Finishing Details

I'm still feeling too distracted to work on any quilt projects that require major concentration, but I have managed to add some finishing details to a couple of items.

Our recent weather has not been conducive to quilty glamour shots, so I resorted to indoor photography. 

 

Harmony Flannel Quilt 

Pattern:  Harmony by Carried Away Quilting

Finished size:  70" x 70"

 

Quilting by Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting.

 

Note to self:  avoid black binding (even if machine-stitched) on all future quilts!

 

The quilt is already winging its way to my oldest son, who lives in Denver.  Their spring weather is still a ways off, so I think he'll get some good use out of it.  As much as I disliked working with the flannel fabrics, the quilt turned out very snuggly - and it's heavy! 

The New Orleans 1850/Pyramid quilt is finally finished!

Fabric:  New Orleans 1850 by Jean Ann Wright for New Castle Fabrics

Pattern:  Pyramid by Monique Dillard

Finished size:  54" x 68"

 

I love that purple paisley fabric!

 

And the border print is really amazing, too!

 

 

The backing fabric came from my stash.  It features antique maps of New Orleans.  We are blessed to have a regional fabric design/manufacturing firm - Fabric Finders - that specializes in fabrics with regional themes (and their fabrics are 60" wide, so they come in handy for quilt backs!).

 

 

I decided "New Orleans 1850/Pyramid" wasn't a particularly good quilt name, so I labeled the quilt as "Beautiful Crescent".  New Orleans is known as the Crescent City because the original city was founded at a sharp turn - or crescent - in the Mississippi River.

 

 

 

I also finished up another Goody Goody Binding Kit.

The fabrics are from a collection by Lella Boutique called Farmer's Daughter.  They play together so nicely for these binding kits, I think I'll have to make a couple more and use up more of the fabrics!

 

The original Goody Goody Binding Kit was designed by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique.
 

 Sherri McConnell (A Quilting Life) asked Vanessa if she could make the binding kit just a little bit bigger, which resulted in a taller version.  Sherri calls her version a Simple Sewing Kit, and she put together a video tutorial demonstrating how she made it.

Now that I've made two of these, I think I can quickly stitch up a few more and keep them on hand as gifts.

 

If you're still reading - thank you!

You may have heard that New Orleans was hit by tornadoes on Tuesday night.  

Thankfully, the primary storm was not particularly organized as it passed near us - we just had lots of wind and some rain.   As the storm moved east, it jumped across the Mississippi and now more organized, did plenty of damage to a downriver suburb called Arabi.  As many as 150 homes and businesses sustained damage.  With the storm coming at night, it's amazing there weren't more fatalities, but only one death has been reported.  

 

Thank goodness weather forecasting has gotten better at predicting severe weather, so communities can at least be aware of what's brewing.  Our cell phones blasted out the tornado warning, and since the power didn't go out, we were able to tune to local TV stations for real-time mapping of the tornado!

 

As always, folks in south Louisiana are resilient and the community is already pitching in to help clean up and take care of those affected by the storm.  
 

February: Flannel and Tulips

 I didn't know February would be for Flannel, but I've just finished assembling a flannel quilt top and I didn't go crazy working with that notoriously difficult fabric!

I bought a flannel fat quarter bundle last fall and used some of the pieces to make pillows for my oldest son:

 

 

I had a vague idea I would use the remains of the FQ bundle to make a quilt for him, even though I really dislike working with flannel fabric.

 

When I saw the Harmony flannel quilt pattern from Carried Away Quilting, I thought it would be a good way to use up my flannel remainders.  I purchased the pattern and some additional flannel yardage and started cutting and sewing.

I didn't want to have a lot of leftovers - because I don't like sewing with flannel - so I simplified the block requirements and went with just solid navy blue flannel.  

The sashing around the blocks is a heather gray flannel and the cornerstones are also navy.

 

Finally, I added a black four inch border and pronounced it done.  Yes, the backing will also be flannel, but that's a story for another time.

BTW, if you're considering a flannel quilt, here are some things that might make life easier for you:  pre-wash your fabric, use a walking foot on your sewing machine, decrease the pressure from your presser foot, and increase your stitch length.  I practiced all these techniques, but I'll still never voluntarily make another flannel quilt!

I needed some distractions while I was working with the flannel, so I contemplated lotto blocks for my small, local quilt guild.

I volunteered to coordinate lotto blocks for February.  There are only 18 quilters in the group, so it's not a huge project to prep for.  On the other hand, I'm a new member and don't really know much about the group's past projects.

 

This is the lotto block for January!  

The coordinator provided ALL the fabric AND did all the cutting (Accuquilt to the rescue).  This is not typical of the group's lotto projects, but it still gave me a lot to think about.

 

I wanted something simple to construct, but seasonal and different.  

I think my choice is going to be tulip blocks.

I studied a bunch of different blocks online, then started playing.

 

I took the two designs I liked best and tweaked the block size and piecing techniques.  

 

 

Do you have a favorite?

I think a tulip wall hanging or table topper is in my future.  These are too cute to just make one block.  In my research I learned there are purple tulips...and I love the color purple, so I think the color scheme is decided!