ALYOF - June Finish!

Ah... isn't it lovely to finish things? Especially when it means keeping my 6 month finishing streak going AND crossing off the third oldest WIP on The List.

The particular step that was tripping me up on this one was the binding. I wanted it to blend with the quilt top and a matched pieced binding seemed like the best option. And the one that was the fiddly-est and most challenging.

But it turned out to be much easier than I thought... though time consuming. Is it perfect? Likely not. Is it done? You bet! #imperfectionism Many thanks to Scrapmaster Linda who gave me a helpful hint and some moral support!

 Some money shots of the quilting... because it makes me just so danged happy!

The back really shows the different colours of thread and the (many) binding bits. I opted to add hanging triangles to all the corners so I change the orientation when/if I like.

The Deets

Title:  Underwater

Size: 17½ by 24 inches

Konas Used: Baby Blue, Robin Egg, Peacock, Turquoise, Teal Blue (from lightest to darkest)
Quilting: Wavy lines in various shades of teal (Gutterman 202, 600, 616, 621, 640) 
Binding: Pieced binding matched to colour sections on quilt top. Hand stitched with Gutterman 618)
Backing: Kona Cloud

Favourite Part(s): Playing with wavy quilting and creating just the feel I wanted, Taking on the challenge of a matched binding

Read more about this project here, here, and here.

I was #51 on the Goal Setting Party and I'm linking up with this month's Finishes Party (yup... down to the wire again!)

 

Now what on earth will I choose for my July goal? Decisions, decisions!

J

WIP Wednesday - In a better place...

 If Tuesday is any indication, it's gonna be a good week! Things are looking up around here!

Last week, I was so disgusted with my (lack of) progress on the Piano Key blocks that I couldn't even blog about it. Naps were rocky, Himself was away, I was in a not-so-great place. In particular, these blues were really getting under my skin. I just couldn't seem to get the colour balance right.

Thankfully, the fabric pulls for the orange, lime, and plum blocks came together a little more easily. This Technicolor Galaxy business takes a buttload of organization. I'm constantly reaching for my trusty masking tape and Sharpie! And we won't even talk about the number of labeled Ziplock bags in action.

Though the Piano Keys are foundation pieced, the low volume-colour pairs are chain pieced before they're sewn to the foundation. I love me some chain piecing!

I really wanted all the seams on the pairs to line up perfectly with the markings on the foundation. But after (MANY!!!) rounds of tearing out stitching, I decided that finished was better than perfect. I applied the same mantra to the blues... they're done. Not necessarily perfect. #imperfectionism

Yesterday, the stars aligned and DT napped for 4 hours in one day! I got to work on the Scattered Geese blocks. I was so excited to be sewing that I snapped only one pic. Can you believe it?

 Here we are so far! I have no idea how I'd manage this project without a design wall!

 The plum-purple zone...

  Yellow-lime zone...

Just one more Scattered Geese block to whip up, then I'm on to Arrow Heads! If I manage to get those done, I'll be caught up... at least with piecing the blocks. Then on to quilting... but I might be getting a little ahead of myself!

Since it's Wednesday, I'm linking up with the lovely and talented Lorna for Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts, as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Pop on over and check out what others are up to this week!

J

Bee-ing on time!

No big finish for me this Friday, but there was definitely a lot of sewing going on! Sometimes those monthly Bee blocks sneak up on me. I mean, it's the middle of the month! Better get to work! First up, Global Scrap Bee. Aylin over at Aylin-Nilya decided on this block. She was looking for low volume prints. This trend is a new one to my stash. I wasn't sure I had much. Here's what I found...

 And limes and teals. I've got lots of those!

And here they are! Since these were quick to do, I threw in a couple extras. I also wanted to make sure there were enough if she decided that that button fabric isn't low volume enough.

It's a simple, effective block and went together very quickly. I would have loved to do these strip pieced, but when you're only making four it hardly seems worth it. Have I mentioned that the worst part of being in all these bees is that you want to make a full quilt of every danged block you make?

For ModQImprovB Canada (sorry, no Flickr pool for this one!), the block of choice this month was Bottled Rainbows. I'd be lying if I said this one didn't scare me. There's appliqué in there. Yikes! But after the torture I inflicted on my bee-mates with the now infamous improv herringbone. My assigned colour was grey... not so rainbow-y. But I did have some in the stash to work with, so it was all good.

My goal was not to repeat any of the fabrics... I don't know why. I couldn't resist sneaking in that little camera print in the upper right hand corner. And there are THREE different Kona solids! ☺ Here is all glued (yes, I said glued) in place. My first time using a glue stick whilst quilting!

I thought about fussy cutting one of these rectangles from the Keep Calm fabric, but thought the recipient might not really appreciate that!

And here it is all stitched down. I am, well, not 100% happy with this block. I'm not at all comfortable with machine appliqué... guess it's good to push one's limits! The grey pieces frayed when I stitched them and the zigzag puckered up a bit. The original version is QAYG, and I think it might have worked a little better.

I hope this month's Queen Bee doesn't think it sub par, but I'd understand if she did! I'm embracing imperfection... it's in the mail already!

J