Finished Magnolia Mystery Quilt

BAM. It's done, and none too soon, as it was a gift for my super awesome good friend L, and I am so excited that after working on it for A YEAR, I finally got around to finishing it and sending it along its way. Spoiler alert: she loved it!

This is the Magnolia Mystery Quilt from Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs. This is the second mystery quilt that I've finished by Cheryl, and I LOVE them both. I'm a bit ashamed to tell you the first one STILL isn't completed, but it's waiting longingly for its time to shine. One of these days....

I kept it simple and straightforward with this one's quilting. Black stipple in the batik areas, and straight line quilting in a lime thread through the blocks. Woulda shoulda coulda gotten a picture of the back to show you the yum lime against the super awesome Grunge dot print, but I didn't. Lately, it's a struggle to remember my first name!

I so enjoyed making this quilt, and I am so pleased to know my friend loves it. She has been such an important influence on me, and I was thrilled at the idea of gifting her something that I made with my own two hands.

I'm going on seven years of quilting now, and there's something still so magical about that!

FF: Magnolia Mystery Quilt Top.

This morning, chaos abounds! I set myself a reminder on my phone to email a picture of my finished Magnolia Mystery Quilt top to Cheryl so I could be a part of the parade. I had waited until today to send it, hoping that I would have a finished quilt, but that is not the case! And then, when I went to pull up the photos of this quilt, I realized I 1) can't find the photos I took of the finished top, and 2) I NEVER wrote a blog post about it. #winning!

So hooray for me, I managed to squeeze in a small photo shoot amidst homeschooling, and I'm dashing out a quick post before I forget again. I say quick...we'll see if I can tamp down my typical verbose self.

Here is my finished Magnolia Mystery Quilt top! Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs runs a mystery quilt every year, and this is my second time participating in the fun.

This quilt was a BLAST to piece. Like, I seriously thought to myself multiple times during the process that I was having so much fun, and for a girl in a chaotic season of life, that makes this all the more special. Team that up with the fact that this is destined for a very important person in my life, and I have some serious feels for this quilt.

I didn't participate in Cheryl's mystery quilt last year, and I kicked myself for that decision. You see, I STILL haven't finished my Midnight Mystery Quilt from the year before, and I told myself I couldn't until I finished that one. (It's all pieced, I'm just waiting to get it long-armed.) When this year rolled around, I told myself I could, as long as I could find all of the fabric I would need in my stash. And I did! The black batik was a huge piece of fabric a friend gave me a few years ago, the green is a super fun swirl print that I can't remember the name of, though it's quite possibly my favorite blender ever. The turquoise is a mix of an Alison Glass print and a Grunge Dot print, and the purple are two blenders that I had in stash. I have enough of the black to use as binding, and I scored a ridiculously loud print for the back for $2.49/yard, but I think I'll let that be a little surprise.

July. (So far.)

This month has flown by, and oy, I've been busy! There hasn't been a lot of sewing time, and I've neglected to blog, a state that probably won't be changing any time soon. With my fourth year of homeschooling on the horizon, I've been knee deep in curriculum choices, co-op decisions, and training to be a substitute tutor at our co-op. We start in less than a month! I've also been hard at work editing my second book, which is coming along slowly but surely. You might think I'd be exhausted, and I am a little, but I'm also oh-so excited, especially now that the most stressful bits are hopefully past.

I did sneak in a bit of sewing, including this super cute sunbonnet for my daughter. Of course, Vanilla wants nothing to do with it, probably because it's a bit too big, but hopefully she'll love it soon. The fabric is leftover from a dress that was made for my niece. Using scraps always makes me remember good things.

I also finished up a pinafore and have fabric cut for a second one. This was my first time sewing with rayon, and while it wasn't the easiest to work with, I made it through! It is definitely not the best fabric to use for a pinafore, but it is super soft and comfy. It just doesn't do much to retain the shape. This pinafore is lined in a yummy shot cotton. Next up, we'll see how a voile and quilting cotton combo work out!

And I've finished up two Star Wars pillowcases for my big boys. Of course, Fava is now asking for his own Star Wars pillowcase. I should've anticipated this, but honestly, I didn't think a two-year-old would be that concerned about a pillowcase. Alas, he is, and back to the store for more fabric, but this time, enough for two as my nephew needs one as well!

But I think more exciting than those finishes are the fabric pulls I've had the delightful pleasure of assembling recently. This is for a Patina quilt from Tula Pink and Angela Walters' book. I'll be making it for my niece, and it's a big one! I better get cutting.

And the start of the fabric pull for my Magnolia Mystery quilt. I need a bit more lime, but I think it's a fun blend. Thankfully I had a big piece of that black batik chilling in my stash.

Finally, some yummy Alison Glass for the Coast to Coast Traveling Bee, which is on its last rotation. A couple of people have actually gotten their quilt tops back already, and if you've been following me on instagram, you'll know I've put together a few blocks. You also might know that my quilt top is done, and it's a beauty!

I feel like I have so much more to share with you, but that'll have to do for now as it's bedtime and two little boys are waiting for tuck-in service. Goodnight, y'all.

Wordless Wednesday WIPs

Just a few shots of WIPs from the last week or so.

Q2 2016 FAL List

Friends, Q1 saw three finishes--almost four!--from eight proposed WIPs. I am pretty stoked about those finishes because they were well earned. And this quarter has a list just as exciting as Q1, if only because I have about a kajillion baby quilts to finish. (This list only has the three I've planned so far!)

1. Negroni shirt for husband 

I completed a muslin that was waaaaaay too big. 

I need to make another before proceeding.

2. Hot Pink Socks
One sock is knitted; I've turned my heel and need to finish up.
DONE

3. Midnight Mystery Quilt

Top needs borders, baste, quilt, bind

4. 241 Tote for Me
Planning to use some C+S and other prints; materials gathered
This will probably not happen. But I can dream.
DONE

5. Baby Quilt for Mel
Fabric cut; needs assembly
DONE

6. Baby Quilt for B
Fabric and pattern assembled

7. Baby Quilt for A
7/9 blocks made; need to sash and join

8. Quilt for K
blocks done; need to sash and join

I'm linking up! Are you? 

Midnight Mystery Quilt Finished Top

This morning, I left the warm comfort of my house for about two seconds to venture into my background and the 11 degree windy cold to snap a couple of photos. (At 72" square, I did not have a suitable spot to take pictures inside.)

This is the Midnight Mystery Quilt from Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs. And I love love love it.

In fact, I love it so much that I'm considering adding some borders to make a queen-size version for my bed.

But I'm thinking of adding long strips to the sides, three, in fact. This is my proposed color scheme. But perhaps I should cut the navy and add the lime in instead? Thoughts? I have enough of the silver for the first or second border, but not the third, and I kinda like the pop of pink against the edge.

I am so thankful to Cheryl for offering this sweet mystery quilt challenge. I had so much fun! And after a long while of thinking I'd never do a mystery quilt, I'm thrilled I gave it a go and it turned out so nicely! I'm game for another, certainly!

Q1 FAL List 2016

Can I add about twelve exclamation points to this post's title! O to the M to the G, I am so excited to be starting off 2016 with another delicious FAL list into which to sink my teeth. Can you feel my excitement? Better yet, do you share it?

1. Frozen Watermelon Quilt
Top done, needs to be basted, quilted, bound
DONE

2. Dad's Star Quilt
DONE
Top done, needs to be basted, quilted, bound

3. Negroni shirt for husband
THIS IS SHAMEFUL. I have done NOTHING. (Mostly because I'm terrified.)

4. Hot Pink Socks
One sock is knitted; need to start and complete the second

5. Midnight Mystery Quilt

Blocks are done; need to finish assembling top, baste, quilt, bind

6. 241 Tote for Kim

Pieces are cut
DONE

7. 241 Tote for Me
Planning to use some C+S and other prints; materials gathered

8. Dress for Me
By Hand London's Anna pattern; delicious yummy voile from Fancy Tiger Crafts

I'm linking up! Are you? 

November is done.

And by November is done, I certainly don't mean the month is done. Just my block commitments. No, no. That bad boy seems to just be getting started! (Is anyone else having a superbly crummy month? UGH. I pretty much hate this November. But maybe this means all of the junk of the month is finished and the rest will be a breeze? Fingers crossed.)

These are my November offerings for the Midnight Mystery Quilt. I am really excited about the way these are turning out, even if I'm not entirely in love with the way my scrappy greens are behaving. I know it's still early, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this quilt when it's finished.

And...my November blocks for Stash Bee. Jacqueline pretty much gave us free reign to use whatever fabrics we wanted, and I obviously took her up on it, which made these blocks so much fun! My favorite is the one on the bottom. I'm done with Stash Bee blocks for 2015! (As a Hive Mama, I have a *few* more responsibilities to tackle, but honestly, my hive this year was full of super awesome wonderful ladies who made my job extremely easy.)

And now, I'm off to take care of my clients, and by clients, I mean my three kiddos. Happy Wednesday, y'all!

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?