bloom. boom. bordered. bound.

Have you heard of freshly pieced's Bloom Bloom Pow QA?  It was such a joy to make.  I sped through the bleaching (optional) + piecing back in May, then came to a pretty serious halt until a few weeks (months?) back.

What can I say?  The moment Lee mentioned incorporating those lovely zigzag scraps into the finished quilt, I thought to myself:  "Challenge accepted."  ...And then realized it really was a bit of a challenge!  I ended up adding three skinny borders to the top.  (The scrappy binding makes for a fourth.)

Just browsing through these shots makes me happy.  Okay, so maybe the location has something to do with it ;)  Either way, these warm and sunny colors are a welcome change from my cool color crutch.

I followed Lee's lead on the quilting, using the seams as a guide for straight lines (how predictable am I?) in Aurifil 2000.  I thought about something a little more dense (à la Lady Harvatine's Log Pyramid quilt) but I'm liking the more loosely quilted style.  It has a certain softness to it, don't you think?

Speaking of soft, I used an off-white, twin-sized linen sheet from Williams Sonoma outlet for the backing (thank you Tanger for amazing deals, all the time).  I think I paid $10 for it last summer.

It is delightfully silky, and (added bonus!) a perfect match to Aurifil 2021.  {Then again, what isn't? ;)}

...Now if you'll excuse me, that chair has my name on it!

finish it up friday {hallelujah!)

Edited to add:  You can check out other quilty friends' takes on Lee's design here!

binding and being a {beach} bum ;)

After weeks away from the house of {no} hats, I'm *this* close to being able to share a finish (let alone something!)

Why the sparse summer sewing?  While my creative wishlist has certainly jumped a few notches on my priority list (good riddance, bar study!), so has the enjoy-it-while-you-can side of life...

For the next couple weeks, I'll be doing just that ;)  (Well, that, and catching up with my four-digit blog reader feed... eep!)

So how do you strike a balance?

linking up with WIP Wednesday :)

skimpy strips do the trick ;)

What feels like forever ago, I posted this preview pic of my BBP scraps asking for some advice (thanks for all the suggestions!):

It took some time, but after trimming all those obtuse triangles into their more workable equilateral form, I was back in {blooming} business and on a mission...

to. border. this. quilt.

And whaddya know?  All that busywork {and those beautiful scraps!} didn't go to waste ;)

Now it's officially bordered, backed, and basted... and awaiting a spare moment to be quilted!

Happy Wednesday, friends ;)

Linking up with Lee!

borders, borders everywhere.

Nope, still haven't delved into those oakshotts quite yet.  Instead I've decided to polish off two tops with some border details...

One warm palette:

The other cool:

Since each contains elements of equilateral triangles and skinny strips, I figured I'd try to tackle both at once.  Lots of chain piecing and ironing, but definitely no mixing up fabrics here!  And I have to say it makes for an extra colorful workroom ;)

In the interim, I have these friendly reminders lurking in the darkness hanging patiently nearby...

But what you can't see are all the other WIPs in my world (I may or may not have had to rearrange the racks just to snap that picture).  I started making a list; once I hit a dozen I decided I needed to adopt a new sewing philosophy.  From now on, I'm giving myself one month to quilt once I have a completed top.  (In my head I was thinking one month from start to finish for the whole project, but as soon as I saw it on paper I knew that would be overly ambitious... and dare I say contradictory to the tempo of quilting itself!?)

In any event, that means the clock's ticking on the tartan top I finished last week.  As for these two, it's a good thing they've reverted to incomplete tops; otherwise that timer would be bouncing off the shelf by now ;)

What about you?  Do you take it one quilt at a time or have you worked out a good system for balancing (and finishing) what you've started?  I'd love to hear how you make it work!

   

{bloom}ing right along

*** If paper-pieced bling sounds like your thing, my birthstone pattern giveaway is still open! ***

I've been working through this quilt at a relatively quick clip.  And not just because Lee's offering a linky soon (though that is a nice incentive!)  The main reason is that I needed a finished top stat to test how my {new} new machine handles large quilts.  (Sidenote:  if you have any strong feelings one way or the other about Elna or Pfaff, please please share! I was having issues with my 6-month old Pfaff so my dealer has given me the choice between upgrading to a newly released model or switching to an Elna... and I need help!)  But you didn't come here to read about sewing machines, now did you?  ;)

I've been toying with my BBP layout and I think this is my favorite...

But here were the other contenders:

Trying to steer my helper clear of the family room floor while I think about it ;)  I generally wanted the pinks/reds starting in one corner, and the oranges/yellows in the other.  Otherwise I didn't really have an agenda aside from spreading the various values (and insufficiently bleached "blobs"!) across the quilt.  Did I pick the right one?!  Can you even tell a difference? :)

Update:  Top is finished!  Stuck with layout #1:

And oh how pretty are those open seams? ;)

I've also been doing a little sewing for my birthplace of Boston.  Being the BB Encyclopedia junkie that I am, I found a block titled, "Boston Pavement" (#2726) (perfection!) and fell in love.

Very steam punk-y (aka Air Ship Propeller, BB #3499), minus the curved piecing and appliqued center.  (And the blades here are the skinny sections vs. the chubbier steam punk ones).  This is the first of several I plan to incorporate into some "To Boston With Love" flags.  They'll finish around 5" square when set in the flags.

Now, off to rescue my quilt layout from a toddler tornado! Linking up with Lee at freshly pieced ;)

bloom {bleach} pow

What do you get when you mix Lee's Bloom Bloom Pow quilt along with Rossie's recent fabric bleaching adventures?  Hopefully something good, because that's what's happening in this {house}.

Last night a "sunset-y" spread of fabrics (inspired by the BBP ringleader's recent pull, no less) took a bath in some bleach water (and a rinse in some bleach stop!)  After a quick wash and a mad midnight cutting frenzy, here's what I've got to show for it:

Not terrible, right?  (The creases are pretty bad but the bleaching turned out alright!)  Of course there were five fabrics (not pictured) that didn't change at all:  two reds, an orange, and two yellows.  On the bright side, luckily I had extras and at least it wasn't all the same color group ;)  Now off to do some chain piecing and catching up!

In other unrelated news, I've been gathering supplies like a squirrel collects nuts these days.  Any Aurifil enthusiasts out there?  Then you should definitely check out Sue's shop (she's reduced her prices and is offering an extra 10% almost site wide).  I just picked up quite a few neutral 50wts (medium and light beige, white and off-white) and some 40wts, all together averaging under $6 per 1422yd spool.  {Shipping included.}  Uh.  Yah.  That happened.

505 aficionados?  This guy's got what you want:  17 oz cans of the stuff for $12.49, and superfast shipping.  I ordered several cans because the S&H remains pretty constant no matter how many you order, and I was aiming for, er, economic stashing ;)

Happy Saturday :)

...and Monday!