Friday Finish - For the Love of Sewing!

The day has finally arrived... my 2014 Skill Builder quilt, For the Love of Sewing, is officially FINISHED!!!

The capitals and exclamation points are 100% warranted here... at least in my opinion. Not only did I meet my March Goal for ALYOF, I surpassed it by completing the borders and the binding too. For those of you keeping track, I was #124 on the Goal Setting Party.

I know you're distracted by all those lovely bolts in the background, but try to focus a little, dear reader! This quilt is 15 months of hard work... finally complete.

Yup, I actually embroidered the I ♥ Sewing in that hoop!

 The infamous rotary cutter block that confused more than a few people when I posted about it!

I can't believe how well the sashing came together... it was one of my biggest fears of this project, that and all those different FMQ motifs!

  Quilt roll à la Dominique! It shows off some of those colour snippets in the binding.

Couldn't resist playing with all the lovely props in the workshop!

The Deets

Title: For the Love of Sewing (Pile O Fabric's 2014 Skill Builder BOM)

Size: 56 by 51½ inches

Konas Used: Capri, Coral, Emerald, Medium Gray, Papaya, Pepper, Shadow, White
Quilting: Quilt as you go, Free motion using Gutterman (Colours 610, 390, 687, 110, 462, 10, 102, 20) 
Binding: Kona Shadow with pops of Capri, Coral, Emerald, Papaya, and Pepper, hand stitched with Aurifil 2600

Backing: Assorted Konas listed above

Favourite Part(s): Taking an on-line class and finishing it, learning and applying techniques that scared the scrap out of me

Read about the process: here(Aug), here(July), here(May), here(March), here(Feb), & here(Feb)

I'm linking up today with TGIFF hosted by Simply Pieced, as well as the March Finishes Party for A Lovely Year of Finishes. I'm three for three!
Now on to Technicolor Galaxy - the 2015 Skill Builder BOM!


J

P.S. Many thanks to the lovely Chris of Patch Halifax who allowed me to play with my quilt and camera in her shop on a sunny spring day! And to Alyssa from Pile O Fabric for creating such a wonderful on-line course. I learned so much!

WIP Wednesday - Something that scares me...

Okay... I've said it before. Finally attaching the blocks from my 2014 Skill Builder quilt scares the scrap out of me. But I set it as my goal for ALYOF this month, and my overachiever self hates not to meet a goal that has been made public. So last Friday night, sh!t got real, yo.

I primed myself by laying out the entire quilt on my design wall. I stared it down for a few days... building up my courage.

I read the instructions (more than once) and watched the class video (more than once). Then I got down to it. Yes, that's two different kinds of glue hanging out on my ironing board. The instructions called for glue basting, so glue baste I did!

 And not too long after, this happened! My first sashing strip... and I didn't even have to rip anything out!

This is probably my favourite part of QAYG sashing... inserting that little strip of batting. I don't know why, but it brings me joy.

 

So much stitching... every ¼ inch of the sashing. We shan't discuss how many bobbins I had to wind. 

It's like finishing this quilt was all I could think about for 4 days. Obsessed. But finish it I did.
You all know I hate trimming a finished piece. I was tempted to leave the 3 inch border strips alone, but I had purposely not fully quilted them so I would be forced to trim. The lengths I go to to...

I capitalized on sleeping DT and kept on keeping on - to make my binding. I've followed the letter of the law on this quilt (figured I wasn't going to learn many new skills just doing things the way I've always done them), but I couldn't bring myself to glue baste the borders or the binding. Enough already. Pass me the Wonderclips.

Can you believe it? This bad boy is all ready to have the binding hand stitched. No, I haven't gone completely to the dark side, Dominique. I was tempted, just so I could finish this one ASAP. But a lot of time and effort has gone into this one. It's well worth the hand stitching.

Stay tuned for a Finish, dear readers! It's coming soon. And the photoshoot will likely feature snow... given that we got another 50+ cm dumped on us today!

I'm linking up today with Let's Bee Social with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Hope all my Nova Scotian quilty pals turned this Snow Day into a Sew Day.... and that they had their #stormfabric close at hand. ☺

J

ALYOF - March Goal

Ack! It's the last day of the first week of March! I have a mere 12 hours remaining to link-up with A Lovely Year of Finishes' March Goal Setting Party. I've been dithering... I want to chose a goal that challenges me, but not one that is so onerous that I fail to complete it. January and February's goals were both relativity small. Okay. I'm screwing up my courage and going for it.

I'm going to turn these in a finished quilt. You can read about some of these blocks here, here, & here. With last month's goal being to finish the last three, it seems only natural to keep on rolling. But I'm scared, people. It's been all well and good to FMQ these blocks as I made them, but now I have to wo-man up and put them together.

I'm scared. Check that off the list for today. Goal declared. Let's see what happens by month's end! I'm linking up with the March Goal Setting Party....

J

A Lovely Year of Finishes - February Finish!

Oh yeah! Who met their monthly goal for a second month in a row? Yup. That's right. Me! I set the goal of piecing and quilting the last 3 blocks of my 2014 Skill Builder BOM. I was post #37 on the link-up.
I started with September's iron block. So many tiny strips...

 

I followed the quilting directions and did a variety of patterns in each of the background areas.

 

Next up, October's sewing machine... I put it together wrong at least once. Can you spot the trouble with this machine?

The quilting instructions called for a variety of lines... I really enjoyed FMQing this one. Lines are my thing!

 And the final block of the quilt... November's triangle quilt

I had a lots of fun with this one and deviated just a little from the instructions. Instead of doing a random collection of FMQ patterns, I opted to do the same pattern in each colour. Emerald got pebbling, Capri got cross-hatching, etc. 

To say I'm happy with how these turned out would be an understatement... this entire Skill Builder course has been an exercise in pushing my limits. So much FMQ! All that remains is to attach the blocks together into a finished quilt. This is my first foray into QAYG... taking this from blocks to full on quilt is a scary step! 

I'm linking up today with the monthly Finishes Party. Who knows? Maybe I'll even win a prize like I did last month. ☺

And since it's Wednesday, I'm also linking up with the lovely Lorna's linky (say that 5 times fast).....

J

4x7 Challenge - Week 3

Ahh... another week of forced sewing. It's like hard labour, people. Just kidding! Making time for 30 minutes of sewing each day (14 hours of sewing total) is not such a hardship!

 

So here's the day by day blow by blow....

Day 15 - Finished this Haphazard Chevron pillow that's been hanging out on the design wall for a few weeks. Pillows are so danged satisfying!

Day 16 -Quilted the iron & sewing machine blocks from 2014 Skill Builder

Just showing you sneaky peeks on these ones... big reveal to come in the next few days when I link up with ALYOF 2015

Day 17 -Quilted the triangle quilt block from 2014 Skill Builder. Again, just a sneaky peak for you!

Day 18 - I'm enacting rollover minutes... I sewed way more than 30 minutes on previous days!
Day 19 - Got around to ironing all that fabric I've been buying!

 

Day 20 -Whipped up an iPad case for Himself!

Day 21 - Sewed up some HSTs for a project in the QPPP (Quilting Project Protection Program). I'd tell you more, but well.... it's secret!

I get a little down on myself when I commit to a challenge like this and don't get in the 30 minutes of sewing each and every day. And then I remember that it's not about beating yourself up, but celebrating what you did accomplish! A lovely pillow, an iPad case, some blocks that have been staring me down for months. You know, that's not too shabby! I'm linking up today with Barn Berry Designs. Pop on over and see what others accomplished this week - or jump on the bandwagon for our final week, Week 4. It's not too late!

J

4x7 Challenge - Week 2

Pssstt... if you're looking for the Kona link-up, it's here!

Ahh... another week of forced sewing. It's like hard labour, people. Just kidding! Making time for 30 minutes of sewing each day (14 hours of sewing total) is not such a hardship! Though it has looked a bit like Siberia outside my studio window this week...

 

So here's the day by day blow by blow....

Day  8 - Got down to business on that last paper pieced block for my Skill Builder 2014. Half done!

Day 9 - So close to done that sewing machine! If only I didn't have to tear bits out...
Day 10 - Success! Finished and layered!

Day 11 - No sewing... just blogging about it. Oh well.

Day 12 - It's not sewing, but I went to the February meeting of MMQG. Sometimes just talking about sewing is enough for me! And I bought fabric at two LQS. Lucky me!
Day 13 - Spent time in the studio playing with fabric for my Kona ♥ link-up!

And I whipped up this infinity scarf for my hot date with Himself!

Day 14 - Finally got organized and made the prize for my 200th post giveaway. It'll be heading to Maine to live with Kitty @ Night Quilter!

This week wasn't quite as successful as Week 1. Some days I spent a lot more than 30 minutes.. other days I manage no actual sewing at all. Aiming higher for Week 3! I'm linking up today with Barn Berry Designs. I guess I should uncross my fingers and give someone else a chance - I won the prize for last week!

J

WIP Wednesday - A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

 

Yup. The design wall about sums up what's going on in the studio this week. A little quilting ADD anyone?

In the top left, there's my Underwater quilt. Thanks to this tutorial helpfully offered by Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts, I've decided to do a pieced matching binding. Sadly, I haven't managed to find the brain space to get to work on it. Maybe next week...

Then there's a little Kona strip quilt...  it started out as this lovely pile of Konas. There's Breakers, Pool, Teal Blue, Caribbean, Azure, Ultra Marine, Bahama Blue, Aqua, Capri and Robin Egg. Let's just say there's not much teal/blue left in the scrap bin! 

The lower right is a little pillow I've been playing with... just needs trimming and to have the backing sewn on. If I'm lucky, I'll get out of the house tomorrow to visit my LQS and buy a pillow form!

And last, but certainly not least, the final blocks of Skill Builder 2014. So much paper piecing... so many itty bitty pieces. The iron has 48 separate bits. The sewing machine - 46! And the quilt block has 52. Go ahead... do the mental math. I'll wait.

Yup. 146 pieces in 3 blocks!!! But they're finally finished, layered, and ready to quilt!

All that fiddly paper piecing made me crave some improv. I also happen to owe a lucky reader (Kitty from Night Quilter) a giveaway prize. Off I went to my stash to find a print... then a root through my Kona scrap to match those lovely little dots.

More Konas... I know you're shocked. There's Cardinal, Kumquat, Wasabi, Peacock, Oasis and Violet.

Aren't you glad I didn't make you read 5000 words? ☺

I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts and WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Pop on over and see what the gang's working on this week!

J