Project: Orange Peel Quilt

So, my friend having twins.... Yea... I saw this one that would pair well with the appliqué quilt. Plus, I just got the orange peel template from Missouri Star Quilt Company (because it was a daily deal).

Here's the general idea of how it would look; to make a baby sized quilt, I'm using 5" squares (finished size after seam allowance should be about 4.5") and needed to make it 9 squares by 9 squares (total of 45 squares of colors and 45 squares of background):

Here was the final color choice.

I just needed 9 "orange peels" of each (to make the 9x9 quilt). Now, there are a couple good methods to use the orange peel template- the freezer paper method or appliqué. I went ahead and used this FANTASTIC tutorial by Missouri Star Quilt Company this time (next time I do this, I'll try the freezer paper method):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tyAig7XupI

So- this was a total of 81 5" squares. Here are some photos of my progress:

All the pedals and squares cut (not the fusible interfacing at that point).

Quilt top laid out- pedals fused on, rows not sewn together yet:

I quilted a zig-zag stitch around the pedals. Quick tip I learned from my mom- ALWAYS start in the center when you're quilting something like this so that it doesn't bunch up anywhere 

(even after basting).

Quick look at 4 together:

And bound up!

And the backing:

For those wondering about a timeline on this, it took about a week but that was with a lot of life's interruptions during a crazy time for our family. Hopefully, the next one won't take as long ;) Finished size is about 40"x40".

Project: Mother In-Law Quilt

So, my daughter has this really interesting habit of picking quilts off my pinterest board and designating a person to them.  She picked this quilt for her grandma and picked out this BRIGHT color pallet:

 I did go ahead and buy the book for this pattern (Pattern called "Spanish Tiles", Book called "Living Large 2") because I'm not talented enough to break it down on my own (or have time to break it down as I'm in massive time crunch mode). So, a couple changes from the top photo to what I did was the white outline of the blocks ended up being the green and then the pink, I used a white type color instead. Looking at the colors my sweet daughter chose, I was kind of skeptical as how it may turn out. But she has a good eye apparently. Here are some blocks broken down as I made them:

Ziplock baggies worked so well (as I was working on multiple projects so keeping things labeled and together was the best idea for me). Once I had all my pieces put together, I was able to lay it out on the floor and see how it would all come together:

Before it was sewn together into rows and into a quilt top (and no outside border):

Quilt top before the outside border:

Outside border added:

What a difference it makes to have these fabrics together. 

I was SHOCKED at how well it looked once it was all laid out.

It just goes to show, you can never tell how well a quilt will end up 

if you just have all the pieces next to each other until it's been pieced and ready to go.

Basted and ready for stencils:

Penny requested a butterfly stippling pattern as the main idea for quilting it.

Then, I did a pumpkin seed stencil for the outside border.

I used the white from the sashing as the binding as well and I think it turned out lovely.

And amazingly enough, I had enough fabric (plus some left over) to use for the backing.

The finished dims (approx.) are about 52" x 63" (more or less). I think Penny laid the big blocks out perfectly and that she did an AMAZING job picking and putting these colors together. I know I never would have. My mother in-law will be receiving a surprise package soon ;)

Project: Surprise Quilt

This sweet woman wanted to have me build her a quilt. So, naturally, I obliged but I didn't tell her when it would done or that I was just going to give it to her. It started out with this pattern:

She wanted it in yellow and blue (Swedish colors) so we picked these two out together and I came up with this block (I used the same tube method as L's baby quilt so I could make the block on point).

I did press the seams open in the middle (for the whites) and then to the dark sides for the other parts. I ended up using 110 blocks (they ended up being a finished size of  ~5.5" to 6". 

It was fairly simple to lay the blocks out in this simple pattern

And of course, child labor was free.... 

(giving her an opportunity to practice her learning with patterns and colors)

Here's it all laid out :)

I decided on a regular stippling pattern 

(it ironically covered four blocks at a time so it was pretty easy to trace out).

I also chose a blue for the backing and the same blue that on the quilt for the binding.

After the wash:

A little close up:

And here it is with it's new owner- so happy to have this quilt:

I was able to finish this quilt in under a week. 

The finished size was approximately 55" X 60" (give or take a little).

I am so happy to have this quilt in the life of this sweet woman 

and getting the enjoyment from this quilt. 

I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Project: Appliqué Baby Quilt

I'm blessed to know some good people. I have wanted to do this quilt for a while (and didn't want to pay for the pattern but alas, I wanted it enough) and my friend liked it too.

The pattern is called "Talk of the Town". SO BEAUTIFUL! I was so happy someone requested this quilt. Plus, it's finished size is *supposed to be* 40" x 40", PERFECT for a baby. 

So, the pattern calls for 94 pedals... Simple enough.

So off I went tracing the pedals onto wonder under fusible webbing paper:

Then, I cut them into the "groups" (light, medium, medium dark, dark) and here are the colors I chose:

Next, I ironed on the pedals to the paper- trying to use WOF as much as possible to make left over yardage to be a good amount.

I then cut the pedals out from the fabric.

I was thinking ahead and got some baggies labeled as to which 

"color" they were and how many pedals are in the bag. 

I recommend doing this (especially if you have more than one project going on at a time):

All bagged and labeled:

The backing (white) fabric is cut to 40.5" square. 

I decided to lay one group of pedals out to make me smile.

I then followed the directions, trying to lay all the pedals out, 

making sure none of them overlapped each other. The hard part then was moving it to the ironing board. I used my water-soluble marker to mark the tips of the middle pedals so I could find the starting point and began to iron.

I ironed the purples on first on all 3, then moved outwards to be sure that by the time I got to yellow there would be no overlapping.

I stenciled (or rather, made some extra cut outs from freezer paper) out a few more flower pedals as fillers so the quilt would stay together better (also, it just looked cool...).

I just did a regular stitch around the cut outs.

Then, when I quilted, I did a zig-zag stitch around the pedals 

starting with the purples and working my way out on each flower. 

 I used the green color as the binding on this quilt.

I think this turned out really lovely. There are some new tricks that I've learned with appliqué since doing this quilt. I hope I can show them off in another baby quilt this coming month.