lovely bee mates (Hive 8, yeah baby!) I wasn't sure it was going to look as I imagined. I had wanted scrappy navy and blues and was it going to come together?

But when every block had arrived and I put them side by side, I couldn't believe how well they worked. It was crazy! It was chaotic! It was scrappy! And yet, the end result was exactly what I had hoped for.

WIN.

I needed one more block, but one of the girls had included some extra bits (which was SUPER nice), so I didn't have to cut fabric for the center star, excepting the navy corner pieces. Searching through scraps, I discovered that bit of Darth Vader fabric, and that bit makes this block my favorite of the entire quilt.

I had flirted with the idea of getting this one quilted by a local long armer, but when I spoke with them last week, things were backed up until October! And I'm kinda hoping to deliver it when I see my dad in October, so I will have the pleasure of quilting this one myself. That means I need to get my derriere moving!

Here are some details if you're interested: the block is the Autumn Star block by Faith of Fresh Lemons Modern Quilting. I had my hive mates use navy and white fabrics. Some of the white is white on white, some is solid white. I sashed the blocks first in Kona White, then in Kona Navy to finish it off. I have no idea what I'll be backing it with, but I'll figure something out. (I always do!) And binding...hmmm. I think it measures 52" by 69"? Something like that.

Happy Friday, Friends!