BQF: Marie.

Hi! If you're visiting from Blogger's Quilt Festival, thanks for stopping by! My name is Audrey, and I want to share with you my extra special bed quilt.

This is Marie. I started planning her in June of 2012, and it took me a full month to find all the fabric I would need and get started cutting. I finished piecing her in March of 2013--I moved across the country in January of 2013, so a long break was required--and after sending her to Sarah, fabulous long-armer extraordinarie, in the fall, I sewed the last stitch of binding last November. Woo! Over a year from start to finish, but totally worth it.

The fabrics are primarily from Tula Pink's Parisville line with one print from her Prince Charming line and a couple extra non-Tula prints. I used Bella in Jade as the background fabric. The backing is Bella in Navy, and the binding is Kona Burgundy. It was long-arm quilted with delicious feathers and swirls in a gorgeous jade thread. Since I'm a huge Tula fan, using her Snowglobes pattern just felt right.

I never did manage to get a full finished shot of her, but this is the finished top. She's a healthy queen size, though I'm a total covers hog, and I wish she was a bit longer on the sides. We opted to use two layers of batting since I live in the midwest and the winters and freaking cold. Can I tell you how often I was thankful for that decision this past winter?

Sarah is an amazing long-armer. She doesn't have a website, or I'd totally send you her way. She would send me progress photos during the quilting process, and I would freak out at each and every new picture. LOVE.

To be honest, this quilt was probably a bit too difficult for me to take on when I did, but I'm so thankful that I went for it. I learned a lot of new skills during this quilt, but mostly, I learned what techniques work for me. Piecing the rows was complicated, but fun. Keeping track of all of the pieces of fabric with a two year old and a baby was NOT fun, but Marie got done even with their...um...assistance.

Thanks for stopping by and humoring my serious Marie love. Being able to sleep underneath such a special quilt is truly awesome. (And is it crazy that I'm considering another summer bed quilt? Eep! Convince me not to!)

I'm entering Marie in the Large Quilts Category at BQF. 

FF: Marie in All Her Glory Edition.

The title should actually be Marie in All Her Glory, aka, welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday! My name is Audrey, and I'm happy you're joining me today for TGIFF. And I'm super excited to look at all of your finishes!

Today is probably my favorite Finished Friday to date. It's also my biggest, eep! Here is Marie!

Tula Pink's Prince Charming line came out around the time I started quilting, and I remember seeing those frogs everywhere and wondering what the fuss was all about. They were frogs, for goodness' sake! Then, I stumbled across some of Tula's Parisville line, and I about died. It. Was. Amazing. That started my Tula Pink obsession, and now, I love me those frogs! (It's kinda weird how that turned around, but whatevsies.)

I gathered the courage to commit to a queen size quilt in June 2012, cut the fabric in July 2012, finished piecing the top in March 2013, and sewed the last stitch of binding this week! There are lots of details in my eight kajillion Marie posts, but I'll give you a quick run down here: the pattern is Snowglobes by Tula Pink. The fabric is primarily Parisville by Tula Pink, with a bit of Prince Charming, and two additional prints to round it out. The background fabric is Bella Solids in Jade. I used a wide backing, Bella Solids in navy, and I bound this quilt using Kona in burgundy.

I knew quilting this quilt on Agatha was going to be unrealistic, and since I wanted this quilt on my bed eventually, I saved my pennies, then sent her off to a longarmer, which was a totally awesome experience. (I ran into a friend of mine when I visited home over the summer, and we got to talking about quilting, and she mentioned that her daughter was a longarm quilter. It was meant to be.) I knew I wanted feathers all over the top, and Sarah didn't disappoint. They are glorious!

I just can't help myself when it comes to pictures. This quilt is just so magical!

Thanks for indulging me. I always dreamed I'd have a handmade quilt on my bed, and that day is here! It's really been a fun journey, and yep, I can definitely say I've learned a lot.

Please please please link up your beautiful finishes below, and be sure to check out some of the others listed and spread some comment love. Makes sure you link back to this page, and that's it! Easy peasy! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Finishing Marie.

A few weeks ago, I sent off my precious Marie quilt top to a longarm quilter. It was my first time working with a longarm quilter, and you can bet I was all sorts of nervous! Had I prepared my top well enough? Was my craftmanship up to par? Was it all going to be okay?

I'm happy to report that it was MORE than okay.

The quilter (Sarah) and I talked about feathers. Since this quilt uses Tula Pink's Parisville line, I wanted the quilting to be decadent and full of feathers. Mission accomplished.

I still swoon whenever I see the quilting lines. Like, I can't believe this is going to be on my bed, and soon!

Here is a view of the back. I went with Bella Solids wide backing in navy because I wanted the quilting to really show up on the back. SO delicious. Sarah suggested using a double layer of cotton batting to make sure it would be extra warm for the winter months. Um, yes please!

I'm working on binding, and it's slow going, but I know it will be worth it when I'm done! I should have an absolutely amazing finish to show you, and soon! Squee!

WIP: The Numbers Edition.

After looking at today's WIP list, I have a feeling I'm going to have a hefty Q4 FAL list!

54 Tula Pink City Sampler blocks.

20 Sisters' 10 BOM blocks. (Yes, I pieced October early. I'm too impatient!)

3 Baby Quilts in the works (one basted, one in the middle of quilting, one flimsy) and 1 more in the planning stages.

2 Cushion Covers patiently waiting. Just kidding. These are DONE. Thank goodness.

1 Queen-sized quilt being prepped for the long-armer.

1 Finish, which I'll be sharing more of on Friday.

And 1 Naomi Dress, which is my selfish sewing for this week!

I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. You should too!

FF: Marie in Pieced Glory

While it was awesome to show off a finished Le Mille quilt last week, it inspired me to get to work on Marie, and maybe, just maybe, I could finish her before my husband got home. The man went out of town and left me with the kidlets for seven days, and thankfully, I had a whole bunch of pals rescue my evenings by coming to keep me entertained and routinely checking my sanity levels, but I still had a bit of extra time to fill, so I turned to my sewing machine for comfort.

There is simply no way to get a full shot of her, but here is Marie, laid out on my bed. *Squee!* She's everything I hoped for and more! The pattern is Tula Pink's Snowglobes made from mostly Tula Pink's Parisville line, though I did sneak in some Prince Charming. The solid is Bella solids in Jade. This is the queen-sized version, and yes, I did learn a lot from making a queen-sized quilt!

And while I spent last week trying to finish piecing her, I realized she weighs a ton, I've got a small sewing space, and my FMQ isn't where I'd like it to be to quilt her myself, so I think I'll be sending her off to a long-arm quilter. (It's time to start saving my pennies!)

I have a high school chum with a birthday on Tuesday. We graduated high school, moved to different states, and for nearly 10 years, corresponded by letter and email. Until! She started a Masters program at the same university at my husband, and it has been so lovely to have her near. She'll be graduating in May, and I wanted her to have a nice gift to take with her wherever she moves next, so I made a cathedral windows pillow cover for her. With the exception of the pillow form, this entire project came from stash and scraps, including the awesome upholstery material backing my friend John recently brought me. Of course, I forgot to take to take a picture of the back, but whatever. Trust it looks ah-mazing.

That's it for today! I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF at Never Too Hot to Stitch!

WIP: Super Edition.

...And we're back for another Wednesday peek at the never-ending stack of projects!

Better photo coming later--no good light now!

This week, I finished up three superhero capes for my niece and nephews. The original plan was to make one for my four-year-old nephew for the holidays, but the plan quickly morphed into making a cape for both nephews and my niece too because capes are awesome, and who doesn't need one? (Mine will be lined with hot pink faux fur, FYI.) I'll be making at least one more for my oldest kidlet. The capes are made from kona solids with the fabric for their initials coming from stash. I raw-edge appliqued the letters and top-stitched the diamond down, then top-stitched the entire cape. Isn't it amazing what a difference top-stitching does?

I did finish Scout's blanket, and he's currently tucked into my son's bed with it. (Yay for mommy points. Also, yay for learning FMQ!)

I also finished up Banzo's quilt top. Woo!

I knocked a few other things from my November list, but they're still very much in progress. I pieced all of the columns for my Marie quilt, but I still have the rows, and that's the more difficult task of the two. I started work on the binding of one of my mini quilts, but it made me angry, so I might have thrown it across the room.

It has been rainy and there has been no good light, so there are fewer photos than usual. I'm plugging away at my November list and 100 Day Hustle list, and I'm on track (I think) to get everything done on time. I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced, and now I'm off to hang out with my mom because she just got here. Up on the agenda is IKEA because she's never been, and I find that a tragedy. Have a lovely Wednesday!

 

WIP: Walk the Line Edition

Hello, Friends!

I wish I had all sorts of lovely photos to show you, but with holiday gift making in full swing, much of what I've made I just can't show you yet! (Four gifts down, a kajillion more to go!)

I've finished all twenty of my Marie blocks, and I'm working on attaching the columns. Once finished with that, I've got the rows to lay out and sew up, and then the top will be finished. (Woo!)

I've also been doing a lot of straight line quilting. My shoulders ache slightly from all of the turning, and now I better understand the value of a knee lift!

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced.

 

sequintastic!

Today is the big day for the Sequintastic September Blog Hop! (Can I hear a woop woop?) Also, my apologies for my lateness! I set this to auto-publish while I slept, and alas, technology failed me! BOO!

This should not have been that hard of a project, but it really was. I waffled like mad on the design, went back and forth between different fabric lines and ideas, perused sequin shopping sites like no girl's business, and got really flustered over the whole affair! I finally sat back and focused on things I really really like, and after a bit of perusal on flickr, I stumbled across this table runner and found myself mesmerized. I'm kinda obsessed with pinwheels, and I loved the sharp white against the green. My initial thought was, how do I get me one of these, and like yesterday? Except that white on my table was not gonna happen in my house. Not with my oldest kidlet's newfound love of peanut butter.

But! I happen to be working on this quilt for my bed...and I had some leftover fabric...and I thought to myself, why not a pillow to match? Of course, I should probably finish the quilt first, but this seemed like an excellent opportunity, and I can't turn my back on that! So, I went with it and came up with this:

 

Oh yes, Friends. Those are pink sequins in the corners. I probably could've gone all out and sewn the entire border, but as this was my first time working with any sort of quilt embellishment, I thought I'd take it slow. 

I was surprised by how easy the sequins were to work with! Yes, I spent 3-4 hours on these two small patches, but it was my first time, and I definitely picked up speed as I moved along. I also didn't draw out the design entirely in advance, so I would sew up a small section, then draw a bit more, and so on. I tried a few different stop techniques, including the Stop Bead Method and the Two Loop Method. I also did a bit of experimentation with layering smaller sequins on top of larger sequins, but my camera isn't known for its magnificent close-up photographs, so you'll have to take my word on it. 

I used an envelope back closure--a standard Audrey move--but I pieced the back panels because I ran out of fabric for some added interest. The fabrics are Kona in Snow, Bella Solids in Jade, Kona in Pomegranate, a few prints from Tula Pink's Parisville line, and I picked up the peacock feathers at Joann Fabrics. The pillow measures 20" square.

 

And because I'm kinda nuts and learning to embroider with sequins wasn't enough of a challenge, I decided that now was the time to try my hand at handquilting. I handquilted the white portion of the pinwheels and 1/4" around the perimeter of the teal square. And oh my goodness. I had so much fun! While I can definitely see the advantage time-wise in machine quilting, I really enjoyed the process, and I love the way it looks. I can see more of this (small-scale) in my future. (I followed this tutorial from Susan, FYI, and it was quite informative.)

Thanks for stopping by my humble abode! And super big thanks to Sarah for hosting this blog hop. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, as I hope everyone else did! If you're not stopping by from the hop, and you'd like to see more of this sequin business, check out Saturday Sequins for a full list of participants.

WIP: Fingers in Too Many Pies Edition

Are you tired? I'm tired. And perusing my quilty to-do list makes me even more tired! (Secretly, it also makes me very excited to have so much to do! But don't tell anyone because if I admit my excitement, it means I no longer have a place to whine about it.)

Question before I dive in: I have a tabletop ironing board, and it desperately needs a new cover. I'm thinking of making one myself, but I can't find a tutorial for a small board. I'm wondering what y'all think. Would it be difficult to make one myself? Do you have any handy tips if you've made an ironing board cover?

Now, on to the WIPs!

I started cutting fabric to make a bunting for a friend's baby shower. These bad boys are currently sitting next to my sewing machine, Agatha, in a heaping stack of three-pointed goodness. I'm doing everything in my power not to touch them or even look at them funny, as with two bias edges, I don't want them stretching or going funky on me. It's a difficult task though, when they're over there giving me the stinkeye.

When cutting the above, I was left with these lovely right-sided triangle beauties. I never knew I'd be so excited about only one bias edge, but there you have it. I'm thinking mini quilt, since I have a lot of them. (And oh-so much time!) I think it needs some solid goodness, and I need to decide on a color! I'm leaning towards a white or a charcoal. White seems scary as I have a kiddo with grubby fingers who likes to pet my fabric, but I fear I won't love the charcoal as much.

I'm working on my Marie blocks until other fabric arrives.

These were the first two blocks I completed for the HST BOM at In Color Order. (I remade them later with a darker gray background fabric.) I pulled these out over the weekend and gasped at my lack of triangle awesomeness. I could maybe fix the blocks, but I'm keeping them as is. I think I'd like them as a very visual reminder of just how far I've come

And that's my stack of WIPs and finishes for the week. Check out WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced for more awesomeness!

wip: snowglobe edition.

Hi friends!

I have no finishes this week, but I did get a lot of work done, even with a two-year-old who has decided he is much too old for a nap, thankyouverymuch. Of course, I don't think anyone in this house has had much sleep this week, but who needs that?

With all of the cutting done and a layout sketched out, I started piecing blocks for my Marie quilt. I'm up to eight (of twenty) finished blocks, and I'm finding that instead of working on four at a time, I'm actually having an easier time working on two at a time. My initial idea was to take out a row, but the two-block system is more stream-lined, oddly enough, so I'm going with it.

The construction wasn't as difficult as I expected, though it does take a bit of time, and it hurts me to cut those corners! I have plans for them though, and the corners are a large enough size to work with, so I'll get over it.

Here is the first row blocks together...

...and the second row. The blocks puff out a bit, especially in the center, but they mostly behave with a good pressing. I do like the teal on the corners. I had considered using a solid that matched the blue of one of the fabrics, but I decided against it in the end. Now I'm glad I did!

Have you ever realized that a friend is having a baby, and you knew about it, but you didn't even begin to think of making a quilt until four weeks before the due date? Yeah, me either. On a completely unrelated note, I need to get to work on another baby quilt! And I need to finish it soon! Like...in four weeks or so?

Usually I'm a 1-2 major projects at a time kind of girl, but right now, I have 5! Yikes! I know for some, that's nothing, but it stresses me out to have so many! I think my Marie quilt is going to have to take the backburner spot for at least a few weeks until I can get things in a better situation for my stress levels.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced! Have a lovely Wednesday!