First Love - Quilt Top Completed

My first English Paper Pieced quilt top is completed, it is the baby quilt "First Love" designed by Lynette Anderson. It is a free pattern on her web site.

The close-up shows more details of the stitchery. I used only fabrics from Connecting Threads for this quilt.

This was my ALYoF goal for December; I managed to piece the EPP, finish the stitchery and join the two parts together. In addition I pin basted the quilt sandwich, and it is now ready for hand quilting.

I will enjoy staying inside working on hand quilting in this cold winter time.

Linked up to December's finishes party .

ALYoF Goal for December

This is english paper piecing project I am currently working on. In the end it will become a small baby quilt. The design is by Lynette Anderson.

My ALYoF goal for December is to make the embroidery part for the quilt, and finish the quilt top.

Later I plan to hand quilt the piece, but that will have to wait until 2016.

Happy quilting!

ALYoF Goal for November

My goal for November is to make this pile of 96 scrappy squares together with the same number of four-patches into a quilt similar to Cluck Cluck Sew's Scrappy Summer, see below.

This will be my 10th charity quilt for the children's ward at my local hospital.

Linked up to November's Goal Party over at Sew BitterSweet Designs .

October ALYoF goal achieved!

Yesterday I finished my table runner, which I have called the 'Not So Bewitched Runner' due to the fact that in the pattern it was all in Halloween colors, but I decided to make it in a color scheme that could work all year round.

It is always fun to display a finished project in a not so likely spot, but what is better than this car in the playground? The lighting is also good to show off the quilting.

The hood of the wooden car is a perfect spot for stretching out the runner. The dimension is 18" x 54". The print fabric is from the line Birchtree lane by Connecting Threads.

A playground is the perfect place for a photo shoot. I used Britten Nummer by Ikea for the backing. The binding is a grey/black print I bought at Hancock Fabrics a few years back.

I love how the crisp white background enhances the prints, and together with the colors of the slide it makes a perfect display.

The last picture is taken on my deck. It was an overcast day today, great light for photos.

This concludes my ALYoF project for October, and it is also my second goal for the 2015 Finish Along List for the fourth quarter.

Linked up to ALYoF post over at Sew BitterSweet Designs.

New Table Runner to be made

Last night I cut the pieces for a new table runner that is to be gifted to friends. The fabrics are three pretty subtle prints from Birchtree Lane by Connecting Threads and a white solid in addition.

I think these colors will be good for a fall inspired table runner. This is also my ALYoF goal for October, so it is about time I started!

Linked up to WIP Wednesday and Needle and Thread Thursday.

Modern Geometrics Table Runner

My ALYoF goal for September was blogged about here. Now the project is completed, and I can show the table runner in all its beauty:

The Modern Geometrics table runner, designed by Laura Jane Taylor, is completed. Straight line quilting emphasizes the chevrons.

The runner is approximately 12" x 48". I managed to catch the last daylight in the photo shoot. 

This is a positive table runner, so the chevrons have to point upwards, and not just be an ordinary V-sign.

Why not display the quilt on the steps, that is an obvious location for a table runner, isn't it?!

Now it needs wash and dry cycle before it will be a belated wedding gift.

This completes my ALYoF goal for September over at Melissa from Sew Bittersweet Designs.

ALYoF Goal for August

The goal for August is to make my own version of the Modern Geometrics table runner (picture below) designed by Laura Jane Taylor.

This will be a late wedding gift (lots of weddings, lately) for a niece of mine who secretly, and suddenly, got married a month ago. I will use some great looking geometric prints to make it real modern.

The Optical Illusion Quilt is Finished

The quilt I made from the book Optical Illusions, by Kansas City Star Quilts, is completed, and ready for gifting at the wedding in a week's time.

Here is the quilt Blurred Vision in all its glory in the late summer afternoon sun. DS1 is the quilt holder this time. The lilacs gives a nice backdrop to the quilt in the photo session.

The quilt is designed by Penny Layman. Its dimensions is 64" x 80" before the wash and dry cycle. This is my first two-colored quilt, ever. I used solids in teal and light aqua.

The quilt is constructed with 4 1/2" squares offset a little bit from each other, creating a "dizzy" feeling. This type of optical illusion grabs your attention because of its simplicity, boldness and effectiveness.

Although all the rows are the same width from one edge to the other, they appear to be smaller on one edge and larger on the other edge. The quilting design adds to this effect, it is done in wedges; they follow the width of the quilt in each horizontal row to accent the illusion that the rows are narrower on one end than the other.

A detailed picture of the quilting after wash shows this effect. I did all the quilting freehand on my domestic sewing machine with a small throat space. One row is filled with wavy lines widely spaced, and the other is filled with wavy lines with a higher frequency. After washing and drying the quilt gets a crinkled and cozy look.

The quilt back was pieced together with the main fabric being Britten Nummer by Ikea. The bride and groom will be able to keep count of the years they have been married by looking at the back. I added a few teal/blue fabrics to get the backing wide enough, and put in the pieced initials of the happy couple with a cute pink heart in between.

I added a hand embroidered label with the name of the bride and groom, in addition to the wedding date, August 1st.

It is easy to see the quilting on the back side of the quilt.

The newly weds will enjoy cuddling under their new quilt for years to come!


This is my ALYoF goal for July, and also my second goal for the 2015 Finish Along for Q3.

Linked up to Needle and Thread Thursday and TGIFF.

ALYoF 2015 Goal for July

During May/June I have been working hard on the wedding gifts for my nephew and his bride to be. The pillow set is done, and the Optical Illusion quilt top is finished.

Yesterday I finished piecing the backing for this quilt, and late last night I embroidered the label to put on the back.

My goal for July is to baste, quilt and bind this quilt. The wedding is the first of August, so I am in a bit of a hurry!

Linked up to ALYoF July Goal Post over at Sew BitterSweet Designs and Needle and Thread Thursday

June ALYoF Goal Completed!

MyALYoF Goal for June was to piece two Swoon pillow fronts and to quilt the same.

I finished piecing the second Swoon block last Sunday, and on Monday and Tuesday after work I quilted them.

Here are the finished pillow fronts, quilted, but still untrimmed. I used the walking foot and quilted straight lines, which works perfectly for this block design. Double click on the photos to see more details. In my previous post I stated that I would use a Teal Aurifil quilting thread, but that is not correct; Aurifil #2815 is actually called Surf, and it gives a wonderful color addition to my fabrics.

These fronts will be made into two 20" pillows, nice and big to fit in the sofa of the happy couple!

This completes my ALYoF goal for June! I really enjoy working on these monthly deadlines, it really helps me to focus and get projects finished.

I have also started on the backing of my Blurred Vision quilt. The backing fabric is not wide enough, so I have decided to piece a border to make the back of the quilt more interesting. Since the quilt is a wedding gift, together with the Swoon pillows, I decided to personalize the backing and add some more color to the quilt.

This is the first part of the pieced border; the initials of the bride and groom (in navy color), with a cute two-colored pink  heart in between. The instructions for the letters are from Spell it With Fabrics by Moda, and the heart is from a tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew,  

I will figure out how to piece the rest of the border, hopefully during the weekend. I think this will be an interesting quilt back!

July will be dedicated to finishing the quilt, since the wedding is in the beginning of August!

Linked up to June's Finishes Party over at Sew BitterSweet Designs, and Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

ALYoF 2015 Goal for June

My goal for ALYoF in June is to make two quilted pillow tops out of these fabrics. The design will be big Swoon blocks. I am attending a wedding in August, and the two gorgeous pillows will be a a part of the wedding gift for the happy couple.

Two years ago I also made a set of Swoon pillows, in different colorways, and you can see them here. 

Linked up to the June Goal Setting Party at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs.

ALYoF 2015 Goal for May Achieved - Bubbles

My ALYoF goal for May is achieved, see goal post here.

The design of the runner comes from Fat Quarter Shop, and it is called Mini Charm Mix. I didn't use a mini charm pack for my project, all my squares and rectangles are cut from yardage and scraps.

I am very pleased with the color selection of the table runner, a cool palette. It reminds me of the ocean on a nice summer day.

The quilting is a combination of straight line with the walking foot lengthwise, and FMQ on diagonal(ish) lines with circles of varying sizes incorporated. With these circles the name of my runner stood out clear for me: Bubbles!

The backing is an old print from Ikea. In my mind the blue and white fabric looks like Dutch porcelain; perfect for a backing!

This is another stash buster of mine, all the fabrics come from my stash. The binding is a teal solid.

Quilt stats:

Table Runner: Bubbles
Size: 49 1/2" x 14 1/2"
Design by FQS
Pieced and quilted by me

Linked up to Needle and Thread Thursday , Fabric Frenzy Friday and CreativeGoodness Linky Party.