Photos of Floribunda

"BALTIMORE BACKYARD"

I washed all my finished quilts today.. one of them being the Floribunda BOM. Here's a few photos of the finished project.

A couple small projects finished

1. I made this little wall quilt for my mom. She wanted a long and thin quilted wall hanging with something like a fern or foliage on it. She requested that it be done in neutrals and browns but with just a touch of red. This is how I interpreted that. I wanted to try to do like a photo negative effect. So you can see the shadows are actually the lightest part of the quilt. One of the main reasons I was motivated to start and finish this so quickly is that I wanted to practice the quilting style "McTavishing." It's actually not a super hard design, but I wish I would have outlined around the leaves instead of trying to mctavish around them. McTavishing is a style of quilting that probably should be done in a larger area, such as borders. Well here it is for what its worth:




2. My friend Jaime wanted some pillows to match her wall hanging I had previously made for her. She requested a star and she showed me an example that was made from 1800s-style fabrics. I decided to do a sawtooth star block and used all the 1800/civil war repros I Had in my stash. This was such a relatively simple project but I think they turned out so good! Yes I ran into some issues . .but the back was more difficult than the front. Here they are I think they're just adorable!



One more thing. . I'm finished quilting all the small blocks for my Floribunda BOM. Here's a front and back shot of one of the blocks. . .





I am doing a scrappy back for this quilt. All different purples/plums/violets of all different shades, but I'm using all the same pink-ish thread. ; )

Thread Holder

Check out this awesomeness!!!

I think it's supposed to be for jewelry.. .but isn't it perfect for thread? It has space for all my new Essentials thread from Connecting Threads! I'm studying it and I think we could make one! When I get around to it, I'm going to try to make one...and of course I"ll take photos along the way and I'll try to provide a tutorial. =cDDDD

Today I re-arranged my sewing space. See where my sewing tables are? This is where the couch was before. I brought this table in from the back and it fits perfectly in that cubbyhole. The cubbyhole is perfect for all my fabric and whatnot because it's shaded from the sun. yay!

I went to my LQS WV Quilts and found this perfect Sashing Fabric for my Floribunda blocks. I'm doing QAYG (surprise surprise) and here I've marked my quilting lines for the sashing. I'md doing a half feather-type of deal. Awwwwwww Beautiful!

Floribunda Blocks Fused

All 12 blocks are fused. I cut the background blocks to 13" and after tracing the shapes outline onto the background, I found that 13" was perfect, and I don't think I'm going to be able to cut them down to 12.5." I'm not doing the sawtooth border so using graph paper, I've calculated the layout to fit with the 13" blocks. The Center block is cut to 30" even. I used my regular printer and taped the sections together and I'm getting ready to fuse it now.

Here's a little sample I did with Erin's .pdf files and I pulled the drawings up in Paint and colored them in. (BTW, you can do this by pulling the file up in adobe, and pressing the PRNT SCRN button - that saves the image to your clipboard. You can then open up PAINT and press CTRL+V or right click and press paste.) Yes, those with EQ7 have it MUCH easier.. if anyone wants to gift me EQ7 I'd be super happy!! HAHA LOL! =c) But with paint you can get the general color idea. I'm still not sure about the purple borders. I'm looking for a lighter brown background with a purple print.. purple or plum or something. We'll see how it goes.

Happy Birthday

Today I'm celebrating my 2nd 29th birthday. I decided I would spend a bit of my DH's money at my LQS Phyllis's Quilt Shop . I then went up to my DH's work to show him what he bought me for my birthday! (LOL) I love him so much. He is always so supportive and even though I think he could not care less about quilting, fabric, and notions.. he always acts excited with me, and tells me everything I make is beautiful. I truly feel God designed him just for me and I'm very VERY lucky to have him in my life. :c)



Right now I am finishing up two reversible tote bags from this FREE pattern. I've already made two of them (for some reason these totes just work out in TWOs) and the pattern is very easy and the instructions are pretty clear. The pattern calls for 2 yards of fabric but I also like to use 1/2 yard cuts and that way you can get a little more contrast with the straps and pockets.










This time around I'm using an absolutely gorgeous line of fabrics by Amy Butler called Daisy Chain that I got LAST year for Christmas. This pattern doesn't call for zippers or buttons, but uses sew-in velcro .. which I CAN HANDLE!! ; )



Once I finish this project up I'm going to start on my new project -Erin Russek's Floribunda BOM. Oh and BTW, She is offering all the blocks to this BOM except the center piece for free but only this week. You can purchase the center piece, called Miss Hannah, from her etsy shop.

I know this BOM is ending.. and I'm just starting it.. but that's the way I roll. More than 3 projects at once really clutters up my work space, which is my living room in the winter. So I like to wait until the whole BOM ends, then I can start it and go at my own pace. Does anyone else work like this???

I hope Erin doesn't get mad at me for doing this - but just to give myself an idea of what the layout will look like I opened up her final layout in Paint and added my color choices for borders and sashing.

Since I used paint, it wouldn't let me fully color the background blocks the beige-y/cream color I wanted to use. But you get the idea I think. ~OR~ I'm debating on going with her 2nd colorway and use the brown as the background for the applique but still use the gradated color scheme for the appliques. Erin really is such an amazing designer and I'm really excited for her next BOM as well!!!

So here's the stuff DH bought me for my birthday today (unknowingly lol)



My mom's husband gave me a Joann's giftcard for Christmas so I got the batting that was half off, and the fusible which I used a half-off coupon. Also some velcro for my bags.
Then on the left is the beautiful fabric I got at Phyllis's. PHyllis was there and she is so knowledgeable, friendly, and oh so helpful!! See all those 1/4yrd cuts of neutrals were only $1!!! Then the dark brown is for the Floribunda BOM. The cream above that is for the BOM as well.
So far the dreaded 2nd 29th birthday has been a good one. But your days are what you make of them right?! We Quilters sure do know how to have a good time!! = D