Friday Finish - Teeny tinies

Not a lot of big finishes around here these days! This one is wee indeed, but I just had to share.

For fabric selection, I started with my grey & white low volumes... there are a lot of scraps in that bag! Then I decided a little pop of colour was needed and grabbed some teal and orange prints. I love that combo! I'm also proud to say that there are no repeats! (Just for you, Dena!)

When you can only fit one paperclip on your hexies to be basted, you know it's going to be tricky!

These hexies looked so good in my new bowl... I almost didn't piece them together!

It took a few evenings to get an EPP blob big enough for a pincushion. Not a big pincushion, but that's okay with me!

 I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get those paper foundations out.

 They're the first ones that I won't be re-using. Way too crumpled!

I quilted the living daylights out of it, passing through the mid point on the side of each hexie. (P.S. I tweaked this pic using this tutorial from Janice @ Color, Creating, and Quilting).

I can hardly believe that I used a charm square to back the pincushion and that I had to trim this much off!

For the first time ever, I used crushed walnut shells to fill the pincushion. It gives it a lovely weight... especially when you put in as much as I did!

This backing fabric seemed fitting. I almost didn't swap this at last night's Maritime Modern Quilt Guild meeting. So tempting. But seeing the look on C's face when she unwrapped that last package and found this in it? Priceless!

When I got this lovely pincushion from Granny Maud's Girl a while back, I couldn't imagine making hexies that small. Apparently, I've worked my way up to it!

I'm linking up with TGIFF @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework (I love that blog name... reminds me of what really matters!)

J

WIP Wednesday - Turning up the volume!

In my attempts to avoid napping when DT does (I've got to break that habit before I go back to school!), I've been spending the afternoons at the machine. It's given me lots of time to piece sixteen patch blocks for that massive low volume project I've got going. When you get 1450 2½ inch squares in the mail, even a basic project gets complicated!

I've started making two other kinds of blocks. A four patch in a square and a square in a square. I'm hoping to use lots of those 2½ inch squares from my Birthday Bonus Club haul, but I want to break things up a little too!

This one is really a pieced block! Don't look too closely at those 2½ inch strips that make up the outer square! This is what comes of not measuring (and being too lazy to take apart a block to redo it)!

45 of 132 done! I'm aiming for a queen size...

If that wasn't enough, I reached a major milestone with the assembly of Technicolor Galaxy (a.k.a the neverending BOM). After completing six of twelve spokes, I was sidelined by bias binding production. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't get the fancy version I used last time to work. Screw it. I just those strips on the 45 and sewed them up. I've built my skills. I need to finish this thing!

In the same vein, I decided to ditch the glue basting for this assembly session. It works, but it's fiddly and time consuming. I've proven to myself that I can do it. Now I'm breaking out the Wonderclips!

 Did the world end? Nope. And I cut my assembly time down to 10 minutes a spoke!

Et voilà! All twelve spokes are assembled! Next step is to make some straight grain binding to join the spokes. Can I get this done for the end of September and achieve one of my FAL 2016 Q3 goals? Fingers crossed!

I'm linking up today with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrications. Pop on over and see what others are working on this week!

J

So many TBT winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who linked up a blog post about quilt from their dark and quilty past, as well as everyone who shared a comment about their first quilt!

But now, what you've all been waiting for... the prizes (as chosen by Mr. Random Number Generator)!  The linked blogs were numbers #1 to 10 and the comments were #11 to 58.

1) Two patterns of your choice from Quilting JetGirl's Craftsy shop

The winner is #28 - Laura!

2) This awesome 6 FQ Snofall by Rae Ritchie bundle from Canadian on-line store, Zoey & Bean Fabrics

The winner is #7 - Linda @ Scrapmaster. That woman has a horseshoe implant somewhere on her body!

3) 25$ gift certificate from Sew Sisters

The winner is #33 - Lisa J who blogs over at Sunlight in Winter Quilts. 

4) 40$ gift certificate from Mad About Patchwork

The winner is #57 - Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet! ☺

5) 50$ gift certificate from Fridays Off Fabric

The winner is #17 - Granny Maud's Girl

Thanks so much to the generous sponsors of these wonderful prizes and congratulations to the winners! I can hardly wait to see what you make with your winnings! See you on Thursday, September 1st for Throwback Thursday {Volume 14}!

J

Friday Finish - Gemma-tastic!

 It's #notaquilt, but at least it's for me! I even wore it today!

When I read Rae from Made by Rae's post last week about her new pattern, Gemma, I could hardly contain my excitement. I love her patterns, but they just aren't sized for me. You may remember my Beatrix fail from last year. But not so this new pattern! Nine sizes! Woo hoo! The style is simple and totally up my alley!

 

The puzzle doer in me loves a digital download pattern. Putting all those pages together makes me happy!

 This could have been my Thursday Finish post! ☺

I used a few fun tricks when prepping the pattern pieces. I didn't want to cut my main pattern to make the lower scoop neck (versus the jewel neck), so I used my Hera marker to mark the cutting line through the pattern. I did something similar to mark the dart lines.

I also decided to play around with the finishing stitches on my trusty Pfaff. I even marked each one with the stitch number so I could compare (and not forget!)

What did I do before Wonderclips? So much more precise than pinning.

 I love how the arm and neck binding turned out. Not so different from binding mini mini quilts!

 Part of me thinks it would look a lot cuter in a smaller size, but then I couldn't wear it... so it is what it is.

  I love the nice wide straps on the Gemma tank. So work appropriate!

Rae's technique for prepping the hem is ingenious. I shan't give it away, but it's a great tip! It came out so much smoother than I ever would have anticipated!

Instead of making a muslin version to play with the fit and check sizing (as recommended by Rae), I opted to buy an inexpensive shirting fabric. I can't bear the idea of doing all that work and not having a finished product. I also cringe at the idea of using expensive fabric I love and not having a wearable product. I can hardly wait to make my next one! I'd be linking up with Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts if she weren't on a social media break for August. Sadness. But I am going to link up with TGIFF @ Quokka Quilts!

J

P.S. No finish for you this Friday? Why not make it a Flashback Friday and write a post about a quilt from your dark quilty past? Then you can link up with this week's Throwback Thursday for a chance to win some fab prizes!

Throwback Thursday {Volume 13} - 1st Anniversary!!!

I can hardly believe that it's been a year since I started this little link-up. I've enjoyed reading your tales of quilts past and seeing your amazing work. And I've filed away more than one idea for a classic quilt re-worked in a modern style!

For my throwback this month, I'm going back to where it all began - the first one ever. This quilt has been mentioned many times on this blog, but never actually seen! Around the time I started working on it, Google was founded in California and a major air disaster, SwissAir 111, occurred near my home. It's crazy to look back on 1998!

I was entering my second year at Saint Francis Xavier University and I have many memories of quilting this big 'ole quilt on my wee Singer on a small kitchen table in my basement rental apartment.

It really is big - a generous queen size. I figured that if I was only going to make one quilt (oh foolish me!), I wanted it to be big enough to use on a good sized bed. To further illustrate my madness, I quilted it every 2 inches horizontally and vertically. So. Much. Folding. And. Rolling.

After years of folding, you can see some sun fade on the solid squares (clearly not my beloved Kona). Oh well. An18 year old quilt should have some wear!

My quilts have always had labels of some kind... even if it was only fabric marker on the back in a corner! And you get yet another incarnation of my early binding style. Yikes.

I snapped these pics when visiting the family cottage where this one lives. It's a quilt only a mother could still love! In the background, you get a snippet of her other love - daylilies. Remember Daylily Daze?

 I couldn't resist one more money shot!

 

It's Throwback Thursday's 1st birthday, but you're the ones getting the presents. I have a pile of awesome prizes for those of you who link up and/or comment. Check 'em out!

1) Two patterns of your choice from Quilting JetGirl's Craftsy shop

2) This awesome 6 FQ Snofall by Rae Ritchie bundle from Canadian on-line store, Zoey & Bean Fabrics

3) 25$ gift certificate from Sew Sisters

4) 40$ gift certificate from Mad About Patchwork

5) 50$ gift certificate from Fridays Off Fabric

Thanks so much to the generous sponsors of these wonderful prizes! How to win, you ask? There are three ways!

1. Link-up a blog post telling all about a quilt from your past. Don't forget to link to A Quarter Inch from the Edge in your post or grab the Throwback Thursday button for your sidebar.
2. Leave a comment telling me about your first quilt.
3. Leave a comment telling me if and how you follow A Quarter Inch from the Edge. 

The giveaway is open to International participants until Sunday, August 7th at 11:59 Atlantic Time. Prizes will be chosen by random number generator. If you're a no-reply blogger, please be sure to leave an e-mail address where I can reach you!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of my little link-up! It's so much fun reading your tales of quilt triumphs and, of course, laughing over fabric choices and the growing pains of early quilting days. Here's to many more months of the same!

J