The Big One and NTT

Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  I'm still plugging away on getting those two quilts finished, but the bigger of the two is already at the longarmer, which means that my part is practically finished.  And here she is!

This is a large queen size quilt, measuring 96" x 108", and I second guessed myself on whether I should size it down a little bit.  I am planning to fold it at the end of our guest bed with a solid ivory coverlet, and I worried that it might be a little big, but then I figured that where bed quilts are concerned, bigger is better.

I've been working on piecing my leftover fabric together for the backing of the throw size quilt, even though I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with that one, and I'm really looking forward to quilting it.

At last week's party, we had lots of gorgeous projects linked up.  This chilly quilt is called Frosty Lace, by Susan at Quilt Fabrication-

Vasudha at Storied Quilts shared this fun quilt.  Love the quilting!

And this beauty is by Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Okay y'all!  It's time to party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Missing My Deck and NTT

So, my current projects are the very first in my new home, and that means that since things are laid out a little differently, I'm figuring some things out along the way.  Now that I have one of the quilt tops finished from the blocks I've been working on, I realize that one big thing I'm missing isn't in my sewing studio at all.  It's my deck in my old backyard.  It was so easy to run outside and snap a quick photo of a quilt top or finished quilt with beautiful natural light.  The deck had enough space to lay even a queen size quilt out flat, and had a bench all around it that I could stand on to get a pretty good shot from above.  And, I really took it for granted.  Obviously I knew that I would have to figure something else out, but I just haven't done it yet.  So until I do, you get an indoor photo of my current quilt top, and I promise I'll find a pretty outside location for the finish.

I've finished laying out both quilts, and actually finished one top.  This is the smaller of the two quilts  I'm making from that ginormous stack of blocks, measuring 60" x 72".   The giant 96" x 108" quilt top is still in progress.  The colors are so cheerful, and I really love the simplicity of the Greek crosses.  This is one of those quilts that is really prettier in person, where you can really appreciate all of the fun prints.  In the photo, many of the fabrics look solid, but aren't.  I'm planning to get the backing for this one put together as soon as I finish the bigger quilt top, and I'll be finishing this one myself, while the larger quilt is heading to the longarmer. (yay for no basting!).  I'll keep you posted!

Before we get to last week's highlights, I owe you three winners from this month's sponsored giveaways.  First, the winner of the $25 gift card from Lady Belle Fabric is Ann, comment number 38!  And the two winners of the mystery Ruby Star charm packs are comments 46 and 51, Beth and Lisa Marie!  Congratulations to all of you.  I'll be contacting you soon so you can get your prizes!

Okie dokie!  It's time to check out a few of the projects from last week's Needle and Thread Thursday that really caught my eye.  This stunner is by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.

Look at this amazingness by Liz at Savor Every Stitch-

And this unique quilt is by Leanne at Devoted Quilter.  She is releasing the pattern for this one, so head over to check it out.

Y'all are just amazing!  I know you've got more fantastic stuff happening in your studio this week, so let's see it.  Time to link up!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

A Cautionary Tale and NTT

Hey there quilty peeps!  Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday.  Sooo...no matter how practiced you think you might be, apparently quilt math is best done when one is not distracted in any way.  And with that advice in mind, let me tell you my cautionary tale.

That's a whole stack of gorgeous blocks; enough for a queen size quilt, in fact.  And yet, I still have many, many more blocks to piece.  How is that possible?  Well, when I was planning this quilt, somehow I figured out the block layout for 8" blocks (which would be a really weird size for a Greek Cross block anyway, but again, distractions).  A 10x12 layout  of 8" blocks would yield 120 blocks for a nice 80" x 96" quilt.  Awesome.  I remember thinking while I was pulling and cutting fabric that this queen size quilt seemed to be taking a ton of fabric, but since I was determined to get back into my groove, I just kept plowing through.

And again yesterday, as I had been piecing for two days, I kept thinking it was taking longer than usual.  And then it dawned on me.  These were not 8" blocks at all, but instead were 12" ones! (facepalm)  Y'all, a 10 x 12 layout of 12 inch blocks would make a 120" x 144" quilt, which is just comically enormous, and way too big to fold at the end of the queen size bed in my guest room.  just to put it all in perspective, that's enough blocks for a larger queen size quilt measuring 96" x 108" (72 blocks), which is what I'm doing, PLUS ANOTHER 72" x 96" twin size quilt (48 blocks).  No wonder this quilt is taking forever.  I'm actually making two large quilts in tandem.

Lesson learned.  Even if I can cut and sew easy blocks on autopilot, during the actual planning stage, my mind needs to be 100% focused on the task at hand.  Needless to say, I still have more of these blocks left to piece (about 40), and then I'll be putting together TWO quilt tops from them.

So, let's get to the highlights from last week's party, shall we?  Linda at Flourishing Palms shared her finished 2019 temperature quilt.  I just love these.  I am mesmerized by the color gradient through the year, and I always think about making one, but just haven't yet.

I love this cute mini from Jayne at Twiggy and Opal-

This pretty floral quilt by Sew Preeti Quilts is just a perfect pick-me-up for all of the rainy weather we've had lately-

Sophie at Luna Lovequilts shared this super cool, modern quilt-

And Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty linked up this gorgeous, graphic heart quilt-

I just have one more thing to mention before we party.  It's not related to quilting, but it's been a pretty big thing around here.  Y'all know I'm a Louisiana girl, Baton Rouge born and raised, and an LSU grad, and I just have to give a shout out to my team.  It was a magical season for us, and we're all pretty excited in the Young household.  Geaux Tigers!  :)

Okay, friends!  It's time to party.  Y'all keep bringing the awesomeness, and I'll be over here ogling your work (and piecing, and piecing...)   ;)

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

A Fresh Start

Happy New Year to all!  You know, with everything happening over the past few months (new puppy, moving to a new home/contractors working, holidays), it occurred to me that I haven't sewn anything since...wait for it...September.  Yikes.  Even before September, there were a few pretty significant family happenings over the summer that curtailed my creativity, the biggest being the passing of my mother-in-law.  All of those are legitimate reasons to put my quilting on hold, but even when I had a little time to sew here and there, I found myself feeling too overwhelmed to start anything new.  I just had too many things going on to allocate brain cells to thinking about one more thing.  I even forgot to enter my Gossip Queen quilt into QuiltCon, which was always my plan for it, and I was so disappointed in myself when I realized I had missed the deadline.

Over time though, what I discovered won't come as a shock to many of you, I'm sure.  I really missed being creative, even if I still didn't really know what I wanted to make.  I finally decided on a simple Greek Cross quilt for our guest bedroom and started cutting and sorting my blocks.  I loved the fabric pull, but even as I began, it was more out of obligation than inspiration.

But you know what?  After a little while, it felt so good to get back into things. That my friends, is three stacks of progress.  I've been missing a sense of normalcy for literally months, and beginning a new quilt is a step in the right direction on restoring order to my life.  Don't get me wrong, I was pretty rusty on the planning part of things.  I made a miscalculation and had to go back into my stash for more fabric, and it took me three days to get everything pressed, cut, and sorted but still, normal.  Now that everything is ready to sew, these blocks should go together pretty quickly.

Thanks to all of you who have stuck by and continued reading/commenting while life was complicated and I couldn't share quite as much.  I am truly looking forward to 2020 being a wonderful year with lots of pretties to show off. (would uneventful be too much to ask?).

Our last party feels like forever ago, but there were some amazing projects linked up, as usual.  Linda at Flourishing Palms showed off this beauty.  I love the optical illusion it creates-

Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting shared her (third!) Meadowland quilt.  So pretty!

And JanineMarie at Quilts From the Little House linked up this fantastic Chicago skyline quilt.  It's amazing!

Okay, y'all!  It's the first NTT of 2020, so let's make it a good one.  It's time to link up!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)