ALYOF - July Finish!

Well... sort of! Given that my goal for July was to do SOMETHING with my Improv Herringbone blocks and I've managed to sew them into a (almost) finished top! (I was #37 on the Goal Setting Party). I'm calling this a win. These blocks were a challenge... you can read about this goal in progress on last week's WIP Wednesday post!

It's not quite big enough to be useful just yet, but you know me and borders. I'm thinking asymmetrical... perhaps left and bottom borders. Your opinions are more than welcome!

 Sometimes those flimsies just want to dance around on the clothesline instead of standing still for a pic!

I snapped these pics while Himself was grilling up some burgers on the BBQ. Blue skies with puffy white clouds and sunshine streaming down after days of rain. What a day!

I'm linking up with the ALYOF Finishes Party for July. Seven months straight of meeting my goals. Yay, me!

P.S Just 6 more sleeps until the very first Throwback Thursday here at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Want to know more? Pop on over to this post to learn some more. Hope to see you on August 6th!

WIP Wednesday - Orange you glad it's Wednesday?

Since my last post about Technicolor Galaxy, I've been picking away at July's block, Orange Peels. I had a little consult with ScrapMaster at our recent MMQG Sew In to come up with a plan for the backgrounds of the next round of blocks. Where the inner ring of blocks all have pieced, scrappy backgrounds, I thought it might look funny for the next ring to have backgrounds that are all one fabric. (Apparently, I like to make more work for myself.) For the Orange Peels, I've opted for improv pieced background. I got to work piecing together all the small scraps I've hoarded saved through the block making process to date.

  Once I had a large enough slab, I ironed on the freezer paper template and cut out the backgrounds.

 They fit the bill in the scrappy department. I do love some improv piecing!

These Orange Peels are a tricky, tricky business. Each peel (and there are 48 in all) has to be trimmed, then glue basted onto a piece of stabilizer. Have I mentioned that appliqué is not my favourite technique ever? 

A number of very tedious hours later (Thank you, Netflix), I could get on to the business of getting those Orange Peels in place! I opted to iron the freezer paper template to my block rather than my ironing board... it's too hard to see through all those seams!

When I do get to glue them in place, I'll be using my fancy new Fineline glue applicator tip! No more globs of messy glue to deal with!

Sadly, DT opted to sleep for only 45 minutes of yesterday's nap time, so this is as far as I got. Don't they know Mama wanted to have more than this to show off on WIP Wednesday?! I fear it's not much of a priority for them.

You can read about my Technicolor Galaxy shenanigans in these other posts:

Quilted Arrow Heads, Piano Keys, & Scattered Geese

Pieced Piano Keys & Scattered Geese

Quilting the Colour Wheel & Selecting backing for Star Points

Star Point Fabric Selection & Bias Tape Making

Colour Wheel Construction & Star Point Fabric Selection

Colour Wheel Fabric Selection

I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Click on over and see what's up in WIPs this week!

J

Livin on the Selv-EDGE!

I've been studiously ignoring all the fabulous Alongs popping up all over the blogosphere, but I just couldn't resist this one!

 

I mean, it's selvages (or selvedges... depending on where you live!). You can pop on over to Quilty Habit and see what's coming up. For today, I'm showing off my selvage stash.

I keep a little bowl handy on my sewing space to hold selvages as they come along. As much as I love a good selvage, I don't let myself cut them off fabric until I actually use the fabric for a project.

There's something about the blue glaze on this little bowl that makes me smile!

When the little bowl gets too full to hold more treasures, I open up this nondescript container. In our house, we call them fish boxes!

All these lovelies live inside... organized roughly by colour. Keeping them sorted makes it easier to use them in my projects.

I also have separate bags for black/white/grey selvages as well as tan/brown.

And then there are the Christmas selvages. Maybe one of these days I'll have enough for a Christmas... something. Who knows?

 There's even a bag for my precious Amy Butler selvages!

I'm linking up with Quilty Habit... and I'll be popping over to see what the other selvage hoarders have got on the go! I'm hopping to link up again at the end of the Selvage Along with a few of my selvage projects!

J

Introducing... Throwback Thursday!

Have you been quilting longer than you've been blogging? What about all those quilts that have never seen the light of day in the blogosphere? Just think of them, people. The good, the bad, the ugly. You know they're hanging around your house (or your family's houses!). Wouldn't it be great to get them out, take a fresh pic (or seventeen) and blog about them?

Well, here's your chance!

Starting on August 6th, the first Thursday of each month will be Throwback Thursday here at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. And you can join in! Just a write a post about a quilt that's not so new. Share what you learned from making it... even if there are (gasp!) a few mistakes.Talk up that special recipient who's loved it to bits. Whatever strikes your fancy! And then link up!

What would a quilt blog post be without a quilt? Here's a sneaky peaky of the quilt I'll be blogging about in two weeks time...

If you're looking for a little inspiration, pop on over and check out my previous TBT posts here and here.
Hope you'll link-up on the 6th!

J

WIP Wednesday - Polaroids A Go-go!

A couple Saturdays ago, one of my bees (Q-Squared) got together for a bit of Quilt Therapy. I needed a portable project and opted to dive into a little something I've been plotting for DT. A Polaroid I Spy quilt! I've been picking away at it during naptime ever since...

One of the things I love about the bloggy world is friendships I've made with generous and talented bloggers in far off places! Thank you so much, Lynn @ Buttons Quilts, Carla @ Granny Maud's Girl, and Yvonne @ Quilting JetGirl! There are so many interesting Polaroid pictures here!

I saw an awesome Polaroid quilt a while back that used a rainbow colour pathway for the block backgrounds, but rather than choose just one yellow, one green, etc., I opted to go scrappier and dive into the Kona bins!

Ah... trimmings. And there are a lot of them with this wonky, off centre little Polaroids!

Can I also say that my latest mat purchase - a 12 inch rotating Olfa mat - has really been coming in handy? It's small enough to transport to a sew day without worrying about warping and it fits next to my machine for easy trimming! Here are two of my finished blocks so far... I have 71 made and I have no idea how close I am to done, since I have no idea how big this quilt's going to be!

Once I had used as many scraps as possible, I dove into the Kona stash to cut some strips.

I'm going to shock you a little here... I'm not naming them at this point! Do I have a running list? You betcha!
More gratuitous trimming shots. I can't help myself. I just can't.

 Rainbow-y goodness.

 Sharing space with my other WIP, Technicolor Galaxy! More on that next week...

There are Polaroid blocks in varying levels of done-ness all over my studio. Some fussy cut centres, some with untrimmed white edges, some trimmed, but without their cheery Konas. Honestly, this may end up as the project that never ends!

I'm linking up today with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Click on over and see what others are creating this week!

J

Sunday Stash - Off the wagon again...

Hi. My name is Jenn and it's been four days since my last fabric purchase. I fell off the Fabricaholics Anonymous wagon this week.

First up, a little something from Pile O Fabric! I was in dire need of a few notions for the next few blocks of Technicolor Galaxy. Those cute little packages are pre-cut stabilizers for the July Orange Peel and August Hexie Flowers.

This bit of lime green loveliness was in the sale bin. I couldn't just leave it there, now could I? Is it wrong how much I love getting fabric from Pile O Fabric? I don't need to worry about selvages to remember the designer and collection. Or where I ordered it from?

 And there was this cool sticker! There's always a little something fun tucked into a Pile O Fabrics order!

The envelope from Sew Sisters was much squishier! They've got 20% off Carol Friedlander Doe until the end of July and Q-D and I just couldn't resist.

From left to right, there's Blueprint in Blue, Triangles in Black, Striped Columns in Sage, Woven in White, and Woodgrain in Sky. This is the one I've been waiting on...

I've decided to take a leap into garment sewing... for myself! After successfully making a number of pairs of Big Butt Baby Pants for BT and a Geranium Dress for GT, I feel like I'm ready to take on one of Mae by Rae's patterns for myself. I had hoped to participate in the Beatrixalong for her newest pattern, but it just didn't come together this week. Maybe next week... I look forward to reading through all her helpful blog posts soon!

At least I can say that the small additions to my stash this week all have a purpose and a plan! Yay me! I'm linking up today with Molli "The Enabler" Sparkles who's making me want some Dove Aurifil. I am so damned suggestible.

J

Friday Finish - Good Old Hockey Game

It's the best game you can name, according to a Canadian cultural icon! And a certain 11 year old boy agrees wholeheartedly!

I will freely admit that this isn't a new finish. It's one of my Library Project quilts from 2014. It was gifted to a special (not so) little (anymore) hockey fan for Christmas, but I was missing a few pics to share. Until now!

This quilt made it to a few fun locations for some pics... like a local rink where it's owner plays regularly and Halifax's ScotiaBank Centre, home of the 2013 Memorial Cup winning Halifax Mooseheads.

Now that it's been washed, the FMQ in the white areas looks even better. The plan was for it to look like the ice had been skated on and was in need of a Zamboni-ing!

The machine appliquéd face off circles and creases have stood up very well to washings! I used Heat n' Bond to hold them in place and then did a tiny zigzag to stitch them.

I love the colour snippets in the pieced border.

 The backing is a wideback Spot On by Robert Kaufman.

I used grey in the borders and as binding to match J-Boy's team colours! This lovely print is one of the Dazzle prints by Patrick Lose for Robert Kaufman. Wish it was still around... I could buy it in every colour!

And here's the proud owner, J-Boy! He kindly brought both his quilts down from his room in case DT needed them to crawl on during their recent visit. Such a great cousin!

The Deets 
Title:  Good Old Hockey Game (Pattern from Kristy from Obsessive Crafting Disorder on Etsy) 
Size: 68 by 88 inches 

Konas Used: White (and lots of it!) 
Fabrics Used: Dazzle in Black, variety of reds and royal blues including Dazzle, Crosshatch, and Pearl Bracelets 
Quilting: FMQ loops and lines in Aurifil white 
Binding: Dazzle in Grey by Patrick Lose for Robert Kaufman 
Backing: Robert Kaufman Spot On Wide in Steel 
Favourite Part(s): Being pleased with the machine appliqué (not usually my strong point), making just the right present for a special, and very appreciative, nephew

Read more about the making of this quilt here, here, here, and here.

I'm linking up today with Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts as well as TGIFF @ Quilt Matters. Pop on over and see what others have finished this week (or last year)!

J

WIP Wednesday - Not quite Throwback Thursday...

But damned close! If you're a long time reader, you'd be forgiven for thinking "Hey. Haven't I seen this somewhere before?" The answer is yes. Yes, you have. You can read more about them in my ALYOF Goal Post for July.

First up, trimming. When one receives improv blocks from eleven different quilters, some size variation is pretty much expected. I trimmed these lovelies down to 11 inches.

There was a lot of trimming. I have to take pictures like this so that my studio isn't filled with random piles of trimmings. Something about them makes me so happy. #littlethings

Once trimmed, they hung out on the trusty design wall, sharing space with Technicolor Galaxy. ☺ I knew right off I that I needed a layout that stretched these 11 blocks... I'm committed to doing something with these to get them off the The List, but I don't want a huge time investment!

Don't worry, I'm not doing some funky see through business. Kona White is going to fill those gaps... eventually. Off I went to make two more blocks!

What a fiddly business! I needed six of these panels to make two blocks. Can you tell which one I deemed unworthy and voted off the design wall island?

My WIP has progressed a little further than this, but today is not a day for picture taking. You'll just have to be patient, dear reader!

I'm linking up today with the lovely Lorna's Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Pop on over and see what the quilty peeps are up to this week!

J