WIP Wednesday - Notched

Today's WIP comes to you via a tutorial by Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl.  Yvonne created the Notched block for the Fabri-Quilt New Block Hop back in 2015.  You can see her tutorial here.

The 12.5-inch block looks complex, but it's constructed from 16 small-blocks (all the same block).

When I went digging through my stash, I planned to use whatever Kona colours I had the most yardage of.  I didn't look at the tutorial until after I had found the fabric.  And what do you know...I chose very similar colours to Yvonne's block.  I love the colour combination so I didn't change it.

Kona:  Deep Blue, Turquoise, and White.

I made four blocks to start to see if I liked making the blocks and what the blocks would look like together.  I love it!  I've got small blocks cut to make five more large blocks, so I can turn this into a baby quilt.

As I was admiring the blocks, I couldn't help think...how the heck am I going to quilt this when it's finished?


Linking up with:

• Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
• WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network
• Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Modern HST Sampler - Q1 Blocks

I've been participating in the Modern HST Sampler quilt-along hosted by Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts.

It's been great learning new techniques to make HST's -- two at a time, four at a time, eight at a time, and from a strip set.

Six blocks have been released (one every two weeks) for the first quarter.  Here are my six blocks.

I've blogged about a few of these blocks here.

I think the Mountain block is my favourite so far.

Linking up with the Q1 Linkup.

TGIFF - Ocean Sky on the East Coast

Welcome to TGIFF hosted here on the east coast of Canada in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  If this is your first time visiting, I hope you take a few minutes to check out what I've been working on.  And if you are a return visitor, thanks for visiting again.

This is the Ocean Sky pattern created by Brianna @ The Iron and Needle.  I'm so glad Brianna gave me the opportunity to test this great pattern.  You can read about my journey here and here.

The grass is so depressing...not yet green, but no snow (thankfully) to cover the awful colour.  So I tried taking a photo in a different spot in the backyard.  I need to remember this spot in future.

I am not very good with FMQ on my Singer, and she does not like FMQ very much.  Sandra @ Musings of a Menopausal Melon gave me some suggestions, so I decided to try some new things.  I do like the L shape, but more practice is needed.  I had some trouble maneuvering the corners in the white sections.

But I love the F shape (I think that's what it's called), so I did it in both the dark and light blue sections. I had originally planned to do two different motifs but decided to continue with the one that I was comfortable with.

And to continue with trying new things...I matched thread colours to the fabric.

Now it's time for your finishes.  Link up your blog post showing off your finished project using the linkup below.  Don't forget to visit some of the other finishes and share some love and encouragement.  Please include a link and/or the TGIFF button in your blog post so your readers can also view all the great finishes.

This is one of my FAL 2016 goals.

And to continue with my showing off, I'm linking up my finish with:

• Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Whoomp There It Is @ A Quilted Passion
• Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
• Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday - Am I Inside Out?

I've been slowly making progress on the Inside Out pattern by Allison @ Cluck Cluck Sew.  I generally call my quilts based on the pattern or some other distinguishing feature, such as the orange quilt or the charity quilt.  I only just realized that the two versions of the pattern have two different names -- Inside Out Quilt with prints as the background and Plus Quilt with a solid as the background.  They are both still a plus quilt, but it seemed fancier to call it Inside Out.  So my Inside Out quilt is now the Plus Quilt.

This is a great pattern suitable for chain piecing.  This is the middle of the block.

And the tops of the plus.

Which turns into a 36 x 42 inch baby quilt.

The blocks are offset so there is no matching of seams to sew the rows together.

I used a new-to-me Kona for the background:  Natural

The blocks were made from charm squares I received in a swap last year with my guild, Maritime Modern Quilt Guild.

Allison tells you how to cut your block so that directional prints line up.

And once again...time to think about how to quilt this.


Linking up with:

• Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
• WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network
• Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

MMM and More Mini Minis

Sandra @ MMM Quilts (aka Musings of a Menopausal Melon) sent me a beautifully-quilted mini mini.  You can read her post about it right here.

Loving the orange!

She named it Oxymoron because it's a plus (aka plus size) mini mini.  I have to admit that I couldn't figure out why it was called Oxymoron -- I was too busy admiring the beautiful orange colours and the wonderful quilting.

Photo taken from Sandra's blog.

And here's the mini mini I sent to Sandra in return.  This was my first time making a triangle mini mini.  I do need to work on my binding technique for a triangle shape, but I think I see more triangle mini minis in my future.

The pattern is Mini Lotus from Jaybird Quilts.


Linking up with:

• Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts
• Too Cute Tuesday @ Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
• Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2016

Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict is once again hosting the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.

This is the sixth year for the charity challenge, with 573 quilts having been made to date.  There are three charities for this year's challenge, including a Canadian one.

I inherited some HST's from our Bee meeting this week.  We often bring items that we no longer love, and someone else will take them and put them to good use.  I'm going to use these to make a charity quilt for Hands2Help.

I love these colours and prints.

I made a few more of the charity blocks for the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild 2016 charity quilts.  The blocks are so quick to piece, I might end up with enough for two quilts.

Fun Friday Finish

The two commissioned baby quilts are done.  I had fun making these -- it was good to make a simple pattern with a simple quilting motif.

My favourite FMQ motif is now loops (sorry stipple).

Kona used:  Aloe and Laurel

The customer wanted two different colour schemes.

Dena over at Living Water Quilter just showcased a double loop motif -- definitely going to try that next.

Kona used:  Green Tea, Ice Peach, and Salmon.

Linking up with:

• Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge
• Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Whoomp There It Is @ A Quilted Passion
• Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
• Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

WIP Wednesday - Floating Triangles

I've been so focused on quilting some tops that I forgot that I hadn't posted about this 40-inch square quilt top.  This pattern is called Floating Triangles and is from the Skip the Borders book by Jaybird Quilts.

It is a great pattern that sews up quickly.

I welcome any suggestions on quilting...and thread colour.  This is always the hardest part of quilting.

Linking up with:

• Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
• WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network
• Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Sunday Stash - Free Fabric

Sunday Stash is being guest hosted by my friend Jenn @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge.

I participated in the Craftsy Sweetens Up My Quilting Life Blog Hop hosted by Musing of a Menopausal Melon and Pink Doxies back in February.  Here is the blog hop schedule in case you missed it.

We received some wonderful fabric from Sandra and Julie as a thank you.  Fabric in the mail is great, but free fabric in the mail is even better!  Especially when it's so unexpected.

Julie has been hand-dying fabrics, so she sent some fat eighths of her wonderful creations.  I wish I could say that the button does apply to me, but I'm trying to reduce my stash.

Sandra put together the black and pink collection....hearts because she loves us...well, I least I thinks she does....

The charm pack was a joint effort and includes fabrics from designers such as April Cornell, Sandy Gervais, Aneela Hoovey, Tula Pink, MoMo, and Phillip Jacob.  It's a good thing Sandra and Julie shared that information because I don't pay attention to things like that.  And I only know the name Tula Pink.

Thanks, Sandra and Julie.  I don' know what I'll be making, but it will be something that I can use to remind me of both of you.

Flaunting a Friday Finish

I'm tooting my own horn with this Friday Finish.  You may remember my posts about the 2015-2016 mystery quilt-along hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs.  I finished the quilt top here back in January, and the deadline to submit finished quilts was this week.

It was difficult to decide on a quilting plan.  I watched Angela Walters: Dot to Dot Quilting (this is an affiliate link whereby I receive a small commission if you purchase the class).  I really enjoyed this class, and it gave me the confidence to try something new.  Although I need a lot more practice, I am very pleased with the results.  I love any quilting plan that doesn't require marking.

Ta da!!

Only one Kona used in this quilt:  Snow

Loop FMQ in the background and starburst quilting in the squares.

I found the backing fabric in my stash and pieced it with the last piece of the green fabric so I didn't have to match the pattern.

You can read about my journey making this quilt here:

July - Cutting

August - Flying Geese

September - Square in Square

October - Court House Steps

November - Piecing
December - Full and Half Blocks

January - Finished Quilt Top

This is one of my FAL 2016 goals.

Linking up with:

• Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Dizzy Quilts
• Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
• Whoomp There It Is @ A Quilted Passion
• Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
• Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Scraptastic Tuesday - Charity Blocks

My guild, Maritime Modern Quilt Guild, is making charity quilts this year for our local children's hospital (they require quilts for babies up to teenagers).  We are making square-in-square block using this tutorial.  I dug into my scrap bag on the weekend and made 38 blocks -- it didn't take much time at all.  Linking up my blocks with Scraptastic Tuesday.

Here are my blocks, all from my stash of 2.5-inch strips and my scrap bag.

These blocks are so easy and quick to piece.  I'll be making some more, as I'm halfway to the 80 blocks needed for one quilt.

Also linking up with:

• Sew Cute Tuesday
• Too Cute Tuesday
• Fabric Tuesday