Thursday, January 8, 2015

Medallion Baby Quilt

So far, 2015 is off to a great start for me in my quilting pursuits.  True to form, I work better under a deadline and managed my first finish of the year in a mere 3 days :)


 I found out several months ago that a good friend and co-worker's wife was pregnant with their first baby and had been planning to make them a quilt since they made the announcement  Of course with me binge watching Gilmore Girls and Orange is the New Black slacking off, and with Holiday crazy-ness, I didn't get a start until after Christmas even though I knew the baby shower was quickly approaching.

I got a copy of of Angela Pingel's A Quilter's Mixology and from the moment I picked it up, I wanted to make every single quilt in it.  I thought the Medallion Baby Quilt would be a good start and perfect for a gift for the expecting couple.  Angela's instructions for how to sew the curves and the patterns are fabulous.  I will definitely be making more quilts from this book :)






Keeping #SewMyStash2015 in mind, I took stock of my fabric stash and did an initial sketch and pull.


The hardest part for me was cutting the templates accurately with the curves.  I purchased "heavy weight" template plastic from Joann's several months ago, but it was total junk and my rotary cutter sliced right through it and my pieces weren't accurate at all.  Frustrated, I broke down and bought Marti Mitchell's Drunkard's Path templates which made the job so much easier!  I ended up getting all the sizes available so I can make other quilts in the book more easily :)  The proportions aren't exactly the same as the templates Angela has in the book, but I think it still looks great.


Other than the difficulty cutting, the quilt came together so quickly.  Ryan actually made a comment that if I could finish this in 3 days, why had I been working on our bed quilt for a year and a half (because this quilt only has 72 pieces and is baby sized!)  The top is made of a variety of prints, entirely from my stash.  Each block finishes at 7" square.


For the quilting, I decided to go simple and just concentric circles using my walking foot.  The circles are randomly spaced over the quilt at 1/2" or 1 1/2" increments.  I used a lovely blue, white and pink variegated Aurifil from the Tula Pink collection.


After a quick poll of my Instagram friends, I chose a print from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study for the binding.  It's completely by chance that the print contained all the colors that I used in the quilt.  I had just enough to finish off the binding (another 1/2 yard used from the stash!)  I machine stitched the binding down since I was on a deadline and for durability.  I found a dark purple Gutterman I had in my thread stash that blended really well.


The backing is the only fabric I purchased for the quilt.  I knew the baby's room was a minty green, so I thought this large scale Heather Bailey Up Parasol print would be perfect.  The pattern calls for 2 1/2 yards for the backing, but I only ended up using a yard and a half since the quilt finished at 42"x42".



I gifted the quilt at the baby shower and soon-to-be mommy and daddy both loved it.  I hope the baby will love and use it for a long time :)

Specs at a Glance:
Top: 7 inch Drunkard's Path blocks in various cotton prints
Finished size: 42" square
Pieced and Quiltied with Auriful 50 thread
Batting: Quilter's Dream 100% Cotton Batting
Pattern from A Quilter's Mixology
Finished: January 3, 2014














Linking up with TGIFF and #sewmystash2015on Instagram

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

A Lovely Year of Finishes -- January 2015 goal

I tried this last year, but then life derailed my big sewing plans.  Hopefully this year will be the big year of finishes for me.  I already posted my yearly 2015 WIPs and goals, ALYoF will help me me on track on a monthly basis.



The first blog post I have of my x-plus quilt is June of 2013 (too long!), so my January 2015 goal is at finish at least the top, and move on to the quilting phase :)

My Button
linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015

Sunday, January 4, 2015

2015 Sewing Goals and To-do

I'm putting this in writing so I hold myself accountable, and it will be nice to cross things off the list!  I'm sure this list will grow and change as the year progresses :)

my WIP box
Gifts + Swaps


basting my first quilt of 2015!

  • Baby quilt for Tobin and Amy (Due Jan. 5) -- currently: Finished!
  • Schnitzel & Boo mini swap (Due Jan. 23) -- currently: Finished
  • Birthday present for Christine (Due Feb. 10) -- currently: cutting/piecing
  • Birthday present for Shannon (Due March 14) -- currently: piecing
  • Rainbow mini swap (Due Apr. 6) -- currently: quilting
  • Sew South secret sister (Due Apr. 16) -- currently: planning
  • Sew South fabric basket swap (Due Apr. 16) -- currently: planning
  • Swap with Jess (Due Apr. 23) -- currently: planning and cutting
  • Mid Atlantic Mod Secret Sewist (Due Apr. 23) -- currently: awaiting assignment
  • Mid Atlantic Mod Mini Quilt swap (Due Apr. 23) -- currently: planning
  • Briar Rose Quilt for Autumn (Due July) -- currently piecing

Monthly and yet to be assignment commitments

  • Grace Circle blocks (monthly)
  • Sisterhood of the Traveling (bi-monthly)

Quilt WIPs


Pile of x-plus blocks

  • DS disappearing 9 patch (Due June 7 so I can have it signed!) -- currently: piecing 
  • Starbright Quilt -- currently: piecing

Starbright Quilt mock-up

  • Penny Sampler (in time-out) -- currently: piecing 

Penny Sampler Blocks so far


New Projects
  • Quilts for nephews (5) and nieces (1)
  • C+S Single Girl quilt
  • Stitched-in-Color "handstitched" class

Goals
  • Sew 15 minutes every day
  • #SewMyStash2015
  • Blog at least bi-weekly
  • Learn garment sewing
  • FMQ!
  • Try selling at a craft show