WIP Wednesday: Machine Quilting

It's not uncommon for me to make a quilt top and leave it unfinished for a decent amount of time. Hoping to break that habit a bit, I decided to piece the back and begin quilting my Mod Hex 2 quilt.

And after the spiral quilting I did on my Sunrise Delight quilt, I knew I wanted to do the same quilting on this quilt.

The center is the hardest part because you practically take one or two stitches before turning the quilt. That's the one part that I could really use some additional practice at.  The rest of the quilting, I think, looks really good.

Once you get going, and out of the very center, it starts to quilt up pretty quick.

But then it slows down a bit when you get to the outside of the quilt, when it takes longer to make a full circle.  This is how far I got after two hours of quilting.  I'd estimate I have another two to three hours left to go on this baby.  

Sew-vivor Season 2: Round 1 Entry - Sunrise Delight

I'd like to introduce you to my entry in the Sew-vivor Competition Season 2: Round 1: Sunrise Delight

Check out my quilt below and hop on over to Family Ever After and vote for your favorite project (wink, wink, nudge, nudge -- Mine maybe?).  And if you're looking to make your own version of Sunrise Delight, check out my Craftsy store where I have posted a pattern for this quilt.

This quilt reminds me of a beautiful sunrise with the soft butter yellow background and the early morning pink sky before the rich sky blue and earthy greens emerge. The sound of that just makes me happy.

I designed this paper pieced quilt pattern after being inspired by all sorts of kaleidoscope quilts in cyber space. But, like most things that I do, I couldn't just leave this as a simple kaleidoscope, I needed to add my own twist. So, I altered the diamonds or the tips of the stars to add more interest. I created my own paper pieced pattern and went to town.

For this round of the competition, we had to use emerald green - the Pantone color of the year.  As I designed this quilt, I knew I wanted to use the Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets in Emerald.  After going to multiple shops that carry Lizzy House, I couldn't find that print and I didn't have enough time to order it online.  I settled for the Kelly Green Remix print by Ann Kelle instead.  Most of us had a hard time finding a true emerald green, so it was decided that any shade of green would be acceptable for this challenge.

I was fortunate to have  the Boston Modern Quilt Guild retreat last weekend, which enabled me to spend time making this.  And boy was I determined to make this quilt during the retreat.  I started cutting and sewing the first day and put the final stitch on the binding (by hand, no less) at 1:00am that morning (or should I say, the following morning). I think I worked on this quilt for about 15-18 hours straight, stopping only to have a quick lunch and dinner. After retreat, I swung by my parent's beach house and took these pictures.

I machine quilted this quilt in a concentric circle.

I picked this quilting pattern for three reasons.

1. I have wanted to do this on a quilt for a while now and this seemed like the perfect quilt to do it.
2. I had limited time to get this project completed - less than a week! An all over quilting design was the only option if I had any chance of finishing on time.
3. I wanted to highlight the secondary design that was created when all of the blocks were pieced together - the circle shape.

This quilt measures 36" x 36" square. There are nine paper pieced blocks and a total of 200 different pieces in this wall hanging.

For the back, I went with a Joel Dewberry Chestnut Hill print I got on sale that had the same beautiful rich blue and soft yellow.  For the binding, I went with the same Navy from Simply Color by V & Co.

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Sunrise Delight by Jen Sorenson (me!)
Finished Size: 36" x 36"
Fabric Used: Kona Cotton, Remix, Oval Elements, Simply Color and Lucky Penny, Chestnut Hill
Thread: So Fine #50 517
Batting: Warm and Natural

Simply Solids Bee

I'm participating in the Simply Solids Bee and April is my month. I've been loving a lot of the low-volume quilts out there these days, so I decided to use a lot of creams and whites for my bee block with just a hint of lime, dark blue and a lime green.

In going with something completely different for me, I am asking for some wonky/improve blocks.  Here's a sample block that I made during retreat last weekend.

There's no real plan to the block, which I like.  The hints of color are small and random.  When looking at the quilt, I hope to see mostly creams and whites with a few random pops of color. I'm hoping it will look really nice when everything comes together.

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BMQG Quilt Retreat

Last weekend was the annual BMQG quilt retreat. Like last year, this year was a total blast and I managed to get quite a bit done.

To start, I finished my Mod Hex 2 quilt top.

Next, I finished my Sew-vivor project, which I'll reveal later this week.

After finishing two big projects,  I decided to tackle something a bit smaller, a bag. This will be a gift for a friend.

It was a super easy pattern and I see myself making more of these in the future.

I also managed to get a sample bee block for the Simply Solids bee since next month is my month.  I'll do a separate post about that tomorrow.

I worked here and there on a few other projects, but not enough to really show any of it.  All in all, I'd say it was a very productive long weekend and an even better time hanging out with some really awesome people.  A big thank you to Aimee and Alice for helping to organize everything!

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Sew-vivor Season 2 - Top 10

I just found out that I have been selected as a finalist in the Sew-vivor Season 2 competition. It's a good thing I have retreat starting tomorrow so that I can make something awesome for the competition.  Now to come up with something to make that uses the color Emerald!



If you haven't already, run over to Family Ever After and check out the other nine in the top 10!

Modern Hexagon Class & Winner of QuiltCon Goodies

Yesterday I taught a Modern Hexagon class at Quilter's Way.

I made this quilt as I was designing the class. Students were able to make this exact quilt or make one similar to their specifications - changing the size of the hexagons and the sashing if they so pleased.

I decided to use a fat quarter bundle I received for Christmas for my class sampler.

This is the after - after I showed the class how to cut their hexagons, how to cut and sew their sashing, how to cut their background, and how to sew it together.  I came to the class with all of this pre-cut and a bunch of it already sewn together to show exactly how I constructed my top.

Here's what some of the folks pulled together.

Alison decided to take the technique we learned and make something completely different, which I LOVE! I might have to do something similar at some point.  The wheels in my head are a churnin'.

The rest follow the same pattern I made in my class sample, but each with their own unique spin.

This one uses all batiks.  I like the use of a light blue background here - it feels like a rainbow in the sky.

This one used a deep blue/purple for the background and it worked really well.

I didn't grab a picture of KK's quilt, but I'll be sure to grab one at retreat this weekend and share that with you as well.

Now, for the winner of the QuiltCon goodie bag.  The random number generator selected #17, Tricia who is a follower and is loving aqua and red as well as gray and purple. Congratulations Tricia. 

Simply Solid Bee Block - March

Tonight I finished the Simply Solid Bee block for the month of March.

This month belongs to Roonquilt, aka sportsew.  She asked for a skyline block.  This is what I came up with. Her quilt will consist of all sorts of blocks using the same dark blue as the sky.  I think this is going to be a really awesome quilt.  I can't wait to see it finished.

My month is next month, so I need to get my act together and mail out the fabrics and post instructions for my block. 

WIP Wednesday

For my March goal in the Lovely Year of Finishes Challenge, I would like to finish this quilt that I have been working on.

This means that I need to trim all of these remaining HSTs.

This means I still need to trim all of these down to 4.5" square.

And then I can add those trimmed HSTs to this pile of HSTs and finish piecing the top.  It's a good thing I have retreat coming up to help me finish this quilt.  I'm going to need some good sewing time ahead of me.

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QuiltCon Giveaway

I've posted quite a bit about QuiltCon the past couple of weeks.  One thing I didn't mention was all of the swag I managed to come away with.  I'd like to share some of that swag with my readers through a giveaway.

First, you need to have a bag to put all of the goodies in.

Now to fill that bag.  You've got several fat quarters, a mini charm pack, two quilt labels, a couple of stickers, a seam ripper, a hexi kit and a couple of buttons.

Of course, I might throw in a few surprises a well, like these half yard cuts of Art Gallery fabric, or some zippers.

To enter and win your very own QuiltCon goodie bag, just follow these steps:
1. Comment on my blog letting me know what your favorite color combination is right now.  If you are a no-reply commenter, please leave a way for me to reach you.
2. For an additional entry, let me know you're a follower of my blog.

I will announce a winner on Monday, March 11th.