Beginner QAL- Link Up and Show Off!

Hooray quilt alongers!  We've made it.  Reach around and give yourself a giant pat on the back while you marvel at the awesomeness that YOU created! Here are the finished pics of mine, called The Garden Wall.  I quilted with pink thread, and bound with Kona Teal.

*If you participated in the QAL, but don't have a blog, you can still show off your quilt!  You can either link from flickr or photobucket, OR even easier, you can email your photo to me at
kelly (dot) d (dot) young77(at) gmail (dot) com and I'll be happy to insert it here!  If you have questions about how to link, please let me know and I'm happy to help!

Oh, and by the way, the link up will be open for six months, so if you've gotten behind, or if you're joining the party late, that's okay!

          Annie's-                                                       Chasity's TWO!

         

Big Thanks, an Apology, and Link Up!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who linked up to the very first Needle and Thread Thursday last week!  We had 27 awesome links with lots of great projects going on!  What a great way to kick off the party!  I truly enjoyed browsing through each and every link, and intend to highlight a few at the start of Needle and Thread Thursday each week.  Which reminds me about...

My apology- in creating this week's link party, I accidentally deleted last week's link code, which in turn deleted all of the links on last week's post (so no highlights this week).  :(  It happened Tuesday evening, so the links were up almost the entire week.  After pulling my hair out and gritting my teeth, I did figure out what I did wrong, so I'll be extra sure I don't click that button again in the future.  So all links will remain from now on!  Learning new technology...gotta love it.

As you may have read in my post Tuesday, my aunt and uncle have been in town since Sunday and I have taught my aunt to quilt!  We followed the Beginner Quilt Along tutorial and it was a snap!  Here's a picture of her finished quilt, and you can check out my post HERE for more details and pics.  Isn't it fantastic?  I know she's proud of it, and I was tickled to share my love of quilting with her.

And finally, it's time to link up!  Okay friends, show me what you've got!

A few friendly guidelines-

1.  This is a link party for quilting and sewing.  As a quilter, of course that's my passion, but I won't nit-pick.  If you made it using a needle and thread, it works!

2.  Please remember to link to your actual blog post, not your main blog page, so others don't have to search.

3.  Please post the Needle and Thread Thursday button somewhere on your blog, or include a text link in your post.  Help spread the word!  More links mean more fun for everyone!

4.  Visit plenty of other links, and be generous with your comment love.  :)

5.  Please become a follower of My Quilt Infatuation.  It's not a requirement to link, but I truly appreciate it!
(ps- I love comments too!)

A Confession

In the interest of full disclosure, I have a confession to make.  I have been working on my Beginner Quilt Along quilt and got a little carried away.  This really was just a pile of cut fabric on Thursday.

I took lots of pictures throughout the process and will still be posting step by step on the QAL schedule, but I have family coming in town tomorrow, so I knew that getting work done in bits and pieces on this quilt would be tough.  That's how I'm justifying it to myself anyway.

Speaking of the QAL, the Layout and Piecing Your Quilt Top page is already posted a little early HERE.  Seriously, I'm impatient for everything!

Plus, as I've looked around at other quilt alongs, many of them have a picture of "this is what we'll be making."  So, just consider this picture a sample of the finished product.  (have I justified enough?) I promise I will wait to show the other pictures and give all of the other pertinent information at the proper time at the end of the Quilt Along.  :)

Yeah... I told you that I get quilty tunnel vision and have a hard time staring at things unfinished.  Infatuation- for real.  It's kind of a problem.  And now you know.

Wild Thing and His Birthday Quilt

Today is wild thing's 9th birthday, but since we have a baseball tournament all weekend, we ended up celebrating his birthday a few days ago.  He logically presented his case that he deserved his birthday gift then, and since I'm not the greatest secret-keeper, of course I let him have it!

He thought the entire idea of posing with the quilt outside was hilarious and could not stop giggling.

He was totally surprised, since he usually sees all of my projects in process.  When I told him how I managed to make Sailing at Sunset in one day without his knowledge, he just cracked up laughing that I was able to pull one over on him.  That kid just melts my heart.

There are so many joys of being a mom, but one of the greatest has to be seeing something that I created bring him so much happiness.  He loves the quilt for what it is, and he loves it because I made it.  Since he's had the quilt, if we have been at home, the quilt has been by his side or wrapped around him.  I'm so glad that even at nine years old, he's still not too old to love snuggling up in one of Mommy's quilts- and I know that I will never tire of seeing it either.

Bricks and Mortar

Memory Quilt number two is finished!  Just for the record, that's only half as many as I actually have to make.  To get the whole story of these (eventually) four memory quilts, check out my previous posts here, here, here, and here.  This quilt needs a manly name to go with the manly fabrics and feel, so I'm calling it Bricks and Mortar, and I think it fits perfectly.

When I compare this quilt to the Western Kaleidoscope, I've noticed how even though the same fabrics were used in both quilts, the feel is completely different.  I think this one has more of a "cars and tools" or "mechanic" vibe, rather than western.  Maybe it's because the other one had so much more tan and this one has more gray.

Now that I really think about it, plaids are remarkable that way, in that they can take on several different moods- western, cars/tools, campy, nautical, preppy.  There might be more, but none are popping into my head right now, and I'm pretty sure I'm way over thinking this anyway.

I backed this with Kona Iron, and added a chambray stripe through the middle, just to break it up.  The binding is Kona Rich Red, which I'll probably do on all four memory quilts, just to give a little continuity between all of them.

As much as my eyes are tired of looking at the manly plaids, I am extremely pleased with how my stippling came out on this one.  I've really been working on more even spacing, and though it isn't perfect, I'm continually improving.  Also- not a single, solitary pucker on the back.  woo hoo!!  :)

I'm all done with plaids for awhile!  My sewing cabinet is getting a makeover this week, then I get to dive into the delicious Marmalade bundle that just came in the mail yesterday.  I swear, I was so giddy when I opened it that my husband thought I had cracked.

I'm linking up to some awesome link parties.  Click HERE for all of the buttons!

Memory Quilt #2

Last night I worked into the wee hours of the morning to finish the top for the second memory quilt.  I was inspired by the Colorbrick quilt at Stitched in Color, but I had to adjust the measurements to maximize the oddly shaped shirt fabric.

I'm planning to baste it today (the bane of my quilty existence) and start quilting on it this evening or tomorrow after church.  

I'm not as enamored with this quilt as I was with the first memory quilt, the Western Kaleidoscope, (although it is growing on me) and I've been looking at it trying to figure out why.  I think it's because overall, it's a much darker quilt.   The kaleidoscope had the tan background, and was just more interesting to look at in general.  This definitely has everything to do with the fabrics though, and not the pattern.

After this, I still have two more of these memory quilts to complete, but as I mentioned in my initial post about this topic, I only took 12 shirts to begin.  Since those shirts actually made two quilts (I only expected them to make one), I feel like I'm ahead of the game.  Thankfully, I won't be able to get more shirts until I go back to Baton Rouge, and that will be at the end of July.  Although I feel a little bit guilty for saying this because I know these are special quilts, I am tired of looking at manly plaids.

One thing's for sure- I'm expecting a fat eighth bundle of Marmalade fabric by Bonnie and Camille in the mail today and I am certainly ready to get back to some girly, summery, fun fabrics!

Birthday Boy Quilt- Sailing at Sunset

Well, I finished my wild thing's birthday quilt.  As I mentioned in my last post, he and my wonderful husband were heading out of town for an overnight trip, and I jumped on the opportunity to make a quilt for him without his knowledge.  Yes...yes...  I could have just worked on it for nights on end after he went to bed, and cleaned up all evidence every night before going to bed myself, but hey- that's just not how I roll.  Of course, that means that I had to sew like a mad-woman to get it pieced, quilted, and bound within the span of less than 36 hours (sleep optional)- 

even if I did choose a really simple pattern.  

Here it is all finished!  I'm calling it Sailing at Sunset, since the colors remind me of the ocean when it is most beautiful, and because there are a few nautical-themed fabrics mixed in.

Marathon sewing aside, I'm really proud of this quilt for a few reasons.  

1.  I've been quilting off and on for almost 15 years, but before this quilt, I have never done a pieced backing.  It's not that I don't know how to do one, it's just that by the time the top is all finished, I'm ready to get on with the quilting part and get it done.  After seeing lots of awesome pieced backings all over the blogosphere (thanks for the inspiration!), I decided to take the plunge and do one myself.  

The backing-

 2.  Until this quilt, I've never done a binding.  What's that you say?  No binding?  How did I finish the edges of my quilts?  Well, I used the method used by my grandmother, which is called "back over binding."  This method involves leaving the backing a couple of inches wider than the quilt top all the way around, and you simply fold it over, tuck the raw edge, and stitch it down, either by hand or machine.  This works great if you've chosen a backing that isn't too busy and will look great against the pattern of the quilt top.  Alas, the backing I wanted to do would not have looked good on the front side, so I had to learn a new skill!  All in all, I'm happy with it, even though my corners don't look perfect- darn that mitering!

3.  My FMQ is getting so much better.  I didn't have a single crossover in my stippling on this quilt (yay!  personal victory!), and I felt really relaxed while quilting.  Usually, I feel tense while quilting, and as a result I don't think my curves are as smooth as they should be.  I know I've mentioned that FMQ is still a new skill I'm working to perfect, and I've had one or two crossovers in each of my last quilts.  In this one- not a single one.  I'm also working on more even spacing of my meandering lines.  It's hard to take a picture of all this, but here's my best shot (no pun intended, lol!).

Check out the label I added to the back.  You can see the quilting pretty well in this picture too.  To apply the label, I used spray basting to hold it in place, and then appliqued it to the backing after basting, but before quilting (so the stitches wouldn't show on the front of the quilt) with a zig-zag stitch.  Have I mentioned that I really dislike hand sewing?  I find it tedious, and I don't think that my stitches are as strong as machine stitching.  Believe me, if I can find a way to do something on the machine, I will NEVER choose to do it by hand.  

and because I can't help it, I'm going to include a picture of my Boxer Beau, who takes every opportunity to visit me and forces me to take breaks.  He's pretty persistent!  :)

I actually managed to finish this quilt (from cut pieces to finished quilt) in about 18 hours!  Well before my husband and wild thing are due to arrive home.  Now, we'll have to see if I can actually make it to June 8th before giving the quilt to him.  I'm not a great secret keeper, and I love giving gifts that I know will be loved, so it's going to be tough!  I can't wait to see him snuggled up with it!  I love that even though he's almost nine, he still loves Mommy's quilts.  :)